Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

Notes:
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the chief wildlife warden (CWW) of Punjab to look into the allegation of death of 400 parrots in Faridkot.
As per a plea by a social activist, nearly 400 parrots died in the premises of the Faridkot deputy commissioner due to a chemical having been sprayed on jamun trees. The district administration claimed that the parrots died due to a sand storm.

Notes:
European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, has come out with “Green Deal: Fit for 55” plan, which aims to reduce the dependence of Europe on fossil fuels and impose new national limits on emissions.
This also seeks to produce 40 per cent of the Europe’s energy from wind, wave and solar sources by 2030.

Notes:
Uzbekistan played host to the ‘Central South Asia connectivity conference 2021’. It is also called as the Tashkent Connectivity Conference.
On the side lines of the conference, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Tashkent and discussed the situation in Afghanistan amidst the withdrawal of US forces from the country. The Minister also inaugurated the IT room of India-Uzbekistan Entrepreneurship Development Centre.

Notes:
Plastic surgery is said to have originated in India. Association of Plastic Surgeons in India (APSI) introduced the concept of National Plastic Surgery Day in 2011. Since then, on July 15, the day has been observed in India, when Plastic surgeons across the country perform free operations and conduct awareness programmes.
After the APSI presented about the day’s success at the World Council of Leaders organised recently, July 15 is accepted as World Plastic Surgery Day.

Notes:
Jacob Zuma was the President of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. After being charged for corruption, he became the first South African president since the end of white-minority rule in 1994 to receive a prison sentence.
This arrest has triggered looting and violence in the two most populous provinces of the country, Gauteng and Kwa-Zulu-Natal. A record wave of Covid-19 infections is also grappling the country. The Current President of South Africa is Cyril Ramaphosa. Over 25,000 troops have been deployed to silence the violence.

Notes:
Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who is a Pulitzer Prize awardee for the year 2018, was killed in Afghanistan at Kandahar, while covering the escalating conflict in Afghanistan. He is known for his breath-taking images of wars, riots and human suffering across the globe.
He was reportedly killed while covering the clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters, near the Pakistan border.

Notes:
A rare case of monkeypox was detected in Texas, in the United States, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Monkeypox belongs to the same family of viruses as smallpox. It induces flu-like symptoms, swelling of the lymph nodes and rashes. Scientists have discovered two distinct genetic groups of monkeypox virus—Central African and West African. The first case of monkeypox in humans was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Notes:
The Government of India has hiked the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in pension fund management under the national pension system (NPS) from 49% to 74%. This move is expected to make more players available in this sector.
Presently the 4 out pension fund managers of NPS – HDFC Pension Management, ICICI Prudential Pension Funds, Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund and Aditya Birla Sun Life have significant foreign investments in them.

Notes:
The Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar has developed a first-of-its-kind Oxygen Rationing Device, named AMLEX.
The device will help to supply a required volume of oxygen to the patients while inhaling and trips when the patient is exhaling Carbon dioxide. This process would help to save oxygen which gets unnecessarily wasted usually. The device can be operated on both battery as well as line supply.

Notes:
The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully flight tested indigenously developed low weight, fire and forget Man-Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM).
The DRDO also successfully flight tested the New Generation Akash Missile (Akash-NG), a surface to air missile, from Integrated Test Range (ITR) off the coast of Odisha.