Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

Notes:
The long and cumbersome nomenclature ‘Common High Court of UT of Jammu and Kashmir and UT of Ladakh’ has been changed to ‘High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh’. The order was notified by the Department of Justice in the Law Ministry.
President Ram Nath Kovind has signed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2021, which spelled out the original name.

Notes:
The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD), Government of India has setup Dairy Investment Accelerator under its Investment Facilitation Cell.
It aims to promote and facilitate investments in the Indian Dairy sector. Dairy Investment Accelerator is also generating awareness among investors about Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development fund (AHIDF). Under AHIDF, Rs. 15,000 crore fund has been setup for offering financial support to entrepreneurs, private companies, MSME, FPOs etc.

Notes:
Hilsa, the pricey fish has been caught in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand for the first time in three decades. The fish lives in the seas but spawns in the rivers.
This has been witnessed after the gates and fish locks of Farakka barrage were changed to allow the upstream migration of the fish. Hilsa or ilish, has been the favourite gift to Indian leaders from the Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. It depleted after the Farakka barrage was constructed in the Murshidabad district of West Bengal and nets were put on the Bangladesh side.

Notes:
Tripura has initiated steps to promote commercial cultivation of Agar, by launching the ‘Tripura Agar Wood Policy 2021’. It aims to double agar wood plantation by 2025
The state has over 50 lakh Agar trees in the state and has a potential of agar trade of Rs 2000 crore. Agar is used in perfumeries and other industries. Agar Chips and Agar Oil have high demand in the market. Under the policy, testing labs and trade centres would be set up and new technology for artificial inoculation would be introduced.

Notes:
The Oxfam International recently released a report titled ‘Inequality Report 2021: India’s Unequal Healthcare Story’.
As per the report, the states attempting to reduce existing inequalities between the general category and SC and ST populations had lower confirmed cases of Covid-19, such as Telangana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. Also, states that have had higher GDP expenditure on health, such as Assam, Bihar and Goa, have higher recovery rates of Covid cases.

Notes:
Union Minister for Minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has been appointed as the deputy leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha.
Naqvi takes over from Piyush Goyal who has been elevated as the leader of the house in the Upper House. Naqvi is a former minister of state for parliamentary affairs minister, and is well versed in Parliamentary affairs. Former leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, Thawarchand Gehlot has been named as Governor of Karnataka.

Notes:
Russia has delivered the commercial offer for delivery of 21 MiG-29 fighters to India, which would be commissioned to the Indian Air Force.
The decision to procure 21 MiG-29 fighters from Russia was made by India’s council for defense purchases in the year 2020. Presently, Indian Airforce has three squadrons of the MiG-29s, which are operational.

Notes:
The United States President’s “nuclear football” or the Presidential Emergency Satchel is said to contain the codes needed for a nuclear strike. One such briefcase nearly came within range of rioters storming the US Capitol on January 6, this year.
The Pentagon’s watchdog said that it would evaluate the safety protocols surrounding the issue and find if it were “lost, stolen or compromised.” Any nuclear strike order would be confirmed and processed only by the Military.

Notes:
A finger-sized fossil of a ’Microsaur’ from 308 million years ago has been unearthed in the United States.
The research finds a new species called a microsaur, which were small, lizard-like animals that roamed the Earth before proper dinosaurs made their appearance. The study gives more data on the evolution of different animal groups, including amphibians and reptiles.

Notes:
A pair of rare Chrysilla volupe spiders was recently spotted at Puttenahalli lake in Kerala. The Chrysilla volupe was believed to be extinct for 150 years, until it was discovered at the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) in 2018.
The spider belongs to the family of jumping spiders (Salticidae). Male spiders are 5.44 mm long including stretched legs and 1.76 mm wide. They have a upper skin in reddish orange colour with two shining blue stripes. Females measure 2.61 mm long and 0.88 mm wide, and have a greyish upper skin with grey eyebrows with yellow legs.