Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

Notes:
The U.S. government has recently unveiled an online hub for the victims of ransomware attacks, www.StopRansomware.gov.
This will help the companies and municipalities to find resources and get assistance if they are targeted by cyber hackers. The government also announced it will pay a reward up to $10 million to the person who can provide useful tips to track down cyber criminals who are backed or directed by foreign governments.

Notes:
Julia Ducournau’s Titane has been adjudged as the best movie and has been awarded the Palme d’or award, at the 74th Cannes Film Festival. She becomes the first female director in 28 years, whose movie has made it to the prestigious award.
Prior to this, it was Jane Campion who was the female director, whose movie ‘The Piano’ made it to the top list in 1993.

Notes:
IRCON / Indian Railway Construction Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Indian Railways, which is involved in engineering & construction.
The company has built the Jayanagar – Kurtha Railway between India and Nepal under the India – Nepal friendship rail project at a cost of Rs. 619 crores. The project is financed by the Government of India.

Notes:
As on June 25, 2021, India’s forex reserves stood at US$ 608.99 billion, making India the fifth largest foreign exchange reserves holder in the world. China, Japan, Switzerland and Russia are ahead of India in the list of largest forex reserves holdings.
India’s forex reserves comprise of Foreign Currency Assets, Gold, Special Drawing Rights and Reserve Tranche Position (RTP) in IMF.

Notes:
Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE) is the World Chess Federation, headquartered at Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on July 20, 1924 and has as many as 195 member countries.
To commemorate the formation of FIDE, World Chess Day is celebrated on July 20, every year since 1966. The day encourages more people to play and enjoy the game of chess. Chess originated in India, moved to Persia and spread across the Southern Europe.

Notes:
China has launched a high-speed train that works on magnetic levitation (maglev), which is designed to achieve a top speed of 600 kmph. This is stated to be the world’s fastest ground vehicle.
This project was launched by China in the year 2016 and the prototype was made ready in the year 2019. The model was tested in 2020 and now it is made operational.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet approved the establishment of a central university in Ladakh, at a cost of Rs 750 crore.
The jurisdiction of this university will cover the regions of Leh and Kargil. The Education Ministry is expected to bring two amendments to the Central Universities Act, 2009 for this matter. The government has identified a location near village Khaltsi, which is located between Leh and Kargil.

Notes:
The Assam Cabinet announced that Gaon Buras, village-level functionaries of the district administration, will hereefter be called ‘Gaon Pradhans’.
The British appointed the oldest person in the village as the head, who would oversee matters relating to land and revenue. They were called as ‘Gaon Bura’ in Assam. As several youngsters are becoming the village-level functionaries, Bura (meaning Old in Assamese) has been replaced.

Notes:
The Government of India has proposed to establish 42 virology research and diagnostic laboratories across the country, at a total cost of Rs324 crore. These would be established during the 15th Finance Commission period of 2021-22 to 2025-26.
These would be established through a scheme under the Department of Health Research (DHR), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Notes:
UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific, which is headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand has recently released a Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation. Under this evaluation 143 countries have been scored on 5 key indicators.
India has scored 90.32 per cent for the year 2021 as against its score of 78.49 per cent in 2019. In terms of transparency, India scored 100 per cent in 2021.