Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

Notes:
Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Jairam Gadkari announced that the Government had signed loan agreement with the World Bank to develop Green National Highway Corridors (GNHCP).
The project includes upgradation of about 781 km length of various National Highways passing through the states of Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Out of total length of 781 km, work on 287.96 km with an outlay of Rs. 1664.44 cr. has been awarded. The project is estimated to be completed by December, 2025.

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:
Ariel Henry was recently appointed as the new Prime Minister of Haiti, amid political turmoil caused by the assassination of President Jovenel Moise.
Ariel Henry, a neurosurgeon and former cabinet minister was chosen as Prime Minister by the President, days before he was assassinated at his home. Ariel Henry will lead the nation until a new President is chosen in an election scheduled in September.

Notes:
Jeff Bezos – the founder of Amazon owns the privately funded space agency Blue Origin. The agency’s spaceship named “New Shepard” has made a successful trip to space and back to earth, with Jeff Bezos and three others on board.
The booster rocket touched down seven minutes after lift-off and the capsule containing the astronauts landed back to earth after 10 minutes after lift-off.

Notes:
The Hong Kong’s legislature has proposed legislation on tackling “doxxing behaviour”. This legislation, if implemented, is feared to have a huge impact on technology giants operating in the country.
It is also said that such legislation could be used by the people in power, targeting civil society.

Notes:
The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) is an intergovernmental cooperation among 6 nations namely – India, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. It was established in the year 2000 to boost diplomatic cooperation among these countries.
Recently, the 11th Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) meeting was organized, and India was represented by the External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.

Notes:
Border Roads Organisation (BRO) Director General virtually conducted the last blast of escape tube of the Sela Tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh, which is under-construction.
This blast will enable its faster completion, as per the Defence Ministry notification. The tunnel is being constructed to provide all-weather connectivity to Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh through the Balipara-Charduar-Tawang Road.

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.

Notes:
U.S. President Joe Biden authorized up to $100 million from an emergency fund to meet the emergency refugee needs caused from the situation in Afghanistan, including for Afghan special immigration visa applicants.
The funds will support those applying to the Special Immigrant Visas programme. Under the programme as many as 20,000 Afghans who worked for the US and now fear retribution from the Taliban have applied.

Notes:
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has modified rules for extending loans to directors of other banks and relatives of directors.
As per the amendments, banks can extend personal loans up to ₹5 crore to directors of other banks and directors’ relatives other than spouses without board approval. The earlier limit for such loans was ₹25 lakh. The regulations apply to directors, including the CMD of other banks, any firm in which they are interested as a partner or guarantor, or any company in which they hold interest.