Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

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:
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:
The Union Minister for Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar has launched a digital portal named “Kisan Sarathi”. Using this platform, farmers can get the right information at the right time, in the language of their choice.
Using the portal, farmers can avail personalised advisories from respective scientists of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs).

Notes:
New Zealand is the revolving host of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. It is headquartered in Singapore.
Recently, New Zealand chaired an extraordinary meeting ahead of a formal meeting in November. US President Joe Biden, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and other world leaders met virtually. They discussed on collective actions to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic impacts.

Notes:
The State Government of Kerala has amended its Dowry Prohibition rules and is set to appoint ‘Dowry prohibition officers’ in all 14 districts of the state.
This move has been made on the backdrop of rising number of dowry related complaints in the state. The district women and child development officers would act as dowry prohibition officers in each district.

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:
There are 135 Centrally Protected Monuments/Sites in Andhra Pradesh. Monuments at Nagarjunakonda, Budhhist Remains at Salihundam and Veerabhadra Temple have been identified as ‘Adarsh Smarak’ in Andhra Pradesh.
The Government provides additional facilities at Adarsh Smarak including Wi-Fi, Cafeteria, Brail signages, etc. Fort at Gandikota has been included in Government’s Adopt-a-Heritage scheme.

Notes:
UNESCO has removed the Liverpool city of the United Kingdom from its World Heritage status. This decision was taken after the UN Committee found some developments threatening the value of the city’s waterfront.
UNESCO had announced that the developments, including the proposed Everton FC stadium, had resulted in serious deterioration of the historic site. Liverpool is only the third site to lose its World Heritage status since the list began in 1978, the others being Oman’s Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in 2007 and the Dresden Elbe Valley in Germany in 2009.

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 Government of India has sought an approval from the Parliament of India, for additional spending of Rs.23,675 crore for the financial year 2021-22. Of this, Rs.17,000 crore would be for additional expenditure to be made by the Union Health Ministry.
The bill for approval of additional expenditure was tabled in the Parliament by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.