Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

Notes:
Pakistan and Russia have signed an agreement for construction of a 1,100-km gas pipeline from Port Qasim in Karachi to Lahore. This project is commonly named as North-South Gas project and is also called the Pakstream Gas Pipeline Project.
A special purpose vehicle has been formed between Pakistan and Russia, with a shareholding of 74:26 per cent.

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:
The Tamil Nadu Forest Department is to develop a standard operating procedure for the capture and release of wild elephants based on science and best practices.
As per the state officials, the process of kraaling and training an adult into captivity could be generally tortuous and scientifically not well-established. Kraaling involves capture of the animals by closing them in a stockade (kraal). The Asian elephant species in Tamil Nadu is declining to an alarming level, and so they propose the wild elephants should be sent back to the breeding population.

Notes:
The Asian Development Bank, headquartered in the Philippines, has released the Asian Development Outlook (ADO).
The report has downgraded India’s economic growth for the financial year 2021-22 to 10 per cent from its earlier projection of 11 per cent. This downgrade is on account of the severe impact of Indian economy due to wave 2 of COVID 19 pandemic. The projection for 2022-23 is upgraded from 7 per cent to 7.5 per cent.

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:
Rural teacher-turned-politician Pedro Castillo became the winner of Peru’s presidential election. He is said to be the first peasant to become the President of the country,
He defeated right-wing politician Keiko Fujimori, who was backed by traditional elites, by just 44,000 votes. Peru is the world’s second-largest copper producer and its economy is devastated by the coronavirus pandemic, increasing the poverty level to almost one-third of the population.

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 Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a high-strength beta titanium alloy. This has been developed indigenously for manufacture of intricate aerospace components like slat/flap tracks, landing gear.
Key features of the alloy are good forgeability and high strength-to-weight ratio, which would provide excellent weight reduction.

Notes:
Union Government is implementing Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Padhati (BPKP) as a sub scheme of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) since 2020-21.
It aims to promote traditional indigenous practices. The scheme focusses on exclusion of all synthetic chemical inputs and promotes on-farm biomass recycling. Under BPKP, financial assistance of Rs 12200 per hectare for 3 years is provided for cluster formation.

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.