Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

Notes:
As per the recent data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN children’s agency UNICEF, India recorded the greatest increase in the world in the number of children who didn’t receive the first dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis combined vaccine in 2020.
The data highlights that 23 million children globally missed the basic vaccines through routine immunisation services in 2020, due to disruptions caused by COVID-19.

Notes:
Startup India Showcase is an online discovery platform for the most promising startups of the country.
As per a recent data from the Union Commerce Ministry, as many as 104 startups from different sectors have been registered on the Startup India Showcase platform. In the platform, the promising start-ups, chosen through various programmes, are exhibited in the form of virtual profiles.

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:
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:
Government has permitted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) up to 100 percent under the automatic route for renewable energy projects, including offshore wind energy projects.
Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy, R.K. Singh recently replied in Lok Sabha that Government notified the ‘National Offshore Wind Energy Policy’ in 2015, to provide basic framework for developing offshore wind sector. The Government also enabled private investors to carryout offshore wind resource assessment.

Notes:
Essential Defence Services Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha recently. The Bill empowers the government to declare services mentioned in it as essential defence services.
The Essential Defence Services Bill is aimed at preventing the staff of the government-owned ordnance factories from going on a strike. Around 70,000 people are working at 41 ordnance factories located around the country.

Notes:
Trinamool Congress (TMC) member Santanu Sen was suspended from Rajya Sabha for the rest of the ongoing Monsoon Session for unruly behaviour, after he snatched papers from IT minister Ashwani Vaishnaw while he was reading a statement on Pegasus software.
The Government sought Sen’s suspension under Rule 256 (2). It says a lawmaker, who disregards the authority of the Chair or abuses the rules of the Council, through wilful disruptions can be suspended from the House, for up to the remainder of the parliamentary session, if the Rajya Sabha chairman deems it necessary.

Notes:
Young Indian wrestler Tannu clinched the 43kg title without conceding a single point, in the 2021 Cadet World Championships, held at Hungary, Budapest.
Other two Indians Aman Gulia (48kg) and Sagar Jaglan (80kg) took titles in men’s freestyle competition. Wrestler Priya won the 73kg title with a 5-0 win. India finished on top with 147 points, ahead of USA (143) and Russia (140).

Notes:
The remains of a collapsed underwater volcano, resembling “Eye of Sauron” from the fantasy series “The Lord of the Rings,” have been discovered in the Indian Ocean.
Two other seafloor structures named after places in Tolkien’s Middle-earth were also identified. The eye is actually an oval-shaped depression measuring 6.2 kilometers long by 4.8 km wide. Called as a ‘Caldera’, this giant structure is left over from the ancient collapse of a deep-sea volcano. It is located 280 km southeast of Christmas Island, an Australian external territory, at a depth of 10,170 feet.

Notes:
Bangladesh is set to create its own social media platform called ‘Jogajog’ as an alternative to Facebook, as per the country’s Ministry for Information and Communication Technology.
It is also set to create an app called ‘Alapon’ for WhatsApp. Through this Jogajog app, the entrepreneurs of the country will be able to create their own online marketplace. The ministry successfully created ‘Boithok’ app as an alternative to Zoom online and ‘Surokkha App’ for vaccine registration.