Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

Notes:
The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully flight tested indigenously developed low weight, fire and forget Man-Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM).
The DRDO also successfully flight tested the New Generation Akash Missile (Akash-NG), a surface to air missile, from Integrated Test Range (ITR) off the coast of Odisha.

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:
State owned PSU – Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) would build the country’s first ‘green hydrogen’ plant at its Mathura refinery. This is a part of the company’s plan to produce cleaner forms of energy.
Mathura has been selected by virtue of its proximity to TTZ (Taj Trapezium Zone).

Notes:
NASA and the Canadian space agency are building a telescope named the Superpressure Balloon-borne Imaging Telescope or SuperBIT. It is said to be the successor to the Hubble telescope.
As per recent media reports, a stadium-sized helium balloon is going to be used to lift up the telescope, which is to be sent to the upper levels of the earth’s atmosphere. It has been designed by the University of Toronto, Princeton University and Durham University in England together, in conjunction with NASA and the Canadian Space Agency.

Notes:
Gwalior and Orchha cities from Madhya Pradesh have been selected by UNESCO under ‘Historic Urban Landscape Project’.
The project was started in the year 2011, for the inclusive and well-planned development of fast-growing historical cities. Six cities of South Asia, including Ajmer and Varanasi in India are already involved in this project. Orchha and Gwalior have been included as the seventh and eighth cities.

Notes:
Bhilar, a village in Maharashtra’s Satara district, was declared a ‘village of books’ by the State government in 2017.
India’s second village of books, has been set up in the small Kerala village, Perumkulam, five kilometres from the Kottarakkara town in Kollam district. A library has been started in memory of Mahatma Gandhi, to promote readers from the village to read more books.

Notes:
Meghalaya Cabinet approved the Meghalaya Youth Policy 2021. Drafted by the Sports and Youth Affairs Department, Government of Meghalaya, the final policy is to be notified soon.
The Meghalaya state Government has fixed a target of transforming the state to be amongst the top 10 states in 10 years in GSDP per capita and SDG ranking. 45 programmes would be implemented and would be measured by 54 performance monitoring indicators. These indicators have been mapped to 10 departments and is planned to measured quarterly, bi-annually and annually.

Notes:
NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), to provide launch services for Europa Clipper Mission. It is the Earth’s first mission to conduct detailed investigations of Jupiter’s moon Europa.
The mission will launch in October 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

Notes:
According to the third annual report on periodic labour force survey (PLFS), conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO) between July 2019-June 2020, the unemployment rate fell to 4.8% in 2019-20.
The unemployment rate in 2018-19 was 5.8% and in 2017-18 was 6.1%. Labour indicators recorded an increase in 2019-20, as compared to previous years.

Notes:
Indian Naval Ship Tabar arrived at St Petersburg to participate in the 325th Navy Day celebrations of the Russian Navy.
INS Tabar is a Talwar-class stealth frigate and is a part of the Indian Navy’s Western Fleet, based at Mumbai under the Western Naval Command. During the stay at St Petersburg, the crew of Tabar will participate in various bilateral interactions with the Russian Navy.