Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

Notes:
Uzbekistan played host to the ‘Central South Asia connectivity conference 2021’. It is also called as the Tashkent Connectivity Conference.
On the side lines of the conference, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Tashkent and discussed the situation in Afghanistan amidst the withdrawal of US forces from the country. The Minister also inaugurated the IT room of India-Uzbekistan Entrepreneurship Development Centre.

Notes:
Scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IITH) have developed COVIHOME, an artificial intelligence-powered Covid-19 test kit for self-testing at home.
As per the team, the kit can produce Covid test results within 30 minutes at home, for both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. This Artificial Intelligence-powered kit is affordable and is also approved by ICMR.

Notes:
The Ministry of Tourism has formulated a Draft National Strategy and Roadmap for Development of Rural Tourism in India – An initiative towards Atmanirbhar Bharat.
The Ministry has also invited feedback from all the State Governments/UT Administrations regarding the policy. The strategy focusses on new ideas like Digital technologies, Developing clusters among others. It has also identified Rural Circuit as one of the thematic circuits under Swadesh Darshan Scheme.

Notes:
A 53-year-old veterinarian in China is the first known human case of an extremely rare viral infection known to infect monkeys, called monkey B virus.
The virus most commonly infects macaque monkeys, and it is rarely seen in humans. There have been just 50 human cases of the virus reported since it was discovered in 1932, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Monkey B virus belongs to a family of viruses called herpesviruses while Monkeypox virus belongs to a family of viruses called orthopoxviruses

Notes:
Russia has invited India for the first time to the Russia-US-China Troika Plus meet on Afghanistan. The meeting aims to discuss the role of Taliban and the future of the landlocked country, among other issues.
As per media reports, Iran has also been invited for the meeting. Pakistan and representatives from Afghanistan are also expected to take part in the meeting.

Notes:
The O.P. Jindal Global University has organized the World Universities Summit 2021 (WUS 21), titled “Universities of the Future: Building Institutional Resilience, Social Responsibility and Community Impact’ today”.
The event was inaugurated by the Vice-President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu. This summit has brought academicians and technical experts of more than 25 Countries onto a common platform.

Notes:
Rasmi Ranjan Das, a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, has been appointed as member of the UN tax committee for the 2021 to 2025 term
A group of 25 tax experts from around the world are appointed as members of the UN tax committee, formally known as the UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters. It aims to guide the efforts of countries to adopt stronger tax policies.

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:
World’s first 3D-printed steel bridge was opened to the public in Amsterdam recently. It was developed by MX3D, a Dutch robotics company, in collaboration with a team of experts.
The bridge was unveiled by Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands. The bridge was developed for four years and was installed over one of the oldest canals in Amsterdam’s city centre – the Oudezijds Achterburgwal. This bridge represents a major milestone for 3D-printing technology.

Notes:
India’s chief hydrographer Vice Admiral Vinay Badhwar received the Alexander Dalrymple award by the British government, in recognition of his works in areas of hydrography and nautical cartography.
The award has been named after the first hydrographer of the British Admiralty and was instituted in 2006. Vice Admiral Badhwar was conferred with the award in 2019 but the award ceremony was held recently, due to the pandemic.