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:
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:
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:
The Government of India has hiked the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in pension fund management under the national pension system (NPS) from 49% to 74%. This move is expected to make more players available in this sector.
Presently the 4 out pension fund managers of NPS – HDFC Pension Management, ICICI Prudential Pension Funds, Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund and Aditya Birla Sun Life have significant foreign investments in them.

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:
Russian aircraft makers unveiled a prototype of the stealth fighter dubbed “Checkmate”, as per the statement from Rostec, the state-owned military giant which is responsible for exporting Russian technology.
The sneak peek of the new fifth-generation lightweight single-engine fighter jet, was unveiled to the Russian President Vladimir Putin. With a combat radius of 1,500 kilometers and seven tons of combat load, this unique fighter prototype has not been developed before in Russia.

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:
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:
Sohra, also known as Cherrapunjee, is a high-altitude town in the northeast Indian state of Meghalaya.
The Union Home Minister Amit Shah, launched the Green Sohra Afforestation Campaign at Sohra. Amit Shah also inaugurated the Greater Sohra Water Supply Scheme. This afforestation campaign will be run by the Meghalaya Government with the help of Assam Rifles.