Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

Notes:
Kármán line is the most widely accepted boundary of space, which is 100km above mean sea level. But the United States uses 80km as the edge of space. It was named after aerospace veteran Theodore von Kármán.
Recently, British businessman Richard Branson reached the edge of space, to promote space tourism. But experts are in doubt whether he has really touched the official edge of space. While Branson’s Virgin Galactic flight reached a height of 86km, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin flight is expected to fly above 106km.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the International Cooperation and Convention Centre – Rudraksh in Varanasi. It has been constructed with the financial assistance from Japan.
The objective of the project is to provide opportunities for social and cultural interactions between people at the international convention centre. It is said to be an environment-friendly building, fit for level 3 of Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA).

Notes:
Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana launched a new scheme called ‘FASTER’ or ‘Fast and Secure Transmission of Electronic Records’.
Under the scheme, the Supreme Court will instantly transmit bail and other orders to the jail authorities, district courts and the High Courts. This will be done in a secure way electronically. As per the present practice, hard copy of the bail order received by hand mandated.

Notes:
Aadhimalai Pazhangudiyinar Producer Company and Snehakunja Trust are the two Indian institution among the 10 awardees of the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) Equator Prize 2021.
This is a biennial award to recognize community efforts for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. Aadhimalai Pazhangudiyinar Producer Company Limited is a 1,700-member cooperative, run by indigenous people from the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in Tamil Nadu. Snehakunja Trust has protected wetland and coastal ecosystems in the Western Ghats and the Karnataka coast.

Notes:
July 18 is celebrated as Nelson Mandela International Day marking his birth date. He is known and remembered all over the world for his efforts to promote peace and reconciliation.
He became the first Black President of South Africa and was awarded the Noble Prize for Peace in the year 1993. The South African anti-apartheid revolutionary served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.

Notes:
The United States of America, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan have in principle agreed to form a quadrilateral tie (QUAD), to boost their diplomatic relationship among the countries.
The tie is aimed to establish a long-term peace in Afghanistan leading to financial and political stability. The parties have proposed to expand the trade relationship among 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:
Taipei is the capital city of Taiwan and has New Taiwan dollar as its official currency. The Government of Taiwan has proposed to establish its first office in Lithuania, a European Nation, using its own name “Taiwan”.
All the other diplomatic outposts are operational under the name “Taipei”. This move is set to have angered China and has been welcomed by the USA.

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.