Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

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:
Ganymede is a satellite of Jupiter and is the largest and most massive of the moons present in the Solar System. It is also the ninth-largest object of the Solar System, including the Sun.
The US space agency NASA has recently released a new video in which its Juno spacecraft was seen flying close to Jupiter’s moon Ganymede. The video shows several of the moon’s dark and light regions as well as the crater Tros, one of the largest and brightest crater scars on Ganymede.

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:
The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) is an intergovernmental cooperation among 6 nations namely – India, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. It was established in the year 2000 to boost diplomatic cooperation among these countries.
Recently, the 11th Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) meeting was organized, and India was represented by the External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.

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:
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:
Renowned Marathi poet Satish Kalsekar recently passed away in Maharashtra at the age of 78.
Satish Kalsekar was awarded with Sahitya Akademi Award in the year 2014 for his collection of essays ‘Vachanaryachi Rojanishee’. He had written several popular collections of poems. He worked in several forms of literature and contributed in the various fields including poetry, translation, prose writing and editing.

Notes:
Indian Army Skiing Expedition, ARMEX-21, was recently flagged in by the Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The expedition was conducted in the mountain ranges of the Himalayas with an aim to promote adventure activities in the country.
It commenced at the Karakoram Pass in Ladakh on 10th March and ended on 6th of July at Malari in Uttarakhand. The team covered 1,660 kms in 119 days and travelled through several passes of 5,000-6,500m, glaciers, valleys and rivers.

Notes:
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) launched the first technology innovation hub to find cyber security solutions for anti-drone technologies.
It also provides solutions for intrusion detection system, block-chain and cyber physical system. 13 start-ups and 25 research and development investigators were selected. These start-ups, supported by C3iHub at IIT Kanpur, will innovate in design and development of services and products.

Notes:
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank group, has extended a loan of $250 million to HDFC Bank to boost affordable housing finance in India.
Under the loan agreement, at least 25 per cent of the financing has been allocated for green affordable housing, which is expected to encourage this market in India. India still has an early stage of Green housing market, which needs strengthening.