Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

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:
Startup India Showcase is an online discovery platform for the most promising startups of the country.
As per a recent data from the Union Commerce Ministry, as many as 104 startups from different sectors have been registered on the Startup India Showcase platform. In the platform, the promising start-ups, chosen through various programmes, are exhibited in the form of virtual profiles.

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:
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:
The New Generation Akash Missile (Akash-NG), which is India’s advanced Surface-to-air missile has been recently tested by the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) at its Integrated Test Range (ITR) off the Odisha coast.
This missile system has been designed and developed by the DRDL, Hyderabad.

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:
The Energy and environment ministers meeting of the G20 countries, hosted by Italy was held at Naples. This meeting has assumed significant importance since it has been convened 100 days ahead of the UN Climate conference – COP 26 at Glasgow.
But this meeting has been criticized since the member nations have failed to agree on the wording of key climate change commitments in their final communique.

Notes:
The Quality of Life (QoL) survey, based on a WHO questionnaire and additional tools, was conducted between May and June 2021 among Indian adults in several cities. It marks the launch of fifth year of Protein Week.
As per the survey, nearly 46.2 per cent of adults in India lead a poor quality of life. While Kolkata recorded the highest percentage of adults (65 per cent) with poor QoL score, Mumbai topped the list with high score. The Protein Week is celebrated annually between July 24-30, by Danone India in collaboration with CII.

Notes:
As of February 2026, India’s foreign exchange reserves totaled USD 717.064 billion. Foreign currency assets comprised USD 570.053 billion, making it the largest component. Gold reserves accounted for USD 123.476 billion. Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were USD 18.821 billion, while the reserve position with the IMF stood at USD 4.715 billion. FCAs are held in major international currencies.

Notes:
Bangladesh is set to create its own social media platform called ‘Jogajog’ as an alternative to Facebook, as per the country’s Ministry for Information and Communication Technology.
It is also set to create an app called ‘Alapon’ for WhatsApp. Through this Jogajog app, the entrepreneurs of the country will be able to create their own online marketplace. The ministry successfully created ‘Boithok’ app as an alternative to Zoom online and ‘Surokkha App’ for vaccine registration.