Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

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 Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD), Government of India has setup Dairy Investment Accelerator under its Investment Facilitation Cell.
It aims to promote and facilitate investments in the Indian Dairy sector. Dairy Investment Accelerator is also generating awareness among investors about Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development fund (AHIDF). Under AHIDF, Rs. 15,000 crore fund has been setup for offering financial support to entrepreneurs, private companies, MSME, FPOs etc.

Notes:
Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Jairam Gadkari announced that the Government had signed loan agreement with the World Bank to develop Green National Highway Corridors (GNHCP).
The project includes upgradation of about 781 km length of various National Highways passing through the states of Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Out of total length of 781 km, work on 287.96 km with an outlay of Rs. 1664.44 cr. has been awarded. The project is estimated to be completed by December, 2025.

Notes:
The Asian Development Bank, headquartered in the Philippines, has released the Asian Development Outlook (ADO).
The report has downgraded India’s economic growth for the financial year 2021-22 to 10 per cent from its earlier projection of 11 per cent. This downgrade is on account of the severe impact of Indian economy due to wave 2 of COVID 19 pandemic. The projection for 2022-23 is upgraded from 7 per cent to 7.5 per cent.

Notes:
The International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach has announced that the Australian city of Brisbane has been selected to host the 2032 Summer Olympics.
The Games of the 35th Olympiad are awarded to Brisbane, Australia. With this, Australia has become the second country after the United States to host the Olympic Games in three different cities. Before this, Melbourne had hosted Olympics in 1956 and Sydney in 2000.

Notes:
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a high-strength beta titanium alloy. This has been developed indigenously for manufacture of intricate aerospace components like slat/flap tracks, landing gear.
Key features of the alloy are good forgeability and high strength-to-weight ratio, which would provide excellent weight reduction.

Notes:
A finger-sized fossil of a ’Microsaur’ from 308 million years ago has been unearthed in the United States.
The research finds a new species called a microsaur, which were small, lizard-like animals that roamed the Earth before proper dinosaurs made their appearance. The study gives more data on the evolution of different animal groups, including amphibians and reptiles.

Notes:
The Russian Multipurpose Research Module (MLM) named the Nauka has been launched into space, towards the International Space Station.
This module is intended to service the Russian segment of the International Space Station. This is said to be the largest Russian component of the ISS.

Notes:
Bhilar, a village in Maharashtra’s Satara district, was declared a ‘village of books’ by the State government in 2017.
India’s second village of books, has been set up in the small Kerala village, Perumkulam, five kilometres from the Kottarakkara town in Kollam district. A library has been started in memory of Mahatma Gandhi, to promote readers from the village to read more books.

Notes:
The Government of India has launched a dedicated portal for children who have been orphaned due to COVID 19 pandemic. Anyone can share the details of such children in this portal, in turn help them to be benefited by the PM CARES Scheme.
The portal can be accessed at www.pmcaresforchildren.in.