Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

Notes:
Microblogging platform Twitter announced to shut down its Fleets feature from August 3. The reason for discontinuing is its failure to attract more users.
Twitter introduced the disappearing stories feature in November last year, similar to Instagram. Unlike normal Tweets, Fleets disappear after 24 hours and do not get Retweets, Likes, or public replies, and people can only react to the Fleets with Direct Messages.

Notes:
A rare case of monkeypox was detected in Texas, in the United States, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Monkeypox belongs to the same family of viruses as smallpox. It induces flu-like symptoms, swelling of the lymph nodes and rashes. Scientists have discovered two distinct genetic groups of monkeypox virus—Central African and West African. The first case of monkeypox in humans was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Notes:
NASA recently announced that its new spacecraft, named NEA Scout (Near-Earth Asteroid Scout) has completed all required tests and has been safely tucked inside the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
NEA Scout is one of several payloads that will ride on Artemis I, which is expected to be launched in November. Artemis I will be an uncrewed test-flight of the Orion spacecraft and SLS rocket. Under the Artemis programme, NASA has aimed to land the first woman on the Moon in 2024.

Notes:
The Tamil Nadu Forest Department is to develop a standard operating procedure for the capture and release of wild elephants based on science and best practices.
As per the state officials, the process of kraaling and training an adult into captivity could be generally tortuous and scientifically not well-established. Kraaling involves capture of the animals by closing them in a stockade (kraal). The Asian elephant species in Tamil Nadu is declining to an alarming level, and so they propose the wild elephants should be sent back to the breeding population.

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:
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:
Gwalior and Orchha cities from Madhya Pradesh have been selected by UNESCO under ‘Historic Urban Landscape Project’.
The project was started in the year 2011, for the inclusive and well-planned development of fast-growing historical cities. Six cities of South Asia, including Ajmer and Varanasi in India are already involved in this project. Orchha and Gwalior have been included as the seventh and eighth cities.

Notes:
WHO launched its first Regional Status Report on Drowning Prevention in the South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions.
As per the report, nearly two-thirds of global drowning deaths occur in the Asia Pacific. Drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide, at 7 per cent of all injury-related deaths. Low and middle-income countries account for more than 90 per cent of unintentional drowning deaths.

Notes:
Border Roads Organisation (BRO) Director General virtually conducted the last blast of escape tube of the Sela Tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh, which is under-construction.
This blast will enable its faster completion, as per the Defence Ministry notification. The tunnel is being constructed to provide all-weather connectivity to Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh through the Balipara-Charduar-Tawang Road.

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.