Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

Notes:
India has recently opposed a move by developed countries at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to scrap subsidies for fishermen.
India demanded a balance between current and future fishing needs of developing countries as well as effective special and differential treatment (S&DT). India justifies its opposition that it wants to subsidies for low-income, resource-poor fishermen while developed countries see this as a distortion in global fish markets.

Notes:
The US Senate has recently passed a legislation to ban the import of products from China’s Xinjiang region, as the US has been condemning China for genocide against Uyghurs and other Muslim groups.
Called as the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act, it assumes goods manufactured in Xinjiang are made with forced labour and therefore banned under the 1930 Tariff Act, unless otherwise certified by US authorities. The current rule bans the import of goods if there is reasonable evidence of forced labour.

Notes:
The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has set up an expert committee to recommend strategy for the development of Longevity Finance Hub.
As per Global estimates, there are one billion people in the silver generation, (which describes individuals aged 60 years and older) with a combined spending power of USD 15 trillion. The hub aims to tap the potential in the sector. It is co-chaired by Kaku Nakhate, Bank of America, and Gopalan Srinivasan, Ex-CMD, New India Assurance.

Notes:
The Union Minister for Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar has launched a digital portal named “Kisan Sarathi”. Using this platform, farmers can get the right information at the right time, in the language of their choice.
Using the portal, farmers can avail personalised advisories from respective scientists of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs).

Notes:
Tripura has initiated steps to promote commercial cultivation of Agar, by launching the ‘Tripura Agar Wood Policy 2021’. It aims to double agar wood plantation by 2025
The state has over 50 lakh Agar trees in the state and has a potential of agar trade of Rs 2000 crore. Agar is used in perfumeries and other industries. Agar Chips and Agar Oil have high demand in the market. Under the policy, testing labs and trade centres would be set up and new technology for artificial inoculation would be introduced.

Notes:
Union Minister for Minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has been appointed as the deputy leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha.
Naqvi takes over from Piyush Goyal who has been elevated as the leader of the house in the Upper House. Naqvi is a former minister of state for parliamentary affairs minister, and is well versed in Parliamentary affairs. Former leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, Thawarchand Gehlot has been named as Governor of Karnataka.

Notes:
Jeff Bezos – the founder of Amazon owns the privately funded space agency Blue Origin. The agency’s spaceship named “New Shepard” has made a successful trip to space and back to earth, with Jeff Bezos and three others on board.
The booster rocket touched down seven minutes after lift-off and the capsule containing the astronauts landed back to earth after 10 minutes after lift-off.

Notes:
The Government of India has sought an approval from the Parliament of India, for additional spending of Rs.23,675 crore for the financial year 2021-22. Of this, Rs.17,000 crore would be for additional expenditure to be made by the Union Health Ministry.
The bill for approval of additional expenditure was tabled in the Parliament by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

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 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.