Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

Notes:
Pune-based Serum Institute of India will produce the Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V in India. From September.
The Russian RDIF (Russian Direct Investment Fund) announced that SII has already received cell and vector samples. As their import approved by the Drug Controller General of India, the cultivation process has started.

Notes:
Union Minister Piyush Goyal was appointed as the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, filling the vacancy created by Thaawarchand Gehlot, who is now the Governor of Karnataka.
Piyush Goyal, who is a Rajya Sabha member from Maharashtra, is in charge of several Ministries including Commerce and industry, Consumer affairs, food and public distribution, and Textiles. The Leader will play a key role in ensuring the smooth functioning of the House and better coordination with all parties.

Notes:
The Centre has taken complete control of the district mineral foundation (DMF) funds. It has rejected the states’ right to sanction or approve any expenditure out of the funds accrued from mandatory contribution from mining lease holders.
Under Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana, The DMFs are required to use these funds for the welfare of persons and areas affected by mining-related operations. The tribal population are the main targeted beneficiaries.

Notes:
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully conducted the third long-duration hot test of the Vikas Engine – the liquid propellant engine to be used for India’s human mission to space, the Gaganyaan.
The engine would be used at the core L110 liquid stage of GSLV Mk III rocket for the Gaganyaan mission.

Notes:
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) approved the inclusion of the Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC) scheme in Master Plan 2021. This will facilitate budget rental housing for poor and migrant workers living in urban areas in the Capital.
ARHC scheme was given the Cabinet approval in July 2020, with an aim to provide affordable rental housing for migrant workers.

Notes:
Defence Ministry Rajnath Singh launched an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered grievance management application.
It is developed by Ministry of Defence with the help of IIT-Kanpur. This is also the first AI based system developed to improve grievance redressal in the Government. The AI tool can understand the content of the complaint and can identify repeat complaints or spam automatically. It can categorise complaints of different categories and enables geographical analysis of complaints.

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:
Jacob Zuma was the President of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. After being charged for corruption, he became the first South African president since the end of white-minority rule in 1994 to receive a prison sentence.
This arrest has triggered looting and violence in the two most populous provinces of the country, Gauteng and Kwa-Zulu-Natal. A record wave of Covid-19 infections is also grappling the country. The Current President of South Africa is Cyril Ramaphosa. Over 25,000 troops have been deployed to silence the violence.

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:
A 11-year-old boy from Haryana died at Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), after he was infected with the H5N1 virus.
The virus is also called ‘Avian influenza’ or ‘bird flu’. This is believed to be the first case of H5N1 among humans in India, and the first bird flu death this year. According to the World Health Organization, ‘avian influenza’, or ‘bird flu’, is a type of influenza virus that causes a highly infectious, severe respiratory disease in birds.