Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

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:
The remains of a collapsed underwater volcano, resembling “Eye of Sauron” from the fantasy series “The Lord of the Rings,” have been discovered in the Indian Ocean.
Two other seafloor structures named after places in Tolkien’s Middle-earth were also identified. The eye is actually an oval-shaped depression measuring 6.2 kilometers long by 4.8 km wide. Called as a ‘Caldera’, this giant structure is left over from the ancient collapse of a deep-sea volcano. It is located 280 km southeast of Christmas Island, an Australian external territory, at a depth of 10,170 feet.

Notes:
Singapore’s Prime minister Lee Hsien Loong has recently inaugurated a renovated historic Gurudwara, named ‘Silat Road Gurudwara’.
This was featured in this month’s “Mann ki Baat” programme of the Indian PM Narendra Modi. The Silat Road Gurudwara was built in 1924 in Singapore and is the oldest gurudwara in the country. This Gurudwara is dedicated to Bhai Maharaj Singh, who fought against the British in India and is one of the historic sites of the country.

Notes:
Google’s parent company – Alphabet has stated that it would soon launch its new robotics software and artificial intelligence project named Intrinsic. This arm would develop software tools for design of industrial robots, which can be programmed to make everything from solar panels to cars.
This technology is being developed at the Google’s research unit X for the last 5 years.

Notes:
The Lok Sabha recently passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2021. The Bill will replace the IBC Amendment Ordinance 2021 promulgated in April, which introduced pre-packs as an insolvency resolution mechanism for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with defaults up to Rs 1 crore.
Under a pre-packaged process, main stakeholders identify a prospective buyer and negotiate a resolution plan before approaching NCLT.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has launched an integrated portal named Earth System Science Data Portal. This portal would make available various earth related data for the public.
The portal was launched as a part of the 15th Foundation Day celebration of the ministry on 27th July 2021 and has been developed in tune with the Digital India initiative of the Government of India.

Notes:
On the occasion of International Tiger Day, Bhupendra Yadav (Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate change) stated that 14 Tiger reserves of India have received accreditation of the Global Conservation Assured Tiger Standards (CA|TS). The 14 accredited tiger reserves are Manas, Kaziranga and Orang in Assam; Satpura, Kanha and Panna in Madhya Pradesh; Pench in Maharashtra; Valmiki tiger reserve in Bihar; Dudhwa in Uttar Pradesh; Sunderbans in West Bengal; Parambikulam in Kerala; Bandipur in Karntaka and Mudumalai & Anamalai in Tamil Nadu.
CA|TS is a set of criteria that sets best practice and standards to manage tigers and their conservation. It is a globally accepted conservation tool. CA|TS was launched in 2013. It was developed by tiger and protected area experts. It is an important part of T*2 , the global goal to double the number of tigers by 2022. The long term goal of CA|TS is to ensure safe heavens for Tigers.

Notes:
Indore is the India’s Cleanest city. It is now the first Indian city to be selected for the “International Clean Air Catalyst” Programme. The programme/project will run for  5 years with an aim to purify the air of the city. Indore Municipal Corporation and Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board will look after this project.
The International Clean Air Catalyst programme is an initiative by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), WRI and the Environmental Defense Fund to expedite clean air solutions in cities.
USAID will work with its partners and local authorities and communities to identify and raise awareness of local pollution sources and focus on the solutions that will make air cleaner and healthier.
The Headquarter of USAID is in Washington D.C. (USA). It was founded on 3 November 1961 by John F. Kennedy. The administrator of USAID is Samantha Jane Power. She is an American academic, diplomat and government official.

Notes:
Anurag Thakur, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting has announced that a National Centre of Excellence for Animation, Visual effects, Gaming and Comics(CoE) will be set up in collaboration with IIT Bombay. The main objective of the CoE is creating a world-class talent pool in India. The CoE will help in understanding the needs of Indian and Global Industry. Media and Entertainment sector is one of the largest growing sectors in India.

Notes:
UN Food Systems Pre-Summit 2021 was organised recently by United Nations and Government of Italy in Rome. Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare represented India in this Pre-Summit. Narendra Singh Tomar delivered the Ministerial statement which highlighted the importance of Agriculture in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030. Out of 17 SDGs, 12 SDGs are directly dependent on agriculture.