Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2021

Notes:
Indian Army procured Dragunov sniper rifles from Russia in the 1990s. The rifles have fallen behind contemporary snipers used across the world.
Recently, Russia agreed to offer the Indian Army, a comprehensive upgrade of the Dragunov sniper rifle. They are in service with almost all frontline battalions of the Army. A demonstration is also being planned to showcase improved accuracy of the modified guns.

Notes:
India’s state-owned energy major NTPC Ltd, has anchored a two-day international workshop on Green Hydrogen. Global experts from Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) had registered their participation in the event.
All the participants shared their professional views on green hydrogen and shared the latest developments going in their countries in this field.

Notes:
Maritime State Development Council (MSDC) is an apex advisory body formed in 1997, for the development of the Major and non-Major Ports.
Recently, Union Minister of State (I/C) for Port, Shipping and Waterways Mansukh Mandaviya chaired the 18th meeting of MSDC through a video conference. He highlighted that the ‘Indian Port Bill 2021’ will ensure optimum management and utilization of the coastline.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announces the periodical data on Household financial savings. As per the preliminary estimates released by the RBI recently, household financial savings fell for the second consecutive quarter to 8.2% of the GDP in the third quarter of 2020-21.
The ratio of household deposits to GDP also declined to 3% in the third quarter from 7.7% in the previous quarter.

Notes:
CEOS COAST, a multinational project, stands for Committee on Earth Observation Satellites-Coastal Observations, Applications, Services, and Tools.
The project is co-led by ISRO and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from the US. It aims to improve the accuracy of coastal data based on satellite and land-based observations. The project has been recently endorsed by International Oceanographic Commission (IOC).

Notes:
An international group of archaeologists have discovered the remains of new human species near the city of Ramla, Israel.
As per the study, these prehistoric remains could not be matched to any known species from the Homo genus, which includes modern humans – Homo sapiens. The ‘Nesher Ramla Homo’ population is estimated to have lived in and around Israel from about 420,000 to 120,000 years ago.

Notes:
Guillain-Barre Syndrome is a rare neurological disorder, in which the body’s immune system attacks its own protective coatings on nerve fibres.
This syndrome was first reported in Europe and the UK among some patients who undertook AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccine, but such a probability is found to be small. The syndrome may start with extreme weakness that can eventually paralyse the entire body. The vaccine is traded as Covishield in India, which also reported some cases.

Notes:
Scientifically referred to as Hylocereusundatus, the dragon fruit is called as ‘Kamalam’ in India, due to its resemblance to a lotus flower.
Recently, India exported its first consignment of the Dragon Fruit sourced from the farmers of Sangli district, Maharashtra to Dubai, as per the announcement from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Notes:
The world’s biggest mobile event of the year Mobile World Congress (MWC), began in hybrid form on June 28 in Barcelona, a city in Spain.
Last year, the event got cancelled due to high number of cases of Covid-19. Top Brands like Google, Nokia, Xiaomi, Facebook and Sony are not attending this year’s in-person event. MWC Barcelona, is an annual event focused on innovations in telecom industry, hosted by GSMA.

Notes:
Rosatom is the Russian state-owned nuclear power corporation. This company is in news recently because the corporation has commenced the construction of a fifth reactor building at India’s Kudankulam nuclear power plant, in Tamil Nadu.
The proposed nuclear reactor is said to be one of the most advanced reactors in the world and would be built with state-of-the-art technologies.