Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

Notes:
The cabinet of Assam has decided that no new cases will be registered against the Gorkha community in the state at the Foreigners’ Tribunals and already registered cases will be withdrawn. Assam chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that no Gorkha citizen will be prosecuted under the Citizenship Amendment Act 1955. According to the organisation representing Gorkhas there are around 25 lakh Gorkhas in Assam.

Notes:
With the passage in Rajya Sabha, Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Bill, 2021 got approval of both houses of Parliament on August 4, 2021. Earlier, on July 29, the Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha. The Bill paves the way for privatisation of a small loss-making airport by clubbing it with a larger airport. The amendment bill proposes to modify the definition of a major airport under the AERA Act 2008. The objective is to pair the smaller non-profitable airports with profitable airports as a combination/package to bidders to make it a viable combination for investment under PPP (public-private partnership) mode.

Notes:
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is implementing, through States/Union Territories, “Support to Urban Street Vendors (SUSV)”, as a component of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Urban Livelihood Mission (DAY-NULM) Scheme. It aims to address the livelihood concerns of the urban street vendors by facilitating access to institutional credit, suitable spaces, social security, etc.

Notes:
Indian Bank has partnered with NSRCEL (N S Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning), the entrepreneurship Centre of Excellence at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B) to provide funding for identified start-ups under Indian Bank’s ‘Ind Spring Board’ Scheme. In the year 2020, Indian Bank had launched ‘IND Spring Board’ in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology Madras Incubation Cell to provide a credit facility of Rs 50 crore to Start-Ups.

Notes:
A study by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) involving 98 people, 18 of whom had inadvertently received Covishield as first dose and Covaxin as the second in Uttar Pradesh, showed that combining these two Covid-19 vaccines elicited better immunogenicity than two doses of the same vaccine. The study is titled ‘Serendipitous COVID-19 Vaccine-Mix in Uttar Pradesh, India: Safety and Immunogenicity Assessment of a Heterologous Regime.’

Notes:
The International Day of Indigenous Peoples was celebrated on August 9, 2021 with its theme: ‘Leaving no one behind: Indigenous peoples and the call for a new social contract.’ There are over 476 million indigenous peoples living in 90 countries across the world, accounting for 6.2% of the global population. Indigenous peoples are the holders of a vast diversity of unique cultures, traditions, languages and knowledge systems.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 8, 2021 announced a National Edible Oil Mission-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) to make India self-sufficient in cooking oils, including palm oil, as he stressed on reducing the dependence on imports. He said over Rs 11,000 crore will be invested in the edible oil ecosystem. India is dependent on imports of edible oil to meet the domestic demand. Of the total imports, palm oil constitutes about 55%.

Notes:
Commonwealth Secretariat has released the Global Youth Development Index measuring the condition of young people across 181 countries. The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is responsible for facilitating co-operation between members; organising meetings, including the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGM); assisting and advising on policy development; and providing assistance to countries in implementing the decisions and policies of the Commonwealth.

Notes:
Equitas Small Finance Bank has launched ‘Equitech’ – a fintech accelerator programme aimed at the start-up ecosystem. The programme, designed to scale-up, will help fintechs to curate their products and define a go-to-market strategy. The primary aim of Equitas is to provide start-ups legal and regulatory support through the venture capitalists and the experts of the bank. To enrol in Equitech the fintech start-ups should have at least 2 full time members along with team members and it must present an innovative idea. Also, this start-up should be incorporated at least 6 years before the date of applying.

Notes:
National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) is to be developed as an international tourist destination. It will be dedicated to the legacy of maritime heritage of India, at Lothal in Gujarat. It will showcase maritime heritage of India from ancient to modern times. It seeks to create an edutainment approach (meaning education with entertainment) for the interest of visitors. It will cover an area of 400 acres comprising of structures like Heritage Theme Park, National Maritime Heritage Museum, Maritime Institute, Lighthouse Museum, eco-resorts etc. It will also comprise of pavilions where all coastal states of India and union territories can showcase artifacts and maritime heritage. NMHC will recreate the ancient Lothal city, a prominent city and port of ancient Indus valley civilization.