August 2nd Week 2021 Current Affairs Online Test English

Explanation

• “World Day against Trafficking 2021” was observed on July 30 by the ‘United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’. The theme of 2021 was “Victims’ voices lead the way”.
• This theme was set to raise awareness about the importance of interacting with the survivors of human trafficking. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is an international organisation or agency that was founded in 1997. It is headquartered in Vienna (Austria). Its parent organisation is United Nations Secretariat.

• NISAR (NASA–ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) which is a joint mission of ISRO and NASA is proposed to be launched in 2023. It is focusing on making global measurement of land surface changes using advanced radar imaging. The information was given by Jitendra Singh, Earth Sciences Minister.
• NISAR Satellite will be the first satellite to use dual frequencies. It will be used for remote sensing. It will be also used for global observations over all land masses including the Polar cryosphere and the Indian Ocean region i.e., it will help in understanding the natural processes of the Earth.

Explanation

• A 13–day mega military exercise between Indian and Russian army is scheduled to be organised from August 1 at Volgograd city located in Russia. The name of the Joint military exercise between Indian and Russian army is INDRA. The exercise is the 12th edition of INDRA and it is named “INDRA–21”.
• The military exercise will help in strengthening the bilateral security cooperation and will serve to reinforce the longstanding bond of friendship between India and Russia.

Explanation

• 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.  The Headquarter of USAID is in Washington D.C. (USA). It was founded on 3 November 1961 by John F. Kennedy.

Explanation

• 3rd Arctic Science Ministerial Meeting, 2021 was organised by Japan and Iceland. It was virtually hosted by Japan.
• The meeting was organised for discussing research and cooperation in the Arctic region. The theme of the meeting was “Knowledge for a Sustainable Arctic”.

Explanation

• Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) Amendment Bill was introduced on July 29, 2021 in the Lok Sabha by Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of Civil Aviation. The Bill proposes to modify the definition of major airport under the AERA Act 2008. It paves the way for privatisation of a small loss–making airport by clubbing it with a larger airport. It will also help in accelerating the UDAN regional connectivity.

Explanation

• 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.

Explanation

• Kangra painting is the pictorial art of Kangra, Himachal Pradesh. Kangra painting evolved as a unique form of art under the reign of the rulers of the former princely state, Kangra.
• But without government patronage, this unique art is getting unpopular slowly and its almost dying. To make the art popular again, Kangra Arts Promotion Society has experimented in producing a commerial form of Kangra art that could help sustain artists. They have decided to adorn sarees with Kangra painting.

Explanation

• Deepak Tilak, the president of the Lokmanya Tilak Trust recently announced that Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla, chairman of Serum Institute of India (SII) will be honoured with the prestigious “Lokamanya Tilak Award 2021”. He will be awarded for his contribution towards the society by manufacturing Covisheild and hence helping in saving many lives during the coronavirus pandemic.
• Lokmanya Tilak National Award was started in 1983. The award is annually given on August 1, the death anniversary of Lokmanya Tilak.

Explanation

• On August 1, “Muslim Women Rights Day” was observed across the country for the first time. This day was observed to celebrate the enactment of the law against ‘Triple Talaq’ for completing its two years.  
• According to Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Minister of Minority Affairs, the Government enacted the law against Triple Talaq on 1st August, 2019 and this law made the social malpractice of Triple Talaq as a criminal offense.

Explanation

• P V Sindu is the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals. She won her first Olympic medal, which was a silver medal, at Rio Olympics 2016. She won a bronze medal at Tokyo Olympics 2021 after defeating He Bing Jiao of China. PV Sindhu belongs to Hyderabad, Telangana.
• Her Personal coach is Park Tae Sang and the national coach of Badminton is Pullela Gopichand.  She got Padma Bhushan Award in 2020. She has been also awarded with Pamda Shri (2015), Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2016 and Arjuna Award in 2013.

Explanation

• Government of India has appointed Deepak Das as the new Controller General of Accounts (CGA) of India. CGA comes under the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance. Deepak Das is the 25th CGA. He is a 1986–batch Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) officer.
• He earlier served as the Principal Chief Controller of Accounts in the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

Explanation

• All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to conduct study on ‘Ashwagandha’ for promoting recovery from Covid–19. Clinical trials will be conducted on 2000 participants in three U.K. Cities: Birmingham, Leicester and London.

• A virtual meeting “BRICS Counter Terrorism Working Group” was oraganised recently on July 28–29 under the chairmanship of India. It was the 6th meeting of the BRICS Counter Terrorism Working Group. 
• The main outcome of the meeting was the finalisation of the BRICS Counter Terrorism Action Plan containing specific measures for the implementation of the BRICS Counter Terrorism Strategy adopted by BRICS leaders in 2020.

Explanation

• Sanjeev Kishore has been appointed as the new General Manager of South Western Railway (SWR). Earlier, he served as Additional Member (Production Units) of Railway Board. South Western Railway is one of the 18 Railway zones in India. It is headquartered at Hubballi in Karnataka state. It was carved out from Southern Railways and South–Central Railways in 2003.

Explanation

• CSIR – Central Scientific Instruments Organisation, Chandigarh developed a personal reading machine “Divya Nayan” for visually impaired people. In this device, any printed or digital document can be accessed in the form of speech output. User can place the device over the document to be read and manually scan it.
• The image is converted into text, text is converted to speech and audio with the help of language dependent optical character. Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) was established by the Government of India in September 1942. It is an autonomous body and has emerged as the largest research and development organisation in India. The institute was founded by Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar.

Explanation

• India ranks Fourth among the top 20 countries which is contributing to biological databases. Union Minister Jitendra Singh released the “Biotech–PRIDE Guidelines. The term PRIDE means “Promotion of Research and Innovation through Data Exchange”.
• It has been developed by Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology. These guidelines will enable exchange of information to promote research and innovation in different research groups across the country. The Indian Biological Data Center (IBDC) will initially implement these guidelines. Other existing datasets/data centers will connect to this IBDC called BioGrid.

Explanation

• Britain won a gold medal recently at the Tokyo Olympics in a mixed 4x100m medley relay event which is a Swimming event. Four British swimmers including male and female both participated in the mixed 4x100m medley relay and they finished first by taking total time duration of 3:37.58s. They set a world record by finishing the event in this time duration. The four swimmers who set this world record are Kathleen Dawson, Adam Peaty, James Guy and Anna Hopkin.

Explanation

• The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has set up a committee after receiving the proposals from the government of Puducherry and Sri Lanka to start the passenger shipping between Karaikal Port (Puducherry) and Kankesanthurai Port (Sri Lanka). A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between India and Sri Lanka in 2011.

Explanation

• India, which has been elected as a non–permanent member of the Security Council recently, will serve as its president for the month of August, 2021. India, Norway, Ireland, Mexico and Kenya were elected as the non–permanent members of the 15–nation–UNSC for a two–year term beginning January 1, 2021.
• Tunisia will begin 2021 as the President of the Council in January. It will be followed by each of the members in turn for one month, as per the English alphabetical order of the name of member states.

Explanation

• Emma Mckeon became the first female swimmer to win seven medals in a single Olympic event. She won seven medals at the Tokyo Olympics. She belongs to Australia. She had broken the Olympic record twice in the Tokyo Olympic. She completed the 50m freestyle event in 24.02 seconds and set a world record and then again broken this record by completing the 50m freestyle in 24 seconds.
• Emma Mckeon joins Michael Phelps, Matt Biondi and Otto, as the only swimmers to win five or more golds at one Games/event.

Explanation

• Nelliyode Vasudevan Namboothiri was a Kathakali artist. He belonged to Kerala. He was a scholar in Sanskrit and Hindu Puranas and was a recipient of several awards including Kendra Sangeet Natak Akademi, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi award, Kerala State Kathakali Prize etc.

Explanation

• The first orchid conservation centre of North India has been inaugurated in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. The main purpose of the conservation centre is to conserve orchid species and create ventures for tourism and livelihood for local people.
• Orchid is a flowering plant and its scientific name is Orchidaceae. All orchid species are protected under CITES. CITES was enforced on 1 July, 1975. Ivonne Higuero is the current Secretary–General of CITES. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Explanation

• Sanjeev Singh, who is a specially–abled (Divyang) cricketer, composed and sung the theme song of India for the Tokyo Paralympics. The theme song “Kar De Kamaal Tu” was launched by Anurag Thakur, the Sports Minister of India. In the Tokyo Olympics, a record number of 54 athletes from India will participate in nine sports disciplines.

Explanation

• Nikol Pashinyan, the chairman of the Civil Contract Party has been re–appointed as the Prime Minister of Armenia. He was first appointed as the Prime Minister in 2018. President Armen Srkissian approved Pashinyan’s candidacy for the post of Prime Minister of Armenia. 
• Armenia is a country in Asia. It lies in the mountainous Caucasus region between Asia and Europe. Yerevan is the capital of Armenia and Armenian dram is its currency.

Explanation

• India started its two–year tenure as non–permanent member of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on January 1, 2021. India is holding the presidency of UNSC for August and Narendra Modi has become the first Prime Minister to chair an open debate at UNSC.
• India has been a member of UNSC in 1950–51, 1967–68, 1972–73, 1977–78, 1984–85 and 1991–92 earlier. UNSC was created after World War II when league of Nations failed to maintain world peace. The first session of UNSC was held on January 17, 1946. It is among six principal organs of United Nations and is tasked with ensuring international peace and security.

Explanation

• Chen Yufei won the gold medal in women’s singles badminton at Tokyo Olympics on August 2, 2021. She defeated Taiwan’s Tai Tzu ying 21–18, 19–21, 21–18 to capture the title. She is a Chinese badminton player. She won the girls’ singles junior titles at the 2016 Asian and the World Junior Championships. In 2017, she was awarded the “2017 Most Promising Player of the Year”.

Explanation

• Viktor Axelsen won the gold medal in men’s singles badminton at Tokyo Olympics on August 2, 2021. He belongs to Denmark. He defeated Chen long of china who won the gold medal in 2016 Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  Viktor Axelsen is the 2017 World Champion and the gold medalist of 2020 Summer Olympics.
• He became the first European player to won the World Junior Championship. He defeated Kang Ji–wook of Korea in 2010 and won the World Junior Championship.

Explanation

• Suicide cases due to unemployment have increased by 24% in 2019 as compared to 2016. As per the data of NCRB, Karnataka registered the maximum number of suicides (553) due to unemployment in 2019. Karnataka is followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
• National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) is an Indian agency which collects and analyses crime data in accordance with the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special Local Laws (SLL). NCRB was set up in 1986. It is headquartered in New Delhi and works under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). IPS Ramphal Pawar is the current director of NCRB.

Explanation

• The Indian men’s hockey team has claimed an Olympic medal after 41 years, beating Germany 5–4 to claim the bronze in the ongoing Olympic Games on 5th August, 2021.  It is India’s third hockey bronze medal in the history of the Olympics. The other two came in 1968 Mexico City and the 1972 Munich Games.

Explanation

DefExpo–2022 is scheduled to be held from 11–13 March, 2022 in Gandhinagar (Gujarat). Ministry of Defence organises Military exhibitions in form of the Defence Expo and the Aero India every two years. DefExpo is basically the land and naval systems show of the Defence Ministry. The last edition of the DefExpo was held in Lucknow. Before 2014, It was used to be organised only in New Delhi.

Explanation

• At the Tokyo Olympics 2020, Elaine Thompson becomes the first woman to retain 100m and 200m Olympic Titles. She is from Jamaica. She is a four–time Olympic champion. She set a national and Olympic record of finishing 100m (women’s category) race in 10.61 seconds. She is the second–fastest woman in the 200metres with a time of 21.53 seconds. Griffith–Joyner of the United States of America is considered as the fastest woman.

Explanation

• Lovlina Borgohain became the 3rd Indian boxer after Vijender Singh and Mary Kom to win a bronze medal at the Olympics. She won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. She belongs to Golaghat (Assam). She also won a bronze medal at the 2018 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championship and the 2019 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. She became the 6th person from Assam to get the Arjuna Award.

Explanation

• Harpoon is an all–weather, over–the–horizon, anti–ship missile system. The United States of America has approved the sale of one Harpoon Joint Common Test Set (JCTS) along with the related equipment to India for an estimated cost of USD 82 million.
• This will help in improving India’s capability to meet current and future threats. The principal contractor of the deal will be Boeing Company which is headquartered in Chicago, USA.

Explanation

• On 6th August, 2021, a bill seeking to establish a central university in the Union Territory of Ladakh was passed in the Lok Sabha. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, in his brief statement about the Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2021, said that every year, around 7,000 students go out of Ladakh for education and with the establishment of the central university around 2,500 students will get the opportunity to study there. The Sindhu central university will be established at a cost of Rs 760 crore.

Explanation

• A parliamentary group recommended re–negotiating the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan to address the impact of climate change on water supply in the basin and other challenges not covered by the agreement. 
• On 5th August, 2021, the Standing Committee on Water Resources tabled the report before the Lok Sabha. According to the Indus Waters Treaty which was signed by India and Pakistan in 1960, all waters of the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers are allocated to India for unrestricted use. Most of the waters of the western Indus, Jhelum and Chenab rivers are allocated to Pakistan.

Explanation

• On 7th August, 2021 the Textile Ministry has celebrated the 7th National Handloom Day. On this day the handloom weaving community will be honoured for their contribution in the socio–economic development of India. Three Handloom Craft Villages at Mohpara Village, District Golaghat in Assam, Kovalam in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, and Kanihama, Budgam in Srinagar are being set up by the Ministry in collaboration with the respective State governments.

Explanation

• On 7th August, 2021, Dr. Virendra Kumar, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment has launched ‘PM–DAKSH’ Portal and ‘PM–DAKSH’ Mobile App.
• This portal and app have been developed by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, in collaboration with NeGD, to make skill development schemes accessible to the target groups of Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and Safai Karamcharis. From the year 2020–21 the Pradhan Mantri Dakshta Aur Kushalta Sampann Hitgrahi (PM–DAKSH) Yojana is being implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Explanation

• Indian Visual Artist & Illustrator Anand Radhakrishnan has won the 2021 Eisner Award for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art). He shared the award with UK based colourist John Pearson for “Blue in Green,” a graphic novel authored by Ram V.  Eisner Award is named after graphic novel legend Will Eisner and this award is known as the “Oscar of the comic field” and is presented in 32 categories.

Explanation

• Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam programme was launched by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin in Samanapalli village in Krishnagiri on Thursday to deliver essential healthcare at the doorstep of the people. Under this scheme those above 45 years of age and others with infirmities will be screened through routine door–to–door check–ups and detect non–communicable diseases that are also seen to cause sudden mortalities and impact the quality of life.

Explanation

• The Tokyo 2020 Games were declared closed by IOC chief Thomas Bach on August 8, 2021. The Olympic flag was passed to Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo for the 2024 Games at the Tokyo closing ceremony.
• The United States topped the tally with 39 gold medals, just one ahead of China. Host Japan finished third with 27 golds followed by Great Britain with 22 and the Russian Olympic Committee, the team for Russian athletes after their country was banned for systematic doping, were fifth with 20. India finished 48th with 1 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals.

Explanation

• The 8th Justice Ministers meet 2021 of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting was hosted by Tajikistan (2021 SCO Presidency). Union Minister for Law & Justice, Kiren Rijiju participated in the 8th Justice Ministers Meeting 2021 of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) held at Tajikistan virtually.
• The meeting was chaired by M K Ashuriyon, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Tajikistan. SCO is celebrating its 20th Anniversary under the slogan ‘20 years of SCO: Cooperation for Stability and Prosperity’. The next meeting will be held in Pakistan in 2022.

Explanation

• PM Narendra Modi has chaired UNSC High–Level Open Debate on “Enhancing Maritime Security” Stressing on enhancing maritime security. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for peaceful settlement of disputes as per international law. PM Narendra Modi is the first Indian PM to chair UNSC meet.

Explanation

• The United Nations has declared 2021 as the International Year of Peace and Trust, the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development, the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables, and the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour. Also, the Catholic Church has proclaimed 2021 as the Year of Saint Joseph.

Explanation

• A bill seeking to abolish as many as nine appellate tribunals, including the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT), was approved by Parliament with the Rajya Sabha passing the proposed legislation on August 9, 2021. The Tribunals Reforms Bill, 2021, was approved by Lok Sabha on August 3.
• All cases pending before such tribunals or authorities will be transferred to the Commercial Court or High Court. The legislation also provides for uniform terms and conditions of service for chairperson and members of various tribunals.

• The Assembly of Tamil Nadu will witness its first ever paperless budget session, with P.T.R. Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, State Finance Minister set to present the revised budget for 2020–21 on 13th August. This will be Tamil Nadu’s first e–budget.

Explanation

• Madras High Court has revoked a law that was passed by the state government of Tamil Nadu which banned online games like poker, rummy and other skill–based games that involve stakes.
• Quashing an amendment on the Tamil Nadu Gaming Act that banned online games, the court stated that complete ban on online games is disproportionate and irrational.

Explanation

• The Government of India has approved development of 11 Industrial Corridors with 32 Projects which will be developed in four phases around the country as part of the National Industrial Corridor Programme (NICP).
• These include: DMIC: Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor, CBIC: Chennai Bengaluru Industrial Corridor, Extension of CBIC to Kochi via Coimbatore, AKIC: Amritsar Kolkata Industrial Corridor, HNIC: Hyderabad Nagpur Industrial Corridor, HWIC: Hyderabad Warangal Industrial Corridor, HBIC: Hyderabad Bengaluru Industrial Corridor, BMIC: Bengaluru Mumbai Industrial Corridor, VCIC: Vizag Chennai Industrial Corridor, OEC: Odisha Economic Corridor and DNIC: Delhi Nagpur Industrial Corridor

Explanation

• India is ranked 122nd on a new Global Youth Development Index measuring the condition of young people across 181 countries, released by the Commonwealth Secretariat in London on 10th August. 
• Singapore ranked topmost while Niger came last. The index ranks countries between 0.00 (lowest) and 1.00 (highest) according to the developments in youth education, employment, health, equality and inclusion, peace and security, and political and civic participation. It looks at 27 indicators including literacy and voting to showcase the state of the world’s 1.8 billion people between the age of 15 and 29.

Explanation

• Bearing testimony to the growing defence ties between India and Saudi Arabia, INS KOCHI, the flagship destroyer of Indian Western Naval Fleet, arrived at Port Al–Jubail on August, 2021. The visit by the ship heralds a new chapter in the bilateral defence ties with the commencement of the harbour phase of first Naval Exercise between the two countries – ‘AL–MOHED AL–HINDI 2021’, according to a statement issued by the Indian Embassy in Riyadh.