ANSWER: B
WHY IN NEWS?
Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has started its celebrations of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ to commemorate 75 years of Independence of India.
About:
Award presented by BRO
BRO recently facilitated the Gallantry Award Winners and War Heroes on August 07, 2021 at Pipalkoti & Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand and Chandmari in Sikkim. The ceremony was organised by Project Hirak of BRO at Pithoragarh. On the occasion, tokens of appreciation were awarded to next of kin of Shaurya Chakra awardees namely, EEM Prem Singh, Naik Chandra Singh, Driver Ram Singh and DME Damar Bahadur. At a separate ceremony at Pipalkoti, Project Shivalik by BRO felicitated next of kin of Major Preetam Singh Kunwar.
Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav
It is a series of events, organised by Government of India to commemorate 75th Anniversary of India’s Independence. Mahotsav will be celebrated as a Jan-Utsav in the spirit of Jan-Bhagidari. ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ was launched 75 weeks before August 15, 2020. The event will continue till August 15, 2023.
Border Roads Organisation (BRO)
BRO is a road construction executive force of India, providing support to Indian Armed Forces. BRO is a part of Indian Armed Forces that develops and maintains road networks across border areas and friendly neighbours of India. It carries infrastructure operations across 19 states and three union territories as well as neighboring countries like Bhutan, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Tajikistan and Sri Lanka.
ANSWER: B
WHY IN NEWS?
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare have informed Rajya Sabha about National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA).
About NICRA:
Objectives of NICRA:
Components: The Project is composed of Four Components:
ANSWER: D
WHY IN NEWS?
India will be calling for bids for the largest global tender for a 13 gigawatt-hours (GWh) grid-scale battery storage system in Ladakh Region.
What are Battery Storage Systems?
What is the need for a large scale Battery Storage Project in Ladakh?
Importance of Battery Energy Storage Systems for India:
ANSWER: A
WHY IN NEWS?
Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force which guards the Line of Actual Control (LAC) along the India-China border has commissioned its first two women officers in combat after they completed their training here.
Women in ITBP:
About ITBP:
ANSWER: A
WHY IN NEWS?
Neeraj Chopra, a 23-year-old javelin thrower, created history on August 7, 2021 by winning Gold Medal in men’s javelin throw final at Tokyo Olympics 2020. This was the first time, he participated in the Games.
About:
How he won?
Neeraj Chopra threw the javelin at 87.03m in his first throw. He bettered the throw with 87.58m but couldn’t go any further. He could manage four legitimate throws of 87.03m, 87.58m, 76.79m and 84.24. Though, Fourth and fifth throws were disqualified.
India’s 1st medal at Olympics
International Olympic Committee credits Norman Pritchard’s 200m and 200m hurdles silver medals in 1900 Paris Olympics to India. However, various researches and records of the IAAF (now World Athletics) shows that, he had competed for Great Britain. Pritchard was not an Indian and India first participated in Olympic under a national Olympic body in 1920.
Who is Neeraj Chopra?
He is an Indian track and field athlete competing in javelin throw. He has become the first track and field athlete to win an Olympic gold medal for India and second Olympic athletics to win for India after Norman Pritchard, who won two silver medals at 1900 Summer Olympics for India. He was inducted as Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) in Rajputana Rifles of Indian Army in 2016. He made his debut at 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2018 Asian Games, where he was the opening flag-bearer. In both the games, he won gold medals.
ANSWER: B
WHY IN NEWS?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to launch the second edition of the government’s free LPG connection scheme called Ujjwala.
About:
Second edition of the scheme would be launched from poll-bound Uttar Pradesh on August 10.
How Ujjwala-2 is different than Ujjwala-1?
Ujjwala-2 is the updated version of Ujjwala-1 that provided free LPG connections to 8 crore women beneficiaries. Apart from a deposit-free LPG connection, Ujjwala-2 will provide the first refill and a hotplate free of cost to beneficiaries. Further, the enrolment procedure under second edition of the scheme has been eased. Minimum paperwork will be required for enrolment.
About Ujjwala-2 scheme
Under the Ujjawala-2 scheme, migrants will not be required to submit ration cards or address proof to get the LPG cylinders. A self-declaration would be used as “family declaration” and as “proof of address.
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)
PMUY scheme was launched in 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The scheme was originally launched to distribute 50 million LPG connections to women below poverty line. Later it was expanded to provide LPG connections to eight crore women by March 2020. This target of providing LPG connections to eight crore women was achieved in September 2019, seven months prior to the target date. Recently in Union Budget 2021, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced to extend the benefits under the scheme to additional one crore beneficiaries.
ANSWER: B
WHY IN NEWS?
Delhi’s first “Animal DNA Laboratory” was set up at Forensic Science Laboratory in Rohini. Wildlife forensics is a new field of criminal investigation.
About:
Earlier, animal samples used to be sent to other States with animal DNA testing facilities to test results. Sometimes, this process delayed investigations. The animal DNA lab also procured two machines namely, automate DNA extraction instrument and Real-Time PCR instrument which is based on mitochondrial DNA technology.
How this DNA lab will help police?
The animal DNA laboratory will be used by Delhi Police for timely disposal of cases of cow slaughter, illegal trade of animals and other such animal-related cases. Forensic lab analyses evidence from any part of the animal, such as blood and tissue samples, hair, teeth, carcasses and bones contents. Laboratory will be used to examine and identify the animal species of meat products, frozen meat packing, slaughter cases etc.
How DNA samples are used?
Experts analyse DNA to provide information regarding the identity of sample. DNA tests will be used for identification and characterisation of relationships between animals. It will also evaluate two different samples in order to determine if the animals are originated from same individual.
Challenge before forensic scientist
Primary challenge that any forensic scientist witness is identification of a particular species from crime scene evidence. It gets difficult for scientist to distinguish if piece of flesh is found at crime scene is from a protected animal or if it from non-protected animal. New DNA lab will address this challenge.
ANSWER: C
WHY IN NEWS?
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in a study found that, mixed Covid immunisation routine, with a dose of Covishield followed by one of Covaxin, is safe and produces a better immune response as compared to the uniform two doses of any of the two vaccines.
About:
How study was conducted?
ICMR Study followed 18 Uttar Pradesh residents who inadvertently received mixed doses, when vaccination plan was expanded. It also followed 40 recipients each of Covishield and Covaxin. However, the sample size of 18 participants was small. Therefore, a larger trial was needed to corroborate findings of the study.
WHO on mixed doses
Chief scientists of World Health Organization had recently advised individuals against mixing and matching COVID-19 vaccines from different manufacturers and said that, such decisions should be left to public health authorities. In June 2021, WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on vaccines however noted that, Pfizer Inc vaccine could be used as second dose following the initial dose of AstraZeneca, if the latter is not available. But final words on mixed doses is yet to come from WHO.
ANSWER: D
WHY IN NEWS?
India is to get its sixth Covid-19 vaccine soon as drug firm Zydus Cadila’s needle-free Covid-19 vaccine called ‘ZyCoV-D’ is all set to get emergency use authorisation (EUA) approval.
About:
Who will authorise the vaccine in India?
Company applied for emergency use authorisation (EUA) with office of the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for plasmid DNA vaccine called ZyCoV-D..
New Facility for manufacturing
A new facility to manufacture ZyCov-D was set up at July end to produce vaccine at scale. Zydus Cadila has invested Rs 400 crore to Rs 500 crore to develop this vaccine.
Efficacy of the vaccine
In the interim analysis, Zydus Cadila is found to be 66.6 percent efficient for symptomatic RT-PCR positive cases. No moderate case of COVID-19 disease was observed after administering third dose. It suggests, 100 percent efficacy against moderate disease. Further, no severe cases or deaths due to occurred after second dose of this vaccine
ANSWER: C
WHY IN NEWS?
Amid the ongoing covid-19 pandemic and approaching typhoon, Tokyo Olympics 2020 was finally concluded on August 8, 2021. Japanese capital pulled the curtains down on one of the most unique Games in history and handed over the flame of hope to Paris.
About:
Flame of hope or the flag was passed to Paris with the message of moving forward. It also remembered those who lost their lives to Covid-19 pandemic.
What is Flame of Hope?
Flame of Hope is the symbol of Special Olympics Games. It is used much in same spirit as the Olympic Flame is used at the Olympic Games. The Flame of Hope is lit during traditional ceremony in Athens, Greece. After lighting, it is relayed on foot towards the organizing city by the members of law enforcement agencies comprising of mostly policemen and policewomen along with Special Olympics athletes. The relay, officially the Law Enforcement Torch Run, is the flagship of international fundraising effort.
2018 flame of hope
Flame of Hope was memorialized by Chicago Park District in 2018 that erected the 30 foot “Eternal Flame of Hope” to honor the Special Olympics.
Special Olympics
Special Olympics is world’s largest sports organization for children and adults with disabilities. It provides them a year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners across 172 countries. Special Olympics competitions are held every day across the world including local, national and regional competitions. Special Olympics organization is also recognized by International Olympic Committee on the line of Paralympic Games. However, Special Olympics World Games are not held in the same year or in conjunction with the Olympic Games
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