Daily Current Affairs Quiz: August 18,2021

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

• The Pakistan Army successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile Ghaznavi.
• The Ghaznavi missile can strike targets up to 290 kilometres and is capable of carrying both nuclear as well as conventional warheads.
• The training launch was aimed at ensuring the operational readiness of Army Strategic Forces Command (ASFC) and re-validating technical parameters of the weapon system

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

• The Indian Navy has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) First Bank to initiate ‘Honour FIRST’.
• ‘Honour FIRST’ is a premium banking solution for serving personnel and veterans of the Indian Navy. Designed especially keeping in mind the needs of the Armed Forces and its veterans, the Honour FIRST Defence Account is supported by a dedicated team of defence veterans.
• The MoU for Honour FIRST was signed at the Naval Headquarters in New Delhi between Commodore Neeraj Malhotra, Commodore – Pay and Allowances, Indian Navy and IDFC FIRST Bank’s senior officials.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

• The upcoming Tokyo Paralympics will witness the largest ever Indian contingent being sent, with 54 para-sportspersons participating across 9 sports disciplines.
• The 54-member Indian contingents were given a formal and virtual send-off on August 12, 2021, by Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur
• The 2020 Summer Paralympics Games are scheduled to be held in Tokyo, Japan from August 24 to September 05, 2021.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

• Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has launched an online portal named TAPAS (Training for Augmenting Productivity and Services) to provide filmed lectures/courses and e-study material in the field of social defence.
• TAPAS is the initiative of the National Institute of Social Defence (NISD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The course can be taken up by anyone and is free of cost.
• TAPAS seeks to provide access to lectures by subject experts, study material and more, but in a manner that it supplements the physical classroom without compromising on the quality of teaching.
• The main objective of introducing the course modules, is to impart training and enhance the knowledge and skills for the capacity building of the participants. It can be taken up by anyone who wishes to enhance his or her knowledge on the topics and there is no fee for joining

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

• World Health Organization (WHO) has created a new advisory group named, The International Scientific Advisory Group for Origins of Novel Pathogens, or SAGO.
• The function of SAGO will be to systematically study the emergence of future emerging pathogens with pandemic potential, and advise the development in this regard to WHO.
• WHO has made an open call for nominations to SAGO from the member countries, thus providing a transparent foundation for the new scientific advisory group. The group will also work towards finding the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

• Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani will shortly tender his resignation, as the government has surrendered to the Taliban forces, which entered Kabul and sought the unconditional surrender of the central government.
• Following this, a new interim government has been announced, which is likely to be headed by Ali Ahamd Jalali, a US-based academic.
• President Ashraf Ghani fled the country as the Islamist terrorists entered the city, he wanted to avoid bloodshed, while hundreds of Afghans desperate to leave flooded Kabul airport.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

• India’s first Drone Forensic Lab and Research Center has come up in Kerala. The Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan was inaugurating the State police department’s ‘Drone Forensic Laboratory’ at the Kerala State Police CyberDome.
• Cyberdome is a technological research and development centre of the Kerala Police Department.
• The centre will help in keeping a watch over unauthorized drones and also for the production of drones for the use of the police force. This lab-cum-research centre will look into both utility and threat aspects of a drone.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

• The Reserve Bank of India has cancelled the license of Raigad based Karnala Nagari Sahakari Bank Limited in Maharashtra.
• As informed by the Reserve Bank of India, the license of Karnala Nagari Sahakari Bank was cancelled due to insufficient capital and earning prospects and its continuance would have adversely affected depositors.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

• The 20-year-old Chess player Harshit Raja from Pune, Maharashtra has become the 69th Grandmaster of India in Chess.
• He achieved the feat of becoming the GM at Biel Masters Open 2021 where he drew his game against Dennis Wagner to get his final GM norm with one round to spare.
• Grandmaster (GM) title is awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE and is the highest title a chess player can attain.