Daily Current Affairs Quiz: August 4,2021

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

• Deepak Das has taken over as the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on August 01, 2021. Prior to assuming charge of CGA, Mr Das served as the Principal Chief Controller of Accounts in the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
• Deepak Das, a 1986-batch Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) officer, is the 25th officer to hold the position of CGA. CGA is the account keeper of the government and derives its mandate from Article 150 of the Constitution.
• It reconciles the cash balance of the centre with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) apart from consolidating monthly accounts; preparing trends of revenue realization and expenditures as well as annual accounts of the central government.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

• Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, Chairman of the Pune-based vaccine maker Serum Institute of India (SII), has been selected for the prestigious Lokmanya Tilak National Award for 2021.
• He has been named for his work during the COVID-19 pandemic, by manufacturing the Covishield vaccine. He will receive the award on August 13. The award comprises a cash prize of Rs one lakh and a memento.
• The Lokmanya Tilak national award is given annually since 1983 on August 1, the death anniversary of Lokmanya Tilak, by the Lokmanya Tilak Trust. However this year the date has been changed due to the coronavirus situation.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

• The World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is marked every year in the first week of August, between 1 to 7 August, to raise awareness on the importance of breastfeeding for mothers and infants.
• The theme of the World Breastfeeding Week 2021 is “Protect Breastfeeding: A Shared Responsibility​”. The annual week is organized by WABA, WHO and UNICEF since 1991.
• Breastfeeding provides every child with the best possible start in life. It delivers health, nutritional and emotional benefits to both children and mothers.
• And it forms part of a sustainable food system. But while breastfeeding is a natural process, it is not always easy. Mothers need support – both to get started and to sustain breastfeeding.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

• Multiple World Masters Championship gold medallist and multiple Asian Masters Championship medallist athlete 105-year-old, Man Kaur passed away.
• She started running and won her first medal in Chandigarh Masters Athletics meet in 2007 before she won the gold in 100 m as well 200 m race in the National Masters Athletics meet in 2011.
• Kaur would become the 100 m and 200 m champion in the World Masters Athletics Championships in the USA and was also adjudged the best athlete.
• But it was her feat of becoming the champion in the 100 m in the 100+ category in the World Masters Athletics Championships in Auckland in 2017, which got her into the limelight.

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

The Minister of Tribal Affairs has inaugurated a ‘Three day National level Virtual Training of Trainers Programme on Forest Rights Act, 2006,’ as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav/Parv.

About National level Virtual Training of Trainers Programme

This Programme on Forest Rights Act will help in enhancing the knowledge base of the Forest Rights Act and ensuring the development of the tribal community.

The themes designed in the program will help in understanding Community Rights, Community Forest Resources, empowering the right holders for forest governance.

• About Forest Rights Act, 2006:
• The Forest Rights Act is also known as Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.
• The act recognizes the rights of the Forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribes(FDST) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers(OTFD), on the forest resources.

Objectives of the Act:

• To undo the historical injustice that occurred to the forest-dwelling communities
• To ensure land tenure, livelihood, and food security of the forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers
• To strengthen the conservation regime of the forests by including the responsibilities and authority of Forest Rights holders for sustainable use, conservation of biodiversity, and maintenance of ecological balance.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

A team of Delhi University researchers has discovered a new frog species in the Western Ghats and has named it “Minervarya Pentali”.

About Minervarya Pentali:

• Minervarya Pentali is a new frog species from the genus Minervarya. It is also among the smallest known Minervarya frogs.
• The species was discovered from the Western Ghats. The species is endemic to the southern Western Ghats.
• The species has been named after former DU Vice-Chancellor and plant geneticist Deepak Pental.

About Minervarya:

• Minervarya is a genus of frogs in the family Dicroglossidae. The identity and taxonomic status of all known members of this genus are from Peninsular India

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Durgapur has inaugurated a “Naturally Ventilated Polyhouse Facility” and laid the foundation stone of “Retractable Roof Polyhouse” at Ludhiana in Punjab

Background:

• Farmers face a number of problems such as excessive or insufficient cold, heat, rain, wind, and other factors associated with insufficient transpiration.
  • Transpiration is the biological process by which water is lost in the form of water vapour from the aerial parts of the plants.
• Crop loss, in the country due to insects and pests, is about 15% at present, and it may increase as climate change lowers the plant defence system against insects and pests.
• To some extent, these problems can be overcome by a conventional polyhouse.

About Conventional Polyhouse:

• A conventional polyhouse has a stationary roof to reduce the effect of weather anomalies and pests.
• However, roof covering leads to excessive heat and insufficient light (early morning) to the crops.
• Besides, they are also prone to insufficient levels of CO2, transpiration, and water stress.
• Hence, a combination of open-field conditions and conventional polyhouse conditions is a more effective.

About Retractable Roof Polyhouse Technology:

• Retractable Roof Polyhouse Technology is an all-weather structure.
• It has an automatic retractable roof that will be operated based on weather conditions and crop requirements from the conditional database using a PLC software

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog has successfully completed two month long and a first of its kind, digital skills and an exclusive entrepreneurship ATL Tinkerpreneur summer boot camp held across the country.

About ATL Tinkerpreneur:

• ‘Tinkerpreneur’ is the name derived from the phrase ‘enabling students to tinker from the comfort of their homes and become an entrepreneurthis summer’.
• Hence, ATL Tinkerpreneur was a bootcamp focussed on cultivating a hands-on innovative mindset among students.It was designed for high school students across the nation,
• The Bootcamp enabled the participants to develop a business idea and create an end-to-end strategy for setting up a new venture.
• Over the course of the bootcamp, the participants learnt the required digital skills, created and developed a business model around a digital product, generated a marketing plan, developed/established online store, learnt business finance and culminated it by presenting their pitch deck in front of Industry experts.

About Atal innovation mission(AIM)

• AIM was set up by NITI Aayog in 2016 to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship by creating institutions and programs that enhance innovation in schools, colleges, and entrepreneurs in general.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

The Prime Minister has launched the SAFAL assessment framework and Vidya Pravesh Scheme on the first anniversary of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

About SAFAL:

• SAFAL stands for Structured Assessment for Analysing Learning.
• Purpose: It is a competency-based assessment for grades 3, 5 and 8 introduced by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
• SAFAL will be used to assess the progress of foundational skills and basic learning outcomes among students