Daily Current Affairs Quiz: July 21,2021

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

A high strength titanium alloy has been developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). This alloy has been developed for applications in aerospace structural forgings.

About the Titanium alloy

The titanium alloys are unique due to their ductility, higher strength, fracture toughness and fatigue which make them beneficial for various aircraft structural applications.

Also this alloy has relatively lower lifetime cost due to its superior corrosion resistance in comparison to steels, which makes it very beneficial for aircraft structural applications.

DRDO has said that this alloy can be used in various ways that include slat and flap tracks, landing gears and drop link in landing gear etc.

Over 15 steel components that can be replaced in the near future with this alloy have been identified by The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA).

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

Russia announced that it had successfully test-fired S-500 its new air defence missile systems at a southern training range of the country and had successfully hit a high-speed ballistic target.

S-500 air defence missile systems

Russia announced that the S-500 is the most advanced anti-missile system in the world and is expected to have a range of 600km. This missile system is also capable of countering attacks from the space. This missile system was test fired in the Kapustin Yar training ground and live fire exercises were conducted. The missiles successfully hit a high-speed ballistic target. After tests are successfully completed the first S-500 systems which are also named the Triumfator-M and Prometheus will be placed at an air defence unit outside the city of Moscow.

Development of the S-500 air defence missile system

The development of this missile system is years behind schedule. The military had earlier announced that the army would begin receiving the first S-500 systems in the year 2020. Almaz-Anty, the maker of the systems announced in April that it was nearing completion

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

IOC, India’s largest oil firm will build the country’s first ‘green hydrogen’ plant at its refinery in Mathura. This decision has been undertaken with the view of preparing for a future to cater to the growing demands cleaner forms of energy.

About:

• This project will be the India’s first ever green hydrogen unit.
• Earlier, ‘grey hydrogen’ production projects have been announced making use of fossil fuels such as natural gas.
• Several hydrogen production units are being planned to be set up by IOC.
• With Hydrogen fuel cell powered buses are plying on the road it will be essential to set up hydrogen power plants.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

The Asian Development Bank has downgraded India’s economic growth forecast for the current financial year to 10 % from 11% that it had previously projected in the month of April. This downgrade was done taking into account the adverse impact of the second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic.

About:

• In the last quarter of fiscal year which ended in March 2021, India’s GDP growth recovered to 1.6%.
• A second wave of the pandemic induced many state governments to impose strict containment measures hence, the growth projection for FY2021-2, was downgraded to 10% from the previously predicted 11%.
• The projection for FY2022-23 is upgraded to 7.5% from 7% as most of the population will be vaccinated by that time and economic activity will normalise.

Economic projection for China and South Asia

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

From 12 to 14 July, 2021 the BRICS meeting on Contact Group on Economic and Trade Issues (CGETI) was held.

About:

• During the three day CGETI meeting, the BRICS members deliberated on the proposals which were circulated by India. These proposals were mainly for increasing and strengthening the intra-BRICS trade and cooperation was said by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Proposals made by India

The proposals put forward by India are

• Cooperation of BRICS regarding Multilateral Trading System.
• A framework to ensure Consumer Protection in E-Commerce.
• For SPS/TBT measures, Non-Tariff Measures resolution mechanism.
• Working Mechanism on Phytosanitary and Sanitary.
• A Framework of BRICS regarding Cooperation in the Professional Services.

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

India has surpassed Japan, China, Russia and Switzerland to become the world’s fifth-largest foreign exchange reserve holder with $608.99 billion. This was mentioned in the Lok Sabha on 20^th July, 2021 by Pankaj Choudhary, MoS Finance.

About:

• The Reserve Bank of India and the Government of India are actively monitoring the country’s external position and accordingly fine-tuning the various policies and regulations so as to ensure strong macroeconomic growth of India.
• India’s balance of payments has surplused in both the capital and current accounts in the year 2020-21 which largely contributed to the gains in the foreign exchange reserves of the country.
• India’s present foreign exchange reserves are sufficient enough to provide a buffer against unforeseen external shocks and also to cover imports for more than 18 months.
• The RBI regularly undertakes various measures to diversify the currency reserves of the country by increasing operations in the Forex swap and repo markets, exploring new markets or products and purchasing of gold. All this is done while adhering to liquidity and safety criteria.
• The RBI’s intervention in the foreign exchange market to smooth out valuation changes due to movement of the US dollar against other international currencies in the reserve basket, exchange rate volatility, movement in gold prices, inflow of aid receipts and interest earnings from the deployment of foreign currency assets are the main causes for the variation in the country’s Forex reserves.

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

Labour minister Bhupender Yadav has said that Urban India witnessed an unemployment rate of 20.8% in the quarter of April-June 2020. This period witnessed stringent nationwide lockdown to arrest the spread of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

About:

• Urban joblessness in the country had hit a high of 20.8% in the April-June 2020 quarter, especially since the country was under two months of hardcore lockdown.
• According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Quarterly bulletin April-June 2020, quarterly unemployment rate for the quarters ending July-Sep 2019, Oct-Dec 2019, Jan-March 2020 and April-June 2020 were 8.3%, 7.8%, 9.1% and 20.8% respectively.
• The ministry has also mentioned that the complete employment or unemployment situation of the country can only be assessed only from the survey data for the full year covering both the urban and rural areas.
• The annual PLFS data is available up to the year 2018-19. As per that result, the unemployment rate in the country during 2017-18 and 2018-19 was 6.0% and 5.8%, respectively.
• The ministry has also said that the government has undertaken numerous initiatives to boost jobs in India through the implementation of schemes like the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

The Oxfam report which is named ‘Inequality Report 2021: India’s Unequal Healthcare Story’ was released on Tuesday. This report talks about how India’s focus on supporting private healthcare while low spending on public healthcare systems has led to inequalities in accessing healthcare, especially during the ongoing pandemic.

About:

• The States which are attempting to reduce the existing healthcare inequalities with higher expenditure on health had lower confirmed cases of Covid-19 compared to the other states.
• The report states that the states such as Telangana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, that for the past few years have been reducing inequalities, especially healthcare inequalities between the general category and SC and ST populations, have less COVID-19 confirmed cases. On the other hand states, such as Assam, Bihar and Goa that have had higher GDP expenditure on health have higher Covid recovery rates.
• The Oxfam report has marked the state of Kerala as a success story in the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The report stated that the people in the higher income brackets and those with access to health infrastructure had less visits to hospitals and Covid centres than those who belongs to the lower income groups (LIG). People in the LIG faced more discrimination regarding the access of COVID-19 related medicines and healthcare.

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

Recently, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced that its new spacecraft, named Near-Earth Asteroid Scout or NEA Scout, has completed all required tests and has been safely tucked inside the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

About NEA Scout:

• Near-Earth Asteroid Scout, or NEA Scout, is a miniaturized spacecraft, known as a CubeSat, developed under NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Program.
  • AES pioneers new approaches for rapidly developing prototype systems, demonstrating key capabilities, and validating operational concepts for future human missions beyond low-Earth orbit.
• Its main mission is to fly by and collect data from a near-Earth asteroid.
  • It will take about two years to cruise to the asteroid and will be about 93 million miles away from Earth during the asteroid encounter.
• It will also be America’s first interplanetary mission using special solar sail propulsion.
  • So far, spacecraft have been using solar energy to power them and execute critical functions.
  • This will be the first time that a spacecraft uses it as wind to generate thrust and move forward.
• It is one of several payloads that will hitch a ride on Artemis I, which is expected to be launched in November, 2021.
  • Artemis I will be an uncrewed testflight of the Orion spacecraft and SLS rocket.
  • It is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration to the Moon and Mars.