Daily Current Affairs Quiz: July 16,2021

WHY IN NEWS?

• Union Minister Piyush Goyalhas been appointed as the Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha. His appointment is effective from July 06, 2021. He will succeed Thawar Chand Gahlot, who has taken charge as the Governor of Karnataka.
• Goyal, a two-time Rajya Sabha MP, is currently the deputy leader of the NDA as well as the Union Minister in the Cabinet.
• He is serving as the Union Minister of Textiles, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. The Leader of the House is responsible for organizing government meetings and business in the House.

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

• The country’s first ‘Grain ATM’ has been set up as a pilot project in Gurugram, Haryana. It is an automatic machine, which works just like a bank ATM.
• This machine has been installed under the ‘World Food Programme’ of the United Nations (UN), and is called the ‘Automated, Multi Commodity, Grain Dispensing Machine’.
• This automatic machine is equipped with the biometric system with a touch screen, where the beneficiary will have to enter the Aadhaar or ration card unique number.
• On biometric authentication, the foodgrain prescribed by the government to the beneficiaries will be automatically filled in the bags installed under the machine.
• Three types of grains — wheat, rice and millet — can be distributed through this machine. At present, the distribution of wheat has been started from the ‘Grain ATM’ machine installed at Farrukhnagar.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

• The union territory of Ladakh organic, the administration of Ladakh, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Sikkim State Organic Certification Agency (SOCCA).
• A tripartite MOU has been signed between Ladakh and SSOCA regarding the implementation of Prampragat Krishi Vikas Yojana and Mission Organic Development Initiative (MODI) in the Ladakh region with the aim to convert Ladakh into organic by 2025.
• The main objective of this MOU is to get the organic certification after a tie-up with the Government of India.

 ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully conducted the third long-duration hot test of the liquid propellant Vikas Engine for the core L110 liquid stage of the human-rated GSLV Mk III vehicle, as part of the engine qualification requirements for the Gaganyaan Programme.
• The engine was fired for duration of 240 seconds at the engine test facility of ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu. The performance of the engine met the test objectives and the engine parameters were closely matching with the predictions during the entire duration of the test.

 ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

• United Nations celebrates World Youth Skills Day globally on 15 July every year. The day is celebrated as an opportunity for young people, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions, and public and private sector stakeholders to acknowledge as well as celebrate the importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship.
• The theme of World Youth Skills Day 2020 is “Reimagining Youth Skills Post-Pandemic”.
• In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared 15 July as World Youth Skills Day, to celebrate the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship.

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

Cultivation of ‘monk fruit’ from China has started in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh. The fruit was introduced for field trials in Himachal Pradesh by Palampur-based Council of Scientific Research and Industrial Technology-Institute of Himalayan Bio-resource Technology (CSIR-IHBT).

ABOUT:

• Monk fruit is known for its properties as non-caloric natural sweetener.
• Field trials have begun three years after CSIR-IHBT imported its seeds from China and grew it in house.
• Fifty seedlings of fruit were planted in fields of a farmer from Raison village for field trials and a ‘Material Transfer Agreement’ was signed with the farmer.
• Economic benefits of new crop are estimated to be between Rs 3 lakh to Rs 3.5 lakh per hectare.
• Flowering pattern, pollination behaviour and fruit setting time were also documented in order to draw complete life-cycle of monk fruit in agro-climatic conditions of the region

 ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan and tribal affairs minister Arjun Munda jointly launched ‘School Innovation Ambassador Training Program’ on July 16, 2021.

• This scheme was launched for 50,000 school teachers.
• It will be implemented from July 20.

Who designed the programme?

School Innovation Ambassador Training Programme was designed by innovation cell of education ministry and All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) for school teachers for first time.

School Innovation Ambassador Training Program

• This Programme will provide training to teachers from Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)- affiliated schools including Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, Kendriya Vidyalayas, and Eklavya Residential Model Schools in India.
• Similar programme is run by AICTE for teachers in higher education.
• Teachers will be trained in online mode only for duration of two months.
• Training will be provided in five modules to encourage innovation and creativity among school students.
• Five modules include- entrepreneurship, innovation, intellectual property rights, product development, design thinking and idea generation etc.
• 40 trainers have been tasked with the work to train teachers.