Daily Current Affairs Quiz: July 19,2021

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has addressed the nation on July 15, 2021, on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day 2021 and the 6th anniversary of the Skill India Mission.
• In his address, Prime Minister highlighted “Skill development of the youth of new generation is a national need and a huge foundation for self-reliant India”.
• According to PM, under Skill India Mission, 1.25 crore youth have been trained till date. Skill India Mission initiative was launched by Government to train over 40 crore Indians in different jobs related to the industry.

Under this mission, the government seeks to create an empowered workforce by 2022 with the help of several schemes and training courses.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

• The United Arab Emirates has become the first Gulf nation to open an embassy in Israel, nearly a year after both countries signed an agreement to normalise diplomatic ties. The new mission is located in Tel Aviv Stock Exchange building.
• The ceremony was attended by new Israeli President Isaac Herzog. UAE Ambassador Mohammad Mahmoud Al Khajah officially presented his credentials at the beginning of March.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

• China has officially begun the construction of the world’s first commercial modular small reactor ‘Linglong One’ at the Changjiang Nuclear Power Plant in the country’s Hainan Province.
• The project is based on China National Nuclear Corporation’s (CNNC’s Linglong One (ACP100) technology.
• The multi-purpose, 125 MWe SMR is a pressurised water reactor designed for electricity generation, urban heating, urban cooling, industrial steam production, or seawater desalination.
• CNNC began the development of the Linglong One in 2010, and it was the first SMR project to pass an independent safety assessment by International Atomic Energy Agency experts in 2016.
• Its integrated pressurised water reactor (PWR) design was completed in 2014 and it was identified as a ‘key project’ in China’s 12th Five-Year Plan.
• The design, which has 57 fuel assemblies and integral steam generators, was developed from the larger ACP1000 PWR. It incorporates passive safety features and could be installed underground.

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

• Singapore has unveiled one of the world’s largest floating solar panel farms. The project is part of efforts by the country to meet a goal of quadrupling its solar energy production by 2025 to help tackle climate change.
• Located on a reservoir in western Singapore, the 60 megawatt-peak solar photovoltaic farm has been built by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sembcorp Industries. Spanning an area equivalent to 45 football fields and producing enough electricity to power the island’s five water treatment plants.
• The electricity generated from the one lakh 22 thousand solar panels on the 45-hectare site should make Singapore one of the few countries in the world to have a water treatment system fully powered by sustainable energy.
• The solar farm could help to reduce carbon emissions by about 32 kilotonnes annually, comparable to taking 7,000 cars off the roads.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

• Three-time national award-winning actress Surekha Sikri has passed away. The three-time National Award winner is best known for her performances in ‘Tamas’, ‘Mammo’, ‘Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro’, ‘Zubeidaa’, ‘Badhaai Ho’ and daily soap ‘Balika Vadhu’.
• She was last seen in Netflix’s anthology ‘Ghost Stories’ (2020), in the story directed by Zoya Akhtar.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has launched a mobile application, called CPGRAMS to lodge grievances using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning tools.
• The Raksha Mantri was briefed that this AI-powered application will automatically handle and analyse the complaints of the people and would reduce human intervention, save time and bring more transparency to their disposal.
• This is the first AI-based system developed to improve grievance redressal in the Government.
• The AI tool developed as part of the initiative has the capability to understand the content of the complaint based on the contents therein.
• As a result, it can identify repeat complaints or spam automatically. Based on the meaning of the complaint, it can categorise complaints of different categories even when keywords normally used for such search are not present in the complaint.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), First case of rare human monkeypox was detected in Texas.

• Monkeypox was detected in a US. resident, who recently travelled from Nigeria to US.
• Though it is a rare viral illness but currently is not a reason for alarm and threat to public.
• As per laboratory testing at CDC, patient is infected with strain of monkeypox which is commonly found in parts of West Africa, including Nigeria.
• Infections with this strain of monkeypox are fatal among 1 in 100 people.
• Prior to this case, there have been six reported monkeypox cases in travellers returning from Nigeria in United Kingdom, Israel, and Singapore.

About Monkeypox

• Monkeypox is a rare but potentially serious viral illness which starts with flu-like illness & swelling of lymph nodes and progresses to a widespread rash on face & body.
• Most infections last 2-4 weeks.
• It shares same family of viruses as smallpox, but causes milder infection.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

New Zealand chaired special virtual meeting of Asia-Pacific trade group called “Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)”.

ABOUT:

• During the meeting world leaders highlighted that, extensive COVID-19 immunization is a global public good and accelerating access to vaccines is essential in order to overcome health emergency.
• Leaders of APEC grouping vowed for redoubling efforts to expand vaccine manufacture and supply.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

APEC is a forum comprising of 21 Asia-Pacific economies. Member economies of APEC are home to 2.7 billion people and accounts for over half of global GDP. Member’s accounts for more than 70 percent of Australia’s total trade in goods & services. APEC was founded by Australia in 1989. It was established to encourage growing & prosperous regional economy by – trade & investment liberalisation & facilitation across the border, reducing costs of cross-border trade, economic & technical cooperation, exchanging best practice on trade & investment etc.

Member Nations of APEC

India is not a member of APEC. Its member nations include- Australia, Brunei, Chile, China, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Vietnam and United States.

WHY IN NEWS?

New Zealand chaired special virtual meeting of Asia-Pacific trade group called “Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)”.

ABOUT:

• During the meeting world leaders highlighted that, extensive COVID-19 immunization is a global public good and accelerating access to vaccines is essential in order to overcome health emergency.
• Leaders of APEC grouping vowed for redoubling efforts to expand vaccine manufacture and supply.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

APEC is a forum comprising of 21 Asia-Pacific economies. Member economies of APEC are home to 2.7 billion people and accounts for over half of global GDP. Member’s accounts for more than 70 percent of Australia’s total trade in goods & services. APEC was founded by Australia in 1989.

Member Nations of APEC

India is not a member of APEC. Its member nations include- Australia, Brunei, Chile, China, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Vietnam and United States.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

Recently, the European Union (EU) released a new climate proposal, the Fit for 55 packages.

• The EU in December 2020 submitted a revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement.

ABOUT:

• The new package attempts to deliver the NDC and carbon neutrality goal through proposed changes that would impact the economy, society and industry, as well as ensure a fair, competitive and green transition by 2030 and beyond.
  • Climate neutrality is achieved when a country’s emissions are balanced by absorptions and removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. It is also expressed as a state of net-zero emissions.
• It claims to achieve a balance between “regulatory policies” and market-based carbon pricing to avoid the pitfalls of each