Daily Current Affairs Quiz: July 20,2021

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

• The Kerala government’s campaign ‘Mathrukavacham’ to vaccinate all the pregnant women in the state against COVID-19 infection was inaugurated at the district level recently.
• Spot registrations for vaccination of pregnant women would be carried out at various government hospitals.
• Pregnant women can receive the COVID vaccine at any time during their pregnancy. The special vaccination drive comes as a strong defence to protect pregnant women.
• Vaccination will be made available in all district hospitals as part of the model program. In the beginning, the covid vaccine will be given to 100 pregnant women through spot registration.
• The State Health Ministry assured that in the coming days, covid vaccination for more pregnant women will be made accessible in all hospitals, depending on the availability of the vaccine.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

• ‘Bonalu’ is a traditional folk festival celebrated every year in the Telugu month of Ashadham (falling in June/July), in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, and some other parts of Telangana state.
• The Bonalu festival was declared a ‘state festival’ by the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led government after the state’s formation back in 2014.
• The Bonalu festival involves scores of devotees offering the traditional ‘bonam’ (derived from Bhojanam, meaning meals) to the goddess Mahankali at 25 temples across the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

• Top defence officials from India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives participated in a virtual trilateral table top exercise “TTX-2021”. The exercise focused on maritime crimes like curbing narcotics and assistance in maritime search and rescue in the region.
• The two-day exercise, TTX-2021 aimed at enhancing mutual understanding and exchange of best practices procedures for countering common transnational crime was coordinated by the Maritime Warfare Centre, Mumbai.
• TTX-2021 exemplifies the deep trilateral engagement between India-Maldives-Sri Lanka which has strengthened immensely in the maritime domain over the past years.
• Interaction between the three neighbouring countries in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has also grown significantly in recent years, in consonance with India”s policy of ‘Neighbourhood First” and vision of ‘Security and Growth for all in the Region (SAGAR).

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

• The World Day for International Justice, (also known as Day of International Criminal Justice or International Justice Day), is celebrated globally on July 17 to support and recognize the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
• The day marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute on July 17, 1998, the treaty that created the International Criminal Court. It came about when 120 states adopted a statute in Rome.
• It was known as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, All the countries that agreed to adopt the statute were accepting the jurisdiction of the ICC.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

• Indian Port Rail and Ropeway Corporation Ltd (IPRCL) have prepared a Detailed Project Report or DPR for the pod taxi service between Noida Airport at Jewar and Film City.
• There are plans to run a driverless taxi between the two destinations. This will cost about Rs 862 crore, according to the detailed project report (DPR) submitted to the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida). This is a 14 km stretch. This will be India’s first pod taxi service.
• Pod taxis can accommodate four to six passengers per car. This important project will provide smooth connectivity to residential and industrial areas falling between film city and the Noida International Airport. As per the DPR, the corridor will pass through various sectors such as 21, 28, 29, 30 and 32, among others, falling under the Yeida region.

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

The new Prime Minister of Nepal, Sher Bahadur Deuba won a vote of confidence in the country’s Parliament days after the Supreme Court had reinstated the legislature which was dissolved in May.

ABOUT:

• Sher Bahadur Deuba has previously held the office four times and has won 165 votes (136 votes required) with 83 votes going against him.
• In the month of July, the Supreme Court ordered Deuba should replace K.P. Sharma Oli.
• Deuba faces the immediate task of controlling the spread of COVID-19 and procuring vaccines for the citizens of Nepal.
• Less than 4% of the country’s population (Total population is 30 million) have been fully vaccinated against the virus.
• As the government scrambles to procure shots more than 1.3 million people are awaiting a second dose.

Promises of the new Prime Minister

• In the coming three months the new government of Nepal has pledged to vaccinate a third of its populations and full vaccination by April, 2022.

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

According to a report, Pegasus spyware may have been used to conduct surveillance on about 300 Indians including two Cabinet ministers’ three opposition leaders, a Constitutional authority, government officials, scientists and about 40 journalists.

ABOUT:

• It is a spyware created by NSO Group, an Israeli cybersecurity firm founded in 2010.
• Pegasus spyware can hack any iOS or Android device and steal a variety of data from the infected device.
• It works by sending an exploit link and if the target user clicks on the link, the malware or the code that allows the surveillance is installed on the user’s phone.
• Once Pegasus is installed, the attacker has complete access to the target user’s phone.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

United States of America, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan, have made a principle agreement to establish a new quadrilateral diplomatic platform with the primary aim to enhance regional connectivity. This QUAD group was announced by the administration of Biden.

ABOUT:

• A new quadrilateral group is being formed by the USA, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan amid the escalating violence in Afghanistan due to the pull out of US troops from the country.
• According to the administration of President Biden, this new QUAD group’s primary focuses will be on enhancing the regional connectivity and the country of Afghanistan.
• The US state department has said that the parties have recognised this opportunity to open flourishing inter regional trade routes; the parties also intend to cooperate among themselves to build transit links, expand trade and strengthen business ties.

QUAD group meetings

• The four nations have agreed to meet in the coming few months to chalk out the various modalities of this QUAD cooperation with mutual consensus.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

Lewis Hamilton of United Kingdom has won the Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone for a record eighth time. This was the 99th win of Hamilton’s career who has also won the world championship seven times.

Result of the race

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
3. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)

Key Points

• On the opening lap of the British Grand Prix held on Sunday Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, were involved in a high speed collision as Hamilton tried to overtake the Verstappen. Hamilton’s front-left wheel touched Verstappen’s back-right tire. Due to this Verstappen spun off the track and crashed into the barriers. Later, Verstappen was seen walking away from his crashed car.
• Due to the collision, Hamilton was given a time penalty but in a dramatic conclusion to the race he overtook Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to secure his eighth British GP victory.

ABOUT:

The British Grand Prix is a motor race which is organised in the United Kingdom. This race is organised by the Royal Automobile Club. It was first held in the year 1926; since the year 1948 the British Grand Prix has been held annually and every year since 1950 it has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship.