DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 21st – 22nd July 2021
Jeff Bezos launches to space aboard New Shepard rocket ship
- Billionaire Jeff Bezos blasted into space today, in the first crewed flight of his rocket ship, New Shepard. He was accompanied by Mark Bezos, his brother, Wally Funk, an 82-year-old pioneer of the space race, and an 18-year-old student.
- They travelled in a capsule with the biggest windows flown in space, offering stunning views of the Earth. New Shepard, built by Bezos’ company Blue Origin, is designed to serve the market for space tourism.
- The mission marked another milestone in the space race started by private companies. It was the first time in the history of a commercial company launching a privately funded and built spacecraft from a private launch range with astronauts on board.
- British billionaire Richard Branson, who soared miles above the earth in his Virgin Galactic rocket plane earlier this month, congratulated Amazon founder Jeff Bezos after his first trip to the space.
Vice President addresses the Inaugural session of World Universities Summit
- Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu today asked universities to become thought leaders in finding solutions to global challenges including climate change, poverty, and pollution.
- World Universities Summit was organized by O.P. Jindal University, Sonipat virtually.
- He called for promoting multi-disciplinary approaches and emphasized the need for collaborative academic effort to create sustainable and scalable solutions to the challenges around us.
NASA’s New Spacecraft: NEA Scout
- 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.
- Also known as a CubeSat, 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.
- NEA Scout is equipped with special cameras and can take pictures ranging from 50 cm/pixels to 10 cm/pixels.
- The images gathered by NEA Scout will provide critical information on the asteroid’s physical properties such as orbit, shape, volume, rotation, the dust, and debris field surrounding it, plus its surface properties.
- Near Earth Asteroids despite their size, could pose a threat to Earth and understanding their properties could help us develop strategies for reducing the potential damage caused in the event of an impact.
First Human Infection case with Monkey B virus (BV)
- China has reported the first human infection case with Monkey B virus (BV).
- Monkey B virus is an alphaherpesvirus enzootic (endemic) in macaques and it was initially isolated in 1932.
- Alphaherpesviruses are pathogens or neuroinvasive viruses that establish lifelong infections in the peripheral nervous system of humans and many other vertebrates.
- The infection can be transmitted via direct contact and exchange of bodily secretions of monkeys and has a fatality rate of 70% to 80%.
India Inequality Report 2021: Oxfam
- The report titled “India Inequality Report 2021: India’s Unequal Healthcare Story” released by Oxfam India shows that the socio-economic inequalities seep into the health sector and disproportionately affect health outcomes of marginalized communities due to the absence of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
- The report suggested that the states which are attempting to reduce existing inequalities and with higher expenditure on health had lower confirmed cases of Covid-19.
- Oxfam is a confederation of 20 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It is a major non-profit group with an extensive collection of operations.
“SMILE – Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise”
- Recently, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has formulated this scheme which includes a sub scheme – ‘Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation of persons engaged in Begging’.
- It provides for the use of the existing shelter homes available with the State/UT/ULB for rehabilitation of the persons engaged in the act of Begging.
- The focus of the scheme is extensively on rehabilitation, medical facilities, counselling, education, skill development etc. It is estimated that an approximate 60,000 poorest persons would be benefited under this scheme for leading a life of dignity.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
- The first artificial Earth satellite, _______, was launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957.
- Sputnik 1
- Sputnik 2
- Sputnik 3
- Sputnik 4
ANSWER: A
- The first human to go into space was Yuri Gagarin on _______.
- April 12, 1961
- April 14, 1966
- March 12, 1961
- March 14, 1966
ANSWER: A
- ________ crew members Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin made the first lunar landing.
- Apollo 8
- Apollo 11
- Apollo 13
- Apollo 14
ANSWER: B
- Apollo 11 crew members Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin made the first lunar landing on _____.
- July 20, 1969
- July 25, 1968
- June 20, 1969
- June 25, 1968
ANSWER: A
- On Nov. 3, 1957, first animal (dog) Laika was launched aboard in Space through ________.
- Sputnik 1
- Sputnik 2
- Sputnik 3
- Sputnik 4
ANSWER: B
- On April 12, 1961, first human to orbit Earth was Yuri Gagarin on ________.
- Vostok 1
- Vostok 2
- Vostok 3
- Vostok 4
ANSWER: A
- First woman in space was ________.
- Valentina Tereshkova
- Svetlana Savitskaya
- Sally Ride
- Judith Resnik
ANSWER: A
- First woman in space Valentina Tereshkova was on board _______.
- Vostok 4
- Vostok 5
- Vostok 6
- Vostok 7
ANSWER: C
- On _______ Valentina Tereshkova became first woman in space on board Vostok 6.
- June 16, 1963
- July 16, 1965
- June 18, 1972
- July 18, 1969
ANSWER: A
- On Feb. 3, 1966, ______ became the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon.
- Luna 6
- Luna 7
- Luna 8
- Luna 9
ANSWER: D
