Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2021

Notes:
Italy’s ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Luca Attanasio was killed along with an Italian policeman and their Congolese driver, in an attack on a United Nations convoy which happened in eastern DRC.
They were on a visit to a World Food Programme (WFP) school feeding project in Rutshuru, a town in DRC. Attanasio is the second European ambassador to have been killed while serving in the DRC.

Notes:
As per the recent study by NASA and German Aerospace Center, some microbes are found on the Earth may survive in the Mars.
The researchers tested a new way to expose the bacteria and fungi to Mars-like conditions by launching them in a scientific balloon up to Earth’s stratosphere. This is significant in the success of future missions to the Mars.

Notes:
The Union Agriculture Ministry’s flagship scheme PM Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM KISAN) has completed 2 years on 24th February 2021.
This is a 100% central sector scheme, under which income support of Rs.6000/- per year would be given to farmer families in three instalments. The funds would be directly transferred to the beneficiaries through DBT mode.

Notes:
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by defence minister Rajnath Singh approved the Indian Army’s proposal to buy 118 Arjun Mark 1-A ‘Hunter Killers’.
With this approval, Indian Army will soon have 118 indigenous Arjun Mk-1A Main Battle Tanks, manufactured by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Notes:
A historic kangaroo painting created over 17,000 years ago by Aboriginal artists has been identified in Australia.
This is claimed to be the oldest intact rock art of Australia. The two-metre-long artwork has been found in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Notes:
Black-browed Babbler, which was considered to be extinct, has reappeared after 170 years. The bird has been spotted in Borneo of Indonesia.
The bird was first described by scientists around 1848 and it was then considered to be extinct. According to Global Wildlife Conservation, two men accidentally photographed the bird in Borneo, Indonesia.

Notes:
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has extended the re-appointment of Pramod Chandra Mody as Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
PC Mody, a 1982-batch Indian Revenue Service officer, was appointed as the CBDT Chairman in February 2019. His tenure was extended in August last year for six months.

Notes:
India’s ace wrestler Vinesh Phogat wont he gold medal at the Ukrainian Wrestlers and Coaches Memorial tournament.
Vinesh Phogat, the world number three wrestler defeated the 2017 world champion V Kaladzinskay to win the gold medal. She is the only Indian woman wrestler to have qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Notes:
Recently, digital financial services platform major Paytm has achieved more than 1.2 billion monthly transactions. This spurt in number is mainly due to offline payments and financial services.
With this achievement, Paytm becomes the largest digital platform in financial sector which promotes all payment methods like Wallet, UPI, cards and net-banking

Notes:
The Ministry of Housing and Housing Affairs (MoHUA) has launched the field assessment of Swachh Survekshan, 2021. It is the sixth edition of this annual cleanliness survey which is conducted by the Government of India.
The Swachh Survekshan 2021 was introduced by the MoHUA in the year 2016. It was launched as a competitive framework in a bid to encourage the cities to improve their status of the urban sanitation.