Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2021

Notes:
India has announced 200,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines as a gift to the UN peacekeepers. It will be sent on March 27 and will be distributed to the peacekeeping missions.
With this, it will be possible to administer the double doses of COVID-19 vaccines to all 85,782 UN peacekeepers serving in 12 peacekeeping operations across the world.

Notes:
The Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) is an autonomous institution under the Department of Space (DoS) and a ‘Deemed to be University’, based at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has partnered with the IIST, similar to the JPL-Caltech model in the United States. A Capacity Building Programme Office (CBPO) located at Bengaluru will coordinate joint research activities between ISRO centres and IIST.

Notes:
Mount Merapi is an active volcano located in the Central Java province of Indonesia. Being the most active volcano in Indonesia, it has erupted constantly since 1548.
Recently, the volcano was observed releasing ash high into the air and sending streams of lava and debris along its slopes. As per media reports, clouds of hot ash were blown 200 meters or 656 feet above the surface.

Notes:
The Government e-Market (GeM) portal was launched on August 9, 2016, for online purchases of goods and services by all the central government ministries and departments.
Recently, the public procurement of goods and services has crossed Rs 1 lakh crore from the GeM since the platform was launched. The main reason is the sharp increase in buying activities by various ministries.

Notes:
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has mandated companies to disclose trade payables in their financial statements.
The trade payables are to be declared as per the ageing namely less than one year, 1-2 years, 2-3 years, and more than three years. With this, the Government can easily track whether the company has paid the dues of vendors especially the MSMEs.

Notes:
Earth Hour, is being held annually on the last Saturday of March across the world. This year, the Earth Hour Day was observed on March 27.
The Earth hour began as a symbolic lights-out event in Sydney by WWF and partners in 2007. It has turned into one of the world’s biggest events. The event calls for actions to raise awareness about the importance of nature and the role people can play in global efforts for nature.

Notes:
The Government of China has entered into a 25-year “strategic cooperation pact” with the Government of Iran. The pact which was under work for more than 5 years has been materialised recently
China has always backed Iran even during fractious moments with USA. China is one of the largest trade partners of Iran.

Notes:
The Economic Affairs Secretary announced that the inflation target for the period April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2026 under the Reserve Bank of India Act 1934 has been kept at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side.
This is the same target mandated to the RBI by the Government in the previous five years (2016-21). RBI was to maintain annual inflation at 4 per cent until March 31, 2021 with an upper tolerance of 6 per cent and a lower tolerance of 2 per cent.’

Notes:
The Government has extended the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) till June 30, 2020.
The institutions are permitted to issue additional funding up to 40 per cent of outstanding loans as on Feb 29, 2020 as against 20 per cent earlier. ECLGS 3.0 also will be 6 years including moratorium period of 2 years. This is one year up from the previous tenure.

Notes:
The Government of India had signed the India-Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) on 22nd February, 2021.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has notified that all the legal formalities pertaining to the CCEA has been completed and the agreement has come into force on 1st April 2021.