Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2021

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:
Saurabh Garg – a senior bureaucrat and 1991 batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre, has been appointed as the Chief Officer (CEO) of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). This has been announced by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).
The committee has appointed him in the rank of Additional Secretary.

Notes:
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released its new assessment recently. It highlighted the pressures faced by the two species of elephants in Africa due to poaching for ivory and human encroachment.
It announced that the Savanna elephant was “endangered” and the much smaller, lighter forest elephant was “critically endangered”.

Notes:
The United States is set to host the two-day climate summit of world leaders starting on Earth Day, April 22. During the summit, the President Joe Biden is expected to announce the nationally determined contribution of the US.
In this regard, the US President has invited 40 world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the summit.

Notes:
The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi is on a 2-day official visit to Bangladesh as a part of National Day celebrations in Bangladesh.
He has announced the ‘Swarna Jayanti’ scholarships for the youth of Bangladesh to mark half a century ling ties between the two countries. PM has invited 50 entrepreneurs of Bangladesh to visit India and to join India’s start-up and innovation ecosystem.

Notes:
As per the recent World Development Report by the World Bank, most countries have not implemented the open-data policy, particularly the developing economies.
Only 11 per cent low-income countries consistently made their data available with an open license. The per centage in lower-middle-income countries was 19 per cent; for upper-middle-income countries is 22 per cent and high-income countries at 44 per cent.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina has recently inaugurated the new passenger train named ‘Mithali Express’.
It connects Dhaka Cantonment and New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal via Chilahati, a border railway station in Bangladesh. This is the third passenger train after Maitree Express (Dhaka-Kolkata) and Bandhan Express (Khulna-Kolkata).

Notes:
According to the Central Information Commission’s annual report, the Centre has only rejected 4.3% of all Right to Information (RTI) requests in 2019-20.
Almost 40% of these rejections did not include any valid reason and did not come under the permissible exemption clauses in the RTI Act. 90% of rejections were done by the Prime Minister’s Office. Home Ministry had the highest rate of rejections, at 20% of all RTIs received.

Notes:
Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal recently inaugurated “Anandam: The Center for Happiness” at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Jammu virtually.
The Center aims to help people overcome mental stress and help spread positivity. The prime objectives will be divided into five broad categories: Counselling, Holistic wellness, Elective courses on Happiness Development, Research and Leadership & Faculty Development.

Notes:
Ingenuity is a mini-helicopter developed by NASA for propulsion in Mars. This was fixed with the NASA’s Perseverance rover that successfully landed in Mars recently.
The helicopter has been dropped successfully on Mars’s surface and is expected to make its flight through Mars atmosphere on 11th April.