Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2021

Notes:
“World Economic Outlook” is the annual flagship report released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
This year, the report is to be released on April 6. The International Monetary Fund has announced that India’s economy is on the path of gradual recovery. It highlighted the return to positive territory in fourth quarter of 2020.

Notes:
The present chairperson of state-owned PSU – Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has been appointed as the new chairperson of Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE).
She will be serving a term of 2 years, starting April 2021. She has been the chairperson of SAIL since January 2021.

Notes:
In a recent research performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), under a contract with NASA and University of Southern California, four strains of bacteria have been discovered at the ISS.
The team of Scientists also included a team from India’s University of Hyderabad. One of the strains – Methylobacterium ajmalii, is named after Ajmal Khan, a renowned Indian scientist specialised in biodiversity.

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:
Special forces of India carried out a joint military exercise with the US Special forces at Bakloh in Himachal Pradesh.
The 11th edition of the joint special forces exercise ‘Vajra Prahar 2021’ was held with an aim to share the best practices and experiences in joint mission planning and operational tactics. In February 2021, the Armies of both the countries carried out ‘Exercise Yudh Abhyas’.

Notes:
World Bank has recently released a report titled “South Asia Vaccinates”. It highlighted that private consumption and public investment will make the Indian economy grow by 10.1% in 2021-22 (FY22).
It also estimated that on account of uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, it said India’s economic growth in FY22 will be in the range from 7.5% to 12.5%. It also forecasts that the Indian economy to contract by 8.5% in FY21.

Notes:
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog has launched AIM-PRIME (Program for Researchers on Innovations, Market-Readiness & Entrepreneurship).
It aims to promote and support science-based start-ups & ventures across India. AIM has partnered with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) to launch this program. It will be implemented by Venture Center – a non-profit technology business incubator.

Notes:
The world’s first animal vaccine against the novel coronavirus has been registered in Russia. It has been as ‘Carnivac-Cov’.
As per the country’s agriculture safety watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor, the immunity lasts for six months after the vaccination. The use of this vaccine is expected to prevent the development of virus mutations.

Notes:
As per the recent report from the University of Maryland and available on Global Forest Watch, the tropical region has lost 12.2 million hectares of tree cover in 2020.
Out of the total cover, deforestation of around 4.2 million hectares occurred within humid tropical primary forest. The resulting carbon emissions from this primary forest loss is about 2.64 Gt CO2. The Primary forest loss was also 12% higher in 2020 than the year before.

Notes:
India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) announced that it has signed a loan agreement of up to USD 1 billion with Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). JBIC is wholly owned by the Government of Japan.
This loan intends to promote smooth flow of funds for the business operations of Japanese automobile manufacturers in India. SBI had signed a similar deal with JBIC in October last year. The beneficiaries include suppliers, dealers and the end users.