Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2021

Notes:
The Ministry of Energy, Israel has announced a National plan which includes the main target of reducing 80 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The plan aims to shut down all coal-fired power plants by 2025, reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the electricity sector by 75 to 85 per cent by 2050, increase electricity generation from renewable energy among others.

Notes:
A massive fire, which has been burning along the Table Mountain National Park, South Africa, is said to be damaging buildings.
Around 200 firefighters along with four helicopters have been dispatched to put off the massive blaze. Mostert’s Mill, a historic windmill near the University of Cape Town built around 1796, has also been damaged by the fire.

Notes:
Recently, researchers have identified a new and distinct shark species, by recognising the 300-million-year-old shark’s single tooth on its lower jaw.
The researchers named the 6.7-foot shark as “Dracopristis hoffmanorum”, or Hoffman’s Dragon Shark. The fossils were found in the Manzano Mountains, New Mexico. The skeleton of the species was found in 2013 in New Mexico.

Notes:
The Health Ministry announced that 162 Pressure Swing Adsorption, PSA oxygen plants have been sanctioned by the Government of India for installation in public health facilities in all States.
This step would enhance the local oxygen capacity by over 154 Metric Tonnes. Out of 162 PSA Oxygen plants, 33 have been installed. States have also requested the Centre to provide additional 100 oxygen plants.

Notes:
IAS officer Siddharth Singh Longjam is to take over as the National Anti-Doping Agency’s Director General.
The officer will succeed Navin Agarwal, who introduced Athletes Biological Passport (ABP) for around 60 elite Indian sportspersons during his tenure. Longjam is currently serving as joint secretary in the Sports Ministry.

Notes:
World Press Freedom Index 2021 is published by the international journalism not-for profit body, Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
India is ranked 142, same as last year among the 180 countries and the index is topped by Norway followed by Finland and Denmark. India is regarded among the countries classified “bad” for journalism and is termed as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists trying to do their jobs properly.

Notes:
‘Nimbus’ is a flagship cloud service project of Israel, which aims to provide a solution for cloud services to the government, the defence system, and other sectors.
Recently, Israel’s government chose Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google for the USD 1-billion project to provide cloud services for the country’s public sector and military. Amazon and Google beat Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM in the tender for the four-phase “Nimbus” project.

Notes:
NASA’s Perseverance mission has extracted oxygen on the Mars planet, using its MOXIE (i.e) Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment.
MOXIE has produced 5 grams of oxygen from carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere, which is enough for an astronaut to breathe for 10 minutes. On Mars, carbon dioxide makes up 96% of the gas in its atmosphere while Oxygen is only 0.13%. MOXIE intakes CO2 and produces O2 from it

Notes:
Indian Islamic scholar and peace activist Maulana Wahiduddin Khan recently passed away. He was listed in the 500 Most Influential Muslims of the world.
He was famous for having written a commentary on the Quran and translated it into contemporary English. Earlier this year, the government had announced that he would be awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the country’s second-highest civilian award.

Notes:
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) shri. GC Murmu has been selected as the external auditor of Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). He would serve the position for a term of three years. His term as an external auditor commences from the year 2021.
OPCW is an intergovernmental organisation and the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, which is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands.