Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2021

Notes:
Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. Russia’s Ministry of Defense has announced it will close the waters leading to the Kerch Strait, for warships and non-commercial vessels of other countries until October 2021.
It is said that the country’s plan to temporarily restrict movement of foreign warships will not affect the nearby Kerch Strait. The strait connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

Notes:
The Lyrids are comets, which appear to move fairly fast, streaking through our atmosphere at an average velocity of 48 kilometers per second.
This modestly bright comet was discovered in April 1861 by an amateur astronomer, A.E. Thatcher. The Earth’s orbit coincides with the comet around April 22 each year. This year also, the annual Lyrid meteor shower is t take place on April 22.

Notes:
Italy has recently launched its first ever mega food park project in India involving food processing facilities.
The pilot project “The Mega Food Park” was launched in virtual mode. A Letter of Intent was signed between the ICE Office in Mumbai and Fanidhar Mega Food Park, Gujarat. PM Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the country in the coming days.

Notes:
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India and GIZ GmbH India on behalf of the German Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety signed an agreement on Technical Cooperation titled ‘Cities Combating Plastic Entering the Marine Environment’.
The project’s outcomes are completely in line with the objectives of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban focusing on sustainable solid waste management and the target to phase out single use plastic by 2022”.

Notes:
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that Iran started enriching uranium up to 60 per cent. This figure is its highest-ever level of enrichment.
The decision to boost uranium enrichment and to install modernized centrifuges at the Natanz nuclear facility was made due to the recent incident damaging the electricity distribution network in Natanz.

Notes:
Ace Racing Driver Max Verstappen claimed an impressive victory in the Emilia Romagna GP for Red Bull. Top Driver Lewis Hamilton recovered to the second place for Mercedes. Verstappen registered his first race victory of the Formula One 2021 season.
Valtteri Bottas and George Russell were involved in a huge collision. Lewis Hamilton still leads the championship leaderboard with 44 points.

Notes:
Recently the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said that Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin is found to effectively neutralise the double mutant strain, B.1.617, of SARS-CoV-2. This vaccine is manufactured by Hyderabad based – Bharat Biotech
Also, ICMR has stated that at its National Institute of Virology, scientists have successfully isolated and cultured the double mutant strain which has E484Q and L452R mutations.

Notes:
The Indian Institute of Technology – Kharagpur has commercialized its healthcare product COVIRAP.
This is a diagnostic technology to zero on Covid infections. Using this technology, the COVID test results can be obtained within 45 minutes of sampling and the results can be seen using a smartphone application.

Notes:
The World Creativity and Innovation Day is celebrated on April 21 every year by the United Nations.
This day aims to raise awareness on the importance of creativity and innovation in problem solving with respect to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals to be achieve by the year 2030. This day was first observed in the year 2021.

Notes:
Angola is a nation located in the eastern coast of African continent, with Luanda as its capital. Angolan kwanza is the country’s currency.
The nation is in news recently due to the heavy torrential rainstorm that has hit the capital city. The death toll has been reported to be over 25 and more than 2000 houses have been flooded.