Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2021

Notes:
The Government of Japan has decided to release more than 1 million tonnes of contaminated water from the decommissioned and destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant, into the sea.
The decision comes about three months ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games since some of the events are to be held as close as 60 km from the wrecked plant.

Notes:
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) of NITI Aayog has collaborated with Bayer, which is a global leader in the fields of healthcare and nutrition. A statement of Intend (SoI) has been signed between the two organisations in this regard.
The collaboration aims to work towards the AIMs’ innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives across the India.

Notes:
Former Bank and member of the conservative – Guillermo Lasso has been elected as the new President of Ecuador. He is 65 years old and is a three time Presidential candidate.
He defeated his left-wing opponent economist Andrés Arauz by securing 52.4% of the vote compared to Mr Arauz’s 47.6%.

Notes:
The season between winter and monsoon, referred to as the ‘forest fire season’, is increasing in India due to climate change and scarce rainfall in the Himalayan regions.
The forests of Uttarakhand have not stopped burning in the last six months. There were 470 incidents of fire in Uttarakhand’s forests between November 2020 and January 2021 against the previous year’s count of 39.

Notes:
The United Nations is set to conduct the first ever UN Food Systems Summit in September 2021. The Summit will focus on shaping food systems nationally and globally to accelerate progress in the SDGs.
In India, the first National Level Dialogue on Agri-Food Systems-Advancing Equitable Livelihoods was recently conducted on 12 April, 2021. The Inter departmental Group constituted by Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmers Welfare and the representatives from UN Agencies in Delhi participated in the dialogue.

Notes:
Pension Funds Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has proposed to increase the maximum age of entry to NPS (National Pension System) to 70 years. Presently the maximum entry age is 65 years.
PFRDA has also planned to allow subscribers who join after 60 years of age to continue their NPS accounts till 75. The maturity age will remain 70 for others.

Notes:
The Principal Scientific Advisor K Vijay Raghavan has launched the MANAS app. MANAS stands for Mental Health and Normalcy Augmentation System.
The app is a comprehensive, scalable, and national digital wellbeing platform aimed to promote mental wellbeing across age groups. This app has been initiated by the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor and jointly developed by NIMHANS Bengaluru, Armed Forces Medical College – Pune and C-DAC – Bengaluru.

Notes:
The Union Minister for Communication & IT and Law & Justice Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad has recently launched the Online Grievance Management Portal of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC).
This was launched on the Birth Anniversary of Bharat Ratna Baba Saheb Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.

Notes:
‘Reorienting for the Future’ is the theme of the Indian Air Force Commanders’ Conference 2021 that has concluded recently in the national capital New Delhi.
It was a three-day conference that had in depth discussions to enhance the operational capabilities of the Air Force. Air Officers Commanding-in-Chief of the seven commands and top officials attended the meeting.

Notes:
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has notified the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for white goods (Air conditioners and LED lights).
The budgetary outlay of the PLIWG scheme was Rs 6,238 crore. An incentive of 4-6 per cent on incremental sales of goods manufactured in India would be given for a period of five years to the companies engaged in the production of white goods.