Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2021

Notes:
Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V is developed by Russia. Bala Venkatesh Varma, who is the Indian Ambassador to Russia has stated that the first dose of Sputnik V vaccines would be delivered to India in the month of April 2021.
Recently, the Subject expert committee (SEC) for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) has granted approval to Russia’s Sputnik V making it the 3rd in India to get clearance.

Notes:
Russia has unveiled a new series of space Lunar missions. The first of those missions, named as “Luna 25”, is scheduled to launch this October.
The country had a 45-year drought of moon landings. The lander has been designed to study the ice permanently frozen below the moon’s surface. The scientists will also evaluate the dangers posed by sharp fragments of lunar dust.

Notes:
As per a recent study, only 3% of the world’s land remains ecologically intact, without spoiled by human beings.
The undamaged lands are mainly in parts of the Amazon and Congo tropical forests, east Siberian and northern Canadian forests and tundra, and the Sahara. The researchers suggest reintroducing a small number of important species to some damaged areas, such as elephants or wolves.

Notes:
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat and Union Minister Kiren Rijiju inaugurated a water sports and adventure institute on the bank of the Tehri lake.
The institute will be run by the Indo Tibetan Border Police and has been built at a cost of Rs 20 crore. The institute is built at a cost of Rs 20 crore and will be run by the Indo Tibetan Border Police.

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:
Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) announced that Sivasubramanian Ramann has taken charge as Chairman and Managing Director of the bank.
The appointment is for a period of three years. Prior to this appointment, Ramann was serving as MD and CEO of National E-Governance Services Ltd (NeSL). He has also held the position of Executive Director in Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

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:
A report was recently released by China’s central bank, People’s Bank of China (PBOC). It stated that India’s demographic advantage to overtake China’s by 2035.
It also proposed that China should immediately liberalise its birth policies to tackle the problems of an ageing population. This would enable the country to compete economically with demographically young India and immigration-friendly US.

Notes:
A new global marine initiative has been launched to protect and conserve 18 million square kilometres of the ocean over the next five years.
This initiative is known as the “Blue Nature Alliance”. It is led by several philanthropic organisations along with national governments, local communities, Indigenous peoples, scientists, and academics.

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.