Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2021

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:
Bengali New Year named Pohela Boisakh or Shubho Nobo Borsho is celebrated this year on 15th April 2021.
It is the first day of the first month of Boishakh according to the lunisolar Bengali calendar, which usually falls on 14th or 15th of April every year.

Notes:
The Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) was enacted in 1968, to maintain certain essential services and the normal life of the community. The Act includes a list of essential services in its charter.
After the rapid increase in Covid-19 cases, the Chhattisgarh Government has invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA). The refusal to work in essential services has been prohibited. It includes health workers, sanitation workers, workers in water and power supply services etc.

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 financial system regulator – Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently announced the list of shortlisted applicants, under its on-tap licensing window for universal banks and small finance banks.
Universal bank licence can be obtained by individuals and professionals having 10 years of experience in banking and finance at a senior level. For SFBs, the minimum net worth requirement is Rs 200 crore.

Notes:
Google celebrated the 151st birthday of Dr. Vera Gedroits, a Russian surgeon, professor, poet, and author.
She is also regarded as the country’s first female military surgeon and one of the world’s first female professors of surgery. Dr. Gedroits volunteered as a surgeon during the Russo-Japanese War in 1904.

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 Net-Zero Banking Alliance is convened by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Finance Initiative.
43 banks from 23 countries formed the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), which joined GFANZ. The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) was chaired by the UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance.

Notes:
During the virtual summit on climate change convened by US President Joe Biden, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India and the US are launching an “Agenda 2030” partnership on green collaborations.
“India-US Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership”, aims to implement actions at high speed and on a large scale globally, to combat climate change. The summit was attended by various country leaders like Chinese President Xi Jinping, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin etc.