Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2021

Notes:
India hosted the BRICS seminar on “Misuse of Internet for Terrorist Purposes and Role of Digital Forensics in Terrorist Investigations”, which was organised by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
It is a two-day event organized in a virtual format which emphasized on international cooperation and seamless sharing of good practices in tackling cyber terrorism.

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 India Meteorological Department (IMD) has stated that the Long Period Average (LPA) for this year’s (2021) southwest monsoon is 98 per cent. The department expects a normal monsoon this year and is set to commence from June 2021.
This has a direct positive impact on the agricultural productivity of the country amidst COVID uncertainties.

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:
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:
The Government of India has recently extended the insurance scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package for health workers for a period of one year.
This insurance scheme convers loss of life due to COVID 19 and accidental death due to COVID related duty. A sum of Rs. 50 lakh would be paid to the claimant of insured person.

Notes:
The American Space Agency NASA’s robot helicopter named Ingenuity has successfully flown over the surface of Mars.
This makes it the first powered – controlled flight by an aircraft on another planet. Bob Balaram, an Indian origin NASA Engineer is considered to be the man behind Ingenuity helicopter.

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:
The Russian Space Agency – Roscosmos is set for building its own space station and aims to launch the same by the year 2030.
This project is expected to end Russia’s cooperation with the United States of America for more than 2 decades aboard the International Space Station (ISS).