Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2021

Notes:
The Benin Bronzes are a group of over a thousand metal plaques and sculptures located in the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin.
The Benin city is situated in modern-day southern Nigeria. It was famous for its skilled artisans that produced works of huge historic and cultural importance. In 1897, the British soldiers plundered Benin City, stealing a set of metal sculptures. Recently, UK accepted that the objects will be supplied by their current European custodians, initially on loan for three years.

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:
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:
Union Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ virtually launched world’s first affordable and long-lasting hygiene product in the name of “DuroKea Series”.
The hygiene product has been launched by IIT Hyderabad researchers. This innovative and long-lasting technologies was developed to combat COVID-19 virus spreading.

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:
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:
The Amnesty International has released its annual report “global review of the death penalty”. As per the report, there is an overall decrease in the number of global death penalties in the year 2020, but some countries have increased the death penalty of executions.
As per the report, China is considered to be the world’s most prolific executioner in the world.

Notes:
The former RBI Governor Shri. M. Narasimham passed away recently at the age of 94 years. He was the 13th Governor of RBI and till date is the only Governor of RBI to be appointed from Reserve Bank cadre.
He chaired the Committee on Financial System (CFS) 1991 and the Committee on Banking Reforms 1998, which forms the financial sector landscape that is in existence today.

Notes:
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently validated Gambia for having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem.
With this, Gambia became the second country in WHO’s African Region to achieve this milestone. WHO launched the 2021–2030 road map for neglected tropical diseases. Côte d’Ivoire was the first to achieve this feat.

Notes:
BOB Financial, the credit card arm of Bank of Baroda and Mastercard have jointly launched small business-focussed QR code embedded credit card.
Named ‘ConQR’, it enables cardholders/ SMEs to accept cashless payments using their cards. Small businesses can use QR to make payments as well as receive payments with affordable and simple process.