Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2021

Notes:
As per a recent study, MK-4482, an experimental antiviral drug, is said to have decreased levels of virus in the lungs of hamsters treated for SARS-CoV-2 infection.
The scientists from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) published the study in the journal Nature Communications. MK-4482 is now in human clinical trials, and is delivered orally. These data suggest that MK-4482 treatment could mitigate high-risk exposures to the coronavirus.

Notes:
Special forces of India and Kyrgyzstan began a two-week military exercise in Bishkek. The eighth edition of special forces exercise, ‘Khanjar’ was inaugurated with a focus on counter-terror drills.
Initiated in 2011, this is the eighth edition of special forces exercise. This year, the focus is on high-altitude warfare. In 2015, India and Kyrgyzstan signed an agreement on bolstering defence cooperation.

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:
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:
Ajay Seth, a 1987-batch Karnataka cadre officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), took charge as new Economic Affairs Secretary.
Ajay Seth was previously serving as the Managing director of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. The new economic affairs Secretary will coordinate the policy efforts of various stakeholders of the government, the Reserve Bank of India and states to maintain the economic growth.

Notes:
The Lyrids are comets, which appear to move fairly fast, streaking through our atmosphere at an average velocity of 48 kilometers per second.
This modestly bright comet was discovered in April 1861 by an amateur astronomer, A.E. Thatcher. The Earth’s orbit coincides with the comet around April 22 each year. This year also, the annual Lyrid meteor shower is t take place on April 22.

Notes:
IAS officer Siddharth Singh Longjam is to take over as the National Anti-Doping Agency’s Director General.
The officer will succeed Navin Agarwal, who introduced Athletes Biological Passport (ABP) for around 60 elite Indian sportspersons during his tenure. Longjam is currently serving as joint secretary in the Sports Ministry.

Notes:
Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 22-year-old Greek player defeated Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-3 in the final of the Monte Carlo Open for his first Masters 1000 title.
The world number five clinched the biggest victory in his career, after his triumph in the year-end ATP Finals in 2019. He is the youngest player ranked in the top 10 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

Notes:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved subsidy for urea to be produced by state-run Talcher Fertilizers (TFL), by means of coal gasification technology.
The company is to set up the urea plant based on coal gasification at Odisha. Talcher Fertilizers is a joint venture company between Coal India, GAIL, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers, Fertilizer Corporation of India.

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.