Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2021

Notes:
Every year, Earth Day is observed on April 22nd. The first such day was observed in the year 1970.
In this year’s Earth Day, US President Joe Biden announced his commitment to slash the US’s carbon emission by at least 50% by the year 2030, based on 2005 levels.

Notes:
The Indian Government has decided to resume providing free food grains to the poor in May and June.
The 5-kg additional food grains to PDS beneficiaries is to be provided under the PMGKAY for two months -May and June. But this time, pulses are not being provided to the poor. PMGKAY was announced in 2020 from May to November to help poor people tackle the pandemic.

Notes:
Astronomers have recently discovered one of the smallest black holes discovered till date, at just 1,500 light-years away from the earth.
Named as the ‘Unicorn’, it is also the closest black hole to the Earth found so far. The nickname was selected because it was discovered in the constellation Monoceros, which means unicorn, as per a release from the Ohio State University.

Notes:
The Shanghai headquartered New Development Bank (NDB) has launched the USD 1.5 billion benchmark bond, for a term of 5 years.
The net proceeds of the bond issue would be used for financing sustainable development activities and to fund COVID-19 Emergency Program Loans to the Bank’s member countries.

Notes:
Recently, a glacier burst has been reported to have occurred in Sumna, Neeti Valley in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. It is situated very near to the Indo-China border.
As per reports by the Indian Army, 291 persons have been rescued so far and the operations are still on. The personnel trapped includes members of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF).

Notes:
An oxygen concentrator is a medical device which concentrates oxygen from ambient air. During the Covid pandemic, it is highly needed for treating patients.
The oxygen concentrator takes in the atmospheric air, which has 78 % Nitrogen and 21 % oxygen, filters it through a sieve, releases the nitrogen back into the air, and works on the remaining oxygen.

Notes:
Chinese Government, has named its first Mars rover as ‘Zhurong’ after the country’s traditional fire God. The rover is aboard a Mars probe named Tianwen-1 that the recently reached the Mars orbit.
It would descend to the Mars surface shortly. Tianwen-1 has been sent to mars with an aim to analyse and map the Martian surface, look for possible water resources and understand the environment.

Notes:
As per the recent report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the USA is the world’s largest military spender in 2020.
The top five spenders are the China, India, Russia and the United Kingdom, other than the USA. These five countries together accounted for 62 per cent of global military expenditure. An increase of 2.6 per cent in military spending was recorded in the year.

Notes:
A massive forest fire has been raging in the hills near Lunglei town, which is situated in the state of Mizoram. The fire is reported to have spread to towns and villages of in and around Lunglei and Lawngtlai districts of the state.
The state has deployed the firefighting team, who have taken assistance from the Assam Rifles, Border Security Force and IAF personnel to put off the fire.

Notes:
An alliance of cryptocurrency firms and organisations have announced the Crypto Climate Accord (CCA).
It is an industry-driven agreement in which the firms vow to switch to renewable energy sources by 2025 and go completely eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. CCA is led by three non-profit groups: The Rocky Mountain Institute; the Alliance for Innovative Regulation; and Energy Web Foundation.