Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2021

Notes:
Union External Affairs Minister S Jai Shankar recently delivered his virtual keynote address at the All-India Conference of China Studies.
During the conference, he proposed Eight Guiding principles to repair the strained relations of India with China. He also highlighted the disturbance in their ties due to the stand-off at Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Notes:
The cabinet of Government of Tamil Nadu, has approved new investments in the state amounting Rs.52,257 crores. This includes investment by Tata Electronics amounting Rs.5,763 crores, for manufacture of mobile phone components. These investments are expected to generate over 93,935 jobs in the state.
The state’s cabinet has also cleared the Tamil Nadu Industrial Policy 2021.

Notes:
The United Kingdom has recently announced that it will formally apply to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
CPTPP is a trans-Pacific trading association which removes most tariffs between 11 countries including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Notes:
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in her Budget speech that a “Deep Ocean Mission” will be launched.
A budget outlay of more than Rs 4,000 crore has been announced over five years. This programme will undertake deep ocean survey exploration. It also includes projects to conserve deep-sea biodiversity.

Notes:
The 13th edition of Aero India, the Global Air show ‘Aero India’ is being organised at the Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bengaluru.
The exhibition is hosted by the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Exhibition Organisation. This show enables the manufacturers and service providers from the Indian aviation industry meet potential buyers.

Notes:
According to a recent research published in the journal Nature, Scientists have developed a new protein-based biosensor to detect the novel coronavirus.
These devices recognise the unique molecules on the surface of the virus and bind to them. Subsequently, they emit light through a biochemical reaction. This technique does not rely on genetic amplification as used in the RT-PCR method and saves time.

Notes:
The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) is an independent and international non-governmental organisation which works towards the realisation of human rights in the Commonwealth countries.
The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative has recently issued a statement calling for the withdrawal of sedition cases file against journalists in India. It also sought the repealing of sedition and criminal defamation laws.

Notes:
The Additional Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Praveen Sinha has been appointed as the acting chief of CBI.
He is a 1988-batch Gujarat cadre IPS officer. After Rishi Kumar Shukla who retired recently, the acting Chief has been appointed till a decision on a New Director is taken. This is the third time in last five years that an interim chief will head CBI.

Notes:
The Education Ministry constituted a task force to prepare roadmap on imparting technical education in mother tongue. It was set up in December 2020.
The committee will be headed by the Higher Education Secretary Amit Khare, with representations from Directors from different IITs and NITs. This was announced in the Rajya Sabha by the Ministry.

Notes:
Pakistan has successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile named ‘Ghaznavi’.
The ballistic missile is capable of delivering nuclear and other types of warheads up to a range of 290 kilometres. Last month, the country test-fired another nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile Shaheen-III.