Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2021

Notes:
The Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has recently released ‘Marine Mega Fauna Stranding Guidelines’ and ‘National Marine Turtle Action Plan’.
The documents contain framework for handling stranded animals on shore, entangled animals in the sea or boat, management actions for reducing threats to marine species and their habitats, rehabilitation of degraded habitats, among others.

Notes:
According to the performance index compiled by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute, New Zealand handled the pandemic the most effectively.
India is ranked 86th in the index comprising 98 countries, which measures several key indicators including confirmed cases, deaths, cases per million people and deaths per million people. New Zealand is followed by Vietnam and Taiwan while Brazil is the worst performing country.

Notes:
As per a recent report by Alvarez & Marsal India, as at September 2020, it took an average of 440 days for resolving 277 cases approved by the NCLT under the IBC.
The report stressed on the need for time-bound resolution of stressed assets and enhancing the resolution processes under Insolvency and Bankruptcy code as recovery percentages fell sharply to 15-25 % whenever there is an increase in time taken for resolution.

Notes:
The corruption perception index (CPI) for the year 2020 has been released recently by Transparency International (TI). The index uses a scale of 0 to 100 to rate countries, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.
India slipped six places and has been ranked at 86th position out of 180 countries.

Notes:
IN FAC T-81 is the Indian Naval Fast Attack Craft of the Super Dvora MK II class, which served the nation successfully for more than 20 years in surveillance and Search & Rescue.
It was recently decommissioned at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai. It is a 25-meter-long vessel with 60 tonnes displacement and was built at Goa Shipyard Ltd in collaboration with an Israel manufacturer. The INFAC was commissioned into the Navy in 1999.

Notes:
India exported 4.45 million tonnes basmati rice (worth USD 4.33 billion) in financial year 2019-20. It has a 65 per cent share in global basmati trade.
Pakistan makes the rest of the global trade. Recently, Pakistan’s basmati rice has received a Geographical Indication (GI) registration within the country. India has applied to the EU for the GI tag for its basmati rice in September 2020. Both countries are exporting basmati to the EU without a GI tag from it.

Notes:
On 30th Jan 1948, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse in the year 1948. On this day, India observes Martyrs Day or Shaheed Diwas, to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi and all martyrs who sacrificed their life for the nation’s freedom.
The 73rd death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi was observed as Martyrs’ Day recently.

Notes:
The 13-day long Khelo India Zanskar winter sports and youth festival concluded at Zanskar Valley of the Union Territory of Ladakh.
The festival was organized by the Department of Sports & Youth Services and the Ladakh Tourism Department, under the Khelo India scheme. It aims to promote the economic activities and winter tourism in Ladakh.

Notes:
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has announced the launch of its first all civilian mission to space. The mission will be the first all-commercial astronaut mission to the orbit.
Named as Inspiration4, the mission is to be launched using the flagship vehicle of SpaceX, the Falcon 9. Expected to be launched by the end of 2021, it is a charity-focused mission commanded by the entrepreneur Jared Isaacman.

Notes:
NITI Aayog has recently released the ‘Sustainable Development of Little Andaman Island – Vision Document’.
As per the document, it has proposed a plan for the sustainable development of the 680 sq km Little Andaman Island in the Andaman and Nicobar island group. A new greenfield coastal city is to be developed as a free trade zone to compete with Singapore and Hong Kong.