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:
Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare addressed the event on Restoring Cross Border Mobility, through video conference.
The event was organised by World Economic Forum’s Common Trust Network, to discuss the policies and partnerships required to reopen borders and enable essential travel, tourism and commerce in a safe and sustainable method.

Notes:
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has signed an MoU with the Union Territory of Ladakh.
The purpose of the MoU is to establish knowledge partnership between the Ladakh UT and CSIR, focussing on the areas such as bioresource utilization, introduction of cash crops and exploration of natural resources.

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:
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 Reserve Bank of India has recently announced a framework to strengthen the grievance redress mechanism in Banks. The framework mandates all banks (excluding regional rural banks) to have enhanced disclosures on complaints.
This move of Reserve Bank comes at the back drop of increase in customer complaints in the banking industry in the recent years.

Notes:
The FDI limit in Indian insurance companies increased to 74% in 2021. The Insurance Act, 1938 was amended to permit up to 100% foreign direct investment from February 5, 2026. Foreign investors and FPIs can now collectively own 100 percent equity in Indian insurance companies, according to the Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha Act, operative from February 2026. This act ended all previous sectoral FDI cap restrictions.

Notes:
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh virtually launched the ‘Har Ghar Pani, Har Ghar Safai’ mission.
This scheme is a part of the government’s campaign to provide 100 per cent potable piped water supply in all rural households by March 2022. The Chief Minister also launched ‘Mega Surface Water Supply Scheme’.

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:
India’s first Centre for Wetland Conservation and Management has been set up in Chennai. It aims to strengthen research for conservation and management of the wetlands.
This has been set up as a part of the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), Chennai. The Centre would also serve as a knowledge hub and facilitate exchanges between state wetland authorities.