Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2021

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:
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:
China-based technology major Xiaomi has announced “Mi Air Charge”. It is a new wireless charging technology that has been patented by the company.
This device lets users to charge multiple electronic devices without any cables, pads, or wireless charging stands. But Xiaomi has stated that this device is still in the concept phase and will not be available commercially in the near future.

Notes:
The Indian construction major L&T Construction, has bagged the contract for building 28 steel bridges for Mumbai and Ahmedabad bullet train project.
The order costs about Rs.1000 crore to Rs.2500 crore. It involves procurement, fabrication, assembly and erection of bridges at various sites in the line. This project has been bagged as a consortium of L&T and Japan’s IHI Infrastructure Systems.

Notes:
Chauri Chaura is a town located near Gorakhpur, in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to inaugurate the Chauri Chaura Centenary celebrations.
The historic Chauri Chaura incident took place on 5 February 1922 at the Chauri Chaura town in the United Province in British India. After a clash between the Police and a group of volunteers, the Police opened fire and the group torched the Police station. Gandhi withdrew the Non-cooperation movement after this incident.

Notes:
The BCCI has decided to conduct Vijay Hazare Trophy in place of its first-class domestic tournament Ranji Trophy.
BCCI has stated that the decision has been made as per the wishes of majority of the state units. Additionally, BCCI would also be hosting U-19 National One Day tournament for the Vinoo Mankad Trophy and a Women’s national 50-over tournament.

Notes:
The UN counterterrorism chief has urged countries to repatriate the children stranded in a massive camp in Al Hol.
Out of the 27,000 abandoned children, many of them are children of Islamic State extremists. Al Hol camp is the largest camp for refugees and displaced Syrians in the country, located in the north-eastern Syria.

Notes:
In this year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 cricket tournament held at Ahmedabad, Tamil Nadu team defeated Baroda to win the trophy title. Last year Tamil Nadu lost the trophy against Karnataka.
During this year’s tournament, Tamil Nadu remained un beaten till the final match. At the finals, the team chased Baroda’s modest score of 120, with 2 overs and 7 wickets remaining.

Notes:
Pattachitra is one of the oldest and most popular art forms of Odisha. It is a traditional style of painting performed on a cloth-based scroll.
This unique artform is known for its intricate artistic work and details about the mythological stories. Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned the name of a Orissa student in his Mann ki Baat radio programme, for practising the art form during Covid-19.

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.