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:
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar launched the Indo-French year of Environment along with his French counterpart.
India and France have environment projects being undertaken in Assam, Rajasthan and a project to be started in Jharkhand. The objective of this event is to strengthen Indo-French cooperation in sustainable development.

Notes:
‘STARS’ stand for Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States. It is a project of the Union Ministry of Education for improving the quality of education in six selected states.
The total project cost of project is Rs 5718 crore with the financial support of World Bank amounting to approximately Rs. 3700 crore. Recently, the agreement for the financial support of the project was signed with World Bank.

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:
Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is an infectious disease caused by a bacillus Mycobacterium leprae. It is named after the Norwegian physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, who identified the bacterium.
World Leprosy Day is celebrated on the last Sunday of January every year to increase awareness on the disease. In India, the day is being observed on January 30 this year, on the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

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:
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), India has the highest number of new cases of leprosy in the world annually.
India is followed by Brazil and Indonesia in the largest number of cases. In India, more new cases are reported from the rural belts of Bihar, Lakshadweep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli. January 31 is observed as World Leprosy Day.

Notes:
‘The Little Book of Encouragement’ is a book authored by the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama recently.
The book includes quotes and words of wisdom to the people, to face the realities of the world posed by the pandemic. It also discusses how to combat extremism, polarity and climate change and his views on Tibet in his new book.

Notes:
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Siddhartha Mohanty as the new Managing Director of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India.
He is currently serving as the Managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of LIC Housing Finance. Siddhartha Mohanty has replaced TC Suseel Kumar, who retired on January 31, 2021. LIC has four Managing Directors and one Chairman.

Notes:
The Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray launched a scheme to provide financial assistance to start-ups for filing IT patents.
Under the new scheme, around 125-150 start-ups will be supported in the first phase of the scheme with the financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. The state will also provide up to ₹2 lakh for quality testing and certification for the ideas of the start-ups.