Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2021

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:
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has recently introduced several changes to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Rules.
It includes mandatory “Impact Assessment” for big CSR projects. It also includes mandatory disclosure of all CSR projects and the CSR Committee’s composition on the company’s website.

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:
The Indian Government is to introduce a bill in Parliament to ban all private cryptocurrencies and create a sovereign digital currency by the Reserve Bank of India.
The bill is to allow certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses. A legislative framework on official digital currency is also expected to be created.

Notes:
Serum Institute of India has announced that it would launch a new COVID-19 vaccine under the brand name Covovax.
It would be developed in partnership with American vaccine developer Novavax, by the month of June. The company’s Covishield has been developed in partnership with the Oxford University and British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca.

Notes:
Anders Antonsen of Denmark won the men’s singles final at badminton World Tour held in Bangkok recently. In the final match, he defeated Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.
The tournament is hosted by Thailand in a bio secure coronavirus bubble. The tournament contained no spectators, to guard against the pandemic.

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:
Lieutenant General C P Mohanty assumed charge as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff. Prior to this appointment he was the Army Commander of the Southern Army.
The area of responsibility of the Southern Army includes 11 states and four Union Territories. C P Mohanty has replaced the previous Vice Chief of the Army Staff, Lieutenant General Satinder Kumar Saini.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed an external professional IT firm to carry out a special audit of the entire IT infrastructure of the bank
Earlier, the RBI had penalised the HDFC bank for repeated service failures in internet banking, mobile banking, and payment utilities. This step has been taken by the RBI using the powers conferred under the Banking regulation act, 1949.

Notes:
The Supreme Court has directed Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund to distribute Rs 9,122 crore to unitholders of the six schemes that were shut by the company in April 2020.
SBI Mutual Fund has been directed to carry out the process of disbursement. Franklin Templeton has been mandated to distribute the said money within twenty days from the date of order.