Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2021

Notes:
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is set to launch ‘NPCI PayAuth Challenge’, a global-level hackathon.
The hackathon is supported by the world’s first open architecture API marketplace, APIX. It is a cross-border sandbox platform. The hackathon aims to get alternatives for the authentication of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions.

Notes:
The World Health Organization (WHO) in association with the European Union are launching the 40-million-euro COVID Vaccine programme in six former Soviet republics.
These countries are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova. Also, it has been observed that the number of COVID positive cases in this region has been declining in the past.

Notes:
A Museum themed on dacoits is set to come up at the Bhind Police Headquarters, which is located in Madhya Pradesh.
The museum will have unique items used by dacoits like Phoolan Devi, Nirbhay Gujjar. Bhind of Madhya Pradesh lies in the Chambal belt and is said to be India’s most notorious region.

Notes:
Hewlett Packard (HP) India and National Skill Development Corporation signed a partnership to provide early skill development of students.
Under the agreement, HP would provide worksheets and content to enhance home learning. NSDC will host the content from the company’s ‘Print Learn Center’ on ‘eSkill India’, its digital skilling platform.

Notes:
Yoshiro Mori resigned from the post of the President of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
After being criticised for his sexist comments he had made earlier. Yoshiro Mori is 83 years old and he is also the former prime minister of Japan. He also served as the president of the organizing body by the previous Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Notes:
Mario Draghi has sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Italy. He is the former Chief of the European Central Bank.
He is nick named as “Super Mario”. He has announced his cabinet of ministers, which consists of political and technocratic ministers. He is presently 73 years old.

Notes:
Union Finance Ministry is set to infuse Rs 3,000 crore capital into state-owned general insurance companies, during the current quarter.
The cabinet decided to increase the authorised share capital of National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) to Rs 7,500 crore and that of United India Insurance Company Limited (UIICL) and Oriental Insurance Company Limited (OICL) to Rs 5,000 crore each.

Notes:
The Jagannath Temple Management Committee, has recently approved a Rs 800-crore heritage corridor project. This project aims to revamp and redevelop the temple and is surrounding areas.
The Lord Jagannath Temple is an important 12th century temple located in Puri, Odisha. The temple was built by the King Anantavarman Chodaganga of Ganga dynasty.

Notes:
Nigerian American economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been appointed as the new director-general of World Trade Organization (WTO). With this appointment, she becomes the first African women to be the Chief of WTO.
WTO is an intergovernmental organization that is regulates the trade between nations. It is headquartered at Geneva.

Notes:
The Jal Jeevan Mission was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15th August, 2019. It aims to provide tap water connection to every rural household by 2024.
Recently, the scheme has reached a new milestone by providing 3.53 Crore rural household tap water connections. 35.24% of rural households receive potable water through taps, against only 17% in 2019.