Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2021

Notes:
Union Minister Jitendra Singh announced that the upper ceiling has been raised from Rs 45,000 to Rs 1.25 lakh per month.
This increase is in accordance with the increase of salary as per the recommendations of the seventh pay commission. This step will ensure that the family members of the deceased employees get access to adequate financial security.

Notes:
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and navigation technology solutions provider MapmyIndia have partnered to create a national level mapping portal.
Along with the state-of-the-art mapping portal, the partnership also seeks to provide geospatial services. MapmyIndia has rich expertise in digital maps and technologies while ISRO has the best satellite imagery data.

Notes:
Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) is a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology.
On the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, four young women fellows of National Science Academies have been awarded the SERB Women Excellence Award. The award includes a grant of Rs. 15 lakhs for three years to pursue their research ideas.

Notes:
The Indian Navy got its third Scorpene submarine, which will be commissioned in Mumbai as INS Karanj. This is a part of the six submarines, which are being constructed under Project 75.
Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited has delivered three Scorpene submarines to the Indian Navy named Khanderi, Kalvari and Karanj.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India releases data on the measures of the credit and deposit of banks across the country.
In the latest edition of the data, Bank credit grew 5.93 per cent to Rs 107.05 lakh crore, while deposits rose 11.06 per cent to Rs 147.98 lakh crore. During the first nine months of the current fiscal year, bank credit rose by 3.2 per cent and deposits by 8.5 per cent.

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:
India’s leading cement maker ACC has launched a new low carbon range of ready mix concrete, in order to cut down carbon emissions.
This has been named as ECOPact. It has been launched in Mumbai and Hyderabad initially and would be rolled out in the entire country in some time.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs is to organise a ‘Mushaira’ event, in which renowned poets from across the country will recite their poems.
The event is to be conducted on February 20, 2021, on the theme ‘Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat’. Mushaira, which is regarded as a poetic symposium is part of the Culture of India and Pakistan. It aims to make younger generation aware of the country’s art and culture.

Notes:
Iran and Russia are organising a two-day navy exercise called “Iran-Russia Maritime Security Belt 2021” in the northern part of the Indian Ocean.
India has joined the exercise with a select group of vessels and forces. The drill will cover an area of 17,000 square kilometres and will include shooting at sea and air targets and liberating hijacked ships, as well as search and rescue and anti-piracy operations.

Notes:
The first day of the spring called ‘Pahela Phagun’ is celebrated in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The country’s top cultural organisations including the Bangladesh Shilpa Kala Academy held programmes to celebrate the beginning of the spring.
On account of the Covid pandemic, the traditional programme of ‘Basanta Utsab’ at the Fine Arts faculty in Dhaka university was cancelled.