Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2021

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:
Grand Anicut Canal, also called as ‘Kallanai’ is said to be the oldest water regulating structure in the world, constructed in the 2nd century A.D by the Chola King Karikal Cholan.
Recently, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the extension, renovation and modernization of the Grand Anicut Canal System. The project is to be taken up at a cost of Rs 2,640 crores. He also inaugurated the 1000-Crore Discovery Campus in IIT, Chennai.

Notes:
An unmanned Russian cargo ship launched successfully loaded with supplies for the International Space Station.
Named as ‘Progress MS-16’, the cargo ship blasted off from the Russia’s Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan. The ship is carrying water, propellant and other supplies. It is set to dock at the space outpost two days after the launch.

Notes:
As per the recent report released by Tracxn, a company which tracks investments and financials, the number of start-ups founded in Bengaluru has been higher than in San Francisco, United States in the past five years.
In 2015, 3,080 firms were founded in the Indian city, as against 2,040 companies in San Francisco. Similarly, in 2020, 805 firms were founded in Bengaluru, whereas the US city’s count was 619. Bengaluru has around 13,000 active start-ups, at present.

Notes:
The Department of Science and Technology has announced major changes to India’s mapping policy. This step aims to enable the Indian companies access to modern mapping technologies.
As per the guidelines released by the Science and Technology Ministry, there are no restrictions for acquiring and producing geospatial data and geospatial data services including maps.

Notes:
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced that it will provide Rs 100 crore loan to Gurgaon-based hospital chain Medanta.
The financial assistance would aid the multi-speciality hospital chain in enhancing healthcare services and medical equipment to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. It also includes staff training programmes on infection control.

Notes:
As per the recent data from the EU statistics agency Eurostat, China was the biggest trading partner of the European Union.
Last year, China overtook the United States as the biggest trading partner of the EU. As per the agency, Britain which is not a part of the European Union at present, was the third-largest trading partner.

Notes:
The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has been conferred the Skoch Chief Minister of the Year Award.
The award has been provided based on a year-long study of results of the projects being implemented by various state governments of the country. Over 123 projects were implemented in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Notes:
The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has unveiled the draft blue economy policy in the public domain, inviting suggestions and inputs from various stakeholders.
The draft policy document highlights the strategy that can be adopted by the government to utilise the oceanic resources available in the country. It also has recognised seven thematic areas.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently laid the foundation stone for Dhubri-Phulbari Bridge over Brahmaputra river.
It is a 19 km long 4-lane bridge to be laid from Dhubri in Assam to Phulbari in Meghalaya. The bridge will improve transport connectivity in the Barak valley. It also reduces the distance between the four North eastern states of Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram and Assam.