Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2021

Notes:
Global payment major Mastercard has announced that it will support some select cryptocurrency directly on its network.
It highlighted that it will give preference to ‘stable coins’ or cryptocurrencies that are linked to fiat currencies like the dollar. It also laid down four conditions for stable coins to be accepted including consumer protection, compliance among others.

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:
Veteran American Director Steven Spielberg has been awarded Israel’s prestigious USD 1 million 2021 Genesis Prize.
As per the organisers, the award was provided in recognition of his contribution to cinema, his philanthropic works and his efforts to preserve the memory of the Holocaust. The award is provided every year, to a personality to honour their professional as well as social achievements.

Notes:
The Government has recently stated that Madhya Pradesh was the worst hit state in terms of crop loss due to floods in the year 2019. It has registered zero crop loss in 2017 and 2018.
The estimated crop loss in the state was 6.047 million hecatres due to extreme rainfall and flood.

Notes:
Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) releases the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
As per the recent edition of the data, the IIP measure grew 1 per cent for December 2020. The Consumer Price Index inflation (CPI) decreased to 4.06 per cent in January 2021, due to the decline in vegetable prices.

Notes:
The Union Ministry for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has launched the Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) programme.
This nation-wide programme has been launched in partnership with nine Indian Institutes of Management across India. It has been launched under the SANKALP (Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion) scheme.

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:
Giant Leatherback turtle are the largest of the seven species of sea turtles. They are found in all oceans except the Arctic and the Antarctic.
In the Indian ocean, they nest at Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Government’s proposal for tourism promotion and port development will threaten this species, which is accorded legal protection by listing in Schedule I of India’s Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

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 Union Cabinet recently approved a Rs 12,195-crore Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for domestic manufacturing of telecom and networking products.
The products include switches, routers, radio access network, wireless equipment and other internet of things (IoT) access devices. With this, the total number of sectors stand at 13, for which incentives of 4 to 6 per cent would be provided by the Government.