Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2021

Notes:
Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in the solar system present in the planet of Mars. It is a large shield volcano, which is over two times the height of Mount Everest above sea level.
The UAE’s “Hope” Mars probe sent back its first image of Mars, after the spacecraft successfully entered the planet’s orbit. The probe recently captured the Olympus Mons volcano, taken from an altitude of 24,700 kilometres above the Martian surface.

Notes:
24-year-old Priyanka Goswami of Uttar Pradesh won the women’s 20-km walk event with a time of 1:28:45, at the National Open Race-Walking Championships in Ranchi. Sandeep Kumar broke the record in the corresponding men’s event.

Notes:
A group of six black storks (Ciconia nigra), were spotted recently in the Sigur plateau in the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu.
The species is classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in the “Least Concern” category. The sighting of the black stork in this region is considered to be extremely rare.

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:
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin became the first player in the 143-year history of Test cricket to take 200 wickets against left-handed batsmen.
He achieved the feat during the second day of India’s second Test against England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. With 391 wickets, he is also the second highest wicket taker in the country.

Notes:
Indian Origin investment and development banker Preeti Sinha has been appointed as the Executive Secretary of UN Capital Development Fund.
It is an organisation that provides micro finance access to Least Developed Countries (LDCs). It is headquartered in New York.

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:
Global E-commerce giant Amazon has announced that it is set to begin manufacturing devices in India. This is the first Amazon manufacturing line in India.
Amazon will begin manufacturing with Cloud Network Technology, a subsidiary of Foxconn, in Chennai. Beginning later this year, the programme aims to manufacture several lakhs of Fire TV Stick devices every year, generating additional jobs in the country.

Notes:
Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Demeke Mekonnen Hassen arrived in New Delhi.
He inaugurated the new Chancery and Residence at Ethiopian Embassy in New Delhi along with External Affairs Minister of India Dr. S. Jaishankar. They also discussed on various bilateral and global issues of mutual interest.

Notes:
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres proposed that the G-20 association set up an emergency task force to prepare a “Global Vaccination Plan” against Covid-19.
As per the UN, this task force should include all countries that are capable of developing vaccines or to produce them, along with vaccination organisations, other technical organisations and international financial institutions.