Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2021

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi handed over the Arjun Main Battle Tank Mark-1A (MK-1A) to the Indian Army, at a function held at Chennai.
The battle tank has been indigenously designed, developed and manufactured by the DRDO’s Combat Vehicles Research & Development Establishment (CVRDE), Chennai.

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:
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:
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched e-Chhawani portal, which aims to provide online municipal services to citizens across 62 Cantonment Boards.
Through the portal, application for renewal of leases, online registration of births and deaths and online application for water and sewerage connection can be made easier. Residents of the cantonment areas can also lodge complaints on civic issues online.

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 state government of Tamil Nadu has recently launched its new Industrial Policy 2021-2025. It was unveiled by the Chief Minister Edappadi.K.Palaniswami.
The policy aims to attract investment investments worth over ₹10-lakh crore by 2025. Also, it aims to achieve 15% annual growth rate in manufacturing sector.

Notes:
The Joint Conference of the 11th World PetroCoal Congress and World Future Fuel Summit was organised in New Delhi.
Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan addressed the joint conference. HE highlighted that the Public sector companies in the oil industry have invested Rs 34,000 crore to upgrade plants for producing BS-VI fuel.

Notes:
Twitter has started rolling out the voice messages feature, under which recorded voice message can be sent via Direct Message in India.
This new voice message feature is being launched in select countries in a phased manner. The voice message feature is already present in various instant messaging apps like WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram, and others.

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:
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has granted recognition to Mallikarjun Kharge as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
The Indian National Congress Leader succeeds Ghulam Nabi Azad whose term has ended recently. Mallikarjun Kharge was a former Union minister and had been Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, earlier.