Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2021

Notes:
Arribada is a term used to describe the mass migration of sea turtles, where large groups of females assemble at a nesting site on the beach.
Recently, the Olive Ridley turtles have started laying eggs in the beach in this nesting season. The nesting season which usually begins in November was delayed by a few weeks this year, due to changes in climate conditions due to the cyclones Nivar and Burevi.

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:
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a set of amendments to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
This was the proposal of the Ministry of Women and Child Development. The amendments include empowering the District Magistrates (DM) and the additional DMs to monitor the functioning of agencies, which are implementing the act.

Notes:
The Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, recently announced twenty-five shortlisted cities for the ‘Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge’ cohort.
This challenge is a three-year initiative aimed to support early childhood-friendly neighbourhoods under the Smart Cities Mission of the Central Government. Over 300 pilot projects were proposed in the challenge that would improve quality of life for over 12 lakh children.

Notes:
Researchers of United Kingdom have proposed to start the world’s first Covid-19 human trials on a healthy immune system.
The study is expected to give an understanding on how a health immune system would respond to the virus infection and bring about various metabolic changes in the body

Notes:
The International Solar Alliance (ISA) has proposed to launch World Solar Bank (WSB).
This is proposed to be launched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow that is scheduled to be held in November 2021. The ISA is an intergovernmental treaty-based organization headquartered in India.

Notes:
External Affairs S. Jaishankar participated in a virtual ministerial meeting of the Quad, which is a group of four countries: India, United States, Japan and Australia.
The Quad association was revived in the year 2017, to tackle the aggression of China and enhance the strength of the Indo-Pacific regions. President Joe Biden has reiterated the US commitment for the same issue.

Notes:
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the United States would pay the World Health Organization (WHO) USD 200 million.
The U.S. is the largest funder of the World Health Organisation, contributing over 15% of its total funds. Former U.S. President Donald Trump had begun the process of withdrawing from the WHO, which has been stopped now by the incumbent President.

Notes:
Facebook announced that it has blocked Australians from viewing and sharing news on the platform. This is on account of the proposed laws in the country to make the digital giants pay for journalism.
Though the Australian publishers can continue to publish news content on Facebook, the links and posts cannot be viewed or shared by Australian audiences. Both Australian users and International users cannot share Australian news.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to chair the sixth meeting of the NITI Aayog’s Governing Council sixth. Problems related to agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing and human resource development will be discussed in the meeting.
The council is the apex body of NITI Aayog, which includes all chief ministers, Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories (UTs), Union ministers and senior Government officials.