Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2021

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:
India’s leading cement maker ACC has launched a new low carbon range of ready mix concrete, in order to cut down carbon emissions.
This has been named as ECOPact. It has been launched in Mumbai and Hyderabad initially and would be rolled out in the entire country in some time.

Notes:
The three-day Mandu Festival began at Mandu, the historic town of Madhya Pradesh. The state also inaugurated Dino Adventure Park & Fossils Museum.
During the Mandu Utsav, Handicrafts related to handmade art are displayed to encourage local artisans. Dinosaur Park is the country’s first modern fossil park to display 24 eggs and various fossils of dinosaurs.

Notes:
As per a communication issued by the President Ramnath Kovind, Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi was removed from her post.
This step has been taken amid a political crisis in the Puducherry Union territory and ahead of the assembly elections in April-May this year. The additional charge of the UT has been given to the Telengana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan.

Notes:
The first day of the spring called ‘Pahela Phagun’ is celebrated in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The country’s top cultural organisations including the Bangladesh Shilpa Kala Academy held programmes to celebrate the beginning of the spring.
On account of the Covid pandemic, the traditional programme of ‘Basanta Utsab’ at the Fine Arts faculty in Dhaka university was cancelled.

Notes:
India is set to host a virtual South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) meet to discuss on management and response of Covid-19 pandemic.
This health secretary-level meet virtually with other SAARC countries, will be conducted as a virtual workshop to exchange best practices amid the pandemic. In 2014, Nepal hosted a SAARC leaders’ summit, which was the most recent meeting of the countries.

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:
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:
Israel recently announced that it is developing a new ballistic missile shield, the Arrow-4, in collaboration with the United States.
Israel’s Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 anti-missile systems are already functioning, which can be deployed in a multi-layered module to destroy incoming missiles.

Notes:
The Government of India has recently launched a campaign named “Go Electric campaign”. This campaign aims to improve the adoption of electric mobility vehicles and electric cooking appliances in India.
The campaign was launched by the Union Minster for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari.