Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2021

Notes:
Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) is a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology.
On the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, four young women fellows of National Science Academies have been awarded the SERB Women Excellence Award. The award includes a grant of Rs. 15 lakhs for three years to pursue their research ideas.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated Bharat Petroleum’s Propylene Derivatives petrochemical complex at Kochi Refinery.
The Rs 6,000 crore worth Propylene Derivative Petrochemical Project (PDPP) will produce Acrylic Acid, Oxo-Alcohol and Acrylates, which are mainly imported in India. He also inaugurated the Ro-Ro vessels of Inland Waterways Authority in Kochi, Kerala

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As per the recent report released by Tracxn, a company which tracks investments and financials, the number of start-ups founded in Bengaluru has been higher than in San Francisco, United States in the past five years.
In 2015, 3,080 firms were founded in the Indian city, as against 2,040 companies in San Francisco. Similarly, in 2020, 805 firms were founded in Bengaluru, whereas the US city’s count was 619. Bengaluru has around 13,000 active start-ups, at present.

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N S Vishvanathan, former RBI Deputy Governor, chairs the expert committee to chart regulatory measures and study consolidation among urban cooperative banks. The 8-member panel was formed by RBI in 2021 and mandated to report within three months on stability and sector road map.

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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.

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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.

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The Jal Jeevan Mission was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15th August, 2019. It aims to provide tap water connection to every rural household by 2024.
Recently, the scheme has reached a new milestone by providing 3.53 Crore rural household tap water connections. 35.24% of rural households receive potable water through taps, against only 17% in 2019.

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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.

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The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Australian Space Agency signed an amendment to the Memorandum of Understanding, for space cooperation with Australia.
The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison last year.

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Recently, Scientists have recovered the oldest DNA on record. It has been extracted from teeth of mammoths found in north-eastern Siberia that existed to 1.2 million years.
This is seen as a major breakthrough in understanding the evolution of species and determine the characteristics of extinct species.