Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2021

Notes:
Italy’s ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Luca Attanasio was killed along with an Italian policeman and their Congolese driver, in an attack on a United Nations convoy which happened in eastern DRC.
They were on a visit to a World Food Programme (WFP) school feeding project in Rutshuru, a town in DRC. Attanasio is the second European ambassador to have been killed while serving in the DRC.

Notes:
A historic kangaroo painting created over 17,000 years ago by Aboriginal artists has been identified in Australia.
This is claimed to be the oldest intact rock art of Australia. The two-metre-long artwork has been found in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has recently approved the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for the pharmaceuticals and IT hardware sectors.
The PLI scheme for pharmaceuticals with an outlay of Rs 15000 crore, has a duration of nine years, till 2028-29. The Cabinet also approved the PLI Scheme for IT hardware such as laptops, tablets, all-in-one PCs and servers with an outlay of Rs 7350 crore.

Notes:
Australia has passed a new law, which will require digital platforms like Facebook and Google to pay local media outlets and publishers to link their content in news feeds or search results.
The “News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code” aims to remunerate the news media businesses for the content they generate. Earlier, Google agreed to pay the publishers for news content in France.

Notes:
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has constituted an internal working group committee to revisit its information and security guidelines.
This has been constituted on the wake of increase in cyberattacks across the globe in financial sector during the covid-19 pandemic.

Notes:
E-Daakhil portal was launched on 7th September, 2020 by the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission. The portal has been designed for Consumer grievance redressal and is presently operating in 15 States and Union Territories.
It has been now decided to integrate the Common Service Centres with the e-daakhil portal.

Notes:
B.1.526 – a new highly contagious Covid-19 mutant is fast spreading in New York of the United States of America.
As per a study by researchers of Columbia University, this new variant carries a highly dangerous mutation that can weaken vaccine efficacy.

Notes:
The Russian Space Agency has launched its satellite Arktika-M. This satellite is intended to monitor the climate in the Arctic region.
In the recent past, Russia has been taking keen interest in exploring Arctic region and is seeking to develop the energy-rich region for the nation’s developmental interest.

Notes:
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways launched the real-time monitoring system of toll plazas at national highways across the country. It will be used to measure the Daily Congestion Index for each plaza and overall congestion across national highway network in real time.
It will also collect real time data on high peak hours’ traffic. The purpose is to reduce congestion and improve efficiency of FASTag usage.

Notes:
Prime Minister Modi inaugurated ‘Maritime India Summit 2021’, organised by the Ministry of Sports, Shipping and Waterways.
India also launched a real-time vessel tracking system called ‘Sagar-Manthan: Mercantile Marine Domain Awareness Centre (MMDAC)’. It is to be operated by DG Shipping and can also track foreign vessels as well as foreign vessels.