Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2021

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has launched the “National Urban Digital Mission”. The aim of the mission is to create a shared digital infrastructure for cities.
The mission would create a citizen centric approach to urban governance and service delivery in cities by 2022, and across all towns by 2024.

Notes:
The militaries of India and Pakistan announced that they have agreed to stop firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and other areas.
This is to be followed with effect from the midnight of February 24-25. The authorities of both the countries held discussions over the mechanism of hotline contact. They also reviewed the situation along the Line of Control and all other sectors in a cordial atmosphere.

Notes:
This year’s Indian Women’s League (IWL) will be hosted by the state of Odisha.
IWL is a top division women’s professional football league in India, which is conducted by All India Football Federation (AIFF). It was first played with 6 teams in Delhi. The last such season was the 4th IWL played with 12 teams in Bangalore.

Notes:
The Ministry of Housing and Housing Affairs (MoHUA) has launched the field assessment of Swachh Survekshan, 2021. It is the sixth edition of this annual cleanliness survey which is conducted by the Government of India.
The Swachh Survekshan 2021 was introduced by the MoHUA in the year 2016. It was launched as a competitive framework in a bid to encourage the cities to improve their status of the urban sanitation.

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.

Notes:
Indian cricket team skipper Virat Kohli became the first Asian celebrity to reach the 100 million followers-milestone on Instagram.
Portuguese star footballer Christiano Ronaldo tops the chart with 266 million followers, followed by singer Ariana Grande with 224 million followers and former WWE superstar Dwayne Johnson with 220 million followers. Footballers Messi and Neymar are also in the Top-5 list.

Notes:
India’s leading private sector bank Axis Bank has recently launched WhatsApp Banking facility, to resolve the queries of consumers 24×7.
This new facility will allow customers to seek information regarding their account balance, recent transactions, credit card payments, fixed and recurring deposit details. It also enables them to get their queries answered in real-time.

Notes:
Pharohylaeus lactiferous is a rare species of native Australian bee that was recently spotted along the east coast of Australia. It was last spotted a century ago in 1923 in Queensland and only 6 individuals have ever been found.
The invertebrate is threatened by wildfires, land fragmentation and climate change.

Notes:
Odisha Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups Empowerment and Livelihoods Improvement Programme (OPELIP) is a programme funded by the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD).
The objective is to improve living conditions and reduce poverty among particularly vulnerable tribal groups through capacity building and improved agricultural practices.

Notes:
The Vaccine Maitri or the Vaccine Friendship initiative was started on January 20, 2021. Under the initiative, India supplies Made-in-India Covid-19 vaccines to its neighbouring countries.
Bhutan and Maldives were the first country to get the vaccines. They are followed by Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles. Recently, consignment of Covid vaccines were airlifted for Guyana, Jamaica and Nicaragua.