Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2021

Notes:
India and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) signed a USD 304 million loan agreement for the Assam Intra-State Transmission System Enhancement Project.
The project aims to construct transmission substations and lay required transmission lines. It will also upgrade 15 substations, transmission lines and ground wire to optical power ground wire. The remaining project cost USD 61 million would be financed by the state.

Notes:
As per the recent study by NASA and German Aerospace Center, some microbes are found on the Earth may survive in the Mars.
The researchers tested a new way to expose the bacteria and fungi to Mars-like conditions by launching them in a scientific balloon up to Earth’s stratosphere. This is significant in the success of future missions to the Mars.

Notes:
Indian Government think tank NITI Aayog has prepared a draft national migrant labour policy, along with a working group of officials and other members.
The draft highlights two approaches in designing the policy: one focussed on cash transfers, special reservations; two focussed on enhancing the capability of the community.

Notes:
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by defence minister Rajnath Singh approved the Indian Army’s proposal to buy 118 Arjun Mark 1-A ‘Hunter Killers’.
With this approval, Indian Army will soon have 118 indigenous Arjun Mk-1A Main Battle Tanks, manufactured by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Notes:
A new species of the ‘alpine plant’ in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang district has been discovered by a team of scientists of three institutes.
The new species, which was named as ‘Cremanthodium indicum’, belongs to the family of Himalayan sunflower. The species is endemic to Penga-Teng Tso Lake of Tawang district of the state.

Notes:
President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the world’s largest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad, which will now be known as ‘Narendra Modi stadium’.
The Motera Stadium was named after the Prime Minster while the entire sports complex continues to be named after Sardar Patel. It has a seating capacity of 132,000 spectators.

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:
As per the recent statement of the Indian Army chief General M M Naravane, the Indian Army is set to start using a messaging platform called SAI (Secure Application for Internet), for internal communications.
The application, which was developed by Colonel Sai Shankar, is undergoing the process of obtaining cybersecurity clearance and data testing. After getting clearance, the platform will be used from April 1, this year.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India has recently released a report titled Report on Currency and Finance (RCF) for the year 2020-21.
This theme for this year’s report is “Reviewing the Monetary Policy Framework”. The report critically analyses the trends in inflation and inflation target for March 2021 against the prevailing uncertain economic atmosphere.

Notes:
Madhya Pradesh approved a law to give life imprisonment to food adulterators, with the cabinet recently approving a Penal Law (Madhya Pradesh Amendment) Bill, 2021.
In 2019, a massive rally was organised in the state against food adulteration, with the participation of several citizens of all age groups.