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:
The Horticulture Department of Karnataka has collaborated with International Flower Auction Bangalore, to set up a flower processing centre.
This centre is aimed to convert unsold flowers into value added and useful products like floral papers, incense sticks, flower petal powder, floral embedded works etc.

Notes:
The second round of Airport Authority of India (AAI) customer satisfaction survey was conducted between July and December 2020, whose results were announced recently. The ranking of airports has been made based on 36 categories of services provided by the airport.
Udaipur has been ranked at No.1 in the survey with a score of 4.84 while Madurai (Tamil Nadu) has emerged at the second position.

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:
India off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin became the fastest Indian bowler to take 400 Test wickets, while playing at his 77th Test.
In the international level, he is only behind Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan, who reached the milestone in 72 Tests. Earlier, he also became the fourth Indian bowler with the most wickets in international cricket with 599 wickets across formats.

Notes:
The Task force on Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) has agreed and approved the preparation of final detailed project report (DPR) on the proposed Mahanadi-Gadavari link.
The group also directed to ensure the utilisation of the allocated Godavari waters by Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, via the link canal of the project. The Chairman of the task force is Sriram Vedire, Advisor to the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

Notes:
India’s foreign minister S. Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi recently had a phone conversation.
During the conversation, both the countries have agreed to set up a hotline, amidst various stand-offs. The foreign Ministers also acknowledged the disengagement of troops from the north and south banks of Pangong Tso lake.

Notes:
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has recently released a report titled ‘Technology and Innovation Report 2021’.
The UNCTAD Technology and Innovation Report 2021 examines whether modern technologies widen the existing inequalities and create more inequalities. The report shows that with a present USD 350 billion market, the technologies could grow to USD 3.2 trillion by 2025.

Notes:
The National Bamboo Mission (NBM) was originally launched as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in 2006-07, under the Agriculture Ministry. It was then restructured with the Cabinet approval in 2018.
Recently, the National Bamboo Mission along with the NITI Aayog and Invest India to organise a conference, National Consultation on Opportunities and Challenges for Bamboo in India’. Union Minster Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the conference, along with various Ministers and officials.

Notes:
The ISRO’s 53rd space mission using the PSLV C51 rocket will launch Amazonia-1 as the primary satellite.
This satellite belongs to Brazil. In addition, the launch vehicle will also carry 18 co-passenger payloads. The rocket would be launched from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh.