Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2021

Notes:
The country’s apex judicial body – The Supreme Court of India has intervened on deaths of Great Indian Bustards, due to collision with power lines running in their habitat.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde would examine the presence of overhead power lines in habitats of Great Indian Bustards and find possibilities for converting them into underground cables.

Notes:
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has formed a 12-member committee for prevention of unscientific and unregulated mining being practiced in the state of Meghalaya.
Rat Hole Mining is an unscientific mining practice in Meghalaya in which a pit of 3 to 4 feet is dug and children enter to extract coal.

Notes:
Renowned painter Lakshman Pai of Goa, passed away at his residence recently at the age of 95.
He was one of the most eminent artists in India and has been awarded with several prestigious awards, including Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri, Nehru Award and Lalit Kala Akademi Award

Notes:
India’s envoy in Sri Lanka has recently handed over training aids worth about Rs 81,00,000 to the country’s Navy for capacity building.
High Commissioner Gopal Baglay formally handed over the training aids, during a visit to the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka. He also handed over Kindle e-book readers and books to the library of the Naval and Maritime Academy.

Notes:
India’s Union Minister of Health Dr. Dr.Harsh Vardhan has been appointed as the chairman of the Stop TB Partnership Board, in recognition of his efforts to eliminate TB in the country. He will serve a three-year term as the chairperson.
The Stop TB Partnership is a unique international body that is mandated to eliminate Tuberculosis as a public health problem. It was established in the year 2000.

Notes:
India’s largest lender the State Bank of India has inked a deal for External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) which is linked to SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate). SBI would be borrowing USD 100 million for 5 years linked to SOFR via the ECB route.
In addition to SBI, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) has also inked a similar ECB agreement linked to SOFR.

Notes:
The lower house of the French parliament, voted in favour of amending the country’s constitution to include climate and biodiversity protection.
The vote on the climate bill marks the first step towards a referendum on the constitutional amendment. In December, French President Emmanuel Macron announced to hold a nationwide referendum on constitutional amendments regarding the fight against climate change.

Notes:
The United States Agency for international development (USAID) and US international development finance corporation (DFC) have announced a USD 41 million loan guarantee programme. This is intended to sponsor loans to Indian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to access reliable power including roof top solar projects.

Notes:
As per the new Vehicle Scrapping Policy announced by the Union Ministry of Road Transport, more than 20 years old personal vehicles would be de registered from June 1 2024, in case they fail in automated physical fitness test.
In case of commercial vehicles, 15 years old vehicles would be de registered from April 1 2023.

Notes:
Scientists from Russia have developed and deployed a telescope named “Baikal-GVD”. The telescope has been placed into the depths of Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, which is the deepest lake known in earth.
Using this telescope, Scientists are in search of Neutrinos – the tiniest known particles in the universe.