Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2021

Notes:
‘Osiris’, which is officially called HD 209458 b, is the first-ever planet the astronomers have spotted beyond the Earth’s solar system.
As per a new study published in Nature, it has been found that six chemicals are present in the atmosphere of Osiris. The composition of the chemicals confirm that the exoplanet is over 100 times farther than its current position, when it came into existence.

Notes:
The Chairman of KVIC Vinai Kumar Saxena had launched the RE-HAB project (i.e) Reducing Elephant – Human Attacks using Bees. It has been first implemented at four locations on the periphery of Nagarhole National Park in Kodagu district of Karnataka.
Under this project, bee boxes are used as a fence to prevent elephants from entering human habitation

Notes:
The International Quiet Ocean Experiment was originally formed in 2011 to create a time series of measurements of ambient sound in different ocean locations.
Recently, a team of scientists from the International Quiet Ocean Experiment (IQOE), have been undertaking experiments to understand and measure the impact of the reduction in ambient human activity due to the Covid-19 lockdown, in oceans.

Notes:
The Finance Ministry has notified changes in Post Office Savings Account Scheme, 2019. As per the notification, a beneficiary of the Government welfare scheme can open a basic savings bank account with a post office.
As per the notification, there is no minimum deposit required for opening of such an account. There will also be no requirement for maintaining minimum balance. The ministry also reduced fee for not maintain the balance in a savings account.

Notes:
Chilika Lake is India’s largest brackish water lagoon, which is spread over the Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts of Odisha.
As per a recent data release by the State Forest and Environment Department, the number of dolphin populations in the lake has doubled this year compared with last year. The state’s Chilika lake is known for its Irrawady dolphins

Notes:
The United Arab Emirates has named the next two astronauts for its space programme. The ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has named Noura al-Matroushi as the UAE’s first female astronaut.
The two astronauts have been identified among more than 4000 applications received. The two astronauts will undergo special space training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Notes:
Recently, space scientists have discovered a new active galaxy, which is considered to be the farthest gamma-ray emitting galaxy discovered so far.
This galaxy is named Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxy, which is about 31 billion light-years away from earth. This has been described as a rare space entity.

Notes:
The American Space Agency – NASA has recently shared an image of Mars titled ‘Blue Dunes of Red Planet’.
This picture has been released to mark the 20 years of NASA’s Odyssey mission to Mars. The picture combines shots captured between December 2002 and November 2004 by the robotic spacecraft orbiting the planet Mars.

Notes:
National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), in partnership with Bernard van Leer Foundation (BvLF) has launched the Infant Toddler and Caregiver-friendly Neighbourhoods (ITCN) Training and Capacity Building Programme’.
This programme is aimed to enhance the capacities of city officials and young professionals for developing young children and family-friendly neighbourhoods within cities in India.

Notes:
The Bird Count India (BCI) in association with Assam Bird Monitoring Network has commenced the Bohag Bihu Bird Count from April 14th to April 19th 2021 in the state of Assam.
There are three Bihus — Magh, Bohag and Kati — during winter, spring and autumn every year and BCI has planned to document the avian diversity across all these seasons.