Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2021

Notes:
The Indian government, Government of Nagaland and the World Bank signed a USD 68 million project to enhance the governance of schools across Nagaland.
It also aims to improve teaching practices and environments in some select schools. The project titled “Nagaland: Enhancing Classroom Teaching and Resources Project” also provides technology support to hybrid and online learning.

Notes:
Indian social activist Anjali Bharadwaj has been selected as one of 12 anti-corruption champions announced by the United States.
The 48-year-old activist served as an active member of the Right to Information Movement in India for over two decades. She is also the founder of the Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS), which aims to promote transparency and accountability in government.

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:
Mumbai-headquartered Fino Payment bank has been included in the category of a scheduled commercial bank, by the Reserve Bank of India.
The country’s central bank said that it has included Fino Payments Bank in the Second Schedule of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. With this, the payment bank will have more exposure in treasury and participation in liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) window.

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:
Global rating agency Moody’s revised India’s 2021-22 GDP growth forecast to 13.5 per cent. The country’s growth will moderate to 6.2 per cent in the following year.
Moody’s also retained India’s sovereign rating at Baa3, the lowest investment grade, with a negative outlook. Indian ratings agency ICRA announced that India’s real GDP will grow 10.5 per cent in FY22.

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:
Recently, members of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) have discovered the first epigraphical to the death of Krishnadevaraya Nayaka.
Krishnadevaraya Nayaka was the emperor of Vijayanagara empire and ruled the kingdom from 1509-1529 AD. The epigraphical reference was found near Gopalakrishna temple at Honnenahalli of Tumkur district in Karnataka.

Notes:
British think-tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said military spending touched USD 1.8 trillion in the year 2020.
Global military spending rose 3.9% compared to the last year. The U.S. remained the world’s largest defence spender in 2020, followed by China. The rapid military expansion of China is the reason for the rise in Asian spending.

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.