March 1st Week 2021 Current Affairs Online Test in English

The ‘Zero Discrimination Day’ is observed annually across the world on March 1, by UNAIDS. UNAIDS is the leading global forum which aims to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

International Polar Bear Day is an annual event celebrated every Feb.27 to raise awareness about the conservation status of the polar bear. International Polar Bear Day is organized by Polar Bears International to raise awareness about the impact of global warming and reduced sea ice on polar bear populations.

The 30th Adriatic Pearl tournament was organised in Budva, Montenegro. Indian Women’s team topped the tournament with 10 medals – 5 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze. This was followed by Uzbekistan in second place and Czech Republic in third place.

The 2021 Asia Economic Dialogue would be co–chaired by Pune International Centre, India. The event would witness the participation of Union External Affairs Minister S Jayshankar along with his counterparts from Japan, Australia, Maldives, Mauritius and Bhutan. The Asia Economic Dialogue is a flagship geo–economics conference of the Ministry of External Affairs.

The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully conducted two launches of VL– SRSAM (Vertical Launch Short Range Surface to Air Missile). This missile has been specially designed by the DRDO for deployment in Indian Navy. This missile has been developed to combat various aerial threats.

The CEO of NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant has virtually launched India's first digital asset management platform DigiBoxx. It is a digital file storage, sharing and management Software as a service (SaaS) product. He also became the first user of the platform, which provides a secure way to store all files in one centralised location.

Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has recently launched the ‘e–Dharti Geo Portal’. The portal aims to integrate legacy drawings such as maps and lease plans in the management information system named e–Dharti and make it a geographic information system (GIS)–enabled system.

India and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) signed a $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.

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.

India’s first undersea tunnel is being constructed in Mumbai, as a part of the Coastal Road project of the city. It is expected to be completed by the year 2023. The twin tunnels have a length of 2.07 km of which around a kilometre will be under the Arabian Sea. The undersea tunnel will be 20 metres below the seabed.

The World Wildlife Day is observed on March 3 every year to raise awareness about the dangers faced by the planet’s fauna and flora. The 2021 theme is “Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet”.

‘World Hearing Day’ is observed on 3 March each year, to raise awareness on how to prevent deafness and hearing loss. ‘WHO’ organizes an annual World Hearing Day seminar at its headquarters in Geneva. The theme of this year’s day is “Hearing Care for All”.

A dragonfly survey jointly conducted by the Forest Department and Ferns Nature Conservation Society (FNCS), concluded recently in Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is located in Kerala in the Western Ghats. The survey lasted for nearly 4 months and 84 species of odonates were spotted during the survey. Odonates are the order of insects comprising dragonflies and damselflies.

The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Edappadi K Palaniswami has recently inaugurated the Advanced Institute of Integrated Research in Livestock and Animal Science (AIIRLAS) in the state. It is located in Thalaivasal of Salem district. It is considered to be the largest such institution in Asia and has been constructed at a cost of Rs.1,023 crore.

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).

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.

The Chief Minister of Karnataka B.S. Yediyurappa has recently launched the ‘Namma Cargo’ service in the state. Under this initiative, the state road transport corporation buses would carry cargo parcels to generate additional revenue to the state.

Ghana became the first country to receive a batch of free Covid vaccine doses through the COVAX initiative. The World Health Organization (WHO) leads the COVAX initiative together with Gavi the Vaccine Alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. It aims to share the vaccines to poorer countries.

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.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to virtually inaugurate the second edition of the Maritime India Summit (MIS) on March 2, 2021. As per the official statement by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, the opening session will have ministerial–level participation from several countries. it is also expected that Rs 20,000 crore worth MoUs will be signed during this Summit.

For the year 2021, the chairmanship of BRICS is vested with India. India has commenced its chairship with the inauguration of 3–day–long Sherpas' meeting. The meeting was chaired by Secretary (CPV & OIA) of Ministry of External Affairs. During the meet, India introduced to the member countries its themes and priorities for the year 2021.

The Government of India has given a nod for 2nd round of vaccination for the COVID–19 disease and it is set to commence from March 1st 2021. This phase of vaccination is targeted at people above the age of 60 years and those above 45 years old. The beneficiaries can get themselves vaccinated in any govt hospital free of cost as well as at private clinics.

A national–level public health initiative, ‘Right to Protein’ has launched India’s first ‘Protein Day’ on February 27, 2020. The day is observed to raise awareness about the nutritional benefits of protein. This year, the theme of the day is selected as "Powering with Plant Protein".

The “State of School Feeding Worldwide” is published by the United Nations – World Food Programme (WFP). It was first published in the year 2013 and the most report has been published for the year 2020. This report provides a detailed analysis on the implementation and coverage of school based nutritional programmes.

The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 has been framed recently, which was released by the Electronics and IT Ministry. Under the rules, platforms such as WhatsApp will have to provide information on identity verification to the authorised agencies within 72 hours. The originator of unlawful messages would be zeroed on and the platforms will have to set up grievance redressal mechanism.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has recently launched the City Innovation Exchange (CiX) platform. The platform aims to bring together academia, businesses, and the government to design innovative solutions for the challenges of the cities. The platform has over 400 start–ups, 100 smart cities, more than 150 challenge statements and over 215 solutions when it was launched.

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.

The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti has announced that it has selected 12 iconic sites under Phase 4 of the Swachh Iconic Places (SIP) initiative. SIP is an initiative of Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBM–G), which aims to improve the sanitation and cleanliness standards at and around the sites. Ministry of Jal Shakti coordinates with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture and the State/UT governments.

As per the recent statement of the Indian Army chief General MMNaravane, 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.

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.

The World Employment and Social Outlook 2021 is released by the International Labour Organisation. This report is one of ILO’s flagship publications that gives details on transformation of way work is organised. It also depicts the experience of workers and businesses on online web–based and location–based platforms.

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.

A consortium led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has decided to launch a COVID–19 Oxygen Emergency Taskforce. This decision comes amidst the pressure on health systems of low–and–middle–income countries, many of those are running out of oxygen. WHO, under the proposed taskforce aims to increase the supply of oxygen to health systems across the globe.

The winners of the 78th Golden Globes were recently announced with the “Nomadland” and “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” bagging many awards. While “Nomadland” won the award for the drama category, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” won for the comedy or musical division. Chloe Zhao, the director of “Nomadland,” became the first woman to win the best director award since 1984.

The ‘Zero Discrimination Day’ is observed annually across the world on March 1, by UNAIDS. UNAIDS is the leading global forum which aims to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

The Union Ministry of Social justice and Empowerment has developed an app named “Sugamya Bharat App”. It has been developed by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), for enhancing accessibility. It is being launched along with a hand book named “Access – The Photo Digest”.

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar launched the Indo–French year of Environment along with his French counterpart. India and France have environment projects being undertaken in Assam, Rajasthan and a project to be started in Jharkhand. The objective of this event is to strengthen Indo–French cooperation in sustainable development.

Uttarakhand was the first state to set up Special Agricultural Zones (SAZs) in 2011. It was launched on the lines of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs). It encouraged the farmers to develop high–quality crop seeds typical to hilly regions.

As per the second advanced estimates of GDP released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), the GDP for the financial year 2020–21 is recorded as –8 per cent. NSO, MoSPI also released the quarterly estimates. After two consecutive quarters of contraction, India’s GDP for the October–December quarter (Q3) grew by 0.4 per cent. With this the country is said to have exited recession.

This year’s Indian Women’s League (IWL) will be hosted by the state of Odisha. IWL is a top division women's professional football league in India, which is conducted by All India Football Federation (AIFF). It was first played with 6 teams in Delhi. The last such season was the 4th IWL played with 12 teams in Bangalore.

China celebrates its traditional Lantern festival, on the 15th day of the first Chinese lunar month. The festival also marks the final day of the Chinese New Year or ‘Spring Festival’ period. This year, the country entered the ‘Year of the Ox’ on February 12, 2021. This Festival also falls the first full moon night in the Chinese calendar.

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.

The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, has finalised the list of products to be covered under One District One Focus Product (ODOFP). This list has been prepared in consultation with the Union Ministry of Food Processing and Industries for 728 districts across the country. The identified products belong to agricultural, horticultural, animal, poultry, milk, fisheries and aquaculture, marine sectors.

Black–browed Babbler, which was considered to be extinct, has reappeared after 170 years. The bird has been spotted in Borneo of Indonesia. The bird was first described by scientists around 1848 and it was then considered to be extinct. According to Global Wildlife Conservation, two men accidentally photographed the bird in Borneo, Indonesia.

Indian Parliament has integrated its two TV channels for the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha to create a new entity named Sansad TV. This new platform will continue to live telecast house proceedings and with news and current affairs programme in Hindi and English. Former textiles secretary Ravi Kapoor has been appointed as the CEO of the new channel.

The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has been conferred with the CERAWeek global energy and environment leadership award. He is set to be presented the award at the CERAWeek international energy conference, which is an annual conference organized by the information and insights company IHS Markit in Houston, Texas.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle–C51 (PSLV–C51) rocket of India successfully lifted off from Sriharikota launch pad. It was carrying 19 satellites from Brazil, USA and India with the Brazil's 637–kilogram optical earth observation satellite Amazonia 1, as its primary passenger.

National Science Day is being observed in India every year on 28th of February to commemorate the discovery of the ‘Raman Effect’. On the same day, CV Raman announced the discovery of the 'Raman Effect' and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930. The theme for National Science Day 2021 is ‘Future of Science and Technology and Innovation: Impact on Education Skills and Work.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has extended the re–appointment of Pramod Chandra Mody as Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). PC Mody, a 1982–batch Indian Revenue Service officer, was appointed as the CBDT Chairman in February 2019. His tenure was extended in August last year for six months.

India has donated an advanced ‘Digital cobalt therapy machine’ for cancer treatment, developed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, to the island nation of Madagascar.