March 2021 Monthly Current Affairs Online Test English

March 4 is observed every year as National Safety Day in India with the aim of creating awareness among people with respect to safety measures. This year, the focus of National Safety Day is on road safety and the theme is ‘Sadak Suraksha’ (road safety). The celebrations this year have also been spread over a week and National Safety Week will be observed from March 4 to March 10.

The International Women’s Day is being celebrated across the world on March 8, 2021. This day is observed on March 8 every year in order to help in shaping a gender equal world. The day is being observed this year under the theme "Achieving an equal future in a COVID–19 world".

The Russian Space Agency has launched its satellite Arktika–M. This satellite is intended to monitor the climate in the Arctic region. A Soyuz rocket took off from the Russian cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carrying Russia's first satellite launched for monitoring the Arctic's climate. Russia seeks to utilise the energy–rich region for the nation’s developmental interest.

Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PM–BJP) is an initiative of the Department of Pharmaceuticals, under which quality medicines are provided to the general public at affordable cost. This scheme is being implemented through Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI). The organisation is celebrating the 3rd Janaushadhi Diwas on 7th March 2021, with the theme being “Seva bhi – Rozgar bhi”.

'Desert Flag' is a multinational exercise, which is to be held in the United Arab Emirates. Ten countries are to take part in this exercise including India, France and the U.S. This exercise will be held for three weeks this month. This semi–annual exercise will involve multiple, intensive air combat sorties. IAF’s Su–30–MKI and C–17s fighter jets took off recently to participate in this exercise.

Titanosaur is a group of long–necked plant–eating dinosaurs that walked on four legs. Scientists have recently discovered the fossils of a dinosaur species named ‘Ninjatitan zapatai’ which lived 140 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. The fossils which have been unearthed, is said to be the oldest–known member of the dinosaur group known as titanosaurs.

The Land Ports Authority of India was founded in 2012. It is a statutory body working under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining and managing border infrastructure in India. It manages several Integrated Check Posts all across Borders of India. The 9th foundation say of the Land Ports Authority of India was observed on March 1, 2021.

Prime Minister Modi inaugurated 'Maritime India Summit 2021', organised by the Ministry of Sports, Shipping and Waterways. India also launched a real–time vessel tracking system called ‘Sagar–Manthan: Mercantile Marine Domain Awareness Centre (MMDAC)’. It is to be operated by DG Shipping and can also track foreign vessels as well as foreign vessels.

Sindhu Netra satellite was successfully launched into space recently. It was developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to boost India’s surveillance capability and improve monitoring of activities in the Indian Ocean Region. The launch was made using ISRO’s PSLV–C51. The satellite is capable of automatic identification of warships and merchant ships in IOR.

World Hearing Day is observed on 3 March to raise awareness about the measures that can be taken to prevent hearing loss. It is a campaign held each year by Office of Prevention of Blindness and Deafness of the World Health Organization (WHO). The theme of the campaign for 2021 is Hearing Care for All.

International Waste Pickers’ Day is observed on March 1 to mark the Colombian massacre that led to the brutal death of 11 workers. This day seeks to give voice and recognition to waste pickers/recyclers across the world.

World Wildlife Day is observed on March 3 across the world to celebrate wildlife and create awareness about the adverse impact of human activities and climate change on the wildlife. This year, it is being celebrated under the theme– Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet.

National Agriculture Disaster Management Plan (NADMP) seeks to guide the Union Agriculture Ministry in ensuring timely response to natural disasters like drought, floods and sudden crisis like COVID–19 pandemic. It identifies 34 hazards posing threats to the agriculture sector. These include heat waves, earthquakes, animal attacks, desertification, agricultural fires, cyclones and overdependence on chemicals.

Maritime India Vision 2030 is a 10–year strategy with the objective of revamping the Indian maritime sector. It seeks to attract Rs.3 lakh crore investment and generate employment for 20 lakh individuals. The plan also seeks to augment the annual revenue potential worth Rs.20,000 crore from major ports.

Lavender is being cultivated in Jammu as part of the Aroma Mission that was launched in 2016. Lavender is an aromatic herb with medicinal properties. It is a commercially important crop cultivated mainly for production of essential oils. Each litre of lavender essential oil is sold for INR 10,000.

Pharohylaeus lactiferous is a rare species of native Australian bee that was recently spotted along the east coast of Australia. It was last spotted a century ago in 1923 in Queensland and only 6 individuals have ever been found. The invertebrate is threatened by wildfires, land fragmentation and climate change.

The telescope is the product of an Indo–Belgian collaborative effort, assisted by the Russian Academy of Sciences, that was kicked off in 2007. It is going to be operated by the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), an autonomous research body under the Department of Science and Technology.

ADFOSC or Aries–Devasthal Faint Object Spectrograph & Camera is a low–cost optical spectroscope that was designed and developed by the scientists of ARIES, Nainital. This spectroscope will help the Devasthal Optical telescope use event faint light to locate distant quasars, galaxies, etc.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) released the first World Report on Hearing recently. It was launched ahead of World Hearing Day on March 3. As per the report, nearly 2.5 billion people worldwide, which is almost 1 in 4 people, will be living with some degree of hearing loss by 2050. The report also warns that at least 700 million of these people will require access to hearing care and rehabilitation services.

The Odisha government is set to begin its first state survey of the social and educational conditions of people from backward classes. In the state there are nearly 209 communities identified as socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs). The classes comprise around 54 percent of the state’s population. A proposal by the Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes (OSCBC) was approved in this regard.

The Hindu Group won two golds and two silvers at WAN IFRA’s South Asian Digital Media Awards. The World Association of News Publishers or WAN–IFRA, is a global organisation of the world’s press. The company was named as the ‘Champion Publisher of the Year’. The Hindu #KeepTheHabit campaign won a gold in ‘Best Native Advertising / Branded Content Campaign’. Sportstar’s website won a gold in ‘Best in Lifestyle, Sports, Entertainment Website or Mobile Services’.

The United Nations General Assembly has unanimously declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets. The unanimously adopted resolution was sponsored by India and supported by over 70 nations. The co–sponsors of the declaration include Bangladesh, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Russia and Senegal, and all Member States of the UN.

Simlipal biosphere reserve comprises of the Simlipal national park cum tiger reserve along with its adjoining areas. It is located in the eastern end of the Eastern Ghats, in Odisha. The name ‘Simlipal’ is derived from ‘Simul’ meaning silk cotton tree. Recently, there was a wildfire in the National Park and is raging for nearly a week.

Bengaluru emerged as the best city according to the “Ease of Living Index–2020”, released by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. The rankings were announced for cities for which the assessment exercise was conducted in the year 2020. It is noteworthy that Chennai ranks fourth and Coimbatore seventh from Tamil Nadu in this list.Around 111 cities participated in the assessment exercise. Shimla topped the category of cities with population of less than million.

'Bao dhaan' is a variety of red rice that is rich in iron. It is cultivated in the alluvial soil in the Brahmaputra Valley in Assam. Recently, the first consignment of 'red rice' was flagged off to the United States of America (USA). The unique feature of the rice is that it is grown without the use of any chemical fertilizer.

The Central govt recently published the Municipal Performance Index (MPI). In this index, Indore was ranked first in the category of Million–plus cities. It is followed by Surat and Bhopal. While in the ‘less–than–million category’, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has been ranked first and is followed by Tirupati and Gandhinagar.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Raising Day is celebrated every year on March 10. On this day, in 1969, the CISF was set up under an act of the Parliament of India with a strength of 2,800. It is directly under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and its headquarters are at New Delhi.

The United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) published the “Food Waste Index Report, 2021”. As per the UNEP report, estimated 931 million tonnes of food were wasted across the world 2019. The agency also highlighted that 61% of the total food wasted came from households, 26% from food service and 13% from retail.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) was set up in 1947 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). It is headquartered at Geneva, Switzerland. As per the recent report published by the UNECE, trapping and storing carbon dioxide emissions from fossil power generation and industry is needed to achieve carbon neutrality.

Odisha Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups Empowerment and Livelihoods Improvement Programme (OPELIP) is a programme funded by the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD). The objective is to improve living conditions and reduce poverty among particularly vulnerable tribal groups through capacity building and improved agricultural practices.

The International Crops Research Institute for Semi–Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is an international organisation involved in agricultural research for rural development. Its headquarters is located at Patancheru, Hyderabad. It was recently roped in by the Odisha government for providing capacity–building initiatives for the state’s Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups via OPELIP scheme.

CARICOM stands for Caribbean Community, which was founded in 1973 and headquartered in Georgetown, Guyana. It is also called Caribbean Community and Common Market. CARICOM is a grouping of twenty countries with fifteen Member States and five Associate Members. It aims to establish economic integration and cooperation among its members.

Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, formerly known as Rajiv Gandhi (Nagarahole) National Park, is a wildlife reserve in Karnataka. It is a part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. It is named after the river Nagarahole, which is the Kannada term for ‘Serpent River’. The reserve was recently engulfed in a major forest fire, leading to the destruction of several acres of forest covers.

The scientists have discovered a “space hurricane” for the first time. The hurricane swirled for eight hours over the North Pole in the upper atmosphere of Earth. The team of scientists from USA, Norway, China and United Kingdom observed and produced the image of space hurricane using the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites and a 3D magnetosphere modelling.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) releases the Food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar. As per the recent January figure, the world food prices rose for a ninth consecutive month in February. The index hit its highest level since July 2014 and the rise is led by the rise in sugar and vegetable oils.

The ‘Maitri Setu’ is a 1.9 km long bridge that has been constructed over the river Feni in the state of Tripura. This bridge connects India and Bangladesh. The bridge has been constructed by National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd at a project cost of Rs. 133 Crores.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that, India commemorates the ‘Chabahar Day’ on March 4, 2021 along the lines of the Maritime India Summit 2021 held in Delhi from March 2 to March 4. The virtual event witnessed the participation of ministers from Afghanistan, Iran, Armenia, Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

BrahMos is a medium–range supersonic cruise missile designed, developed and produced by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture company set up by India’s DRDO and Russia’s Mashinostroyenia. It can be launched from submarines, ships, planes or land–based platforms. Philippines signed pact with India recently for possible purchase of this missile.

International Women’s Day is observed every year on March 8 across the world, to highlight the achievements and problems faced by women. The theme for this year is " Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID–19 world." As per the United Nations Women, women remain under–represented in leadership roles and decision making across the world. b n

The President of India Ram Nath Kovind laid the foundation stone for the conservation works of Singorgarh Fort in Damoh district in Madhya Pradesh. During the program organised by Ministry of Culture and the state’s Tribal Affairs Department, the President inaugurated the newly formed Jabalpur Circle of Archaeological Survey of India.

Indian Naval Ships INS Kulish and INS Sumedha recently arrived at the port city of Mongla in Bangladesh. They are visiting Bangladesh to commemorate the ongoing ‘Swarnim Vijay Varsh’ (Liberation War of 1971). INS Sumedha is an indigenously built offshore patrol vessel and INS Kulish is an indigenously built guided missile corvette.

Olympic champion Carolina Marin won gold in the BWF Swiss Open Super 300 tournament. She defeated India's ace badminton player PV Sindhu 12–21, 5–21, in the final match of the women's singles event. This was the first final appearance of the reigning world champion P V Sindhu since the World championships here in 2019. Kidambi Srikanth exited from the semi–final of the tournament by star Viktor Axelsen.

Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia has regained the top spot in the world rankings after he clinched a second successive gold medal at the Matteo Pallicone Ranking Series. In the 65 kg freestyle event final in Rome, he defeated his Mongolian counterpart to win gold. Bajrang Punia also won gold in the tournament last year.

For the India Science and Research Fellowship (ISRF) 2021, 40 scholars have been selected. These research scholars belong to six countries and have been awarded fellowship to conduct research in science and technology in various Indian institutes and universities. The selection has been based on the scholar’s research proposal, experience, academic merit and publication record.

The United Nation’s Congress on crime prevention commenced in Kyoto, Japan. Japan is hosting the congress for the first time since 1970. Key issues pertaining to criminal justice, crime prevention and international cooperation to promote rule of law are placed as agendas for discussion during the meeting.

The World Kidney Day is celebrated on the second Thursday of the month of March every year, across the world. This year’s theme is ‘Living Well with Kidney Disease’. wo international bodies namely the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations (IFKF) jointly organise the global campaign.

Singapore topped the Economic Freedom Index 2021 released by the US think–tank, The Heritage Foundation. With 89.7 points, Singapore is followed by New Zealand in second place, Australia, Switzerland and Ireland in the top–5. India is ranked 26th in Asia–Pacific.

‘Dustlik’ is a military exercise between India and Uzbekistan. The second edition of the joint military exercise "Dustlik–2" started at Chaubatia in Uttarakhand. Around 45 military personnel of armies of both the countries are participating in the exercise. The first edition of the joint military exercise was carried out in Tashkent in November 2019.

International Day of Action for Rivers is observed every year on March 14. This year, it is the 24th edition of the International Day of Action for Rivers. It is a day dedicated to save, celebrate and make people around us aware about our life-giving source of water. The theme of International Day of Action for Rivers - 2021 is 'Rights of Rivers'.

As per the results of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted during 2017–18 and 2018–19 and the Annual Employment–Unemployment surveys conducted by the Labour Bureau, the Worker Population Ratio (WPR) is 47.3 per cent while the unemployment rate is 5.8 per cent. This information was given by the Union Labour Ministry in the Lok Sabha.