Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2023

Notes:
India has issued a notice to Pakistan for modification of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) of 1960 following Islamabad’s inflexibility on its implementation.
The notice was sent through respective commissioners for Indus waters. India and Pakistan signed the treaty in 1960 after nine years of negotiations, with the World Bank being a signatory of the pact.

Notes:
Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, EPFO, launched a massive outreach programme in all the districts through a revamped ‘Nidhi Aapke Nikat’ programme.
The aim of this programme is to reach all the districts on 27th of every month and strengthen the relationship between the organization and its stakeholders.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Textiles cleared 15 Research & Development projects worth around INR 32.25 crores across key strategic areas.
The projects are from various categories include Speciality fibre, Protective textiles, Geo-textiles, Medical Textiles, Sustainable Textiles, and Textiles for Building Materials.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Power has finalized the draft National Electricity Policy and has sought comments from the states and the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).
An expert committee was constituted under the chairmanship of Gireesh Pradhan, Ex-Chairperson, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, to prepare and recommend National Electricity Policy (NEP), 2021.

Notes:
India’s G-20 Sherpa Mr Amitabh Kant inaugurated India’s first Model G-20 Summit organised by Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini’s Indian Institute of Democratic Leadership.
The two-day Model G-20 Summit starting has been organised near Mumbai to take the idea of G-20 to the youth. Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, the parent organisation of IIDL is also the Secretariat of the G-20 Civil Society engagement group – Civil-20.

Notes:
World Leprosy Day is observed every year on the last Sunday of January. In India, it is observed on 30th January every year, coinciding with the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Leprosy is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) which occurs in more than 120 countries, with more than 200 000 new cases reported every year. India’s Health Minister released National Strategic Plan and Roadmap for Leprosy (2023-27) and National Guidelines for Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) Surveillance in leprosy along with launch of Nikusth 2.0 Portal.

Notes:
Hibbertopterus lamsdelli is a new species of Giant Sea Scorpion. It belongs to Hibbertopteridae, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods in the Order Eurypterida. Eurypterids are better known as sea scorpions.
The species existed during the Kasimovian age, between 307 and 303 million years ago. Its diet included small crustaceans, ostracodes, conchostracans, invertebrate larvae and gastropod eggs.

Notes:
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan said the State capital would be shifted to Visakhapatnam.
He was addressing the preparatory meeting for Global Investors Summit to be held in Visakhapatnam. The State government had proposed three capitals, Visakhapatnam (Executive capital), Amaravati (Legislative capital) and Kurnool (Judicial capital). Amaravati is the present capital of Andhra Pradesh.

Notes:
The GST collection in January surged to over ₹ 1.55 lakh crore, second highest-ever collection recorded.
This is for the third time, in the current financial year that the GST collection has crossed ₹ 1.50 lakh crore mark. The highest collection so far is the ₹ 1.68 lakh crore gross mop-up reported in April 2022.

Notes:
Sri Lanka marked its 75th independence anniversary on 4^th February 2023. Several activists, Buddhists and Christian clergy announced a boycott of the celebration in the capital.
A group of activists began a silent protest in the capital, condemning government’s independence celebration and failure to ease the economic burden. University students also attempted a protest march.