Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2019

Notes:
The Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government has recently launched the ‘Zero Fatality Corridor’ (ZFC) to examine the cause for accidents and crashes on the stretch between Burari Chowk and Bhalswa chowk, located on the outer ring road. The aim of the pilot project is to reduce deaths to near zero levels on this particular stretch. The project will entail a scientific study to reduce the conflict involving pedestrians and cyclists on one hand and the cars and heavy vehicles on the other. The initiative is to be run in partnership with SaveLIFE Foundation, a leading road safety non-profit organization.

Notes:
The 52nd Boori Boot Yollo festival 2019 has recently celebrated by the Nyishi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. The fest is observed in the month of February every year to welcome spring and a successful harvest. During this festival, the consecrated soul is summoned to sanctify the people. Apart from it, it is an occasion of mass prayer for prosperity eliminating the possibility of any fatal ailments. The striking feature here is the giant assemblage of people cutting across the barriers of cast, creed, age and sex. The young ones take the lead to be guided by the elders where Nibu (Priest) would perform the rituals. The festival has an anthem which speaks of the sun rising, planets, mighty rivers, flora and fauna. A portion of the lyric deals with the earth which keeps on rotating around the sun along with other heavenly bodies.

Notes:
The 2nd edition of India Heritage Walk Festival (IHWF-2019) is a one-of-its-kind month-long festival covering 37 cities has started from February 2. It is organized by Sahapedia in partnership with UNESCO. The fest is also supported by the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC). This festival offers the opportunity to discover the hidden gems linked to history. The primary objective of the festival is to widen access to various aspects of India’s tangible and intangible heritage. Through 87 heritage walks and over 100 outreach events, the event will explore the cultural fabric of India, focusing on museums, historically significant monuments and markets, natural landscapes, areas known for rich cuisine, and locations that are rooted in women-oriented narratives. For this edition, Sahapedia has collaborated with about 40 local-level partners to conduct its pan-India heritage walk festival. They include the Kerala History Museum, The Kochi Heritage Project, INTACH Srinagar Chapter, Art Deco Mumbai, Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation and Oxford Bookstore.

Notes:
INS Trikand (F51), a Talwar-class frigate of the Indian Navy, participated in the 8th edition of multinational maritime exercise ‘Cutlass Express 2019’. INS Trikand is commanded by Captain Srinivas Maddula and is equipped with a versatile range of sensors and weapons enabling her to address threats in all the three dimensions – air, surface and sub-surface. The exercise was held near Djibouti, Mozambique and the Seychelles from 27 Jan to 06 Feb 19. The aim of the exercise was to improve law enforcement capacity, promote regional security and progress inter-operability between the armed forces of the participating nations for the purpose of interdicting illegal maritime activity in the Western Indian Ocean. The 15 participating nations in this iteration of Cutlass Express are Canada, Comoros, Djibouti, France, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Portugal, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, The Netherlands and the United States.

Notes:
The National Deworming Day (NDD) is an initiative of Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) to make every child in the country worm free. The day is observed every year on 10th of February to tackle worm infections among pre-school (anganwadi) and school-age children across India. On 8th of February 2019, Union Health Ministry conducted its 8th round of NDD across the country to reduce the prevalence of parasitic intestinal worms among children. During the programme, Albendazole tablets were orally administered to pre-school and school-going children in the age group of 1 to 19 years. As per World Health Organization (WHO) report, 64% of the Indian population less than 14 years are at risk of Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STH) infections. During this round, over 24 Crore Children and Adolescents will be covered.

Notes:
The 2nd ASEAN-India Youth Summit 2019 was held in Guwahati, Assam on the theme “Connectivity is the pathway to shared prosperity” from 03-06 February 2019. It is organized by India Foundation in collaboration with Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Government of Assam. Over 100 youth delegates the ten ASEAN countries – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam took part in the summit. The purpose of the summit was to strengthen the mutual cooperation among the youth leaders from India and the ASEAN countries. Hence, the 2019 summit is a step to facilitate Socio-cultural exchanges between the countries to further strengthen the values of tolerance, pluralism and diversity.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India has exercised its powers conferred under Section 47A of the Banking Regulation Act of 1949 & imposed a penalty of Rs 1 crore on the State Bank of India (SBI) for not monitoring the end use of funds in respect of one of its borrowers. However, SBI did not share details of the borrower and the loan amount given to the borrower.

Notes:
The World Radio Day (WRD) is observed every year on the 13th of February to celebrate radio as a forum for information and entertainment, as a bridge of communication for remote communities and its role in empowering people. It is also a day to remember the unique power of radio which touches lives and brings people together from every corner of the globe. The day was proclaimed on 3rd November 2011 by UNESCO’s 36th General Conference. The 2019 theme “Dialogue, Tolerance and Peace Broadcasts” provides a platform for dialogue and democratic debate over issues, such as migration or violence against women, can help to raise awareness among listeners and inspire understanding for new perspectives in paving the way for positive action.

Notes:
The Jharkhand government has recently banned the Popular Front of India (PFI) in the state to curb its anti-national activities and for keeping links with terror outfits like ISIS. According to the government notification, the PFI is banned with immediate effect under the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1908. The decision to ban PFI has been taken after a review that its activities have increased and is dangerous to the state and the nation and it has the power to disrupt peace, communal harmony and secular structure. As per notification, the PFI has been involved in spreading social division, anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans, and links with ISIS and JMB. The PFI is an extremist and militant Islamic fundamentalist organisation in India, formed as a successor to National Development Front (NDF) in 2006.

Notes:
On 13th Feb, the 3rd Indo-German Environment Forum was held in New Delhi with the theme “Cleaner Air, Greener Economy”. The one-day event focuses on challenges, solutions and necessary framework conditions of air pollution control, waste management and circular economy as well as implementation of NDCs and SDGs based on Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030 of UN respectively. Around 250 representatives of ministries, business and science as well as non-governmental organizations participated in the forum, which is organized by the two environment ministries in cooperation with the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business and the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The Forum provided a platform for the bilateral exchange of high-level policy-makers and other key players on international environmental and climate policy and cooperation between the two countries.