Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2019

Notes:
Father Francois Laborde, a 92-year-old Bengal priest, has been conferred the Légion d’Honneur (Legion of Honour), the highest civilian award of France, in recognition of his work for specially-abled children. Father Laborde is of French-origin but he has been given Indian citizenship. He is the third person from the state to have been awarded the Legion of Honor after film maestro Satyajit Ray and actor Soumitra Chatterjee.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently raised the limit for collateral-free agriculture loans to Rs 1.6 lakh from Rs. 1 lakh to enhance coverage of small and marginal farmers in the formal credit system. Currently, the banks are mandated to extend collateral-free agricultural loans up to Rs. 1 lakh. This limit was fixed in the year 2010. The RBI also proposed to set up an internal working group to review various issues plaguing farm credit, such as regional disparity, extent of coverage and limited capital formation from such credit. As per interim Budget of 2019, the Government of India (GoI) will also launch the ‘Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) programme to provide assured income support to small and marginal farmers. Under this, vulnerable landholding farmer-families, having cultivable land up to two hectares, will be provided direct income support at the rate of Rs. 6,000 per year. This income support will be transferred directly into the bank accounts of beneficiary farmers in three equal instalments of Rs. 2,000 each. The programme will be funded by the Government of India (GoI).

Notes:
The Himalayan Cloud Observatory has recently been set up in the SRT campus Chamba of Tehri Garhwal district in Uttarakhand to receive forecast and monitor cloud burst incidents in the Himalayan region and help minimise the damage. This is the second observatory in the country to monitor cloud activities by the Indian Science and Technology (IST) Department and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur that can function in high-altitudes. The cloudburst incidents are very frequent in the hilly areas of Uttarakhand and resulted in a huge loss of life. The Himalayan Cloud Observatory has recently prepared a six-month data while being in the testing period, so that after the completion of the testing period, cloud bursting incidents in future could be easily predicted and the severe loss of lives and property caused to the localities due to this could be stopped.

Notes:
On 11th of February, the 13th edition of International Oil and Gas Conference ‘PETROTECH-2019’ has inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at India Expo Mart in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The three-day biennial event is organised under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. The conference will showcase the recent market and investor friendly developments in India’s oil and gas sector. Over 95 Energy Ministers from partner countries and 7000 delegates from around 70 countries are expected to be part of PETROTECH -2019.

Notes:
Acclaimed Indo-Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta will be given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television (ACCT). She is best known for her Elements Trilogy — Fire (1996), 1947 Earth (1999) and Water (2005). Mehta’s “Earth” was submitted by India as its official entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and “Water” was Canada’s official entry for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. “Earth” was the first to receive an Oscar nomination. The Canadian screen awards are presented annually by the ACCT to recognise excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media productions. In May 2012, Mehta received the governor general’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement — Canada’s highest honour in the performing arts.

Notes:
The first-ever Annual Conference of Media Units will be organized by Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on 13th of February 2019. The purpose of the Conference is to give a unique platform to the officers of the Indian Information Service (IIS) working under different Media Units to converge at an All-India level where they can discuss and deliberate upon the emerging areas of the evolving communication paradigm. Through the Conference, the Ministry aims to strengthen synergy between the Media Units in order to ensure last mile delivery, while simultaneously brainstorm the use of new technology in communication. The participants will also discuss the ways of using Social Media to reach target audience groups and push the boundaries of communication outreach in terms of geographical and cultural barriers.

Notes:
On 9th of February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally inaugurated and dedicated to the Nation the Hollong Modular Gas Processing Plant (HMGPP) of Hindustan Oil Exploration Co. Ltd. (HOEC) at Dirok Field in Assam. Initially, the HMGPP will have a capacity to process 35 million standard cubic feet per day of gas equivalent to 15% of Assam gas production and 800 barrels of condensate. The plant is located in Margherita, Tinsukia district of Assam. The gas produced from this field will be supplied to consumers in the North-East region, including Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Ltd. Dirok Field is being developed in phases by HOEC along with its JV partners – Oil India Ltd. and Indian Oil Corporation.

Notes:
The National Unani Day (NUD) is celebrated every year on 11th February to mark the birth anniversary of great Unani researcher Haqim Ajmal Khan. He was an eminent Indian Unani physician who was versatile genius, freedom fighter, educationist and founder of scientific research in Unani Medicine. As part of 3rd Unani Day 2019 celebration, the two-day National Conference on Unani Medicine was held at New Delhi with theme ‘Unani Medicine for Public Health’. It was organized by the Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM). The conference highlighted the important role played by Unani Medicine in public health especially in combating NCDs, lifestyle disorders and various chronic diseases by providing cost effective treatment and quality products for patient healthcare. About 1300 delegates, resource persons, academicians, researchers and industry representatives participated in the conference.

Notes:
The National Productivity Council (NPC) has started the celebration of its 61st Foundation Day on 12th February with the theme “Circular Economy for Productivity & Sustainability”. NPC observed foundation day as National Productivity Day (NPD) and the National Productivity Week (NPW) from February 12-18, 2019. The 2019 theme represents a unique opportunity for circular business model for Make, Use & Return. It presents an opportunity for long term economic prospects and regeneration of materials. The circular economy follows the principle of preservation and enhancement of natural capital by controlling finite stocks and balancing renewable resource flows. It has the potential to increase productivity and create jobs, whilst reducing carbon emissions and preserving valuable raw materials.

Notes:
The K-SWIFT (Kerala Single-window Interface for Fast, Transparent Clearances) has been launched by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan at ASCEND Kerala 2019. The aim of the online clearance mechanism is to make the state a top investment destination and empower entrepreneurs to launch their enterprises in a speedy and hassle-free manner. K-SWIFT has been developed to simplify and expedite issuance of clearances from departments/agencies for launching enterprises in the state. Here, the proposals of entrepreneurs will get clearance within 30 days of application.