Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2019

Notes:
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has recently launched KALIA Chhatra Brutti Scholarship at the Secretariat for the children of the KALIA Scheme beneficiaries, who are studying and aspiring for technical and professional education. The state government is implementing the KALIA (Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation) scheme for the benefit of the farmers. Under the scheme, named after Lord Jagannath, the government would provide financial assistance of Rs. 10,000 per family to small and marginal farmers as assistance for cultivation. Each family will get Rs 5,000 separately in the kharif and rabi seasons, for five cropping seasons between 2018-19 and 2021-22. The scheme is not linked to the amount of land owned. Besides, landless households would be provided Rs 12,500 to take up activities like goat rearing units, mini layer units, duckery units, fishery kits for fishermen and women, mushroom cultivation and beekeeping.

Notes:
An international team of more than 200 astronomers from 18 countries has published the first phase of a major new radio sky survey at unprecedented sensitivity using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) telescope in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. The survey discovered 3,00,000 hidden galaxies using radio astronomy in a tiny corner of the northern hemisphere at low radio frequency. It is believed that these findings will help shed new light on some of the Universe’s deepest secrets. This includes the physics of black holes as well as research into how galaxy clusters evolve. The LOFAR telescope is operated by ASTRON in The Netherlands and is considered to be the world’s leading telescope of its type. It is made up of a network of radio antenna across seven countries, forming the equivalent of a 1,300-km diameter satellite dish. It is capable of detecting light source beyond the power of optical instruments. Radio astronomy allows scientists to detect radiation produced when massive celestial objects interact.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath government has rolled out its flagship ‘Mukhyamantri Yuva Swabhiman Yojana’ that guarantees 100 days of employment every year to urban youths from Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). Apart from this, they will also be given skill development training by the government. The purpose of the scheme is to empower the unemployed youth candidates. Only those youths, whose family’s annual income is less than Rs 2 lakh and who are in the age group of 21-30 years, are eligible for the scheme.

Notes:
Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani has recently launched the Integrated Large Scale Eri Farming under North East Region Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS) in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh. It’s the centrally funded Scheme for Eri silk Farming that will initially cover five districts of the state, which are: Papumpare, East Kameng, Siang, East Siang and West Siang. The skill training will be imparted to eri silk farmers and weavers under the Samarth Scheme. Beside this, Government of India (GoI) will also provide financial assistance to 4000 beneficiaries under NERTPS. The purpose of the Samarth (Scheme For Capacity Building In Textile Sector) scheme is to skill the youth for gainful and sustainable employment in the textile sector.

Notes:
In New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the 5th edition of the Economic Times (ET) Global Business Summit 2019 on Feb 23 to offer insights into the direction of future policy. The two-day summit hosted business leaders and technology entrepreneurs from some of the most talked about and disruptive companies across the globe including Nathan Blecharczyk, co-founder of AirBnB, Martin Eberhard co-founder of Tesla, Sebastian Thrun CEO of KittyHawk and many more. The summit is a flagship initiative of the Times Group that envisions to bring together visionaries, thought leaders, heads of state, policy makers, academicians and corporate heads cohesively driving a singular agenda for Scripting Economic Change, by connecting the building blocks of Economics for India and the Globe.

Notes:
Dr Divya Karnad, who teaches at Asoka University, has bagged the prestigious Global Future For Nature Award 2019 for her work on marine conservation. With the feat, she has become the first woman and the second Indian to receive the honour, the only other Indian being Dr Charudutt Mishra. The Future For Nature Award is a an international award that celebrates tangible achievements in protecting wild animal and plant species.

Notes:
The first-ever Skill Saathi Youth Conclave has inaugurated by Union Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at Rail Auditorium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The program aims to create a mass movement around skill development in the state and inspire youth to make the most of various skill development opportunities in the country. The conclave was aired live across 427 locations in Odisha, where more than 2 lakh candidates were mobilized for career counseling under Skill Saathi initiative. The initiative provides information on vocational training programs under Skill India mission, conduct psychometric test and provide face-to-face counselling interventions to guide aspirants to make the right choice of based on their interest and aptitude.

Notes:
The book titled “ India in Distress” has been authored by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, which is scheduled to be launch in the National Capital on February 27. Banerjee has so far published 87 books. Among the seven books that Banerjee has penned this time, there are ones for children, of poems in Bengali, Urdu and English and a couple of books on politics – in Hindi and Bengali.

Notes:
India has been invited to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Abu Dhabi, UAE on the 1st and 2nd March of 2019. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will be the Guest of Honour and address the inaugural plenary of the 46th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of OIC at the invitation of UAE Foreign Minister. This is the first time that a leader of the non-Muslim country has been invited to the OIC conference. The move will boost relations with West Asian and Muslim-majority nations. New Delhi sees the invitation as a milestone in the comprehensive strategic partnership with the UAE. It is also a welcome recognition of the presence of 185 million Muslims in India and of India’s contribution to the Islamic world.The official languages of the OIC are Arabic, English, and French.

Notes:
On 27th Feb, Prime Minister Narendra Modi conferred the National Youth Parliament Festival (NYPF-2019) awards to the winners at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. The winners from the national level competition were Shweta Umre from Maharshtra (Ist Position), Anjanakshi M.S from Karnataka (IInd position) and Mamta Kumari from Bihar (IIIrd position). The 2019 fest was jointly organized by National Service Scheme (NSS) and Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), under the aegis of Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. Youth in the age bracket of 18-25 years were invited to participate in the District, State and National level Youth Parliaments. The fest was based on the theme of ‘Be the Voice of New India’ and ‘Find solutions and Contribute to Policy’. It provided a chance to the youth to brainstorm about new India and to find ways and chalk out plans to realize our resolves before 2022.