Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2019

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:
On 25th February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the National War Memorial to the nation in the vicinity of the India Gate in New Delhi to honour Indian Armed Forces. The Memorial is a fitting tribute to our soldiers who laid down their lives defending the nation, post-independence. It also commemorates the soldiers who participated and made the supreme sacrifice in Peace Keeping Missions, and Counter Insurgency Operations. The layout of the National War Memorial comprises four concentric circles, namely, the ‘Amar Chakra’( or Circle of Immortality), the ‘Veerta Chakra’ (or Circle of Bravery), the ‘Tyag Chakra’ (or Circle of Sacrifice), and the ‘Rakshak Chakra’ (or Circle of Protection). The National War Memorial complex includes a central obelisk, an eternal flame, and six bronze murals depicting famous battles fought by Indian Army, Air Force and Navy. The Memorial represents the culmination of the collective aspiration of a grateful nation to pay a fitting tribute to the martyrs. The Chief Architect of the National War Memorial is Ar. Yogesh Chandrahasan of Chennai-based WeBe Design Lab.

Notes:
On 25th February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has officially launched PM-KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana) scheme from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. The scheme was announced in the interim Budget 2019-20 on1st February 2019. It is a Central Sector scheme with 100% funding from Government of India. Under the Scheme, Rs 6,000 will be given per year to small and marginal farmer families having combined land holding/ownership of upto 2 hectares. The amount will be given in three installments of Rs.2000 each. The amount will be transferred directly to the bank account of beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer. DBT will ensure transparency in the entire process and will save time for the farmers. The Scheme was introduced to augment the income of the Small and Marginal Farmers (SMFs). It is estimated to benefit more than 12 crore small and marginal farmers. The aim of the scheme is to supplement the financial needs of the SMFs in procuring various inputs to ensure proper crop health and appropriate yields, commensurate with the anticipated farm income at the end of the each crop cycle. This would also protect them from falling in the clutches of moneylenders for meeting such expenses and ensure their continuance in the farming activities.

Notes:
The landlocked & war-torn nation, Afghanistan has recently launched new export route to India through the strategic Chabahar Port of Iran to boost regional connectivity. According to officials, the first shipment of 57 tonnes consists of dried fruits, textiles, carpets and mineral products in 23 trucks products were dispatched from western Afghan city of Zaranj to Chabahar port. The consignment will be shipped to the Indian city of Mumbai. The Iranian port provides easy access to the sea to Afghanistan and India has helped developed this route to allow both countries to engage in trade bypassing Pakistan.

Notes:
Zimbabwe has recently introduced its new currency, dubbed as Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) dollar, after the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) announced measures to try and resolve a chronic monetary crisis. The new currency replaces electronic bank savings called digital dollars and the bond notes, and was named after the RTGS system that banks use to transfer money between each other. The currency was launched at an initial rate of 2.5 RTGS dollars per US dollar. The RTGS dollar is supposed to bring together bond notes and debit card and mobile money payments to make sure that they are all worth the same.

Notes:
Bihar has become the first state in India which has raised its own dog squad to detect liquor consignment. All these dogs were imparted nine-month training at Hyderabad-based Integrated Intelligence Training Academy before being inducted in the Bihar Police. The total strength of the Bihar Police’s dog squad stands at 68. On each dog, the state police spent around Rs 1.71 lakh and two handlers have been deputed. Notably, Bihar had banned liquor in the state in 2016.

Notes:
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has recently launched the PRANAM Commission for protection of parents of state government employees. The Commission will look after the issues concerning a PRANAM (Parents Responsibility and Norms for Accountability and Monitoring) Bill to protect elderly parents of government employees in their times of need. PRANAM Bill, which was approved by the state cabinet in 2018, makes it mandatory for state government employees to look after their parents and unmarried Divyang siblings who do not have their own sources of income. As per the Bill, if the PRANAM Commission gets a complaint that parents of a state government employee is being ignored, and then 10 or 15% of the employee’s salary will be deducted by the government and paid to the parents or differently-abled siblings.

Notes:
Leg-spinner Rashid Khan claimed a hat-trick and became the first-ever bowler to bag four wickets in four deliveries in Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) on February 17, 2019. Rashid’s impressive bowling performance in the third and final T20I also helped Afghanistan sweep the T20I series by a margin of 3-0 against Ireland in Dehradun. With this feat, Rashid also became the 7th bowler in the T20I history to bag a hat-trick and in the process also completed his second five-wicket haul in the format. Overall, Khan became the 2nd bowler in the history of the sport to do so in international cricket after Sri Lankan veteran Lasith Malinga pick up 4 wickets in 4 balls. Malinga achieved the milestone during the 2007 Cricket World Cup against South Africa.

Notes:
The Himachal Pradesh government has again declared Monkeys as vermin for the next one year in 11 districts’ 91 tehsils and sub-tehsils of state. Monkeys were declared as a vermin species because have been adversely affecting crops and causing harm to humans. Hence, this allows state forest authorities and people to carry out extermination (hunting/poaching) of monkeys on a large scale. Vermin are wild mammals and birds that are harmful to crops, farm animals or that carry disease. As per Section 62 of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) 1972, States can send a list of wild animals to the Centre requesting it to declare them vermin for selective slaughter. The Central Government may by notification, declare any wild animal other than those specified in Schedule I and part 11 of Schedule H of the law to be vermin for any area for a given period of time. As long as the notification is in force such wild animal shall be included in Schedule V of the law, depriving them of any protection under that law.