Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2020

Notes:
The Union Cabinet recently approved the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020, to confer the status of Institution of National Importance (INI) to five Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs).
The Five IIITs in Public-Private-Partnership mode at Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala and Raichur are to conferred with the INI status. After the status has been granted, the institutions would be able to award degrees and to use the nomenclature of Bachelor of Technology (BTech) or Master of Technology (MTech) or PhD degree. The existing 15 IIITs had already been provided with the INI status.

Notes:
The fifth edition of the India-Russia Military Industrial Conference was recently organised in the northern Indian city, Lucknow. The Conference was organised on the sidelines of the biennial Defence exhibition DefExpo 2020.
As many as 14 MoUs related to production of different defence equipment, radar systems, ASW Rocket launchers and 3D modeling were signed between the companies from India and Russia. Among several Indian companies, the prominent ones which signed the agreements were BHEL, Bharat Dynamics Limited and Vista control.

Notes:
The Department of telecommunications (DoT) recently approved the merger of consumer mobile operations of the Tata group with Bharti Airtel.
During the month of October 2017, the Tata group announced that the company would sell its consumer mobile business to Bharti Airtel. After nearly two years of their plan, the final approval has been granted by DoT. Airtel has acquired Tata’s mobile phone operations across the country in 19 circles across the country. This merger would expand the spectrum availability and 4G coverage of Bharti Airtel.

Notes:
Indian cueist Aditya Mehta was seen in news recently as he won the National Snooker Championship, held at Pune. He represented the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) and defeated the 22-time-world champion Pankaj Advani 6-2 to win the title. Pankaj recently won the National Billiards Championship.
Vidya Pillai of Karnataka clinched the women’s snooker title, by beating Amee Kamani of Madhya Pradesh.

Notes:
Jiri Vesely of Czech Republic clinched the Tata Open Maharashtra 2020, held recently in Pune. He won the title after five years of his maiden ATP Tour title in Auckland.
He also become only the eighth player since 2013 to save six match points across two matches in a row, towards winning the ATP Tour crown. The tournament had been previously conducted at Chennai.

Notes:
Veteran Indian journalist Nandu R Kulkarni recently passed away at Mumbai. A resident of Mumbai, the 70-year-old journalist was the Mumbai bureau chief of the Daily newspaper, ‘The Statesman’.
He started his career with ‘The Indian Express’ in 1976 and worked with the group for nearly 16 years. Nandu then joined ‘The Statesman’ in 1992 as the bureau chief. He covered a wide range of fields including politics and business and was known for his reports on economic offences.

Notes:
National Productivity Council (NPC) is an institution for propagating productivity movement in India, which functions under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The formation of National Productivity Council is being celebrated annually as Productivity Day (12th February) and following seven days as Productivity Week (12th – 18th February). The organisation conducts various events throughout the week for promoting productivity.

Notes:
The Department of Agriculture of Andhra Pradesh recently signed Memoranda of understanding with 11 premier agricultural institutions of the country, in the presence of its Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Under the agreement, the institutions will provide technical assistance for increasing the farmers income sustainably, by following organic and natural farming practices. The Chief Minister also announced that more than 11000 Rythu Bharosa Kendras would be set up across the state.

Notes:
Union Minister of Health and Union Minister of HRD jointly launched the School Health and Wellness Ambassador initiative under Ayushman Bharat scheme. Under the initiative, two teachers in every school will be designated ‘Health and wellness ambassador’ to create awareness about health issues.
The programme will be implemented in 200 districts, initially and will be linked with other government schemes including Fit India movement, Eat Right campaign, Poshan Abhiyaan.

Notes:
The regulator of Aviation security in India, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) recently notified that it has banned e-cigarettes and similar products in all airports and aircrafts in India.
It has also prohibited distribution, sale, storage of such products in any airport premises or any aircraft that departs or arrives in India. Last year, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare banned production, sale and import of e-cigarettes, as they include electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS).