Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2020

Notes:
Top media agency of India, GroupM recently revealed that India would become the 8th-largest global advertising market in 2020. This is two places higher than the previous year’s rank.
It also estimates the overall size of India’s advertising market to be 13.2 billion (Rs 94,000 crore), which is 10.7 per cent growth from the last year, when the overall size was 11.9 billion (Rs 84,917 crore). The first place was bagged by the United States with a huge lead from the rest of the countries, followed by China and Japan.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently projected the economic growth of the country to grow by 6 per cent during the next financial year. This is the lower end of the growth projection as announced by the government in the economic survey, which estimated a rate of 6-6.5 per cent. RBI also stated that the Indian economy continues to be weak.
The first half of the year would grow in the range of 5.5-6.0 per cent and the third quarter at 6.2 per cent, as per the RBI. But this projection is higher than the GDP growth projection of 5%, made in the monetary policy statement of December 2019.

Notes:
The Sharang Artillery gun would be inducted into the Indian Army on February 7, 2020, as per the recent announcement of the Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane. The 155 mm-Sharang is an upgraded version of the existing 130 mm M-46 field guns.
He also announced that Sig Sauer assault rifles and Spike anti-tank missiles are being issued to the army troops, who are deployed in the forward areas. The Gun Carriage Factory (GCF) in Jabalpur upgraded the Sharang artillery gun along with the ordnance factories and technical teams of Army and DRDO.

Notes:
The country’s first glass floor suspension bridge is to be built across the river Ganga in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. The state government has recently approved the design of the glass-floor bridge.
This bridge is to be built as an alternative to the iconic Lakshman Jhula which was closed last year, citing safety reasons. The Public Works Department (PWD) is to construct the bridge, which would have a floor with toughened transparent glass, through which the pedestrians can see the surface of the river. The length of the proposed bridge will be 132.3 metres and it will have toughened glass railings on either side.

Notes:
Christina Koch has set the record for the longest stay in space by a woman. The U.S. astronaut landed in Kazakhstan on February 6 after 328 days on the International Space Station (ISS).

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Telangana recently flagged off the stretch of Hyderabad Metro between Hyderabad and its sister city Secunderabad. With this, Hyderabad Metro has become the second largest operational metro rail network in the country, only after the Delhi Metro Rail.
Hyderabad Metro is also the biggest metro project in the world in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode, with a total project cost of ₹20,000 crore, constructed by Larsen & Toubro.

Notes:
India and Nepal recently signed the financial closure of Arun-III, which is the largest hydropower project of Nepal. The 900 MW hydropower project is under construction in Nepal, with an estimated cost of $1.04 million.
The project, which is to be built with the financial assistance from India, is to be completed in 5 years. It is being built by Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) Arun-III Power Development Company (SAPDC), a joint venture of the Government of India and the Government of Himachal Pradesh.

Notes:
In 2019, the United Nations General Assembly announced 10 February as the World Pulses Day. This was followed by the celebration of the year 2016 as the International Year of Pulses (IYP), across the world, led by the Food and Agriculture Organization.
The day is celebrated to raise awareness about the nutritional values of pulses and ways to tackle malnutrition through pulses.

Notes:
The state government of Uttar Pradesh has recently launched toll-free helpline numbers for students. This initiative is aimed at solving queries of students ahead of the Board Examinations.
A senior officer of Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad is designated as Nodal Officer of the initiative. Several academicians and experts of different subjects will be made available on call, to resolve the doubts of students.

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.