Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2020

Notes:
Minister of State for Labour Santosh Gangwar recently announced that the government is conducting a new Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS). The survey conducted this year comprises of new parameters and bigger sample size.
As per the results of the PLFS survey being conducted by the government, the Unemployment rate in the country in 2017-18 was 6.1 per cent. The labour force participation in the country in the same time period was found to be 36.9 per cent. The Minister also announced that the new survey conducted through the Ministry of Statistics provides more authentic data.

Notes:
Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Hockey India jointly announced that High Performance Centres would be established in seven places across the country. The Centres are expected to provide world-class facilities to Junior and Sub-Junior hockey players.
The Centres, which would provide international exposure to players, will be monitored by Hockey India. Four Centres including the National Hockey Academy at Dhyan Chand National Stadium will be functional within three months. This step is taken to promote the game and groom young players for the upcoming Olympic Games.

Notes:
Indian weight-lifter Pardeep Singh was seen in news recently, as he won the men’s 102kg gold medal in the National weightlifting championships, recently held in Kolkata.
He improved his performance than what he did in the Asian championships in China, last year. Another leading lifter Vikas Thakur won gold medal in the men’s 96kg category. Both the lifters are in the promising list for the upcoming Asian championships in Kazakhstan. Mirabai Chanu and Jeremy Lalrinnunga were named as ‘Best Lifters’ of the championships.

Notes:
India has 12 major ports viz. Deendayal Port Trust, Paradip Port Trust, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Mumbai Port Trust, Visakhapatnam Port Trust, Chennai Port Trust, Kolkata Port Trust, New Mangaluru Port Trust, V. O. Chidambaranar Port Trust, Kamarajar Port Limited, Kochi Port Trust, Mormugao Port Trust. Of these, Deendayal (earlier Kandla), JNPT (earlier Nava Sheva), V. O. Chidambaranar (earlier Tuticorin) and Kamarajar (earlier Ennore Port) are named after individuals.

Notes:
M.J. Akbar’s new book “Gandhi’s Hinduism – The Struggle Against Jinnah’s Islam” chronicles the endgame that led to the partition of the subcontinent in 1947 and the creation of Pakistan.

Notes:
The Chief economist of World Bank, Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg recently announced her resignation. The economist is expected to step down from her role on March 1 and return to teach at Yale University.
Pinelopi Koujianou assumed charge as the Chief economist at the end of April 2018. World Bank President David Malpass announced that Research Director Aart Kraay would take over as an interim Chief economist.

Notes:
The South Korean film Parasite created history at the 2020 Oscars, by being the first film not in the English language to win the coveted award. It won a total of four Oscars, including best picture, best director, best screenplay and best international feature.
This is also the first film to have won both international feature and best picture at the Oscars, in its history. Joaquin Phoenix and Renee Zellweger won the award for best actor and actress respectively.

Notes:
The Great Indian Bustard is named the mascot of the UN Convention of Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) (COP 13). India has recently proposed to include three species- the Asian elephant, the Great Indian Bustard and the Bengal Florican in the list of ‘migratory species threatened with extinction’, under the CMS-COP 13.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has recently unveiled a draft Visionary Perspective Plan (2020-2030), for conserving the bird species and their eco-systems.

Notes:
Ministry of Coal (MoC) has recently launched a web portal for star rating of coal mines. Under the portal, all operational coal mines across the country will be enabled for self-rating. The mines will be subsequently validated by Coal Controller’s Organization (CCO), the subordinate office of Ministry of Coal.
The mechanism on the portal would award star rating to the mines with certain evaluation parameters under 7 modules.

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.