Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2020

Notes:
Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has recently organised its first awareness programme in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
APEDA, which comes under the aegis of Union Ministry of Commerce and Industries, organised the programme in association with the Directorate of Industries of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, in the capital city of the islands, Port Blair. The campaign was aimed at examining methods to promote exports of agri products and implementation of the Agri Export Policy in the Islands. The draft state Agri Export action plan, developed by APEDA was also finalized.

Notes:
The city of Kochi, Kerala hosts the 22nd India International Seafood Show, after a gap of 12 years. The three-day seafood show has been inaugurated by the Governor of Kerala, Arif Mohammed Khan on February 7,2020.
The event will provide a platform for collaboration of the exporters and importers of the country’s marine products and seafood industry. The theme of the programme is ‘Blue Revolution: Beyond production to value addition’. Marine Product Export Development Authority (MPEDA) organises the event in association with Seafood Exporters’ Association of India.

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:
Pranash is the name of India’s 200-km strike range tactical ballistic missile which is currently under development by DRDO. This missile is advanced version of the 150-km strike range Prahar missile. Pranash will be a surface-to- surface ballistic missile and will be used by Air Force and Army.

Notes:
Anoop Mishra, an Indian Army Major from the College of Military Engineering was known for having developed a bulletproof jacket which protects against sniper bullets. He was seen in news recently as he has now developed a helmet, which is also the world’s first, that can stop an AK-47 bullet round from 10 meters.
Indian Army’s College of Military Engineering in collaboration with a private firm has developed India’s first and world’s cheapest gunshot locator called ‘Parth’, which can locate the bullet from a distance of 400 meters.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal has recently launched Mukhyamantri Parivar Samridhi Yojana. Under this scheme, an annual financial assistance of Rs 6000 is to be provided to the families in the State, whose annual income is up to Rs 1.80 lakh and who own land below 5 acres.
This ensures that the premiums for various welfare schemes of the Central Government, pension scheme and crop insurance are paid automatically from the bank accounts of the needy families.

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:
The Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) bagged the national award for e-Governance 2019-20 for its Real-Time Pollution-Monitoring System (RTPMS) project, during the 23rd National Conference on e-Governance held in Mumbai.
Under the RPTMS project, an alert is sent to the concerned officials if an industrial unit exceeds the desired pollution levels.

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:
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.