Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2020

Notes:
The United Kingdom government has recently donated 20 million pounds, equivalent to nearly $25 million, for developing vaccine to combat the deadly coronavirus.
The country’s investment is set to be given to the global body named CEPI (the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations), which aims to develop the vaccine in six to eight months. The World Health Organisation has categorised the coronavirus outbreak as a global health emergency. The death toll in China due to the virus infection has crossed 400. Philippines and Hong Kong also reported their first deaths from the outbreak.

Notes:
The state government of Karnataka has recently launched a scheme called ‘Janasevaka’ to home-deliver various government services to citizens. The scheme ensures the delivery of ration cards, senior citizen identity and health cards at the door steps of citizens.
The newly launched scheme is a part of the ‘Sakala’ scheme of the state and will cover as many as 53 services of 11 state departments. The scheme was first implemented in Dasarahalli area on a pilot basis and will be extended to other regions. Subsequently, the scheme would be made operational in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru and Hubballi-Dharwad.

Notes:
The annual event called Udyanotsav, during which the Mughal Gardens at Rashtrapati Bhavan will be opened for the general public, was inaugurated by the Indian President Ram Nath Kovind.
The gardens will remain open for the public till March 8, 2020 between 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The gardens are to be closed only on Mondays for maintenance works. The unique Mughal Gardens of the official residence of the President comprises of several exotic flowers and bulbous flowers like Narcissus, Dahlia, Sparaxis. Visitors can walk-in directly or use the online booking facility to visit the Gardens.

Notes:
A German cybersecurity firm called Greenbone Sustainable Resilience recently published a report on medical data leaks. It revealed that the medical details of more than 120 million Indian patients have been leaked and made available on the Internet.
The state of Maharashtra is placed at the top of the list of states that are affected by the data leak, followed by Karnataka and West Bengal. It also classifies countries in three categories of good, bad and ugly, based on the action taken by the governments after its first report was released. India is placed second in the ugly category.

Notes:
The Prince of Britain, Charles has recently unveiled a new children’s protection fund for India. This fund is a part of the charity founded by him in 2007, the British Asian Trust. The trust was founded to fight poverty in South Asia.
Noted American singer Katy Perry was named as the ambassador of the new fund. The Protection fund will focus on reducing the exploitation of children by 50 per cent in India over 10 years. The Children’s Protection Fund will primarily cover child sexual abuse, child labour and trafficking. School safety nets are also proposed to be aet up through child-friendly village models.

Notes:
Belum cave system is the largest cave system open to the public on Indian subcontinent extending about 3,229 meters. It is located in Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh. The recently concluded Belum Caves festival promoted the caves system.

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 Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) was established in 1972, by an act of Parliament, to act as the nodal agency for the development of Indian seafood industry. It is head-quartered at Kochi.
Recently, MPEDA announced that it is to start the upgradation and modernisation 25 fishing harbours in the country. The project is to be undertaken with the assistance from the Centre
at a proposed outlay of Rs 2500 crore.

Notes:
Kaamya Karthikeyan a student from Mumbai, recently became the youngest girl in the world to scale Mt Aconcagua. Mt Aconcagua is the highest peak in South America, located in Argentina. It is the highest peak outside Asia with the height of 6962 metres.
The student of Navy children school has already scaled the some of the highest peaks in Africa, Europe, and Australia in the past.

Notes:
The first cultural festival called ‘Jerusalem-Mumbai Festival’ is set to be hosted by India, in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The festival is celebrated to promote the ties between India and Israel.
This is the first such joint event for Jerusalem in an Asian city. The two-day festival commences on February 15 and comprises of several art and cultural events to showcase the tradition of both countries.