Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2020

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently released its statement on developmental and regulatory policies, along with the February 2020 Monetary policy statement.
In the statement, the central bank announced about the launch of Digital Payments Index (DPI), which will assess the digitalisation of payments in the country. The DPI will accurately measure the penetration of digital payment modes among the general public of the country. The index is proposed to be launched from July 2020.

Notes:
The state government of Madhya Pradesh recently announced that drones would be used in land surveys for mapping the villages. The Revenue department of Madhya Pradesh has signed agreement in this regard with the national mapping agency, Survey of India.
The land survey work is being done manually or with the assistance of satellite images, until now in the state. As many as 55 thousand villages of the state have been selected for mapping. Using the drone technology, the map of the area will be made on a scale of 1:500, for a better resolution. Last year in August, Maharashtra started using drones for mapping its villages.

Notes:
Esperanza Base (Hope Base) is a permanent, all-year-round Argentine research station in Hope Bay, Trinity Peninsula in Antarctica.

Notes:
Raad-500 is a short-range ballistic missile recently unveiled by Iran. It can be powered by a “new generation” of engines designed to put satellites into orbit.

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 Union Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has recently launched two Assessment Frameworks, namely Ease of Living Index (EoLI) and Municipal Performance Index (MPI) 2019.
The two indices are expected to assess the quality of life of citizens in 100 Smart Cities and 14 other cities, with more than 1 million population. The MPI assesses the performance of municipalities based on five parameters of Service, Finance, Planning, Technology and Governance.

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 2nd Seven-nation BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise, 2020 was recently inaugurated at Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha by its Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
The Exercise is hosted by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) as the nodal agency. The theme of the exercise is- “Response to a cultural heritage site that suffers severe damage in an earthquake” & “Response to a Cultural Heritage site that is affected by flooding or storm surge”.

Notes:
The state cabinet of Uttar Pradesh chaired by its Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath recently approved the Ground water Act, 2020. The act aims at improving the falling groundwater level of the state.
Under the new act, one has to register with the state records before installing submersible pumps either off-line or on-line. It has also ensured provisions for rain water harvesting in all buildings. People who contaminate ground water would be granted penalty and punishment.

Notes:
The National Water Conference, 2020 was recently held in the city of Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh. It was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of the state, Kamal Nath.
Several renowned water experts from across the country, including ‘the Water Man of India’ Rajendra Singh, participated in the conference and discussed issues of water crisis. Discussions were also held in topics of traditional water sources, river restoration and right to water.