Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2020

Notes:
The Union Cabinet approved the amendment of the Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Bill, 2020, so that it also covers the litigations pending in debt recovery tribunals (DRTs) across the country. The scheme can be availed in search and seizure procedures, where the recovery is up to ₹5 crore.
Vivad se Vishwas Bill, 2020 is aimed at providing resolution of disputed direct taxes. More than ₹9-lakh crore of direct taxes is pending in litigation in India.

Notes:
The New Zealand Police have recently unveiled their first Artificial Intelligence (AI) Police officer Ella. Ella stands for ‘Electronic Lifelike Assistant’, which will be configured at the digital kiosks, to resolve the queries of public and reduce queues in stations.
Ella will be made available in the headquarters building initially, and will be expanded to other parts of the country soon. The virtual assistant has been designed as a mix of 26 different people.

Notes:
Hydrographic Survey Ship, INS Jamuna of Indian Navy is set to conduct detailed hydrographic surveys in Sri Lanka for next two months. The ship has arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka in this regard.
Several shore-based survey activities are also set to be carried out over the deployment period of 2 months. The personnel of Sri Lanka Navy personnel will be provided training during the hydrographic survey. Harbour training programme for the Sri Lankan sailors is also to be organised.

Notes:
A memorial to the 40 CRPF personnel who were killed in Pulwama attack was recently inaugurated at Lethpora camp, Pulwama. The Forty Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed
by a suicide bomber at Pulwama, last year.
The names of all the 40 CRPF personnel along with their pictures are inscribed in the newly inaugurated memorial

Notes:
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the President of Portugal recently arrived in New Delhi on a four-day visit. He has been the President of the European country since 2016. He made his first visit to India along with some important delegates of the country.
During his visit, India and Portugal signed as many as 14 agreements for mutual cooperation in several fields including Defence, Transport, Intellectual property rights and Yoga.

Notes:
Minister of State for Shipping Mansukh Mandaviya recently announced that the Ministry is developing Industrial Cluster-cum-Logistics Park at Sahibganj, a town in Jharkhand. India’s second riverine Multi Modal terminal was also inaugurated at Sahibganj in September 2019.
A Freight village is also being developed by the Ministry at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The establishments being developed at Sahibganj and Varanasi entail a project cost of Rs.200 Crores.

Notes:
The 56th edition of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) has recently commenced in Germany’s southern city, Munich. The theme of this year’s conference is selected to be “Westlessness”.
Indian External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar has represented India in the conference. More than 500 international leaders, including 35 heads of state and as many as 100 Foreign and Defence ministers have gathered in the city, to discuss current security crises and challenges

Notes:
The global sports icon Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash three weeks ago, was recently named as finalist of ‘Basketball Hall of Fame’.
One of the most dominant players in NBA history played for the Los Angeles Lakers during his 20-year career. Many other former Basket ball players and national coaches have also been named finalists of the ‘Basketball Hall of Fame’.

Notes:
The Ministry of Food Processing Industries in association with the Ministry of Women and Child Development is to organise ‘Organic food festival’ in New Delhi, in this month.
The two Union ministries have recently signed an agreement in this regard. The festival is expected to assist the women entrepreneurs in organic food sector to connect with government schemes and include them in the global market.

Notes:
Renowned Musician and founder of the famous music band Parikrama, Sonam Sherpa recently passed away at the age of 48.
Sonam was the lead guitarist of the celebrated music band. He died of a massive cardiac arrest, while he had arrived in West Bengal for recording music. He founded the Parikrama band in the year 1991 in Delhi along with his fellow musician Subir Malik.