Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2020

Notes:
India and Sri Lanka have recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for up-gradation of infrastructure in plantation schools for estate workers of Indian origin.
The MoU was signed in Colombo, under which infrastructure of 9 plantation schools are to be up-graded with the assistance of 30 crore rupees from India. Construction and renovation of several school buildings is also being carried out with Indian grant.

Notes:
The United States is scheduled to sign a deal with the Taliban group on February 29, in Doha, for reduction in violence across Afghanistan.
This was announced by the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. A week-long ‘reduction in violence’ deal between the Taliban, the US and Afghan security forces is to commence shortly. After this agreement, Intra-Afghan negotiations are to be carried out.

Notes:
The 15th Finance Commission has established a high level expert group for looking into agricultural exports. The committee is to be headed by ITC Chairman and is to submit its report in 3 months. The Sanjiv Puri Expert Group was set up to look into ways of improving agriculture exports. To encourage exports, the panel is to come up with measurable performance incentives for states, look at import substitution opportunities, increase farm productivity, value addition, waste reduction, improve logistics infrastructure etc.

Notes:
After a lag of 5 years, the elections to the post of president of NRI Sabha Punjab is to be held. Only members of the NRI Sabha can vote in the election of the president. The NRI Sabha is an NGO controlled by the Punjab government. Any NRI can become its member by paying a fee of 10,500 INR. The body has about 23,000 members across the world. Only the members of the NRI Sabha have a right to contest in the elections. Participation in the voting is also reserved for the members. The upcoming elections have been due since 2017. The NRI Sabha was registered under the Societies Act in 1998. The president of the NRI Sabha does not have any legal authority. The office bearers of the Sabha also do not have legal authority. Their function is to take up issues concerning NRIs with ambassadors of different countries. They can also push for speeding up government works concerning NRIs.

Notes:
The 23rd edition of the Ethnologue- the world’s largest language database was released in light of the International Mother Language Day, celebrated on February 21st. ‘Ethnologue: Languages of the World’ is an annual publication that serves as the largest database on the languages of the world. The 23rd edition was recently published in light of the International Mother Language Day celebration. It is mainly used by linguists for research and also by students. Ethnologue is published by a non-profit organization, SIL International which is based in the USA. It is being published since 1951. The main objective of the publication is to document the world languages and promote literacy. The introduction of hard paywall has affected the use by researchers according to reports.

Notes:
As of 2020, Vietnam is largest Cashew exporter of the world. That country mostly exports cheap Cashew to China and gives stiff competition to India. India mostly imports from African countries.

Notes:
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) recently notified that 100 per cent FDI is allowed in insurance intermediaries under automatic approval route.
The FDI policy earlier allowed 49 per cent foreign investment in the insurance sector, including insurance intermediaries. Intermediary services comprise of insurance brokers, re-insurance brokers, insurance consultants, third party administrators, loss assessors etc.

Notes:
Container Corporation of India (Concor) and RZD Logistics JSC (Russian Railways) recently signed a service agreement for transporting cargo between India and Russia using a single invoice.
The containers will move between the two countries by using the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC), which passes through Iran. The corridor also passes through Azerbaijan.

Notes:
Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal recently launched a first-of-its-kind platform called ‘Market Intelligence and Early Warning System (MIEWS) Web Portal’.
The MIEWS provides real time monitoring of prices of tomato, onion and potato, collectively known as ‘TOP’. The portal would display all relevant information related to TOP crops such as Prices and Arrivals, Area, Yield and Production etc. It would also give alerts under the terms of the Operation Greens (OG) scheme.

Notes:
As per the recently released Hurun Global Rich List 2020, Ritesh Agarwal- the founder of Oyo Hotels, has been named as the world’s second youngest billionaire.
His wealth was estimated at $1.1 billion, at the age of 24. In the global list, Kylie Jenner, the cosmetics star was only ahead of the Indian entrepreneur at the age of 22. Ritesh is also the richest self-made Indian billionaire aged under 40. He is followed by founders of Zerodha, Flipkart and Byjus.