Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2020

Notes:
The Indian government, on December 2019, had launched the Central Equipment Identity Register Portal to block and trace mobile phones. It has the database of the International Mobile Equipment Identity number of the blacklisted mobile phones.

Notes:
The Kerala government tasked the three-member commission headed by Justice Hema to investigate the problems faced by the women in the Malayalam film industry. This commission pointed out the glaring testimonies of sexual abuse faced by potential candidates and the presence of a casting couch.

Notes:
A new Department of Military Affairs, also known as Sainya Karta Vibhag will be headed by the Chief of Defence Staff. This department is an addition to the four other departments of the Ministry of Defence – the Department of Defence, Defence Production, Defence and Development and Ex-service welfare.

Notes:
Tony Whitten was a British conservationist who documented biodiversity in Asia before he died due to cycling crash. A prize fund was set up in his name after his death. One of the recent winners of this prize named a snail in Indonesia after him. These species live in a limestone habitat and are threatened due to quarrying for the cement industry.

Notes:
Asiatic Lions are listed as an endangered species by the IUCN. They are currently confined to the Gir National Park. These lions are one among the 5 Pantherine cats living in India. Other Pantherine cats include Bengal Tiger, Snow Leopard, Indian Leopard and Clouded Leopard.

Notes:
According to the recently released Government data, Singapore remains the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in India during the first half of the financial year with investments amounting to $8 billion. The second largest source was Mauritius with $6.36 billion worth investments followed by the United States, the Netherlands and Japan. India remains as one of the world’s favourite FDI destinations during this year. FDI limits in coal mining and contract manufacturing were recently relaxed by the Government.

Notes:
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet recently approved the re-appointment of Umesh Sinha as the Deputy Election Commissioner of India on a contract basis. The appointment is made for one year from January 1, 2020 up to December 31, 2020. Umesh Sinha was a 1986 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Officer, who was about to attain his age of superannuation. He has earlier served as the Chief Election Commissioner of Uttar Pradesh.

Notes:
The State Government of Odisha recently launched the e-Gazette portal, to release all gazette publications of the state in digital format. This scheme is launched a s part of the ‘5T initiatives’ of the Odisha Government. After the launch of the portal, the gazette notifications will be published online saving paper and cost of transportation. All the departments of the state will be asked to upload their data in the portal, which will be monitored and verified by digital signatures.

Notes:
The ‘Antarrashtriya Yoga Diwas Media Samman’ award was instituted in June 2019, to recognise the contribution of media in spreading Yoga. The first edition of the award is to be conferred to 30 media houses, by the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar. The awards will be presented in three categories, namely ‘Best Media Coverage of Yoga in Newspapers’, ‘Best Media Coverage of Yoga in Television’ and ‘Best Media Coverage of Yoga in Radio’.

Notes:
Automobile Major Hyundai recently unveiled an air electric taxi, developed in collaboration with Uber, in the Consumer Electronics Show 2020.
According to their partnership, Hyundai will develop and deploy vehicles and Uber will provide support service, ground transport connection and customer Interface. Uber is to launch urban commercial flights by 2023 and Hyundai is its first carmaker partner in the project.