Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2020

Notes:
Top Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat won the Gold medal in the 53 kg category, at the Rome Ranking Series 2020 event, held recently. In the final bout for gold, she defeated the Ecuadorian wrester Luisa Elizabeth Valverde 4-0. In the journey towards the final match, Vinesh overpowered two top-rated and tough Chinese wrestlers. This is her first Gold medal in the year 2020.
Earlier, in the tournament, another Indian wrestler Anshu Malik won the silver medal in the 57 kg category.

Notes:
An official data from China revealed that the country’s birth rate fell to the lowest, since 1949, the year in which the People’s Republic of China was founded seven decades ago. According to the data, the birth rate was 10.94 per thousand, which was lesser than the previous birth rate of 12.43 per thousand, in 2017.
As China has a rapidly growing aging population, it allowed urban couples to give birth to two children, against the one-child policy which was in effect. As per another recent study, India will overtake China in population in 2027.

Notes:
Union Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, MoEFCC, MoI&B, Prakash Javadekar inaugurated ELECRAMA 2020 in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy (IC) R K Singh was also present during the inaugural ceremony.
ELECRAMA is organised by the Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA), once in every two years. It is an exhibition cum conference in the field of Indian electrical industry. The event displays various products and technologies in the field and creates a trade platform between buyers and sellers. It also hosts various seminars for knowledge exchange.

Notes:
Geneva-based International Labour Organization recently released its flagship report titled ‘World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2020’ (WESO).
As per the report, unemployment is estimated to increase by nearly 2.5 million in 2020. In addition to the 188 million unemployed people around the world, 165 million people don’t have enough paid work and 120 million have either given up job-search or lack access to the labour market. The report assessed that more than 470 million people are affected worldwide.

Notes:
Lieutenant General SK Saini has recently been appointed as the new Vice Chief of Army Staff, after the then Army Vice Chief Lt Gen MM Naravane was appointed as the Chief of Army Staff. LG S K Saini is set to take over as the new Vice Chief on January 25.
In his military career spanning 36 years, Saini has held several crucial staff designations and international deputations.He is serving as the Chief of the Southern Command of Indian Army, at present. The appointment was made and announced by the newly constituted Department of Military Affairs headed by Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat.

Notes:
Lebanon formed a new government recently under Prime Minister Hassan Diab amidst various economic and political crises. The country remained without an effective government, after the former Prime Minister Saad Al Hariri quit from his role in October 2019 under pressure from protests against state corruption and mismanagement.
The President of Lebanon, Michel Aoun nominated Hassan Diab as the new Prime Minister. Hassan Diab is a 60-year-old professor at the American University of Beirut, who heads a new cabinet of 20 members. The members were mostly backed by political parties while the protestors demanded a new government with independent technocrats.

Notes:
The Ministry of Law and Justice recently issued a Gazette Notification, which declared the United Arab Emirates to be a “reciprocating territory” under Section 44A of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908. The notification also declared a list of courts in the UAE to be ‘Superior Courts’ under the same section of CPC.
The orders passed by certain designated courts from a ‘reciprocating territory’ can be implemented in India, as if they were passed in India. Besides UAE, the other countries which were declared as reciprocating territories include United Kingdom, Singapore, Bangladesh, Malaysia and New Zealand among others. The decision is believed to help bring down the time required for executing verdicts between the two countries.

Notes:
Carbon Disclosure Project-India (CDP), an environmental non-profit organisation released its annual report of 2018, titled “Corporates #StepUp Climate Action”. As per the report, 25 companies committed to science-based targets in alignment with the Paris Agreement by December 2018. This has earned the 5th rank to India, which is only after the US, Japan, Britain and France in corporate climate action.
The report examines carbon reduction activities of companies and revealed that 58 Indian companies of the 59 firms surveyed between 2018 and 2019, have board-level oversight of climate-related issues.

Notes:
Famous Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone received the Crystal Award during the 50th Annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The award was presented to her in recognition of her efforts to create awareness about the importance of mental health.
Hilde Schwab, Chairwoman and Co-Founder of the World Economic Forum’s World Arts Forum presented the award to the actor. Deepika Padukone runs a foundation named ‘Live Love Laugh’, which works towards conducting awareness programs in Indian schools. It also funds for free psychiatric treatment and medical education programs.

Notes:
Kumar Munnan Singh has been selected for the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar 2020 under the Individual category. Under the Institution category, Disaster Mitigation & Management Centre, Uttarakhand has been selected for the award. Kumar Munnan Singh was the founding member of the National Disaster Management Authority in 2005. He is also lauded for establishing the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), from scratch.
The award is given by the Government of India to recognize the commendable work done by individuals and organisations in the field of disaster management. The award is announced every year on 23rd January which marks the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.