Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2020

Notes:
Pariksha Pe Charcha was introduced in 2018. The 2020 contest is going to be the 3^rd edition of this program. The certificates of participation are issued by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development. The student winners get the chance to interact with the Prime Minister and ask questions related to exams.

Notes:
 Recently, Telengana Government organised an event to declare the year 2020 as the year of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In the event, Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed with several technological firms and institutions for development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) research in the state. As per the partnerships, a Centre for Research in Applied Artificial Intelligence (CRiAA) and a Research & Development (R&D) park will be soon set up in Telengana.

Notes:
The third edition of the ‘Khelo India Youth games’ will be held at Guwahati, Assam from January 10 to 23, 2020. The ceremony to launch the games was held at Guwahati and was attended by the Union Sports Minister and Chief Minister of Assam. The logo, mascot, theme song and the jersey of players were also launched. More than 10000 participants from all over the country are expected to take part in this national event in 20 different sports which includes cycling and lawn bowls for the first time.

Notes:
The World Health Assembly has designated 2020 as ‘the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife’. According to the WHO, the world needs 18 million more health workers to achieve universal health coverage by the year 2030 and approximately 9 million health workers of the world are nurses and midwives. The World Health Assembly, which is the decision making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), holds the assembly at Geneva, Switzerland every year and it determines the policies of WHO.

Notes:
The third ‘International Symposium on Marine ecosystems- challenges and opportunities’ (MECOS-3) is to be held in Cochin from January 7 to 10, 2020. The summit will be organised by the Marine Biological Association of India at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Cochin. A veteran Marine Fisheries Researcher of Finland, Petri Suuronen will be the Chief Guest. The event will focus on United Nation’s SDG Goal of ‘Life Under water’ and sustainable utilisation of marine wealth.

Notes:
The Department of Agriculture of the state of Maharashtra has seamlessly integrated the state’s land records with the web portal of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). It is the first state in the country to perform such linkage.
After the records are linked online, the farmers are required to provide only their Aadhar number, details of bank and the land records, during the process of insuring crops. The process which is implemented during the current rabi season, is expected to improve efficiency and transparency of the system.

Notes:
Current Ashwini Lohani heads Air India. It began operations in 1932 with a single-engine, de Havilland Puss Moth monoplane. In 1962, it became the world’s first airline to boast an all-jet fleet. Last October, it also became the world’s first airline to use a Taxibot on an A320 aircraft with passengers onboard. Recently, Group of Ministers (GoM) of the central government have approved the proposal to divest stake in the national carrier. Led by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the GoM met on Tuesday and approved all proposals on debt transfer from Air India to a special purpose vehicle. The Expression of Interest (EoI) and the share purchase agreement would be issued in January 2020.

Notes:
Proposed “Global Electricity Grid” was an idea mooted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The grid plans to leverage solar power generated in one geography to feed the electricity demands of other nations. India is reportedly in talks with World Bank as its technical partner to implement the plan.

Notes:
For the first time in the state, the Kerala State Youth Commission has announced that it would conduct a state-level Adalat for LGBT community. The programme would be held at the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram.
The main objective of the Adalat is to encourage the transgender community to come out with their grievances and to make arrangements for redressal of the issues. The Government of Kerala had introduced a Transgender policy in 2015 and it has a dedicated ‘Transgender Cell’ working under the state’s Social Justice Department.

Notes:
Arunachal Pradesh has adopted a new logo for its Legislative Assembly (APLA) recently. The new logo reflects the distinct identity and culture of the state. The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly PD Sona had circulated pictures of the new logo among the members of the house.
The new logo consists of the national emblem and the state flower of Arunachal Pradesh, foxtail orchid. The existing logo has been amended to create the blue colour-based logo.