Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2020

Notes:
The subsidiary of National Stock Exchange, NSE Academy recently launched a learning platform named ‘NSE Learning Hub’. This platform is powered by Artificial Intelligence and it is designed to help the Banking and Finance sector in improving the skills of the employees. Union Minister Piyush Goyal launched the platform along with the MD and CEO of National Stock Exchange, Vikram Limaye. The technical experts will use this platform to transfer their financial knowledge to others in the field.

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:
To commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, a ten-day art exhibition was recently inaugurated in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. The exhibition was named as ‘Gandhi @ 150 Art Exhibition’
The Indian High Commission in Bangladesh organised the exhibition in association with the national cultural centre of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. The art products of the Bangladesh artists created during the art camp and photographs of Gandhi were exhibited in the event.

Notes:
According to the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD’s) Statement on Climate of India During 2019 report, the number of cyclones in the Arabian Sea was 400% higher than normal frequency because five out of eight cyclones affected Arabian Sea. These give cyclones were Vayu, Hikka, Kyarr, Maha and Pavan. This after the sea on India’s west coast normally undergoes only one cyclone annually — read a 400% rise. (India normally has five cyclones in total every year.) However, the Bay of Bengal — usually the more cyclone-prone coast of India — was relatively subdued in 2019 with three (Pabuk, Fani, Bulbul) instead of four cyclones that occur there annually on an average.

Notes:
India has Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties with 42 countries and is signatory to various International Conventions for cooperation in criminal matters. The Home Ministry is the designated central authority for this. The recently revised guidelines have incorporated various legal and technological developments in recent years and aim to make documentation more compliant with international requirements. The revised guidelines provide step-by-step guidance to the investigation agencies for drafting and processing letters rogatory or mutual legal assistance requests and service of summons, notices and other judicial documents. The guidelines have taken into account the concerns raised by various courts for prompt and timely responses in service of documents to person residing abroad. These revised guidelines have provision for service of documents to authorities of foreign country preferably within ten days of receipt of request in respect of offences committed against women and children.

Notes:
PARIVESH is a web based, role based workflow application which has been developed for online submission and monitoring of the proposals submitted by the proponents for seeking Environment, Forest, Wildlife and CRZ Clearances from Central, State and district level authorities. It automates the entire tracking of proposals which includes online submission of a new proposal, editing/updating the details of proposals and displays status of the proposals at each stage of the workflow.

Notes:
India’s country’s largest public sector bank, State Bank of India has announced a ‘residential builder finance with buyer guarantee’ (RBBG) scheme. It aims at giving a push to residential sales and improve homebuyers’ confidence. Under this scheme, SBI will issue a guarantee for completion of select residential projects to customers who have availed home loans from it. The scheme will focus on affordable housing projects priced up to 2.50 crore rupee in 10 cities initially.

Notes:
India’s cabinet has recently (January, 2020) approved the mobility pact with France that would allow skilled workers, students and academics from the two countries to live and work in each others’ countries. The agreement was signed between India and France during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to India in 2018. France, however, is yet to ratify the pact, awaiting the French parliament’s consent.

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:
The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y S R Jagan Mohan Reddy recently launched a welfare scheme called ‘Amma vodi’. Under the scheme, financial assistance of Rs.15000 to mothers/ guardians of school going children to educate them.
The Chief Minister released Rs.6318 Crores for the scheme, which is to benefit 82 lakh children of the state. Recently the state government announced that English will be the medium of instruction of government schools for class 1 to class 6.