Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2020

Notes:
Palau, a small island nation in the West Pacific Ocean imposed a ban on sun screens that contain chemicals affecting the coral reefs and other aquatic species. The step is also taken to conserve its Rock Islands Southern Lagoon, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The sun cream with the toxic chemicals including oxybenzone, will not be permitted to be used or sold in the country. Palau is a famous destination among international tourists and is mainly acclaimed for its coral reefs.

Notes:
The Ministry of External Affairs recently announced that it would set up a new division under its aegis called the New, emerging and strategic technologies (NEST) division’. The proposed NEST would act as the nodal division under the ministry for addressing the issues related to emerging technologies. It will help our country to closely work with foreign partners in the field of 5G and artificial intelligence. Recently all companies including the Chinese major Huawei were allowed to participate in 5G trials.  

Notes:
The domestic lighting scheme of Central Government, Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) and LED Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP) completed five years since they were launched. Energy Efficiency Services Limited, a joint venture of the Public Sector Undertaking (PSUs) companies under the Power Ministry is the implementing agency of the schemes. Under the UJALA scheme, more than 36 Crore LED bulbs have been distributed.

Notes:
The state government of Mizoram is to organise the cultural festival ‘Zo Kutpui’ in many states of India as well as in some countries including the USA, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The first edition of the festival will begin in Tripura and will be celebrated in other states, that are home to the people of Mizo tribe.
The festival will witness several cultural programmes and traditional events of the Mizo tribe thereby increasing their unity and fraternity. Chief Minister of Mizoram, Zoramthanga is to inaugurate the first edition of the festival.

Notes:
The international sports event for the members of the Common wealth, the Commonwealth Games of 2022 will be conducted in the city of Birmingham, England. England plays host to the event for the third time. The prestigious event is scheduled to take place between July 27 and August 7, 2020.
Recently, Commonwealth Games India (CGI) submitted its proposal to host a Commonwealth shooting event and an archery event in India during 2022. But the federation is yet to announce that if the medals won in the proposed Shooting Championship will be added to the final CWG tally of the countries.

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Supreme Court recently asked the Centre to consider the deployment of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to guard the various courts in India — taking over the job of securing the courts from the local police forces.

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.

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The World Economic Forum, held annually at Davos, is a meeting in which world leaders discuss economic matters. This year’s summit will take place on January 21- 24.

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MILAN is a multilateral naval exercise, which is scheduled to be held at Vishakhapatnam in March 2020. The event was previously planned at Andaman and Nicobar Islands and then has been changed to Vishakhapatnam as navies from many countries are participating in the event.
Nearly 30 international navies have confirmed their participation in the event. The theme of the exercise is “Synergy Across the Seas”. This event would help the navies to have professional discussions and learn the best practices in the naval arena across the world.

Notes:
An International Conference cum Exhibition on Civil Aviation sector named ‘WINGS INDIA 2020’ is scheduled to be organised from March 12 to March 15, 2020. The event is to be held at Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad.
Recently the Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri participated in the curtain raiser event for the WINGS INDIA Conference in New Delhi. The Ministry of Civil aviation is to organise the event in association with the industry body FICCI. This is one of the largest events on Civil Aviation in Asia.