Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2020

Notes:
The retail inflation is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) tracks the change in retail prices of a basket of essential goods and services at rural, urban and at national level. This index is measured from the perspective of household consumption. Recently in the month of December 2019, the retail inflation touched 7.35%, against the RBI’s target of 2-6%.

Notes:
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is an agency, which functions under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. It is responsible for various functions including meteorological observations, communications, forecasting and weather services.
Recently, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) celebrated its 145th foundation day. The Director General of IMD, also called as the cyclone man, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra has been elected as Member of Executive Council of the World Meteorological Organisation for 2019-2023.

Notes:
Tech Major Microsoft has recently announced the launch of its new Edge Chromium browser for both the Mac and Windows platforms.
Though the enterprise users are initially targeted by Microsoft, other Windows and macOS users could also download the browser manually from the official website of Microsoft and install it. It is expected that the Windows 10 users will be provided the browser through a windows update. The Edge has similar features like those in Chrome and also supports Chrome extensions.

Notes:
After the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin announced certain constitutional amendments that would extend his powers beyond Presidency, the entire government of Russia resigned. This also includes the Prime Minister of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev.
Putin made this announcement during his annual state of the nation address. He also proposed Mikhail Mishustin, the head of Russia’s tax service as the next Prime Minister. The leaving Prime Minister Medvedev may take on the position of deputy head of Russia’s Security Council.

Notes:
To help modernise the passenger ferry sector of Assam, the Government of India, Government of Assam and the World Bank has signed a loan agreement at New Delhi for $ 88 million.
The Assam’s passenger ferry sector operates passenger freight service in major rivers including the Brahmaputra. There are more than 360 ferry routes in Assam, and most of them cut through the Brahmaputra or serve its islands. Hence, this is a very important means of transportation in the Brahmaputra Valley. The Assam Inland Water Transport Project (AIWTP) will help the state to improve the passenger ferry infrastructure.

Notes:
The Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Blockchain Technology, set up by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) in Bengaluru, Karnataka would be inaugurated by the Union Minister for Communication and Electronics & Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad.
The adoption of Block-chain Technology in sectors such as finance, agriculture, health etc would help the Government to implement its various programmes and preserve the associated data in a trustworthy manner. With the infrastructure facilities provided by NIC, the Centre of Excellence (CoE) will also provide Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) for efficient hosting of Block-chain network.

Notes:
The parent company of Google, Alphabet led by Indian-American Sundar Pichai, touched the milestone of 1 trillion valuation and joined the elite US companies in the list, which includes Apple, Microsoft and Amazon. Apple was the first US company to touch the 1 trillion mark, when it achieved the feat in 2018.
During the month of December last year, the founders of Alphabet Larry Page and Sergey Brin stepped down from their leadership roles and announced the then CEO of Google Sundar Pichai as the CEO of both Google and Alphabet.

Notes:
The Founder and Chairperson of the famous Bio-technology company Biocon, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw was recently honoured with the Australia’s highest civilian honour, ‘Order of Australia’.
The award was presented to her for significant service to promote bilateral relationship between Australia and India, especially in commercial and educational aspects. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is the fourth Indian citizen to receive this honour after Mother Teresa, former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee and ace cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.

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:
China’s leading automobile manufacturer, Great Wall Motors (GWM) has signed an agreement with the American manufacturer General Motors (GM) to acquire GM’s manufacturing plant located in Talegaon, near Pune in Maharashtra.
General Motors announced that Chevrolet Sales India, which is the sales arm of GM in India will continue as an independent entity. It will continue to provide after-sales service and spare part support to existing Indian customers. GWM has planned to enter into the Indian market by 2021 and this acquisition would speed-up its launch.