Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2020

Notes:
As a part of the mid-term review of the Central and the state government departments by the Jal Shakti Ministry, Gujarat has been ranked first in meeting the efficiency targets, to provide piped drinking water connection to every household in next 5 years.
Delhi is among the worst performing states for the year 2019. The ranking which also listed seven Central departments placed the Survey of India in the first place followed by the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH). The ranking has been done under the National Hydrology Project of the Ministry.

Notes:
Retired IAS Officer Yudvir Singh Malik has been recently appointed as the Chairman and Managing director (CMD) of crisis- hit realty firm Unitech. He assumed office on January 21, 2020.
A few days back, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to take total management control of Unitech and appoint a new board of nominee directors. As per the directions, the Centre has replaced the board of the realty firm and asked the new board to come out with a resolution framework within two months. The firm was reported of allegedly using flat-buyer’s money and default the delivery of flats.

Notes:
The South American country Guyana recently took over the chairmanship of the Group of 77 (G77) for the year 2020 from Palestine, which chaired the group for 2019. The Foreign Minister of Palestine formally handed over the gavel to the Prime Minister of Guyana.
The Group of 77(G77), which was established in 1964 in Geneva, is the largest inter-governmental organization of developing countries in the United Nations. India, a member of the G77, recently congratulated Guyana on taking over the chairmanship of the Group of 77 for 2020, the year which commemorate 75th anniversary of the United Nations.

Notes:
The Telangana State Election Commission recently announced that it would use facial recognition application in 10 selected polling stations, on a pilot basis.
Telangana is the first state to implement the process of facial recognition in polls to curb impersonation of voters. The additional polling officer takes photograph of the voters after verifying their identity proof. The photo is then uploaded to the server using face recognition app and compared with the polling booth photos. The process is completely encrypted and the data is not used for any other purposes.

Notes:
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has recently released a notification that the country has discontinued the production of the ozone-depleting chemical, Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC)-141 b.
HCFC-141 b is one of the most powerful ozone depleting chemicals after the Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). It is a chemical used in the process of manufacturing production of rigid polyurethane (PU) foams, as a blowing agent. The chemical was not produced in the country and after the notification, the issuance of import license for HCFC-141b is also prohibited from 1st January, 2020.

Notes:
An MoU has been signed by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). This MoU is under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM). The MoU aims to strengthen the rural poor institutions at grass root level. DAY NRLM and BMGF has a shared focus on improving the lives of poor people and the marginalized, by creating employment opportunities through rural institutions.
DAY NRLM was launched by the MoRD IN June 2011. The scheme has an agenda of covering 7 crore rural population in the country through self-managed Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and other such institutions in a period of 8 to 10 years.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently increased the investment limit for FPIs in government and corporate bonds from 20 per cent to 30 per cent.
As of now, the Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) could not invest more than 20 per cent of their total investment in either central government securities or state development loans or corporate bonds. This relaxation is expected to attract more investments and increase the inflow of funds into the Indian market. FPIs are allowed to invest in exchange-traded funds that invest only in debt instruments.

Notes:
The Think tank of India, NITI Aayog is to develop the National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP). Recently the Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog released the Vision document for the National Data and Analytics Platform.
The stake holders can access all government data through the platform, in a user-friendly manner. The platform will comprise of the latest data from various government websites. It will also host tools for analysis of the data and different types of visualisation. The first version of NDAP will be released in 2021. A Technical Advisory Group (TAG) will also be set up with experts in the field, who guide in the development and management of the platform.

Notes:
Sixteen eminent personalities were selected for the ‘Padma Bhushan’ award, for their distinguished service of high order. Out of the 141 total Padma awardees selected this year, there were seven Padma Vibhushan, 16 Padma Bhushan and 118 Padma Shri Awardees.
Famous personalities who were selected for the ‘Padma Bhushan’ award includes, top-rated Badminton Player PV Sindhu, Former Chief Minister of Goa- Manohar Parrikar (posthumous), father of modern legal education in India, N R Madhava Menon and businessmen Anand Mahindra and Venu Srinivasan.

Notes:
National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR), an autonomous organisation under the Union Ministry of Rural Development, has recently partnered with UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) to establish a ‘Communication Resource Unit’.
The unit will act as a mechanism to provide communication support to national flagship programmes including POSHAN Abhiyaan, National Health Mission and Swachh Bharath Mission. The Communication Resource Unit is currently operating in three states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, to furnish communication support including capacity building and consultation, to different government departments.