Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2020

Notes:
Election Commission of India (ECI) will take over the Chair of the Forum of the Election Management Bodies of South Asia (FEMBoSA), for the year 2020.
ECI hosted the 10th Annual Meeting of the FEMBoSA forum in New Delhi recently. During the Annual meeting, an International Conference was also organised on the theme ‘Strengthening Institutional Capacity’. ECI is also set to renew the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for cooperation in the field of election management with the Election Commission of Afghanistan. The forum was established in 2012 with an aim of sharing experiences of the Election commissions and experts.

Notes:
The national Tourism day is being celebrated in India on January 25 every year. The day is celebrated to raise awareness the global community about the importance of tourism for the country’s economy and its social, political, financial and cultural worth.

Notes:
Government recently signed an agreement with Infosys to improve the performance of GSTN filing portal. Infosys is the managed service provider for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime in India. To improve the access and performance of GSTN filing portal on a permanent basis. The technological changes which are being carried out with the Information Technology firm is expected to be operational from April 2020.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray inaugurated the country’s first and biggest walk-through aviary at the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Zoo commonly called as the Byculla zoo in Mumbai.
The aviary comprises of an area of over 18,200 square feet and height of 44 feet. It will be home to over 100 different species of exotic and common birds, which will live in their natural environment. A small bridge passes through the aviary which will be opened for the public to walk through and view the birds.

Notes:
Indian boxer Mohammed Hussamuddin was seen in news recently as he clinched the silver medal in the 57-kg category, at the Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament. The tournament was being held in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Hussammudin, who is a Commonwealth Games bronze-winner, lost the final bout to Italy’s Francesco Maietta and settled with the silver. Other two Indian boxers who won bronze medals in the tournament were four-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa and former world silver-medallist Sonia Lather.

Notes:
Arunachal Pradesh recently hosted the ‘Innovation Festival’ in collaboration with the National Innovation Foundation, India. The State Council for Science & Technology, Department of Science & Technology of the State Government of Arunachal Pradesh organised the two-day long festival.
The two-day programme comprised of interaction session and discussion among the innovators. Nearly 50 innovations are exhibited by students and entrepreneurs of the state and its neighbouring states. The festival was held with an objective of promoting innovation among the people of the state.

Notes:
The 12th National Conference on Safety in Mines was recently inaugurated in New Delhi, by the Minister of State (I/C) for Labour and Employment Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar. The Labour Ministry has introduced ‘Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code’ in Parliament, under which annual health check-up of mine workers and safety standards are ensured.
The National Conference on Mine safety was first organised in the year 1958 after an explosion in Chinakuri Colliery in Eastern India. The two-day Conference will review the status of safety and availability of measures to improve the working conditions in mines.

Notes:
India’s former ambassador to the United States and Senior diplomat Harsh Vardhan Shringla recently assumed charge as the next Foreign Secretary of India.
He has succeeded Vijay Gokhale to take charge in the said post for a fixed two-year term. Harsh Vardhan Shringla is an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of the 1984 batch. Shringla had successfully hosted the ‘Howdy Modi’ event in Houston, US in September 2019. He had also served as the Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, when he played an instrumental role in the historic India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement 2015.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has recently approved the ‘Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and increased the upper limit for legal abortion to 24 weeks. Prior to the amendment, the upper limit was only 20 weeks.
The existing act of ‘Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971’ has been amended and the ‘Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020’, which was drafted by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare was approved by the Cabinet. The bill is expected to be introduced in the upcoming session of the Parliament.

Notes:
Nepal recently organised the highest altitude fashion show event at 5340 metres height at Kala Patthar, near the Everest base camp. With this, the country has set a Guinness World Record for the highest altitude fashion show event ever held.
The Mount Everest Fashion Runway was organised in association with the Nepal Tourism Board. It is also a part of the ‘Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign’ held by the country’s Tourism Board. The event was organised to raise awareness about climate change and to promote sustainable fashion.