Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2020

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 East Coast Railway has commissioned the government’s first waste-to-energy plant. This is the first of its kind in Indian Railways and only the fourth plant in India.
The plant will turn e-waste and plastic into light diesel oil in less than 24 hours. A new technology called ‘Polycrack’ which was recently patented is to be used in the waste-to-energy plant. A large pile of non-ferrous scrap generated from the Carriage Repair Workshop could not be efficiently disposed earlier, creating environmental hazards. Now the waste can be converted into hydrocarbon liquid fuels, gas, carbon and water.

Notes:
The Centre and the state government of Assam recently signed a tripartite agreement with National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB). The Bodo tribal group was demanding a separate state of Bodoland from Assam for several years.
The All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU) and another group called United Bodo People’s Organisation, which led the insurgency, also signed the agreement. More than 1500 militants of NDFB are expected to surrender with arms. Rs.1500 crore has been sanctioned by the government for implementing the accord in next three years.

Notes:
The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare has recently released the Final Estimates of 2018-19 of various Horticulture Crops. The first Advance Estimates of 2019-20 of Area and Production of various Horticulture Crops was also released.
As per the release, the total Horticulture Production of the country is estimated to be 310.74 Million Tonne in 2018-19, which is slightly higher than the Horticulture Production in 2017-18. Increase in Fruits, Flowers, Spices and Honey was noted while there was a decrease in Vegetables, Aromatic & Medicinal Plants and Plantation Crops.

Notes:
The Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar recently announced that 10 more Indian wetlands have been declared as sites of international importance by Ramsar. The number of wetlands with Ramsar site tag has now increased to a total of 37. The total surface area covered by the 37 Ramsar sites is also increased more than 1 million hectares.
In the new declaration, Maharashtra gets the first Ramsar site tag for Nandur Madhameshwar. Punjab added 3 more sites and now has a total of 6 sites while Uttar Pradesh added 6 new sites and now has 7 Ramsar sites. The Ramsar Convention was signed by the member countries to preserve the ecological significance of their wetlands.

Notes:
The Oxford University Press has selected the hindi word ‘Samvidhaan’ as the Oxford Hindi Word of 2019’. Samvidhaan is the Hindi word which represents the meaning of constitution. It also denotes a body of fundamental principles as per which a state or an organisation is to be governed.
A word or expression that has attracted the attention of large number of people and reflects the mood and character of the past year is selected as the Oxford word. The Oxford Hindi Word of the Year is chosen by the team of Oxford Dictionaries in India with the guidance from a panel of language experts.

Notes:
The World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) is the annual flagship event organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). This year, the global summit is scheduled to be held at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
The three-day event was inaugurated on January 29, 2020 with the theme, ‘Towards 2030 Goals: Making the Decade Count’. The summit has been organised for 18 years from 2001, to provide a platform for global leaders to discuss climatic issues. This year, the event focusses on the global efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

Notes:
The 34th Surajkund International Crafts Mela is set to be held from February 1 to 16, 2020, at Surajkund, Haryana. It is an annual flagship event organised by the state government of Haryana.
This year, Himachal Pradesh is selected as the theme state for the festival. The Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Jai Ram Thakur attended the inaugural ceremony of the Mela. Various cultural programmes and exhibitions are arranged to promote the tourism of the state. This will enable the state to showcase its tourism potential and attract more people to the state.

Notes:
The flagship scheme of the state government of Madhya Pradesh, Yuva Swabhiman Yojana has been revived recently. The state has raised the stipend of unemployed youth to Rs.5000 and has also decided to provide 365 guaranteed workdays for them.
Yuva Swabhiman Yojana was launched by the state government of Madhya Pradesh in January 2019, which is aimed at providing 100 days of work and stipend to unemployed youth of the state. After the amendment, the scheme is expected to generate 25000 new jobs to suitable youth after training.

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.