Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2023

Notes:
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Film Festival began with a grand opening ceremony in Mumbai.
Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Singh Thakur and Minister of State Meenakshi Lekhi inaugurated the SCO Film Festival. The SCO Film Festival organized to mark India’s Presidency at SCO and to showcase the diversity of films from the SCO region.

Notes:
Union Road Transport and Highway Minister Nitin Gadkari announced from April 1, all government-owned vehicles that are older than 15 years will be scrapped.
As part of this, more than nine lakh vehicles, owned by central and state governments, transport corporations and public sector undertakings, and new vehicles with alternative fuels will replace them.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Power has finalized the draft National Electricity Policy and has sought comments from the states and the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).
An expert committee was constituted under the chairmanship of Gireesh Pradhan, Ex-Chairperson, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, to prepare and recommend National Electricity Policy (NEP), 2021.

Notes:
Indian courts in 2022 awarded a 165 death sentences, the highest in over two decades, according to the Annual Death Penalty Report.
It was published by Project 39A, an advocacy group with the National Law University. Uttar Pradesh accounted for the highest death row inmate population (100), followed by Gujarat (61) and Jharkhand (46).

Notes:
Chinese internet search major Baidu is planning to launch an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot service similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
The firm plans to launch the service as a standalone application and merge it into its search engine. ChatGPT’s technology works by learning from vast amounts of data how to answer prompts by users in a human-like manner, offering information like a search engine. Microsoft has a USD 1 billion investment in San Francisco-based OpenAI.

Notes:
Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus beats Elena Rybakina to secure the women’s singles title in Australian Open 2023.
Aryna Sabalenka is the first athlete without a flag to win a singles Grand Slam since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Sabalenka, seeded 5th, will regain her second ranking after winning her first major championship. Sabalenka has 11 victories and two titles, so far in the year.

Notes:
Scientists at the Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) in Pune have found a rare low-altitude basalt plateau in the Western Ghats.
This new plateau found by ARI team in Thane, Maharashtra could hold clues to how plant species globally survive climate change.

Notes:
As per recent data, the High street rental prices in the top 8 cities in the world saw a significant rise in 2022.
As per the data, some cities experienced a 50% increase. The rise in rental prices is being attributed to a growing demand for prime retail locations, rise of e-commerce and shift towards online shopping.

Notes:
India claimed its maiden ICC title in women’s cricket as it lifted the inaugural U-19 women’s’ World Cup.
India registered a seven-wicket victory over its England counterpart. The Indian Under-19 women cricket team was led by Shafali Verma.

Notes:
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued advisory on Obligation of Public Service Broadcasting.
Earlier, private broadcasters were asked to undertake public service broadcasting for 30 minutes every day. As per the advisory, relevant content embedded in the programmes being telecast can be accounted for Public Service Broadcasting.