Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2023

Notes:
Sri Lanka marked its 75th independence anniversary on 4^th February 2023. Several activists, Buddhists and Christian clergy announced a boycott of the celebration in the capital.
A group of activists began a silent protest in the capital, condemning government’s independence celebration and failure to ease the economic burden. University students also attempted a protest march.

Notes:
The state government of Punjab notify a policy to meter and charge groundwater extraction by industries and other establishments.
Anyone with an existing bore-well or digging afresh will have to take permission from Punjab Water Regulation and Development Authority (PWRDA). There will be exemptions including farmers using water for agriculture purposes, places of worship, drinking and domestic Water Supply Scheme of Government, among others.

Notes:
The biggest book fair of Bangladesh ‘Ekushey Boi Mela’ was inaugurated in Dhaka by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The theme of this year’s book fair is ‘Poro Boi, Goro Desh: Bangbandhur Bangladesh’- Read books, build the country, a country of Bangabandhu’s dream. The Prime Minister also distributed the Bangla Academy Award 2022 in recognition of the literary works in Bangla.

Notes:
NAMASTE is a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) as a joint initiative of the MoSJE and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
NAMASTE stands for National Action Plan for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem). This year’s Union Budget has allotted Rs 100 crore to the scheme. Finance Minister announced that the government is looking to enable 100% mechanical de-sludging of septic tanks and sewers in all cities and towns.

Notes:
The 36th Surajkund International Crafts Mela was inaugurated by Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar in Faridabad, Haryana.
For this year, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is the participating international entity while eight northeast states, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Sikkim, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura, are the theme states. The artists of these states will come together to showcase their art, handicrafts, and cuisines on a single platform.

Notes:
The United Nations food agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) price index tracks the most globally traded food commodities.
As per the recent FAO Food Price Index (FFPI), World food prices decline for 10th month as recorded in January- FAO Food Price Index (FFPI). The index averaged 131.2 points in January against 132.4 for December.

Notes:
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the earthquake that hit Gaziantep in southern Turkey was the country’s worst disaster since 1939 Erzincan earthquake.
The 1939 Erzincan earthquake resulted in the deaths of around 33,000 individuals. It was caused by the movement of the North Anatolian Fault Zone, which resulted in a quake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale. This earthquake caused damage to the Erzincan Plain and the Kelkit River Valley.

Notes:
Kiruna is a town in northern Sweden that houses over 18,000 individuals and a tonne wooden church.
This town is currently under threat of being consumed by the world’s largest iron ore mine that is under the control of the Swedish state-owned company LKAB. This entire town is currently being relocated and it is considered as one of the significant relocations happened in the world.

Notes:
The Black Galaxy or ‘Invisible galaxy’ was recently discovered by researchers in Italy. It was found and characterised using the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array.
The Black Galaxy is compact and has a large amount of interstellar dust. It is forming stars at a rate 1,000 times faster than the Milky Way.

Notes:
In Chile, at least 23 people were killed in devastating forest fires which occurred after a blistering heat wave in the central part of the country.
The state of emergency has been extended in the South American country. According to an official briefing on Saturday at least 979 people have been affected following the calamity.