Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2023

Notes:
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), issued the E-Waste (Management) Amendment Rules, 2023.
It seeks to amend the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022, by adding Cadmium and lead in Solar panels, solar Photovoltaic panels among others. They will come into force from April 01, 2023.

Notes:
Bengaluru -based start-up, Beta Tank Robotics, has developed a robot which can operate in oil tanks in petroleum refineries.
It was incubated at IIT Guwahati, and the project was funded by State-owned Oil India Limited. The robot does the job similar to a vacuum cleaner and thereby eliminates risks to human beings.

Notes:
India and the USA have agreed to constitute task force to boost cooperation in semiconductor industry.
The task force will involve India’s Semiconductor Mission, India Electronics Semiconductor Association and the US Semiconductor Industry Association.  This was announced during the inaugural meeting of the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET).

Notes:
Reliance Consumer Products announces strategic partnership with Sri Lanka’s Maliban Biscuit Manufactories.
Reliance Consumer Products Limited is the FMCG arm of Reliance Retail Ventures Limited. Maliban is Sri Lanka’s pioneering biscuit manufacturer well-known for the last 70 years for its range of products.

Notes:
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) releases the Digital Payments Index (RBI-DPI) twice a year, to measure the adoption of online transactions, digital payments across India.
As per the recent data, the digital payments registered a growth of 24.13% in a year through September 2022. RBI-DPI stood at 377.46 in September 2022 against 349.30 in March 2022 and 304.06 in September 2021.

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:
According to a recent gazette notification, the government has revised the definition of broadband connectivity, specifying a higher minimum download speed of 2 megabits per second.
Earlier, the definition notified by the Telecom Department in 2013 had benchmarked it to 512 kbps (kilobits per second) as minimum download speed. As of November 30, 2022, India had about 825.4 million broadband subscribers, of which 793.5 million were wireless broadband users.

Notes:
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) recently found 1,200-year-old idols in Nalanda in Bihar. They were found from a waterbody close to the ancient Nalanda University during desilting of a pond.
Nalanda Mahavihara is a world heritage site about 88 km from this place.  The idols were found during desilting under Bihar government’s ‘Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali’ project launched to protect and conserve water and the environment.

Notes:
Ministry of Textiles is implementing ‘Enhancing Circularity and Sustainability’ project in collaboration with United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).
The main objective of the project is to minimize the negative environmental impacts of Indian Textile by promoting sustainable practices and mainstreaming knowledge on circular production based practices in the Textiles and Apparel sectors. Government also approved 20 strategic research projects in the areas of Specialty fibres and geo textiles.

Notes:
Australia’s central bank said that its new USD 5 bill would feature an Indigenous design rather than an image of King Charles III.
The King is still expected to appear on coins that currently bear the image of the late Queen Elizabeth II. The bank will consult with Indigenous groups in designing the USD 5 note.