Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2023

Notes:
As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), 300 children in three countries lost lives due to cough syrups made in India.
WHO is investigating whether there is any connection between manufacturers of the contaminated cough syrups. The deaths of children from acute kidney injury began in July 2022 in Gambia, followed by cases in Indonesia and Uzbekistan.

Notes:
The First G-20 Energy Transition Working Group meeting was recently inaugurated in Bengaluru in the presence of Union Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy R K Singh and Union Minister of Coal and Mines Prahlad Joshi.
India stands committed to reduce emissions intensity of GDP by 45 percent by 2030 from 2005 level. The country also aims to achieve close to 50 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.

Notes:
Reliance Retail has become the first Indian retailer to introduce Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), also known as digital rupee.
The company has piloted the use of Digital Rupee in one store in Mumbai, and is planning to make this facility available in all its stores in Mumbai within the next three to four months, in accordance with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) norms.

Notes:
Medium-density Amorphous (MDA) Ice is a new form of ice that was recently discovered by scientists. This ice has same density and structure as water.
The ice was created by scientists in a container with stainless steel balls at a -200°C. The MDA ice does not have any ordered structure. It will provide the opportunity to improve the understanding of the properties of water.

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:
India’s first Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine (H2ICE) technology was launched by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) for heavy-duty trucks.
It was developed by RIL in collaboration with vehicle partners like Ashok Leyland and others and was launched during the India Energy Week 2023. The H2ICE technology minimizes carbon emissions and delivers better performance when compared with conventional diesel trucks.

Notes:
The eXperiential Technology Innovation Centre (XTIC) is a newly established research institute in IIT Madras.
It is India’s research and product innovation centre focusing on extended reality and haptics technology. An MoU was signed recently between ISRO and the IIT Madras to develop a training module for the Indian spaceflight programme at the XTIC. It will be developed using the augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality.

Notes:
The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 4 February as the International Day of Human Fraternity in 2020.
It celebrates the values of compassion, religious understanding, and mutual respect. On the occasion, the UN chief called for renewed commitment to form an ‘alliance of peace’ amid a surge in hate speech, sectarianism and strife.

Notes:
The Reserve bank of India (RBI) has recently announced regulatory measures on climate risks and sustainable finance.
The new guidelines focused on creating a broad framework for promoting the acceptance of green deposits, a disclosure framework on financial risks associated with the climate crisis and guidelines for climate scenario analysis and stress testing.

Notes:
UNESCO is set to announce Visva-Bharati University as a heritage university and it is set to become the world’s first living heritage university.
It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore in 1921, as a center for culture, promoting the arts, language, humanities, music, and culture studies. Rabindranath Tagore’s philosophy of open-air education is followed at the university.