Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2023

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:
Guru Ravidass Jayanti is celebrated to mark the birth of Guru Ravidas, a mystic poet-saint of the Bhakti movement during the 15th century.
The poet was a contemporary of Kabir Das and he taught monotheistic spirituality and message of equality and liberation from Indian caste system. His teachings are widely followed in states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, among others.

Notes:
US President Joe Biden recently delivered the State of the Union (SOTU) Address at the Joint Session of the Parliament in the US Capitol in Washington DC.
This is Biden’s second SOTU address. According to the country’s Constitution, the US President is required to deliver the state of the Union to Congress and recommend measures that he judges to be necessary and beneficial.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Helicopter Factory at Tumakuru in Karnataka.
The factory is India’s largest helicopter manufacturing facility and will initially produce LUHs. He also unveiled the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH). Initially, this factory will produce around 30 helicopters per year and can be enhanced to 60 and then 90 per year in a phased manner.

Notes:
Capital market regulator SEBI has launched operational guidelines on green bonds asking issuers to make additional disclosures along with its annual report and financial results.
The disclosures are pertaining to environmental sustainability objectives of such debt securities in the offer document. In addition, issuers of green bonds will have to disclose brief details of decision-making process followed for determining the eligibility of projects.

Notes:
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare signed an MoU with Digital Green under a public-private partnership framework to build a ‘National-level digital extension platform’.
The platform will host a digital library of multi-format multi-lingual content and upskill extension workers for agriculture, horticulture, fisheries, livestock and rural livelihood missions through certified online courses.

Notes:
The 14th edition of the Aero India 2023 is being held by the Indian Department of Defense Production at the Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bengaluru.
The event is expected to showcase India’s growth in aerospace and defence capabilities. The event also provides an opportunity for defence personnel to interact with original equipment manufacturer (OEM) representatives.

Notes:
QR code-based coin vending machine or QCVM has been announced as a part of the recently concluded RBI Monetary policy.
QCVM is intended to dispense coins similar to how ATMs dispense currency notes. Coins can be withdrawn using the UPI QR code in designated vending machines. RBI plans to launch the product in 19 locations across 12 cities.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Mines announced that lithium reserves have been found in Jammu and Kashmir, a first in the country.
The Geological Survey of India established 5.9 million tonnes of inferred lithium resources in the Salal-Haimana area of Reasi District in Jammu and Kashmir. This could boost the manufacturing of rechargeable batteries for electric cars, smartphones, and laptops and cut India’s dependence on lithium imports. ​​

Notes:
Samsung Semiconductor India Research (SSIR) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have recently announced a partnership.
The partnership aims to promote research and development in an on-chip electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection.