Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2023

Notes:
Yaya Tso has been recently proposed as Ladakh’s first biodiversity heritage site (BHS) under the Biological Diversity Act.. It is also known as birds’ paradise for its beautiful lake located at an altitude of 4,820 metres.
Yaya Tso is a nesting habitat for bar-headed goose, black-necked crane and brahminy duck and it it also has the distinction of being one of the highest breeding sites of the black-necked crane in India.

Notes:
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a union of six Arab states namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
The Indian Government revealed that around half of India’s migrant population works in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Most of the migrants are semi-skilled or unskilled workers, while 20-23% are white-collar professionals such as doctors, engineers, architects, chartered accountants, and bankers.

Notes:
Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, launched a comprehensive campaign plan, ‘Digital Payments Utsav, in New Delhi.
Digital Payments Utsav, has been planned this year to promote Digital Payments across the country and to celebrate the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and G20 Presidency. Digital Payment Sandesh Yatra was also flagged off to make citizens aware of digital payment solutions. DigiDhan awards were presented to banks that perform well in digital payments.

Notes:
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India hiked the key policy rate, the Repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.50 per cent in a bid to control the retail inflation.
The RBI has increased the repo rate by a cumulative 250 basis points to 6.50 per cent since May this year. The RBI has projected GDP growth for the next fiscal (FY2024) at 6.4 per cent.

Notes:
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin launched phase 2 of the ‘Pudumai Penn’ scheme, a scholarship scheme for girl students, in Chennai.
The scheme involves the distribution of a scholarship amount of ₹1,000 per month to girl students pursuing their higher studies after completing their schooling at a government school. The scholarship is provided through the Social Welfare Department.

Notes:
Snapdragon Satellite, which was launched recently, is the world’s first ‘satellite-based, two-way capable messaging solution’.
The solution works for smart-phones developed by Qualcomm in partnership with Iridium Inc. The technology was initially introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023. On a Snapdragon Satellite, emergency messaging will be activated on the next-gen smart-phones.

Notes:
As per YouGov’s latest report, over a third of urban Indians have claimed that their disposable income has decreased in the last 12 months.
Putting money in their savings (33 per cent), paying for health insurance (26 per cent) and investments in stocks and shares (21 per cent) were the top three financial activities done in the past 12 months, as per the report.

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.

Notes:
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has informed that the Bima Sugam portal will be an insurance market infrastructure.
Insurers, distribution networks and the policy holders can virtually meet across the digital platform. The portal is expected to improve accessibility and ease of insurance purchase to policyholders.

Notes:
The Draft Geo-heritage Sites and Geo-relics (Preservation and Maintenance) Bill was released recently by Ministry of Mines for public suggestions.
This proposed legislation has provisions concerning the declaration, preservation, protection and maintenance of geo-heritage sites and geo-relics of national importance. Its objective is to promote research, education and awareness about these sites.