Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2023

Notes:
Coal India arm, Mahanadi Coal Fields (MCL) MCL has introduced drone technology in coal mines for environmental monitoring, volume measurement and digital mapping of mines.
The technology has been introduced through the launch of a web-based portal ‘VIHANGAM’ along with a drone and ground control system. The portal allows an authorised person to access real time drone video from the mine through a dedicated internet lease line near the mines.

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:
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:
As per the CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) trade database, 28 incidents of Red Sanders confiscation, seizure, and specimen were exported from India.
These consignments were exported to China (53.5%), Hong Kong (25.0%), Singapore (17.8%) and the United States of America (3.5%) from 2016 to 2020. Red Sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus) or red sandalwood, is an endemic tree species with distribution restricted to the Eastern Ghats of India and is found in Andhra Pradesh.

Notes:
Experts at the 5th International Marine Protected Areas Congress in Canada have recommended the setting up of Marine Protected Areas.
Marine protected areas are regions in the ocean where human activities are regulated by the government. These protected areas are set up to address issues such as pollution, litter, overfishing, and climate change.

Notes:
PK Rosy, was the first actress in Malayalam cinema. She is famed for defying gender and social norms by acting in a film.
On her 120th birth anniversary, she was honored with a Google Doodle. PK Rosy belonged to a Dalit subcaste and learnt the traditional Kakkarissi Nattakam. Her debut film was Vigathakumaran (The Lost Child, 1928).

Notes:
Myanmar’s military-led government has inaugurated a nuclear power information centre, along with Russia’s state atomic energy company.
This is seen as a step toward developing atomic power to fill energy shortages in the Southeast Asian nation. Myanmar hopes to build and operate a reactor under a preliminary agreement between Myanmar and Russia’s Rosatom that was signed in 2015

Notes:
India’s national accreditation system ranked fifth in the world in the Global Quality Infrastructure Index (GQII) 2021.
The GQII ranks the 184 economies in the world on the basis of the quality infrastructure (QI). India’s overall QI system ranking continues to be in the 10th position, with the standardization system (under BIS) at 9th and the metrology system (under NPL-CSIR) at 21st position in the world.

Notes:
The Punjab Cabinet has approved a new policy for industries and the electric vehicles effective from October 17, 2022, for a period of five years.
The industrial policy of the state focuses particularly on the three key sectors – Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), infrastructure and power. Under the new policy, the state will develop 15 industrial parks covering general and sector specific requirements of various industrial sectors and 20 rural clusters across the state.

Notes:
Smart Cities Mission is the Indian Government’s urban renewal program that seeks to create sustainable and citizen-centric smart cities.
It is being implemented by the Union Ministry of Housing Urban Affairs in collaboration with the state governments. As many as 22 smart cities are expected to complete all projects under the Smart Cities Mission. The remaining 78 smart cities under this mission are expected to complete their projects in the next 3 to 4 months.