Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2023

Notes:
The earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria has badly damaged Gaziantep Castle, a historic site and tourist attraction in south-eastern Turkey.
The castle collapsed during the 7.8 magnitude earthquake which hit Turkey. According to archaeological excavations, the castle was first built as a watchtower in the Roman period in the second and third centuries C.E. and expanded over time. Most recently, it served as ‘Gaziantep Defense and Heroism Panoramic Museum’.

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:
Sangam age was believed to be between 300 BCE to 300 CE. As per the recent findings by the Archaeological Survey of India at Keeladi, the Sangam age has been pushed to 800 BCE.
Keeldai is a small village along the Vaigai River, about 13 km from Madurai, Tamil Nadu. The eport is based on the archaeological findings from the first two phases of excavation carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India.

Notes:
Jupiter recently became the planet with the most moons, after a dozen new moons were discovered around it. The planet has surpassed Saturn with its list of 92 moons in all.
The spacecraft, dubbed Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer or Juice, has arrived at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. It is a new mission from Earth is ready to explore the planet’s biggest moons and will be launched in April this year.

Notes:
According to a new forecast released by the International Energy Agency, Asia will use half of the world’s electricity by 2025, for the first time.
As per the annual report, China will be consuming more electricity than the European Union, United States and India combined. Africa, which is home to almost a fifth of world’s nearly 8 billion inhabitants, will account for just 3% of global electricity consumption in 2025.

Notes:
New Zealand’s Prime Minister declared a State of Emergency after Cyclone Gabrielle. The Cyclone, which battered the North Island, is considered as a weather event not seen in a generation.
The state of emergency was declared only the third in New Zealand’s history. At least three people have died and about a third of the country’s population of five million live in affected areas.

Notes:
National Productivity Day is observed on February 12 every year in India. It is coordinated by the National Productivity Council (NPC), an autonomous government body that comes under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The day commemorates the founding of the NPC, which was set up in 1958 to promote the productivity culture in India.

Notes:
eSanjeevani, also known as National Teleconsultation Service, is a government initiative that provides online outpatient doctor (OPD) consultation service to citizens.
This first-of-its-kind scheme was launched in 2019 and it is being implemented by the Union Health Ministry. The eSanjeevani OPD portal and system was developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). The platform recently registered a new record by delivering teleconsultation services to 10 crore beneficiaries.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India released the Draft Reserve Bank of India (Government Securities Lending) Directions, 2023.
These draft norms seek to regulate the lending and borrowing of government securities (G-secs) in the securities lending market.  According to the draft norms, the Government Securities Lending (GSL) transactions can be done for a minimum duration of 1 day and a maximum duration of 90 days.

Notes:
The “Analysis of State Electric Vehicle Policies and Their Impact” Report was released recently by Climate Trends.
According to the report, Maharashtra, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh have the most comprehensive EV policies. Over the last 5 years, 16 of the 26 states and UTs have released EV policies between 2020 and 2022.