Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2023

Notes:
The Paris Club is an informal group of creditor nations that functions as a platform for official creditors that resolves payment issues faced by debtor countries. All of its 22 member states belong to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The Paris Club has recently decided to offer financial support to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Sri Lanka’s debt.

Notes:
North Korea stole more cryptocurrency assets in 2022 than in any other year, as per a recent report by United Nations.
As per the report, most of the money stolen was used to support its ballistic missile and weapons of mass destruction programmes. North Korea-linked hackers stole virtual assets worth USD 630 million while its cyber currency heist stood at USD 1 billion.

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:
Kerala Police have recently arrested 113 people who were accused in various criminal cases, under ‘Operation Aag’.
The raids are being held to arrest those who were placed under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act. Other initiatives of the state police include ‘Pink patrol’ which is specifically for women’s safety, ‘Prasanthi’ for senior citizens among others.

Notes:
‘World Pulses Day’ is observed on February 10 to raise global awareness about the importance of pulses as a stable global food source that delivers nutritional and environmental security across the world.
The theme for World Pulses Day 2023 is ‘Pulses for a Sustainable Future’.

Notes:
Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh recently inaugurated Mission Antyodaya Survey (MAS) 2022-23.
The objectives of the scheme are- conducting an annual survey at the Gram Panchayat level to monitor the progress in the development process in rural areas, Panchayat wise ranking and making Gap report, which serves as an important input for the Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP).

Notes:
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), along with the Navy, started training for crew module recovery when it splashes down in the sea after re-entering the atmosphere.
This training was done as a part of preparation for its first human spaceflight (Gaganyaan). The training aims to finalise the standard operating procedure for the recovery of the crew members as soon as possible. The trials commenced at the water survival test facility of the Navy in Kochi.

Notes:
MobiKwik has become the first fintech app to support RuPay Credit Cards on UPI. The facility will help millions of customers who use UPI for their daily transactions.
With RuPay Credit Cards now linked directly to UPI IDs, customers can easily make payments to merchants by scanning the UPI QR code and using UPI PIN for payment authentication.

Notes:
The government has launched a mobile app namely ‘Khanan Prahari’ and a web app Coal Mine Surveillance and Management System (CMSMS) for reporting unauthorized coal mining activities.
The objective of the CMSMS application was to detect participation against illegal mining by receipt of citizen’s complaints through mobile app.

Notes:
Saudi Arabia will send its first ever woman astronaut on a space mission later this year. The woman astronaut Rayyana Barnawi will join Ali Al-Qarni on a 10-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
They will fly to the ISS aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft as part of a mission by the private space company Axiom Space. Along with them will be Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut. UAE was the first Arab country to send one of its citizens into space in 2019.