Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2023

Notes:
The mPassport Police App was introduced recently by the Union External Affairs Ministry. The aim of this application is to simplify and hasten the process of police verification of passport issuance.
It will reduce the verification time by five days from the previous verification time of 15 days to complete this process. With this application, the police personnel can submit digital and paperless verification reports via mobile tablets. It was launched for the Delhi Police jurisdiction alone.

Notes:
The Digital Services Act was approved by the European Union in 2022 to update the bloc’s legal framework on illegal content, transparent advertising and disinformation on intermediaries and harmonize similar national laws in the EU.
Tech giants like Google, Twitter and Meta are facing stricter rules under the Digital Services Act. This Act categorizes those companies having more than 45 million users as very large online platforms. They are subject to obligations under the law like risk management and external and independent auditing.

Notes:
Indian Railways launches Rail Post Gati Shakti Express Cargo Service to provide logistics for services sector in country simultaneously on four sectors.
The Cargo Service is a joint parcel product of the two entities between Indian Railways and India Post. The service was among the announcements made by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in last year’s Budget.

Notes:
A bipartisan resolution was introduced in the US Senate to recognise Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India.
The resolution commends India for taking steps to defend itself against aggression and security threats from China.

Notes:
The Sansad Ratna Awards recognize and felicitate the top performing Members of Parliament based on their work in the apex legislative body.
These awards were instituted in 2010 based on the concept initialised by former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam. The inaugural edition of these awards was launched by the former President APJ Abdul Kalam. The 13th edition of the Sansad Ratna Award ceremony will be held in March this year in New Delhi.

Notes:
Whale stranding is a phenomenon that occurs when whales become stranded on land, and cannot return to the ocean.
Several factors have been proposed as reason for mass stranding, including the topography of the region, illness, human activities, and increasing noise pollution in the oceans. Certain regions such as Tasmania, New Zealand’s Golden Bay, and Massachusetts’s Cape Cod are known hotspots for whale stranding. Recently, 14 pilot whales got stranded on the shore of Sri Lanka’s Kalpitiya.

Notes:
Researchers have discovered the fifth layer of the Earth by measuring seismic waves generated by earthquakes.
They revealed the presence of a solid “metallic ball” at the centre of the inner core, referred to as the ‘innermost inner core’. This is expected to reveal new insights into the deepest parts of the planet’s inner core.

Notes:
Anopheles stephensi is a mosquito species that can transmit both Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax malaria parasites.
Recently, Kenya recorded this species, making it the sixth and the latest country in Africa to report the invasion of this vector. The species is well adapted to urban areas and has been spreading to new regions, including parts of East Africa.

Notes:
Kaziranga National Park is a protected area located in the Indian state of Assam. It is home to a large population of one-horned rhinoceroses,
As of 2018 census, 2,613 rhinos are living in the park. The Central government has sought a factual report on the rhino population numbers in the National Park and Tiger Reserve based on the survey conducted in March 2022. Earlier, an activist found the possibility of number of rhinos being inflated.

Notes:
The Urban 20 (U20) Engagement Group held its inaugural event in Ahmedabad, attended by more than 70 delegates from 42 cities. This is the largest recorded attendance since the inception of U20.
The U20 meeting focused on the role of cities in economic prosperity and ecological harmony. The meeting aimed to equip city governments with on-ground solutions to close the gap between policy and practice.