Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2023

Notes:
World Bank President David Malpass said he would leave his post well before his five-year term term ends
His five-year term was due to end in April 2024. Malpass has been under pressure in recent months to accelerate reforms aimed at changing the way the World Bank operates to to combat climate change.

Notes:
Spain Parliament recently passed a new law allowing gender self-determination. The new legislation that will allow anyone over 16 to change their legally registered gender.
It also eases abortion limits for those aged 16 and 17, and make the country the first in Europe to introduce paid menstrual leave. A judge will need to authorise the change for minors aged between 12 and 14, while those aged between 14 and 16 will need the consent of their parents or guardians.

Notes:
Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) and India’s Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), both owned by their respective Governments, entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to form a joint venture firm for extending product support services for Indian Armed Forces.
MRSAM is an advanced air and missile defence system that provides protection against a variety of aerial platforms. The MRSAM is used by the Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy and Israeli Defence Forces.

Notes:
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh inaugurated a conference on ‘Opportunities for Multilateral Business Partnerships in ICT, Tourism, Healthcare and Handloom’ in Imphal.
This was the first of the four sessions of B20 scheduled in Northeast India. B20 is the official G20 dialogue forum for the global business community. Manipur had launched new Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy, Industrial Single Window Clearance Act, 2021 and Integrated Logistics Policy, 2022 for ease of doing business.

Notes:
ULTRASAT, Israel’s first telescope mission, is set to be launched into a geostationary orbit in early 2026 through a partnership between NASA and the Israel Space Agency.
The ultra-violet observatory will focus on observing short-duration space events such as supernovae and the merging of neutron stars, utilizing its wide field of view to quickly capture ultraviolet light from such sources.

Notes:
Delhi Government’s Feed Back Unit (FBU) was instituted in 2015. It is responsible for gathering ‘relevant information and actionable feedback’ related to the functioning of the government bodies and autonomous institutes in the Delhi government’s jurisdiction.
The FBU is also responsible for conducting sting operations or trap cases. Its personnel are known as intelligence assets and it directly answers to the Chief Minister’s Office. It is being criticized for being extra-judicial body that answers to only one individual.

Notes:
An invasive species is an organism that is not indigenous, or native, to a particular area. The Burmese python is a species of constrictor snake found in Southeast Asia.
It is one of the world’s largest snakes, capable of growing more than 20 feet long and weighing over 200 pounds.  It has become an invasive species in certain parts of the world, particularly in the Everglades wetland in the US. The snake feeds on a variety of animals and this invasive species is a significant threat to native wildlife.

Notes:
Mpox virus is an orthopoxvirus that causes monkeypox or mpox, a disease that has symptoms similar to smallpox but less severe.
This pathogen is deadly in 15 percent of affected people and it was largely confined to Africa. A severe form of this virus has been found in immunosuppressed people living with the advanced stage of HIV.

Notes:
The I2U2 Group consists of four countries – India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.
Recently, the inaugural I2U2 Business Forum was organized in Abu Dhabi. This meeting discussed the possibility of building integrated agricultural facilities across India.

Notes:
The ‘Trends in Maternal Mortality’ Report was released recently by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group and UNDESA.
It provides globally comparable estimates at the international, regional and global levels and trends between the years 2000 and 2020. In 2020, approximately 800 women died from preventable causes associated with pregnancy and child birth. This means that a woman died every 2 minutes during that year.