Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2023

Notes:
The Reserve Bank announced its second global hackathon ‘HARBINGER 2023 – Innovation for Transformation’ with the theme ‘Inclusive Digital Services’.
Fin-tech companies have been invited to develop solutions that have the potential to make digital financial services accessible to the differently-abled, facilitate efficient compliance, extend the reach of Central Bank Digital Currencies and enhance the scalability of blockchains. Winner of the hackathon will be given a prize of Rs 40 lakh and runner-up Rs 20 lakh.

Notes:
India is ranked at 47th position in Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI) conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the year 2022.
The index includes sectors like air transport, road freight cover and government regulations. The STRI indices takes into consideration the government policies in several sectors that define the ease of trading in those sectors and industries. Based on these factors, STRI indices assign value to countries between zero and one.

Notes:
The Government has given in-principle approval to nine more ethanol projects under its ethanol interest subvention scheme.
The projects are expected to add to the additional capacity of about 35 crore litres. The government is extending financial assistance in the form of interest subvention at 6 per cent per annum or 50 per cent of the rate of interest charged by banks, whichever is lower, on the loans to be extended by banks for five years.

Notes:
The AMASR (Amendment) Bill is a proposed legislation that aims to make several changes to the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act.
The Act regulates the preservation of historical monuments and archaeological sites. It seeks to redefine the current definition of a ‘monument’ which currently requires it to be at least 100 years old.

Notes:
INS Sindhukesari is a Sindhughosh-class diesel-electric submarine belonging to the Indian Navy. This 3,000 tonne submarine underwent a major ‘medium refit-cum-life extension’ in Russia’s Severodvinsk that ended in 2018.
INS Sindhukesari recently reached Jakarta in Indonesia for the ‘maiden operational turnaround’ via the Sunda Strait. This is the first long-range deployment of a submarine.

Notes:
During an El Nino event, the trade winds that usually blow from east to west across the Pacific weaken, causing warm water to move towards the central and eastern Pacific.
This year is expected to witness the setting in of the El Nino weather. Although El Niño is a natural occurrence, there are concerns that climate change may aggravate its frequency and intensity.

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:
le Clot is an ancient crater located within the Domaine du Meteore vineyard in France. It measures 220 meters in diameter and 30 meters in depth.
This is a major discovery since finding of small crater is rare. Currently, only 3 structures have been recorded -one in France and two in Germany. The presence of the le Clot was confirmed after finding the presence of iron oxide spherules, shock microdiamonds, and a magnetic low within the crater.

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.

Notes:
Canada’s super pigs have been recently spotted in the United States. These non-indigenous species cause major damage to the North American region by spreading diseases and eating away the crops.
Super pig came as a result of the cross-breeding of domestic pigs and wild boars. It is highly intelligent and elusive. The crossbreed was created to help pigs withstand the subzero temperature in Canada.