Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2023

Notes:
Union Commerce minister Piyush Goyal is visiting New York and Washington DC to participate in India-US Trade Policy Forum.
After roundtable meetings with business leaders and think tanks in New York, he will attend the 13th Trade Policy Forum (TPF) meeting in Washington DC.  The 12th TPF Ministerial meeting was held on 23 November 2021 after a gap of four years in New Delhi.

Notes:
Deepor Beel, the only Ramsar site of Assam, recorded over 26,000 birds of 97 different species during a recent bird count.
The site recorded 10,289 birds of 66 species recorded in 2021. It is troubled by developmental projects and urban waste. A spot bird photography contest was also held during the event and  repeat of the bird count exercise is scheduled during the Asian Waterfowl Count.

Notes:
Bhitarkanika National Park, located in Odisha, reported an increase in the number of birds to 1,39,959 birds this year compared to 1,38,107 last year.
While the number of bird count increased, the diversity of species has decreased compared to last year. This year the National Park saw 140 species of birds compared to 144 last year. Many rare and endangered species were spotted this time.

Notes:
Indian film RRR’s song Natu Natu has won the prestigious Golden Globe award for Best Original Song.
The track from the director SS Rajamouli’s blockbuster movie is composed by MM Keeravani. Natu Natu left behind Taylor Swift’s “Carolina” from Where the Crawdads Sing, “Ciao Papa” from Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick, and “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, performed by Rihanna.

Notes:
The Montreal Protocol, an international agreement in 1987 to stop using the harmful chemicals, has been successful, as per a recent UN report.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were commonly found in spray cans, fridges, foam insulation and air conditioners, were blamed for damaging the ozone layer.

Notes:
The ‘Year of Enterprises’ project of Kerala has been regarded as the best practice model in the second Chief Secretaries National Conference.
It was selected in the ‘Thrust on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)’ category. The project by Kerala Government was started in the current fiscal year with the aim to create one lakh enterprises in a year, while the state achieved the goal in eight months.

Notes:
Bangladesh has registered a sharp decline of over 75 percent in the under-5 child mortality rate since 1990, as per the recent report released by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on behalf of the United Nations Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME).
In 1990, the under-5 child mortality rate was 146 per thousand live births which declined to 86 in 2000 and 27 in 2021.

Notes:
Odisha’s State Transport Authority (STA) announced severe penalties against vehicles without High Security Registration Plates (HSRP).
In case the vehicle is not affixed with HSRP within the scheduled date mentioned above, e-challan will be issued against the offending vehicle of a fine of Rs 5,000 or Rs 10,000 under Section 192 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

Notes:
The UK Prime Minister signed a landmark defence agreement with the Japanese Prime Minister at London.
This is regarded as the most significant defence agreement between the two countries in more than a century, which allows UK forces to be deployed to Japan. The UK is the first European country to have a Reciprocal Access Agreement with Japan.

Notes:
Uganda declared an end to an Ebola virus outbreak that emerged almost four months ago and claimed lives of 55 people.
The disease was first detected in September in the district of Mubende. The outbreak was caused by the Sudan Ebola virus, one among six species of the Ebola virus. There is currently no confirmed vaccine for the virus.