Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2023

Notes:
India International Science Festival is being held in Bhopal with the theme of ‘Marching towards Amrit Kaal with Science, Technology, and Innovation’.
International Science Film Festival of India (ISFFI) was organised as a part of the India International Science Festival (IISF).  Nine Indian science movies received awards in various categories at an international film festival.

Notes:
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi arrived in New Delhi as he will be the chief guest at the 74th Republic Day parade of India.
This is the first time the President of Egypt has been invited as the chief guest on Republic Day. India and Egypt are celebrating 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relations this year. India has also invited Egypt as a ‘guest country’ during its G20 Presidency.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde inaugurated the Regional Conference on ‘e-Governance’ at Mumbai.
This conference has been jointly organized by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) in collaboration with the Government of Maharashtra in Mumbai. It aims to create a common platform to share experiences in the formulation and implementation of best practices in transparent and citizen-friendly effective administration.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched several projects related to water security, farmers’ welfare and road connectivity in Karnataka.
He launched Narayanpur left bank canal with modern irrigation system at Yadgir in North Karnataka. It is implemented at a cost of 4699 crore rupees and will help irrigate over five lakh hectares in the backward regions of Yadgir, Raichur and Kalburgi.

Notes:
Uttar Pradesh came into existence on January 24, 1950, when the governor-general of India passed United Provinces Order 1950, renaming United Provinces as Uttar Pradesh.
This is the 74th foundation day of Uttar Pradesh and it is being celebrated as ‘UP Day’. On the occasion, several schemes including Chief Minister Handicraft Pension Scheme, Handicraft Marketing Promotion Scheme, and exemption in stamp duty were launched. People were also awarded with ‘Rani Laxmi Bai Puraskar’ and ‘Laxman Puraskar’.

Notes:
The United States has recently launched several new schemes to reduce delays in visa processing in India.
The initiatives include scheduling special interviews for first time applicants and increasing strength of consular staff, which aims to cut delays in visa processing in India. The US embassy in Delhi and the consulates in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad conducted ‘special Saturday interview days’.

Notes:
The Cervavac vaccine has been developed jointly by the Serum Institute of India and the Indian Government’s Department of Biotechnology.
India’s first indigenously developed Cervical cancer vaccine ‘Cervavac’ for 9-14-year-old has been launched. The vaccine will be included in the National Immunisation Programme by mid-2023.

Notes:
The government has rolled out Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP), to make vaccinations of children and pregnant women hassle-free.
The platform aims to digitise India’s Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) and has been launched in pilot mode across two districts of each state and union territory. This platform will help in registering and vaccinating every pregnant woman, recording her delivery outcome, registering newborn delivery, and administering birth vaccinations and all immunisations.

Notes:
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime observed that the Opium poppy production in Myanmar increased dramatically following the 2021 military coup.
As per the office, political and economic turmoil drove farmers to cultivate the crop. The country’s economy has been paralysed following the military power grab in February 2021 and subsequent clashes between the junta and anti-coup rebels.

Notes:
Dell Technologies has acquired Israeli startup Cloudify that is known for cloud orchestration and infrastructure automation.
According to reports, Dell spent close to USD 100 million in buying the startup to boost its cloud services business. Cloudify is an open source, multi-cloud orchestration platform.