Test : February 2019 Weekly Current Affair - 4" - Current Affairs MCQ

The theme of PROTECH-2019 was “Shaping the New Energy World through Innovation & Collaboration”.PETROTECH is a biennial conference and exhibition for national and international experts in the oil & gas industry to meet and exchange views and share knowledge, expertise, and experiences.

Duration of stay in India of e-tourists and e-business visas will be from 60 days to 1 year with multiple entry subjects.There has been removal of restriction of allowing foreigner for a maximum of 3 times. Government of India has made a series of amendments in e-visa regime, liberalizing it further and making it more tourists friendly. This step has been taken into consideration by Ministry of Tourism with Ministry of Home Affairs to ease the Visa regime in the country over the period of time.

An expert committee appointed by government suggested Rs. 9,750 per month or Rs. 375 per day as National Minimum Wage (NMW) for a worker. The Present NMW is Rs. 4,576.National minimum wage gas been proposed at various regional level in the range of Rs.8,892 to Rs. 11,622 per month, with supplementary house rent allowance of Rs. 1,430 per month for urban workers.The recommendations could form the basis for a national minimum wage covering all workers irrespective of skills, sectors, occupations and rural-urban areas.According to Committee’s formula, a family with 3.2 units of consumption requires food of Rs.2400, minimum 50 gm of protein and 30 gm of fat every day.The Labour ministry has proposed a statutory minimal wage which will be calculated by NMW calculator to address varying economic conditions at state and regional levels through a Code on Wages Bill.

On 15th February 2019, Finance minister has implemented the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan Yojana which is primarily a pension scheme for the labours, associated in the unorganized sector. It was announced in Budget 2019. Under this scheme, workers of unorganized sectors whose monthly income is less than Rs. 15,000 may avail the Rs. 3000 per month after 60 year of age The scheme will facilitate the benefits up to 10 crore workers which include lower class workers, labor, plumber, mechanic, sweeper, construction workers, etc. An amount of Rs. 500 crore has been allocated for the scheme. The benefits of the scheme will be availed within 5 years.

World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) 2019, the flagship event of ‘The Energy and Resources Institute’ (TERI), was inaugurated by Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. It saw the presence of more than 2000 delegates in the fields od sustainable development, energy and environment sectors. The theme of WSDS 2019 was ‘Attaining the 2030 Agenda: delivering on our promise’.

State Water Resources minister Niranjan Pujari and Union Water Resources & Ganga Rejuvenation Secretary U.P. Singh inaugurated the 5th International Dam Safety Conference 2019 in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. The conference was a part of the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) assisted by World Bank. 26 large dams in Odisha are covered under DRIP for rehabilitation including construction of an additional spill way for the Hirakud dam at Rs 600 crores.

A loan agreement of $40 million (4 crore INR) was signed between the Government of India, Himachal Pradesh Government and World Bank, to help bring clean and reliable drinking water to the citizens of Greater Shimla area, who have been facing severe shortages of water and water-borne epidemics in the last few years.Shimla Water Supply and Sewage Service Delivery Reform Programmatic Development Policy Loan is expected to improve Water Supply & Sanitation (WSS) services in and around Shimla.Loan agreement was signed by Mr. Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Government of India and Mr. Junaid Kamal Ahmad, Country Director, World Bank India, on behalf of the World Bank.

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi inaugurated Lower Panazara Medium Project which has a total water storage capacity of 109.31 Mcum and irrigation potential of 7585 hectares, under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY).This Project will provide irrigation facility to 21 villages of Dhule District in Maharashtra.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) based international cooling provider,National Central Cooling Company PJSC (Tabreed) entered into a 30-year concession with Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) to build India’s first district cooling system in Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh.The agreement is for a contracted cooling capacity of 20,000 Refrigeration Tons (RTs) and will cater to the State’s Assembly, High Court, Secretariat and other Government buildings currently being constructed, for which cooling services will start in early 2021. The district cooling system will help save 40% of the energy currently being used and reduce CO2 emissions, as it uses only 50% of the primary energy consumption for cooling urban buildings, thus, improving the air quality and reducing general noise levels when compared to other traditional air conditioning systems.

On 14th February 2019, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between Edelweiss and Bank of Singapore in order to form a strategic partnership. The MoU will provide an opportunity to clients of both entities to access each other product platforms.Edelweiss became the first Indian Wealth management company to sign an MoU with offshore private bank (Bank of Singapore).Bank of Singapore has signed similar MoU with financial companies from Switzerland and Japan.

Flight Lieutenant Hina Jaiswal from Chandigarh, became the First Indian Woman Flight Engineer of the Indian Air Force(IAF). She was commissioned in the IAF’s engineering branch in 2015 and completed the 6-month Flight Engineer course from the 112 Helicopter Unit attached to the Air Force Station in Yelahanka, Bengaluru.The Flight Engineer branch was opened to women officers in 2018.

‘Simplicity & Wisdom’ written by Dinesh Shahra was launched at Parmarth Ashram in Kumbh Mela. Launched by the Governor of West Bengal– Keshari Nath Tripathi and Swami Chidanand Saraswati, Head of Parmarth Ashram, this book is dedicated to Late Vedanti Swami Pragananandji. The book aims at guiding towards saintly wisdom and leading a content and happy life.

Pramod Chandra Mody, a 1982-batch IRS Officer was appointed as the new chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) which is the policy making body of the Income Tax Department. He has been appointed in place of Sushil Chandra, who was on Thursday named as Election Commissioner ahead of the Lok Sabha polls due this summer.Having worked on various posts in the I-T Department, he was currently working as the Member (Administration) in the CBDT.His tenure would last till June 2019.

On 16th February, 2019, Vidarbha became the only 3rd team in Indian Domestic Cricket history to defend their Irani cup titles at Jamtha Stadium in Nagpur by defeating rest of India. Vidarbha becomes the 3rd team after Bombay and Karnataka to defend the Ranji Trophy and Irani Cup. Vidarbha chased a target of 280 run on the day and young Karnewar was the Player of the match.

On 16th February 2019, Indian Air Force conducted mega exercise ‘Vayu Shakti’ in Pokhran, Rajasthan. The exercise was conducted two days after 40 CRPF personnel killed in a suicide attack in Kashmir’s Pulwama. For the first time, the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALP) and the Akash surface-to-air missile were deployed in military exercise. MiG-29 fighter jet also participated in the exercise.The capability of Griffin Laser Guided Bomb (LGB) a laser-guided bomb system was also showcased in the exercise. It is used to retrofit gravity bombs, making them laser guided smart ammunition.The honorary group captain of the IAF, Sachin Tendulkar was present during the exercise. He became honorary group captain in 2015 for his achievements in cricket.

On 17th February, 2019, Revenue Department of Telangana has issued a notification stating about the creation of 2 new districts in Telangana– Mulugu and Narayanpet.With the creation of 2 districts, total number of districts in Telangana has augmented to 33.District Naraynpet and Mulugi has been carved out of the District Mahabubnagar and Bhupalapally districts respectively.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani unveiled the first Iranian made semi-heavy submarine named “Fateh” (“Conqueror” in Persian), capable of being fitted with missiles.It has subsurface-to-surface missiles with a range of about 2,000 km (1,250 miles) and is capable of reaching Israel and U.S. military bases in the region.A homegrown defence industry has been developed by Iran, since 1992, which produces light and heavy weapons ranging from mortars and torpedoes to tanks and submarines.

On 19th February 2019, pan India number 112(helpline number) was launched by Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi in New Delhi. It comes under the Emergency Response Support System, ERSS which has been introduced for women safety in 16 states and Union Territories including Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir and was launched in Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland earlier. All the states are required to set up an Emergency Response Centre, ERC.
In the hour of need, the person seeking can help can:
• Dial 112
• In smartphones, press power button of the phone thrice without any delay to activate a panic call to the Emergency Response Centre.
• In feature phones, long press on the number 5 or 9 on the keypad to activate the panic call.

On 16th February 2019, a bill was passed in the Himachal Pradesh assembly to make Sanskrit the second official language of the state. Key Points Mahender Singh Thakur, the Irrigation and Public Health minister introduced the bill Himachal Pradesh Official Language Bill, 2019 (Amendment). The bill was introduced in the absence of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and was passed without discussion. With this, Himachal Pradesh became the second state to adopt Sanskrit as the second official language of the state after Uttarakhand. The other bills passed during the same session:
• Himachal Pradesh University of Health Sciences Amendment Bill, 2019 to rename Himachal Pradesh University of Health Sciences as Atal Medical and Research University, Himachal Pradesh.
• Himachal Pradesh Bovine Breeding Bill, 2019 to promote indigenous species of cows in the state by setting up sperm stations and using frozen semen in artificial insemination.

The first-of-its kind ‘Trip Protector’ insurance policy was launched by HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company which is the third-largest non-life insurance provider in the private sector in India. The policy states that:
• In case a flight or a hotel booking is cancelled, travellers will be safeguarded financially against the cost of cancellation levied on them by the respective hotels or airlines for both domestic and international travel.
• In instances wherein travellers are refused accommodation on arriving at the hotel due to overbooking, the policy will provide cover against cancellation of a pre-booked room.
• Initially, this policy is being offered to customers of HDFC Bank on the purchase of Airline tickets or Hotel Bookings done using their HDFC Bank credit cards.
• The policy will allow customers to choose between refundable and non-refundable tickets. Refundable tickets shall be paid for in case of cancellation.