Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2020

Notes:
Indian ace Basketball player and Captain, P Mathew Satya Babu recently passed away at 79 years in Chennai. He had represented India in the three Asian Basketball Championships conducted in Seoul, Bangkok and Manila from 1967 to 1970. He also served as the captain of the Indian team during the 6th Bangkok Asian Games.
Mathew Satya Babu was a qualified basketball coach and a referee. He had coached the state basketball team of Tamil Nadu and the men and women teams of Indian Railways.

Notes:
The 21-year-old American tennis star Sofia Kenin won her maiden Grand slam title, as she won the women’s singles title in the Australian Open tournament.
She defeated the other finalist Garbine Muguruza 4-6 6-2 6-2 and became the youngest winner of the tournament, after Maria Sharapova clinched the trophy before 12 years. The mixed doubles title of the event was won by the duo -Barbora Krejcikova of Czech Republic and Croatia’s Nikola Mektic. While Krejcikova retained her mixed doubles crown, Nikola won his maiden trophy.

Notes:
Indian Public sector bank, Bank of Baroda recently signed an MoU with Indian credit rating agency, Care Ratings. The pact aims to assess credit quality of the small and medium enterprises (SME) customers of the bank.
The rating agency is expected to evaluate the credit quality of the existing and potential SME customers of the bank. The creditworthiness of enterprises is provided on an eight-point scale by the ratings agency. This agreement will strengthen the process of loan-evaluation and help the SMEs in obtaining finance faster.

Notes:
Rubigula, the Flame-throated Bulbul is the official state bird of Goa. The bird, also known as Ruby-throated yellow bulbul, has been named as the official mascot for the 2020 National Games.
Goa is set to play host to the 36th edition of the National Games from 20th October to 4th November, 2020 in 37 sports disciplines across 24 venues. In a ceremony recently held, Chief Minister of Goa Pramod Sawant and Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju unveiled the state bird as the mascot.

Notes:
Pramod Agrawal assumed charge as the new Chairman and Managing Director of Coal India Ltd, a Maharatna Public Sector Enterprise.
Public Enterprises Selection Board recommended the name of the 1991 batch IAS officer from Madhya Pradesh cadre for the post of Chairman and Managing Director. Prior to this appointment, he was serving as the Principal Secretary for urban development and housing department in Madhya Pradesh. He replaced A K Jha, who retired as the chairman of Coal India Ltd on January 31, 2020.

Notes:
The Indian Navy has conducted a five-day-long coastal security exercise called ‘Matla Abhiyaan’ at Kolkata, which started on 29 January. The exercise is named after the Matla river, which flows around the Sundarbans.
The exercise aims at interacting with coastal communities to spread awareness on coastal security. During the exercise, the naval personnel interacted with the coastal police stations. The naval team also visited local schools to spread awareness on coastal security. This exercise is expected to help the naval crew in understand the navigational complexities in the Sundarbans.

Notes:
India and Maldives signed 5 agreements for establishing ‘Addu Tourism zone’ in five islands of Addu atoll. An atoll is a ring-shaped chain of islands formed of coral.
The Tourism zone is expected to be set up at a cost of $2.49 million. It aims at generating local employment and boost the eco-tourism opportunities in Addu. The High Commissioner of India Sunjay Sudhir signed the MoUs with the Maldives Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid and Addu City Council. Another MoU to establish a bottled water plant in Hoarafushi was also inked.

Notes:
Union Minister of Women & Child Development Smriti Irani recently presented the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana awards to the best performing States, Union Territories and Districts.
Madhya Pradesh bagged the first place in the category of best performance States/ UTs with more than 1 crore population. The state is followed by Andhra Pradesh and Haryana. In the category of states with less than 1 Crore population, Dadra & Nagar Haveli is at the first place, followed by Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.

Notes:
The Scientists at Indian Veterinary Research Institute (ICAR-IVRI), an institute of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, have recently developed a low-cost vaccine for the classical swine fever. Swine fever is a disease associated with high mortality and illness in pigs.
Until now, the swine fever vaccines have been imported for domestic usage and moreover the imported vaccines are to be administered once in every six months. But a single shot of the new indigenous vaccine would be sufficient for the animal’s life time. This would be an affordable option for the farmers and also assist in pork production and export.

Notes:
The World war- based drama directed by the British filmmaker Sam Mendes won the Best film award in the British Academy of Film Awards (BAFTA) presented recently. The movie dominated the event by winning seven awards, including best British film, best cinematography and best director.
‘Joker’ actor Joaquin Phoenix was named the best actor and biopic ‘Judy’ actor Renee Zellweger was named the best actress in the award ceremony. Prince William presented this year’s BAFTA Fellowship to ‘Star Wars’ producer Kathleen Kenned. South Korean film “Parasite” won two awards including best original screenplay and film not in the English language.