Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2020

Notes:
United States has surpassed China to become India’s top trading partner. According to the Commerce Ministry data, the bilateral trade between the US and India stood at nearly 88 billion dollars in 2018-19 fiscal. During the period, India’s trade with China was at 87.1 billion dollars. Similarly, during April-December 2019-20, the bilateral trade between the US and India stood at 68 billion dollars against a nearly 65 billion dollars trade with China in the same period. America is one of the few countries with which India has a trade surplus. On the other hand, India has a huge trade deficit with China. In 2018-19, India has a trade surplus of 16.9 billion dollars with America, while it has a deficit of 53.6 billion dollars with the neighboring country. The data showed that China was India’s top trading partner since 2013-14 till 2017-18.

Notes:
Mauritius, long considered a tax haven, has been listed in the FATF’s grey list. This has raised questions about the fate of FPI from Mauritius in India.

Notes:
In a first, supranational institution Asian Development Bank, has listed its 10-year ₹-850 crore Masala bond on the Global Securities Market (GSM) of the India International Exchange at GIFT City. Asian Development Bank’s Masala bonds are dual listed at both Luxembourg and India INX.

Notes:
Norwegian oil company Equinor was granted environmental approval by the national offshore petroleum regulator but the company has recently decided to scrap its proposed drilling in the Great Australian Bight. Great Australian Bight is said to be one of the most unspoiled marine environments in the world. Green groups have sought for decades to protect it, but the Australian government has been open to extracting the possible oil riches there.

Notes:
President Ram Nath Kovind addressed the fourth edition of ‘The Huddle’ – annual thought conclave of the Hindu – in Bengaluru on February 22, 2020.

Notes:
Madhya Pradesh has become the first state in the country to launch the unified vehicle registration card, CM Kamal Nath said in Bhopal on February 25, 2020. He also said that MP is only the second state to launch a unified driving license, after UP. The unified smart cards for driving license and vehicle registration will each have a QR code that will help in verifying authenticity of the data printed on the cards.

Notes:
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) of the Ministry of Communication has recently launched ‘5G Hackathon’ in association with government and industry stakeholders.
The Hackathon aims to convert new ideas into feasible 5-G products and solutions in the country. All students, start-ups, SMEs, academic institutions and registered companies in India and even NRIs can participate in the event.

Notes:
The First anniversary of the launch of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme was recently observed on February 24, 2020.
PM-KISAN is a Central Sector scheme with 100% funding from Government of India. Under the Scheme an annual income support of Rs.6000 is provided to all farmer families across the country in three equal instalments of Rs.2000.

Notes:
Leading Indian aircraft carrier SpiceJet launched freighter services from Chennai and Vishakhapatnam to Surat and Kolkata, to assist the transportation of shrimp seeds.
The air cargo arm of SpiceJet called SpiceXpress, will use the Boeing 737 freighter with a 21-tonne carrying capacity will be used in the transportation. This is the first such effort in the proposed routes. In the recent budget, a similar service called ‘Krishi Udaan’ was proposed.

Notes:
The Chief Executive Officer of the Walt Disney Company commonly called as Disney, Bob Iger recently tendered his resignation.
He has served as the CEO of the US-based multi-national mass-media company from 2005. Under his leadership, the company successfully purchased Star Wars, Marvel and Fox’s entertainment businesses. Bob Chapek is to replace Iger as the next CEO. Iger will be the executive chairman till 31 December 2021.