Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2023

Notes:
The Trade Receivable Discounting System (TReDS) is an electronic platform that facilitates the financing or discounting, trading and settling invoices of the MSMEs.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to expand the scope of the TReDS to allow the use of insurance facilities. This will facilitate secondary market operations on the TReDS.

Notes:
The ‘zero-draft’ of the pandemic treaty was launched recently by the World Health Organization’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB).
The international treaty is expected to be presented at the World Health Assembly in 2024. The aim of the pandemic treaty is to strengthen national and international-level preparedness against future pandemics.

Notes:
The government has set up a special committee to examine the need for a separate competition law for digital companies.
Chaired by Corporate Affairs Secretary Manoj Govil, the committee will review whether existing antitrust laws in the country are equipped to deal with the challenges that have emerged from the digital economy, and submit to the government a draft Digital Competition Act within three months.

Notes:
A report titled ‘LiFE lessons from India’ was recently released by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
As per the report, the ‘Lifestyle for Environment’ or LiFE initiative of India for the adoption of energy-efficient behaviour can save the world USD 440 billion in 2030. As per the report, the saving would be equivalent to around 5% of all fuel spending across the global economy in that year.

Notes:
The One District One Product (ODOP) initiative is aimed at promoting balanced regional development across all districts of the country.
ODOP has been merged with ‘Districts as Export Hubs Initiative’ being run by the Department of Commerce (DoC) with Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) as a major stakeholder. Under the ODOP- Districts as Export Hubs initiative, products with export potential have been recently identified from all 765 districts of the country.

Notes:
India’s national accreditation system ranked fifth in the world in the Global Quality Infrastructure Index (GQII) 2021.
The GQII ranks the 184 economies in the world on the basis of the quality infrastructure (QI). India’s overall QI system ranking continues to be in the 10th position, with the standardization system (under BIS) at 9th and the metrology system (under NPL-CSIR) at 21st position in the world.

Notes:
PhonePe recently became the first Indian fintech company to enable payments abroad. It allows international transactions through Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
With this, Indian travellers can make UPI transactions to foreign merchants using PhonePe platform. Cross-border transaction facility by PhonePe will support all international outlets in UAE, Singapore, Nepal, Bhutan and Mauritius having local QR Code.

Notes:
The government of Rajasthan has allocated Rs 13,000 crore to implement ‘Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project’ during the recent state budget.
The objective of the Project is to harvest the surplus water collected during the rainy season in the Southern Rajasthan Rivers like Chambal and its tributaries like Kunnu, Parvati, and Kalisindh and transfer it to south- eastern districts.

Notes:
India has planned to launch a global initiative called the Millet International Initiative for Research and Awareness (MIIRA) to promote the consumption and production of millets.
MIIRA will coordinate international millet research programs and support research on millet crops. This global initiative will also raise awareness and promote millet consumption. India will provide the initial funding, while other G20 countries will contribute to the budget.

Notes:
The Tanimbar corella, which is also referred to as Goffin’s cockatoo, is a type of cockatoo that is found exclusively in the forests of Yamdena, Larat, and Selaru islands in the Tanimbar Islands archipelago in Indonesia.
It was later introduced to the Kai Islands, Singapore, and Puerto Rico. A new study found that Goffin’s cockatoos are capable of combining multiple tools to achieve a complex task that is only been recorded in humans and chimpanzees.