Current Affairs Quiz 11th and 12th February 2023 Quiz

Exp. World Government Summit 2023 Set to Begin in Dubai

The World Government Summit 2023 is set to begin on 13th February 2023 in Dubai.

The World Government Summit will be held under the theme of “Shaping Future Governments”.

It will bring together global thought leaders, global experts, and decision-makers to share and contribute to the development of tools, policies, and models that will be critical in shaping future governments.

The World Government Summit will feature 20 presidents, including Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi; President of the Republic of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdogan; President of Senegal and Chairperson of the African Union, Macky Sall, among others.

About World Government Summit

The World Government Summit is a global forum held annually in Dubai, that brings together leaders in government, business, technology, and civil society to discuss pressing issues facing humanity and to shape the future of governments worldwide.

The summit aims to drive positive change and to promote innovation in the public sector by exploring new ideas, technologies, and best practices in governance.

Exp. ADB approved $130 million loan to promote horticulture in Himachal Pradesh

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $130 million (over Rs 1,072 crore) loan to enhance agricultural productivity and farmers’ income in Himachal Pradesh and promote horticulture agribusiness.

More than half of Himachal Pradesh’s land area is on the mountains and 90 percent of the population lives in rural areas who are dependent on agriculture.

Supporting horticulture value chains will also enhance the contribution of this sub-sector to the development and food security of the country.

Through this, improving subtropical horticulture in the state will create a lot of economic opportunities for the farming families.

Recent Loan approved by ADB

• ADB provides 350 million US dollars to improve connectivity in Maharashtra.

ADB approved USD 350 million loan to Maharashtra for road connectivity

ADB approved USD 96 million loan to HP for safe drinking water project

ADB approves $112 million loan to establish Assam Skill University.

ADB approves $150 million loan for urban poor housing project in Tamil Nadu.

About Himachal Pradesh

• Capital –Shimla (Summer), Dharamshala (Winter)

Chief Minister – Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu

Deputy Chief Minister – Mukesh Agnihotri

Governor – Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar

Exp. 11th India-Mongolia Joint Working Group Meeting Held in New Delhi

The 11th meeting of the India-Mongolia Joint Working Group has been held in New Delhi.

Both sides reviewed the progress on various bilateral defence cooperation initiatives and identified means to further enhance the existing areas of cooperation and articulated steps in this direction.

During the meeting, both sides expressed satisfaction at the ongoing defence cooperation between the two countries despite the limitations imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

India established diplomatic relations with Mongolia in 1955. The Indian Resident Mission in Ulaanbaatar was opened in 1971.

This relationship was upgraded to “strategic partnership” in 2015 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Mongolia and declared it as an essential component of ‘Act East Policy’.

Exp. Inception Meeting of G-20 empower group of Women & Child Development Ministry begins in Agra

The inception meeting of the G-20 empower group of the Ministry of Women and Child Development has begun in Agra.

The theme of the meeting is Empowering Women to Lead across Sectors: Role of Digital Skilling and Future Skills.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development is the nodal ministry of India for G20 EMPOWER.

Dr. Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Limited, is the chairperson of EMPOWER 2023 during India’s G20 Presidency.

Under India’s G20 presidency, EMPOWER will host three meetings in February, April and June 2023 in Agra, Thiruvananthapuram and Bhopal respectively.

G20 in News (Note – All Meetings are Under the Presidency of G20 by India)

• G20 Cyber Security Exercise and Drill inaugurated– MeitY Secretary Alkesh Kumar Sharma
• India’s first Model G-20 Summitinaugurated by- India’s G-20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant
• Secretariat for Science 20 (S20) Meeting– IISc Bengaluru
• G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting –New Delhi (March 2023)
• First Tourism Working Group (TWG) Meeting–  Dhordo in Rann of Kutch, Gujarat (7 – 9 February 2023)
• First G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group Meeting– Bengaluru (9 -11 February 2023)

Exp. Meta Launched #DigitalSuraksha campaign in partnership with MeitY

Meta has launched in partnership with the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) for the G20 stay safe online campaign.

As part of the partnership, the company claims that it will create and share helpful resources in multiple Indian languages through various channels, and spread awareness on how to stay safe online.

Meta has also launched its #DigitalSuraksha campaign to build on the company’s efforts to offer a safer and more inclusive internet to everyone.

The first phase of #DigitalSuraksha includes a partnership with Delhi Police to provide digital literacy to users in Delhi.

Additionally, the current phase of the campaign includes measures on enabling digital education and literacy across youth well-being, child safety, tackling misinformation as well as the overall education of users towards various safety tools and resources available across Meta platforms.

Exp. 12th World Hindi Conference to be held in Fiji

The three-day 12th World Hindi Conference will be held in Fiji from February 15.

The conference is being organized by the Ministry of External Affairs of India in collaboration with the Government of Fiji.

The main theme of the conference is “Hindi – Traditional Knowledge to Artificial Intelligence’.

The Conference will be inaugurated by Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka along with External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar.

About Fiji

Capital- Suva

Currency- Fijian dollar

President – Wiliame Katonivere

Prime Minister- Sitiveni Rabuka

Exp.  ‘Operation Dost’ launched by India to help Turkey and Syria

Operation Dost is a rescue operation initiated by the Government of India to aid Syria and Turkey, after an earthquake hit both countries.

Under the operation, India has deployed a field hospital, supplies, and rescue personnel to the earthquake-stricken countries of Turkey and Syria.

Operation Dost is a symbol of the fact that India is a friend of Turkey, that is, both should strengthen their relations more.

The C17 Globemaster aircraft of the Indian Air Force has also been deployed in the operation.

On February 6, 2023, an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale affected Turkey and Syria, causing massive devastation along with loss of life and damage to infrastructure in both countries.

Exp. Quad countries launch ‘Quad Cyber Challenge’

Quad countries India, Australia, America, and Japan have launched Quad Cyber Challenge to strengthen cyber security.

Objective – To strengthen the cyber security system in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Quad has invited internet users across the Indo-Pacific and beyond to become part of the challenge and practice safe and responsible cyber habits.

About Quad Group

Quad or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is a group of four countries – America, Japan, Australia, and India.

The concept of Quad was given by the former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe in the year 2007.

The group is now seen primarily as a group countering Chinese influence in the region.

Exp. President Draupadi Murmu appointed new governors in 13 states

President Droupadi Murmu has appointed 13 new Governors while accepting the resignations of Bhagat Singh Koshyari as Governor of Maharashtra and of Radha Krishnan Mathur as Lt. Governor of Ladakh.

1. General Kaiwalya Trivikram Parnaik- Governor of Arunachal Pradesh
2. Lakshman Prasad Acharya- Governor of Sikkim
3. C P Radhakrishnan- Governor of Jharkhand
4. Shiv Pratap Shukla- Governor of Himachal Pradesh
5. Abdul Nazeer- Governor of Andhra Pradesh
6. Gulab Chand Kataria- Governor of Assam
7. Justice (Retd) Biswa Bhusan Harichandan- Governor of Andhra Pradesh appointed as Governor of Chhattisgarh.
8. Anusuiya Uikye- Governor of Chhattisgarh appointed as Governor of Manipur.
9. Ganesan- Governor of Manipur appointed as Governor of Nagaland.
10. Phagu Chauhan- Governor of Bihar appointed as Governor of Meghalaya.
11. Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar- Governor of Himachal Pradesh appointed as Governor of Bihar.
12. Ramesh Bais- Governor of Jharkhand appointed as Governor of Maharashtra.
13. Brig (Dr) B D Mishra (Retd)- Governor of Arunachal Pradesh appointed as Lt. Governor of Ladakh.

Exp. Appasaheb Dharmadhikari honoured with Maharashtra Bhushan award

Social worker and reformer ‘Nirupankar’ Dattatreya Narayan Dharmadhikari, popularly known as Appasaheb Dharmadhikari, has honoured with the Maharashtra Bhushan Award for the year 2022.

His father Nanasaheb Dharmadhikari has also conferred the same award in 2008 by then-chief minister Ashok Chavan.

Appasaheb was honored with Padma Shri in 2017.

The award comprising a medal, citation and Rs 25 lakh will be conferred on Appasaheb Dharmadhikari.

Recent Awards

• Golden Book Awards 2023  – Rakhi Kapoor (For – Now You Breathe)
• Hurun India award 2023 – VP Nandakumar (MD & CEO of Manappuram Finance Ltd.)
• Mathrubhumi Book of The Year’ award 2023 – Peggy Mohan
• Lifetime Achievement Honour in UK – Former Indian PM Manmohan Singh
• FIH President’s Award 2023 – V Karthikeyan Pandian (Odisha)

Exp. Kamran Akmal announced his retirement from all forms of cricket

Pakistan wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal has announced his retirement from all forms of professional cricket.

He made his Test match debut against Zimbabwe in November 2002 and he also made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe in November 2002.

Akmal made his debut for Pakistan back in 2002 and went on to play until 2017.

In 53 Tests, 157 ODIs and 58 T20Is, the right-handed batter scored 2648, 3236 and 987 runs respectively, with the help of 11 hundreds and 27 fifties.

Akmal also remains second in the list of leading run-scorers in the history of the PSL.

Recently Retired Players

• Aaron Finch – International Cricket – Australia
• Raphael Varane – International football – France
• Joginder Sharma – All forms of cricket – India
• Murali Vijay – All forms of international cricket – India
• Hashim Amla – – International Cricket – South Africa
• Hugo Lloris – International football – France
• Gareth Bale – International football – Wales
• Sania Mirza – International Tennis – India
• Farhaan Behardien – International Cricket – South African
• Karim Benzema – International football – France

Exp. Salman Rushdie’s new novel ‘Victory City’ released

British author, Salman Rushdie has released his new novel “Victory City”.

This novel was published by Penguin Random House.

It is an “epic tale” of a 14th-century woman who defies a patriarchal world to rule a city.

This novel purports to be a translation of a historical epic originally written in Sanskrit.

Rushdie won the Booker Prize in 1981 for his second novel, Midnight’s Children.

12 Notable Salman Rushdie Books are –

• Grimus (1975)
• Midnight’s Children (1981)
• Shame (1983)
• The Satanic Verses (1988)
• The Moor’s Last Sigh (1995)
• The Ground Beneath Her Feet (1999)
• Fury (2001)
• Shalimar the Clown (2005)
• The Enchantress of Florence (2008)
• Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights (2015)
• The Golden House (2017)
• Quichotte (2019)

Exp. 11 February – World Unani Day

World Unani Day is observed every year on 11 February.

Objective – To spreading public awareness about health care through Unani medicines.

The day is celebrated on the birth anniversary of Hakim Ajmal Khan, a social reformer and great Indian Unani physician.

Theme 2023 – Unani Medicine for Public Health

The first World Unani Day was celebrated by the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, in 2017 at the Central Research Institute of Unani Medicine (CRIUM), Hyderabad.

Exp. 10 February – World Pulses Day

World Pulses Day is marked on February 10 every year around the world.

The United Nations General Assembly designated this as a yearly global event in 2019.

Objective – To raise awareness about the importance of pulses as a crop.

It also highlights the nutritional value, food security, and environmental benefits of pulses.

Theme 2023- Pulses for a sustainable future