General Knowledge (Current Issue) - 06

01. Permission for Advertisement:

Twitter company has become the 01st social media platform in the US to allow cannabis ads. However, other social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram & Tiktok have reported that pot is illegal in the United States federally. Thus, they have also imposed a ban on cannabis advertisements. Twitter says it will allow cannabis companies to advertise as long as they are properly licensed. Also, Twitter has urged people not to target people under the age of 21.

02. New Act:

Motor Vehicle Transport Commissioner General Nishantha Weerasinghe has said that a new program has been undertaken to provide basic first aid knowledge to drivers who apply for driver's license in Sri Lanka.

03. Members of COPE & COPA:

New members of the Committee on Government Accountability Initiatives (COPE) and the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) were announced in Parliament.

Members of COPE

• Jagat Pushpakumara

• Janaka Vakumpura

• T.V. Chanaka

• Shantha Bandara

• Anura Dissanayake

• Raoob Hakeem

• Anura Priyadarshana Yappa

• Anuruddha Herat

• Mahindananda Alutgamage

• Dayasiri Jayasekara

• Rohitha Abeygunawardena

• Eran Wickramaratne

• Nimal Lanza

• Bandara Jayamaha

• SM Marikar

• Rohini Wijeratne

• Samintha Wijesiri

• Sanjiva is the enemy

• Jagantha Kumara Sumtirarachi

• Sudarshana Thenapitiya

• Premanath Tolawatta

• Upul Mahendra Rajapaksa

• M. Rameswaran

• S. Rajamanikam Chanakyan

• Rajika Wickramasinghe

• Madura Vidhanake

• Ranjit Bhandara

• Charitha Herat

COPA Members

• Mohan Priyadarshana de Silva

• Lasantha is beautiful

• Prasanna Ranaweera

• Kadar Mastan

• Suren Raghavan

• Samara Sampath Dasanayake

• Diana Kamaga

• S.B. Dissanayake

• Thissa Athanayake

• Vajira Abeywardhana

• A. L.A.M. Ataullah

• Kabir Hasim

• Mano Ganesan

• Sarath Veerasekhara

• Vimalaweera Dissanayake

• Niroshan Perera

• J. C. Alavathuvala

• Vadivel Suresh

• Ashok Abeysinghe

• Puthika Pathirana

• Jayantha Ketagoda

• Hector Abuhamy

• Hesha Vithanage

• Motivated by Pradeep

• Start writing

• S. Rajamanikam Chanakyan

• W. T. Sahan Pradeep

• D. Weerasinghe

• Harini Amarasuriya.

It is to be noted that Member of Parliament 'Sudarshani Fernando Pulle' was not included in the COPA team.

04. President of COPA:

Member of Parliament Mayanda Dissanayake has been appointed as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts (COPA).

05. World Bank Chairman:

Ajay Banka, of Indian origin, has been selected as the President of the World Bank. He previously served as the CEO of Master Card. It is noteworthy that US President Joe Biden nominated Ajay Banga for the post.

06. Tourist App:

For the benefit and safety of tourists, Sri Lanka's Ministry of Tourism will launch the Tourism Mobile App from March 1st. This featured app is one of the best mobile apps used in the tourism industry in other countries. This app can be run in 07 languages. The mobile app will register all three wheelers & the bar code system will be displayed on the vehicle for foreign tourists to scan the app.

A 24-hour active call center will record any communication and store it in the app's data base. This application is monitored and the police have been provided with the facility to take appropriate action in case of any suspicious or untoward incidents. With the aim of improving the tourism sector of the country, this app is expected to play an important role in the future with the facilities provided to promote it.

07. Kissing Device:

Remote lovers from China, Jiang Zhongli, have designed a new device called 'Remote Kissing Device' to exchange real kisses.

08. Age limit increase:

A new law has come into force in England and Wales raising the age of marriage to 18. Earlier, marriage could be done at the age of 16 or 17 with parental consent.

Previously, only the use of coercion such as forced marriage and intimidation was a crime. Child marriage is currently illegal under the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act, whether or not force is used under any circumstances. Those found guilty are expected to be sentenced to 07 years in prison.

09. FIFA Award:

Argentina's Messi and Spain's Alexia Butellas have been awarded the FIFA Player of the Year 2022 award.

10. New Rule:
The government led by Kim Jong-un has banned the viewing of TV series, foreign films and Hollywood films in North Korea. In case of violation, the Kim Jong government has announced that the parents will be sentenced to 06 months in prison and the children will be sentenced to 05 years in prison.