Current Affairs Quiz - February 2022

Notes:
The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has approved to set up India’s first Geo-Park at Lamheta village on the banks of the Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh.
A Geo-Park is a unified area which aims to protect the geological heritage in a sustainable way. The site is already in the UNESCO Geo-heritage tentative list. Several dinosaur fossils had been found in the Narmada valley, in the Bhedaghat-Lameta Ghat area of Jabalpur.

Notes:
The Lunar New Year was observed on February 1, 2022. It also known as the Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival in China.
The celebration marks the end of the Year of the Ox and the start of the Year of the Tiger. The New Year is celebrated by nearly 2 billion people in Korea, Singapore, Mongolia, Tibet, Vietnam and in Asian communities, for more than two weeks.

Notes:
Union Budget announced a scheme, under which the government will promote chemical-free natural farming throughout the country.
It is to be implemented with a focus on farmers’ land in 5 km wide corridors along the river Ganga, in the first stage. The Budget also announced that two lakh anganwadis will be upgraded and a national tele mental health programme will also be launched.

Notes:
‘World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day’ is observed on January 30 every year, to raise awareness on neglected tropical diseases.
This year’s World NTD Day was commemorated under the theme ‘Achieving health equity to end the neglect of poverty-related diseases’. Some examples of NTDs are Chagas disease, Chikungunya, Dengue, Leprosy, Rabies and Trachoma among others. They affect 1 billion people globally.

Notes:
Researchers have discovered a tiny new species of cynipid gall wasp in the branches of a live oak tree. It is the first insect species to be described alongside its fully sequenced genome.
The researchers are studying how the nonstinging wasps may have been impacted by Houston’s historic February 2021 freeze. The wasp was named Neuroterus Valhalla, after the location of its original discovery, as it was discovered at Valhalla, a student hangout at Rice University, USA.

Notes:
The Andhra Pradesh government started the Clean Andhra Pradesh (CLAP)-Jagananna Swachha Sankalpam programme.
It aims to clean up rural areas, improve sanitation conditions and waste management with public participation. Besides door-to-door collection of garbage, the campaign aims for segregation of liquid and solid waste, onsite waste treatment, and encouraging home composting.

Notes:
Ministry Of Statistics And Programme Implementation released the 28^th edition of the publication, ‘Energy statistics India – 2022’.
It is a repository of statistics on energy resources and highlights India’s commitment and progress made in sustainable energy systems. The publication presents the concepts of production, consumption, trade, energy balance etc. The data is collected from Ministry of Coal, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ministry of Power, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

Notes:
The Scheme of Assistance to NSFs is a Central Sector Scheme and the main source of funding for preparation of national teams for all major national and international competitions.
The Union Government has approved continuation of Scheme of Assistance to National Sports Federations (NSFs) with an outlay of Rs. 1575 crore for XV Finance Commission Cycle (2021-22 to 2025-26).

Notes:
Arif Khan, who will be competing in the Slalom and Giant Slalom events, is the only contestant from India, in the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022.
India announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, after the honour of carrying the Olympic torch went to a Chinese soldier who was wounded in the Galvan clash two years ago.

Notes:
Shares of Facebook owner Meta fell 26%, the biggest single-day slide in market value for a U.S. company.
This huge drop erased over USD 200 billion from Meta’s market capitalization and around USD 29 billion from Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth. This further dragged the Nasdaq Composite Index lower.