Current Affairs Quiz - April 2022

Notes:
A recent study organised by Ferns (a nature conservation society) in association with the Kerala Forest Department, showed that there has been a significant growth of invasive plants, especially Senna spectabilis, in the forest areas of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR).
The growth of such plants in the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary is a matter of serious concern to the conservation of wildlife habitats.

Notes:
The ‘e-Proposal system’ of Meghalaya’s Planning department has won the prestigious UN Award-World Summit on the Information Society Forum (WSIS) Prizes 2022.
The system is a part of the Meghalaya government’s flagship programme, Meghalaya Enterprise Architecture (MeghEA). Meghalaya’s project was awarded as ‘Champion Project’ in the category “The role of governments and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development”.

Notes:
The board of top micro-blogging company Twitter has agreed to a USD 44bn takeover offer from the billionaire Elon Musk.
Elon Musk is the world’s richest person, according to Forbes magazine, with an estimated net worth of USD 273.6bn. He runs the electric vehicle maker Tesla and the aerospace firm SpaceX.

Notes:
As per the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Madhya Pradesh government will give Rs 900 per month for farmers for rearing indigenous cows to promote natural farming.
Another objective of the scheme is to deal with the problem of stray cattle, which has become an issue of concern for farmers in Madhya Pradesh. There are about 8.5 Lakh stray cattle in the state, according to the 20th Livestock Survey. To support natural farming, the state will appoint five workers in every block, who will motivate the farmers to take up natural farming.

Notes:
The city of Taj Mahal, Agra, has become the first city in the country to have vacuum-based sewers. If the trial in Agra becomes successful, the sewer will be used in Kochi Municipal Corporation.
As per Agra Smart City officials, the corporation has connected 240 such houses near the Taj Mahal with vacuum-based sewer where conventional sewer systems cannot be used. The system will automatically issue an alert if there is a choke or any other issue.

Notes:
Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Shri Narayan Rane inaugurated the Ministry’s Mega Event- “Enterprise India” under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
It is a series of commemorative entrepreneurship development events and activities being organised to promote entrepreneurship culture and create awareness about the schemes and initiatives of Ministry of MSME across the country.

Notes:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the continuation of the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme till December 2024.
Through the scheme, affordable collateral-free loans are given to street vendors. The scheme aimed to facilitate loans for an amount of Rs 5,000 crore while the recent approval has increased the loan amount to Rs 8,100 crore.

Notes:
Indian Coast Guard has commissioned ICGS ‘Saksham’, the fifth Coast Guard Ship in the series of 105 M-Class offshore patrol vessels.
Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Saksham is the fifth and last Offshore Patrol Vessel designed and developed by Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) for Coast Guard. It uses totally indigenous steering gear and gearbox, which was earlier being imported. GSL is the first DPSU Shipyard to formulate and adopt a Make-in-India Policy.

Notes:
A 34-year old Indian-origin Malaysian who was convicted of smuggling at least 42 grams (1.48 oz) of heroin into Singapore, was hanged.
The execution was made after multiple legal challenges and appeals on the grounds that he had an intellectual disability, failed. In response to global criticism of their use of death penalty, Singapore officials defended the decision that death penalty is a deterrent against drug trafficking.

Notes:
Ministry of Development of North-East Region is organising North-East Festival across all the eight North Eastern States from as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
The Seven-day Festival aims to showcase the achievements of North Eastern Region with the Spirit of ‘Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahi’. The programmes will cover the critical areas including infrastructure, investment potential, energy needs and role of women.