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 National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the constitution of a ‘Fly Ash Management and Utilisation Mission’ in its order. The Secretary of MoEF&CC will be the nodal agency.
It aims to coordinate and monitor issues relating to the handling and disposal of fly ash and related issues. It is to be jointly headed by the Secretaries of Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Ministry of Coal and Power and Chief Secretaries of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Notes:
US President Joe Biden designated Qatar a major non-NATO ally, during a meeting with the ruling leader of Qatar at the White House.
This is seen as a symbolic honour to Qatar for its assistance with evacuations from Afghanistan and in ending last year’s Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

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:
The Union Budget announced a fund with blended capital, raised under co-investment model, will be facilitated through NABARD. It will be used to finance start-ups for agriculture and rural enterprise.
The Government would promote the use of ‘Kisan Drones’ for crop assessment, digitisation of land records and spraying of insecticides.

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:
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma launched “Project Sadbhawana”. It aims to dispose over 4-5 lakh pending files lying in the State secretariat within a year.
A portal will be created where people can inform of their pending files. Along with project Sadbhavana, a Swachhata Abhiyan in Janata Bhawan will also be launched to promote cleanliness in all the departments in the Secretariat.

Notes:
Scientists have discovered an alien hammerhead flatworm species that looks like a miniature king cobra. The researchers found the creatures hunting snails in France and Italy.
The flatworm has been named after the COVID-19 pandemic as Humbertium covidum’. These new hammerhead flatworms are also among two newly described species found in countries that are not part of their native range so they were very likely introduced there by humans.

Notes:
The marine version of the French-made Rafale fighter jet has been successfully flight-tested at a shore-based facility in Goa.
The Rafale-M competes against the US-made Super Hornet, as both of which are being evaluated for a purchase by the Indian Navy for deployment on INS Vikrant. It is a 44,000-tonne indigenously developed aircraft carrier, that is undergoing trials for commissioning in August.

Notes:
Chhattisgarh has recently implemented ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ (ONORC) plan, under which the people of the state can lift their food-grains quota from any ration shops across the country.
With the integration of Chhattisgarh, the ONORC plan is now operational in 35 States/UTs covering almost 96.8 per cent of about 77 crore NFSA beneficiaries in the country. This was announced by the Department of Food & Public Distribution.