Current Affairs Quiz - February 2022

Notes:
Businessman Gautam Adani overtook Reliance Industries Chairperson Mukesh Ambani as Asia’s richest person, according to the Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
The real-time data on the index showed that Adani’s net worth stood at USD 88.5 billion (approximately Rs 6.6 lakh crore) and Ambani’s at USD 87.8 billion (approximately Rs 6.5 lakh crore). Adani was the 10th richest person in the world as on the date.

Notes:
Senegal won its first African Cup of Nations title in the year 2022 by beating Egypt 4-2 in a penalty shootout.
Senegal’s Sadio Mané scored the winning spot kick. Senegal had finished as runners-up in 2019 African Cup, losing the final 0–1 to Algeria. Senegal has played in sixteen editions of the Africa Cup of Nations and the team finally won their first AFCON title in 2021.

Notes:
Karnataka High Court Chief Justice constituted a three-judge bench, including himself, to hear a batch of petitions questioning a ban on the use of hijabs in a few pre-university colleges in the state.
A single-judge bench of the court had decided to refer the pleas to a larger bench as it found the case involved larger Constitutional issues. The decision came after two days of tension and protests across Karnataka over the issue.

Notes:
A Parliamentary committee has recommended increase in guaranteed days of work from 100 to 150, in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)
They also highlighted that the scheme is a last “fall-back” option for many in the rural areas. The Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, headed by Shiv Sena member Prataprao Jadhav tabled the report in Lok Sabha.

Notes:
The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, announced ‘European Chips Act’ that will enable 15 billion euros (USD 17.11 billion) in additional public and private investments until 2030.
The European Commission has already allocated 30 billion euros of public investments for chip production. This aims to avoid supply chain disruptions down the line and become less dependent on foreign firms.

Notes:
Ministry of Earth Science’s System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting Research (SAFAR) recently announced that Mumbai has seen unusually high levels of pollution this week, with its air quality index reading frequently above 300.
An AQI between 301 and 400 is categorised as ‘red’ or ‘very poor’. Mazgaon, the most polluted area in the city had AQI of 495 in ‘severe’ category. The current high pollution is due to a second dust storm in less than two weeks that has hit Mumbai.

Notes:
Pratham Foundation annually conducts an extensive survey in schools, to analyse the learning outcome of students.
Recently, it released the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER, West Bengal). As per the report, the basic reading and numerical abilities of school children in West Bengal have reduced during Covid-19, without class rooms.

Notes:
The Indian Railways has notified the Indian Railway Management System (IRMS) which will unify the eight existing services of the transporter.
IRMS is a new Group ‘A’ Central service and only the officers of IRMS will be eligible to become the functional members and chairman/CEO of the railway board.

Notes:
Indian National Women’s Day is observed every year on 13 February to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sarojini Naidu.
She was also called ‘Nightingale of India’ or ‘Bharat Kokila’. Sarojini Naidu was the first woman Governor of Uttar Pradesh and the first woman ever to be elected as the President of the Indian National Congress.

Notes:
Every year, World Radio Day is celebrated on February 13 with an aim to highlight the importance of radio.
The member states of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) first declared this day in the year 2011. It was later adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012 as an International Day.