Current Affairs Quiz - February 2022

Notes:
The African Union Summit 2022 recently began in the AU Headquarters Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The summit was held amidst a range of military coups and the coronavirus pandemic in the continent.
The two-day summit will address six coups or attempted coups over the past 18 months and low vaccination rates. The 55-member AU also faces pressure to push for a ceasefire in host country Ethiopia, where a 15-month war has killed thousands of people and starved many more.

Notes:
A team of researchers has identified a new gecko species from the hills of Attappady, in the Western Ghats, Kerala.
The new species, named Hemidactylus easai, belongs to the genus Hemidactylus goldfuss. The gecko measures 105 mm and is a light brown to grey in colour. India has 48 species of geckos of genus Hemidactylus goldfuss.

Notes:
An igloo cafe, claimed to be the world’s largest, has been opened at Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir. With a height of 37.5 feet and a diameter of 44.5 feet, this was the world’s largest cafe of its kind.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the biggest igloo cafe is in Switzerland, and its height is 33.8 feet and diameter 42.4 feet.

Notes:
The Cyclone Batsirai has recently hit the towns of Madagascar. It killed 21 people and displaced more than 60,000 before moving away.
The UN Food Aid Agency announced that the cyclone also destroyed crops of rice, fruits and vegetable. The towns were already struggling with the consequences of a severe drought.

Notes:
Yash Dhull captained the Indian team which won the ICC U19 World Cup in 2022. India defeated England by 4 wickets to win the final held in Antigua.
It was also a record fifth U-19 title for India. Other players who contributed to the success include Nishant Sindhu, Shaik Rasheed, Raj Bawa and Ravi Kumar among others. England was bowled out for 189 in 44.5 overs.

Notes:
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting  released Central Media Accreditation Guidelines-2022 .It includes a stringent provision under which the accreditation is liable to be suspended or withdrawn if a journalist ‘acts in a manner which is prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State’ among others.
Accredited media persons are prohibited from using the words “Accredited to the government of India” on their profile.

Notes:
To reintroduce cheetahs, Union Ministry of Environment unveiled the ‘Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India’.
Recently, it has been decided that 12 to 14 cheetahs are to be brought from South Africa, Namibia  or Other African Countries over a period of five years, as the first step. The primary aim is to establish a free-ranging population of cheetahs in and around Kuno Palpur National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh.

Notes:
The US Justice Department has announced the unravelling of the country’s biggest-ever cryptocurrency theft case.
The officials have recovered USD 3.6 billion, which was linked to the hack of Bitfinex. It is a virtual currency exchange whose systems were breached by hackers nearly six years ago. A pair is accused of conspiring to launder 119,754 bitcoin stolen after the exchange was hacked.

Notes:
Ministry of Coal announced that a target of all India coal production of 1.2 billion tonne up to the year 2023-24 has been fixed.
The Union government launched Single Window Clearance portal in 2021 for the coal sector to speed up the operationalisation of coal mines. It is a unified platform that assists for clearances and approvals required for starting a coal mine in India.

Notes:
One Ocean Summit is being organised by France in cooperation with the United Nations and the World Bank.
India supported the French initiative of a ‘High Ambition Coalition on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the conference and said that India is committed to eliminating single-use plastic.