Current Affairs Quiz - February 2022

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:
Scientists in the United Kingdom have achieved a new milestone in producing nuclear fusion energy, or imitating the way energy is produced in the Sun.
A team at the Joint European Torus (JET) facility in central England generated 59 mega joules of sustained energy during an experiment. A kg of fusion fuel contains about 10 million times energy of that of a kg of coal, oil or gas.

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 International Labour Organization has condemned China for racial and religious discrimination in the Xinjiang region.
The report said that as a ILO member state, the Chinese government is firmly committed to provide decent work for all China’s ethnic minority groups including Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

Notes:
French president Emmanuel Macron hosted the high-level session of the One Ocean summit in the city of Brest.
Nearly 27 EU states and 16 others agreed to pursue a global agreement by the end of year, to regulate sustainable use of oceans all across the globe. Many countries joined the “High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People” and “the High Ambition Coalition on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction”.

Notes:
India has cut its tax on crude palm oil (CPO) imports to 5 percent from 7.5 percent. The reduction in the tax, known as ‘Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC)’, will widen the gap between the CPO and refined palm oil import duties.
This will make it cheaper for Indian refiners to import CPO. India is the world’s biggest edible oil importer.

Notes:
Vedanta and Hon Hai Technology Group (also known as Foxconn) have formed a joint venture (JV) to manufacture semiconductors in India.
This is the first joint venture in the electronics manufacturing space after the Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI). In December 2021, the Centre cleared a PLI scheme for semiconductor and display board production targeting an investment of Rs 76,000 crore over the next five to six years.

Notes:
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked a never-before-used emergency power to curtail protests demanding end of Covid restrictions.
This decision was taken after anti-government protests in the Canadian capital and blockades at border crossings with the US. The country is witnessing over two weeks of “Freedom Convoy” protests by Canadian truckers and their supporters, demanding an end to all Covid restrictions.

Notes:
After Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Karnataka High Court has struck down the state’s ban on online gambling, declaring it to be ultra vires under the Constitution.
The Court struck down key amendments to the Karnataka Police Act, 1963, which were brought in last year to ban all forms of gambling in the state. The Court said that the state may bring in legislation to regulate betting and gambling, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.

Notes:
Rajasthan has the maximum households electrified through the solar-based standalone system, under Saubhagya scheme.
The hill states of Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir had no beneficiaries under the initiative. Rajasthan (1,23,682 households) is followed by Chhattisgarh (65,373), Uttar Pradesh (53,234).