Current Affairs Quiz - February 2022

Notes:
Environment clearance has been issued to as many as 60 mining areas and legal mining of Bajri (riverbed sand) is initiated in Rajasthan.
Four years ago, the Supreme Court banned the sand mining activities in riverbeds until a scientific replenishment study was completed. The apex court later appointed a Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to probe the issue of illegal sand mining.

Notes:
For the first time, India’s Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched a satellite jointly developed by team of international researchers including from Taiwan.
INSPIRESat-1 stands for International Research and Teaching Satellite Project satellite one. It has been developed by scientists from universities of US, Taiwan, India and Singapore. Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C52 mission launched an Earth observation satellite EOS-04 and two others.

Notes:
Philippines has signed a USD 375 million deal with India to buy three batteries of the BrahMos cruise missile from India.
Recently India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held discussions with his Philippines counterpart Teodoro L Locsin, on mutual national security and development aspirations. External Affairs Minister Jaishankar has undergone a three-day maiden visit to the Philippines.

Notes:
The full moon, known as the Snow Moon occurs during the month of February. This year, it reached its peak on February 16.
The bright star Regulus in the constellation Leo, the lion was also witnessed along with the moon. The Snow Moon, also called the Storm Moon, is a name from the Algonquin tribe ‘because of the heavy snows that fall in this season’.

Notes:
The Indian Embassy in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, issued advisory, saying Indian nationals particularly students whose stay is not essential, may consider leaving temporarily.
It also advised them to avoid all non-essential travel. This came at the backdrop of repeated warnings from US officials that Russia could launch an invasion of Ukraine. There are more than 20,000 Indians in Ukraine, including professionals, businessmen and some 18,000 students.

Notes:
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways notified new safety rules for two-wheelers carrying children aged between nine months and four years.
As per the new regulations, children are required to wear a crash helmet and a safety harness. It also imposes a speed limit of 40 kilometres per hour on two-wheelers with children as pillion riders. The Motor Vehicles Act has been amended to introduce these rules.

Notes:
The Mumbai water taxi services to provide connectivity between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai were inaugurated by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
The newly constructed Belapur jetty and water taxi services were inaugurated virtually. The Mumbai Port Trust, Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) and CIDCO coordinated in the implementation of the project.

Notes:
The 6^th African Union – European Union Summit was held on 17 February – 18 February 2022 at Brussels, where heads of member states of African Union and European Union participated.
The meeting was co-chaired by the President of the European Council, President of Senegal and the Chairperson of the AU. During the summit, the leaders agreed on a joint vision for a renewed partnership.

Notes:
The Munich Security Conference is an annual event in which world leaders gather to discuss international security related policies. It has been convened at Munich, Germany since 1963.
The 2022 Munich Security Conference commenced on 18^th Feb 2022 with a major focus on the Ukraine crisis. But there was no Russian delegation to the conference.

Notes:
The Ministry of Education has approved the scheme of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) for continuation till 2026. The total expenditure of Rs 12,929.16 crore out of which the central share is Rs 8,120.97 crores.
RUSA is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for funding the state government universities and colleges. Under the new phase, state governments will be supported for gender inclusion, equity initiatives, ICT, enhancing employability through vocationalisation and skill upgradation.