Current Affairs Quiz - February 2022

Notes:
NITI Aayog released a report titled ‘Reimagining Healthcare in India through Blended Finance’. As per the report, about 65 per cent of hospital beds in the country cater to almost 50 per cent of the population concentrated in some states.
The report also stressed that the number of beds must be increased by at least 30 per cent to ensure equitable access to healthcare facilities for people.

Notes:
U.S announced USD 5 billion to be made available under the new National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program.
It aims to build a national electric vehicle charging network. The money will be used over five years to build thousands of electric vehicle charging stations.

Notes:
Brazil recorded the most deforestation ever in the Amazon rainforest for the month of January, according to new government data.
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon totalled 430 sq kilometres last month, five times higher than January 2021. This is according to preliminary satellite data from government space research agency.

Notes:
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has captured its first visible light images of the surface of Venus from space.
Parker used its Wide-Field Imager (WISPR) to image the entire night side in wavelengths of the visible spectrum and extending into the near-infrared. Venus’ surface is usually hidden from sight as it is covered in thick clouds.

Notes:
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog in collaboration with UNDP, India launched the Community Innovator Fellowship (CIF).
It was launched on the occasion of the “International Day of Women & Girls in Science”. It is a one-year-long fellowship program, developed as a pre-incubation model to guide innovators set up their social enterprise focusing on SDG based solutions.

Notes:
The Ministry of Home Affairs has recently recommended a ban on 54 Chinese mobile applications, including the popular game Garena Free Fire.
In 2020, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) banned TikTok and other popular short video apps from China. MeitY banned these apps under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, which states that the government has the “Power to issue directions for interception or monitoring or decryption of any information through any computer resource.”

Notes:
Japan is the only country that has dedicated country-focused industrial townships across India. Recently DPIIT (India) reviewed the status of Japan Industrial Townships (JITs) with METI (Japan).
Japan Industrial Townships (JITs) were set up after the “Action Agenda for the India-Japan Investment and Trade Promotion and Asia-Pacific Economic Integration” signed in 2015. They wer developed in India especially in Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and Chennai Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC).

Notes:
The Lassa fever-causing virus is found in West Africa and was first discovered in 1969 in Lassa, Nigeria. The fever is spread by rats.
It is primarily found in countries in West Africa including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and Nigeria where it is endemic. Recently, three persons were diagnosed with Lassa fever in the UK and died. The cases have been linked to travel to West African countries.

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:
Using the SOAR (Southern Astrophysical Research) Telescope in Chile, astronomers have confirmed that the asteroid 2020 XL5 is an Earth Trojan.
Earth Trojan is an Earth companion following the same path around the Sun as Earth does. 2020 XL5 was discovered in 2020 by the Pan-STARRS1 survey. Study shows that it is much larger than the only other Earth Trojan known.