Current Affairs Quiz - February 2022

Notes:
A team of Indian Scientists has recently identified the next-generation probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus Plantarum JBC5.
The bacterium promoted healthy aging on a model organism called Caenorhabditis Elegans. The team from Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), Guwahati, has also developed a yogurt using this probiotic bacterium.

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:
The seventh round of India-EU consultations on disarmament and non-proliferation matters was held in a virtual format.
The consultations are part of dialogue mechanisms under the ‘Roadmap to 2025’ for further strengthening the India-EU Strategic Partnership.

Notes:
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) recently launched an agro ecology-based programme JIVA.
It aims to promote natural farming under NABARD’s watershed and wadi programmes in 11 states covering five agro-ecological zones. It aims to nudge the farming community towards natural farming.

Notes:
Mount Etna is an active strato-volcano located on the east coast of Sicily in Italy. Recently, the volcano has erupted causing a volcanic storm.
Volcanic storms can happen in particularly violent eruptions or with volcanoes located near the sea. Volcanologists observed volcanic lightning over the Mount Etna in 2021, after the one witnessed in 2015.

Notes:
The Government has approved the umbrella scheme of modernisation of police force for the next five years (2021-22 to 2025-26) with a financial outlay of Rs 26,275 crore.
More than Rs 18,000 crore of this money has been allotted towards security related expenditure in Jammu and Kashmir, Left Wing Extremism areas and the Northeast.

Notes:
Frank-Walter Steinmeier has been elected to a second term as Germany’s President. A special assembly voted the veteran politician, to the President Post.
Steinmeier was elected by secret ballot by a majority of the assembly for another five years. German presidents are elected by special assemblies comprising lawmakers and hundreds of other prominent citizens.

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:
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).