Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2024

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The Government of Tamil Nadu introduces the Ungalai Thedi Ungal Ooril Scheme 2024, offering citizens monthly access to state government schemes and scholarships. This initiative aims to review project performance, inspect infrastructure, and address public concerns, ensuring effective implementation of government programs.

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StartupShala, launched by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), features the Flagship Accelerator Program. Designed to propel early-stage startups, the program aims to expedite their growth by furnishing resources and opportunities. Through a vast network of partners spanning incubation centers, educational institutions, and corporate entities, startups benefit from diverse facilities and resources, elevating their journey to the next level of success.

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Surat Airport in Gujarat has achieved ‘International Airport’ status, per the Indian government’s recent announcement. The move, aimed at facilitating global travel and boosting import-export activities for the diamond and textile industries, is set to unlock economic potential. The elevation to international status is anticipated to drive economic growth, attract foreign investment, and bolster diplomatic ties. Surat’s enhanced role in passenger and cargo operations is seen as a key driver for regional development and prosperity.

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Researchers have discovered a new frog species, Sphaerotheca varshaabhu, thriving in Bengaluru’s urban landscape. Named for its rain-loving behavior, the amphibian emerges from burrows during early showers. With unique characteristics, it adapts to urban challenges, displaying behaviors and physical attributes that set it apart. The team employed genetic analysis, morphological studies, and bioacoustics to confirm its distinctiveness from known frog species.

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China has imposed a ban on the import of ruminants and related products from Iraq due to a bluetongue disease outbreak. Bluetongue is a non-contagious viral disease affecting domestic and wild ruminants, transmitted by insects’ particularly biting species of Culicoides midges. The virus belongs to the Reoviridae family with 24 identified serotypes. Symptoms vary, but sheep are most severely affected. The disease is globally distributed in regions where the insect vector thrives, posing a threat to various species with transmission facilitated by the infected vector.

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The flightless Aldabra rail, scientifically known as Dryolimnas cuvieri aldabranus, was thought extinct 130,000 years ago but reappeared through iterative evolution. Residing on a coral atoll off Africa’s southeast coast, it resembles a chicken with a gray back, red head, and white throat. A subspecies of the white-throated rail, it’s the only flightless bird in the Indian Ocean. The Aldabra rail evolved twice, losing its ability to fly, a phenomenon explored in a 2019 Zoological Journal study on the atoll’s fossil record. Iterative evolution involves the repeated emergence of traits from the same ancestral lineage at different times.

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The Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary in Tripura recently welcomed new additions, including two Royal Bengal tigers, two leopards, four golden pigeons, a silver pigeon, two peafowls, and four hill mynas. Established in 1972, the sanctuary spans 18.5 sq. km, featuring sections for different animal types. It houses diverse flora with 456 plant species and various fauna, including primates, leopards, clouded leopards, and a revived crab-eating mongoose. The sanctuary also boasts a rich avian population with species like winged stork and White ibis.

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In the inaugural tri-State synchronized vulture survey, 320 vultures were tallied across seven protected areas in Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. The Himalayan griffon, an Old World vulture from the Accipitridae family, was exclusively reported in Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. Being among the largest Old World vultures and true raptors, these monogamous, diurnal birds exhibit a solitary nature. Their distribution spans the Himalayas, Tibetan region, and Central Asian Mountains, with a conservation status of “Near Threatened” by IUCN.

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The theme for National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in 2024 is “Engage, Educate, Empower: Uniting to End HIV/AIDS in Black Communities”. National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is an opportunity to increase HIV education, increase testing, increase community involvement, increase treatment, promote HIV testing, prevention, and treatment and stop HIV stigma.

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A volcano in southwestern Iceland erupted for the third time since December, prompting the evacuation of the Blue Lagoon spa. The eruption, along a three-kilometer fissure northeast of Mount Sýlingarfell, began at 0600 GMT. Lava flowed westward, posing no immediate threat to Grindavik. The Civil Defense agency safeguarded a hot water supply pipe, urging conservation. Iceland, prone to eruptions, experienced hundreds of small earthquakes preceding the event. The Reykjanes Peninsula faces ongoing upheaval, raising doubts about Grindavik’s permanent inhabitation.