Current Affairs Quiz - March 2022

Notes:
Biologists have described a new species named ‘Acetabularia jalakanyakae’ from a rocky habitat of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
It belongs to the unicellular green algal genus Acetabularia. It is also called ‘mermaid’s wineglass’ because of its umbrella-shaped cap. The alga has a height of 0.5 to 10 cm. Four species of the genus are known from India, including three from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Notes:
Every year, March 8 is celebrated as International Women’s Day across the world to promote women’s rights. It also seeks to honour their achievements across the political, economic, social and cultural spheres.
The theme for International Women’s Day 2022 is, “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.”

Notes:
The Ministry of Labour & Employment has been awarding the Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar and “National Safety Awards (NSA)” since 1965 and National Safety Awards (Mines) [NSA (Mines)] since 1983. Union Minister Bhupender Yadav presented the latest year’s awards.
VRP is awarded in recognition of suggestions given by a worker or group of workers resulting in improvement in working conditions. The NSA is given in recognition of safety performance of industrial establishments.

Notes:
As per the reports of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5, Odisha topped the list at the national level in full immunization coverage with 90.5% of full immunization.
Full immunisation includes preventive doses against 12 different kinds of diseases including polio, tuberculosis, jaundice among others. Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 4.0 was rolled out in the state from March 7 to boost full immunization coverage of the targeted women and children.

Notes:
The Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy R.K. Singh launched the Virtual Smart Grid Knowledge Center (Virtual SGKC) and Innovation Park.
The Virtual SGKC was conceptualized and developed by the Public Sector Unit -POWERGRID with support from the Ministry of Power and technical assistance from USAID.

Notes:
The Haryana government recently presented a Rs 1.77-lakh-crore Budget for the financial year 2022-23.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar also announced the ‘Sushma Swaraj Award’ for women, which aims to honour their significant contribution or achievements in different fields in national and international spheres

Notes:
The Union Cabinet approved Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Oxford University, the UK.
MoU signed between ICMR and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft e.V. (DFG), Germany and that between ICMR and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) were also approved.

Notes:
The 15th Finance Commission recommended grants to be released to the states including grants to rural local bodies (RLBs).
Recently, the government has released ₹1,112.7 crore to Bihar, ₹473.9 crore to Karnataka, and ₹634.6 crore to West Bengal, as per the data released by the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance.

Notes:
The Minor forest produce collected by the tribal people of Nilambur, Kerala including wild honey, will be known under the brand Adavi.
The Jan Sikshan Sansthan (JSS) and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) launched the Adavi brand at a tribal festival. The brand is a part of the Gotramruth project implemented by the JSS and the NABARD. The scheme seeks to provide wider markets, especially foreign markets, for the Adavi products.

Notes:
‘Halari’ is a breed of Donkeys native to the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. The population of the breed is fast declining in the country.
Union Minister Parsottam Rupala will preside over a meeting of Maldharis (or traditional herdsmen) for the conservation of Halari donkeys. An animal fair with the best of Halari donkeys, goats of Kahmi and Bhagri breeds, will also be organised.