Current Affairs Quiz - March 2022

Notes:
Russian defence authorities recently announced that they were using Kalibr cruise missiles among other heavy weapons against Ukraine.
Ships and submarines from the Northern and Black Sea launched Kalibr cruise missiles and Zircon hypersonic missiles at sea and land targets. An aircraft launching a Kinzhal hypersonic ballistic missile and striking a land target was also released.

Notes:
Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya inaugurated the “Step-Up to End TB- World TB Day Summit” on the occasion of World Tuberculosis Day at New Delhi.
Union Health Minister will award well-performing states and districts for achieving TB elimination.  In 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the Delhi End TB summit and proposed to End TB in India by 2025, five years ahead of the TB-related SDG targets of 2030.

Notes:
Kerala Tourism has launched its 24×7 WhatsApp chatbot ‘Maya’ to enable tourists to access all information and updates about the tourism sector in the state.
The dedicated WhatsApp interactive service ‘Maya’ will serve as a virtual travel assistant for tourists. The Service can be obtained using WhatsApp chat or by scanning the QR code, for a hassle-free travel experience in the state.

Notes:
The ‘India TB Report 2022’ was recently released by the Union Health Minister. As per the report, India reported a sharp 19 per cent rise in tuberculosis cases in 2021 over the previous year.
The total number of incident TB patients notified during 2021 were around 19 lakhs as opposed to that of 16 lakhs in 2020. There has been an increase in the mortality rate due to TB between 2019 and 2020 by 11 per cent in India.

Notes:
The ten-day mega Red Fort Festival titled ‘Bharat Bhagya Vidhata’ commenced recently at Red Fort in New Delhi.
Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani inaugurated the festival. The Red Fort mega festival is being organised as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav by Ministry of Culture. The Red Fort festival is to commemorate the heritage of the country and culture of every part of India.

Notes:
An ancient clay pot was recently unearthed at Maligaimedu excavation site in Ariyalur, in the state of Tamil Nadu.
The phase II excavation project at Maligaimedu in Gangaikonda Cholapuram was recently inaugurated by Chief Minister MK Stalin. A 25 cm high, 12.5 cm wide, ancient clay pot was unearthed recently. Besides this, a 30-layer brick wall and a clay spoon were excavated.

Notes:
‘Prasthan’ is an offshore security exercise, conducted by the Indian Navy every six months. It includes participation from the Indian Air Force, Coast Guard, ONGC, Mumbai Port Trust, Customs, state fisheries department, Marine Police among others.
This exercise aims to ensure offshore security and to integrate efforts of all maritime stakeholders involved in offshore defence.

Notes:
Indian weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu has been announced the winner of the third edition of the BBC Indian Sportswoman Of The Year (ISWOTY) award. Mirabai Chanu became the first Indian weightlifter to clinch a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
The ‘BBC Emerging Player’ award has been presented to Shafali Verma, the youngest female cricketer who played for India in T20 International match in 2019. Karnam Malleswari was presented the BBC Lifetime Achievement award.

Notes:
The President of India Ram Nath Kovind, presented the third National Water Awards and launched the Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain campaign 2022 in New Delhi.
The Government of India in 2019 launched the ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan’ and in the same year ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ was also launched. On 22nd March in 2021, on ‘World Water Day’, the ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain’ campaign was launched, to urge citizens to conserve water.

Notes:
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. Has launched the world’s longest commercial passenger flight by distance.
It has planned to reroute its New York-Hong Kong service to avoid Russian airspace, and that would be the longest flight. The distance of 16,618 kilometers is covered at 17 hours would surpass Singapore Airlines’ New York service, which takes about 17-and-a-half hours to cover 15,349 km.