Current Affairs Quiz - March 2022

Notes:
The U.S. Senate approved a bill to provide USD 52 billion in subsidies for semiconductor chips manufacturing. The legislation was sent to the House of Representatives, to launch a formal process known as a “conference”
The chip shortage has disrupted production across the globe. The Senate earlier passed chips legislation in June that also authorized USD 190 billion to strengthen U.S. technology and research.

Notes:
Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Shaktikanta Das dedicated Varnika, the Ink Manufacturing Unit of Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL) to the nation in Mysuru.
It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). BRBNMPL has set up Varnika with an annual ink manufacturing capacity of 1,500 MT to enhance the security of banknotes. It aims to achieve cost efficiency and reduced import dependency.

Notes:
The Defence Forces of the United States and Philippines launched their largest joint military drills in the Philippines named ‘Balikatan 2022’.
The 12-day war games involve nearly 9,000 Filipino and American soldiers. It will cover maritime security, live-fire training, amphibious operation and counter-terrorism, as well as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

Notes:
As many as 313 central sector and centrally sponsored schemes from 53 ministries have been onboarded on the DBT Bharat Portal.
The Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) programme was launched to bring transparency through the transfer of subsidies to the beneficiaries through their bank accounts. There were 98 crore beneficiaries (cash) and 81.9 crore beneficiaries (kind) in 2020-21.

Notes:
Railway collisions were the second-largest reason for the unnatural deaths of elephants while Electrocution was the first most reason.
The Union Environment Ministry has constituted a permanent coordination committee that includes the Ministry of Railways and the Environment Ministry to prevent elephant deaths on railway tracks. 19 elephants were killed across the country on railway tracks in 2018-19, 14 in 2019-20 and 12 in 2020-21.

Notes:
The Union Government has appointed CS Rajan as Chairman and Managing Director of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) for a period of six months.
Till March-end, the company has resolved debt amounting to Rs 55,000 crore. Out of which, Rs 21,000 crore has been discharged by way of monetisation of assets and debt repayment. The resolved debt amounts to 90% of the total debt that was expected to be resolved.

Notes:
The Karnataka government has announced Vinaya Samarasya Yojana, an awareness programme meant to eradicate untouchability in Gram Panchayats across the state.
The scheme has been named after a three-year-old Dalit boy Vinay, whose family was slapped a fine of Rs 25,000 by the village leaders last year for the boy’s act of entering into a local temple.

Notes:
The 5th BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) Summit was hosted virtually by Sri Lanka, the current chair.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the conference virtually and announced USD 1 million in aid to promote the budget of the Bimstec secretariat. The theme of the Colombo summit is “Bimstec-Towards a Resilient Region, Prosperous Economies, Healthy Peoples”.

Notes:
Chinarak mines are located in the mountains of northern Afghanistan. Recently, three times as many men have come to work than before the Taliban takeover.
Thousands of men flocked to the dangerous mines, to sustain their livelihood amidst an economic crisis. For more than six months, Afghanistan has been gripped by a severe economic crisis that has wiped out incomes, raised food prices and left millions hungry.

Notes:
Tipu Sultan commissioned numerous significant paintings and many of those are being auctioned at huge sums.
A painting titled ‘The Battle of Pollilur’ is expected to fetch between £5,00,000 and £8,00,000. It is a 32-foot long monumental painting depicting the victory of the Mysore army led by Haidar Ali and his son Tipu, against the British troops of the East India Company in the Battle of Pollilur, 1780.