Current Affairs Quiz - March 2022

Notes:
North Korea has confirmed that it has test-fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) since 2017 named ‘Hwasong-17’.
Hwasong-17 flew 1,090 km at a maximum altitude of 6,248.5 km and hit a target. Hwasong-17 is claimed to be the largest road-mobile, liquid-fuelled ICBM in the world. Hwasong-15, which was tested in November 2017 reached an altitude of about 4,475 km and covered 950 km.

Notes:
NITI Aayog, in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness, released the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2021.
As per the report, most of the Coastal States of India are the best performers, and Gujarat was the top-performer. The EPI ranks states and UTs on 4 main pillars namely ‘Policy; Business Ecosystem; Export Ecosystem; Export Performance’ and 11 sub-pillars.

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:
The Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has decided to extend the PMGKAY till September 2022.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), 5 kg of food grains (wheat, rice, coarse grain) is provided to each beneficiary each month free of cost. Phase-V of the scheme was to end in March 2022.

Notes:
Bulgaria has recently abolished its controversial “Golden passports” scheme, which offers citizenship of the EU member state in return for substantial investment.
The scheme made it possible for foreigners to acquire residency when they invested a minimum of 500,000 euros in Bulgaria, and citizenship when they invested one million euros. The European Commission has called for the abolition of such schemes as they provide ways for money laundering.

Notes:
The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) has bagged the ‘Covid champion’ award at Wings India 2022.
It is Asia’s largest event on civil aviation jointly organised by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and FICCI. CIAL was selected for the implementation of a project named ‘Mission Safeguarding’ during the Covid pandemic to ensure safe travel at Kochi Airport.

Notes:
As per recent official data, the doctor-population ratio is 1:834 in the country. There are 13,01,319 allopathic doctors registered with the State Medical Councils and the National Medical Commission (NMC) as on November, 2021.
Also, there are 2.89 lakh registered dentists, 32.63 lakh registered nursing personnel and 13 lakh allied and Healthcare Professionals in the country.

Notes:
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar released a book titled Indian Agriculture towards 2030: Pathways for Enhancing Farmers’ Income, Nutritional Security and Sustainable Food and Farm Systems.
The book captures the outcomes of the dialogue by NITI Aayog and the Ministries of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare; and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, and facilitated by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN.

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:
The Ministry of Rural Development has notified fresh wage rates under rural job guarantee programme NREGS for financial year 2022-23.
Only 10 states got more than 5 per cent hike while three states had no change. The MGNREGA wage rates are fixed according to changes in the CPI-AL (Consumer Price Index-Agriculture Labour). The maximum rise is recorded in Goa where the new wage is Rs 315 per day in 2022-23.