NATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
India’s first Biosafety Level-3 mobile laboratory inaugurated in Maharashtra: Union Minister of
State for Health and Family Welfare, Bharati Pravin Pawar has inaugurated
India’s first Biosafety level-3 containment mobile laboratory in Nashik,
Maharashtra. The mobile laboratory will help to investigate newly emerging and
re-emerging viral infections, by specially trained scientists from ICMR. The
newly launched lab will be able to access remote and forested areas of the
country, to investigate outbreaks using samples from humans and animal sources.
Union Minister of State for Health and
Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar inaugurated the laboratory and said that
the Biosafety Level-3 mobile laboratory is a significant value addition to the
government’s efforts to strengthen healthcare infrastructure through the
Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission.
2.
Himachal Pradesh gets 1st Biodiversity Park at Mandi: Himachal Pradesh
gets the first biodiversity park to make its contribution towards the
conservation of endangered Himalayan herbs. This park is set to come up at
Mandi’s Bhulah valley. With the cost of Rs 1 crore, the biodiversity park is
set up under the National Mission on Himalayan Studies (NMHS) by HP’s forest
department. The aim of the park is to link tourism activities along with
extending new opportunities for researchers to conduct in-depth exploration of
various medicinal herbs found in the Himalayas that are on the verge of
extinction.
Importance of Biodiversity parks: Biological
diversity is a precious resource intended for the continued existence of
mankind, and hence, conserving biodiversity is concerned with restoring the equilibrium
between humans & the atmosphere. The important role of Biodiversity Parks
include:
a)
A
nature reserve for the conservation of the natural heritage of the city
b)
Enhancing
the quality of the urban environment
c)
Serving
as a hub for education, cultural and conservation activities
d)
Connecting
biodiversity to the city and people
e)
Promoting
eco-tourism
f)
Creating
livelihood for local communities
g)
Preserving
the rare endemic and threatened plant and animal species of the area.
Note: Himachal Pradesh Capital: Shimla
(Summer), Dharamshala (Winter); Himachal Pradesh Governor: Rajendra Arlekar;
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister: Jai Ram Thakur.
3.
Corbevax gets emergency approval for 12-18 age group by DGCI: The Drugs
Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved the Corona Vaccine Biologicals
E Ltd’s Corbevax for children in the age group of 12 to 18 years.
Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Biological E Ltd said its coronavirus
vaccine Corbevax, is also India’s third homegrown vaccine. Bharat Biotech’s
Covaxin is being given to children aged 15 to 18 years from January 3.
About the Corbevax: Corbevax is
called a protein subunit and currently, we have an example of the hepatitis B
vaccine which is also similarly a protein subunit vaccine. Corbevax and the
other vaccine in India, we have Covovax from Serum Institute.
4.
Government approved continuation of RUSA scheme till 2026: The Ministry of
Education has approved the continuation of the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha
Abhiyan (RUSA) scheme till 31st March 2026 with an expenditure of 12,929.16
crores. The new phase of the scheme would support around 1,600 projects. Out of
Rs 12,929.16 crores of expenditure, the centre will share Rs 8,120.97 crores,
and the state will share Rs 4,808.19 crores.
The new phase of the scheme has been
designed to implement some of the recommendations of the New Education Policy
(NEP). Under the new phase of the scheme, State Governments will support Gender
inclusion, Equity Initiatives, Enhance employability through vocationalisation
and skill upgradation.
Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan
(RUSA):
Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan was launched in 2013. It is a Centrally
Sponsored Scheme to provide funding to state government universities and
colleges. Its main objective is to improve the quality of state institutions
and ensure reform in affiliation, academic, and examination systems.
5.
Madhya Pradesh: 48th Khajuraho Dance Festival begins: Madhya Pradesh
Governor, Mangu Bhai Patel has inaugurated the 48th ‘Khajuraho Dance
Festival-2022’ at world-famous tourist destination Khajuraho on the occasion of
‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’. The event will be organized till 26 February. This
year a 5-km ‘Dil Khel Ke Ghoomo’ marathon was also organized under the banner
of ‘Safe Tourism Project for Women’ at the event. It aims to create a sense of
security among women in tourist destinations with the slogan ‘Hindustan Ke Dil
Mein Aap Safe Hain’.
This dance festival is being organized with
the joint effort of Ustad Alauddin Khan Sangeet and Kala Akademi Madhya Pradesh
Sanskriti Parishad of Culture Department, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board,
Archaeological Survey of India and District Administration Chhatarpur. It is
the topmost festival of the country focusing on Indian classical dance forms,
and is well known nationally and internationally.
Ambassadors and High Commissioners of 8
countries attended the family function to witness the performances of the 48th
Khajuraho Dance Festival. These include ambassadors and high commissioners from
Korea, Argentina, Vietnam, Brunei, Finland, Malaysia, Thailand and Lao.
History of the festival: The Khajuraho
dance festival was started in 1975 from the temple premises itself. It was not
allowed to be performed in the temple premises only after two-three years, as a
result, this ceremony was performed outside the temple premises. Last year, the
Culture Department’s effort to organize this program in the temple premises was
successful and this year also this function is being done in the temple premises
itself.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
Israel successfully tests fire ‘C-Dome’ new naval air defence system: Israel successfully
tested a new naval air defence system “C-Dome,” to be used on the Israeli
Navy’s Sa’ar 6-class corvettes. C-Dome is the naval version of the Iron Dome,
an all-weather air defence system of Israel to intercept and destroy
short-range rockets and missiles, from the Gaza Strip. The successful test
further strengthens the missile defence systems of the Israeli Navy to
safeguard the maritime assets of the State of Israel.
About the system: The systems that
we are developing as part of Israel’s multi-tier missile defence array enable
us to operate against Iranian proxies in the region and defend against their
weapon systems, which are constantly being upgraded. The C-Dome is to become
part of Israel’s multilayer missile defence system — which includes weapons
capable of intercepting everything from long-range missiles to short-range
rockets.
Note: Israel Capital: Jerusalem; Israel
President: Isaac Herzog; Israel Prime minister: Naftali Bennett; Israel
Currency: Israeli Shekel.
2.
Jimmy Soni authored a book titled ‘The Founders: The Story of Paypal”: A new book titled
‘’The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon
Valley ’’, authored by Jimmy Soni and published by Simon & Schuster
released soon. It highlights the story of multinational digital-payments
company PayPal and how it covered the journey of a start-up that turned into
one of the most successful companies of all time, worth over USD 70 billion
today. It also offers colourful anecdotes about famous people like Elon Musk,
Peter Thiel, and Reid Hoffman.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1.
Winter Olympics Games 2022 in Beijing concludes: The closing
ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games was held on February 20,
2022, at National Stadium (known as the Bird’s Nest) in Beijing. The 2022
Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, was held from 4 to 20 February 2022. The
Games featured a record 109 events across 15 disciplines in 7 sports. The
venues of the Games were distributed across three zones- Beijing, Yanqing and
Zhangjiakou. The Presidency of the Games was formally handed over to Milan and
Cortina d’Ampezzo, in Italy, to host the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The top country in Winter Olympics
2022 in Beijing:
a)
Norway
has topped the medal table for the second successive Winter Olympics, winning a
total of 37 medals, including 16 golds. This is a new record for the most
amount of gold medals won at a single Winter Olympics.
b)
Germany
finished second with 27 medals overall, while the host nation China finished
third with 15 medals.
India at the 2022 Winter Olympics: The Indian team at
the game was represented by one male alpine skier, Arif Khan. He was the
country’s flagbearer during the opening ceremony, meanwhile, a volunteer was
the flagbearer during the closing ceremony. India could not win any medal at
the games.
2.
IOC Athletes’ Commission re-elected Emma Terho as Chair: International
Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes’ Commission re-elected ice hockey player Emma
Terho of Finland as its Chair and table tennis player Seung Min Ryu of the
Republic of Korea as its First Vice-Chair. The commission also elected cyclist
Sarah Walker of New Zealand as the second VC of the Commission. Emma Terho is a
five-time Olympian and former captain of the Finland women’s ice hockey team.
She will be the head of the Commission until the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Note: International Olympic Committee
Founded: 1894; International Olympic Committee Headquarters: Lausanne,
Switzerland; International Olympic Committee President: Thomas Bach.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1.
Bharti Airtel joins SEA-ME-WE-6 undersea cable consortium: Telecom operator,
Bharti Airtel Ltd has announced that it has joined South East Asia–Middle
East–Western Europe 6 (SEA-ME-WE-6) undersea cable consortium, in a bid to
scale up its high-speed global network capacity and serve India’s fast-growing
digital economy. It shall be anchoring 20 per cent of the overall investment in
the cable system. Through SEA-ME-WE-6, Airtel will be able to add 100 TBps
capacity to its global network. The telco will land the SEA-ME-WE-6 cable
system in India at new landing stations in Mumbai and Chennai. Apart from
Airtel, there are 12 other global members in the consortium.
SEA-ME-WE 6:
a)
SEA-ME-WE
6 is a proposed optical fibre submarine communications cable system to carry
telecommunications between Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Western Europe.
b)
SEA-ME-WE-6
is a 19,200 km network, which will run from Singapore to France.
c)
It
will have a bandwidth of 120 Tbps
d)
The
system is scheduled to go LIVE in 2025.
e)
Once
operational, it will be amongst the largest undersea cable systems globally.
Note: Bharti Airtel CEO: Gopal Vittal;
Bharti Airtel Founder: Sunil Bharti Mittal; Bharti Airtel Founded: 7 July 1995.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1.
Coal India gets ‘India’s Most Trusted Public Sector Company’ award: Maharatna company
of the Government of India, Coal India Limited has been awarded the ‘India’s
Most Trusted Public Sector Company’ award. Coal India received this honour at
the “Energy Meet and Excellence Award” function organized by Industry Chamber
“ASSOCHAM” in Kolkata. The company has got this honour at a time when Coal
India has not allowed the situation of power crisis in the country by
significantly increasing coal production and supply in the last few months to
meet the increased demand for coal for the power sector.
In the midst of all these difficulties,
Coal India has continuously increased its coal production and supply and did
not allow the shortage of coal required to generate electricity in the country.
It is worth noting that the name of Coal India Chairman Mr Pramod Agarwal was
included in the list of “Top 40 CEOs of India” released in January 2022 by the
well-known organization Start-up Lens. Last month, Vinay Ranjan, Director
(Personnel & Industrial Relations), Coal India was named in Forbes India’s
list of “India’s 100 Great People Managers, 2021”.
2.
Philanthropist Bill Gates conferred Hilal-e-Pakistan honour to eradicate polio:
Microsoft
founder and philanthropist, Bill Gates has been conferred with
Hilal-e-Pakistan, the second-highest civilian honour in the country, for his
efforts to help eradicate polio in Pakistan. Gates is on a day-long visit to
Pakistan and has met with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. He also visited
the National Command and Control Centre (NCOC) that oversees efforts to curb
Covid-19.
According to the statement, Gates
appreciated Pakistan’s success against Covid-19 despite resource constraints
and the initiatives and measures for public health safety. Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation has been a major contributor in worldwide polio eradication
through Gavi, the vaccine alliance. Gates also met Planning and Development
Minister and NCOC head Asad Umar and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister
(SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan.
Note: Microsoft Founded: 4 April 1975,
Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States; Microsoft Headquarters: Redmond, Washington, United
States; Microsoft CEO: Satya Nadella;
Microsoft Chairperson: John W. Thompson.
DEFENCE
1.
India and Oman begins Eastern Bridge-VI Air Exercise: The Indian Air
Force (IAF) and Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) have organised a bilateral air
exercise named Eastern Bridge-VI from February 21 to 25, 2022 at Air Force
Station Jodhpur in Rajasthan. Eastern Bridge-VI is the sixth edition of the
exercise. The exercise will provide an opportunity to enhance operational
capability and interoperability between the two Air Forces.
Participation of IAF and RAFO in this
exercise will promote professional interaction, exchange of experiences and
enhancement of operational knowledge, besides strengthening bilateral relations
between the two countries. Various senior dignitaries are planning to visit Air
Force Station Jodhpur during this exercise.
Note: Oman Capital: Muscat; Oman Currency: Omani rial.
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