Daily Current Affairs and GK | 22 February 2022
Main Headlines:
- 1. DCGI granted emergency use approval to Corbevax for the 12-18 age group.
- 2. Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 concluded on 20 February.
- 3. West Bengal Government to build a memorial in honour of Abul Barkat.
- 4. Assam becomes first state to launch mobile app for night navigation on rivers.
- 5. Government planning to reorganise the Commerce Department.
- 6. A book titled ‘A History of Sriniketan’ has been released.
- 7. Shakuntala Choudhary, popular as Shakuntala Baideo, passes away.
- 8. World Thinking Day 2022: 22 February.
- 9. SEBI reconstituted advisory committee on alternative investment policy.
- 10. India, Oman begins a bilateral air force exercise in Jodhpur.
- 11. India and France agreed on a roadmap for blue economy and Ocean Governance.
- 12. Union Health Minister released a book titled ‘A Nation To Protect'.
- 13. India's millionaire households have increased by 11% in 2021: Hurun India Wealth Report.
- 14. India becomes No.1 team in ICC T20I rankings for the first time in the last six years.
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Topic: Biotechnology and Diseases
1. DCGI granted emergency use approval to Corbevax for the 12-18 age group.
- Corbevax is India’s first indigenously developed Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) protein subunit vaccine for Covid-19.
- It has been developed by Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Biological E Ltd.
- In last year December, Corbevax received the emergency use approval for the adult population.
- It is given through the intramuscular route with two doses on the difference of 28 days.
- It is built on the traditional subunit vaccine platform. It triggers immune response by using spike protein. It contains harmless S-protein.
- At present, only ‘Covaxin’ vaccine is used for the 15-18 age group in India.
Topic: Sports
2. Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 concluded on 20 February.
- The Beijing 2022 Winter Games concluded on 20 February with a Closing Ceremony at the National Stadium in Beijing.
- Norway with 16 Gold, 8 Silver, and 13 bronze topped the medal tally.
- Germany with 9 Gold, 10 Silver, and 5 bronze ended the competition on the second spot while China grabbed the third spot with 9 Gold, 4 Silver, and 2 bronze.
- India hasn’t won any medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022.
- Arif Khan was the flag bearer of India at the opening ceremony of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. He recorded India's best-ever performance at Winter Games.
Topic: State News/ West Bengal
3. West Bengal Government to build a memorial in honour of Abul Barkat.
- The government of West Bengal has announced that it will build a memorial of Bhasha Shahid Barkat. It will be built at Babla village in Murshidabad.
- Abul Barkat was killed by the Pakistan police during the Bengali Language Movement on 21 February 1952. He is considered as a martyr in Bangladesh.
- Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made this announcement at a function on International Mother Language Day.
- Bengali Language Movement:
- Bengali Language Movement was started in 1952 for making Bangla the official language of Pakistan.
- On 21 February 1952, a famous Dhaka march was organized for the Bengali Language Movement.
- The Pakistan government recognized Bangla as an official state language in 1956.
Topic: State News/ Assam
4. Assam becomes first state to launch mobile app for night navigation on rivers.
- Assam government has launched a mobile app for navigation on rivers at night.
- Assam is the first state of India to launch this kind of night navigation mobile app for rivers.
- The night navigation mobile application has been launched by the transport department in association with scientists of IIT Madras.
- The first night journey with this navigation system was completed between Guwahati and North Guwahati.
- Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also launched ten Aadhar-based contactless services to make public delivery service efficient.
- The Common Service Centres under the Ministry of Information Technology and Transport Department also signed an MoU for providing online services at the Panchayat level.
Topic: National News
5. Government planning to reorganise the Commerce Department.
- In order to establish coherent trade promotion strategy with clear targets and execution accountabilities, the government is set to revamp the commerce department.
- The government will set up a dedicated trade promotion body to drive overall promotion strategy, export targets and execution.
- It will also set up remedies review committee that will include ministry of commerce and industry, ministry of finance and other ministries for increasing transparency in investigation outcomes.
- Department of Commerce:
- It is department under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
- The department formulates, implements and monitors the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) which provides the basic framework of policy and strategy to be followed for promoting exports and trade.
- It is also responsible for promoting multilateral and bilateral commercial relations, export promotion and trade facilitation, special economic zones, etc.
- It is headed by a Secretary.
- Current Secretary: Shri B V R Subrahmanyam
- The Department is functionally organized into the following 10 Divisions:
- International Trade Policy Divisions
- Foreign Trade Territorial Division
- Export Products Division
- Export Industries Division
- Export Services Division
- Economic Division
- Administration & General Service Division
- Finance Division
- Supply Division
- Logistics Division
Topic: Books and Authors
6. A book titled ‘A History of Sriniketan’ has been released.
- The book titled “A History of Sriniketan: Rabindranath Tagore’s Pioneering Work in Rural Construction” has been released.
- Famous historian Uma Das Gupta has written this book.
- The book highlights the contribution of Rabindranath Tagore in rural reconstruction through setting up of Sriniketan in 1992 at Santiniketan. Sriniketan was a wing of Visva Bharati International University.
- Other books written by Uma Das are “Rabindranath Tagore: A Biography” and “The Oxford India Tagore: Selected Essays on Education and Nationalism”.
- Rabindranath Tagore was a famous poet, writer, social reformed, and philosopher. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 for Gitanjali. His two major compositions: “Jana Gana Mana” and “Amar Sonar Bangla” are currently the national anthems of India and Bangladesh respectively.
Topic: Personality in News
7. Shakuntala Choudhary, popular as Shakuntala Baideo, passes away.
- Shakuntala Choudhary, a Gandhian social worker and freedom fighter, has passed away recently.
- She hailed from Assam’s Kamrup. She was popularly known as Shakuntala Baideo.
- She worked for wellbeing of villagers, especially women and children. The government has named her for the Padma Shri award for this year.
- She was associated with Vinoba Bhave, who started Bhoodan Movement.
Topic: Important Days
8. World Thinking Day 2022: 22 February.
- World Thinking Day 2022 is celebrated annually on 22 February.
- ‘Our World, Our Equal Future’ is the theme for World Thinking Day 2022.
- World Thinking Day is being celebrated since 1926. It was earlier known as Thinking Day.
- Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, as well as Scout and Guide organizations all over the world, celebrate it.
- 22 February is the birthday of Lord Baden Powell and his wife Lady Olave Baden Powell. Lord Baden Powell was the founder of the Scout Movement.
Topic: Banking/Finance
9. SEBI reconstituted advisory committee on alternative investment policy.
- The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has reconstituted its alternative investment policy advisory committee.
- It will be chaired by Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy. It has 20 members.
- It includes members from SEBI, the Ministry of Finance, and industry associations.
- It will advise SEBI on issues related to the development of the Alternative Investment Fund industry.
- It will also identify hurdles that can hinder the development of the Alternative investment fund industry.
- Earlier, this committee was formed in March 2015. It has till now submitted three reports on the Alternative Investment Fund industry.
- Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI):
- It was set up in 1988.
- It was given statutory status in 1992.
- It is headquartered in Mumbai.
- Ajay Tyagi is its chairman.
Topic: Defence
10. India, Oman begins a bilateral air force exercise in Jodhpur.
- The Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) have begun a five-day bilateral air force exercise ‘Eastern Bridge-VI’.
- It will be held at Jodhpur Air Force Station from 21 to 25 February. It is the sixth edition of this exercise.
- It will provide an opportunity to enhance operational capability and interoperability between the two Air Forces.
- It will also promote professional interaction, exchange of experiences, and enhancement of operational knowledge.
- Oman provides operational support to the Indian Navy in the Arabian Sea and it is one of India’s strongest defence partners in the Gulf region.
- India’s all three services conduct bilateral exercises with Oman’s services.
AL NAGAH |
India -Oman |
Army |
Naseem-al-Bahr |
Navy |
|
EASTERN BRIDGE |
Air Force (biennial) |
Topic: International News
11. India and France agreed on a roadmap for blue economy and Ocean Governance.
- During External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s three-day visit to France, India and France agreed on a roadmap for Blue Economy and Ocean Governance.
- The roadmap includes maritime trade, marine trade in services, ports, the naval industry, fisheries, scientific research, ocean observation, etc. fields.
- Both sides will cooperate on developing domestic waterways and sharing scientific knowledge.
- India and France will encourage scientific cooperation between their research institutions.
- On 22 August 2019, India and France had agreed that oceans play a key role in combating climate change, and preserving biodiversity.
- India and France are also committed to promote cooperation under the framework of "EU-India Strategic Partnership: A Roadmap to 2025”.
Topic: Books and Authors
12. Union Health Minister released a book titled ‘A Nation To Protect'.
- A book titled 'A Nation To Protect: Leading India Through The COVID Crisis' has been unveiled by Mansukh Mandaviya.
- It is the third book of Priyam Gandhi Mody and it mentions about Prime Minister’s role and motivation during the Covid crisis.
- It also mentioned the role of Mansukh Mandaviya as Fertilisers Minister during the second wave of COVID-19.
Topic: Reports and Indices/Ranking
13. India's millionaire households have increased by 11% in 2021: Hurun India Wealth Report.
- According to the Hurun India Wealth Report 2021, India's millionaire (USD) households have increased by 11% but the happiness Index has fallen as compared to the previous year.
- At present, there are 4.58 lakh households that are millionaires in India. These households have a net worth of at least ₹7 crores.
- As per this report, the number of millionaire households will increase by 30% over the next five years and it will reach to 6 lakh households by 2026.
- The happiness Index of this report is based on the survey of 350 dollars millionaire’s households.
- It indicates that the number of millionaires who classify themselves as happy has decreased from 72 percent to 66 percent in 2021.
- Mumbai topped the list of cities with the most number of millionaires, followed by Delhi and Kolkata.
- This report also throws light on the brand preferences, consumption habits, and lifestyle trends of Indian millionaire.
Topic: Sports
14. India becomes No.1 team in ICC T20I rankings for the first time in the last six years.
- India has overtaken England, which had 269 rating points.
- Previously, India held the top spot in ICC T20I rankings during Mahendra Singh Dhoni's leadership.
- Recently, the Indian team has won the T20 series against West Indies by 3-0.
- India’s last defeat in T20 came in the 2021 T20 World Cup group stage against New Zealand.
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