Important Current Affairs 22nd February 2022

INTERNATIONAL

India, Oman begin 'Eastern Bridge-VI' air force 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.

NATIONAL

48th Khajuraho Dance Festival begins in Madhya Pradesh

• 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.

India's first Biosafety level-3 mobile lab launched in Nashik

• 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.

Himachal Pradesh gets 1st Biodiversity Park at Mandi’s Bhulah valley

• 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.

• 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. 

SPORTS

Beijing 2022 concludes, passes Winter Olympics to Milano-Cortina 2026

• 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.

• 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.

• Germany finished second with 27 medals overall, while the host nation China finished third with 15 medals.

OBITUARY

Freedom Fighter And Social Worker Shakuntala Choudhary Passes Away At 102

• Noted freedom fighter and Gandhian social worker, Shakuntala Choudhary has passed away. She was 102-year-old. She was popularly known as ‘Shakuntala Baideo’. She was felicitated with the Padma Shri award in 2022 by the Government of India. She hailed from Kamrup in Assam and was known for her commitment and devotion to the popularization of the Gandhian way of life. She worked for the well-being of villagers, especially women and children.

APPOINTMENS & RESIGNATIONS

IOC Athletes’ Commission re-elect Terho as chair, Walker elected as second vice-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.

BOOKS & AUTHOR

Book ‘The Founders: The Story of Paypal” authored by Jimmy Soni

• A new book titled ‘’The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley ’’, authored by author 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.

BANKING AND ECONOMY

RWE and Tata Power to develop offshore wind projects in India

• Tata Power has collaborated with Germany-based RWE Renewable GmbH to explore the potential for joint development of offshore wind projects in India. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard was signed between Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Power, and RWE, one of the world’s leaders in offshore wind. This is in line with Government of India’s announcement of achieving 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind installations by 2030.

• India is an unexplored and highly attractive market to develop opportunities for offshore wind as it has a large coastline of about 7,600 kilometres. RWE and Tata Power Renewable Energy possess complementary strengths and will enable the establishment of a competitive offshore wind market in India.

Undersea cable push: Airtel joins SEA-ME-WE-6 consortium; Jio’s IAX project to land in Maldives

• 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.