Why in news?

• BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL), a subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure commissioned India’s first ‘Smart Managed EV (Electric Vehicle) Charging Station’ in New Delhi.
• The project is supported by Nordic Innovation, an organization promoted by the governments of Nordic countries, and executed by Fortum Charge & Drive.
• Nordic countries-Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Greenland.
• The management and operation of Smart EV Charging Stations will be under BYPL.
• It has the capacity to charge five EVs simultaneously and the charging station can be integrated with BYPL’s SCADA system. It is located at BYPL’s 11 kV substation building in Mayur Vihar Extension Phase-I in New Delhi.
• It is also Demand Response (DR) compatible, which is an important demand side management (DSM) tool for bearing the high load.

Why in news?

• On 25 February 2022, the Ministry of Education (MoE) launched a campaign named “Bhasha Certificate Se!fie’ to encourage cultural diversity and promote multilingualism and promote the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.
• This campaign is to promote the Bhasha Sangam mobile app which was developed by MoE and My Gov India.
• It encourages people to upload their selfie with the certificate from their social media accounts using the hashtag #BhashaCertificateSelfie.
• The certificate will be authorized by MoE, which will be provided in Bhasha Sangam mobile app once the user finishes all the levels of the given test.
• The app is available in 22 scheduled Indian languages. It provides the opportunity to learn more than 100 sentences of daily use in these languages.
• The 8^th Schedule to the Constitution consists of the 22 languages.

About Bhasha Sangam Initiative:

• It was launched to commemorate Rashtriya Ekta Diwas which is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel i.e 31st October.
• It is an initiative of the Ministry of Education (MoE) under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.
• It is developed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
• Objective- to ensure that people acquire basic conversational skills in Indian languages other than their mother tongue.
• Three sub-initiatives under the Bhasha Sangam scheme:
• Bhasha Sangam initiative for Schools
• Bhasha Sangam Mobile App
• Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB) Mobile Quiz app

Why in news?

• Odisha’s first tribal chief minister as well as last Congress chief minister of the state, Hemananda Biswal passed away. He was 82.
• Biswal, a Bhuyan tribal from Jharsuguda district, served as the chief minister twice from 1989 to 1990 and 1999 to 2000.
• In December 1999, he was again made chief minister after erstwhile chief minister Giridhari Gamang was replaced over his failure in relief and rehabilitation measures in the aftermath of the 1999 super cyclone that ripped through the Odisha coast.
• Biswal began his political journey as a chairman of Kirimira panchayat Samiti in the Jharsuguda district.
• He was elected to the Odisha assembly for the first time in 1974 from Laikera constituency.
• He was elected to the assembly as MLA six times from the same seat. In 2009 he was elected as an MP from Sundargarh.

Why in news?

• The third edition of the joint military exercise “EX DHARMA GUARDIAN-2022” between India and Japan will be conducted from 27 February to 10 March 2022, at Belagavi (Belgaum), Karnataka.
• The 15th Battalion the Maratha Light Infantry Regiment of the Indian Army and 30th Infantry Regiment of Japanese Ground Self Defence Forces (JGSDF) are participating in this 12 days long joint exercise.

About the exercise:

• The military exercise will focus on operations in Jungle & Semi-Urban/Urban terrains.
• The exercise aims at enhancing the inter-operability and foster mutual understanding between the two Armies.
• Exercise DHARMA GUARDIAN is an annual military training event, being conducted in India since 2018.

Why in news?

• Indian weightlifter and 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver-medallist, Mirabai Chanu has won the gold medal in the 55kg weight category at the Singapore Weightlifting International 2022.
• Chanu lifted 191kg (86kg+105kg) to stand on top of the podium.
• With this win, the 27-year-old Chanu has qualified for the 2022 Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Birmingham in the 55kg weight category.
• She has also qualified for the CWG in the 49kg weight category on the basis of her Commonwealth rankings.

Why in news?

• In India, February 27th is celebrated as the National Protein Day, to create awareness about protein deficiency and encourage people to include of this macronutrient in their diet. The day urges people to include this crucial macronutrient in their diet.
• The day also helps people to learn more about different sources of plant and animal protein. Protein Day is celebrating its third year in 2022.
• This year’s theme of India Protein Day is ‘Food Futurism‘.
• The day was launched on February 27, 2020,by the ‘Right to Protein’, a national-level public health awareness initiative to educate people about the importance of adequate protein consumption for better nutrition, health, and wellbeing.

Why in news?

• The Rare Disease Day (RDD)is observed every year on the last day of February. This year in 2022 it falls on February 28, 2022. The day is observed to raise awareness for rare diseases and improve access to treatment and medical representation for individuals with rare diseases and their families.
• Rare Disease Day was first launched by European Organisation for Rare Diseases (EURORDIS)and its Council of National Alliances in 2008.
• The Rare Disease Day theme 2022: “Share Your Colors.”
• The first Rare Disease Day was coordinated by the European Organisation for Rare Diseases (EURORDIS) and held on February 29, 2008 in numerous European nations and in Canada through the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders.
• The date was chosen because February 29 is a “Rare day”.

Why in news?

• Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz Garfia (18 years old) has won the Men’s Singles title at the 2022 Rio Open, defeating Diego Schwartzman of Argentina.
• The 2022 Rio Open was held from 14th February to 20th February 2022 at Jockey Club Brasileiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• This is Carlos Alcaraz’s first ever Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP)500 trophy.
• 2022 Rio Open is the 8th edition of the Rio Open and it is a part of the selected group of 13 tournaments named ATP 500(ATP Tour 500) of 2022 ATP Tour.
• The first edition of the tournament was held in 2014 – “2014 Rio Open”. Spaniard Rafael Nadal was the champion of the 1st edition.

Why in news?

• Recently State-owned National Hydropower Generation Company (NHPC) limited signed a facility agreement with HDFC bank limited to securitise return on equity (RoE) of its 540 MegaWatt (3 X 180 MegaWatt) Chamera-I Power Plant in Himachal Pradesh for 10 years.

About Chamera-I Power Station:

• Chamera-I Power Plant (3 x 180 MW) is an underground powerhouse with an installed capacity of 540 MW houses 3 units of 180 MW capacity each designed which generates 1664.56 million units of hydropower from river Ravi in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh.
• The power plant comprises a 121 metre high, 295-metre long concrete arch-gravity dam with a 5-metre diameter, 6.414-kilometre long headrace tunnel.
• The beneficiary states/Union Territories (UTs) of the powerhouse are Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh (UP), Delhi, Himachal Pradesh (HP), Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), Punjab, Rajasthan and Chandigarh.

Why in news?

• The Delhi Cabinet has approved to set up India’s first of its kind ‘electronic-waste eco-park’.

About country’s First e-waste eco-park

• The electronic waste eco-friendly park is to be built on 20 acres of land.
• Nearly, 2 lakh tonnes of e-waste is thrown by Delhi every year. This eco-park will recycle, refurbish and dismantle e-waste in a scientific and a safe way.
• This eco-park will act as an Integrated Facility, by engaging in dismantling, segregating, refurbishing, material-wise storage, testing and plastic recycling.
• It will also have precious metal extraction facilities, especially from Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) through high-end technologies.