Current Affairs in Short: 1 September 2022

Cabinet Committee on Security approves Tejas Mark-2 Project

• The Cabinet Committee on Security has given its approval to Tejas Mark-2 Project. The committee has sanctioned Rs. 6,500 crores for designing and developing the Tejas Mark-2 fighter jet with prototypes, flight testing, and certification.
• The latest allocation has come in addition to the existing Rs. 2500 crores sanctioned to HAL.
• The advanced version of Tejas LCA will feature a series of additions to its flight and flight capabilities. Tejas 2.0 will be equipped with more powerful GE-F414 engines in the 98-kilonewton thrust class.
• As per the Air Chief Marshal, this decision will give a tremendous boost to the indigenous design and development of the next-gen fighter aircraft.

Indian Government approves an MoU with Nepal on biodiversity conservation

• The Government has approved an MoU with the Government of Nepal on biodiversity conservation.
• The latest MoU aims at strengthening and enhancing coordination and cooperation in the field of forests, biodiversity conservation, and climate change.
• The MoU also aims at including the restoration of corridors and interlinking the areas and sharing knowledge and best practices, between the two nations.
• It is expected to help in promoting cooperation between the Parties in the field of forests, wildlife, environment, biodiversity conservation, and climate change, and the restoration of corridors and interlinking areas.

Russia halts gas supplies to Europe

• Russia completed halted the gas supplies to Europe via a major pipeline, citing maintenance.
• The Russian state-owned energy giant, Gazprom said that the restrictions on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline would last for the next 3 days.
• The Governments in Europe have accused Russia of using energy supplies as a weapon of war. However, Moscow has denied doing this and has cited the technical reasons for the halt.
• The European leaders fear that Russia could extend the outage in an attempt to drive up gas prices, which have already risen sharply in the past year.

Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat are among a host of star Indian wrestlers named for World Senior Championships

• Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat are among a host of star Indian wrestlers who are named for the World Senior Championships to be held in Belgrade, Serbia from September 10 to 18, 2022.
• The Indian team was picked after the selection trials at SAI Training Centres in Lucknow and Sonepat.
• Tokyo Olympian Vinesh Phogat, who completed a hat-trick of Gold Medals at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022 will lead the women’s team.