Current Affairs in Short: 30 March 2022

Filmmaker Jeff Darling, known for ‘Young Einstein’, passes away

• Filmmaker Jeff Darling who is best known for his work on projects like ‘The Crossing’ and ‘Young Einstein’ passed away.
• Reportedly, Darling died at the age of 60 while surfing in North Palm Beach in Sydney. He was taken by the lifeguards unconscious from the ocean, and paramedics were unable to revive him.
• Jeff Darling became the youngest person to earn the Australian Film Institute’s best achievement in cinematography award.
• He was awarded for his work on George Ogilvie’s ‘The Crossing’ starring Russel Crowe. He also helmed music videos for the songs ‘Instinct’.

Supreme Court to start physical hearing of cases from April 14

• The Chief Justice of India N V Ramana announced that the Supreme Court of India will commence the physical hearing on April 14.
• He said that the apex court will be opening fully physically, Monday and Friday and will also provide advocates virtual hearing if they ask for such options.
• On January 2, 2022, Supreme Court had decided to shift to the virtual hearings from January 3 because of the rising Omicron cases in India.
• The court currently has been holding virtual hearings on Monday and Friday, while on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the hearings are in physical form.

NTAGI to review SII’s COVID vaccine COVAVAX data on April 1

• The COVID-19 working group of the National Technical Advisory on Immunisation (NTAGI) will review the data of SII’s COVAVAX vaccine which is of use for children and adults.
• NTAGI has a three-tier decision-making system and the working group is the first level. The meeting will take place on April 1.
• After the working group will look into the safety and efficacy of the data, the standing Technical Sub-Committee will review and discuss the recommendations by them.
• In the upcoming meeting, the National Technical Advisory on Immunisation (NTAGI) will not be discussing the booster or the precaution doses of COVID for all.

Belgian footballer Miguel Van Damme passes away after long battle with Leukemia

• Miguel Van Damme, a Belgian footballer, passed away at the age of 28 after a long battle with Leukemia. The news was announced by Damme’s club, Cercle Brugge.
• The goalkeeper from Belgium was first diagnosed with the disease over 5 years ago during a medical ahead of the 2016/2017 season.
• The deadly disease returned in 2019 and then again in 2020. Damme and his wife Kyana Dobbelaere became parents in 2021.

Foreign Minister of Russia to visit India from March 31 to April 1

• The Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov will pay an official visit to India from March 31 to April 1.
• The visit has come amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. This will also be Russian Foreign Minister’s first visit to India since Moscow commenced its ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine.
• He is currently holding multinational meetings in Tunxi, China. Lavrov is also taking part in two multinational meetings on Afghanistan along with representatives from Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
• Sergey Lavrov will also attend a separate meeting of the ‘Extended Troika’ with special Afghan envoys from the US and China.