Current Affairs in Short: 8 February 2021

India's first geothermal power project to be set up at Ladakh's Puga village 

•India's first geothermal power project will be set up at eastern Ladakh's Puga village. The village has been identified as the hotspot of geothermal energy in the country by the scientists.
•A tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between ONGC Energy, LAHDC, Leh and the Power Department of UT Ladakh on February 6, 2021 for the establishment and implementation of the first phase.
•The project, known as Geothermal Field Development Project, is planned to be commissioned by the end of 2022. In the first phase of the pilot project, one megawatt (MW) power generation capacity will be generated. It is planned to supply 24 hours free power to 10 neighbouring villages that are not connected with the northern grid for power supply.

Ishant becomes third Indian pacer to take 300 wickets in Test Cricket

•Ishant Sharma became the third Indian pacer to take 300 wickets in the longest format of the game on February 8, 2021. 
•Ishant reached the milestone after taking the wicket of Dan Lawrence on the fourth day of the ongoing India vs England test match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. This is Ishant's 98th Test match. 
•The only other two Indian pacers to have achieved the feat include Kapil Dev and Zaheer Khan. Overall, Ishant Sharma has become the 6th Indian bowler to take 300 Test wickets after Kapil Dev, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, and Ravichandran Ashwin. 
•Ishant Sharma has made a comeback in India's Test series against England after missing the four-match Test series against Australia.

India dispatches COVID-19 vaccines to Barbados, Dominica

•India dispatched two consignments of Covishield COVID-19 vaccines to the countries of Barbados and Dominica on February 7, 2021 under the Vaccine Maitri initiative. The consignments of vaccines were manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII). 
•India had earlier provided Covishield vaccines to Barbados, for which the country's Prime Minister Mia Mottley expressed her deepest gratitude.
•Overall, Barbados that has a population of over 2.87 lakhs will be receiving 1,00,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from India. The country has recorded 1,641 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 1,274 persons have recovered.
•India also plans to supply 1 crore or 10 million vaccine doses to Africa and 10 lakh to United Nations health workers under GAVI's (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation) COVAX facility.

US President Joe Biden refuses to lift sanctions on Iran 

•US President Joe Biden informed on February 7, 2021 that he will not lift sanctions on Iran to re-engage Tehran in negotiations over the 2015 nuclear deal.
•Biden said that he would only lift sanctions if Iran stops enriching uranium beyond the limits of the nuclear deal.
•Earlier in the day, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had reiterated during a speech that the US itself must lift sanctions and if they want Iran to return to its Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) commitments.
•The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union in 2015 to remove international sanctions from Iran in exchange for it scaling down its nuclear program.

Domestic flights to begin from Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur city from March 1

•The domestic flights from Bilaspur city in Chhattisgarh will begin from March 1, 2021 under the regional connectivity scheme.
•The announcement was made by Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on February 7, 2021 at a press conference at Raipur.
•The Union Minister informed that so far fifty-six cities of the country have been covered under the UDAN scheme of the Central Government. 
•The Civil Aviation Ministry has set a target of operationalising 100 unserved and underserved airports and starting at least 1,000 air routes under the UDAN scheme.