Current Affairs Quiz 22nd and 23rd January 2022 : Daily GK Update Quiz

Exp. Himachal Pradesh CM launched ‘Apna Kangra’ app to promote local handicrafts through tourism

Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Jai Ram Thakur launched ‘Apna Kangra’ app and hampers handcrafted by self help groups (SHGs) at Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh.

The app aims to provide a hassle-free experience for tourists and to boost sales of local handicrafts.

The CM also virtually inaugurated Radhe Krishna Cow Sanctuary at Luthan in Jawalamukhi Vidhan Sabha area of Kangra. The govt of HP initiated scheme ‘Mukhya Mantri HIMCARE’ to provide medical services to cattles.

Exp. Jerri hamlet in Reasi District declared as first Milk Village of J&K

The administration of Jammu & Kashmir has declared the Jerri settlement (Jerri hamlet) in Reasi district as the first ‘Milk Village’ of the Union Territory.

The administration has also sanctioned 57 additional dairy farms under the Integrated Dairy Development Scheme (IDDS) for the hamlet.

At present the Jerri, the Milk Village, which houses 73 individual dairy units with 370 cows, which provides financial security to the local farmers.

Exp. Karnataka became India’s first state to launch AVGC Center of Excellence in Bengaluru

Government of Karnataka has launched the India’s first AVGC Center of Excellence (CoE) (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics) in Mahadevapura, Bengaluru, Karnataka.

AVGC CoE was launched with pioneering high technology digital media hub under its Innovate Karnataka initiative. It is funded by Department of Electronics Information Technology Biotechnology and Science & Technology.

Karnataka became India’s first state to set up such an AVGC CoE, it is also the biggest center in Asia.

Exp. Haryana & Himachal Pradesh signed MoU to revive Saraswati River

Haryana and Himachal Pradesh government have signed MoU to revive the Saraswati River in Panchkula.

Under this, Haryana Government will construct a dam and a reservoir in Adi Badri area near Yamunanagar district, which is situated on the border of Himachal Pradesh. Adi-Badri is considered as the origin of Saraswati river.

Cost of the project is estimated at Rs 215.33 crores and will be borne entirely by Haryana government. Dam will be delivered 224 hectares meter water from Som River.

Exp. Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) released ‘Climate of India during 2021’ report

Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) published its “Climate of India during 2021” report on January 21, 2022.

As per report, year 2021 was the fifth warmest year in India since country-wide records started in India in 1901. Highest warming was observed during 2016.

India reported a loss of 1,750 lives because of extreme weather events in 2021. Maharashtra was the most adversely affected state, with 350 deaths.

Among extreme weather events, lightning & thunderstorms was responsible for highest 787 lives followed by floods, heavy rains, and landslides, causing deaths of 759 people. Cyclones was responsible for 172 deaths in different states in 2021.

In India, the annual mean land surface air temperature during 2021 was 0.44 degree C above the “long period average (LPA)”.  2021 annual rainfall over India as a whole was 105% of its LPA, based on 1961-2010 period.

Exp. Mia Amor Mottley sworn in as PM of Barbados for 2nd consecutive term

Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, was sworn in for a second term. She became Barbados’ eighth and first female Prime Minister elected on May 25, 2018.

She is also the first female PM of Barbados to lead a second term as the PM. She belongs to Barbados Labor Party (BLP) and secured all 30 seats in the House of Assembly, the lower house of the Barbados Parliament.

Exp. Kotak Mahindra Bank signed MoU with GIFT SEZ for boosting financial services ecosystem at IFSC

Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited has signed an MoU with Gujarat International Finance Tec-city – Special Economic Zone (GIFT SEZ) Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GIFT-City, to improve customer’s overall financial services offerings.

KMBL and GIFT SEZ will jointly work on promoting the GIFT International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) jurisdiction for Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) structures, holding seminars and knowledge series, ease of doing business along with Global Custody Services.

Aim: To ease market access and cross border activities for the fund management community.

Exp. IIM Kozhikode’s LIVE has signed MoU with Indian Bank to disburse loans up to Rs 50 crores for Start-ups

Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode’s (IIMK) Business incubator Laboratory for Innovation Venturing and Entrepreneurship (LIVE) has signed an MoU with the Indian Bank to financially support early-stage start-ups.

Under the MoU, a start-up funding scheme, ‘IndSpring Board’ has been launched. Under this scheme loans up to Rs, 50 Crore will be disbursed to the start-ups.

The startups can use the loan amount to meet their operational expenditure and capital expenditure which includes working capital, purchase of fixed assets and other expenses.

Exp. Prajakta Koli became India’s 1st UNDP Youth Climate Champion

Content creator, YouTuber and actress Prajakta Koli, known by her YouTube Channel “Mostlysane”, has become India’s first UN Development Programme (UNDP) Youth Climate Champion.

The title has been conferred to her because of her contribution towards mental health, girl child education and women’s rights through various global social campaigns.

As a part of her responsibilities, Prajakta will now be entrusted with interacting with young minds for raising awareness on issues like global warming, climate crisis, biodiversity loss and their impacts, because tremors of these issues are being felt by all sections of the society, including poor and marginalized communities.

Exp. Vinod Rai appointed as Independent Chairman of Unity Small Finance Bank

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the appointment of former comptroller and auditor general (CAG) of India Vinod Rai as independent chairman of Unity Small Finance Bank (Unity SFB).

Unity Small Finance Bank has commenced operations as a small finance bank with effect from November 1, 2021 under Section 22 (1) of Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

Unity SFB is the 12th small finance bank that was opened with a 51:49 joint venture between Centrum Group and payments company BharatPe.

RBI bank licensed Unity SFB to take over the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank in 2021. PMC Bank was hit by a Rs 7,000 crore loan scam and has been under the RBI administrator since September 2019.

Other appointed board members- Sandip Ghose; Basant Seth; Subhash Kutte.

Exp. Jahnavi Dangeti became 1st Indian to complete NASA’s International Air and Space Program

Jahnavi Dangeti, a young girl from Andhra Pradesh, has just completed NASA’s International Air and Space Program (IASP) at the Kennedy Space Centre in Alabama, US, making her the first Indian to accomplish this feat.

She is part of a carefully shortlisted group of 20 students from around the world. She has been a campus ambassador for numerous organisations, including Star (Space Technology and Aeronautical Rocketry), an Indian private aerospace company.

She is a member of the International Organization of Aspiring Astronauts (IOAA). She participated in many events and workshops of Nasa, Isro and other space agencies.

Exp. Sushmita Sen won International Association of Working Women Award

Bollywood actress Sushmita Sen has been honoured with International Association of Working Women Award at Washington DC South Asian Film Festival (DCSAFF) 2021.

She has been felicitated for outstanding performance by a female actor in TV series for her show ‘Aarya 2’. Aarya 2 series is created by Ram Madhvani and had released on Disney+Hotstar.

DCSAFF 2021 is organized virtually from 16 to 30 January, to showcase the best in alternative cinema.

Exp. Oxford declared “Anxiety” as Children’s Word of the Year 2021

Oxford University Press has declared ‘Anxiety’ as Children’s Word of the Year 2021, based on their recent research.

Anxiety has been selected based on a survey conducted on around 8,000 children of 7-14 age group from 85 schools in United Kingdom, who were asked to choose the words they most often used while talking about health and wellbeing.

Apart from anxiety (21%), Challenging (19%), isolate (14%), Wellbeing (13%) and resilience (12%) were the children’s top five words. In 2020, Coronavirus was the Children’s Word of the Year by OUP.

Exp. Indian Armed Force selected ‘Saab’ for supply of Anti-Armour weapon AT4

Swedish defence company ‘Saab’ had been selected by the Indian Armed Force through a competitive programme for the supply of single-shot anti-armour weapon AT4.

AT4 will be used by the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force. AT4 will be operated by a single soldier and its single-shot system has proven efficacy against structures landing craft helicopters armoured vehicles and personnel.

The order includes the AT4CS AST, which can be fired from confined spaces such as from inside buildings, bunkers and other urban environments. Carl-Gustaf system of Saab is being already used by the Indian Armed Forces.

Exp. Amar Jawan Jyoti eternal flame merged with National War Memorial flame

The government of India has merged the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame at India Gate with the flame at the newly constructed National War Memorial in the same complex.

The ceremony was led by the Integrated Defence Staff chief, Air Marshal Balabadhra Radha Krishna.

The decision to merge the two flames was taken keeping in mind that flame at Amar Jawan Jyoti paid homage to the martyrs of 1971 operations that led to the freedom of Bangladesh, but none of their names are present there, while names of all Indian martyrs from all the wars, including 1971 and wars before and after it are housed at the National War Memorial.

So, housing the flame at the same place along with the names will serve as a true tribute to martyrs.

Established: January 2019

Exp. India successfully test-fired new version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile

BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with increased indigenous content and improved performance was successfully test fired from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the coast of Odisha

The launch was conducted by Brahmos Aerospace in close coordination with the teams of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

The missile was equipped with advanced indigenous technologies and followed a modified optimal trajectory for enhanced efficiency and improved performance.

BrahMos is the main weapon system of the Indian Navy warships. An underwater version is also being developed which will be used by the submarines of India.

DG of BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd: Atul Dinkar Rane

Exp. Jio signed pact with Finland’s University of Oulu to accelerate 6G research

Jio Platforms (JPL) signed a pact with the University of Oulu, Finland, to accelerate research and standardisation in 6G technology.

JPL and the University of Oulu will collaborate in Research and Development (R&D) of aerial and space communication, holographic beamforming, 3D-connected intelligence in cybersecurity, microelectronics, and photonics.

The collaboration will develop competency with 6G enabled products in the defence, automotive, white goods, industrial machinery, consumer goods, efficient manufacturing, novel personal smart device environments, and experiences such as urban computing and autonomous traffic settings.

Exp. 10-17 January 2022: DAY-NRLM celebrated Agri Nutri Garden Week

Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) has celebrated the Agri Nutri Garden Week from 10th to 17th January 2022.

The week was observed to encourage the establishment of ‘Agri Nutri Gardens’ in rural households. A total of 76,664 ‘Agri Nutri Gardens’ were established this week against the target of 7500.

The observance of the week is in line with the Prime Minister vision to enhance the strength of the Rural Economy. Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) works under the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD).

Aim: To support rural poor households to have Agri Nutri Garden to fulfil the need of the family’s nutrition and any excess production can also be sold for income generation.

Exp. 21 January: Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura Statehood Day

Every year, the states of Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura celebrate their statehood day on January 21.

The princely states of Manipur and Tripura were joined with India in 1949. They were then granted the union territory status. In 1972, Meghalaya and Tripura were granted complete statehood. The states were formed under the North Eastern Region (Re-organization) Act, 1971.

In 1969, the Assam Reorganization (Meghalaya) Act was enacted. Under the act, Meghalaya was carved out of Assam and was made an autonomous state. This was done under the sixth schedule of Indian constitution.

Exp. 23 January: Parakram Diwas

The Indian government has decided to celebrate January 23rd as ‘Parakram Diwas’ to commemorate the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

This year is the 125th Birth Anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. The central government has decided to start the Republic Day celebrations from January 23 to include Bose’s anniversary, which will be celebrated as ‘Parakram Diwas’ (day of valour) starting this year.

Netaji was born on January 23, 1897. The day is celebrated to honour and remember Netaji’s indomitable spirit and selfless service to the nation.