Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

Notes:
Gram Ujala scheme is a flagship scheme of the Union Ministry of Power. Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) is providing high quality LED bulbs with 3 years guarantee at a cost of INR 10 per bulb in exchange of working incandescent bulbs.
Recently, CESL has achieved a remarkable milestone of distributing 50 lakhs LED bulbs under Project Crore of Gram Ujala programme.

Notes:
India’s first indigenously developed Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) protein sub-unit vaccine for COVID-19 is CORBEVAXTM.
The vaccine, which has been developed by Biological E Limited, has recently received the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approval for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and its PSU Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), have supported Biological E’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

Notes:
Veteran photographer Sabine Weiss, renowned for her images on the streets of Paris, passed away at the age of 97.
She was the last surviving member of France’s humanist photography school. The photographer moved to Paris after World War Two. She was also regarded as pioneer of Street photography, in which she captured the condition of ordinary people in Paris.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone for Major Dhyan Chand Sports University in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. The institution would come up with modern and state-of-the-art sports infrastructure like synthetic hockey ground, football ground, basketball, volleyball, handball, kabaddi ground, lawn tennis court etc.
This university is being established with a vision to have a strong sporting culture and establish world-class sporting infrastructure in the country.

Notes:
Food aggregators like Swiggy and Zomato will have to collect and deposit tax at 5% rate from January 1, 2022.
At present, only those restaurants registered under GST are collecting and depositing the tax. Cab aggregators like Uber and Ola will have to collect 5% Goods and Services Tax for booking 2 and 3 wheeler vehicles.

Notes:
The Supreme Court of India appointed the technical committee to look into the Pegasus malware issue.
The technical committee issued a public notice asking citizens to contact the panel if they suspected that their mobile devices are infected by Pegasus malware. The committee would request the person to allow examination of the device, if reasonable.

Notes:
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has set up Energy Transition Advisory Committee headed by former petroleum secretary Tarun Kapoor.
The panel includes representatives of all public-sector oil and gas companies and it will energy transition roadmap for the oil and gas sector. India has committed for net-zero emissions by the year 2070. The committee will recommend a transition roadmap by middle of 2022.

Notes:
According to the data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), India’s unemployment rate reached a four-month high of 7.91% in December.
This is compared to the rates of 7% and 7.75 per cent in November and October 2021. The unemployment rate was at its highest since 8.3% in August. The urban and rural unemployment rate rose to 9.30% and 7.28% respectively. The rise in unemployment was due to muted economic activity and consumer sentiment, due to Omicron variant.

Notes:
Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok announced his resignation amid political deadlock and widespread pro-democracy protests.
As part of an agreement with the military after the October Coup, former UN official Hamdok was appointed as the Prime Minister.  Now the military coup has again hindered the country’s transition to democratic rule.

Notes:
A Professor and Research Scholar Department of Physics at Kerala University, have developed fifth-generation (5G) microwave absorbers, which can be used as an effective shield against electromagnetic radiation
The electromagnetic interference (EMI) is known to be dangerous to the health of living organisms. It also affects the high-end electronic devices. They used new shielding material, ‘mayenite electride’ for microwave absorption in high frequency region.