Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

Notes:
China is the world’s top producer of rare earth material. Recently, the country has 3 state-owned rare earth mining companies to form a new entity named ‘China Rare Earths Group’.
China has been strengthening its supply chain of rare earth materials. Rare earth is a combination of 17 minerals used as vital ingredients in the production of consumer electronics as well as military equipment.

Notes:
The newly discovered Begonia gigantic, is claimed to be the world’s largest specimen of a Begonia species.
Begonia is one of the largest plant genera, with over 2050 known species. Though most Begonias are small weeds, this new species grows on slopes along streams at elevation of 450–1400 m. The species are distributed in southern Tibet. The conservation status is ‘Endangered’ as per the IUCN Red List.

Notes:
Union Government has set up the E-Daakhil Portal, which provides a fast and easy facility to consumers around the country to conveniently approach the relevant consumer forum.
As per the recent rules released by the Consumer Affairs Ministry, District commissions has jurisdiction for complaints where value of goods or services not exceeding ₹50 lakh. State commissions can look on complaints in range of ₹50 lakh- ₹2 crores. National Commission will have jurisdiction exceeding 2 crore rupees. Consumers can also file complaint electronically.

Notes:
The National Commission for Women (NCW) has received a total of 31,000 complaints of crimes committed against women in the year 2021, which is the highest in number since 2014. There is an increase in complaints by 30% in the year 2021 in comparison to 2020.
Among the total complaints, more than half of them have been received from Uttar Pradesh state which has the highest number of complaints, followed by Delhi.

Notes:
The Appointments Committee of Union Cabinet has approved the appointment of  Vinay Kumar Tripathi as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Railway Board.
Presently, he is serving as the General Manager, North Eastern Railway. He is an 1983 batch Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE).

Notes:
As per Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Non-Basmati Rice, Basmati Rice and Buffalo Meat are the top 3 exported products from India in the year 2020-21.
As per APEDA, the total export basket has increased more than Rs.15 lakh crore in 2020-21 in comparison to Rs.83 thousand crore in 2011-12.

Notes:
The girl child savings scheme Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana will earn 7.6% as interest as of January 2022.
The Government of India has recently announced that the interest rates on small savings schemes will remain unchanged for Q4 2020-21, including NSC and PPF which would earn 7.1 per cent and 6.8 per cent, respectively.

Notes:
SMILE (Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise) is an umbrella scheme being formulated by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
It includes two sub-schemes for the welfare of transgender persons and persons engaged in begging. The scheme will include rehabilitation, medical facilities, counselling, education, skill development and economic linkages.

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:
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has released draft National Air Sports Policy (NASP) for public feedback.
The policy seeks to propmote India’s potential for air sports and focuses on ensuring international best practices in safety. The vision of the policy is to make India as one of the top air sports nations by 2030.