Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

Notes:
The Maharashtra Legislative Council passed the Maharashtra Public University Act, 2016 (Third Amendment) bill.
It seeks to give more powers to the Higher and Technical Education Minister in the state-run varsities. The bill also allows the minister to make recommendations to the Governor who is the chancellor of the universities. It also proposes appointment of the Minister as pro-chancellor of the universities.

Notes:
South Korea’s first domestically produced space launch vehicle KSLV-II Nuri rocket failed due to a loose helium tank.
All the three stages of the rocket worked, taking it to a height of 700 kilometres, and the 1.5-tonne payload separated successfully. The mission failed as the third-stage engine stopped burning 46 seconds earlier than schedule.

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:
Iran has launched a satellite carrier rocket ‘Simorgh’ bearing three research devices into space, as per the country’s media.
‘Simorgh’ translates to ‘Phoenix’ in Iran language. The country has launched the devices at an altitude of 470 kilometres (290 miles). United States unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal in May 2018 and re-imposed sanctions against Iran.

Notes:
Afghanistan has signed a new agreement with Tajikistan’s “Tajik Electricity” company for the extension of the import of electricity for the next year.
As per recent reports, Afghanistan needs 850 megawatts of electricity per year. Afghanistan imports 620 megawatts from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Iran.While, 230 megawatts are supplied from domestic sources.

Notes:
State Bank of India (SBI) is the only authorised institution to sell Electoral bonds in India. An electoral bond will be valid for 15 days from the date of issue.

As the elections are due in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Goa, SBI has been authorised for sale of electoral bonds from January 1 to January 10, 2022 across 29 specified branches.

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:
Every year January 4 is observed as World Braille Day to raise the importance of Braille, which serves as a communication medium for blind and partially sighted people. The day was first initiated by the United Nations General Assembly in 2019 and January is observed as Braille Literacy month. French Educator, who innovated the Braille system Louis Braille was born on January 4, 1809.

Notes:
Microsoft is the parent organisation of GitHub, an open-source software repository service. It was used to create and develop an application which targeted Muslim women in India
The application used pictures of hundreds of Muslim women from social media without permission and was listed for ‘auction’ on the ‘Bulli Bai’ app. The Indian Government’s CERT-IN is investigating with Github and Twitter over the case.

Notes:
North Korea recently fired a “hypersonic missile” that successfully hit a target. The test-fire was detected by several militaries in the region, and drew criticism from the United States, South Korea, and Japan.
North Korea first tested a hypersonic missile in September. Hypersonic weapons can achieve more than five times the speed of sound – or about 6,200 km per hour.