Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

Notes:
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) releases the ‘World Employment and Social Outlook’ every year.
This year, ILO downgraded its outlook for the labour market recovery. ILO expects unemployment to increase to 207 million in 2022, up from 186 million in 2019. Total working hours in 2022 are also expected to be at 2 percent below that of pre-pandemic levels.

Notes:
The Oltet river valley in Romania is a famous place for fossil deposits. Recently, a fossilised right arm bone has been found in the valley.
The fossil was studied using new scanning techniques and the results revealed that it was a new species of the Smutsia genus. It was named Smutsia olteniensis after the Oltet river valley. The species is said to have lived during the Pleistocene period about 1.9 and 2.2 million years ago.

Notes:
Indonesia passed a bill replacing its capital Jakarta with East Kalimantan, situated to the east of Borneo Island. The new capital city of the country will be called Nusantara.
Nusantara means ‘Archipalego’ in Javanese language. The Government also aims to build a smart metropolis in the new city as Jakarta was already overpopulated. As of 2022, Indonesia is the fourth largest populous country.

Notes:
North Macedonia’s Parliament elected a new cabinet under a new Social Democratic leader, Dimitar Kovacevski.
He succeeds his Social Democratic predecessor, Zoran Zaev. The new Prime Minister announced that his immediate tasks are tackling the ongoing energy crisis and key talks with Bulgaria. The Republic of North Macedonia is a country in Southeast Europe.

Notes:
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Odisha government have joined hands to improve the food security of small and marginal farmers.
The agreement aims to strengthen the farmers’ resilience to climate change. The WFP and the Agriculture Department will develop toolkits and guidelines to provide services to small farmers. Small farmers, who constitute 90 per cent of the state’s farmers will be guided to adapt to the impact of the climate crisis.

Notes:
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), will invest $150 million in the development of data centers, serving emerging Asia.
Beijing-based AIIB will channelise funds through a private equity vehicle. This is AIIB’s first data center project. Many low- and mid-income countries lack their own domestic data infrastructure and this project will enhance the required capital mobilisation.

Notes:
The Indian Navy’s long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft P8I participated in the multinational anti-submarine warfare exercise ‘Sea Dragon-22’.
The exercise recently concluded at Guam, USA. Aircraft from six navies namely the US, India, Japan, Canada, Australia and South Korea participated in Sea Dragon-22 exercise. The exercise was aimed to enhance interoperability among them in response to security challenges in maritime domain.

Notes:
The UN General Assembly approved an Israeli-sponsored resolution condemning any denial of the Holocaust.
The resolution also urged all nations and social media companies to take active measures to combat anti-semitism and Holocaust denial or distortion. UN has an outreach program on the Holocaust and the UNESCO, has a program on Holocaust education and combating anti-Semitism.

Notes:
Delhi Government launched the ‘Streetscaping and Beautification of Roads’ project, on the lines of European Cities.
Nine selected stretches across the city are to be redesigned and redeveloped to make them useful for cyclists, pedestrians and motor cyclists. Recently, redesigning has commenced in a 600-metre stretch on Lodhi Road, to make it in line with various historical monuments in the area.

Notes:
The Union Government has given the final approval for setting up a plastic park at Ganjimutt in Mangaluru, Karnataka.
The park will be set up on 104 acres at an estimated cost of ₹62.77 crore, out of which 50% of the project cost will be borne by the Union Government and the rest by  Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB).