Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

Notes:
The Supreme Court, in an interim order directed that the NEET-PG counselling may proceed with 10 per cent seats were reserved for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and 27 per cent for Other Backward Classes (OBC) candidates.
A bench of Justices accepted the recommendation of the Ajay Bhushan Pandey Committee to stick to the prescribed Rs 8 lakh income limit for EWS quota for the current admission cycle.

Notes:
The UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre (WHC) has agreed to publish Hindi descriptions of India’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites on the WHC website.
The information was shared by the Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO announced this news, to be implemented on the occasion of World Hindi Day. It is observed on January 10 across the world.

Notes:
NASA launched the James Webb space telescope on December 25, 2021. It is a joint collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency. The telescope recently completed its final deployment which was of the primary mirror.
The mission of the James Webb telescope is the largest space telescope ever built and its mission is to help scientists find out more about the origin of the universe. It will capture infrared light from celestial objects with high resolution.

Notes:
Canada has officially banned conversion therapy, joining a select list of countries that discontinued the treatment that claims to be able to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The ban was passed by the Parliament in December 2021. Apart from Canada, there is only a small list of countries that have banned conversion therapies, which includes Brazil, Ecuador, Germany and Malta. Under the law, anyone who looks to subject someone to conversion therapy could face up to five years in prison.

Notes:
As per a recent study, the European scientists announced that 2021 was the Earth’s fifth hottest on record.
The mean temperature globally last year was 1.1 to 1.2 degrees Celsius higher than it was before industrialization led humans to begin releasing large quantities of carbon dioxide into the air. The year was fifth warmest by a slight margin after 2015 and 2018, by Copernicus’ ranking. The hottest years are 2016 and 2020, on record.

Notes:
Red Sanders (Red Sandalwood) is a tree species endemic to the Eastern Ghats mountain range of South India.
The tree (Pterocarpus santalinus) has recently classified back into the ‘endangered’ category in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List. The species found in Chittoor, Kadapa, Nandhyal, Nellore, Prakasam districts of Andhra Pradesh has been assessed as ‘endangered’.

Notes:
2022 Global Risks Report has been recently released by the World Economic Forum. WEF’s ‘Global Risks Perception Survey’ ranked ‘Climate action failure’ as the highest risk.
Erosion of social cohesion, livelihood crises and mental health deterioration were identified as risks which increased the most since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Notes:
Poet and activist Maya Angelou has become the first Black woman to appear on the US coin. The coin is part of the African Women Quarters program. For the last 90 years, the first US President George Washington was seen on one side and an eagle on the other.
Under the program, US Mint issues quarters each year between 2022 and 2025 featuring five different female personalities who have contributed to the country.

Notes:
Orang National Park is located in the state of Assam at the north bank of the river Brahmaputra. It was previously called as the ‘Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park’.
The Government has recently issued notification to make Orang National Park more than thrice its existing size. The Assam government had issued a notification for adding 200.32 sq. km to the 78.82 sq. Km. Park. Gharials (Gavialis gangeticus) may be introduced in the area to be added to Orang.

Notes:
The state government of Tamil Nadu notified the ‘Regional Plan Rules, 2021’. The rules are notified for preparing plans for 12 regions covering 1.36 lakh sq km in the State.
Under the new rules, the State will constitute a regional planning authority to prepare land and building use maps over the next 18 months. The regional plan is an inter-settlement plan, while master plans and detailed development plans are intra-settlement plans.