Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

Notes:
Indian Tennis Players Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan won the Adelaide International ATP 250 men’s doubles title.
The Indian duo teamed up for the first time on the ATP tour, and won the title over the top-seeded pair of Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo in Adelaide. It was Rohan Bopanna’s 20th ATP title while Ramkumar won his maiden title on the tour.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that December 26 shall be marked as “Veer Baal Diwas” to pay homage to the courage of the ‘Sahibzades’, four sons of Guru Gobind Singh.
This was announced on the day of the birth anniversary of the Sikh guru. It is also called as the Prakash Parv of Guru Gobind Singh. The 355th birth anniversary of the Sikh guru was observed on 9 January, this year.

Notes:
Kochi city of Kerala became the first city in India to have a water metro project, after it launched battery-powered electric boats.
The project aims to develop an integrated water transport system with 15 identified routes. Operated by Kochi Metro Rail Ltd, the project connects 10 islands spanning 76 km with a fleet of 78 electrically propelled hybrid ferries.

Notes:
China’s Chang’e 5 lunar lander has found the first-ever on-site evidence of water on the surface of the moon. The study revealed that the lunar soil at the landing site contains less than 120 parts-per-million (ppm) water or 120 grams water per ton.
The soil also has a light, vesicular rock carries 180 ppm, which are much drier than that on Earth. The presence of water was earlier confirmed by remote observation, but the lander has detected signs of water in rocks and soil.

Notes:
‘The Power of a Dog’ was named the ‘Best picture (drama)’ at the Golden Globes 2022. The Benedict Cumberbatch-starring movie also won the best director for Jane Campion and best supporting actor for Kodi Smit-McPhee.
Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story’ won the best picture (musical or comedy), best actress in a motion picture (musical or comedy) and best supporting actress in a motion picture awards. Will Smith, (King Richard) won the Best actor in a motion picture, drama award.

Notes:
Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has ordered experts to find a method to extinguish a fire in the Darvaza gas crater.
Also known as the ‘Gateway to Hell’, it is a huge natural gas crater. It is located in the Karakum desert, 260 kilometres away from Turkmenistan’s capital, Ashgabat. The Gas Crater has been burning for the last 50 years.

Notes:
A western disturbance is an extra-tropical storm originating in the Mediterranean region. It is said to bring winter rain to the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted an intense Western Disturbance to affect Northwest India, triggering rainfall. Later, it also predicted two western disturbances would bring rain across northwest India and the western Himalayan region for a few days.

Notes:
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the President of Kazakhstan has nominated Alikhan Smailov as the Prime Minister. The President had sacked the government to ease dissent.
Tokayev had requested from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a military alliance of ex-Soviet states, to quell the protests. The lower house of parliament voted him as the Prime Minister.

Notes:
The Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) is prepared and released by the Labour bureau. As per the recent report, the total employment in July-September 2021 was 200,000 higher than that in April-June 2021.
The proportion of female workers in the second round was also higher than that in the first round. The Survey assesses the employment situation in organisations with 10 or more workers in nine sectors of India’s non-farm economy namely manufacturing, construction, trade, transport, education, health, accommodation and restaurants, IT/BPO, and financial services.

Notes:
India’s passport now ranks at 83rd position in the Henley Passport Index 2022, up seven places from 90^th rank in 2021.
The Henley Passport Index ranks all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. It is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). As per the 2022 rank, Japan and Singapore have the most powerful passports in the world, with a free access to 192 destinations.