Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

Notes:
Daniel Ortega was sworn in as the President of the Central American country ‘Nicaragua’ for his fourth consecutive term.
The United States and European Union imposed sanctions on several persons in his government after the elections. Ortega’s government has been in power since 2007, after his first stint in power ended in 1990.

Notes:
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy recently launched the website for Jagananna Smart Township scheme.
Under the scheme, the Government aims to give land with litigation-free titles and at a reasonable price below the non-profit market.  The state government has already distributed 31 lakh house pattas to the middle-class families and started the construction of 15.6 lakh houses in the first phase.

Notes:
‘Global Economic Prospects Report’ is the flagship publication of the World Bank. As per the report, global economic growth will dip sharply from 5.5% in 2021 to 4.1% in 2022 and 3.2% in 2023.
The Bank’s 8.3% growth projection for India in 2021-22 is unchanged from its June 2021 outlook. But the forecast for 2022-23 and 2023-24 has been upgraded to 8.7% and 6.8%, respectively.

Notes:
Union Minister Jitendra Singh launched Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven Start-Up named ‘Swajal Water Private Limited’ started by IIT alumni for water purification.
The company’s patented system, ‘Clairvoyant’ uses Artificial Intelligence to optimise purification systems and predict future breakdowns. They have also developed clean drinking water solutions in the form of Water ATMS, which combines Internet of Things technology with solar energy.

Notes:
India’s leading Edu-Tech firms / companies have come together to form a consortium named India EdTech Consortium (IEC), which would form and adhere to a “code of conduct”.
Edu-Tech start-ups like Byju’s, Careers 360, Times Edu-tech, Toppr, Unacademy, upGrad etc have formed this consortium.

Notes:
Two way trade between India and China in 2021 stood at USD 125.66 billion, at an increase of 43.3% from 2020 when bilateral trade was worth USD 87.6 billion.
In 2021, China’s exports to India were $97.52 billion, up 46.2%, while China imported USD 28.14 billion worth of goods from India, up 34.2%. Trade deficit between the two countries was in the favour of China at USD 69 billion.

Notes:
Union Minister for Heavy Industries Mahendra Nath Pandey inaugurated India’s first BHEL-built ‘coal to methanol’ (CTM) pilot plant at Hyderabad.
This 0.25 TPD (tonnes per day) capacity CTM pilot plant has been indigenously designed, developed and installed by BHEL. It is producing methanol with purity of more than 99 per cent from high-ash Indian coal.

Notes:
The Great Resignation is a phenomenon that describes record numbers of people leaving their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many studies have indicated that the pandemic is the single-largest factor behind higher attrition rates across the world including India. In India, the IT industry saw a record attrition rate in 2021, which has led to a hiring overdrive among Indian IT firms in 2022.

Notes:
Capital markets regulator SEBI launched its mobile App named ‘Saa₹thi’ to create awareness among investors about the basic concepts of securities market.
The app has been released among the recent rise in individual investors entering the market, and a large proportion of trading being mobile phone based. The App aims to create awareness about the basic concepts KYC process, trading and settlement, mutual funds, market developments, investor grievances redressal mechanism, etc.

Notes:
Veteran environmentalist from Kerala Prof M K Prasad, known for his ‘Silent Valley Campaign’ recently passed away.
He was a lead activist of the people’s science movement called “Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishath” (KSSP). He led the national movement against the Kerala state government’s move to set up a hydro-power project in Silent Valley in the 1970s.