Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

Notes:
The Yucatán Peninsula separates the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean Sea. It includes 3 Mexican states and portions of Belize and Guatemala.
The Maya civilization, known for its exemplary architecture and understanding of mathematics, originated in the Yucatan Peninsula. According to a new study, the Maya civilization may have had access to nearly 500 edible plants, many of which were highly resistant to drought. Earlier, it was believed that the civilization’s fall was due to drought.

Notes:
Professor V Kamakoti, designed India’s first indigenously-developed microprocessor ‘SHAKTI’, has been appointed as the New Director of IIT Madras.
Professor Rangan Banerjee from IIT Bombay is the new IIT Delhi director. Electrical engineering professor at IIT Kanpur Laxmidhar Behera has become the director of IIT Mandi, while mechanical engineering professor Suhas Joshi of IIT Bombay is the new director of IIT Indore

Notes:
The Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) is an autonomous body under the Union Ministry of Education.
Professor Raghuvendra Tanwar has been recently appointed as Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), for a period of three years or until further order. The aim of the council is to give directions to historical research and to encourage objective and scientific writing of history.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new building of the Central Institute of Classical Tamil in Perumbakkam on the outskirts of the Chennai city.
CICT was formerly known as the Centre of Excellence for Classical Tamil (CECT), is an autonomous organisation under the Union Ministry of Education. It was functioning at the campus of the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore from 2006 to 2008.

Notes:
The Government of Andhra Pradesh has recently notified the Andhra Pradesh Mahila Police (Subordinate Service) Rules, 2021. This notification seeks to create a separate women police cadre under the state’s police department.
The new wing would comprise inspectors (non-gazetted), sub-inspectors, assistant sub-inspectors, senior Mahila police and Mahila police personnel.

Notes:
Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) is a type of LED (Light-Emitting Diode) in which emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compound that emits light in response to an electric current. This is a competitive alternative to liquid crystal displays (LCDs).
Recently, team of researchers from University of Minnesota, MIT, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology and Pusan National University have demonstrated a printing technique which produces fully 3D-printed flexible OLED displays.

Notes:
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully conducted the qualification test of the Cryogenic Engine for the Gaganyaan programme for a duration of 720 seconds.
The test was conducted at ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu. This long-duration test is a major milestone for the three-crewed Human Space Programme Gaganyaan. This engine will undergo four more tests for a cumulative duration of 1,810 seconds.

Notes:
The Monumental National Flag, which is the world’s largest national flag made of Khadi fabric, conceptualized and prepared by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) to celebrate ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’. The flag is 225 feet long and 150 feet wide.
It was first unveiled at Leh on October 2, 2021 and was later displayed in various historic places to commemorate various historic events. Recently, the flag was displayed along the India-Pakistan Border at Longewala, Jaisalmer (Rajastan), which was the center-stage of India-Pakistan war 1971.

Notes:
The World Health Organization approved two new Covid-19 treatments. WHO experts said arthritis drug baricitinib can be used with corticosteroids to treat severe Covid patients.
They also recommended synthetic antibody treatment Sotrovimab for the elderly, people with immunodeficiencies or chronic diseases. Only three other treatments for Covid-19 have received WHO approval namely ‘corticosteroids’, ‘Arthritis drugs tocilizumab and sarilumab’ and Synthetic antibody treatment Regeneron.

Notes:
Chinese scientists have built an “artificial moon” research facility, to simulate low-gravity environments using magnetism.
The facility, which is to be officially launched this year, will use powerful magnetic fields inside vacuum chamber to make gravity disappear. This effect is called ‘Diamagnetic levitation’.