Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

Notes:
The UN and partners launched their largest ever country-specific appeal for Afghanistan, at a special session, where the UN launched the $5 billion appeal.
The appeal aimed to rescue the collapsing basic services in Afghanistan, which have left 22 million in need of assistance inside the country. The UN also announced that 5.7 million people require help beyond its borders.

Notes:
The National Education Policy introduced a national assessment centre named PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development),
Recently, the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) launched a portal of Student Learning Assessment (PARAKH), which will conduct assessments of students and faculty members of higher educational institutes and schools.

Notes:
Senior Scientist S Somanath, who is presently the Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram is appointed as the Chairman of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
He would succeed K Sivan as the ISRO chairman, and would be the 4^th person from Kerala to occupy ISRO’s top most position.

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’.

Notes:
Tirukkural is the classic text of Tamil Language, which was written by the acclaimed poet and philosopher ‘Thiruvalluvar’.
The text has been dated from 300 BCE to 5th century CE. It is one of the most translated ancient literary work and the most translated Tamil work. To honour the poet, Thiruvalluvar Day is observed on the second day of ‘Thai’ month, which fell on January 15 this year. Tamil Nadu Government built a 133- feet ‘Thiruvalluvar Statue’ in Kanyakumari.

Notes:
‘Khoisans’ are the first people to inhabit South Africa. King Khoisan, the leader of the Khoisans, was arrested for growing cannabis near South African president Cyril Ramaphosa’s office in Pretoria.
The Khoisans have been protesting near the president’s office for the past three years for recognition of the community and their language ‘Khoekhoe’ among other things. The community has been demanding land rights.

Notes:
The Oxfam report titled “Inequality Kills’’, released ahead of the World Economic Forum’s Davos Agenda.
As per the report, the income of 84 per cent of households in the country declined in 2021, but the number of Indian billionaires grew from 102 to 142. In 2021, the collective wealth of India’s 100 richest people rose to Rs 57.3 lakh crore. In the same year, the share of the bottom 50 per cent of the population in national wealth was at 6 per cent.

Notes:
World Economic Forum’s ‘BiodiverCities by 2030 Initiative’, in collaboration with the Alexander von Humboldt Institute and the Government of Colombia has recently released a report.
As per the new report, cities contribute nearly 80 per cent to the global economy and also account for nearly three-fourths of greenhouse gas emissions. Nearly half of the GDP in cities around the world or USD 31 trillion is at risk of disruption from nature loss.

Notes:
Ministry of Commerce and Industry named the top 46 Indian startups and presented them National Startup Award 2021.
150 entrepreneurs presented their policy recommendations at the virtual gathering presided by PM Narendra Modi. Pune-based Repos won this award in the Energy distribution category, for their door-to-door delivery of fuel.

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.