Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

Notes:
A new strain of coronavirus that combines Delta and Omicron has been detected in Cyprus. The new strain has been named ‘Deltacron’ due to the identification of Omicron-like genetic signatures within the Delta genomes.
There has been a constant spike in the cases of Omicron variant of COVID-19 across the globe. A detailed study is yet to be done on how the new Deltacron variant will impact the world.

Notes:
David Sassoli, the President of the European Parliament, has recently passed away. European Parliament is headquartered in Strasbourg, France.
The European Parliament is one of three legislative branches of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. The European Parliament is constituted for five-year term, but the President of the body serves for half that time.

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:
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 Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 came into effect from January 2020. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked prison authorities to make separate facilities for trans men and trans women to preserve the right to privacy and dignity of the inmates.
The guidelines are released considering the Transgender Persons Act, 2019. According to a National Crime Records Bureau, there were 70 transgender prisoners in jails across the country in 2020.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 25th National Youth Festival in Puducherry via video conference.
The Prime Minister also inaugurated a technology centre of the MSME Ministry and Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Manimandapam, an auditorium with an open-air theatre in Puducherry, to be used for educational purposes.

Notes:
Kumbalangi became the first-ever sanitary napkin-free village in the country. It is located in the Ernakulam district of Kerala.
It is part of ‘Avalkayi’ (for her) campaign being implemented in the Ernakulam constituency, under which menstrual cups are distributed to women aged 18 and above. Kumbalanghi was declared a model village by the Kerala Governor. It also holds the title of India’s first model tourist village.

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:
With an aim of doubling the trade between India and the United Kingdom (UK) by 2030, the countries launched formal Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations.
Bilateral trade between the countries is worth about $50 billion per year. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said both countries had agreed to sensitive sectors such as agriculture and dairy sectors. As per WTO, preferential terms can be given if they have bilateral agreements that cover all the trade.

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.