Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

Notes:
The Union Cabinet approved the extension of the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) for three years with effect from April 1, 2022.
NCSK was constituted as a statutory body in 1994 by ‘National Commission for Safai Karamcharis Act, 1993. The tenures have been extended several times. It works under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. As per official data, there were 58,098 manual scavengers identified in the country as on December 31, 2021.

Notes:
A team of researchers from India and Russia has discovered an unknown group of lizards of the family of skinks from Arunachal Pradesh.
The new genus and species has been named as ‘Protoblepharus Apatani’. These lizards are small and active, with a dark brown body with two stripes with a iridescent sheen to their scales. The new species is named after the Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh’s Ziro valley.

Notes:
A Census in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve has found that the National Park has at least 868 swamp deer, down from 907 counted in 2018 due to the two floods.
In the census of wetland birds, a total of 66,776 numbers of birds of 126 species were enumerated, out of which 42,205 birds were counted in the Kaziranga National Park area while 24,571 numbers of birds were counted in Laokhowa and Burachapori Wildlife Sanctuaries of Assam.

Notes:
Ace Indian Cricketer Smriti Mandhana is the only Indian to feature in the ICC Women’s T20I Team of the Year for 2021. Smriti had scored 255 runs in 9 matches and was among the top 5 leading run-scorers in the year.
There were no Indians in the ICC T20I Men’s Team of the Year for 2021, led by Pakistan’s Babar Azam. Pakistan also had two more players including Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi.

Notes:
India Meteorological Department (IMD) recently released its ‘Climate of India during 2021’ report. As per the report, 2021 was the fifth warmest year in India since nation-wide records commenced in the country in 1901.
It also shows that the country reported loss of 1,750 lives due to extreme weather events last year and Maharashtra was the most adversely affected state with 350 deaths. Among extreme weather events, lightning & thunderstorms took the highest lives.

Notes:
NITI Aayog, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), and RMI India released a report, titled ‘Banking on Electric Vehicles in India’.
It highlighted the importance of priority-sector recognition for retail lending in the electric vehicle sector.  The report also provided recommendations to inform the inclusion of EVs in the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) priority-sector lending (PSL) guidelines.

Notes:
Kiribati is one of the most isolated islands in the world. It is located in Oceania and is about 4,800km from Australia.
Until last week, Kiribati had recorded just two Covid cases. After the passengers on the first international flight tested positive for Covid, the country has imposed its first lock-down.

Notes:
The Governments of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh entered into an agreement to build a dam at Adi Badri in Yamunanagar district.
Along with this, the area will also develop as a pilgrimage site. The objective of the project is to revive the Saraswati River as well as increase ground water level. Adi Badri dam will be built on 31.66 hectares of land in Himachal Pradesh and Rs 215.33 crore will be spent for the same.

Notes:
“The International Day of Education” is annually celebrated on January 24. This year the theme of the fourth year of celebration is ‘Changing Course, Transforming Education’.
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2018 proclaimed the celebration of this day. India celebrates ‘National Education day’ celebrated on November 11 to mark the birth anniversary of India’s first Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

Notes:
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur launched ‘Apna Kangra’ app, to help the tourists and boost sale of local handicrafts by a e-Marketing platform.
The aim of ‘Apna Kangra’ is to empower rural women and provide job opportunities to youth through tourism. It also aims to enhance hospitality services such as hotels, homestays and transport.