Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

Notes:
‘Koozhangal’ from India won the best film award in the Asian Film Competition section at the 20th Dhaka International Film Festival. It was directed by P S Vinothraj from Tamil Nadu.
Best Actor Award went to Jayasurya for Ranjith Sankar-directed film Sunny. The Best Script Writer Award went to Indranil Roychowdhury and Sugata Sinha for India-Bangladesh film Mayar Jonjal. The special audience award was given to Aimee Baruah Directed film Semkhor. India won 4 out of 17 awards.

Notes:
Sangolli Rayanna was at the forefront to fight the East India Company but was executed by the British in 1831. He was trusted lieutenant of Rani Kittur Chennamma.
The Karnataka government has decided to establish a school named after freedom fighter Sangolli Rayanna at his birthplace in Belagavi district, at a cost of Rs 180 crore.

Notes:
A joint maritime exercise Paschim Lehar was conducted by the Indian Navy concluded off the West Coast recently.
The Exercise aims to enhance the inter-service synergy among the Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army and Coast Guard.  It was conducted over a duration of 20 days with participation of various equipment of the armed forces.

Notes:
India hosted first India-Central Asia Summit in a virtual format. Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed on the need for India and Central Asian countries to define an ambitious vision, as the relations completed 30 years.
The event that saw a participation of the Presidents of five countries, including Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Notes:
The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has revised the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for adopting and implementing the Integrity Pact.
It has been revised for the second time in eight months. The step aims to ensure transparency in public procurements and to provide a large number of of Independent External Monitors (IEMS) to examine government contracts.

Notes:
The National Conference on Agriculture for Summer Campaign 2021-22 was held through video conference. It is also called as Zaid Conference. Zaid crops are grown between Kharif and Rabi Seasons
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Kumar Tomar attended the conference. The objective is to review the crop performance during the preceding crop seasons and fix crop-wise targets for the next summer season in consultation with State Governments.

Notes:
‘International Customs Day’ is observed every year on January 26, across the world with the United Nations as the host. It recognises the role of customs officials and agencies in ensuring flow of goods across the world borders.
The Customs Cooperation Council (CCC) announced the observance of ICD in 1953. CCC was renamed as World Customs Organization (WCO) in 1994. The theme of 2022 is ‘Scaling up Customs Digital Transformation by Embracing a Data Culture and Building a Data Ecosystem’.

Notes:
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched AP Seva Portal 2.0 (Citizen Service Portal), to deliver better services for the people.
The public can track the status of their application themselves without any hassles. All the applications can be approved online and the officials can provide certificates and documents online with digital signature.

Notes:
NeoCov stands for Neoromicia, the species of bat that have been infected with the virus. This virus is associated with MERS Coronavirus and not the SARs-CoV-2.
Recently news about the virus discovered in South Africa amongst bats is being circulated widely. However the World Health Organization has said that whether NeoCov coronavirus poses a threat to humans requires further study.

Notes:
Objects that turn on and off in the Universe are called as transients. Slow transients like supernovae appear over few days and disappear after a few months. Fast transients like neutron star (pulsar) flash on and off within milliseconds or seconds.
Recently, Astronomers using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) telescope have discovered a spinning object that pulses every 18.18 minutes. They suggest that it could be an ‘Ultra-long-period magnetar’. It is located at just an ultra-long-period magnetar from the Earth.