Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

Notes:
A Decacorn is a company whose valuation crosses the milestone of USD 10 billion. Food-Delivery Giant Swiggy has raised USD 700 million in Invesco-led new funding, which has made it a decacorn, doubling its valuation to USD 10.7 billion.
Another Food Delivery Leader Zomato was valued at $5.4 billion before its recent IPO. Budget hospitality company Oyo’s valuation is at USD 9 billion in 2021. The Top 3 positions are held by Flipkart, Byju’s and Paytm.

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:
Nagaland state was carved out of Assam in 1963 and the two states share a 512.1-km-long border.  Nagaland has been demanding Naga Hills and all Naga-dominated areas in the then North Cachar and Nagaon districts of Assam, to be part of the state.
The Governments of Nagaland and Assam announced that they are ready for out-of-court settlement of the long pending inter-state boundary dispute.

Notes:
The Government approved the plan for the amalgamation of the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC Bank) with Unity Small Finance Bank (USFBL).
USFBL is a joint venture between Centrum Financial services and digital payments platform BharatPe. All the branches of the PMC Bank will function as branches of USFBL with immediate effect.

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:
Coal Controller’s Organization, a subordinate office under the Ministry of Coal, released its flagship publications, the ‘Coal Directory of India 2020-21’.
The Statistical Publication contains information on the performance of Coal and Lignite sectors during the financial year 2020-21. It also provides the grade wise data of production and dispatch and reserves of coal. The publication also provides information on import- export and prices of coal.

Notes:
Telineelapuram International Bird Sanctuary is located in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district. Recently, mass deaths of migratory spot-billed pelicans happened at the Bird Sanctuary.
According to government data, about 113 species of exotic birds come to these areas each year from Siberia, Russia, Malaysia, Hungary, Singapore and Germany for breeding. This year, over 100 birds that prey on nearby water bodies have died.

Notes:
‘Great Barrier Reef’ is the world’s largest coral reef system located in Australia. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has recently announced a further one billion Australian dollars ( USD 703m) to protect the Great Barrier Reef.
The reef is under threat from global warming and the government is criticised for supporting fossil fuels.

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.

Notes:
The Government has appointed V Anantha Nageswaran as its Chief Economic Advisor (CEA). He was Dean of IFMR Graduate School of Business.
He was also a part-time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister from 2019 to 2021.The upcoming Survey has been drafted by a team led by Principal Economic Advisor Sanjeev Sanyal.