Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

Notes:
India ace badminton player PV Sindhu won the women`s singles title at the Syed Modi International tournament.
The top-seed Sindhu defeated Malvika Bansod 21-13, 21-16 in the final clash. The men`s singles final of the Syed Modi India International 2022 was declared a `No Match’ as one of the finalists was declared Covid positive.

Notes:
According to the G20 People’s Climate Vote 2021 report, which was recently released by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), around 67 per cent of the youth in India consider the climate crisis as a global emergency.
The youth are also vocal about the need for urgent policy creation and change. Whereas, India has only about 58 per cent adults, who consider climate change a global emergency.

Notes:
India’s first state-of-the-art, Para-badminton academy with advanced equipment and facilities has been set up in Lucknow.
The centre has been launched by Dronacharya awardee and Head national coach of Indian para-badminton team, Gaurav Khanna, along with Ageas Federal Life Insurance. It aims to improve India’s medal prospects at the 2024 Paralympics.

Notes:
Researchers have recently found scientific evidence of a strong anti-cancer activity in the ethyl acetate fraction of Halodule uninervis.
It is a species of sea-grass found in the coastal region near Rameswaram in southern Tamil Nadu. It evaluated the activity of the species against various human cancer cell lines, including malignant melanoma, lung, cervix, carcinoma and colorectal cancers.

Notes:
‘Najafgarh jheel’ is a trans-boundary wetland between Delhi and Haryana. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had earlier directed Haryana and Delhi to prepare an Environment Management Plan for the jheel.
The NGT has directed Delhi and Haryana to enforce the Environment Management Plans that the two governments have prepared for the rejuvenation and protection of the Najafgarh jheel.

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:
India’s star opener Smriti Mandhana was named the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year for her contribution across all formats in 2021. She was short-listed for ‘the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy’
The Indian T20 Vice-Captain is only the second India woman player to bag an ICC award after veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami, who was named the ICC Player of the Year in 2007. England captain Root was named ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year for 2021 and Pakistan skipper Babar Azam named ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year for 2021.

Notes:
After massive protests, the Serbia government has cancelled the licenses for lithium mining to Rio Tinto, a multi-national mining organisation.
The Jadar is a river in western Serbia, 75 km long tributary of the Drina river. Serbians staged protests against Rio Tinto’s plans to mine lithium in the Jadar valley near Lozinca town in the country.

Notes:
In new research, a team of scientists at Tufts University demonstrated long-term regrowth of limbs in an African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis).
They achieved this restoration of an amputated hindlimb after a 24-hour exposure to a five-drug cocktail delivered by a silicone wearable bioreactor. The researchers are exploring ways to extend this to human beings

Notes:
U.S. President Joe Biden and his European Union counterpart Ursula von der Leyen pledged to cooperate on guaranteeing Europe’s energy security.
They released a joint cooperation statement amidst standoff triggered by Russia consolidating troops at Ukraine’s border. The European Union depends on Russia for around one-third of its gas supplies.