Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

Notes:
Delhi Government has decided to conduct a large-scale survey, to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological and emotional behaviour of school children.
On the basis of the findings of this survey and recommendations of experts, Delhi’s ‘Happiness Curriculum’ will be updated. New chapters, stories and activities will be included, so that students can learn to be stress-free in challenging situations like a pandemic.

Notes:
The high-level committee was constituted in 2014 under the chairmanship of former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian by the Ministry of Environment, forests and climate change (MoEF & CC) to review environmental laws in the country.
The Supreme Court had asked the Centre whether it was planning a dedicated Indian Environment Service in the national bureaucratic set-up, as recommended by the Subramanian Committee.

Notes:
India celebrates National Girl Child Day on January 24 every year. It is an initiative undertaken by the Ministry of women and child development, to create awareness and provide opportunities to the girls of India.
The government of India, in 2008, declared January 24 to be celebrated as the National Girl Child Day every year.

Notes:
Facebook parent company Meta has announced that its new Artificial intelligence supercomputer will be the fastest in the world by the middle of next year.
Meta has introduced AI Research SuperCluster (RSC), which is among the fastest AI supercomputers running at present and will be the fastest in the world once fully built out in mid-2022.

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:
The National Voters’ Day is celebrated every year on January 25 to encourage the country’s voters to participate in the electoral process.
The theme for this year’s National Voters’ Day (12th edition) is ‘Making Elections Inclusive, Accessible and Participative’. New voters completing 18 years  would be enrolled and be given the Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) on January 25 every year.

Notes:
Himachal Pradesh is the northernmost state of India and shares borders with the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to the north.
The state is celebrating its 52nd full statehood day on 25 January, as it was formed as the 18^th Indian state on the same day in 1971, with Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar as its first Chief Minister. In 1950, Himachal became a Part ‘C’ state then became a union territory in 1956.

Notes:
The 61 winners of the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (PMRBP) 2021 and 2022 got digital certificates that use blockchain-driven technology developed by IIT Kanpur under the National Blockchain Project.
The digital certificates will be stored on digital wallets installed on the mobile devices of the recipients. These certificates are globally verifiable and cannot be forged. IIT Kanpur had awarded digital degrees to its students for the first time using the in-house developed blockchain technology.

Notes:
The 77 year-old Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee refused the Padma Bhushan award announced in 2022.
He served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 2000 to 2011. Legendary singer Sandhya Mukherjee and tabla exponent Anindya Chatterjee also refused the awards. Sandhya Mukherjee has a 70 year long career and has sung thousands of songs for Indian cinema.

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.