Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

Notes:
According to lawsuits by Washington, D.C., and three other states, Alphabet Inc.’s Google deceived consumers by recording their location even after users tried to turn off the company’s tracking on their smartphones and web browsers.
The suit alleges that Google tracks people’s movements using information from its search engine, Maps app, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth services. While Google said that it has  built privacy features into our products and provided robust controls for location data.

Notes:
Andhra Pradesh has notified Andhra Pradesh has 13 new districts under AP Districts Formation Act, Section 3(5). The total number of districts in Andhra Pradesh is now 26.
The state has 25 Lok Sabha constituencies and each is supposed to be made a revenue district. Only Araku constituency is split into two new districts. Manyam and Alluri Sitarama Raju, named after the legendary Telugu freedom fighter, are the two new tribal districts

Notes:
The Ministry of Electronics and IT, Government of India, has given approval to Kerala for setting up India’s first ‘Graphene Innovation Centre’.
The state-run Digital University Kerala (DUK), along with CMET-Trichur, is to set up “India Innovation Centre for Graphene”, an R&D incubation centre. It will be implemented with the support of Government of Kerala, and Tata Steel Ltd will be the industrial partner of the centre. Graphene is the thinnest and strongest material in the world and could replace indium in OLED screens.

Notes:
The United States House of Representatives unveiled the ambitious America ‘Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology, and Economic Strength’ Act of 2022, or the America COMPETES Act of 2022.
It proposes to open up new arenas for talented individuals from across the world with a new start-up visa. The bill also provides grant to encourage semiconductor production in the US and to improve supply chain resilience and manufacturing.

Notes:
UNESCO has added ‘Clinker Boats’ to its list of traditions that represent the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden jointly sought the UNESCO designation. It is a Nordic Tradition and for thousands of years, wooden sailboats enabled the peoples of Northern Europe to undertake trade.

Notes:
The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially the XXIV Olympic Winter Games is scheduled to take place from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing and its neighbouring town in China.
A report released by Sport Ecology Group and Save Our Winters has stated the dangers of artificial snow to be produced in the Olympics on athletes’ bodies. It also warned on water wastage that happens for the snow at these games.

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:
The Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) of Tamil Nadu has been awarded the prestigious TX2 Award after its tiger number doubled since 2010.
STR is a protected area and tiger reserve in the Western Ghats in the Erode District of Tamil Nadu. The reserve is a part of the Nilgiri biosphere landscape, which is the home to world’s largest tiger population. The awards are presented by the Conservation Assured Tiger Standards (CATS), Global Tiger Forum (GTF), IUCN’s ITHCP, UNDP, WWF among other stakeholders.

 

 

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:
In a new study, researchers have found that the highest levels of atmospheric mercury pollution in the world are found in a patch of the Peruvian Amazon.
The study shows that illegal Gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon is causing record high levels of atmospheric mercury pollution. Birds from this area have up to 12 times more mercury in their systems than birds from less polluted areas.