Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

Notes:
Former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe was conferred with the Netaji Award 2022 by the Netaji Research Bureau on the 125th birth anniversary of the freedom fighter, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose.
Consul general of Japan in Kolkata, Nakamura Yutaka, received the honour on behalf of former PM Shinzo Abe.

Notes:
‘VRR Auction’ stands for Variable rate repo auction. Repo is the rate at which RBI lends short term loans to Banks. A part of it is done at a fixed rate and some of it is a variable rate.
The Reserve Bank of India said it will conduct an overnight variable rate repo auction under liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) for an amount of Rs 75,000 crore. On January 20, the RBI conducted an overnight variable rate repo (VRR) auction of Rs 50,000 crore.

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:
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:
Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra has been bestowed the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in this year’s list of defence awards. It is the highest non-gallantry decoration given to defence personnel.
The PVSM is usually accorded to three-star officers for distinguished service to the nation. Chopra undertook his training at the Army’s sports institutions and was picked to join the service as part of Mission Olympic.

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 President of India Ram Nath Kovind approved to confer 128 Padma Awards this year, on the eve of the 73rd Republic Day.
The 89-year old Kirana gharana Vocalist ‘Prabha Atre’ was awarded the Padma Vibhushan.  She holds a world record for releasing 11 books on music in Hindi and English from a single stage. She established the ‘Swarmayee Gurukul’. Radheyshyam Khemka (Posthumous; Literature, UP), General Bipin Rawat (Civil Service) and Kalyan Singh (Posthumous; Public Affairs, UP) were also awarded the Padma Vibhushan.

Notes:
Tableaux, from as many as 12 states and Union Territories participated in the Republic Day celebrations.
Arunachal Pradesh depicted the four Anglo-Abor Wars between 1858 and 1912, which involved indigenous tribal people of the state. Maharashtra showed the rich biodiversity of the state while Meghalaya portrayed its women-led cooperative societies and SHGs. Haryana’s tableau had several sportsmen while Chhattisgarh portrayed ‘Godhan Nyay Yojana’.

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.