Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

Notes:
Twitter announced a new way for users to authenticate their profile pictures, created by non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
The microblogging platform released an official verification mechanism for NFT profile pictures. NFT owners have been uploading jpeg images of their digital assets as profile pictures recently. The authentic NFT profile pictures will be shown with a new hexagon-shaped mask.

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:
National Tourism Day is celebrated across the country on January 25 every year to spread awareness about the importance of tourism and its impact on the economy.
This year, the Ministry of Tourism is observing National Tourism Day under the aegis of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’. This year’s theme for National Tourism Day is ‘Rural and Community Centric Tourism’.

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:
India has initiated an anti-dumping probe against imports of Vinyl Tiles from China, Taiwan and Vietnam, following a complaint by domestic players.
It is a type of tiles, used for covering the floors in residential and commercial buildings.The Commerce Ministry’s Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) is probing the dumping of Vinyl Tiles. Dumping of the product is affecting the domestic industry which started commercial production in 2019.

Notes:
India Pavilion at EXPO2020 Dubai launched the USD 150-million fund India-UAE venture capital fund in the UAE.
It is the first such fund to be set up in the UAE. The fund aims to invest and nurture promising startups through an accelerator to fuel the growth of India-UAE start-ups. It will be funded by investors across UAE, India and GCC countries.

Notes:
India’s exports of electronic goods touched USD 1.67 Billion in December 2021, registering a growth of 33.99% over USD 1.25 bn seen in December 2020. The overall exports of electronics goods in the last financial year was USD 11.11 Billion.
The top 5 export destinations of Indian electronics goods in April-November 2021 are: USA (18%), UAE (16.6%), China (7.6%), Netherland (4.5%) & Germany (4.2%). Mobile phones form a major part of India’s Electronics Goods sector exports.

Notes:
France’s Justice Ministry has been hit by cyber-attack from a group known as LockBit 2.0. The group locked the ministry’s files and asking for ransom from the Government.
The country has launched investigation on the attack. As per government sources, no criminal records have been affected.

Notes:
National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) is a public pharmaceutical research institution under India’s Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya launched NIPER Research Portal, to disseminate the information about all seven NIPERs and their research activities.