Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

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 paid USD 29.9 million in United Nations regular budget assessments for the year 2022. India is a non-permanent member of the 15-nation Security Council and its two-year term will end on December 31, 2022.
As of January 21, 2022, 24 Member States have paid their regular budget assessments in full. Iran, Guinea and Vanuatu paid sufficient dues to the UN regular budget to regain their voting rights. Only Venezuela and Papua New Guinea don’t have the right to vote in the 193 member body.

Notes:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released its World Economic Outlook January 2022 assessment.
As per the update, India is estimated to grow at 9% in 2021-2022, down from 9.5% projected in October 2021. It also projects 9% growth for the Indian economy in 2022-23 Global economic growth will dip from 5.9% in 2021 to 4.4% in 2022.

Notes:
The Government approved the plan for the amalgamation of the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC Bank) with Unity Small Finance Bank (USFBL).
USFBL is a joint venture between Centrum Financial services and digital payments platform BharatPe. All the branches of the PMC Bank will function as branches of USFBL with immediate effect.

Notes:
Sangolli Rayanna was at the forefront to fight the East India Company but was executed by the British in 1831. He was trusted lieutenant of Rani Kittur Chennamma.
The Karnataka government has decided to establish a school named after freedom fighter Sangolli Rayanna at his birthplace in Belagavi district, at a cost of Rs 180 crore.

Notes:
The findings of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Chhattisgarh (Rural) 2021 were released recently.
As per the survey, the proportion of primary school children who cannot recognize letters of the alphabet has doubled since 2018. Only a fewer students can now do basic subtraction or division. The survey covered over 46,000 children in 1,677 villages.

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:
A total of 246 rebels from the Tiwa Liberation Army (TLA) and United Gorkha Peoples Organisation (UGPO), formally surrendered and laid down arms in Assam.
TLA was formed in 2014 and UGPO was formed in 2007. They deposited 277 types of arms, grenades and 720 rounds of ammunition. As many as 462 former militants of five different terrorist outfits had surrendered last year in the state.

Notes:
Objects that turn on and off in the Universe are called as transients. Slow transients like supernovae appear over few days and disappear after a few months. Fast transients like neutron star (pulsar) flash on and off within milliseconds or seconds.
Recently, Astronomers using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) telescope have discovered a spinning object that pulses every 18.18 minutes. They suggest that it could be an ‘Ultra-long-period magnetar’. It is located at just an ultra-long-period magnetar from the Earth.

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.