Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

Notes:
India’s first ever District Good Governance Index (DGGI) was released in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
In the composite ranking of the index, the Jammu district tops the list followed by districts of Doda, Samba, Pulwama and Srinagar in the UT. The Index is a framework document which assesses the performance under ten governance sectors with 58 indicators.

Notes:
The World Bank has approved a loan of around Rs 1,000 crore (USA 125 million) for the West Bengal government.
The loan has been approved under the ‘West Bengal Building State Capability for Inclusive Social Protection’ operation. The loan is being given for several development projects related to social security.

Notes:
The Peruvian Government declared a 90-day “environmental emergency” in damaged coastal territories, after 6,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into the sea.
The incident occurred at the La Pampilla refinery, where the “Mare Doricum” tanker belonging to the Spanish energy firm Repsol was transporting 965,000 barrels of crude oil. The spill has caused death of marine wildlife and the spill is investigated as an environmental pollution crime.

Notes:
The ‘Contingency Fund of India’ is held by the Finance Ministry’s Department of economic affairs on behalf of the President of India.
It can be operated by executive action and used during disasters and related unforeseen expenditures. Recently, the Government has tweaked spending norms for Contingency Fund, allowing 40 per cent of the total corpus to be placed at disposal of the expenditure secretary.

Notes:
Republic Day celebration includes recognition and honouring the brave personnel in the Armed Forces and police. There are eight categories of awards given to honour the recipients for their work in their respective fields.
It includes Padma Awards, Gallantry Awards (Param Vir Chakra, Mahavir Chakra, Vir Chakra, Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra, Shaurya Chakra), The President’s Police Medals, Correctional Services Medal, The President’s Fire Medals, Civil Defence & Home Guards Medals and Jeevan Raksha Padak.

Notes:
‘Koozhangal’ from India won the best film award in the Asian Film Competition section at the 20th Dhaka International Film Festival. It was directed by P S Vinothraj from Tamil Nadu.
Best Actor Award went to Jayasurya for Ranjith Sankar-directed film Sunny. The Best Script Writer Award went to Indranil Roychowdhury and Sugata Sinha for India-Bangladesh film Mayar Jonjal. The special audience award was given to Aimee Baruah Directed film Semkhor. India won 4 out of 17 awards.

Notes:
Russia has supplied the first batch of 70,000 rifles, as a part of the AK-203 Deal to manufacture the AK 203 assault rifles in India.
The first batch is likely to be used by the air force, while the rifles to be manufactured at the Amethi factory will be delivered to the army. The manufacturing will be done by Indo Russian Rifles Private Limitedm, Joint Venture between Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Ltd (erstwhile OFB) and Russian Rosoboronexport.

Notes:
The European Union launched a case against China at the World Trade Organization over its forced practices against Lithuania and some exporters from other member states.
China, the EU’s main trade partner, started blocking Lithuanian products and some other European goods that contained Lithuanian components last December. This was done after Taiwan opened a representative office in Vilnius (capital of Lithuania) under the country’s name instead of Taipei.

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:
The Government of Tamil Nadu has framed a draft policy for senior citizens, acknowledging the State’s demographic transition.
The policy also proposes to create a Directorate for the Welfare of Senior Citizens. The draft document is based on Article 41 of the Constitution, which requires the State ‘to secure the right to work, education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement’.