Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2023

Notes:
Savitribai Phule is formally recognised as India’s first woman teacher. She was born on January 3, 1831, in Maharashtra’s Naigaon village.
Along with her husband and social activist Jyotirao Phule, Savitribhai opened the country’s first girls’ school in Bhidewada, Pune, in 1848. They challenged oppressive caste-based social norms and made the downtrodden to pursue education.

Notes:
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the Siyom Bridge in Arunachal Pradesh, constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
It is one among the 28 projects, mostly along the border with China. They include 12 in Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir, five in Arunachal Pradesh, three each in Sikkim, Punjab and Uttarakhand, and two in Rajasthan.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission with a total initial outlay of Rs 19,744 crore.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ‘National Hydrogen Mission’ on Independence Day in 2021. If the electricity used for the process of generating hydrogen comes from a renewable source then the hydrogen is referred to as green hydrogen.

Notes:
A bird survey was conducted at the Silent Valley National Park, located in the Nilgiri hills in Kerala, in the last week of December.
The survey identified 141 species, of which 17 were new. So far, 175 species of birds have been spotted in Silent Valley. The first survey was held in the National Park in December 1990, 30 years ago.

Notes:
Space Kidz India, a Chennai-based space tech start-up is set to launch their satellite made by 750 girls from government schools aboard an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launch vehicle.
A targeted launch date of January 16 has been set for the satellite named AzaadiSAT. Space Kidz India selected 10 girl students from 75 government schools across the country for this mission. The project is also supported by Niti Aayog.

Notes:
Cratonavis zhui’s fossils were recently discovered in China, which exhibit a dinosaur-like skull and a bird-like body.
The discovery opens up questions about the evolution of dinosaurs into birds as it breaks the theory that birds evolved from dinosaurs.

Notes:
The first phase of the caste-based census kicked off in Bihar, in which the number of all households in the state will be counted.
The Bihar cabinet on June 2, 2022 decided to conduct the caste-based census in the state. The  decadal census conducted by the Union Government counts religious groups and Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).

Notes:
Avian flu has been confirmed in many Kerala districts and the Kerala Health Department has directed all districts to be on the alert.
Avian flu was also confirmed in a grama panchayat in the capital city Thiruvananthapuram. The district administration issued orders that all poultry and other pet birds in the affected wards be killed and that all egg, meat, bird fodder, and litter be destroyed.

Notes:
Indian squash prodigy Anahat Singh recently clinched the girls’ Under-15 squash title at the British Junior Open tournament in Birmingham.
The 14-year-old defeated Sohaila Hazem of Egypt, 3-1 in the final. The British Junior Open is held in January every year in the UK where players from all over the world compete to win the title

Notes:
Union Home Minister Amit Shah unveiled a 120-feet-tall statue of a polo player riding a pony at Marjing Polo Complex in Imphal, Manipur
Manipur is considered the birthplace of the game and it reached the British before 1850.  In November last year, the first Chief Minister’s Sagol Kangjei Championship was held during the Sangai festival to promote the indigenous game. The ponies in Manipur are becoming vulnerable due to lack of grazing grounds.