Current Affairs Quiz - January 2022

Notes:
The Ratings agency ICRA has maintained its forecast of a 9.0% GDP expansion for India in FY2022. It maintained that a K-shaped divergence will be seen amongst the formal and informal sectors of the economy.
The ratings agency also expects the economy to maintain a similar 9.0% growth in the next fiscal year FY2023.

Notes:
The UK government has launched a new initiative named ‘Better Health Smoke-Free’ campaign, which highlights the impact of adult smokers on younger people.
The campaign has urged the smokers to quit smoking. As per the data released by the campaign, 4.9 per cent of teenagers whose parents smoke have also adopted the habit. New Zealand has also set goals to go smoke-free by 2030.

Notes:
The Sahitya Akademi announced a list of 22 winners of the Yuva Puraskar and the Bal Sahitya Puraskar for 2021.
The Sahitya Akademi award was separately announced for literary works in 20 languages in various categories like poetry, novels, short stories, plays, biography and autobiography, book on criticism.  Tamil feminist writer Ambai, Kannada’s DS Nagabhushan, Telugu’s Goreti Venkanna, and English author Namita Gokhale are among the winners.

Notes:
Insurance regulator IRDAI has announced that the state-owned LIC, General Insurance Corporation and New India Assurance have been identified as Domestic Systemically Important Insurers (D-SIIs) for 2021-22.
D-SIIs are perceived as insurers that are too big or too important to fail’ (TBTF). Due to their size, market importance and domestic and global inter connectedness, their failure would cause a massive impact in domestic financial system.

Notes:
Afghanistan has signed a new agreement with Tajikistan’s “Tajik Electricity” company for the extension of the import of electricity for the next year.
As per recent reports, Afghanistan needs 850 megawatts of electricity per year. Afghanistan imports 620 megawatts from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Iran.While, 230 megawatts are supplied from domestic sources.

Notes:
Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, will likely ratify its membership of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
China-backed RCEP, the world’s biggest trade association, entered into force on January 1, 2022. Seven nations in Southeast Asia, as well as Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea ratified the pact earlier this year.

Notes:
SMILE (Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise) is an umbrella scheme being formulated by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
It includes two sub-schemes for the welfare of transgender persons and persons engaged in begging. The scheme will include rehabilitation, medical facilities, counselling, education, skill development and economic linkages.

Notes:
The Supreme Court of India appointed the technical committee to look into the Pegasus malware issue.
The technical committee issued a public notice asking citizens to contact the panel if they suspected that their mobile devices are infected by Pegasus malware. The committee would request the person to allow examination of the device, if reasonable.

Notes:
Nodirbek Abdusattorov from Uzbekistan became the youngest ever World Rapid Chess champion, at 17 years three months. Magnus Carlsen had won the 2009 World Blitz Title at the age of 18.
He also defeated the Ace player Magnus Carlsen to win the World Rapid championship in Warsaw, Poland. France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won the World Blitz title.

Notes:
Indian solar power producer Azure Power has fully commissioned its largest project, a 600-MW solar park in the state of Rajasthan.
The independent Power producer now owns and operates India’s largest solar power project at a single location. The solar park is located in Bikaner and is connected to the Interstate Transmission System (ISTS). It will supply its power to Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) over 25 years.