Answer: A

• Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik recently, inaugurated T-Setu, the State’s longest bridge over Mahanadi in Cuttack district of Odisha.

About ‘T-Setu’ over Mahanadi

• The 3.4 km long bridge, connecting Gopinathpur in Badamba, Baideswar in Banki to Singhanath Pitha located in the middle of the river, has been built in the shape of English alphabet ‘T’ at a cost of Rs 111 crore.
• The bridge, which has a footpath of 1.5 metre width on its both sides, will benefit people of Cuttack and Khurda and reduce the distance between Badamba and Baideswar in Banki by 45 km.
• The 7.5-metre-wide bridge will facilitate communication for around five lakh people of the nearby localities besides improving agriculture, business and tourism activities in and around the area.
• It will also benefit devotees visiting Baba Singhanath’s Bali Makar Jatra in Badamba block.

Answer: B

• The World Economic Forum has decided to postpone its Annual Meeting in Davos due to the outbreak and spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. The meeting was scheduled to happen in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, between January 17 and 21, 2022. It is now planned for early summer.

About World Economic Forum

• The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland.
• It was founded on 24 January 1971 by Klaus Schwab.
• The foundation, which is mostly funded by its 1,000 member companies – typically global enterprises with more than five billion US dollars in turnover – as well as public subsidies, views its own mission as improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas.
• The WEF is mostly known for its annual meeting at the end of January in Davos, a mountain resort in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland.
• The meeting brings together some 3,000 paying members and selected participants – among which are investors, business leaders, political leaders, economists, celebrities and journalists – for up to five days to discuss global issues across 500 sessions.

Answer: C

• NASA has released noises captured by its spacecraft near Jupiter’s moon Ganymede. The sounds released by NASA are spooky and frightening to hear at first.

About Ganymede

• Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system. It is so large that it size dwarfs Mercury, a full-fledged planet. Ganymede also has its own magnetic field, something that other moons in solar system can’t boast of.
• NASA’s Juno spacecraft is in Jupiter’s neighbourhood and making its observations. Earlier this year, Juno captured Ganymede’s electromagnetic waves.
• NASA has converted these waves into sound and has released what can be perhaps scientifically considered as sound of Ganymede.

Answer: D

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched Rashtriya Ekta Geet composed by the National Cadet Corps (NCC) in 22 languages during the grand finale of Vijay Shrankhla aur Sanskrityon ka Mahasangam campaign.
• Highlighting the glorious history of NCC, Rajnath Singh said, leaders like Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and many others are NCC alumni who have contributed towards Nation building.

About Rashtriya Ekta Geet

• Rashtriya Ekta Geet is based on the theme of national integration.
• The National Cadet Corps (NCC) is the youth wing of the Indian Armed Forces with its headquarters in New Delhi, India.

Answer: D

• Avani this year became the first-ever female Paralympic gold medallist from India.

About Avani Lekhara

• The 19-year-old broke the Paralympic record and equalled the World record in the women’s 10m SH1 air rifle standing final.
• The first woman to win a gold medal in Olympic or Paralympic Games, Avani Lekhara added more glitter to her gold as she won the Best Female Debut award in the 2021 Paralympic Sports Awards announced in a virtual ceremony.
• Avani this year became the first-ever female Paralympic gold medallist from India. The 19-year-old broke the Paralympic record and equalled the World record in the women’s 10m SH1 air rifle standing final. She also won bronze in the women’s 50m SH1 air rifle standing event to become the first Indian female to win two medals in the Paralympics. It was also India’s first Paralympic medal in shooting.

Answer: A

• Malta has become the first European Union country to legalise cannabis at home and for personal use.
• MPs approved a legal reform recently, allowing citizens to grow and possess limited amounts of marijuana.

About Malta becoming first EU country to legalise cannabis for personal use

• Under the new law, citizens aged 18 and over will be allowed to possess up to seven grams of cannabis, and cultivate up to four cannabis plants at home.
• Malta’s parliament was widely expected to pass the bill, which has been supported by Prime Minister Robert Abela.
• But the opposition Nationalist party has criticised the reform, saying it will “normalise and increase drug use” in the country.
• The bill was approved by a majority vote in parliament and will be signed into effect later this week by Malta’s President George Vella.