Answer: C

• Indian Navy’s indigenously designed and built guided missile destroyer, INS Kochi, exercised with Russian Federation Navy’s RFS Admiral Tributs recently in the Arabian Sea.

About the exercise

• The exercise showcased cohesiveness and interoperability between the two navies and included tactical manoeuvres, cross-deck helicopter operations and seamanship activities.

Answer: A

• Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh says, “Purple Revolution” is Jammu & Kashmir’s contribution to “Start-ups India”, an initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016
• Aroma/lavender cultivation has become a popular option in farming for agricultural Start-up in J&K: Dr Jitendra Singh

About ‘Purple Revolution’

• Briefing about the Aroma Mission launched by the Union Ministry of Science & Technology through the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), which has led to the well-known “Purple Revolution” in India , the Minister informed that the CSIR had, to begin with introduced high-value essential oil bearing lavender crop through its Jammu based laboratory, Indian Institute of Integrative Medicines (IIIM) for cultivation in districts Doda, Kishtwar, Rajouri and later also in the other districts including Ramban, Pulwama, etc. In a brief span of time, aroma/lavender cultivation has become a popular option in farming for agricultural Start-up, he said.

Answer: D

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to the Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar on Thiruvalluvar Day recently.

About Thiruvalluvar

• Thiruvalluvar is regarded as a cultural icon. His most popular work is a collection of couplets on politics, ethics, economy, and love, called “Thirukkuaaa”.
• To honour his contribution, Thiruvalluvar Day is observed either on January 15 or 16 as a part of the Pongal celebrations.
• While a lot is not known about the life of Thiruvalluvar, it is believed that he used to live in the town of Mylapore, which in today’s time is a neighbourhood in Chennai.

Answer: C

• Pt Birju Maharaj, storyteller who blurred gender norms to become one of the foremost masters of Kathak, passes away at 83

About Kathak

• Kathak is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance.
• The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards in the of ancient northern India known as Kathakars or storytellers.

Answer: B

• Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) recently announced the initiation of the Open Data Week to encourage adoption of open data and promote innovation across India’s urban ecosystem.

About ‘Open Data Week’

• Leading up to the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav – Smart Cities: Smart Urbanization’ conference scheduled to be held in Surat, during February 2022, the Open Data Week is part of a series of pre-event initiatives being undertaken by MoHUA to promote awareness and use of open data. It will be conducted during the third week of January, i.e., from 17th January 2022 to 21st January 2022.
• The Event will see participation from all 100 Smart Cities that will be publishing high quality datasets and data blogs on the Smart Cities Open Data Portal. Presently, more than 3,800 datasets and more than 60 data stories are already available on the Portal to various stakeholders to analyse this data and uncover actionable insights.
• The Event aims to show the benefits of open data such as increased efficiency, transparency, a spur in innovation, and economic growth. It is divided into two segments – first, uploading of datasets, visualizations, APIs and data blogs on the Smart Cities Open Data Portal from 17th January 2022 to 20th January 2022 and second, celebration of a Data Day by all smart cities on 21st January 2022.
• The Data Day will take place nationally across all smart cities and will include talks, seminars, hackathons, demonstrations, and trainings on different data tracks identified by the cities. The Day will see engagement of people from different backgrounds including government agencies, private sector enterprises, scientific and academic institutions, businesses, start-ups, civil society etc. The idea is to provide a platform that offers ample opportunities on how to continue creating and promoting the use of data that addresses complex urban issues, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
• The Event has been designed to promote the use of and spread awareness about data. There are also many different groups of people and organisations who can benefit from the availability of quality data. New combinations of data can create new knowledge and insights, which can lead to whole new fields of application. This can help governments in solving some of the most common problems faced by the citizens of any city and replicating the successful ideas in other cities.

Answer: D

• Two road alignment proposals for the construction of a road bridge over the Gobind Sagar lake between Lathiani and Bihru in Una district and the spots for the two ends of the 840-metre bridge have been finalised.
• The bridge will reduce the distance between Una and Hamirpur districts by about 20 km and also allow road access to people living in villages around the reservoir, who now use boats as means of transport..
• According to the highways authorities, the bridge will be built in two parts, the first 440-metre part to be supported by cables and the remaining carried on pillars.
• Meanwhile, the government, through the Kutlehar Tourism Development Society, has proposed to set up a tourism hub near Bihru on the banks of the reservoir. The facilities like adventure water sports, angling, bird watching and nature trekking are also proposed.

Answer: A

• Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mandi and the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) have identified phytochemicals in the petals of a Himalayan plant that could potentially be used to treat COVID-19
• The research found that phytochemical-rich petals of Rhododendron arboreumfound in the Himalayan region, locally called “Buransh” show antiviral activity and fight against the virus.
• The findings of the research team have been Recently published in the journal   Biomolecular Structure and  Dynamics.