Answer: B

• The India Innovation Centre for Graphene (IICG) will be established in Thrissur, Kerala, as part of a joint venture between Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (Pune), Digital University Kerala (DUK), Tata Steel Limited and other industries.
• A first-of-its-kind centre for studying graphene and developing its newer applications as suitable for industries has recently been approved by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

Why Graphene Research?

• The newest centre aims at promoting and performing R&D on graphene as per the industry requirements.
• Being a good conductor of electricity and highly flexible, this two-dimensional form of crystalline carbon has enormous number of applications ranging from electronic wearable devices, biomedical devices, sensors, fuel cells, semiconductors, field emission displays, nanoelectrodes for inexpensive organic electronic devices such as organic photovoltaics (OPVs), liquid-crystal devices (LCDs), organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), supercapacitors, fuel cells and batteries.
• Nicknamed as wonder material, graphene coatings prevent corrosion in factories and industries, which face annual losses up to worth Rs 50,000 crore, a study on uses of graphene coatings by IIT-Bombay.

Answer: D 

• The appointment comes two days before the presentation of the Economic Survey on January 31. The Union Budget for 2022-23 will be presented on February 1.
• Economist Nageswaran has been an author, teacher and consultant and has taught at several business schools and institutes of management.
• Former CEA KV Subramanian’s three-year term ended in December 2021, several names were shortlisted for the position, including Pami Dua, Professor, Delhi School of Economics; Poonam Gupta, Director General, National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER); and, Principal Economic Adviser Sanjeev Sanyal.

Function of Chief Economic Advisor

• The Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) advises the Government of India on matters related to finance, commerce, trade, economy. The CEA reports directly to the Minister of Finance. The CEA heads the Economic Division under the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA).
• The Economic Division examines domestic and international economic trends. It undertakes research studies focusing on economic policies and management of the economy. Based on the research it provides advice to the Government of India.
• The Office of the Economic Advisor (OEA) is an attached office of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

Answer: D

• INS Khukri, the lead ship of the Indian Navy’s Khukri class missile corvettes which was decommissioned in December 2021, was handed over to the Diu administration to be converted into a museum.
• NS Khukri (P49), was the first indigenously built missile corvette of the Indian Navy.
• The ship is planned to be developed as a full-scale museum.

Answer: A

• According to the list released by the Union Home Ministry, among the states, Union Territories (UTs), and the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), J&K has bagged the maximum 115 police medals.
• Jammu and Kashmir Police has bagged 115 Police Medals for Gallantry (PMG), out of a total of 189 awarded this year. They more than doubled their last year’s tally of 52 PMGs.
• J&K Police won awards for conducting several counter-insurgency operations in 2019-20. Police personnel from Jammu and Kashmir have been awarded 115 Police Medals for Gallantry, the highest number from any police force this year, followed by CRPF with 30, Chhattisgarh Police with 10, Odisha Police with nine, and Maharashtra Police with seven.

Answer: D

• On the Birth Anniversary of legendary classical vocalist Late Pandit Jasraj, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Pandit Jasraj Cultural Foundation.

About Pandit jasraj

• Pandit Jasraj was born on January 28, 1930, in a village Pili Mandori in Haryana to a notable classical singer Pandit Motiram.
• Pandit Jasraj was associated with Mewati gharana of music.
• He is known for his unconventional mixing of khayal with elements of bhakti rasa, employing harkats and murkis that were traditionally used in light classical music.
• He also performed semi-classical old musical forms such as the Haveli sangeet.
• Haveli Sangeet are performances are held in temples and the compositions are sung in praise of Lord Krishna.
• He created a unique form of jugalbandi called Jasrangi,in which a male and a female singer sing different ragas in their respective scales to merge their individual displays into one unified performance.
• The International Astronomical Union (IAU) named an asteroid after him, formally known as 2006 VP32, as
• Pandit Jasraj died on August 17, 2020, at his home in New Jersy, USA, due to cardiac arrest.

Pandit Jasraj: Awards and Recognitions

• In 1975, he received Padma Shri, fourth highest civilian award in India.
• In 1987, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, highest Indian recognition to the practising artists.
• In 1990, he received Padma Bhushan, third-highest civilian award in India.
• In 2000, he was conferred Padma Vibhushan, second highest civilian award in India.

Answer: C

• Recently, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in its order directed Ministry of Home Affairs and Arunachal Pradesh Government to submit action taken report within six weeks against alledged racial profiling and relocation of the Chakmas and Hajongs from the State.
• Members of the two communities have allegedly been victims of hate crime, police atrocities and denial of rights and beneficiary programmes.

Background

• In a judgment in 1996, the Court had stated that the “life and personal liberty of every Chakma residing within the State shall be protected”.
• In 2015, the Supreme Court directed the State to grant them citizenship, but this had not yet been implemented.
• In light of these orders and given that most of the Chakma/Hajong community members were born in the State and have been living peacefully, the Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister’s announcement, in August 2021, that they would be relocated outside the State and that steps would be taken for a “census” of the communities was clearly unwarranted.
• After that Chakma Development Foundation of India (CDFI) requested urgent intervention of the NHRC against racial profiling of 65,000 Chakma and Hajong tribals of Arunachal Pradesh through illegal census which was scheduled to commence from 31st December, 2021 for their deportation / expulsion/ relocation from the State.

Other key Facts

• Mizoram and Tripura have a sizeable population of the Buddhist Chakmas while the Hindu Hajongs mostly inhabit the Garo Hills of Meghalaya and adjoining areas of Assam.
• The Chakmas and Hajongs of Arunachal Pradesh are migrants from the Chittagong Hill Tracts of erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.

Answer: A

• The 2nd ASEAN Digital Ministers (ADGMIN) meeting with India held on a virtual platform.
• Shri Devusinh Chauhan, Minister of State for Communications (MoSC) and Admiral Tin Aung San, Ministry of Transport and Communications, Myanmar co-chaired the meeting.
• The ADGMIN is an annual meeting of Telecom Ministers of 10 ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) countries -Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam and dialogue partner countries – Australia, Canada, China, EU, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia, UK and US.
• The meeting discussed and deliberated various matters relevant to strengthening regional digital cooperation in the spirit of digital inclusion and integration.

Why it is Important

• Shri Devusinh Chauhan emphasized that Information and Communication Technologies enable and strengthen democratic systems and institutions through enhanced engagement between citizens and the state.
• Use of Information and communications technology (ICT) promote free speech, human rights and the free flow of information besides expanding citizens’ opportunities to participate in decision-making process and have potential to transform lives of people living in rural areas.
• The Digital Work Plan 2022 includes system for combating the use of stolen and counterfeit mobile handsets, Wi-Fi Access network interface for nationwide public internet, the capacity building and knowledge sharing in emerging areas in the field of Information and Communication Technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, Advanced Satellite Communication, Cyber Forensics, etc. The ongoing and proposed projects in ICTs, will strengthen collaboration between India and ASEAN by leveraging complementary strengths of each other.

About ASEAN

• Headquarter – Jakarta , Indonesia
• Founded – 8th august 1967, Bangkok , Thailand
• Founders – Narciso Ramos, Abdul Razak Hussein, S. Rajaratnam, Adam malik, Thanat khoman.

Answer: C

• India defeated China 2-0 in the third-place play-off to return home with a bronze medal from the Women’s Hockey Asia Cup in Muscat (Oman).
• The Indians left behind the disappointment of their semifinal defeat to South Korea and controlled the proceedings in the first two quarters, scoring two goals in the process, to go into half time with a 2-0 lead against China.
• Sharmila Devi and Gurjit Kaur were the goal scorers.

Answer: A

• The Andhra Pradesh government has given a green signal for the creation of 13 new districts in the state.

Key Facts

• With this the total number of districts in the state will go up to 26.
• Andhra government has formed the new districts based on Parliamentary constituencies.
• The reorganisation of the districts is being done under the Section 3 of the Andhra Pradesh Districts (Formation) Act, 1974.