Current Affairs in Short: 12 January 2022

Lakshadweep achieves 100 percent COVID vaccination in the 15-18 age group

• Lakshadweep has achieved 100 percent COVID-19 vaccination of children in the age group of 15-18 years. Lakshadweep has become the first among the states and the Union Territories to achieve the feat.

• According to the District Collector, the vaccination drive for children was launched by Administrator Praful Patel in Kavaratti as part of the nationwide campaign.

• The target of 3,492 children was achieved within a week after the launch of the vaccination drive through the various campaigns that were conducted in schools and the mobilization drives.

• Lakshadweep was also the first among the UTs and the states to have achieved 100% vaccination in other categories as well.

Spinner Washington Sundar testes positive for COVID-19, out of SA ODIs

• Washington Sundar, Team India off-spinner, has been ruled out of the forthcoming ODI series against South Africa after testing positive for Coronavirus.

• The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Jayant Yadav as a replacement for Washington Sundar.

• Fast bowler Navdeep Saini has also been added by the Committee to the ODI squad as a back-up for Mohammed Siraj who is recovering from his hamstring injury.

• India and South Africa will lock horns in three ODIs starting from January 19, 2022, under the Captaincy of KL Rahul.

Oscars to have host after 3 years absence

• Oscars 2022 which is scheduled to air on March 27, 2022, will be the first since the 2018 ceremony to have a host.

• Craig Erwich, ABC Entertainment, and Hulu Originals, has announced that the Oscars will return with a host, however, he did not elaborate on who that might be.

• Jimmy Kimmel had served as the last host of Oscars, having emceed the ceremony in 2017 and 2018.

• The Academy Awards went hostless in 2019 when the Academy at first announced Kevin Hart for hosting the gig. However, he was later dropped out after the organisation had asked him to apologize for years-old homophobic tweets.

Poet Maya Angelou becomes first Black Woman to feature on US Coin

• Activist and Poet Maya Angelou has become the first black woman to appear on the US quarter, in a new version of the coin which was unveiled by the US Mint on January 10, 2022.

• The author of ‘I Know Why the Caged Birds Sings’, will also become the first figure commemorated through the American Women Quarters Program. It was signed into law in January 2021.

• As per the press release from the agency, the US Mint has started shipping the first coins with Maya Angelou’s likeness on the American Quarter, a 25 cent piece.

• Maya Angelou was born in Missouri in 1928. She was an essayist and poet who had worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X during the Civil Rights Movement.