Current Affairs in Short: 3 January 2022

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin tests positive for Coronavirus

• The Defense Secretary of the United States Lloyd Austin announced on January 2, 2022, that he has contracted Coronavirus. The news came as the highly infectious Omicron variant sweeps across the country.

• As per the statement by Pentagon Chief, Austin’s symptoms were mild, and that he will quarantine at home for the next five days.

• Lloyd Austin also informed that he is fully vaccinated as well as boosted, which had rendered the infection much milder than it would otherwise have been.

• US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that he was last in contact with President Joe Biden on December 21, 2021, more than a week before a started to experience the COVID symptoms.

American Actress Betty White passes away at 99

• The famous actress Betty White who starred in the popular sitcom ‘The Golden Girls’ and ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ has passed away. She was 99 years old.

• The Emmy-winning comedienne enjoyed one of the longest careers in showbiz history. Betty White started regularly appearing on the television in 1949 and also had a voice role in ‘Toy Story 4’ in 2019.

• White would have turned 100 in the next few days. In all, Betty White was one of the first woman producers, she won five Primetime Emmys, two daytime awards which also included one for Lifetime Achievement, and a regional Emmys in Los Angeles.

• Betty White was born in 1922 in the outskirts of Chicago. The family had moved to California during the Great Depression.

Education Minister launched nationwide 100 days reading campaign

• The Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has launched a nationwide 100-day reading campaign called ‘Padhe Bharat’.

• The launched campaign is in alignment with the National Education Policy-2020 which emphasizes promoting the joyful reading culture for children by ensuring the availability of age-appropriate reading books.

• The nationwide campaign will mark an important step for improving the learning levels of the students as it develops critical thinking, creativity, and the ability to express both verbally and in writing.

• The campaign will also focus on the Indian languages. The day will be celebrated with the activity of ‘Kahani padho apni bhasa main’.

Sri Lanka to go bankrupt by 2022

• Sri Lanka has been facing a deepening humanitarian and financial crisis as inflation rises to record levels, food prices rocket.

• Reportedly, the meltdown faced by the Sri Lankan government is in part caused by the immediate impact of the Coronavirus as well as the loss of tourism.

• The World Bank has estimated that 5,00,000 people in Sri Lanka have fallen below the poverty line since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic which is equivalent to the five years of progress in fighting poverty.

2 Women diplomats appointed by the US to represent Washington in Afghanistan

• The United States has appointed two women diplomats to the senior posts representing the country in Afghanistan.

• Rina Amiri has been appointed as a special envoy for Afghan women, girls, and human rights. She served under the former US President Barack Obama as a senior adviser to the US Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan.

• Stephanie Foster will be the new senior adviser for women and girls to the US Operations for evacuating and resettling the Afghans at risk.

• The move by the United States has also come close on the heels of the Taliban imposing fresh restrictions on women in Afghanistan.