January 2021 Daily News Current Affairs

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Jan 31, 2021
1. 1st ever Virtual Bharat Parv 2021 organized by Ministry of Tourism, Between Jan 26-31, 2021.
  1. Bharat Parv is organized by Ministry of Tourism every year since 2016.
2. Visits to India (January 2021) -
  1. Barbara Pompili, French Minister for Ecological Transition Visited India. He launched Indo-French Year of Environment, to strengthen Indo-French cooperation in sustainable development.
    1. Emmanuel Bonne, Diplomatic Advisor to the French President also visited India, to attend India-France annual Strategic Dialogue in New Delhi.
  2. Foreign Minister of Nepal, Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, Visited India.
3. Jan 31, 2021 is also marked as World Leprosy Day 2021, observed on last Sunday of January.
  1. Jan 31, 2021 also marked 125th anniversary celebrations of ‘Prabuddha Bharata’, a monthly journal of Ramakrishna Order, started by Swami Vivekananda in 1896.
4. Visits from India (January 2021) -
  1. Minister of State in Ministry of External Affairs, Vellamvelly Muraleedharan visited United Arab Emirates (UAE).
  2. Army Chief MM Naravane Visited South Korea.
5. New US president Joe Biden signed executive order to tighten Buy American requirements in federal government procurement, similar to Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India Campaigns in India.
  1. Buy American Act was passed in 1933, by President Hoover, to enforce US government to prefer US made products in its purchases.
  2. President Joe Biden also signed an executive order that brought in a policy of including all qualified Americans to serve in US military, overturning a ban on transgender persons that was introduced by Trump administration.
6. General Events / Conferences (Jan 21 - 31, 2021) -
  1. As a first such initiative, Delhi Govt launched Street Theatre and Performing Arts Fellowship scheme, to give artists an opportunity to showcase their craft, thereby developing a taste for art and culture among people.
  2. Lucknow Metro become 1st metro system in country to use ultraviolet rays to sanitise train coaches.
  3. Environment Ministry released Marine Mega Fauna Stranding Guidelines and National Marine Turtle Action Plan, as a conservation paradigm for marine mega fauna and marine turtles.
  4. Microsoft launched its new India Development Center (IDC) facility in Noida (Uttar Pradesh), as 3rd development centre of Microsoft in India after Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Its architecture is inspired by Taj Mahal.
  5. Direct flight services between Delhi and Sikkim commenced, with a SpiceJet aircraft landing at Pakyong airport.
  6. Uttar Pradesh will launch a state-wide, free coaching programme named Abhyudaya, to help students prepare for various competitive examinations.
  7. J&K administration approved Land Allotment Policy 2021-30, for allotment of land to industrial entrepreneurs, proposing zoning of industrial areas at block and municipality levels.
  8. Uttarakhand CM announced fund of 1 crore for taking care of street children and orphans under child-friendly police station initiative. He also inaugurated state's first child-friendly police station in Dehradun's Dalanwala.
  9. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan attended 4th edition of Future Investment Initiative Forum, held virtually in Riyadh. It is an annual investment forum held in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), to discuss trends in world economy and investment environment.
  10. Maharashtra government renamed Gorewada International Zoo in Nagpur after Balasaheb Thackera, to come up on 2000 hectares forest land.
  11. India and Japan held 5th joint meeting of India-Japan Act East Forum in New Delhi, attended by Ambassador of Japan to India Suzuki Satoshi. Act East Forum, set up in 2017, provides platform for India-Japan collaboration in North Eastern Region under India’s "Act East Policy” and Japan’s vision for a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific”.
  12. Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray launched jail tourism initiative, to help citizens experience and explore various historic jails in state, starting from over 150 year-old Yerawada Central Prison of Pune.
  13. Punjab Govt launched Ghar Ghar Rozgar te Karobaar Mission, To promote livelihood across state, with allotment of over 7200 fair price shops (FPS) across state.
  14. Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launched TEJAS - A Visual Intelligence Tool, on occasion of 25 years anniversary of National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated (NICSI).
  15. Himachal CM Jai Ram Thakur launched State’s first online youth radio station named Radio Hills-Youngistan Ka Dil.
  16. West Bengal Transport Corporation launched India's First Boat Library in Kolkata, along River Hooghly
  17. 5th edition of Defence Ministers’ Dialogue (DMD) between India and Singapore held Virtually, with signing of Implementing Agreement on Submarine Rescue Support and Cooperation.
  18. Most active volcano of Indonesia, Mount Merapi, erupted with river of lava and searing gas clouds.
  19. Punjab government hiked grant for marriage of daughters of construction workers from Rs 31000 to 51000 under Shagun scheme.
  20. 17th Ministerial Meeting of Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) held Virtually under theme The New Normal and Safe and Healthy Tourism.
  21. 7th edition of MASCRADE 2021 – Movement against Smuggled & Counterfeit Trade, organized by FICCI CASCADE.
7. Praful Patel (1st Administrator of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu) has been given additional charge as Administrator of Lakshadweep.
Jan 30, 2021
1. Jan 30 is observed as Martyr's Day, marking death anniversary of M K Gandhi. He was killed on this day in 1948, by Nathuram Godse.
  1. Jan 30 is also observed as World neglected tropical diseases Day, being observed since 2020. On this day, Delhi's Qutub Minar was lit up along with other landmarks across world.
2. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated Chennai Bench of National Company Law Appellate Tribuna (NCLAT), with jurisdiction over Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Lakshwadeep and Puducherry.
3. Indian economist Jayati Ghosh is named among 20 prominent personalities appointed by UN, to a high-level advisory board that will provide recommendations for UN Secretary-General to respond to current and future socio-economic challenges in post-COVID-19 world.
4. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has been re-elected as Portugal’s president, for his 2nd term.
5. Dhanlaxmi Bank appointed J K Shivan as its MD and CEO.
6. US Senate confirmed Antony Blinken as top US diplomat, known as Secretary of State (71st).
  1. Also, Senate appointed economist Janet Yellen as First woman Treasury Secretary of US (Equivalent to Finance Minister in India).
  2. Other Notable Top US Officials (Recent Appointments) -
    1. Vice President - Kamala Harris
    2. Secretary of Defense - Lloyd J. Austin
    3. Attorney General - Monty Wilkinson
    4. Secretary of the Interior - Scott de la Vega
7. Corruption Perception Index 2020 by Transparency International -
  1. India ranked 86th, down from 80th rank in 2019 report.
  2. Top 5 - New Zealand (1), Denmark (2), Finland (3), Switzerland (4), Singapore (5)
  3. Bottom 3 - Somalia (180), South Sudan (179), Syria (3)
  4. Neighbors - China (78), Pakistan (124), Bangladesh (146), Sri Lanka (94)
8. Bharti Airtel became India's first telecom operator to successfully demonstrate live fifth-generation (5G) service over a commercial network in Hyderabad. 5G is capable of delivering 10x speeds, 10x latency and 100x concurrency when compared to existing technologies.
9. India's Jay Shah (BCCI Honorary Secretary) has been elected as President of Asian Cricket Council (ACC).
10. Chandi Prasad Mohanty has been appointed as New vice-chief of Indian Army, succeeding SK Saini.
11. Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju conferred awards to participants of Republic Day Parade 2021. Among 32 tableaux (17 from States / UTs, 9 from various Ministries/Departments / Paramilitary Forces and 6 from Ministry of Defence) -
  1. Among States /UTs - Tableau of Uttar Pradesh, based on theme Ayodhya: Cultural Heritage of Uttar Pradesh, was adjugded Best among all. Tripura and Uttarakhand were named 2nd and 3rd respectively.
  2. Among Ministries/Departments and Paramilitary Forces / Ministry of Defence - Department of Biotechnology tableau won top honour.
  3. Tableau of Central Public Works Department (CPWD), with theme ‘Amar Jawan’, bagged special prize for paying tribute to fallen 0soldiers.
  4. Jat Regiment has been adjudged as best marching contingent among tri-services. Delhi Police chosen as best marching contingentamong Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and other auxiliary forces.
  5. This year's Beating Retreat Ceremony marked 50 years of India's 1971 victory over Pakistan, with theme Swarnim Vijay. Beating Retreat ceremony marks end of four-day-long Republic Day festivities.
12. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented Economic Survey FY 21 (2020-21), which details state of economy ahead of Budget for next fiscal. Economic Survey is Authored by Chief Economic Adviser (Krishnamurthy Venkata Subramanian currently). Highlights -
  1. GDP Growth -
    1. India’s GDP is estimated to contract by 7.7% in FY 21 (2020-21), with strong growth of 23.9% in H2 of FY21 over H1 of FY21.
    2. India’s real GDP will record 11.0% growth in FY 22 (2021-220 and nominal GDP will grow by 15.4% in FY 22 (2021-22) (highest since independence).
  2. Other Economic Parameters -
    1. On supply side, Gross Value Added (GVA) growth pegged at -7.2% in FY 21 (2020-21) as against 3.9% in FY 20 (2019-20).
    2. Agriculture will clock 3.4% Growth, while industry and services to contract by 9.6% and 8.8% respectively in FY 21 (2020-21).
    3. India expected to have a Current Account Surplus of 2% of GDP in FY21, a historic high after 17 years.
    4. India remained preferred investment destination in FY 21 (2020-21), with record Monthly Net FPI inflows in November 2020, worth US$ 9.8 billion.
    5. India remained only emerging economy, to receive equity inflows from FPIs in 2020, with USD 30 billion in first 9 months of FY 21. For earlier Years, it was US$49.98 billion in FY20, compared to US$44.37 billion during FY19.
    6. External sector provided cushion to growth with Current Account Surplus of 3.1% of GDP in first half of FY21.
    7. India entered top-50 innovating countries for first time in 2020 since inception of Global Innovation Index in 2007, ranking 48th.
    8. Gross Non-Performing Assets ratio of Scheduled Commercial Banks decreased from 8.21% at end of March 2020 to 7.49% at end-of September 2020. The same is expected to increase as a supreme court order vacates, which barred banks from reporting NPAs till next order.
    9. Life expectancy at birth improved from 69.4 years in 2018 to 69.7 years in 2019.
    10. Limit of collateral free lending increased from 10 lakhs to 20 lakhs for 63 lakh women SHGs, to support 6.85 crore households.
    11. Daily Wages under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA increased from 182 to 202, from April 2020.
    12. Economic Survey recommended increase in public health spending from 1% to 2.5-3% of GDP, which would reduce out-of-pocket expenditure from 65% to 35% of overall healthcare spend. It also Recommends Continuation of NHM in Conjunction with Ayushman Bharat Yojana.
    13. Combined (Centre and States) social sector expenditure as % of GDP increased in 2020-21 compared to last year, from 7.5% in 2019-20 to 8.8% in 2020-21.
  3. As per IMF, Global economic output estimated to fall by 3.5% in 2020 (IMF January 2021 estimates).
13. BCCI decided not to conduct Ranji Trophy in 2020-21, making it first time in 87 years since its inception in 1934-35, that India’s premier first-class cricket national championship will not be held in domestic season.
14. Maharashtra ranked at top in 2nd edition of India Justice Report (IJR) 2020, that ranks states in terms of delivery of justice to people. Maharashtra is followed by Tamil Nadu and Telangana.
15. Govt. appointed Swaminathan Janakiraman and Ashwini Kumar Tewari as new Managing Directors (MDs) of State Bank of India (SBI)
  1. Ashwani Bhatia will be in-charge of Corporate Banking & Global Markets, while Swaminathan Janakiraman will be incharge of Risk, Compliance & Stressed Assets Resolution Group.
  2. Other 2 MDs are C.S. Setty and Ashwini Kumar Tewari.
  3. SBI Board is headed by a chairman, who is currently Dinesh Kumar Khara.
16. Bharti AXA General Insurance launched Krishi Sakha App, offering relevant information to cater to daily farming needs of farmers.
17. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been ranked 3rd most-valued IT services brand globally, after Accenture and IBM, as per a report by Brand Finance. Four Indian IT services companies - TCS, Infosys, HCL and Wipro, are named in top 10 globally.
18. UK Based financial Firm HSBC inaugurated it’s International Banking Unit (IBU) branch at GIFT City near Gandhinagar city in Gujarat.
Jan 29, 2021
1. Researchers found Jarosite in Antartica, a rare mineral on earth, which is found in abundance on Mars.
  1. This yellow-brown mineral requires both water and acidic conditions to form, which are hard to find now on Mars.
  2. The new discovery may help solve mystery about how Jarosite is so common on Mars, despite unfavorable conditions.
2. Reliance Jio has been ranked 5th strongest brand globally, as per Brand Finance’s Global 500 report -
  1. Top 5 - WeChat (1), Ferrari (2), Sberbank of Russia (3), CocaCola (4), Jio (5)
  2. Mastercard’s Indian Origin CEO Ajay Banga is best among top 100 CEOs in Brand Finance Brand Guardianship Index 2021.
  3. Most Vavluable Brands -
    1. Apple (1), Amazon (2), Google (3), Mizrosoft (4), Samsung (5)
3. As per UN report Ageing water infrastructure: An emerging global risk, compiled by UN University’s Canadian-based Institute for Water, Environment and Health -
  1. India is ranked 3rd in terms of building large dams, Having approx 10 % of world's large dams.
  2. Of over 5200 large dams built in India, about 1100 large dams have already reached 50 years of age. Thus number will increase to 4400 by 2050.
4. India announced pledge of USD 150000 to activities of UN Peacebuilding Fund, to help UN Peacekeeping activities in concerned Nations.
5. As Per IMF World Economic Outlook January 2021 Update -
  1. Global economy is projected to grow 5.5 % in FY 22 (2021-22) and 4.2 % in FY 23 (2022-23). Global Economy is expected to Contract 3.5 % in Current FY 21 (2020-21).
  2. US Economy will contract 3.4 % in FY 21 (2020-21), and expected to grow 5.1 % in FY 22 (2021-22) and 2.5 % in FY 23 (2022-23).
  3. India -
    1. Indian Ecomomy is expected to contract 8 % in FY 21 (2020-21), and expected to grow 11.5 % in FY 22 (2021-22) and 6.8 % in FY 23 (2022-23).
6. Tamil Nadu won its 2nd Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 Cricket title, after winning 2020–21 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
7. As per 16th edition of Global Climate Risk Index 2021 by Germanwatch e.V. -
  1. India is 7th Most affected nation by climate change, in 2019.
  2. Top 5 - Mozambique (1), Zimbabwe (2), The Bahamas (3), Japan (4), Malawi (5), Afghanistan (6), India (7).
8. As per World Economic Situation and Prospects by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) -
  1. Global economy is projected to grow 4.7 % in FY 22 (2021-22) and 3.4 % in FY 23 (2022-23). Global Economy is expected to Contract 4.3 % in Current FY 21 (2020-21).
  2. US Economy will contract 3.9 % in FY 21 (2020-21), and expected to grow 3.4 % in FY 22 (2021-22) and 2.7 % in FY 23 (2022-23).
  3. India -
    1. Indian Ecomomy is expected to contract 9.6 % in FY 21 (2020-21), and expected to grow 7.3 % in FY 22 (2021-22) and 5.9 % in FY 23 (2022-23).
9. US and Russia extended nuclear arms control treaty known as New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), for next five years.
Jan 28, 2021
1. World Economic Forum's 51st annual Meet, called Davos agenda Summit 2021, held Virtually due to ongoing Pandemic. PM Narendra Modi attended on India'a Behalf.
  1. Theme of summit was The Great Reset.
  2. WEF launched Global AI Action Alliance (GAIA), an initiative to accelerate adoption of inclusive, transparent and trusted artificial intelligence.
  3. Indian IT Firms Infosys & TCS joined an International Coalition launched by WEF for tackling racism in workplaces.
  4. WEF launched an Essential Digital Infrastructure and Services Network (EDISON) Alliance that will work towards ensuring global and equitable access to digital economy.
2. Jan 28 is Birth Anniversary of Noted Freedom Activist Lala Lajpat Rai, also known as “Punjab Kesari” and “Lion of Punjab”.
3. United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced amendments to its citizenship policy, which plans to offer citizenship to a select group of foreigners, becoming first Gulf Arab nation to formaliz giving expatriates a bigger stake in economy.
4. As per UN World Tourism Organization (WTO), 2020 has been worst year on record for tourism, due to international travel bans that went into force in order to contain COVID-19 outbreak.
  1. As per report, international arrivals dropped by 74 % in 2020.
  2. Restrictions in international travel has resulted in loss of USD 1.3 trillion in export revenues.
5. National Health Authority (NHA) appointed RS Sharma as new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of flagship public health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat, also called Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. He will replace Indu Bhushan.
6. Tamil Nadu government introduced a new industrial policy 2021, to achieve annual growth rate of 15% in manufacturing sector while attracting investments worth Rs 10 lakh crore and creating employment opportunities for 20 lakh people by 2025.
  1. It Aims at increasing contribution of manufacturing sector to 30% of state’s economy by 2023.
7. Rajasthan government launched policy on manufactured sand (M-sand), giving industry status to units producing it for construction work and reducing dependence on bajri (riverbed sand).
  1. It will enable investors to set up M-sand units by utilising incentives and facilities offered by State government.
8. Asia-Pacific Personalised Health Index released by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) -
  1. This new Index measures readiness in adopting personalised healthcare of 11 health systems in Asia-Pacific region.
  2. It measures performance across 27 indicators of personalised health across 4 Vital Signs - Policy Context, Health Information, Personalised Technologies and Health Services.
  3. India ranks 10th among 11 nations in Index, while Indonesia ranked last.
9. Govt announced to launch Start-up India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS), to be operational from April 2021.
  1. It will be launched with corpus of Rs 945 crores, to provide assistance to start-ups. It will be in mission mode for years 2021-25.
10. As per Covid-19 Response Index by Sydney-based Lowy Institute -
  1. India ranks 86th among 98 countries, in terms of handling the pandemic.
  2. New Zealand handled the pandemic more effectively than any other country, followed by Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand and Cyprus.
  3. Brazil ranked at bottom.
Jan 27, 2021
1. Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene has been appointed as Prime Minister of Mongolia.
2. As per First Revised Estimates for FY 20 (2019-20) of National Income data by National Statistical Office (NSO) -
  1. Nominal GDP (GDP at current prices) for 2019-20 is estimated at 203.51 lakh crores as against 188.87 lakh crores for 2018-19, showing growth of 7.8 % during 2019-20 as compared to 10.5 % during 2018-19.
  2. Real GDP (GDP at constant (2011-12) prices) for 2019-20 and 2018-19 stands at 145.69 lakh crores and 140.03 lakh crores respectively (growth of 4.0 % during 2019-20 and 6.5 % during 2018-19).
  3. Nominal Net National Income (NNI) stands at 179.94 lakh crores as against 167.05 lakh crores in 2018-19, growth of 7.7 % during 2019-20 as against 10.3 % in previous year.
  4. Per Capita Income at current prices is estimated at 125883 and 134186 respectively for 2018-19 and 2019-20.
3. Agreement for financial support for implementation of Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States (STARS) project of Ministry of Education has been signed with World Bank.
  1. Project cost is 5718 crores, with support of World Bank amounting to US $ 500 million (approx 3700 crores).
  2. STARS project would be implemented as a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme under Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL). It covers 6 States - Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Odisha. These States will be supported for various interventions for improving the quality of education.
4. Indian Naval Fast Attack Craft (IN FAC) T-81 of Super Dvora MK II class, has been decommissioned after serving for over 20 years.
5. India's SJVN acquired 679 MW Lower Arun Hydro Electric Project in Nepal, located in Sankhuwasabha and Bhojpur Districts. It will generate 3561 million units of electricity per annum. SJVN is already constructing 900 MW Arun 3 HEP in Nepal.
6. Cabinet Approvals (Jan 27, 2021) -
  1. CCEA Approvals -
    1. Approved Minimum Support Price (MSP) of copra for 2021 season, increasing MSP for Fair Average Quality (FAQ) of milling copra has by Rs 375 to 10335 per quintal for 2021 season.
      1. MSP for ball copra has been increased by Rs 300 to 10600 per quintal.
      2. It assures a minimum of 50 percent as margin of profit as one of the important and progressive steps towards making possible doubling of farmers' incomes by 2022.
  2. General -
    1. Approved policy on privatisation of public sector undertakings (PSUs), with details to be announced in Budget 2021-22.
7. Framework for Strategic Partnership between International Energy Agency (IEA) and the India has been signed, to strengthen mutual trust and cooperation & enhance global energy security, stability and sustainability.
8. As per Govt Data, FDI inflow during April to November 2020 has been US$ 58.37 billion, highest ever for first 8 months of a financial year. It is 22% higher as compared to first 8 months of last FY (2019-20).
9. Jan 27 - International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, Proclaimed by UN in 2005.
  1. The Holocaust was World War II genocide of European Jews. Between 1941 and 1945. Germany murdered over 60 lakh Jews, around two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population.

Jan 26, 2021

Jan 26, 2021 observed as 72nd Republic day of India. . It marks enactment of Indian constitution on Jan 26, 1950.
1. Chief Guest -
  1. It was First time since 1966, that Republic day parade had no Chief guest, due t0 Ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic. UK PM Boris Johnson was earlier named as Chief Guest, who had to cancel later due to the pandemic.
    1. Earlier in 1966, No Invitation was Made by India to any international dignitary, to be chief guest at Republic day Parade.
    2. It was when Indira Gandhi had just recently taken charge after demise of Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, just before Republic Day parade.
2. Awards -
  1. President Ram Nath Kovind approved conferment of Jeevan Raksha Padak Awards 2020 on 40 persons, which includes 1 Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak, 8 Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak and 31 Jeevan Raksha Padak.
    1. Muhammed Muhsin from Kerala has awarded Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak Posthumously.
  2. Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2021 conferred to 32 children under various categories (age group 5-18 years).
  3. President approved 455 Gallantry and other Defence decorations to Armed Forces personnel (Army - 342, Navy - 35, Air Force - 64). Awards Include 1 Mahavir Chakra, 5 Kirti Chakras, 5 Vir Chakras, 7 Shaurya Chakras.
    1. Wartime Decorations -
      1. No Paramvir Chakra Awardees This year.
      2. Mahavir Chakra - Bikumalla Santosh Babu (Army) (Posthumous).
      3. Vir Chakra -
        Nuduram Soren (Army)
        
        K Palani (Army)
        
        Tejinder Singh (Army)
        
        Deepak Singh (Army)
        
        Gurtej Singh (Army)
    2. Peacetime Decorations -
      1. No Ashoka Chakra Awardees This year.
      2. Kirti Chakra -
        Sanjiv Kumar (Army)
        
        Pintu Kumar Singh (CRPF)
        
        Shyam Narain Singh Yadava (CRPF)
        
        Vinod Kumar (CRPF)
        
        Rahul Mathur (CRPF)
      3. Shaurya Chakra -
        Anuj Sood (Army)
        
        Pranab Jyoti (Army)
        
        Sonam Tshering Tamang (Army)
        
        Arshad Khan (J&k Police)
        
        Gh Mustafa Barah (J&k Police)
        
        Naseer Ahmad Kolie (J&k Police)
        
        Bilal Ahmad Magray (J&k Police)
    3. About -
      1. India's Top Peacetime Gallantary Awards are - Ashoka Chakra > Kirti Chakra > Shaurya Chakra.
      2. India's Top Wartime Gallantary Awards are - Param Vir Chakra > Maha Vir Chakra > Vir Chakra.
3. Parade Highlights -
  1. Bhawana Kanth became first woman fighter pilot to take part in Republic Day parade. She was one among first women fighter Pilots inducted in IAF in 2016. Others were Avani Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh.
  2. 122-member contingent of Bangladesh Armed Forces also took part in India's Republic Day Parade.
  3. First-ever tableau of UT of Ladakh participated in parade.
  4. Tableau of Uttar Pradesh was designed on theme 'Ayodhya: Cultural Heritage of Uttar Pradesh' and it showcased Ayodhya and Ram mandir for first-ever time.
4. Other Highlights -
  1. Border Security Force (BSF) launched “Operation Sard Hawa” on western border at Rajasthan, to check infiltration due to dense fog cover in region.
Jan 26 is also observed as International Customs Day.

Padma Awards 2021 Announced -

This year, President approved conferment of 119 Padma Awards -
1. List comprises 7 Padma Vibhushan, 10 Padma Bhushan and 102 Padma Shri Awards.
2. 29 awardees are women, 10 are persons from category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 12 Posthumous awardees.

Awardees -

Padma Vibhushan (7) -

SN	Name	Field	State/Country
	Shri Shinzo Abe	Public Affairs	Japan
	Shri S P Balasubramaniam (Posthumous)	Art	Tamil Nadu
	Dr. Belle Monappa Hegde	Medicine	Karnataka
	Shri Narinder Singh Kapany (Posthumous)	Science and Engineering	United States of America
	Maulana Wahiduddin Khan	Others- Spiritualism	Delhi
	Shri B. B. Lal	Others- Archaeology	Delhi
	Shri Sudarshan Sahoo	Art	Odisha

Padma Bhushan (10)

Ms. Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra	Art	Kerala
Shri Tarun Gogoi (Posthumous)	Public Affairs	Assam
Shri Chandrashekhar Kambara	Literature and Education	Karnataka
Ms. Sumitra Mahajan	Public Affairs	Madhya Pradesh
Shri Nripendra Misra	Civil Service	Uttar Pradesh
Shri Ram Vilas Paswan (Posthumous)	Public Affairs	Bihar
Shri Keshubhai Patel (Posthumous)	Public Affairs	Gujarat
Shri Kalbe Sadiq (Posthumous)	Others-Spiritualism	Uttar Pradesh
Shri Rajnikant Devidas Shroff	Trade and Industry	Maharashtra
Shri Tarlochan Singh	Public Affairs	Haryana

Padma Shri (102) -

Shri Gulfam Ahmed	Art	Uttar Pradesh
Ms. P. Anitha	Sports (Basketball)	Tamil Nadu
Shri Rama Swamy Annavarapu	Art	Andhra Pradesh
Shri Subbu Arumugam	Art	Tamil Nadu
Shri Prakasarao Asavadi	Literature and Education	Andhra Pradesh
Ms. Bhuri Bai	Art	Madhya Pradesh
Shri Radhe Shyam Barle	Art	Chhattisgarh
Shri Dharma Narayan Barma	Literature and Education	West Bengal
Ms. Lakhimi Baruah	Social Work	Assam
Shri Biren Kumar Basak	Art	West Bengal
Ms. Rajni Bector	Trade and Industry	Punjab
Shri Peter Brook	Art	United Kingdom
Ms. Sangkhumi Bualchhuak	Social Work	Mizoram
Shri Gopiram Bargayn Burabhakat	Art	Assam
Ms. Bijoya Chakravarty	Public Affairs	Assam
Shri Sujit Chattopadhyay	Literature and Education	West Bengal
Shri Jagdish Chaudhary (Posthumous)	Social Work	Uttar Pradesh
Shri Tsultrim Chonjor	Social Work	Ladakh
Ms. Mouma Das	Sports (Table Tennis)	West Bengal
Shri Srikant Datar	Literature and Education	United States of America
Shri Narayan Debnath	Art	West Bengal
Ms. Chutni Devi	Social Work	Jharkhand
Ms. Dulari Devi	Art	Bihar
Ms. Radhe Devi	Art	Manipur
Ms. Shanti Devi	Social Work	Odisha
Shri Wayan Dibia	Art	Indonesia
Shri Dadudan Gadhavi	Literature & Education	Gujarat
Shri Parshuram Atmaram Gangavane	Art	Maharashtra
Shri Jai Bhagwan Goyal	Literature and Education	Haryana
Shri Jagadish Chandra Halder	Literature and Education	West Bengal
Shri Mangal Singh Hazowary	Literature and Education	Assam
Ms. Anshu Jamsenpa	Sports (Mountaineer and first woman in world to scale the summit of Mount Everest twice in a season)	Arunachal Pradesh
Ms. Purnamasi Jani	Art	Odisha
Matha B. Manjamma Jogati	Art	Karnataka
Shri Damodaran Kaithapram	Art	Kerala
Shri Namdeo C Kamble	Literature and Education	Maharashtra
Shri Maheshbhai & Shri Nareshbhai Kanodia (Duo) * (Posthumous)	Art	Gujarat
Shri Rajat Kumar Kar	Literature and Education	Odisha
Shri Rangasami Lakshminarayana Kashyap	Literature and Education	Karnataka
Ms. Prakash Kaur	Social Work	Punjab
Shri Nicholas Kazanas	Literature and Education	Greece
Shri K Kesavasamy	Art	Puducherry
Shri Ghulam Rasool Khan	Art	Jammu and Kashmir
Shri Lakha Khan	Art	Rajasthan
Ms. Sanjida Khatun	Art	Bangladesh
Shri Vinayak Vishnu Khedekar	Art	Goa
Ms. Niru Kumar	Social Work	Delhi
Ms. Lajwanti	Art	Punjab
Shri Rattan Lal	Science and Engineering	United States of America
Shri Ali Manikfan	Others-Grassroots Innovation	Lakshadweep
Shri Ramachandra Manjhi	Art	Bihar
Shri Dulal Manki	Art	Assam
Shri Nanadro B Marak	Others- Agriculture	Meghalaya
Shri Rewben Mashangva	Art	Manipur
Shri Chandrakant Mehta	Literature and Education	Gujarat
Dr. Rattan Lal Mittal	Medicine	Punjab
Shri Madhavan Nambiar	Sports (Noted Athlete PT Usha's coach)	Kerala
Shri Shyam Sundar Paliwal	Social Work	Rajasthan
Dr. Chandrakant Sambhaji Pandav	Medicine	Delhi
Dr. J N Pande (Posthumous)	Medicine	Delhi
Shri Solomon Pappaiah	Literature and Education- Journalism	Tamil Nadu
Ms. Pappammal	Others- Agriculture	Tamil Nadu
Dr. Krishna Mohan Pathi	Medicine	Odisha
Ms. Jaswantiben Jamnadas Popat	Trade and Industry	Maharashtra
Shri Girish Prabhune	Social Work	Maharashtra
Shri Nanda Prusty	Literature and Education	Odisha
Shri K K Ramachandra Pulavar	Art	Kerala
Shri Balan Putheri	Literature and Education	Kerala
Ms. Birubala Rabha	Social Work	Assam
Shri Kanaka Raju	Art	Telangana
Ms. Bombay Jayashri Ramnath	Art	Tamil Nadu
Shri Satyaram Reang	Art	Tripura
Dr. Dhananjay Diwakar Sagdeo	Medicine	Kerala
Shri Ashok Kumar Sahu	Medicine	Uttar Pradesh
Dr. Bhupendra Kumar Singh Sanjay	Medicine	Uttarakhand
Ms. Sindhutai Sapkal	Social Work	Maharashtra
Shri Chaman Lal Sapru (Posthumous)	Literature and Education	Jammu and Kashmir
Shri Roman Sarmah	Literature and Education- Journalism	Assam
Shri Imran Shah	Literature and Education	Assam
Shri Prem Chand Sharma	Others- Agriculture	Uttarakhand
Shri Arjun Singh Shekhawat	Literature and Education	Rajasthan
Shri Ram Yatna Shukla	Literature and Education	Uttar Pradesh
Shri Jitender Singh Shunty	Social Work	Delhi
Shri Kartar Paras Ram Singh	Art	Himachal Pradesh
Shri Kartar Singh	Art	Punjab
Dr. Dilip Kumar Singh	Medicine	Bihar
Shri Chandra Shekhar Singh	Others-Agriculture	Uttar Pradesh
Ms. Sudha Hari Narayan Singh	Sports (Athlete)	Uttar Pradesh
Shri Virender Singh	Sports (Wrestler)	Haryana
Ms. Mridula Sinha (Posthumous)	Literature and Education	Bihar
Shri K C Sivasankar (Posthumous)	Art	Tamil Nadu
Guru Maa Kamali Soren	Social Work	West Bengal
Shri Marachi Subburaman	Social Work	Tamil Nadu
Shri P Subramanian (Posthumous)	Trade and Industry	Tamil Nadu
Ms. Nidumolu Sumathi	Art	Andhra Pradesh
Shri Kapil Tiwari	Literature and Education	Madhya Pradesh
Father Vallés (Posthumous)	Literature and Education	Spain
Dr. Thiruvengadam Veeraraghavan (Posthumous)	Medicine	Tamil Nadu
Shri Sridhar Vembu	Trade and Industry	Tamil Nadu
Shri K Y Venkatesh	Sports (para-athlete and shot putter )	Karnataka
Ms. Usha Yadav	Literature and Education	Uttar Pradesh
Col Quazi Sajjad Ali Zahir	Public Affairs	Bangladesh

Kaja Kallas has been named as prime minister of Estonia (Northern Europe), becoming First female PM of Estonia.
US Space Firm SpaceX created record by launching 143 satellites into space, onboard a single Falcon 9 rocket. With this, SpaceX has beaten ISRO's record of launching 104 satellites in February 2017, in a single launch.
Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari approved levying Green Tax on pollution causing old vehicles.
1. Under this, vehicles over 8 years age will be charged Green Tax between 10 - 25 % of road tax. Vehicles used in farming, such as tractor, harvestor, tiller will be exempted.
2. Minister also approved scrapping of Government vehicles, which are above 15 years old.
To expedite exploration activities, Geological Survey of India (GSI) launched scheme to complete major National level surveys by 2024, including National Geochemical Mapping (NGCM), National Geophysical Mapping (NGPM), National Aero Geophysical Mapping Program (NAGMP).
1. GSI also initiated its flagship initiative of National Geoscience Data Repository (NGDR), for collation of all geoscience data of country. It aims at integrating collected data by GSI and similar organizations to build a digital repository.
Large-scale tri-service joint amphibious exercise AMPHEX – 21 held under Andaman & Nicobar command, the only Joint Forces Command of country.
1. Notably, Large scale Joint Military Exercise Kavach was also held recently, under Andaman and Nicobar Command.
DRDO conducted successful maiden launch of Akash-NG Missile, to be used by Indian Air Force to interceptt high maneuvering low RCS aerial threats.
Climate Adaptation Summit 2021 hosted virtually by The Netherlands, called CAS Online.
1. During Summit, India stated that by 2030, India will target 450 gigawatt of renewable energy capacity.
As per UN Data, China overtook US as world's top destination for new foreign direct investment.
1. New investments into America from overseas companies fell by almost half last year, while direct investment into Chinese firms climbed 4%.
As per Zoological Survey of India (ZSI)'s Birds of the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve report, Indian Sunderbans is home to 428 species of birds.
1. It is a mangrove area in Delta formed by rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna in Bay of Bengal, covering over 10000 km2 area.

Jan 25, 2021
1. 51st International Film Festival of India (IFFI) held in Goa, with Bangladesh as country of focus.
  1. Opening Film was Another Round (Denmark), and Closing film was Wife of a Spy (Japan).
  2. Awards -
    1. Best Film (Golden Peacock Award) - Into the Darkness (Denmark), Directed by Anders Refn.
    2. Silver Peacock -
      1. Best Director - Chen-Nien Ko for Taiwanese film Silent Forest
      2. Best Actor (Male) - Tzu-Chuan Liu for Silent Forest
      3. Best Actor (Female) - Zofia Stafiej for Polish film I Never Cry
      4. Special Jury Award - February by Kamin Kalev
      5. Best Debut Director: Valentina by Cássio Pereira dos Santos
    3. Lifetime Achievement Award - Vittorio Storaro (Italian cinematographer)
    4. Special Mention Jury Award - Kripal Kalita for Bridge
    5. ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Medal - 200 Meters by Ameen Nayfeh
    6. Indian Film Personality of the Year - Biswajit Chatterjee
  3. Jury -
    1. International Jury headed by Argentine filmmaker Pablo Cesar
    2. Feature Film Jury headed by John Matthew Matthan.
    3. Non-feature film jury headed by Haobam Paban Kumar.
2. Jan 25 is observed in India as National Voters’ Day, with 2021 Theme Making Our Voters Empowered, Vigilant, Safe and Informed. It marks Foundation day of Election Commission of India (ECI), which was established on 25th January 1950. It is observed Since 2011.
  1. On this occasion, Election Commission launched Electronic Electoral Photo Identity Card (e-EPIC), as a non-editable digital version of voter ID card.
  2. Meghalaya has been selected for a Special Award for IT applications in Elections by Election Commission of India, in National Best Electoral Practices Awards 2020.
  3. Jan 25 is also statehood day of Himachal Pradesh, formed in 1971.
  4. Jan 25 is also observed as National Tourism Day in India. Note that World Tourism day is observed on Sep 27.
3. Govt. preponed target of achieving 20% ethanol-blending with petrol by five years to 2025, to cut dependence on oil imports.
  1. Earlier in 2020, govt had set target of 10% ethanol-blending by 2022 (10% of ethanol mixed with 90% of petrol), and 20% by 2030. Now, 20% target has been advanced to 2025.
4. RBI proposed a tighter regulatory framework for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), by creating a four-tier structure.
  1. As Per RBI, regulatory framework of NBFCs should be based on a four-layered structure - Base, Middle, Upper Layer and a possible Top Layer.
5. Andhra CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy flagged off over 9200 mobile dispensing units to ensure door delivery of ration, becoming becomes the first state to launch door-delivery of ration under PDS (Public Distribution System).
Jan 24, 2021
1. Jan 24 is observed globally as International Day of Education, with 2021 theme ‘Recover and Revitalize Education for the COVID-19 Generation’. It was celebrated for first time in 2019 by UNESCO.
2. Jan 24 is observed as National Girl Child Day in India, initiated in 2008 by Ministry of Women and Child Development
  1. On this occasion, 19 Year old Shristi Goswami was named Chief Minister of Uttarakhand for one day.
  2. Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched PANKH Abhiyan under 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, to aid in empowerment of girl child across state.
3. Jan 24 is foundation day of Uttar Pradesh, which was formed on Jan 24, 1950.
  1. On this occasion, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath launched Udyam Sarathi App’, to enable youths to get information related to self-employment. Theme of Uttar Pradesh Day 2021 Respect for self-reliant Uttar Pradesh, women young farmers, development of all.
4. Madhya Pradesh and Kerala signed MoU for implementation of Kerala Responsible Tourism (RT) initiative, which involves local communities to make tourism a tool for rural development.
5. Asian Development Bank (ADB) and European Investment Bank (EIB) formed a new clean and sustainable ocean partnership to support initiatives in Asia and Pacific to help meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate goals of Paris Agreement.
6. Book Abdul Kalam-Ninaivugalukku Maranamillai (immortal memories) written by A P J M Nazema Maraikayar (Sir Kalam's niece) and space scientist Y S Rajan, has been released.
7. Madhya Pradesh became first State to give electricity subsidy to farmers through Direct Benefit Transfer. With this, it has fulfilled a power reform condition as proposed by Central Govt, and became eligible for additional borrowing.
8. India's noted Philanthropist Ravi Gaikwad has been honored with Nelson Mandela World Humanitarian Award, for his services to humanity.
9. SEBI approved Future Group and Reliance Retail merger deal, valued at 24713 crores. As part of it, Future Group's retail, wholesale, logistics and warehouse businesses will be acquired by Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL).
10. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu released book A textbook of Urban Planning and Geography, written by Sameer Sharma (Director General of Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs).
11. India's National Skill Development Corporation partnered with US' California State University to address growing need for a digitally skilled workforce in India, through NSDC's digital skilling unit- eSkillIndia.
12. Govt raised authorised capital of Punjab & Sind Bank to 10000 crores, from 3000 crores earlier.
13. Jayant N Khobragade has been named as India's next Ambassador to ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta (Indonesia).
14. Gita Mittal has been named as Chairperson of Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC), becoming first female to hold this post.
  1. Earlier, she served as first-ever female Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
15. IT Firm WIPRO Partnered with Madhya Pradesh Govt, to act as knowledge partner of State Government.
  1. Also, IIM Indore and Madhya Pradesh govt signed MoU to build roadmap for ‘Atmanirbhar Madhya Pradesh’.
16. Book Ten Lessons for a Post–Pandemic World, written by Fareed Zakaria has been released.
17. Book Flying Blind: India’s Quest for Global Leadership, Authored by Mohamed Zeeshan has been released.
18. As per Futures Industry Association (FIA) report, National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) remained world's largest derivatives exchange for second consecutive year in 2020, in terms of number of contracts traded.
  1. It has been ranked 4th in cash equities by number of trades by World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) for 2020.
Jan 23, 2021
1. Jan 23 is Birth Anniversary of Great Freedom Fighter Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose (Born 1897).
  1. 2021 Marks 125th Birth Anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
  2. On this occasion -
    1. Ministry of Railways ranamed Howrah-Kalka Mail as “Netaji Express”.
    2. Government will open a museum on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on January 23, 2022, to be set up in Kolkata.
    3. West Bengal Govt named newly built “Majerhat bridge” in Kolkata as ‘Jai Hind’ bridge.
    4. Govt announced to celebrate January 23rd every year as 'Parakram Diwas', to commemorate the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
    5. Govt had earlier constituted high-level committee under chairmanship of PM Narendra Modi, to guide the commemoration.
    6. President unveiled portrait of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
    7. Govt announced winners of Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar 2021 -
      1. Winner institution receives cash prize of 51 lakhs and Winner individual receives cash prize of 5 lakhs.
      2. For 2021, Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (in institutional category) and Dr. Rajendra Kumar Bhandari (in the Individual category) have been selected for Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar, for their excellent work in Disaster Management.
2. Misc. Science News (January 2021) -
  1. Researchers found that largest sea in Titan (moon of Saturn) is thousand feet deep in its centre. It is made of ethane and methane. Kraken Mare was discovered by space probe Cassini.
  2. Astronomers discovered 2 new radio galaxies with sizes of more than 6.5 million light-years (62 times larger than Milky Way), using MeerKAT radio telescope at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory in Cape Town (South Africa).
  3. Virgin Group Firm Virgin Orbit launched its LauncherOne rocket to orbit, capable of carrying small satellite payloads up to 300 kilograms.
  4. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured images of Lost Galaxy in Virgo constellation, Also known as ‘NGC 4535’. It is located about 50 million light-years from Earth.
  5. ISRO Chief K Sivan inaugurated a private satellite, developed by a students of Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology, at cost of 2.5 crores. It will be launched in Feb 2021, onboard PSLV C-15.
3. India and France Joint Air Force exercise Desert Knight 2021 held at Air Force Station Jodhpur.
4. China overtook Germany to become country with world’s largest current account surplus in 2020, with current account surplus of China more than doubled to $310 billion in 2020.
5. Meghalaya CM Conrad K. Sangma inaugurated India’s longest road arch bridge Wahrew Bridge at Sohbar in East Khasi Hills district, constructed at cost of Approx 50 crores.
6. Indian mathematician Nikhil Srivastava has been named winner of 2021 Michael and Sheila Held Prize, along with two others for solving long-standing questions on the Kadison-Singer problem and on Ramanujan graphs.
  1. Other winners are Adam Marcus (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) and Daniel Alan Spielman (Yale University).
  2. Prize consists of a medal and USD 100000 Cash.
  3. Srivastava, Marcus and Spielman solved long-standing questions on Kadison-Singer problem and on Ramanujan graphs, and uncovered a deep new connection between linear algebra, geometry of polynomials, and graph theory.
7. Annual Toshali National Crafts Mela held at Bhubaneswar (Odisha), as a popular handlooms and handicrafts fair in Eastern India.
8. Axis Bank launched AURA credit card, with several health and wellness benefits for its users.
9. ICICI Bank launched mobile application InstaFX, for authorised money changers to help customers of any bank get ‘ICICI Bank Forex Prepaid Card’ swiftly.
  1. It enables authorised money changers, to complete KYC verification of customers digitally and on a real-time basis.
10. Siddhartha Mohanty has been named an MD of LIC. LIC has 4 Managing Directors as of now.
11. Goa CM Pramod Sawant released book Manohar Parrikar- Off the Record, written by journalist Waman Subha Prabhu.
12. Bihar's first-ever state bird festival Kalrav has been held at Nagi-Nakti bird sanctuary in Jamui district.
13. Uganda’s incumbent President Yoweri Museveni has been declared as winner of 2021 presidential elections, to win his 6th term as President.
14. 2020 Yonex Thailand Open Badminton -
  1. Men's Singles - Viktor Axelsen (Denmark)
  2. Women's Singles - Carolina Marín (Spain)
  3. Men's Doubles - Chinese Taipei 's Lee Yang AND Wang Chi-lin
  4. Women's Doubles - Indonesia's Greysia Polii AND Apriyani Rahayu
  5. Mixed Doubles - Thailand's Dechapol Puavaranukroh AND Sapsiree Taerattanachai
Jan 22, 2021
1. First treaty to ban nuclear weapons called Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, came into force, which was approved by UN General Assembly in 2017.
  1. It was supported by 120 UN members. However, none of 9 Nations that possess nuclear weapons supported it. These countries are US, Britain, Russia, China, France, Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea.
2. As per Department of Science and Technology (DST), India is now ranked 3rd globally, after China and US, in terms of Scientific Publications.
  1. Of 13045 patents apprpved in 2017-18 globally, 1937 were by Indians.
  2. India's investment in R&D has increased from 113825 crores in 2017-18 to 123847 crores in 2018-19.
3. Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) called for setting up of an Udyog Sahayak Enterprises Network (USENET), to help micro and small enterprises clear roadblocks and scale up their operations. USENET centres, like Common Service Centres, will act as one-stop-shop for all needs of MSMEs.
4. New US President Joe Biden signed Executive Order Return US to Paris climate accord, over 100 days after US left it.
  1. Trump administration had announced its departure from the Paris accord in 2019.
5. A regulatory compliance portal has been launched by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), as first-of-its-kind central online repository of all central and state-level compliances.
Jan 21, 2021
1. General Events / Conferences (Jan 11-20, 2021) -
  1. Dell Technologies in collaboration with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and Tata Trusts developed a mobile application for management of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) at government primary health centres (PHCs) across country.
  2. Govt sanctioned 37.87 crores for facelift of Parshuram Kund pilgrimage site in Arunachal Pradesh's Lohit district. Parshuram Kund is considered a very sacred place, which attracts large number of pilgrims.
  3. DRDO and CRPF developed bike ambulance called “Rakshita”, to attend evacuation needs of CRPF personnel during emergency.
  4. NITI Aayog's Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) along with National Informatics Centre (NIC) and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), provided CollabCAD Software and released e-book on CollabCAD 3D modeling.
  5. To create awareness about fossil fuels, Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) launched month long campaign called Saksham, highlighting adverse health and environmental impacts of increasing carbon footprints.
  6. Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh unveiled first Indigenously developed Driverless Metro Car for Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), developed by BEML.
  7. 1st India-EU IPR dialogue held Virtually, between EU Commission and Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), to strengthen India-EU relation cooperation in Intellectual Property Rights.
  8. Newly constructed Hisar airport in Haryana has been inaugurated, with first flight from Chandigarh flagged off under Regional Connectivity Scheme – Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-UDAN).
  9. 6-km long Southern Extension line under Phase-2 of Bangalore (Namma) Metro has been flagged off, under Phase-2. Phase 2 of Bangalore Metro covers 74 km with 62 stations, being implemented at cost 30695 Crores.
  10. 26th Kolkata International Film Festival held virtually.
  11. Palestine will hold its first national elections in 2021, after span of 14 years. Parliamentary, presidential and National Council polls will be conducted during May - Aug 2021.
  12. India and Japan signed MoU to enhance cooperation in field of Information and Communications Technologies.
  13. UK PM Boris Johnson invited Indian PM Narendra Modi to attend G7 summit to be held in June 2021. India was chosen alongside South Korea and Australia as guest countries of the multilateral summit. G7 comprises UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and US.
  14. PM Narendra Modi flagged off 8 trains connecting different parts of country to Kevadia in Gujarat, which is known for world’s tallest statue, the Statue of Unity of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, which PM Modi inaugurated in October 2018.
  15. UN General Assembly adopted resolution to promote a culture of peace and tolerance to safeguard religious sites across world, calling for strengthened international efforts for promotion of a culture of tolerance and peace at all levels.
  16. First of its Kind bird festival be organised at Mahananda wildlife Sanctuary in West Bengal.
  17. 2nd session of 7th Trade Policy Review (TPR) of India held at World Trade Organization (WTO), a key mechanism under monitoring function of WTO. India was represented by Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan.
  18. India Digital Summit, the flagship event of Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has been held virtually.
  19. Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal laid foundation stone of science city at Tepesia near Guwahati, for popularising technology at grassroots.
2. Large scale Joint Military exercise Exercise Kavach, involving Indian Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard has been conducted under aegis of Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC), the only Joint Forces Command of country.
3. Jan 21 is statehood day of Northeastern States of Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya (Formed in 1972).
4. Uttarakhand government increased number of working days guaranteed per year under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) programme from 100 to 150.
5. As per RBI, SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank continue to be Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs), or institutions which are 'too big to fail'.
6. Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda launched ShramShakti National Migration Support Portal, to effectively help in smooth formulation of state and national level programs for migrant workers. He also launched a tribal migration cell, a tribal museum at Goa.
Jan 20, 2021
1. Cabinet Approvals (Jan 20, 2021) -
  1. General -
    1. Approved investment of 5282 crores for 850 MW Ratle Hydro Electric (HE) Project located on river Chenab, in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
      1. It will be executed by new Joint Venture to be incorporated between National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) and Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation Ltd (JKSPDC) (51% and 49% respectively).
      2. It will result in direct and indirect employment to around 4000 persons.
  2. MOUs -
    1. Uzbekistan - Co-operation in Solar Energy
2. Joe Biden has been sworn in as 46th President of USA, replacing Donald Trump. Also, Indian Origin Person Kamala Harris became first woman, African-American and Indian-American to become U.S. Vice-President.
3. Iran and six other countries lost their voting rights in UN General Assembly, for not paying their dues, under Article 19 of UN Charter. Other countries to loose their voting rights - Niger, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Congo Brazzaville, Central African Republic and Libya.
4. Gujarat Government will patent Dragon Fruit in name of Kamalam, which is also name of BJP state party headquarters in Gujarat. India imports Dragon majorly from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.
5. Telangana government’s WE-Hub partnered with Gujarat government’s I-Hub, to support women entrepreneurs in Gujarat and Telangana.
  1. This is first time that two State governments have joined hands to facilitate the growth of women-led start-ups.
6. Global Firepower Index 2021, which ranks potential military strength of nations -
  1. Top 5 - US (1), Russia (2), China (3), India (4), Japan (5)
  2. Neighbors - Pakistan (10), Bangladesh (45), Sri Lanka (79)
7. Iberdrola (Spain) and Danone (France) signed agreement to build 590 MW solar power plant, as largest solar power plant in Europe.
  1. It is to be built at a cost of 364 million USD. It will avoid 245000 tonnes CO2 emissions.
  2. Notably, India has set a target of achieving 100 GW of solar power by 2022. India's current solar capacity is approx 37 GW.
8. UK and Japan collaborated for LongOps Project, enabling researchers from both nations to develop new and safe technologies to dismantle old nuclear facilities such as Fukushima that were severely damaged by tsunamis and earthquakes.
  1. The project aims to reduce risks to human health and speed up decommissioning of non-operational nuclear reactors.
9. Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa launched Avalokana software, to enable state government to access data on expenditures and sanctions incurred by 39 departments on 1,800 programmes implemented by them.
10. Gujarat Govt announced Horticulture Development Mission (also called Bagayat Vikas Mission), aimed at doubling income of the farmers in horticulture and medicinal farming.
  1. Under it, waste land of State Government is to be provided on thirty year lease for farming medicinal and horticulture crops.
  2. List of waste lands available for allotment is to be released on I-Khedut portal.
  3. Mission has fixed lease amount as Rs 100 - 500 per year per acre.
11. Supreme Court upheld validity of Section 32 A of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, stating that successful bidders for a corporate debtor will be immune from any investigations by an investigating agency. Section 32A provides immunity to the corporate debtor and its property.
12. As per World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Risks Report 2021 (16th Edition) -
  1. Report has been released before WEF’s virtual Davos Agenda to be held between January 25-29, 2021.
  2. Top 3 Risks by Likelihood (In Next 10 years) are Extreme Weather, Climate Action Failure & Human Environmental Damage.
  3. Top 3 Risks by Impact are Infectious diseases, Climate Action Failure & Weapons of mass destruction.
Jan 19, 2021
1. NITI Aayog and Institute for Competitiveness, released 2nd edition of India Innovation Index, examining innovation capabilities and performance of States/ UTs -
  1. In Major States - Karnataka (1), Maharashtra (2), Tamil Nadu (3).
  2. UTs / Small States - Delhi retained 1st rank, Followed by Chandigarh and Daman & Diu.
  3. Under North-Eastern/Hill States - Himachal Pradesh (1), Uttarakhand (2), Manipur (3). 2019 Top ranker Sikkim moved to 4th.
2. Astronomers from Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) spotted rare hot Ultraviolet (UV)-bright stars in Milky Way’s massive intriguing globular cluster called NGC 2808, that is said to have at least five generations of stars.
  1. Researchers captured these stars using Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) onboard AstroSat, India’s first multi-wavelength space satellite. AstroSat completed five years recently.
  2. One of UV-bright stars was found to be about 3000 times brighter than the Sun with a surface temperature of about 100,000 K.
  3. Such UV-bright stars are speculated to be reason for ultraviolet radiation coming from old stellar systems such as elliptical galaxies.
3. Tripartite agreement signed between Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL), Rajasthan State Mines & Minerals Limited (RSMML) and Govt. of Rajasthan for taking up feasibility studies of Solution Mining of Potash in Rajasthan.
4. Two new species of a rare ant genus Ooceraea have been discovered in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. One of them found in Periyar Tiger Reserve of Kerala, has been named Ooceraea joshii, in honour of noted biologist Amitabh Joshi.
5. Home Minister Amit Shah launched Ayushman CAPF scheme, extending benefit of central health insurance programme to personnel of all armed police forces in country.
  1. Under this, 28 lakh personnel of CAPF, Assam Rifles and National Security Guard (NSG) will be covered by 'Ayushman Bharat: Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana' (AB PM-JAY).
6. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) will establish a Quantum Computing Applications Lab, in collaboration with Amazon Web Services(AWS), to accelerate quantum computing-led research and development and enable new scientific discoveries.
  1. It will be World’s first quantum computing applications lab on AWS, to support a national government’s mission to drive innovation.
  2. It will identify quantum computing problem statements for experimentation from among Central and State Governments, Research Institutions, and Academia.
7. Jan 19 is observed as Kokborok Day (Tripuri language Day) in Tripura, to celebrate development of the Kokborok language.
Jan 18, 2021
1. PM Narendra Modi performed Bhoomi Poojan of Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project Phase-II and Surat Metro Rail Project.
  1. Ahmedabad Metro Phase-II - 28.25 Kms long with two corridors, with cost 5384 crores.
  2. Surat Metro - 40.35 kms long and comprises two corridors, with cost 12020 crores.
  3. PM Modi also flagged off 8 trains connecting different parts of country to Kevadiya (Gujarat) , to facilitate easier connectivity to Statue of Unity in Gujarat.
2. First National Road Safety Month is to be observed Between Jan 18 - Feb 17, 2021. Earlier, Govt used to observe National Road Safety Week annually in Month of January.
3. As per RBI Financial Stability Report January 2021 (Published Biannually) -
  1. Gross NPA (GNPA) ratio of all Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) may increase from 7.5 % in September 2020 to 13.5 % by September 2021 under baseline scenario, and to 14.8 % under severe stress scenario.
4. As per Hurun Global 500 report -
  1. 11 Private Indian firms, collectively valuing USD 805 billion, are named in 500 most valuable companies across world, making India rank 10th.
  2. Top Indian Firms - Reliance Industries (USD 168.8 billion, ranked 54th globally), Tata Consultancy Services (USD 139 billion, ranking 73rd globally), HDFC Bank (USD 107.5 billion), Hindustan Lever (USD 68.2 billion), Infosys (USD 66 billion).
5. Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company become a signatory to Climate Action 100+, which drives focus on clean energy transition and helps achieve the Paris Agreement’s goals.
  1. Earlier In April 2018, Kotak AMC became first domestic asset management company to sign up with UN Supported PRI (Principles for Responsible Investment).
Jan 17, 2021
1. Kolkata Based Shipbuilder Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) signed USD 12.7-million contract to build an ocean-going vessel for South American nation Guyana. 1700-tonne vessel is to be used on the coastal and riverine areas of Guyana.
2. Punjab cabinet approved one-time settlement scheme for traders to clear their pending arrears, with cost 121 crores. It aims at settlement of outstanding arrears under Punjab Value Added tax Act 2005 and Central Sales tax Act 1956.
3. Book Titled Unscripted: Conversations on Life and Cinema, Authored by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Abhijat Joshi has been released.
4. IT Firm Tech Mahindra acquired FIS subsidiary Payments Technology Services Ltd (PTSL), for $9 million, to access IPs and licenses for two products - Open Payment Framework (OPF) and Multi-Bank System (MBS).
Jan 16, 2021
1. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated Prarambh: Startup India International Summit, on occasion of Startup India initiative of Government completing 5 years, organised by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal trade (DPIIT).
  1. On this occasion, PM Narendra Modi launched 1000 crores Startup India Seed Fund, tp help in setting up new startups and promote their growth.
2. PM Narendra Modi launched world’s largest vaccination program, aimed at vaccinating entire population of India against COVID-19.
  1. It will use Co-WIN, an online digital platform developed by Health Ministry, to facilitate real time information of vaccine stocks and other details.
  2. Dedicated 24x7 call centre has also been established at number 1075, for addressing related queries.
  3. Vaccination will include doses of COVISHIELD (Oxford) and COVAXIN (Bharat Biotech) vaccines.
3. New book The Population Myth: Islam, Family Planning and Politics in India, written by Former chief election commissioner (CEC) S Y Quraishi will be released in February 2021.
4. Noted Author Ramchandra Guha’s new book The Commonwealth of Cricket has been launched.
5. Sadyr Japarov has been elected as new president of Kyrgyzstan.
6. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik inaugurated first of its kind Fire Park in Bhubaneswar, to educate and bring awareness on basic fire safety measures among people.
7. IRDAI has set up a Health Insurance Advisory Committee, to examine availability of health insurance products in country. It is headed by IRDAI Chairperson Subhash Chandra Khuntia.
8. NITI Aayog and e-Commerce Firm Flipkart tied up to launch revamped Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP), a unified access portal which brings together women to realise their entrepreneurial aspirations.
9. Elon Musk-led American electric vehicle (EV) company Tesla registered fully-owned subsidiary in Bengaluru (Karnataka), to start and boost Electric Vehicle Manufacturing in India.
10. American Chipmaker Intel appointed Pat Gelsinger as its new Chief Executive Officer, replacing Bob Swan.
11. Yes Bank partnered with Aditya Birla Wellness Private Limited, to launch Wellness Credit Cards, aimed at holistic health and self-care of consumers.
12. US designated Bahrain and United Arab Emirates (UAE) as major strategic partners.
13. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan launched One School One IAS scheme, under Vedhik Erudite Foundations Scholarship Programme. It will provide free training to economically weaker students who are willing to join civil services.
14. US-India Business Council (USIBC) named 3 corporate leaders as Vice-Chairs of 2021 Global Board of Directors of USIBC. They are - Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (Biocon Chairperson), Milind Pant (Amway CEO), Edward Knight (Vice-chair at Nasdaq).
Jan 15, 2021
1. Jan 15 is observed as Indian Army Day. It marks taking over of Lt Gen K M Cariappa (later Field Marshal) as commander-in-chief of the Indian Army in 1949 from General Francis Butcher, the last British commander-in-chief of India.
  1. General Cariappa retired on January 14, 1953. His retirement day is being celebrated as Armed Forces Veterans Day every year since 2017.
  2. Jan 15 is also observed as Thiruvalluvar Day, marking birth anniversary of Noted Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar (commonly known as Valluvar).
2. Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) launched Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 3.0, making over 300 skill courses available to youth in 717 Districts.
  1. PMKVY 3.0 (Skill India Mission) envisages training of 8 lakh candidates over 2020-2021, with outlay of 948.90 crores.
  2. 729 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKKs), empaneled non-PMKK training centres and more than 200 ITIs under Skill India will be rolling out PMKVY 3.0 training.
  3. Notably, Over 1.2 Crore youth have been trained under PMKVY 1.0 and PMKVY 2.0
3. Committee constituted by Govt to make Television Rating Points (TRPs) of TV channels more transparent, submitted its report to Information and Broadcasting Ministry. It was formed under chairmanship of Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati.
4. Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has been honoured by Hindi Writers Guild (Canada), for his literary work.
5. India's first Labour Movement Museum, showcasing history of world labour movement, will be launched in Alappuzha (Kerala's houseboat tourism hub). It will feature huge repository of documents and exhibits that shaped labour movements across continents.
6. Karnataka government promulgated Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Ordinance 2020, to ban slaughter of cows in state. It also bans slaughter of bulls, bullocks of all ages and buffaloes aged below 13.
  1. Earlier, Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill 2020, was passed in Legislative Assembly of state, but was not cleared in Legislative Council. Therefore, government promulgated the Ordinance.
7. Persons Resigned / Retired (January 2021) -
  1. Netherlands' PM Mark Rutte and his entire Cabinet resigned, taking responsibility for a scandal involving investigations into child welfare.
  2. Donald Trump became first US President to be impeached twice by House of Representatives, after House voted to charge him for inciting mob violence at US Capitol building. He was previously impeached on charges of abuse of power over Ukraine scandal.
  3. Sri Lankan Cricketer Lasith Malinga retired from franchise cricket. He was a part of Mumbai Indians franchise in Indian Premier League.
8. UN Human Rights Council elected Fiji’s ambassador, Nazhat Shameem Khan, as its 2021 president.
9. Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni won his 6th five-year term as president of Uganda.
10. India will set up 1 million USD facility for academic collaboration with Arab World, as a rolling one and continue to be replenished.
11. PM Narendra Modi has been appointed as new Chairman of Trust which manages Noted Somnath temple in Gujarat, becoming 2nd PM to hold the post after former PM Morarji Desai.
Jan 14, 2021
1. Jan 14 is observed as Armed Forces Veterans Day, celebrated since 2017. It was initially called Armistice Day.
  1. Jan 14, 2021 is also marked as 75th Foundation day of Food Corporation of India.
2. RBI constituted a working group, tasked to study all aspects of digital lending activities in regulated financial sector and also unregulated entities. It will be headed by Jayant Kumar Dash (RBI Executive Director).
3. Russia announced pulling itself out of Open Skies treaty, which allows unarmed surveillance flights over member countries. Russia statd that this pact has been seriously compromised by withdrawal of US in November 2020.
4. UK's Chatham House (also called Royal Institute of International Affairs) published report titled Global Britain, Global Broker, proposing blueprint for foreign policy of UK after Brexit.
  1. Report classified India as one of difficult four countries, along with China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
  2. Report points that the complex fragmented domestic politics in India make it one of the countries resistant to open trade and foreign investment.
5. As per UN's recent International Migration 2020 Highlights report -
  1. Largest migrant recepients - US (5 crore), Germany (1.6 crore), Saudi Arabia, Russia and UK.
  2. Currently, international migrants are about 3.6% of world population.
  3. India -
    1. Indian diaspora is largest in world, with over 1.8 crore Indias living outside India. India is followed by Mexico, China, Russia and Syria.
    2. Largest destinations for India Diaspora are UAE (3.5 million), Saudi Arabia (2.5 million) and US (2.7 million).
    3. Between 2000 to 2020, Indians living abroad increased approx by 1 Crore.
Jan 13, 2021
1. Cabinet Approvals (Jan 13, 2021) -
  1. MOUs -
    1. UAE - Scientific and Technical Cooperation between National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) of UAE and Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) of India.
  2. General -
    1. Approved procurement of 73 LCA Tejas Mk-1A fighter aircrafts and 10 LCA Tejas Mk-1 Trainer aircrafts at cost of 45696 Crores.
      1. LCA Mk-1A variant is an indigenously developed modern 4+ generation fighter aircraft. It is the first Buy (Indian-Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured) category procurement of combat aircrafts.
      2. Cabinet has also approved infrastructure development by IAF, to enable IAF to sustain fleet more efficiently.
2. 2nd edition of biennial pan-India coastal defence exercise Sea Vigil-21 conducted by Indian Navy.
  1. It was undertaken along entire 7516 km coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone of India, involve all 13 coastal States / UTs.
  2. The exercise is a build up towards major exercise TROPEX (Theatre-level Readiness Operational Exercise) which Indian Navy biennially.
3. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) completed 5 years of implementation, which was launched on Jan 13, 2016.
  1. It was formulated by merging National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS). It aims to reduce the premium burden on farmers and ensure early settlement of crop assurance claim for full insured sum.
  2. Reportedly, claims worth 90000 crores have so far been disbursed to farmers since launch of scheme.
  3. Average sum insured per hectare has increased from 15100 during pre-PMFBY Schemes to 40700 under PMFBY.
4. Earth Sciences Minister Harsh Vardhan inaugurated new entity under Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), named National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR).
  1. It has been established after merger of National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (CSIR-NISCAIR) and CSIR-National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (CSIR-NISTADS).
  2. He also launched an Innovation Portal developed by National Innovation Foundation (NIF) – India.
5. Government appointed Belarussian coach Nikolai Snesarev as middle and long distance coach of Indian athletics team.
Jan 12, 2021
1. January 12 is observed as National youth Day in india, to commemorate birth anniversary of Legendary Philiosopher Swami Vivekananda.
  1. Day was declared by Government in 1984. Theme for National Youth Day 2021 is ‘Channelizing Youth Power for Nation Building‘. On the occasion -
    1. NITI Aayog's Atal Innovation Mission launched 2nd edition of its Atal Tinkering Lab handbook.
    2. PM addressed 2nd National Youth Parliament Festival, with 3 national winners also expressing their views. Objective of National Youth Parliament Festival is to hear voice of youth between 18 - 25 years of age.
  2. Note that International Youth Day is celebrated on August 12 by United Nations, celebrated since 2000.
2. India ranked 4th in Break Out Economies in 3rd edition of Digital Evolution Scorecard developed by Tufts University’s Fletcher School in partnership with Mastercard. China leads the list.
3. New species of fruit fly discovered from Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu, named after Siruvani, an ecological hotspot in Western Ghats. The new fruit fly ‘Euphranta siruvani’ belongs to family Tephritidae.
4. 4th edition of Cherry Blossom Festival held virtually at Mao in Manipur.
5. Flipkart signed MoU with Logistics Skill Sector Council (LSC) for setting up a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Karnataka. LSC has been set up by Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and Karnataka Skill Development Centre (KSDC).
6. RBI's College of Supervisors (CoS), which was functioning in a limited way in virtual mode since May 2020, is now being fully operationalised with full-time director supported by an Academic Advisory Council (AAC). Rabi Narayan Mishra, former Executive Director of RBI, has been appointed as director of the CoS.
  1. Former deputy governor N S Vishwanathan is named as chairperson of Academic Advisory Council, to advise full-time director of RBI’s College of Supervisors (CoS).
Jan 11, 2021
1. France hosted 4th One Planet Summit, held virtually, as international event focused on biodiversity to mobilize commitments to protect ecosystems, conducted in collaboration with United Nations and World Bank.
2. Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari launched first-of-its-kind eco-friendly, non-toxic wall paint developed by Khadi and Village Industries Commission, called Khadi Prakritik Paint.
  1. It has anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties. With cow dung as its main ingredient, it is cost-effective and odorless and certified by Bureau of Indian Standards.
  2. It is made available in two forms- plastic emulsion paint and distemper, and is free from heavy metals like mercury, lead, arsenic, chromium, cadmium and others.
3. Industrial Awards (January 2021) -
  1. Ministry of Power and Bureau of Energy Efficiency organised 30th National Energy Conservation Awards. Notably, Railways won 13 awards in 3 categories.
    1. During the event, SAATHEE (State-wise Actions on Annual Targets and Headways on Energy Efficiency), portal for State Designated Agency for state level activities was launched.
  2. Railways Officer Amresh Kumar Chaudhary has been awarded noted Chief of Army Staff Commendation, for his outstanding contribution to Armed Forces during Covid-19 pandemic.
  3. During 70th SKOCH Summit, Ministry of Panchayati Raj received SKOCH Challenger Award under Transparency in Governance category and Ministry of Tribal Affairs received SKOCH Challenger Award under Best Performance in e-Governance.
  4. Federal Bank Chief Shyam Srinivasan has been named Business Standard Banker of Year for 2019-20.
  5. Swedish Firm IKEA's India Unit won UN Women’s top prize in Gender-Inclusive Workplace category at inaugural Asia-Pacific Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Awards.
4. University of Cambridge (UK) will provide training to teachers and students belonging to government schools in various municipalities in Andhra Pradesh, to improve their English language proficiency.
5. President promulgated Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Ordinance 2021, through which members of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service for existing cadre of Jammu and Kashmir, have been made part of Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre.
6. Lt. Gen. Konsam Himalay Singh Authored Book Titled Making of a General – A Himalayan Echo, has been released.
7. Book Gazing Eastwards: Of Buddhist Monks and Revolutionaries in China, 1957 Authored by Romila Thapar has been released.
Jan 10, 2021
1. Jan 10 is observed as World Hindi day, being celebrated world wide since 2006. The language is spoken by ovrer 43 core people globally.
  1. Note that National Hindi Day is different from World Hindi Day.
  2. September 14 has been named as National Hindi Day, marking adoption of Hindi in Devanagari script as an official language in different Hindi speaking states. On 50th birthday of Beohar Rajendra Simha on 14th September 1949, Hindi was adopted as an official language.
2. General Events / Conferences (Jan 1 - 10, 2021) -
  1. Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ inaugurated Virtual International Akhand Conference ‘EDUCON 2020’, organized by Central University of Punjab.
  2. PM Narendra Modi laid foundation stone of permanent campus of IIM Sambalpur (Odisha).
  3. Govt notified area to an extent varying from zero to one km around boundary of Mathikettan Shola National Park in Kerala''s Idukki district as an Eco-sensitive Zone, considering unique nature of Shola forest and its importance as an elephant strip.
  4. 5 day National Folk Dance Festival held in Jammu (J&K).
  5. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar Inaugurated Virtual Agri India Hackathon 2020, as 2 month long event and first of its kind and in Indian agriculture.
  6. Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) unveiled e-commerce portal eKhadiIndia.com, with as first-of-its-kind government online shopping platform to boost rural economy.
  7. Saudi Arabia opened its air and land borders with Qatar, to end diplomatic crisis that divided both nations in 2017.
  8. A perfectly preserved ice-age woolly Rhinoceros found by scientists in Yakutia (Russia), on banks of Tirekhtyakh river. Age of carcass has been marked 20000 - 50000 years old.
  9. Science and Technology Minister HarshVardhan released report Action Agenda for an AtmaNirbhar Bharat(AAAN), prepared by Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC).
  10. Kerala assembly passed resolution against three recently passed central farm laws, demanding scrapping of new central laws.
  11. Assam CM flagged off 25 pink buses for free service to women and senior citizens under 'Bhraman Sarathi' scheme in Guwahati.
  12. Pakistan Supreme Court ordered reconstructing a century year old Hindu temple, which was set on fire by a mob in Karak district.
    1. Pakistan government also released 2.35 crore rupees to purchase ancestral houses of Bollywood actors Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar located in Peshawar. These houses are to be converted into Museum.
  13. Manipur CM N. Biren Singh launched mPension app for pensioners drawing service pension from Manipur Government. It uses Artificial Intelligence to detect liveness of pensioner being photographed.
  14. Delhi Government issued School Bag Policy, directing School Bag weight to be kept under 10% of body weight of students upto class 10.
  15. 4th Global Ayurveda Festival (GAF2021) will be held between March 12 -19, 2021 as a virtual meet.
  16. Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha launched Mobile Application Satark Nagrik, to boost transparent and responsive governance.
3. India-Born Raj Iyer has been named as first Chief Information Officer of US Army.
4. Punjab National Bank partnered with IIT Kanpur and Foundation for Innovation & Research in Science & Technology (FIRST) to set up a ‘Fintech Innovation Centre (FIC)’ at IIT Kanpur.
5. New book Right Under our Nose, authored by RBI general manager R Giridharan has been released.
6. Former India Footballer Abhishek Yadav has been appointed as first deputy general secretary of All India Football Federation (AIFF).
7. Health and Family Welfare Ministry formed expert group to study adverse findings from National Family Health Survey-5, under Joint Secretary Preeti Pant.
8. Earth Sciences Minister Harsh Vardhan launched Coastal Research Vehicle (CRV) Sagar Anveshika at Chennai Port, to be used to carry out environment indexing in both coastal and offshore waters.
9. Book Modi India Calling – 2021, authored by BJP leader Vijay Jolly has been released.
10. Indian GDP Growth / Contraction Forecasts for FY 21 (2020-21) -
  1. London Based Researcher IHS Markit said Indian economy will rebound to 8.9 % growth in FY 22 (2021-22).
  2. Rating Agency ICRA expects India to see double digit growth at 10.1% in FY22 (2021-22).
  3. As per Advance Estimates of GDP for FY 21 (2020-21) Data by National Statistics Office (NSO), Indian Economy is to contract 7.7 % in FY 21 (2020-21).
  4. As per World Bank Global Economic Prospects Report January 2021 Edition, Indian Economy is to contract 9.6 % in FY 21 (2020-21), and will grow at 5.4 % and 5.2 % in FY 22 (2021-22) and FY 23 (2022-23) respectively.
  5. Japanese brokerage Nomura expected Indian GDP to contract by 6.7 % in FY 21 (2020-21). It further projects GDP of India to rise to 13.5 % in FY22 (2021-22).
  6. Fitch Ratings expects Indian GDP to contract 9.4 per cent in FY21 and projects it to expand 11 % FY22.
11. Government named former TRAI chief RS Sharma as chairperson of empowered committee for administration of Covid-19 vaccine.
Jan 09, 2021
1. Jan 9 is observed as Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, established in 2003. It marks contribution of overseas Indian community in development of India. It commemorates return of M K Gandhi from South Africa to India on 9 January 1915. 2021 Theme is Contributing to Atma Nirbhar Bharat.
  1. On this occasion, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards were conferred upon 30 awardees, as highest honour conferred on overseas Indians.
  2. This year's PBD Convention has been attended by Chandrikapersad Santokhi (President of Suriname), as Chief Guest. He is also among awardees of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards this year.
  3. Youth PBD was celebrated with theme Bringing together Young Achievers from India and Indian Diaspora, on 8 January 2021.
2. Scientists at Institute of Nano Science and Technology Mohlai (INST) produced an ultra-high mobility 2d-electron gas(2DEG) at the interface of two insulating oxide layers.
  1. It can speed up transfer of quantum information and signal from one part of a device to another and increase data storage and memory.
  2. Due to high mobility of the electron gas, electrons do not collide inside medium for a long distance and hence do not lose information.
3. Kerala cabinet approved funding half expenses for constructing Angamaly-Erumeli Sabari rail project through Kerala infrastructure investment fund board (KIIFB), with estimated cost 2815 crores.
  1. Project was originally announced in the railway budget of 1997-98, considering convenience of devotees visiting Sabarimala from various parts of country.
4. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan released Report on Longitudinal Ageing Study of India (LASI) Wave-1, as full–scale national survey of scientific investigation of health, economic, and social determinants and consequences of population ageing in India.
  1. It has undertaken by International Institute for Population Sciences Mumbai (IIPS) in collaboration with several International partners.
  2. It is India’s first and world’s largest ever survey that provides a longitudinal database for designing policies for older population.
5. Tenzin Lekphell (Bhutan) has been appointed as New secretary General of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation).
6. Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) appointed Subodh Kumar Jaiswal as its New Director general.
7. As per Advance Estimates of GDP for FY 21 (2020-21) Data by National Statistics Office (NSO) -
  1. Real GDP (GDP at 2011-12 Constant Prices) in FY 21 (2020-21) has been estimated to contract by 7.7 % and nominal GDP at current prices will contract by 4.2 %.
  2. In terms of size of economy, Real GDP is to attain level of 134.40 lakh crores, compared to Provisional Estimate of GDP for FY 20 (2019-20) of 145.66 lakh crores, showing 7.7 % contraction.
  3. As per quarterly estimates of NSO, real GDP contracted by 15.7 % in first half of FY 21 (2020-21).
8. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will launch its new next-generation transportation technology flagship rocket H3 in 2021, as succesor of existing H-IIA and H-IIB Launch Vehicles.
9. Tesla and SpaceX Founder Elon Musk became world's richest person, surpassing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He has achieved real-time net worth of $188.5 billion.
10. Karnataka CM B.S. Yediyurappa launched Krishi Sanjeevani Vans in Bengaluru, to reach out to agriculture fields for testing water, soil and will also suggest remedies for pest control to improve yield.
Jan 08, 2021
1. RBI announced operational guidelines for Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) scheme, constituting an advisory council under deputy governor B.P. Kanungo.
  1. PIDF will be operational for 3 years from January 2021, extendable up to 2 more years.
  2. Primary focus of the fund will be to create payments acceptance infrastructure in tier-3 to tier-6 cities, with special focus on northeast.
2. Govt. formed a committee to protect language, culture and land of Ladakh and ensuring citizen's participation in its development. It will be headed by Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy.
3. 4 health and humanitarian organizations announced establishment of a global Ebola vaccine stockpile to ensure outbreak response. Group includes World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), with support from Vaccine Alliance Gavi.
4. US re-designated Cuba as a "state sponsor of terrorism", reversing its removal in list done by Obama in 2015.
  1. The list was first released in 1979 with Iraq, Libya, Syria and South Yemen in it.
  2. Sudan was recently removed from this list.
5. Supreme Court suspended implementation of 3 recently passed farm laws, to end disagreement between the farmers and Government.
  1. Supreme Court has directed to form a committee to resolve the issue. Members are Ashok Gulati, Pramod Kumar Joshi, Anil Ghanwat and Bhupinder Singh Mann.
  2. 3 farm laws under scanner are The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act.
6. As per Henley Passport Index 2021 -
  1. Indian passport ranked 85th among 110 countries.
  2. Japan topped the list again as most powerful passport in world, for 3rd consecutive year. Japanese citizens can travel to 191 countries visa-free. Next are Singapore (2nd), South Korea and Germany (Joint 3rd).
  3. Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are countries with worst passport.
7. Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar released Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) of 146 National Park and Wildlife Sanctuaries in Country, as first such list.
  1. India has 903 Protected Areas, covering about 5% of total geographic area.
  2. As per report, India has 70% of the global tiger population, 70% of asiatic lions and more than 60% of leopards population.
  3. Top 5 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries - Jaldapara National Park (West Bengal), Raiganj wildlife sanctuary (West Bengal), Tirthan wildlife sanctuary (Himachal Pradesh), Sainj wildlife sanctuary (Himachal Pradesh) and Great Himalayan National Park (Himachal Pradesh).
  4. Turtle Wildlife Sanctuary of Uttar Pradesh, Jai Prakash Narayan Bird Sanctuary of Uttar Pradesh ranked at bottom.
8. India's First vanadium reserves found in Arunachal Pradesh, which is a high-value metal used in strengthening steel and titanium.
  1. Paleo - proterozoic (era) carbonaceous phyllite rocks of Arunachal Pardesh consist of Vanadium concentrates, found in Depo and Tamang regions of Papum Pare districts.
  2. India annually consumes approx 4% of about 84000 metric tonnes of vanadium produced across globe. China produces 57% of vanadium.
9. India will chair three important committees of UN Security Council - Counter-Terrorism Committee, Libya Sanctions Committee and Taliban Sanctions Committee.
  1. Counter-Terrorism committee was established in wake of 09/11 terrorist attacks in US. It implements counter terrorist activities.
  2. Libya Sanctions Committee implements sanctions regime in Libya.
  3. Taliban Sanctions Committee works to promote stability, peace and security of Afghanistan.
Jan 07, 2021
1. Cabinet Approvals (Jan 07, 2021) -
  1. CCEA Approvals -
    1. Approved new Central Sector Scheme for Industrial Development of Jammu & Kashmir, called New Industrial Development Scheme for Jammu & Kashmir (J&K IDS, 2021), with outlay of 28400 crore upto 2037.
      1. It Aims to generate employment and boost socio economic development of UT.
      2. Incentives to be available under the scheme (for investment in plant and machinery (in manufacturing) or construction and all other durable physical assets(in service sector))-
        Capital Investment Incentive at rate of 30% in Zone A and 50% in Zone B. Units with investment upto 50 crores will be eligible. Maximum incentive is 5 crore and 7.5 crore in Zone A & Zone B respectively.
        
        Capital Interest subvention At annual rate of 6% for maximum 7 years on loan amount up to 500 crore .
        
        GST Linked Incentive - 300% of eligible value of actual investment, for 10 years.
        
        Working Capital Interest Incentive - Existing units at annual rate of 5% for maximum 5 years. Maximum limit of incentive is Rs 1 crore.
      3. Key Features -
        It aims to take industrial development to the block level in UT of J&K, which is first time in any Industrial Incentive Scheme of Government and attempts for a more sustained and balanced industrial growth in UT.
        
        Scheme has been simplified on lines of ease of doing business by bringing one major incentive, called GST Linked Incentive, that will ensure less compliance burden.
  2. MOUs -
    1. MOC with Japan, on basic framework for partnership for proper operation of system pertaining to ‘Specified Skilled Worker’.
2. Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) introduced Liberalised MSME AEO Package for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), to attract MSMEs to become Authorised Economic Operators (AEOs), relaxing several compliance criteria.
  1. It allows MSMEs who have filed minimum 10 Customs clearance documents in one year and who have a clean compliance record over 2 years to apply for the scheme.
  2. CBIC’s flagship Liberalised MSME AEO Package scheme is a voluntary compliance programme which enables swifter Customs clearance for accredited stakeholders in global supply chain.
3. President appointed Sudhanshu Dhulia as Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court. He was formerly a Judge at Uttrakhand HC.
4. Japan approved Official Development Assistance loan of an amount of JPY 30 billion (Approx Rs 2113 crores) for a programme loan to support India's efforts at providing social assistance to the poor and vulnerable households, severely impacted by COVID-19 pandemic.
5. Competition Commission of India Approvals (January 2021) -
  1. Approved acquisition of 100% shareholding of Columbia Asia Hospitals by Manipal Health Enterprises.
  2. Approved acquisition of 20 % capital of Adani Green Energy by Total SE through its subsidiary Total Renewables SAS.
  3. Approved acquisition of minority stake (7.8 %) in Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL) by Flipkart Investments.
  4. Approved acquisition of stake by Axis Bank, Axis Capital and Axis Securities in Max Life Insurance Company. It relates to increase of shareholding in Max Life Insurance to approx 9.9% by Axis Bank and acquisition of 2% and 1% shareholding in Max Insurance by Axis Capital and Axis Securities respectively.
  5. Approved acquisition of Indo Gulf Fertilisers by Indorama India Private Limited.
6. Railways enhanced maximum speed to 130 kmph for 1280 km length out of 1612 Km in Golden Quadrilateral - Golden Diagonal (GQ-GD) route. This is achieved after strengthening of infrastructure by removing bottlenecks in these sections.
7. High Level Committee headed by PM Shri Narendra Modi has been constituted to commemorate 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, which falls on Jan 23, 2021.
8. Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated Single Window Clearance System Portal in Coal Mining sector, to boost transparency in Coal bidding and allocation.
  1. Notably, 19 bidders have been so far allotted mines under India's first Commercial Coal Mining Auction started in Mid 2020, providing estimated revenue of 6500 crores to State every year.
9. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) adopted 100 Atal Tinkering Labs across country, to promote education in field of STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and Space technology.
  1. To foster entrepreneurship and innovation, Atal Innovation Mission (NITI Aayog) has established over 7000 ATLs across country so far.
10. PM Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation the 306 Km Rewari - Madar Section of Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC).
  1. With this, seamless connectivity between WDFC and EDFC will be achieved. Earlier, 351-km New Bhaupur- New Khurja section of EDFC was recently dedicated to nation by PM Modi.
  2. About -
    1. 1856 km long Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) starts from Sahnewal near Ludhiana (Punjab) and will terminate at Dankuni in West Bengal. It will pass through states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.
    2. 1483 KM long Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) will connect Delhi and Navi Mumbai, with terminals at Dadri (Uttar Pradesh) and JNPT (Navi Mumbai).
  3. PM Modi also flagged off world's first Double Stack Long Haul 1.5 Km long Container Train hauled by electric traction from New Ateli -New Kishangarh.
Jan 06, 2021
1. Covid-19 Pandemic Updates (January 2021) -
  1. National -
    1. Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) gave final approval to Oxford-AstraZeneca “Covishield” and Bharat Biotech “Covaxin” vaccines against Covid-19 for emergency use.
    2. INR 201 crores from PM-CARES Fund have been granted for induction of 162 PSA medical oxygen generation plants in public healthcare facilities all over India.
    3. India Began Vaccine Maitri Initiative, to gift COVID-19 vaccines to neighbouring countries.
  2. International -
    1. Newly elected US President Joe Biden announced 1.9 USD American rescue plan, as a Covid-19 stimulus package.
    2. Malaysia declared nationwide state of emergency to fight coronavirus surge, to last until August 1.
    3. UK launched New Global Platform to track the new COVID-19 variants..
2. Book India’s 71-Year Test: The Journey to Triumph in Australia, authored by R. Kaushik has been released.
3. RBI introduced Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) system for all payment transactions of value 50 crores and above, undertaken by entities (non-individuals) using RBI's Centralised Payment Systems.
  1. LEI is a 20-digit number used to uniquely identify parties to financial transactions worldwide, conceived as a key measure to improve quality and accuracy of financial data systems for better risk management post global financial crisis.
4. Uttar Pradesh-based Shivalik Mercantile Co-operative Bank (SMCB) received schduled commercial banking license from RBI, to act as a Small Finance Bank (SFB).
  1. SMCB has become first Urban Cooperative Bank (UCB) in India, to transit to a SFB under voluntary transition scheme.
5. Jan 06 is observed as Journalist Day by Maharashtra government, in memory of Balshastri Jambhekar, known as Father of Marathi journalism. He started First newspaper in Marathi, named Darpan.
6. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan inaugurated Centralized network lab of Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), at Translational Health Science & Technology Institute (THSTI) Faridabad, as one of 7 labs of its kind in world.
7. TRIFED signed MOU with Akhil Bhartiya Vanvasi Kalyan Kendra (ABVKK), to work together for setting up of TRIFOOD Parks in 5 districts in Madhya Pradesh. ABVKK works for welfare of tribals in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand since 1952.
  1. TRIFED will also collaborate with Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and India Post to promote rich and traditional tribal products of North East.
8. Punjab CM Amarinder Singh launched mobile application DigiNest, to give people digital access to state government's directory. He also rolled out an online Advertisement Release Order System, to bring transparency in releasing State Government's advertisements and payments to media houses.
9. P Ravi Kumar has been appointed as Karnataka’s New chief secretary.
10. Book Sabarimala Vijnaanakosham, Authored by K S Vijayanath has been released.
11. UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) recognised 4 tea producing sites from 3 countries as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). These include 2 tea production sites from China, and one each from Korea and Japan.
12. Maître Setu, the bridge over River Feni connecting South Tripura with Ramgarh of Bangladesh getting access to Chittagong seaport, will be open in February 2021. The 1.9 kilometres long bridge has been completed with cost 129 crores.
13. UGC has set up a committee headed by R P Tiwari (Central University of Punjab VC), to consider holding common entrance test at undergraduate level only from next academic year in central universities, to provide a single platform for admission.
14. Railways will build world's longest railway platform at Hubbali railway junction in Karnataka, extending length of platform from 550 to 1505 meters.
  1. Currently, Gorakhpur railway station in Uttar Pradesh is the longest operational platform (1,366 meter-long).
15. Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated migrant worker cell of Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) at Udhna based iLab, to do detailed mapping of migrant workers and classify them according to their skills. It has been created by Surat Municipal Corporation for first time in Country, under National Urban Livelihood Mission Scheme.
16. World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) conferred status of ‘centennial observing station to Patna meteorological observatory, for exceeding over 100 years.
  1. Established in 1867, Patna meteorological observatory is among earliest observatories set up by then British Core of Engineers.
17. Indian Surgeon and Padma Shri awardee Raghu Ram Pillarisetti has been recognised in 2021 new year's Honours list of Queen Elizabeth II for his outstanding services towards surgical education.
18. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance rolled out Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) for all citizens of UT of Jammu & Kashmir.
  1. The extended scheme PMJAY-SEHAT was launched recently by PM, to provide health to all J&K citizens.
19. Govt. issued Rs 5500 crores as zero-coupon bonds to recapitalise Punjab and Sind Bank (P&SB), as first of its kind move.
  1. Zero-coupon bonds are debt security that does not pay interest but instead trades at a deep discount, rendering a profit at maturity, when the bond is redeemed for its full face value.
Jan 05, 2021
1. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated 450-km Kochi-Mangaluru natural gas pipeline, built at cost 3000 crores, under One Nation One Gas Grid Vision of Govt. It aims at improving ease of living for people of Kerala and Karnataka.
  1. Built by GAIL (India) Ltd, it has Liquefied Natural Gas transportation capacity of 12 Million Metric Standard Cubic Metres per day.
2. Madhya Pradesh Govt launched Launch Pad Scheme, for teenagers coming out of child care institutions and having completed 18 years of age. Objective is to help these youth become self-reliant by continuing their education and training.
  1. District Administration will provide space to these youths for opening of coffee shops, stationery, photocopying, computer typing and DTP work.
  2. 6 lakh will be provided for installation of each launch pad.
3. Ministry of External Affairs has set up a high-level group to build a South Asia-focused energy security architecture, named South Asia Group for Energy (SAGE). It will be headed by former Union Power Secretary Ram Vinay Shahi.
4. Italian author Alfredo Covelli's new book Vahana Masterclass has been launched, for children and Young Audience.
5. Misc. Appointments (January 2021) -
  1. Government extendedterm of ISRO Chairman K Sivan by 1 year.
  2. All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) named Ashish Pethe as chairman and Saiyam Mehra as vice chairman.
  3. US President Joe Biden nominated Merrick Garland as next US attorney general, who is chief lawyer of US government.
  4. Google Cloud appointed India's Karan Bajwa as its new head for Asia Pacific.
  5. Shantanu Dayal has been named the new Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Capability Development and Sustenance). The post is different from Vice chief of Army Staff.
  6. Embassy of Israel appointed Joyshree Das Verma as honorary consul in Northeast, based in Assam and jurisdiction over 7 North east states and Sikkim.
  7. President of Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadera has been re-elected for his 2nd term.
  8. Jay Shah has been named as official representative of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on International Cricket Council (ICC) Board.
  9. Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council (TEPC) appointed Sandeep Aggarwal as new Chairman.
  10. U.S. Senate confirmed Lloyd Austin as New Secretary of Defense, as first African-American to lead the Pentagon.
  11. Sundaram Finance named Rajiv Lochan as managing director.
  12. Board of RBL Bank approved re-appointment of Vishwavir Ahuja as MD and CEO.
  13. Govt named Sanjeev Kumar as CMD of PSU Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL).
  14. Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has been given additional charge of Ayush Ministry, until Shripad Yesso Naik recovers from an accident.
  15. Upendra Prasad Singh has been appointed as Secretary in Ministry of Textiles.
  16. Naveen Chawla has been appointed as Director General Medical Services (Indian Navy).
  17. SBI Cards appointed Rama Mohan Rao Amara as its MD and CEO.
6. India has been chosen as co-chair of IUCN-supported Asia Protected Areas Partnership (APAP), for 3 years till November 2023. India will replace South Korea.
  1. APAP is chaired by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Asia and co-chaired by an APAP nation member on a rotational basis.
  2. APAP was launched in 2014, as a regional platform to assist governments and different stakeholders to collaborate for more practical administration of protected areas (PA). Currently, there are 21 members from 17 international locations.
7. Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) delivered Landing Craft Utility (LCU) MK IV class vessel ‘IN LCU L-58’ (Yard 2099) to Indian Navy.
  1. LCU L-58 is the final ship in the series of 8 LCUs being manufactured by GRSE for Indian Navy, with 90 % indigenous parts.
8. Misc. Defence News / Events (January 2021) -
  1. Indian Navy signed contract with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), to procure Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation Dazzlers (Laser Dazzlers). It is first time that this unique product is indigenously designed and developed for Armed Forces.
  2. Indian Army signed contract with Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL), to procure 12 Fast Patrol Boats for surveillance and patrolling of large water bodies.
  3. Pakistan test-flighted indigenously developed Guided Multi Launch Rocket System capable of delivering conventional warheads with range 140 kms, named Fatah-1.
  4. India’s first indigenous 9mm Machine Pistol jointly developed by DRDO’s Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE) and Indian Army's Infantry School Mhow. It is named Asmi.
  5. Indian Army signed contract to buy high-altitude SWITCH drones from ideaForge for $20 million.
  6. Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and UK Based Thales signed agreement to develop STARStreak Air Defence system in India.
  7. DRDO successfully held trial of indigenously developed Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW) from HAL Hawk-I. SAAW is 125 Kg class smart weapon, wit range 100 kms.
9. RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani ranked 12th in Bloomberg Billionaires Index 2021, with net worth 76.7 billion USD.
  1. Top 3 - Jeff Bezos (190 Billion USD), Elon Musk (170 Billion USD), Bill Gates (132 Billion USD)
10. Umesh Sinha has been named as deputy election commissioner in Election Commission of India.
  1. Election commission of India consists of Chief Election Commissioner (Currently Sunil Arora) and 2 Election Commissioners (Currently Sushil Chandra, Rajiv Kumar).
11. Indian 2-wheeler manufacturer Bajaj Auto became most valuable two-wheeler company in world, crossing a market capitalization of more than Rs. 1 lakh crores.
12. Sanjay Kapoor has been elected as president of All India Chess Federation (AICF).
13. Government's Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) and LED Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP), completed 6 years of implementation, which were Launched by PM Narendra Modi on January 5th, 2015.
  1. SLNP is world’s largest streetlight replacement programme and UJALA is world’s largest domestic lighting project, Both implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL).
  2. Under UJALA, EESL has distributed over 36.69 crore LED bulbs, resulting in energy savings of 47.65 billion kWh per year and estimated CO2 emission reduction of 38.59 million tonnes per year.
  3. Under SLNP, EESL has installed about 1.14 crore LED streetlights across India. This has resulted in an estimated energy savings of 7.67 billion kWh per year and estimated CO2 emission reduction of 5.29 million tonnes per year.
Jan 04, 2021
1. Jan 04 is observed by UN as World Braille Day, proclaimed by UN in 2018, as a means of realizing human rights of visually-impaired and partially-sighted people.
  1. January 4 marks birthday of Louis Braille, the creator of Braille writing system, used by visually impaired people.
2. CSIR - National Physical Laboratory organised National Metrology Conclave, attended by PM Narendra Modi. Theme is Metrology for the Inclusive Growth of the Nation. Jan 04, 2021 marks 75th foundation day of CSIR-NPL. On this occasion -
  1. PM Modi dedicated National Atomic Time Scale and Bhartiya Nirdeshak Dravya to the nation. He also laid Foundation stone of National Environmental Standard Laboratory.
    1. National Atomic Time Scale -
      1. Atomic Time provides exact speed at which the clock ticks, measuring actual length of a second. Atomic Clocks deviate only one second in up to 100 million years. The International System of Units (SI unit) define one second (in atomic time) as the time taken by the Cesium-133 atom in the ground state to oscillate 9,192,631,770 times.
      2. With newly inaugurated National Atomic Time, India has become self-reliant in measuring time within range of nanosecond. It has now achieved the accuracy level of 2.8 Nanosecond matching the International Standard Time. Atomic time plays huge role in cutting edge technology.
      3. International Atomic Time is calculated by taking weighted average of more than 300 atomic clocks, located globally. It is also called Astronomical time that refers to Earth rotation, computed by International Bureau of Weights
        and Measures (BIPM) located in Paris (France).
    2. Bhartiya Nirdeshak Dravya - It will help industry to make quality products in sectors like Heavy metals, Pesticides, Pharma and Textiles by drafting a 'Certified Reference Material System'.
    3. National Environmental Standards lab will focus on self-Reliance in certification of ambient air and industrial emission monitoring equipment.
3. Finance Ministry Kept interest rates on small savings schemes unchanged for Q4 FY 21 (2020-21). interest rates for various schemes -
  1. Public Provident Fund (PPF) - 7.1 %
  2. National Savings Certificate (NSC) - 6.8 %
  3. Five Year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme - 7.4%
  4. Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana - 7.6%
  5. Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) - 6.9%
  6. Also, Labour Ministry notified 8.5% interest on Employment Provident Fund for 2019-20.
4. Misc. Corporate News / Events (January 2021) -
  1. RBI imposed penalty of 2.50 crores on Bajaj Finance, for violation of certain RBI Norms.
  2. IDBI Bank sold its 23% stake in IDBI Federal Life Insurance Compny, to Ageas Insurance International NV for 507 crores.
  3. ICICI Bank launched iMobile Pay app, which offers consolidated payments and banking services, open to customers of any bank.
  4. Exim Bank of India raised $1 billion through a dollar-bond sale to international investors, offering low rate of 2.25 % for 10 years.
  5. RuPay partnered with RBL Bank, to launch RuPay PoS, in association with PayNearby, an innovative payment solution for merchants.
  6. National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved NHPC’s Resolution Plan for taking over Jalpower Corporation Limited (JPCL), which was executing 120 MW Rangit Stage-IV Hydroelectric Project in Sikkim, and is undergoing Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process.
    1. Jalpower Corporation is 2nd company after Lanco Teesta Hydro Power Ltd (LTHPL), to be acquired through NCLT process by NHPC.
  7. RBI imposed penalty of 2 crores Germany-based Deutsche Bank AG, for non-compliance with certain RBI directions.
  8. IDFC Mutual Funds launched investor awareness campaign titled PaisonKoRokoMat.
  9. RBI cancelled Banking licence of Osmanabad (Maharashtra) based Vasantdada Nagari Sahakari Bank and Kolhapur Based Shivam Sahakari Bank, amid irregularities in their functioning.
  10. Bandhan Bank signed agreement with Indian Army, to provide banking services to Army personnel, including maintaining a Shaurya Salary Account of Army personnel.
  11. Universal Sompo General Insurance tied up with Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh Finance Corporation, which provides financial assistance to small and medium enterprises.
  12. Central Bank of India (CBI) and NABARD subsidiary NABFoundation signed MOU for providing working capital finance to women SHGs for making sanitary pads under my Pad my right project.
  13. Payments Firm FSS (Financial Software and Systems) partnered with India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to promote financial inclusion among underserved and unbanked segments.
  14. ICICI Bank tied up with fintech firm Niyo, to issue prepaid cards to MSMEs workers, called Bharat Payroll Card.
  15. RBI imposed penalty of 2 Crores on Standard Chartered Bank–India, for non-compliance with certain RBI guidelines.
  16. Airtel Payments Bank launched Safe Pay, a safe mode for making digital payments, to protect customers from online frauds.
  17. J&K Bank approved to transfer 8.23 % stake to UT of Ladakh.
  18. To help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) recover from pandemic, Mastercard launched Digital Acceleration for Small Businesses microsite across most of its Asia Pacific websites with information on how to digitalize and run businesses efficiently.
  19. Paytm Payments Bank partnered with Suryoday Small Finance Bank, to facilitate fixed deposit services to its account holders.
    1. Paytm payments bank already offers FDs in collaboration with IndusInd Bank.
    2. With this new partnership, PPBL became first payments bank to launch multi-partner FD service.
  20. As per World Gold Council, Demand for gold in India in 2020 dropped to 25-year low of 446 tonnes, compared to 690.4 tonnes in 2019.
  21. Government's fiscal deficit became 11.6 Lakh Crores, or 145.5 % of Budget Estimates for FY 21 (2020-21), at the end of December 2020, as revenue was hit due to pandemic.
5. As a relief to exporters, government extended benefits of tax refund scheme RoDTEP to all goods, from Jan 2021.
  1. In March 2020, government had approved scheme for Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) for reimbursement of taxes and duties to exporters, to boost to outbound shipments.
  2. It would refund to exporters the embedded central, state and local duties and taxes that were so far not be rebated or refunded.
Jan 03, 2021
1. Tata Power partnered with Small Industries Bank of India (SIDBI), to provide affordable financing scheme for MSME customers in rooftop solar segment. It will empower MSMEs to adopt sustainable energy for their businesses and promote green energy.
2. Alex Ellis has been appointed by UK as its new high commissioner to India, replacing Philip Barton.
3. Supreme Court asked government to repeal Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Care and Maintenance of Case Property Animals) Rules 2017, that allowed seizure and subsequent confiscation of livestock, even before person was found guilty of cruelty towards them.
4. Indian Army created a new human rights cell, headed by a Major-General, for greater transparency and probity in its functioning in disturbed areas like Jammu and Kashmir and northeast.
  1. Gautam Chauhan took charge as first additional director general (human rights) at Indian Army.
5. Central Asian Nation Kazakhstan approved international law that sanctions Second Optional Protocol to International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It entails a formal commitment to abolishing death penalty.
6. RBI launched a composite Digital Payments Index (DPI), which consists of 5 parameters that measure deepening of digital payments across India.
  1. Parameters are Payment Enablers (25%), Payment Infrastructure – Demand-side factors (10%), Payment Infrastructure – Supply-side factors (15%), Payment Performance (45%) and Consumer Centricity (5%).
  2. RBI-DPI has been constructed with March 2018 as the base period. With DPI Score of 2018 taken as 100, that for March 2019 and March 2020 work out to 153.47 and 207.84 respectively, indicating appreciable growth.
  3. RBI will publish Digital Payments Index on a semi-annual basis from March 2021.
7. Soma Mondal took over as new Chairman of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), as first-ever women-head of SAIL.
Jan 02, 2021
1. Govt. launched Toycathon 2021, aimed to conceptualize innovative toys based on Indian value system which will inculcate positive behaviour and good value among children.
  1. In this, students and toy experts will crowd source ideas for developing toys and games that are based on Indian culture and ethos, based on 9 themes.
2. Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh became first States to complete 3 out of 4 citizen centric reforms stipulated by Department of Expenditure, completing One Nation, One Ration Card, Ease of Doing Business and Urban Local Bodies Reforms.
  1. Consequent upon completion of reforms in concerned sectors, Department of Expenditure provides additional assistance to States under the Scheme.
  2. Scheme of Special Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure, announced by Finance Minister in Oct 2020, is aimed at boosting capital expenditure by State Governments. 4 reforms are - One Nation One Ration Card, Ease of doing Business Reform, Urban Local Body/ Utility Reform and Power Sector Reforms.
3. Department of Science and Technology released draft of 5th National Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy (STIP) for public consultation, aimed at fostering socio-economic and political development globally, benefitting all the sectors through scientific and technological advances.
  1. Earlier Policies were adopted in 1958, 1983, 2003, 2013.
4. Railways Minister Piyush Goyal launched Freight Business Development Portal, as one stop solution for all needs of freight customers, and ensure all operations stay customer centric and reduce costs for logistics providers.
5. IRDAI will introduce standard products covering risk of fire and allied perils, to replace Standard Fire and Special Perils Policy. It has three main components - Bharat Griha Raksha, Bharat Laghu Udyam Suraksha and Bharat Sookshma Udyam Suraksha.
  1. Bharat Griha Raksha - Will introduce a standard home insurance policy that will cover risk of fire and other related dangers.
  2. Bharat Laghu Udyam Suraksha - Standard product for enterprises with total risk value of up to 5 crores.
  3. Bharat Sookshma Udyam Suraksha - Standard product for enterprises with total risk value of over 5 crores.
6. As per World Bank Global Economic Prospects Report January 2021 Edition -
  1. Indian Economy is to contract 9.6 % in FY 21 (2020-21), and will grow at 5.4 % and 5.2 % in FY 22 (2021-22) and FY 23 (2022-23) respectively.
  2. Global Economy is to contract 4.3 % in FY 21 (2020-21), and will grow at 4.0 % and 3.8 % in FY 22 (2021-22) and FY 23 (2022-23) respectively.
7. India released Draft Arctic Policy, to ensure that Arctic resources are explored and used sustainably.
  1. 5 main pillars of India's Arctic Policy - Science and Research, Economic and Human Development, Transportation and Connectivity, National Capacity building, Governance and International Cooperation.
  2. National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research will be implementing agency.
  3. India became observer of Arctic Council in 2013 and membership as an observer was renewed in 2018.
8. As Per Indian Meteorological Department (IMD)'s Report on Climate of India during 2020 -
  1. 2020 was 8th warmest year on record since 1901. 12 of 15 warmest years since 1901 were between 2006 and 2020, with 2016 being warmest.
  2. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were the hardest hit states due to adverse weather.
  3. Average Surface Temperature was 0.29 Degrees Celsius above normal.
  4. As per World Meteorological Organization, Global mean surface temperature was 1.2 degrees Celsius above average.
  5. 5 cyclones formed in North Indian Ocean in 2020 - AMPHAN, BUREVI, NISARGA, NIVAR and GATI.
9. Supreme Court allowed Central Vista Project to go ahead, in response to petition against the same.
  1. This 20000 Crores project aims to renovate 86 acres of land in Lutyen’s Garden in New Delhi. It includes Landmark structures such as Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament, India Gate and North and South Block.
10. Largest floating solar energy project in world will be constructed at Omkareshwar Dam on Narmada river (Madhya Pradesh), to be completed by 2023. It will have capacity of 600 megawatts, with cost approx 3000 Crores.
11. 40th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica has been flagged off on-board ice class vessel MV Vasiliy Golovnin, from Mormugao Port (Goa).
12. As per ISRO's Decade Plan -
  1. Aims to complete Chandrayaan-3, solar mission Aditya-L1 and first Indian Data Relay Satellite in decade 2021-2030.
  2. Also, ISRO will complete first developmental flight of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle.
  3. Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre will help to boost the Semi-Cryogenic Propulsion capability. With this, Indian rockets will be able to carry 5.5 tonnes to Geostationary Transfer Orbit.
13. Delhi government announced to set up a Tamil Academy with N Raja as vice chairman, to protect Tamil language and culture.
  1. Delhi government already runs Sanskrit, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Hindi, Maithili and Bhojpuri Academies.
  2. Tamil was first language to be classified as a classical language in India.
14. US passed Malala Yousafzai Act for Pakistani Women, which requires United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to award at least 50% of scholarship to Pakistani women between 2020 and 2022.
  1. It requires USAID to leverage investments by Pakistani private sector in US, to improve access to education programs in Pakistan.
  2. It mandates USAID to brief US Congress about number of scholarships provided under programme. USAID has so far awarded more than 6000 scholarship to the young women of Pakistan since 2010.
15. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) announced that all edible refined oils, vegetable fat spreads, Vanaspati, margarines, Bakery shortening and mixed fat spreads can contain only 3% or less trans fats.
  1. This is to be implemented by January 2021. By January 2022, this is to be further reduced to 2%.
  2. World Health Organisation has called for global elimination of trans fat by 2023.
  3. Trans fats are created artificially during hydrogenation process of vegetable oils, which results in heart diseases. Eliminating trans fats can save more than 17 million lives in next 25 years.
16. To solve issue of space debris, Japan will launch wooden satellites by 2023.
  1. These Satellites will burn up without releasing harmful substances, not leaving any waste in space after completing service.
  2. Wooden satellites are being designed by the Sumitomo Forestry and Kyoto University.
17. Argentina became largest Latin American country to legalize abortion, allowing abortion up to 14th week of pregnancy.
  1. In India, abortion is legal till 24th week of pregnancy, under medical termination of pregnancy (Amendment) act 2020, up from 20 weeks earlier.
18. Punjab Cabinet approved state data policy, to track progress and provide citizens access to services. This makes Punjab first state to formulate a comprehensive data policy.
19. Australia announced changes to its National Anthem Advance Australia Fair, with second line changed from For we are young and free to For we are one and free.
  1. It was written in 1878, becaming official National Anthem in 1984.
  2. It was believed that the national anthem celebrates British colonisation, making it unacceptable by indigenous communities of Australia, who celebrate Australia Day as Invasion Day.
  3. Australia Day is celebrated on January 26, when First Fleet sailed into Sydney in 1788, with troops from Britain.
20. Assam assembly passed Ease of Doing Business (Amendment) Bill 2020, making amendments to Assam ease of doing business act 2016.
  1. Amendment will avail 0.25% additional borrowing from centre, and simplifies procedures and brings transparency in system.
  2. State Government is to do away with all types of renewal certificate, permissions and licences.
21. Uttar Pradesh government launched program named Kisan Kalyan Mission, aimed at doubling income of farmers of state. 3-week long campaign for welfare of farmers will be organised in every development block of all 75 districts.
Jan 01, 2021
1. India signed USD 646 million loan with New Development Bank (NDB), for two projects in Andhra Pradesh (each 323 Million) -
  1. Andhra Pradesh Roads and Bridges Reconstruction Project – Comprises widening 1600 km of State Highways.
  2. Andhra Pradesh Mandal Connectivity and Rural Connectivity Improvement Project – Comprises widening 1400 km of district roads.
2. India signed $ 231 million loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB), to augment electricity generation capacity in Assam, through construction of a 120 megawatts (MW) hydroelectric power plant.
  1. This is 3rd tranche loan for ongoing Assam Power Sector Investment Programme, approved by ADB in 2014.
3. India signed $10 million project readiness financing (PRF) loan with Asian Development Bank (ADB), to help finance piloting activities, and design and capacity building for an ensuing project that aims to expand horticulture production and farm household income in Himachal Pradesh.
4. India signed $100 million loan with Asian Development Bank (ADB), to upgrade power distribution system to enhance the quality and reliability of electricity supply in Bengaluru (Karnataka).
  1. Beside $100 million sovereign loan, ADB will provide a $90 million without sovereign guarantee loan for the project to Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM).
5. India signed $105 million loan for project to improve inland water transport infrastructure in Kolkata (West Bengal), called West Bengal Inland Water Transport, Logistics and Spatial Development Project.
6. Suneet Sharma has been appointed as new Chairman & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Railway Board and ex-officio Principal Secretary to Central Government.
7. Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) unveiled Khadi India’s official e-Commerce site eKhadiIndia.com, which catalogues over 50000 products, as a step towards building an ecosystem that enables MSMEs to help achieve goal of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
8. PM Narendra Modi laid foundation of 6 Light House Projects (LHPs) in six States, as part of Global Housing Technology Challenge - India (GHTC -India) initiative.
  1. States and Cities where LHPs launched - Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Rajkot (Gujarat), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Agartala (Tripura) and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh).
  2. PM also released a certification course on innovative construction technologies named NAVARITIH (New, Affordable, Validated, Research Innovation Technologies for Indian Housing).
  3. PM also honored 88 beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana–Urban (PMAY-U) awards, To recognize contribution by States / UTds / Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), in six categories.
9. Gandhinagar (Gujarat) Based International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) became an Associate Member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), the international body that sets global standards for securities sector.
  1. This would provide IFSCA the platform to exchange information at global / regional level on areas of common interests.
  2. Earlier in December 2020, IFSCA obtained membership of International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS).
10. GST revenue collected in December 2020 remaned 1.15 lakh crores (CGST 21365 crores, SGST 27804 crores, IGST 57426 crores and Cess 8579 crores). These are Highest Monthly collections since implementation of GST.
11. Tarun Kumar Aich has been appointed as Director General of National Cadet Corps, the premier youth organization of India. Also, Rajat Datta has been appointed as Director General in Armed Forces Medical Services.
12. Obituaries (January 2021) -
  1. Buta Singh - Former Union Home Minister of India, Governor of Bihar and chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Castes.
  2. Michael Kindo - Noted Former Indian hockey Player.
  3. Bob Brett - Noted Australian tennis coach.
  4. Shantanu Mohapatra - Noted Odia Legendary Music Director.
  5. Narendra Kumar - Noted soldier and mountaineer, known for his expeditions across various mountain ranges. He was also known as Bull Kumar.
  6. John Fulton Reid - Former New Zealand cricketer.
  7. Anil Panachooran - Noted Malayalam Poet and Lyricist.
  8. Chitra Ghosh - Noted Acadmecian and Great Freedom Fighter Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s niece.
  9. Shashikumar Chitre - Noted mathematician and astrophysicist, and Padma Bhushan awardee.
  10. Turlapaty Kutumba Rao - Noted journalist and orator, known for his service to journalism in Telugu language.
  11. Ved Parkash Mehta - Noted Indian-American Journalist and writer.
  12. Madhavsinh Solanki - Noted Congress Leader who served as External Affairs minister of India and also served as Chief Minister of Gujarat three times. He was known for KHAM theory (Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi and Muslim).
  13. Satya Paul - Noted Indian Fashion designer.
  14. Alan Thomas Burgess - New Zealand First Class cricketer, who was oldest living first-class cricketer and also was a world war 2 warrior.
  15. Neil Sheehan - Noted American journalist, and Pulitzer Prize Winner.
  16. A Madhavan - Noted Tamil writer and Kendra Sahitya Akademi Awardee.
  17. D. Prakash Rao - Noted social activist (Padma Shri Awardee).
  18. Ghulam Mustafa Khan - Noted Indian classical musician, belonging to Rampur-Sahaswan Gharana. He was recepient of all 3 Padma awards (Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan), along with Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
  19. Sheldon Gary Adelson - Noted American businessman, known as founder of Las Vegas Sands Corporation.
  20. Kamal Morarka - Former Union minister, who served as Minister of State in PM Chandra Shekhar Govt (1990 -1991).
  21. V. Shanta - Noted Cancer Care Medical Professional and director of Adyar Cancer Institute. She was recepient of all 3 Padma awards and Ramon Magsaysay Award.
  22. Narendra Chanchal - Noted singer, who specialized in religious songs.
  23. Larry King - Noted American television and radio host, who hosted over 50000 interviews.
  24. Narendra Luther - Noted historian and author. He also served as Former Chief Secretary of undivided Andhra Pradesh.
  25. Unnikrishnan Namboothiri - Noted Malayalam actor.
  26. Mata Prasad - Former Arunachal Governor.
  27. Paul Jozef Crutzen - Noted Dutch chemist and Nobel Prize winner (1995), for studying formation of atmospheric ozone.
  28. Temjen Toy - Former Nagaland Chief Secretary.
  29. Cloris Leachmaan - Noted American Actress, and Oscar Winner.
  30. Prasanta Dora - Former India Footballer (Goalkeeper).
13. Misc. MOUs (January 2021) -
  1. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) signed MOU with Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation (MAHA –METRO), to conserve water and protect environment by installing DRDO's biodigester Mk-II technology for treatment of human waste (night soil) in metro rail network.
  2. Renewable Energy PSU Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) signed MoU with NHPC, for providing technical expertise in developing renewable energy projects, for 5 years.
  3. National Highway Authority of India signed MoU with Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) to establish various clean energy and energy efficiency interventions at NHAI establishments and structures.
  4. Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) and Ministry of Tribal Affairs signed 2 MoUs, regarding purchase of Khadi fabric for tribal students and partnering of Tribal Affairs Ministry with KVIC as implementing agency for PM Employment Generation Program (PMEGP).
  5. Bharti Airtel and National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) partnered to drive digital transformation of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
  6. India's National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) and National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), signed MOU with Russia's Pacific Oceanological Institute (POI), for co-operation in marine science and technology.
  7. DRDO signed MoU with Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) to strengthen collaboration in field of technical exchange and co-operation on sustainable geohazard management.
  8. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and IIT Roorkee signed MoU, for continuation of Ministry's Professorial Chair focusing on research and development in Development of Highway Infrastructure.
  9. Stock exchange BSE partnered with Maharashtra government, to create awareness about benefits of listing among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of state.
  10. Tripartite agreement signed between Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL), Rajasthan State Mines & Minerals Limited (RSMML) and Department of Mines & Geology of Rajasthan Govt, for taking up feasibility studies of Solution Mining of Potash in state.
  11. Gujarat government signed agreement with Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), to explore possibilities of development of a dedicated air cargo complex and multi-modal logistics park in state at VirochanNagar near Sanand.
  12. MOU signed between CSIR and Ladakh UT, to accelerate its development through S&T interventions.
  13. MoU signed between Textiles Committee (Ministry of Textiles) and Nissenken Quality Evaluation Centre Japan, for promoting Indo-Japan Textile Co-operation.
14. Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways commenced operations of Seaplane services on select routes, under a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) called Sagarmala Development Company Ltd (SDCL).
  1. One such Seaplane Service is already in operation between Kevadia and Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad, which was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi on 31st October 2020.
15. Misc. Sports Events (January 2021) -
  1. Sports minister Kiren Rijiju launched Assam Rifles Public School (ARPS) in Shillong as a Khelo India Sports School, as North-east's first Sports School announced under Khelo India scheme.
  2. Goa’s Leon Mendonca became India’s 67th chess Grandmaster,by winning final norm at a tournament in Italy.
  3. Australia's Claire Polosak became first female match official in a men's Test match, when she took fourth umpire's role in third Test between India and Australia.
  4. Khelo India Ice Hockey Tournament organised at Chiktan in Kàrgil (Ladakh).
  5. Jigmet Dolma from India secured fourth position in Dhaka Marathon 2021 (Bangladesh). Marathon was organized to commemorate return of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from Pakistan jail to Bangladesh in 1972.
  6. Sports Ministry decided to name all upcoming and upgraded sporting facilities of Sports Authority of India, after renowned athletes, who have contributed to sports in India.
  7. 1st ever Khelo India Winter Sports Festival held at Padum in Zanskar of Kargil district.
  8. Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) won 10th National Ice Hockey Championship, defetaing Ladakh, in Gulmarg.
  9. Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju launched a breakthrough Reference Material for use in chemical testing in field of anti-doping, jointly synthesised by National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) and National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) Guwahati.

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