SM Current Affairs JANUARY 2021 Set 03

PREFACE

It gives us great pleasure to release the monthly edition of the PRAVAHINI - Monthly e-Compendium & Weekly e-Periodicals of Current Affairs. The magazine’s members have shown considerable cooperation as well as devotion. We at successmantra.in work tirelessly to create this magazine and bring it to you with a great sense of gratitude.

The PRAVAHINI January-2021 eBook covers the current events that happened in the month of October. Current Affairs is a crucial component of any competitive exams including CLAT, AILET, DU-LLB, HM, CAT, IAS, PCS, SSC, Banking, MBA and various other competitive examinations.

Current Affairs play the bigger role in many competitive and government exams. It holds the power of making or breaking your chance of success. Therefore, the candidates should cover the Current Affairs thoroughly and smartly.

The PRAVAHINI January-2021 eBook is divided into different sections keeping in mind the need of various exams. The sections covered namely International, National, Economy, Ecology and Environment, Science & Technology, Legal Affairs, Sports, States News Makers and few others.

We would also be pleased to receive any suggestion that could assist us with the upcoming editions.

Success Mantra (GTB Nagar, Delhi)

Website: www.successmantra.in

Mail Id: [email protected]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. National Affairs
2. International Affairs
3. Economic Affairs
4. Appointments
5. Awards And Honors
6. Important Dates & Sports
7. Reports And Indexes
8. Science & Tech
9. Miscellaneous

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

PM MODI CHAIRED 35TH PRAGATI MEETING

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chaired the 35th PRAGATI meeting to review multiple projects, grievances and programmes. In the meeting, ten agenda items were taken for review worth Rs. 54,675 crore, related to 15 states.
• These included nine projects and one programme. Prime Minister also reviewed the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana.
• PRAGATI stands for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation.

INDIA & FRANCE CONDUCTED EX DESERT KNIGHT-21

• Indian Air Force and French Air and Space Force are conducting a bilateral Air exercise, Ex Desert Knight-21 in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
• The exercise marks an important milestone in the series of engagements between the two Air forces. It is unique as it includes fielding of Rafale aircraft by both sides and is indicative of the growing interaction between the two premiers Air Forces.
• The French side will participate with Rafale, Airbus A-330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport, A-400M Tactical Transport aircraft and approximately 175 personnel.

UNION CABINET APPROVED RATLE HYDROPOWER PROJECT

• The Union Cabinet has approved 850 megawatts (MW) Ratle hydropower project worth an Rs. 5281.94 crore on Chenab river in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
• The project is being implemented under the Centre’s plan to expedite strategically important hydropower projects in the union territory post its reorganization.
• The project will be developed by a new joint venture company between state-run National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Ltd and Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation Ltd (JKSPDC), where NHPC will have a 51% stake in the JV firm, while the balance will be held by JKSPDC.

ARJUN MUNDA INAUGURATED 'SHRAMSHAKTI' PORTAL

• The Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Shri Arjun Munda has launched a National Migration Support Portal “ShramShakti”, during a virtual programme organised at Panjim, Goa.
• The portal will help the government in smooth formulation of state and national level programs for migrant workers.
• Shram Shakti portal will address the data gap and empower migrant workers who generally migrate in search of employment and income generation. The government would also be able to link the migrant population with existing Welfare Scheme- under Atam Nirbhar Bharat.

INDIAN ARMY TO CONDUCT MILITARY EXERCISE 'KAVACH'

• The Indian Army is to conduct a large scale joint military exercise Kavach in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.
• The exercise is to be held under the aegis of Andaman and Nicobar Command. The Joint Military Exercise Kavach will involve Indian Navy, Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Indian Coast Guard.
• During the exercise, the joint forces will execute high-density offensive and defence measures in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.

FIRST WOMAN FIGHTER PILOT IN REPUBLIC DAY PARADE

• Flight lieutenant Bhawana Kanth will become the 1st woman fighter pilot to take part in the Republic Day parade.
• She will be a part of the Indian Air Force’s tableau in the 2021 Republic Day Parade that will showcase mock-ups of the light combat helicopter, light combat aircraft, and the Sukhoi-30 fighter plane.
• At present, Bhawana is posted in Rajasthan and flies the MiG-21 Bison fighter plane. Bhawana is also one of the first women fighter pilots to be inducted into the Indian Air Force in the year 2016.
• She was inducted into IAF in 2016 along with Mohana Singh and Avani Chaturvedi. Since then 10 women have been commissioned as fighter pilots in IAF.

BSF LAUNCHED OPERATION 'SARD HAWA' IN RAJASTHAN

• The Border Security Force (BSF) has launched “Operation Sard Hawa” on the western international border of Rajasthan.
• The Operations aims to check the instances of infiltration due to the dense fog cover in the region and increase security on the border areas in Jaisalmer.
• The week-long operation has been launched on 21 January 2021 and will continue till 27 January 2021, keeping in view Republic Day of India.
• BSF Director General: Rakesh Asthana.
• BSF Headquarters: New Delhi.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

JOE BIDEN TAKES OATH AS 46TH US PRESIDENT

• Joe Biden became the 46th president of the United States. He swore the oath of office moments after Kamala Harris, who became America’s first woman vice president, turning the page on Donald Trump’s tumultuous four years.
• At 78, Biden is the oldest president in US history and only the second Roman Catholic president.
• Biden, who was vice president under Barack Obama and first ran for president in 1987, plans to kick off his tenure with a flurry of 17 orders.

DUTCH PM MARK RUTTE WITH HIS CABINET RESIGNED

• The Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte and his entire Cabinet has resigned recently over the childcare subsidies scandal, in which thousands of families were wrongly accused of child welfare fraud.
• However, the Rutte government will stay on in a caretaker role until parliamentary elections in March 2021.
• The resignation brings to an end a decade in office for Rutte, although his party is expected to win the election, putting him first in line to begin talks to form the next government.

EUROPE'S LARGEST SOLAR POWER PLANT TO BE BUILT

• Spain and France signed an agreement to build a 590 MW solar power plant. This solar power plant will be the largest solar power plant in Europe. The agreement was signed by Iberdrola of Spain and Donone of France.
• The construction cost of the solar power plant is 364 million US dollars. The solar power plant will be located in the province of Cáceres in western Spain.
• Spain is currently the busiest unsubsidized photovoltaic market in Europe. In 2020, Spain put into the production of 2.9 GW of solar energy. In 2019, Spain added 729 megawatts of solar power. Therefore, the increase in 2020 is four times the increase in 2019.
• India has been increasing its solar power generation capacity. As of November 2020, India’s installed solar power capacity is 36.9 GW. India has established 42 solar parks to provide land for promoters of solar power plants. India has set a goal of achieving 100 GW of solar power generation by 2022.

JOE BIDEN PROPOSAL TO EXTEND 'NEW START TREATY'

• US President Joe Biden proposed to extend the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) for five years. Russia welcomes this proposal.
• The United States and Russia signed a New START Treaty in Prague (the capital of the Czech Republic) in 2010. It became effective in 2011.
• The official name of the New START Treaty is "Measures to Further Reduce and Limit Strategic Offensive Weapons".
• The United States and Russia signed a treaty to reduce the production and use of nuclear weapons. Under the treaty, the two countries will reduce their strategic nuclear missile launchers by half.
• This treaty replaces the Moscow Treaty, also known as SORT (Strategic Offensive Reduction Treaty). The term strategic offensive weapons refers to nuclear warheads deployed by Strategic Nuclear Delivery Vehicles.

CHINA BECOMES LARGEST RECIPIENT OF FDI

• China was the largest recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2020, according to a report released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
• China overtook the United States to gain the top position in 2020. The country attracted $163 billion inflows in 2020, compared to $134 billion attracted by the United States.
• However, in 2019, the United States had received $251 billion in inflows and China received $140 billion. Overall, the global FDI had fallen by 42% in 2020, attracting an inflow of an estimated $859 billion, compared to $1.5 trillion in 2019.
• UNCTAD Headquarters location: Geneva, Switzerland.
• UNCTAD Head: Mukhisa Kituyi.
• UNCTAD Founder: United Nations General Assembly.

ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

AIRTEL PAYMENT BANKS LAUNCHES AIRTEL SAFE PAY

• To protect Airtel customers from the growing incidents of online payment frauds, Airtel Payments Bank has launched ‘Airtel Safe Pay’, a safe way to pay digitally.
• With ‘Airtel Safe Pay’, Airtel customers making UPI or net banking-based payments through Airtel Payments Bank, no longer have to worry about money flowing out of their accounts without their explicit consent.
• An India-First innovation, ‘Airtel Safe Pay’ leverages Airtel’s ‘telco exclusive’ strength of network intelligence to provide an additional layer of payment validation, compared to the industry norm of two-factor authentication.

CHINA: WORLD'S LARGEST CURRENT ACCOUNT SURPLUS

• China overtook Germany to become the country with the world’s largest current account surplus in the year 2020, as per a survey by the Munich-based Ifo institute.
• The current account surplus of China more than doubled to $310 billion in 2020, while the current account surplus of Germany shrank for the fifth year in a row in 2020 to $261 billion.
• The United States remained the country with the world’s largest current account deficit which rose roughly by a third to $635 billion in 2020 or 3.1% of economic output. Japan ranked third with a current account surplus of $158 billion.

IMF REVISED THE PROJECTED GROWTH OF INDIAN ECONOMY

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has pegged the Indian economy to contract by 8 per cent in the current financial year 2020-21, in its latest World Economic Outlook, released on 26 January 2021.
• The IMF expects GDP of India to rise to 11.5 per cent in the next financial year i.e. 2021-22.
• Apart from this, the IMF projected the global growth to contract at 3.5 per cent in 2020. The global economy is projected to grow by 5.5 per cent in 2021 and 4.2 per cent in 2022 as per the IMF.
• IMF Headquarters: Washington, D.C. U.S.
• IMF Managing Director and Chairman: Kristalina Georgieva.
• IMF Chief Economist: Gita Gopinath.

UN FORECASTED INDIA'S ECONOMIC GROWTH TO BE 7.3%

• India’s economic growth is forecast to be 7.3 per cent in the Calendar Year 2021 by the UN.
• The Indian economy is estimated to contract by 9.6 per cent in the Calendar year 2020, as per the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2021, produced by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).
• In addition to this, the global economy is estimated to shrink by 4.3 per cent in 2020. The UN has estimated the Global GDP to recover to 4.7 per cent in 2021.

APPOINTMENTS

CP MOHANTY APPOINTED AS NEW VICE-CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF

• Lieutenant General Chandi Prasad Mohanty has been appointed as the new Vice-chief of Army staff. He would assume the office on February 1, 2021, from Lt General SK Saini, who is superannuating on 31 January 2021.
• Lt General CP Mohanty is an alumnus of Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun, and National Defence Academy. He is a June 1982 batch Infantry Officer from the Rajput Regiment.
• Vice-Chief of Army Staff is the deputy head and the second-highest-ranking officer of the Indian Army. The position is held by the senior officer in the rank of Lt-General, of the Commander in Chief grade.

APPOINTMENT OF TWO NEW MD TO SBI

• The appointments committee (ACC) of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Swaminathan Janakiraman and Ashwini Kumar Tewari as new Managing Directors (MDs) of State Bank of India (SBI) for a period of three years.
• Prior to this, Swaminathan Janakiraman was the deputy managing director (Finance) at SBI and Ashwini Kumar Tewari was serving as MD & CEO of SBI Card, a subsidiary of SBI.
• SBI is headed by a Chairman and four managing directors. Dinesh Kumar Khara is the current Chairman of the bank.

AWARDS & HONOURS

BUSINESS STANDARD BANKER OF THE YEAR 2019-20

• Shyam Srinivasan, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Federal Bank, is the Business Standard Banker of the Year for 2019-20.
• The award was given for his bank’s consistent healthy performance at a time when most of its peers witnessed large stress on asset quality, registered losses, or even invited regulatory actions.
• The unanimous decision was taken by a high-profile jury of five, chaired by former RBI deputy governor S S Mundra.
• He was chosen for his bank’s consistent healthy performance at a time when most of its peers witnessed losses or other issues.

SUBHASH C. BOSE AAPDA PRABANDAN PURASKAR 2021

• The Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar 2021 has been conferred upon Dr Rajendra Kumar Bhandari in the Individual category and Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (SEEDS) in Institutional category.
• The award carries a cash prize of Rs 51 lakh and a certificate for an institution and Rs 5 lakh and a certificate in case of an individual.
• The Government of India announces the award every year on January 23, the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, to recognise and honour the invaluable contribution and selfless service rendered by individuals and organisations in India in the field of disaster management.

SPORTS

ITBP WINS IHAI NATIONAL ICE HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP

• The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has won the Ice Hockey Association of India (IHAI) 10th National Ice Hockey Championship trophy after a win over Ladakh in the finals in Gulmarg.
• The match was held at Gulmarg Ice Rink. Ladakh has been considered as the capital of ice hockey in India where local men and women play this game with great enthusiasm.
• Top teams of Ice Hockey in India participated in the Championship organized from January 16 to 22, 2021.
• ITBP Headquarters: New Delhi, India.
• ITBP Director General: S S Deswal.

IMPORTANT DAYS AND DATES

PARAKRAM DIWAS CELEBRATED ON 23RD JANUARY

• Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s, 125th birth anniversary on 23 January 2021 is observed as Parakram Diwas. The day is celebrated to honour and remember Netaji’s indomitable spirit and selfless service to the nation.
• Netaji’ was born on January 23, 1897, in Cuttack in Odisha. He graduated from Kolkata and proved his mettle by becoming an Indian Civil Services (ICS) officer. But he left the comfort and amenities that came with his job and decided to be part of the freedom struggle.
• With the slogan “Give me blood and I will give you freedom”, he awakened the country towards fighting against the British.

NATIONAL VOTER'S DAY: 25TH JANUARY

• India observes “National Voters’ Day” every year on January 25 to encourage more young voters to take part in the political process.
• 2021 marks the 11th National Voters’ Day (NVD). The theme of NVD 2021 is, ‘Making Our Voters Empowered, Vigilant, Safe and Informed’.
• The day has been started from January 25, 2011, to mark the Foundation day of Election Commission of India (ECI), which was established on 25th January 1950.
• 1st Chief Election Commissioner of Independent India- Sukumar Sen.
• Sunil Arora is the current 23rd Chief Election Commissioner.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF EDUCATION: 24TH JANUARY

• The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 24 January as International Day of Education, in celebration of the role of education for peace and development.
• The first-ever International Day of Education was celebrated on 24 January 2019 as per the resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly on December 3rd 2018 to celebrate the role of education in development.
• The third International Day of Education will be marked under the theme ‘Recover and Revitalize Education for the COVID-19 Generation’.

NATIONAL GIRL CHILD DAY: 24TH JANUARY

• In India, the National Girl Child Day (NGCD) is observed annually on January 24. The day aims to focus on the inequalities faced by girls, to promote the education, health & nutrition of the girl child, and to spread awareness about the rights of a girl child.
• The day was observed for the first time in 2008 as an initiative by the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Government of India.
• The day was initiated by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to spread awareness among people about all the inequalities faced by girls in the country. Promote awareness about the rights of a girl child. Increase awareness on the importance of girl education, health, and nutrition.

MARTYR'S DAY OR SHAHEED DIWAS: 30TH JANUARY

• Martyr’s Day or Shaheed Diwas is observed every year on January 30 in the memory of Mahatma Gandhi, who was assassinated at Gandhi Smriti in the Birla House by Nathuram Godse in 1948.
• The day is observed to remember the sacrifices made by freedom fighters in the struggle for India’s independence and to pay our respects to them.
• Notably, Martyrs’ Day is also observed in India on March 23 to pay respect to Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar, who was hanged death on this day in 1931.
• Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi or Bapu. Mahatma Gandhi, regarded as Father of the Nation, was the torch-bearer of India’s struggle for freedom and was revered by everyone for his non-violent approach against the British Raj.

REPORTS AND INDEXES

NITI AAYOG RELEASED INDIA INNOVATION INDEX 2.0

• NITI Aayog released the second edition of the India Innovation Index on 20 January 2021, along with the Institute for Competitiveness. India Innovation Index 2.0 or 2nd edition has released by NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar.
• The index demonstrates the government’s continued commitment towards transforming the country into an innovation-driven economy. The report examines the innovation capabilities and performance of the states and union territories.
• In the India Innovation Index-2020, the States and Union Territories have been divided into the 17 Major States, 9 City-States and Union Territories, and 10 North-East and Hill States.
• Karnataka retained its first position in the Major States category. Maharashtra moved one position higher and stood at 2nd spot while Tamil Nadu slide to 3rd position.

TCS RANKED 3RD AS MOST VALUED IT-SERVICES BRAND

• Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been ranked third most-valued IT services brand globally, after Accenture and IBM, according to a report by Brand Finance.
• Third-ranked TCS is rapidly closing the gap with IBM following a healthy 11% brand value increase to USD 15 billion.
• Accenture retained the title of world’s most valuable and strongest IT services brand with record brand value of USD 26 billion, while IBM continued at the second place with a brand value of USD 16.1 billion.
• Four Indian IT services companies have secured spots in the top-10 globally, namely, TCS (3), Infosys (4), HCL (7) and Wipro (9). Accenture has retained the title of world’s most valuable and strongest IT services brand with a brand value of $26 billion.

INDIA RANKED 86TH IN THE CPI 2020

• India has been ranked 86th among 180 countries in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2020, released by Transparency International.
• This year, India’s rank has slipped six places compared to 2019, when it was ranked at 80th spot. The CPI score for India in 2020 is 40. India is sharing its position jointly with Burkina Faso, Morocco, East Timor, Trinidad and Tobago and Turkey.
• Top Country: New Zealand and Denmark have jointly secured the first position with scores of 88. Lowest Country: Somalia and South Sudan rank lowest at 179th position with scores of 12.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

INDIA TO PROCURE FIGHTER AIRCRAFT FROM RUSSIA

• The Government of India is set to procure 21 MiG-29 and 12 Sukhoi-30MKI fighter aircraft from Russia.
• Apart from this, the Centre will also purchase the upgrades of the existing fleets of aircraft from Russian state-run defence export arm Rosoboronexport.
• The new set of 21 MiG-29 will add to existing 59 such jets already with the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the 12 Sukhoi-30MKIs, on the other hand, will add to the existing fleet of 272 such fighter aircraft.

DRDO SUCCESSFULLY TEST FLIGHTS 'SAAW'

• The DRDO successfully conducted captive and release trial of indigenously developed Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW) from Hawk-I aircraft of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) off the Odisha coast.
• This was the 9th successful mission of SAAW conducted by DRDO till now and the first test conducted from the Hawk-i aircraft.
• The 125 Kg class smart weapon SAAW was successfully test-fired from Indian Hawk-Mk132 of HAL. SAAW is indigenously designed and developed by DRDO’s Research Centre Imarat (RCI) Hyderabad. It is capable of engaging ground enemy airfield assets such as radars, bunkers, taxi tracks, and runways among others, up to a range of 100 km.

ELON MUSK'S SPACEX CREATED A NEW RECORD

• SpaceX successfully launched its ambitious rideshare mission called Transporter-1, carrying 143 small satellites, and created a new record of launching many satellites from a single rocket.
• With this launch, SpaceX broke the record set by ISRO in February 2017 for deploying 104 satellites onboard PSLV in a single mission.
• The SpaceX used two-stage Falcon 9 rocket for the mission, from the Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The 143 satellites included 133 commercial and government satellites and 10 Starlink satellites of SpaceX.

MISCELLANEOUS

INDIA'S 'VACCINE MAITRI' INITIATIVE BEGINS

• Vaccine Maitri Initiative is an initiative launched by India to gift COVID-19 vaccines to neighbouring countries. Recently, Sri Lanka and Bahrain have received the COVID-19 vaccines from India under the initiative.
• The Vaccine Maitri initiative was launched by India on January 20 to gift COVID-19 vaccines to neighbouring countries.
• Sri Lanka has received 5 lakh Covid-19 vaccines from India as a part of the “Vaccine Maitri” initiative. Consignment of vaccines has also been sent to Bahrain. The country will receive 10,800 vaccines under the initiative.
• India has already delivered over 5 million doses to seven countries in the neighbourhood under the initiative before Sri Lanka and Bahrain. Commercial supplies of Covishield have also been sent to Morocco, Brazil, (2 million doses each), and Bangladesh (5 million doses).

SITHARAMAN INAUGURATED CHENNAI BENCH OF NCLAT

• Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman has virtually inaugurated the Chennai Bench of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).
• This will be the second NCLAT Bench in the country, after the Principal Bench in New Delhi. The NCLAT has jurisdiction over matters under the Companies Act, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and the Competition Commission of India.
• Fresh appeals against the orders of the Benches of the tribunal having jurisdiction in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and the Union Territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry will have to be filed before the Chennai Bench.

RAM TEMPLE TABLEAU WINS 1ST PRIZE ON REPUBLIC DAY

• The Ram Temple tableau of Uttar Pradesh that was on display during the Republic Day 2021 has bagged the first prize among all tableaux.
• The theme of Uttar Pradesh’s tableau was ‘Ayodhya: Cultural Heritage of Uttar Pradesh’. The cultural heritage of ancient holy town Ayodhya, a replica of a Ram temple, a glimpse of ‘Deepotsav’ and various stories from Ramayana epic were depicted in the tableau.
• The Tripura tableau won the second prize for the Republic Day parade. Uttarakhand’s tableau on the theme ‘Dev Bhoomi — The Land of the Gods’ was adjudged third among the states and union territories.
• The tableau of Central Public Works Department (CPWD), with the theme ‘Amar Jawan’, bagged a special prize for paying tribute to the fallen heroes of the armed forces.