Current Affairs 21 January 2021

We are here for you to provide the important Recent and Latest Current Affairs 21 January 2021, which have unique updates of Latest Current Affairs 2021 events from all newspapers such as The Hindu, The Economic Times, PIB, Times of India, PTI, Indian Express, Business Standard and all Government official websites.

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NATIONAL AFFAIRS

MeitY, Amazon collaborate to set up Quantum Computing Applications Lab in India; World’s 1st to support a Country’s MissionThe Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) has partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to set up a Quantum Computing Applications Lab in the Country. The lab will be the World’s 1st Quantum Computing Applications Lab to support a National Government’s Mission.

• India announced National Mission on Quantum Technologies & Applications (NM-QTA) in the Union Budget 2020-21 with a budget of INR 8000 Crore for a period of 5 years to  be implemented by the Department of Science & Technology (DST).

i.The Main Objective of the Lab will be

• To accelerate Research & Development in Quantum Computing
• Enable new discoveries in Quantum Computing

ii.The Hosting, Technical & Programmatic support for the Lab will be provided by AWS.

• The Lab will serve as a testbed environment for Government bodies & scientific communities to test real-world challenges through experiments & prototypes in a low-risk space.

iii.The experiments will be essential towards technological advancements in the fields of Manufacturing, Healthcare, Agriculture & Aerospace Engineering.
Amazon partners with Startup India to boost e-commerce exports from India:
Amazon has partnered with Startup India, Sequoia Capital India & Fireside Ventures to launch an Accelerator programme namely ‘Amazon Global Selling Propel (AGSP)’  to help early-stage startups to take their products to Global Audiences.
About Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY):
Union Minister – Ravi Shankar Prasad
Minister of State – Sanjay Dhotre
About Amazon:
Chief Executive Officer – Jeff Bezos
Headquarters – Seattle, Washington, USA
<<Read Full News>>

MP Becomes 1^st State to Give Power Subsidy to Farmers through DBT; Received Rs 1,423cr Additional Borrowingi.Madhya Pradesh (MP) has become the first State to give electricity subsidy through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) thereby successfully implementing one out of the three stipulated reforms in the power sector.
ii.This achievement has made it eligible for additional borrowing equivalent to 0.15% of its Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).
iii.In this regard, the Expenditure Department under the Finance Ministry already approved Rs 1,423 crore through Open Market Borrowings.
About Madhya Pradesh:
Chief Minister (CM)– Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Capital– Bhopal
Governor– Anandiben Mafatbhai Patel
<<Read Full News>>

MoRTH & DRDO sign MoU to Boost Collaboration in Geo-Hazard ManagementMinistry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) & Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost collaboration in the field of technical exchange & cooperation on sustainable Geo-hazard management.
i.The main objective behind the Agreement is to ensure the safety of road users on National Highways(NHs) in India against adverse effects of landslides & other natural calamities.
ii.They will cooperate in areas of

• Conceptual planning of Integrated avalanche/landslide protection schemes for all weather connectivity in snow bound areas of India
• Planning & Designing of avalanche, landslide control structures

iii.Defence Geo-Informatics Research Establishment (DGRE), a lab of DRDO & MoRTH will use the expertise of DRDO (through DGRE) to provide sustainable measures to mitigate damages caused by landslides, avalanche on various NHs in India.
About Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH):
Union Minister – Nitin Gadkari
Minister of State – V K Singh
<<Read Full News>>

Maharashtra Govt Renamed Nagpur’s Gorewada International Zoo as Balasaheb Thackeray Gorewada International Zoological ParkOn January 18, 2021 Maharashtra Government renamed Gorewada International Zoo as “Balasaheb Thackeray Gorewada International Zoological Park”, in memory of Balasaheb Thackeray, an Indian politician. This zoological park is situated in Nagpur, Maharashtra and covers about 2,000 hectares of the forest land.

• Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will inaugurate the Indian safari at the zoo on January 26, 2021.

Note
3 special 40-seat capacity vehicles have been arranged to tour the Indian safari.
Background
i.In 2019, The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change decided to set up an International Standard Zoo and Biopark on the forest land at Gorewada, Nagpur.
ii.The Govt of Maharashtra gave permission to  establish International Zoo, through Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (FDCM. Ltd.), Nagpur.
About Balasaheb Thackeray:
i.He is also called as Bal Keshav Thackeray( 23 January 1926 – 17 November 2012)
ii.He started his professional career as a cartoonist with the English-language daily ‘The Free Press Journal’.
iii.Later he founded Shiv Sena in 1966, a right-wing Marathi regional political party in India
iv.He was the founder of the Marathi-language newspaper ‘Saamana’.
v.It is to be noted that he did not hold any official position during his political career.
About Maharashtra:
National Park– Navegaon National Park, Chandoli National Park, Gugumal National Park, Tadoba National park(tiger reserve), Sanjay Gandhi National Park
Tiger Reserve– Pench Tiger Reserve(Shared with Madhya Pradesh), Melghat Tiger Reserve, Sahyadri tiger reserve

ISGF announces the 7th edition of India Smart Utility Week 2021 from March 2-5, 2021

The India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF) is all set to organize the 7th edition of India Smart Utility Week (ISUW 2021) from March 2-5, 2021 in a virtual format. ISUW 2021 will provide a digital platform for International Conference and Exhibition on Smart Energy and Smart Mobility for Smarter Cities which will be accessed at www.isuw.in.

• During the week there will be discussion on trends, sharing of best practices and showcasing of next generation technologies and products in smart energy, smart mobility and smart cities domains.
• It should be noted that, ISGF is a PPP (public–private partnership) initiative of Government of India (GoI).

Key events:

–ISUW 2021 will include plenaries, interactive workshops, keynotes, technical sessions and technical paper presentations. Bi-lateral Smart Grid workshops with EU (European Union), USA, Switzerland, Sweden and France will be held at the upcoming edition.

–The 5th Edition of ISGF Innovation Awards 2021 will also be organized. These awards were instituted in 2017 with an aim to recognize organizations, projects, products and personalities that have set new standards in Electricity, Gas and Water Sectors.

Participants: India’s leading Electricity, Gas and Water Utilities, Policy Makers, Regulators, Investors and world’s top Smart Energy Experts and Researchers.

About ISGF:

ISGF is a public private partnership initiative of Govt. of India with the mandate of accelerating smart grid deployments across the country.

• ISGF has been organising India Smart Utility Week (ISUW) since 2015 and it is considered as one of the top five international events on Smart Grids and Smart Cities.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

First India-EU IPR dialogue 2021 held Virtually to Enhance Cooperation in Intellectual Property Rightsi.On January 19, 2021, the 1st India-EU IPR dialogue 2021 was held virtually between European Union (EU) Commission and Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to discuss key Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues affecting businesses.
ii.The dialogue saw the exchange of information in specific areas of IP.
iii.Prime Info about India-EU IPR dialogue 2021:

About Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT):
Parent Ministry– Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Secretary – Guruprasad Mohapatra
<<Read Full News>>

WEF releases 16th Edition of Global Risks Report 2021The World Economic Forum (WEF) has released the Global Risks Report 2021, 16th Edition. The findings of the report are based on the Global Risks Perception Survey (GRPS) undertaken by over 650 members of WEF’s diverse leadership communities.

• The report is being released before WEF’s upcoming virtual Davos Agenda scheduled to be held between January 25-29, 2021.
• The main objective behind the publishing of the report is to enable better preparation by Government & other International Communities during the times of crisis.
• The Report is prepared with Strategic Partners, Marsh McLennan in Partnership with SK Group and Zurich Insurance Group.

The report has ranked Risks based on Survey

i.The Survey respondents also assessed Individual Global Risks based on Likelihood & Impact

• The Top 3 Risks by Likelihood (Very Likely to happen in the next 10 years)  are Extreme Weather, Climate Action Failure & Human Environmental Damage
• The Top 3 Risks by Impact (amount of impact they are expected to create) are Infectious diseases, Climate Action Failure & Weapons of mass destruction.

Click Here to read the Full Report
About World Economic Forum (WEF):
Founder and Executive Chairman – Klaus Schwab
Headquarters – Cologny, Switzerland
<<Read Full News>>

BANKING & FINANCE

IIFL Home Finance Ltd & Standard Chartered Bank Enters into Co-Lending Arrangement to Extend Credit to MSME Loansi.On January 16, 2021 IIFL Home Finance Ltd and Standard Chartered Bank entered into a co-lending arrangement to extend credit to MSME loans (loan against property).
ii.It is to be noted that this is one of the 1st co-lending arrangements in industry after Reserve Bank of India(RBI) launched Co-Lending Model (CLM).
About IIFL Home Finance Ltd:
Headquarters– Gurgaon, Haryana
Incorporated under– Companies Act, 1956
Executive Director & CEO– Monu Ratra
About Standard Chartered Bank:
Headquarters– London, United Kingdom(UK)
Chief Executive– Bill Winters, CBE(Group Chief Executive of Standard Chartered PLC)
<<Read Full News>>

SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank remains in the 2020 list of D-SIBsi.On January 19, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the 2020 list of Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) on the basis of data collected from banks as on March 31, 2020.
ii.As per the list SBI (State Bank of India), ICICI (Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India), and HDFC (Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited) continue to be D-SIBs or institutions which are ‘too big to fail (TBTF)’.
iii.The D-SIB framework classifies banks under five buckets depending on order of importance. In accordance with this ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank are in bucket one while SBI is in bucket three.
About Reserve Bank of India (RBI):
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Formation– 1 April 1935
Governor– Shaktikanta Das
Deputy Governors– 4 (Bibhu Prasad Kanungo, Mahesh Kumar Jain, Michael Debabrata Patra, M. Rajeshwar Rao)
<<Read Full News>>

In a first, ICICI Bank Launched ‘InstaFX’ App for Forex Partners to Help Customers Obtain Forex Prepaid Card i.On January 20, 2021 ICICI Bank launched a mobile app, ‘InstaFX’ that allows authorised money changers, who are the partners of the bank to help customers of any bank to obtain ‘ICICI Bank Forex Prepaid Card’ quickly.
ii.Through this app, the forex partners can complete the Know Your Customer(KYC) verification & validation of customers digitally and on a real-time basis.
iii.ICICI Bank becomes the 1st bank in India to offer such facility to money changer.
About ICICI Bank:
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer(CEO)– Sandeep Bakhshi
Tagline– Hum Hai Na, Khayal Apka
Incorporated-1994
<<Read Full News>>

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

Mastercard Launched Digital Acceleration for Small Businesses Microsite in Asia Pacifici.On January 18, 2021 Mastercard launched Digital Acceleration for Small Businesses Microsite across most of its Asia Pacific websites.
ii.The one-stop resource site provides information and resources for Small and Medium Enterprises(SMEs) to digitize and operate their business more efficiently. iii.Mastercard has partnered with Wix and  Zoho to enhance the resources for SMEs.
Objective– To help SMEs to recover from COVID-19 pandemic and assist SMEs to shift to digitalisation through curated resources, solutions and offers of this site.
About Mastercard:
Executive Chairman– Ajay Banga
CEO– Michael Miebach
Headquarters – New York, United States
About WIX:
Co-Founder and CEO– Avishai Abrahami
<<Read Full News>>

    APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS          

Union MoS Kiren Rijiju gets Additional Charge of AYUSH Ministryi.On January 19, 2021 President Ram Nath Kovind, as advised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, temporarily appointed Union Minister of State(MoS)Kiren Rijiju with additional charge of the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy (AYUSH) following the hospitalisation and treatment of Shripad Yesso Naik.
ii.As per the temporary arrangement, Kiren Rijiju will be MoS of AYUSH Ministry.
iii.Kiren Rijiju will have this additional charge till Shripad Yesso Naik resumes his work.
iv.Kiren Rijiju is currently serving as MoS (Independent Charge-I/C) of Youth Affairs And Sports and MoS of Minority Affairs.
Constituency:
Kiren Rijiju– Arunachal West, Arunachal Pradesh
Shripad Yesso Naik– North Goa, Goa
<<Read Full News>>

Siddhartha Mohanty Appointed as MD of LIC; Sanjeev Kumar Appointed as CMD of TCIL

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved the appointment of Siddhartha Mohanty as Managing Director(MD) of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). Meanwhile, Sanjeev Kumar has been appointed as the chairman & MD of Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd(TCIL).
Appointment of Siddhartha Mohanty
i.The appointment is effective from the date of his assumption on or after February 1, 2021 till the date of his superannuation June 30, 2023 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
ii.He succeeds TC Susheel Kumar who will retire on  31 January, 2021.
iii.Siddhartha Mohanty currently serves as the MD and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of LIC Housing Finance.
Appointment of Sanjeev Kumar 
i.Sanjeev Kumar is appointed as the Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of TCIL for 5 years.
ii.He succeeds Mr. Rajiv Gupta.
iii.Sanjeev Kumar is currently serving as the Director (Technical) of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL)
About Life Insurance Corporation (LIC):
In total there are 4 MD in LIC namely Vipin Anand, TC Susheel Kumar(will be succeed by Siddhartha Mohanty), Mukesh Kumar Gupta and Raj Kumar
Founded– September 1, 1956,
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Chairman– M R Kumar
About Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd(TCIL):
It functions under the Administrative control of Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, Govt. of India.
HeadQuarters– New Delhi, India

PM Narendra Modi Appointed as Chairman of Somnath Temple Trust

On January 18, 2021 Prime Minister Narendra Modi was appointed as the chairman of  Somnath Trust. He succeeds former Gujarat Chief Minister late Keshubhai Patel. The trust manages the world famous Somnath Temple at Prabhas Patan town in Gujarat’s Gir-Somnath district. Narendra Modi is the second Prime Minister who has been appointed the chairman of the temple trust after former PM Morarji Desai.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS        

J&K Bank board Decided to Transfer 8.23% stake to UT of Ladakhi.The board of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) Bank has given its consent to transfer 8.23% J&K government’s stake (4,58,29,445 Equity Shares), as on October 31, 2019, to the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh.
ii.This decision is on the lines of implementation of the General Administration Department, Govt. of Jammu and Kashmir notification on October 30, 2020.
iii.It should be noted that the government of J&K is a designated promoter of the bank. As on December 30, 2020, it holds 68.18% in the bank.
About Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) Bank:
Establishment – 1938
Chairman & Managing Director (CMD)– Rajesh Kumar Chhibber
Tagline– Serving to Empower
Headquarter– Srinagar, J&K
<<Read Full News>>

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

India to get 1st Indigenous Diverter Stent & Device for Healing Hole in Heart:DST

Department of Science & Technology (DST) has stated that India will soon get access to India’s 1st Indigenous flow diverter stent for diverting blood away from Ballooning of Arteries in the brain & another device which will promote the better healing of the hole in the heart.  Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala  an autonomous institute of DST has entered into Technology Transfer Agreements with Biorad Medisystem, Pune for the procurement of the an Atrial Septal Defect Occluder and an Intracranial Flow Diverter Stents which have been developed in association with National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore (CSIR-NAL).

SPORTS

Cricket-India retains Border-Gavaskar Trophy by Defeating Australia in 2020-21 Test SeriesIndia won by defeating Australia in 2020-21 Test Series(4 Match) by 2-1 and retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2020-21 Edition. Ajinkya Rahane led the Indian Team in the absence of Virat Kohli who played only the First Test Match. India created history by defeating Australia for the 1st time at the Gabba, Brisbane in 32 years.

• The Border-Gavaskar Trophy was already with the Indian Team as it had won the series held in India in 2016-17 &  its Maiden series win in Australia in 2018-19.
• Pat Cummins was adjudged as the Player of the Series.
• India’s series win in Australia has propelled it to top of the ICC World Test Championship Standings.

Other Records & Highlights:

• India’s Stand-in Captain Ajinkya Rahane became the 1st Recipient of Mullagh Medal
• Ravichandran Ashwin set a new World Record for dismissing the most number of Left-handed batsmen in Tests: 192
• Australia’s Claire Polosak  became the 1st Female Match Official in a Men’s Test Match.
• Mayank Agarwal became the 3rd Fastest Indian Player to score 1000 runs
• Cheteshwar Pujara became the 11th Indian to cross 6000 runs in Test Cricket
• Ravindra Jadeja became only the 3rd Player to play at least 50 games for India in all 3 formats of Cricket.
• Natarajan became the 1st Indian Cricketer to make International Debut across all 3 formats of the Game during the same tour

Important – New Zealand became World No.1 Test Team for the 1st Time in history.
About ICC:
Chairman – Greg Barclay (New Zealand)
Headquarters – Dubai, UAE
<<Read Full News>>

STATE NEWS

BSE signs MoU with Maharashtra to create awareness among SME about Listing BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) & Government of Maharashtra have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to spread awareness about listing among Small & Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) of Maharashtra.
Objective –  To spread awareness regarding listing of SMEs of Maharashtra in BSE.
Benefits of Listing

• The listing will help SMEs to raise capital from the public capital market.
•  Stimulates liquidity & ready marketability of securities.

i.As part of the Agreement,

• BSE has agreed to provide intellectual & manpower support for creating awareness.
• Maharashtra Government will mobilize SME representative & state and regional association to encourage SME members to attend the capacity building programmes.

About BSE:
Chairman (Public Interest Director) –  Justice Vikramajit Sen
Location – Mumbai, Maharashtra
<<Read Full News>>

Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani announced ‘Mukhyamantri Bagayat Vikas Mission’i.On January 19, 2021, the state government of Gujarat is all set for the formation of ‘Mukhyamantri Bagayat Vikas Mission’ or ‘Horticulture Development Mission’ to accelerate agriculture, horticulture and promote farming of herbal plants in the state. It aims to double the income of farmers engaged in medicinal and horticulture farming
ii.It was announced by Gujarat’s Chief Minister (CM) Vijay Rupani during a press conference in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
iii.The mission will also create employment opportunities along with increase in the export of such products.
About Gujarat:
–Gujarat is the state with longest coastline in India
–World’s tallest statue, Statue of Unity is located in Gujarat
–Kandla port, renamed as Deendayal Port Trust is a Special Economic Zone(SEZ)
–National Parks: Gir National Park, Velavadar Blackbuck National Park, Vansda National Park, Marine National Park.
<<Read Full News>>

Tripura Observed 42nd Kokborok Day on 19th January , 2021

On January 19, 2021, Tripura observed the 42nd Kokborok Day to recognise declaration of Kokborok as an official language of the state of Tripura, India by the state government in the year 1979. Kokborok is the Sino-Tibetan native language of the Borok (Tripura) people of Tripura and neighbouring areas of Bangladesh.

This language is not included in the 8th schedule of the Constitution of India. The name ‘Kokborok’  is derived from Kok meaning “verbal” and Borok meaning “human”.

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