Current Affairs 14th – 16th January 2021| Current Affairs News

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CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS 

Indian Armed Forces Veterans Day being observed On Jan 14

• Indian Armed Forces Veterans Day is observed each year on 14 January since 2017.
• This day is celebrated on 14th of January every year to honour services rendered by veterans of the Army. 
• This year is being celebrated as Swarnim Vijay Varsh.
• It marks the 50th Anniversary of 1971 Indo-Pak War.
• Significance : This day is celebrated mainly for a recognition of the services rendered by the first Commander-in-Chief of Indian Armed Forces, Field Marshal KM Cariappa, OBE who retired on 14 Jan 1953.

About Indian Army :

• Commander in Chief : Ram Nath Kovind
• Founded : 1 April, 1895
• Headquarters : New Delhi

Indian Army Day Observed On Jan 15

• Army Day is celebrated on January 15 every year to honor the soldiers of the country, who have set the greatest example of selfless service and brotherhood and more than anything the love for the country.
• In 2021 Marks India’s 73rd Army Day.
• Army Day is celebrated every year at all Army Command headquarters.
• On the occasion of the 73rd Indian Army Day, the Indian Army will organise a marathon ‘Vijay Run’ to commemorate Swarnim Vijay Varsh celebrations of India’s resounding victory over Pakistan in 1971.

History of Army Day : 

• It was on this date in 1949, the Indian Army got its first army chief Lieutenant General KM Cariappa. 
• General (later Field Marshal) KM Cariappa was appointed as Commander-in-Chief of Indian Army on January 15, 1949.
• He was the first Indian to be appointed as Commander-in-Chief.
• He took over the reins of the Indian Army from General Sir Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : NATIONAL NEWS

Tesla Sets up India subsidiary in Bangalore

• Elon Musk-owned electric vehicle (EV) company Tesla has registered a fully-owned subsidiary in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
• The firm is looking at setting up an R&D facility and eventually an assembly plant.
• Tesla’s global senior director David Jon Feinstein, chief accounting officer Vaibhav Taneja and Bengaluru-based entrepreneur Venkatrangam Sreeram are on the board of the India unit, Tesla India Motors and Energy Pvt Ltd.
• The total paid up capital of the company is Rs 1,00,000 and authorised share capital is Rs 15 lakhs.

About Tesla:

• CEO : Elon Musk
• Founded : 1 July, 2003
• Headquarters : Palo Alto, California, United States

Aviation services launched between Chandigarh and Hisar

• Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar launched an air taxi service between Chandigarh and Hisar from the Chandigarh International Airport under the UDAN scheme of the central government.
• The airline Aviation Connectivity & Infrastructure Developers Pvt. Ltd (Air Taxi) was awarded the Hisar – Chandigarh – Hisar route under the UDAN 4 bidding process.
• The airline has become the first startup airline of the country to assist the nation with Air Taxi services.
• These UDAN flights will reduce the journey time between Hisar to Chandigarh from 4.50 hours to a comfortable 45 minutes journey that too at an affordable fare since financial incentives in the form of Viability Gap Funding (VGF) is being provided from the Centre, State governments & airport operators to selected airlines to encourage operations from unserved and underserved airports under the scheme.
• The air service will start from Hisar to Dehradun on January 18 and from Hisar to Dharamshala on January 23.

Rajnath Singh unveils India’s first indigenously developed driverless metro car

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh unveiled the country’s first indigenously designed and developed Driverless Metro Car at the BEML manufacturing facility in Bengaluru.
• The indigenously designed & developed state-of-the-art Driverless Metro trains are being manufactured at BEML Bangalore manufacturing facility, for Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
• BEML bagged a total order of 576 cars for Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA)’s MRS1 project and the supply is scheduled progressively up to January 2024.
• BEML recently opened its Depot office at Charkop Metro Depot, MMRDA, Mumbai for commissioning, testing and round-the-clock services for Driverless Metro cars.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

19th Dhaka International Film Festival to pay tribute to Satyajit Ray

• The 19th Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF) will be inaugurated on 16th January. The film festival this year is dedicated to the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
• The Festival that will Screen 225 films from 73 countries will be screened during the 9 day long festival between 16-24 January.
• The festival will have 10 categories including Cinema of the world, Children’s Film, Women Film Maker’s section, Spiritual Films, Bangladesh Panorama, Tribute and Retrospective among others.
• Spring Blossom, a film from France, directed by Suzanne Lindon will be the opening film of the festival.
• The tribute section of the festival will be dedicated to the legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray to commemorate his birth centenary.
• The festival will also hold seminars and discussions around the work and life of Satyajit Ray.
• The section will showcase Pather Panchali, Aparajito, Jalsaghar, Sonar Kella and Hirok Rajar Deshe directed by Satyajit Ray.

About Dhaka International Film Festival:

• Founded by : Ahmed Muztaba Zamal

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS

India’s first Fire Park comes up in Odisha

• Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the ‘Fire Park’, a first of its kind initiative in the country, to bring awareness on fire safety measures.
• This Will Facilitate Demonstrations on use of first aid fire-fighting equipment, rescue and disaster operations, visit to exhibition hall, screening of films and distribution of leaflets on fire safety will be part of the activities. Students from schools and colleges will be the focus group.
• He also launched a dynamic online portal, ‘AgnishamaSeva’ of Odisha Fire Service on virtual platform.

What’s On Show

• Demonstrations on use of first aid fire-fighting equipment
• Demo on rescue and disaster operations
• Visit to exhibition hall
• Screening of films and distribution of leaflets on fire safety
• The Fire Park will be opened to public on every Saturday from 3.30 pm to 5.30 pm

About Odisha :

• Chief Minister : Naveen Patnaik
• Capital:  Bhubaneswar.
• Governor : Ganeshi Lal

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurates the new entity CSIR-NIScPR in New Delhi

• The Union Minister of Science &Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan inaugurated a new institute of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR), in New Delhi.
• The new institute has been established consequent to the merger of two prestigious institutes of CSIR namely, CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (CSIR-NISCAIR)and CSIR-National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (CSIR-NISTADS) which work at the interface of S&T and Society; and Science Communication and Policy Research.
• The purpose of this merger is to combine the strength of the two institutes in a synergistic way with a VISION to become a globally respected Think Tank and Resource Centre for understanding Science, Technology & Innovation (STI) Policy Research and Communication.

About Council of Scientific and Industrial Research:

• Comes Under Ministry of Science & Technology
• Founded : 26 September, 1942
• Head : Shekhar C. Mande

ICT Grand Challenge for development of ‘smart water supply measurement and monitoring system’ underway

• An ICT Grand Challenge for development of a ‘smart water supply measurement and monitoring system’ is underway.
• It was launched on the 15th of September, 2020 by National Jal Jeevan Mission in partnership with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
• Jal Jeevan Mission would be the user agent of the Grand Challenge and C-DAC, Bangalore is the implementing agency, providing technical support for the challenge.
• Currently, 10 applicants which were selected are developing prototypes.
• They will be evaluated in the last week of January wherein best four techno-economically viable prototypes will be selected for product development.
• Jal Jeevan Mission is a flagship programme of the Union Government which aims to provide tap water connection to every rural household by 2024. Announced by the Prime Minister on 15th August 2019, the Mission so far has provided 3.13 crore household tap connections in rural areas.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING & FINANCE 

RBI forms 6 Member working group on digital lending as frauds

• The Reserve Bank of India has set up a working group to study digital lending activities of the regulated and unregulated players.
• The group will suggest steps to regulate digital lending including online lending platform and mobile lending.
• The six-member panel comprised of four RBI internal and two external members

1. Chairman : Jayant Kumar Dash, Executive Director,
2. Ajay Kumar Choudhary, Chief General Manager-in-Charge, Department of Supervision,
3. P Vasudevan, Chief General Manager, Department of Payment and Settlement Systems, RBI
4. Manoranjan Mishra, Chief General Manager, Department of Regulation.

• The two external members are

1. Vikram Mehta, Co-founder, Monexo Fintech and Rahul Sasi,
2. Cyber Security Expert & Founder of CloudSEK.

• This Group will submit its report within 3 months.
• The group will evaluate digital lending activities and assess the penetration and standards of outsourced digital lending activities in RBI regulated entities.

About RBI:

• Headquarters : Mumbai
• Founder : British Raj
• Governor : Shaktikanta Das

Fitch Ratings Projects GDP of India at -9.4% in FY21 & 11% in FY22

• The Fitch Ratings expect gross domestic product (GDP) of India to contract by 9.4 percent in FY21 (April 2020 to March 2021).
• Fitch further projects the GDP to expand by 11 percent in FY22 (April 2021 to March 2022).

About Fitch Ratings :

• Headquarters : New York, United States
• CEO : Paul taylor
• Founder : John Knowles Fitch
• Founded : 1914

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE NEWS

Cabinet clears purchase of 83 Tejas fighter jets for Indian Air Force

• Government has approved procurement of 83 Light Combat Aircraft, LCA, Tejas worth about 48 thousand crore rupees from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for Indian Air Force.
• The Cabinet Committee on Security, CCS chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
• The procurement of 73 LCA Tejas Mk-1A fighter aircrafts and 10 LCA Tejas Mk-1 Trainer aircrafts at the cost of Rs. 45,696 crore along with Design and Development of Infrastructure sanctions worth Rs.1,202 crore has been approved by the Cabinet under the PM Modi.
• Light Combat Aircraft Mk-1A variant is an indigenously designed, developed and manufactured state-of-the-art modern 4+ generation fighter aircraft.
• This aircraft is equipped with critical operational capabilities of Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar, Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Missile, Electronic Warfare (EW) Suite and Air to Air Refuelling (AAR).

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMITS & CONFERENCES

 Ministry of Statistics launches NCAVES India Forum 2021

• Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of the Ecosystem Services (NCAVES) India Forum 2021 is being organised by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) virtually over three separate days, on 14, 21, and 28 January 2021.
• In India, the NCAVES project is being implemented by the MoSPI in close collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC).
• India is one of the five countries taking part in this project – the other countries being Brazil, China, South Africa and Mexico.
• The NCAVES India Forum will be organized in collaboration with the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), European Union and UN Environment.

About NCAVES

• The NCAVES Project, funded by the EU, has been jointly implemented by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Secretariat of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD).
• Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services (NCAVES) can help integrate the concerns of sustainability and conserving the environment for future use while charting the course for economic development.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS

Kyrgyzstan election: Sadyr Japarov wins presidency with landslide

• Nationalist politician Sadyr Japarov won a landslide victory in Kyrgyzstan’s snap presidential election, which was triggered by the collapse of the previous government.
• Japarov has won almost 80% of the vote in the Central Asian nation which is closely allied with Russia, preliminary results cited by Kyrgyzstan’s Central Election Commission.
• Kyrgyzstan has been in crisis since parliamentary elections last October.
• The results of those elections were disputed, leading to protests and the resignation of then-President Sooronbay Jeenbekov.

About Kyrgyzstan:

• Capital : Bishkek
• Currency : Kyrgyzstan som

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AGREEMENTS 

India and Japan inks MoU to Enhance Cooperation in the Field of ICT

• India and Japan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in the field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), including 5G standardisation.
• The MoU was signed between Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Communications, Electronics and IT and the Japanese Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Takeda Ryota, through a video conference.
• As per the agreement, both the countries will enhance mutual cooperation in the field of 5G technologies, telecom security, submarine optical fibre cable system to islands of India, spectrum management, smart cities, high-altitude platform for broadband in unconnected areas, disaster management and public safety.
• The new agreement will bring the cooperation between Japan and India in the field of ICT to another level, which has already been close under the Japan-India ICT Comprehensive Cooperation Framework of 2014

About Japan:

• Capital : Tokyo
• Currency : Japanese Yen
• Prime Minister : Yoshihide Suga

Indian Army signs a $20 million contract with ideaForge to buy SWITCH drones

• The Indian Army has signed an approximately $20 million contract for undisclosed quantities of a high-altitude variant of ideaForge’s SWITCH UAV which will be delivered over a period of 1 year.
• IdeaForge has been awarded this contract after it emerged as the only vendor that qualified the operational requirements in an evaluation done in real-world conditions, for a fast-track procurement.
• The contract marks a strategic shift in the Indian defence procurement process as the Indian Army goes on an aggressive modernization drive. It has also cemented ideaForge’s position as India’s largest manufacturer of drones for defence, homeland security and industrial applications.

About SWITCH UAV :

• SWITCH UAV is an indigenous system built to cater for the most demanding surveillance operations of the Indian Forces. This Fixed Wing VTOL (Vertical Take-off and Landing) UAV can be deployed at high altitude and harsh environments for day and night surveillance in Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions. It is man-portable and has the highest time on target compared to any other UAV in its class.

About Idea Forge :

• CEO : Ankit Mehta
• Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCHEMES

PM Modi Launches Third Phase of PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana

• The Third Phase of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana was launched in 600 districts across the country.
• This phase will focus on new-age and COVID-related skills.
• Skill India Mission-PMKVY 3.0 envisages training of eight lakh candidates over a scheme period of 2020-2021 with an outlay of Rs 949 crore.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Skill India Programme in 2015 and it has gained tremendous momentum through the launch of its flagship scheme PMKVY to unlock the vision of making India the Skill Capital of the world.

About Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana :

• This Scheme is Comes Under Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
• Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship : Mahendra Nath Pandey.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS & AUTHORS 

Manipur Governor released a book titled Making of a General A Himalayan Echo

• Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla virtually released Lt Gen Singh’s book Making of a General-A Himalayan Echo (Konark Publishers) at Durbar Hall, Raj Bhavan, Imphal
• The book elegantly summons the essence and imperatives of superior command of one of the most formidable forces in the world.

About the Book :

• The book highlights Manipur as the ‘Land of Emeralds’. On the other hand, this state is known as ‘Unexplored Paradise.
• The book was reviewed by senior journalist and editor of Imphal Review of Arts and Politics, Pradip Phanjoubam.
• The Book is the memoir of Lt Gen Konsam Himalay Singh who has traced his journey from a small village in Manipur to becoming the first person from North East India to hold the rank of a Three Star General of the Indian Army.

About Manipur:

• Capital : Imphal
• Governor : Najma Heptulla

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS NEWS

First ever Ice climbing festival celebrated in Nubra valley

• In Leh, the primary ever Ice climbing festival was celebrated in Nubra valley.
• The Seven Day occasion was organized by Nubra Adventure Club.
• Ice Climbing is a Popular Winter sport abroad and that will attract adventure tourists.
• The motive to conduct the Ice festival is to promote tourism in the region.
• 18 participants across Nubra valley including 4 women, have taken part in Ice climbing.
• Three trainers Rigzin tsewang, Tsewang Namgyal and Kran Kowshik imparted ice climbing skills.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARIES

Social Activist D Prakash Rao Passes Away at 63

• Social activist and Padma Shri D Prakash Rao passed away while undergoing treatment at the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.He was 63.
• Rao started the school ‘Asha O Ashwasana’ in Buxi Bazar area in 2000 to provide free education to slum kids when he saw kids in his neighbourhood talking about petty crimes.
• He was conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri award in 2019 for his contribution towards boosting the value of education among slum kids in Cuttack.
• Apart from this, he was also a well-known blood donor and tea seller.

Daily CA on Jan 12^th and 13^th    

• Road Safety Week is observed from 11 January to 17th January every year.Aim : For making the roads and streets in India safer.The Ministry of Transport and Highways, the ministry has decided to observe Road Safety Month from 18 January to 17 February 2021 instead of National Road Safety Week. 
• The National Youth Day is observed all over India  on 12 January.Theme for National Youth Day 2021 is ‘Channelizing Youth Power for Nation Building
• The Health and Family Welfare Ministry has set up a technical expert group to examine the adverse findings from the National Family Health Survey-5.
• Japan has committed Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan of an amount of JPY 30 billion (about ₹2,113 crore) to support India’s efforts at providing social assistance to the poor and vulnerable households severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched the ‘Single Window Clearance System’, an online platform to obtain clearances for smooth operationalisation of coal mines.
• The Union government has appointed RS Sharma, former Trai chief, as the chairperson of an empowered committee for administration of Covid-19 vaccine.
• The second edition of the biennial pan-India coastal defence exercise ‘Sea Vigil-21’ will be conducted on 12-13 January 2021.
• In the United States, the President-elect Joe Biden has appointed two Indian-Americans to the National Security Council of the White House.
• Bangladesh has been chosen as the ‘Country in Focus’ for the 51st International Film Festival of India (IFFI) starting at Goa on January 16.
• Twitter Inc. on January 8 deleted new tweets posted by US President Donald Trump on the official government account @POTUS and suspended the account of his presidential campaign, after booting his personal account off the platform permanently.
• West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee virtually inaugurated the 26th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF).
• Union Minister of Earth Sciences, Dr Harsh Vardhan on January 09 inaugurated Coastal Research Vessel (CRV) ‘Sagar Anveshika’ at Chennai Port Trust.
• India’s real GDP is projected to record a growth of 10.1 percent in 2021-22, according to Icra Ratings.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled the licence of Vasantdada Nagari Sahakari Bank Ltd., Osmanabad, Maharashtra to carry on banking business, with effect from the close of business on January 11.
• On Jan 10, 2021, Jay Shah was named as the official representative of  Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Board meetings.
• Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar co-chaired the 13th India-Vietnam Defence Security Dialogue along with his Vietnamese co-chair Sr Lt Gen Nguyen Chi Vinh, Deputy Defence Minister  of Vietnam.
• The Government of France, in cooperation with the UN and the World Bank, the ‘One Planet Summit’ for biodiversity on January 11 aims to advance the protection of nature.
• Henley and Partners Passport Index of 2021 has revealed the list of the world’s most powerful passports and India has been ranked 85th on it.

Daily CA on Jan 14^th-16^th    

• Indian Armed Forces Veterans Day is observed each year on 14 January since 2017.This day is celebrated on 14th of January every year to honour services rendered by veterans of the Army. 
• Army Day is celebrated on January 15 every year to honor the soldiers of the country, who have set the greatest example of selfless service and brotherhood and more than anything the love for the country.
• Elon Musk-owned electric vehicle (EV) company Tesla has registered a fully-owned subsidiary in Bengaluru,Karnataka.
• Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar launched an air taxi service between Chandigarh and Hisar from the Chandigarh International Airport under the UDAN scheme of the central government.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh unveiled the country’s first indigenously designed and developed Driverless Metro Car at the BEML manufacturing facility in Bengaluru.
• The 19th Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF) will be inaugurated on 16th January. The film festival this year is dedicated to the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
• Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the ‘Fire Park’, a first of its kind initiative in the country, to bring awareness on fire safety measures.
• The Union Minister of Science &Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan inaugurated a new institute of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR), in New Delhi.
• An ICT Grand Challenge for development of a ‘smart water supply measurement and monitoring system’ is underway.
• The Reserve Bank of India has set up a working group to study digital lending activities of the regulated and unregulated players.
• The Fitch Ratings expect gross domestic product (GDP) of India to contract by 9.4 percent in FY21 (April 2020 to March 2021).
• Government has approved procurement of 83 Light Combat Aircraft, LCA, Tejas worth about 48 thousand crore rupees from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for Indian Air Force.
• Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of the Ecosystem Services (NCAVES) India Forum 2021 is being organised by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) virtually over three separate days, on 14, 21, and 28 January 2021.
• Nationalist politician Sadyr Japarov won a landslide victory in Kyrgyzstan’s snap presidential election, which was triggered by the collapse of the previous government.
• India and Japan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in the field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), including 5G standardisation.
• The Indian Army has signed an approximately $20 million contract for undisclosed quantities of a high-altitude variant of ideaForge’s SWITCH UAV which will be delivered over a period of 1 year.
• The Third Phase of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana was launched in 600 districts across the country.This phase will focus on new-age and COVID-related skills.
• Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla virtually released Lt Gen Singh’s book Making of a General-A Himalayan Echo (Konark Publishers) at Durbar Hall, Raj Bhavan, Imphal
• In Leh, the primary ever Ice climbing festival was celebrated in Nubra valley.The Seven Day occasion was organized by Nubra Adventure Club.
• Social activist and Padma Shri D Prakash Rao passed away while undergoing treatment at the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. He was 63.