Daily Current Affairs: January 3 & 4, 2021

Daily Current Affairs (January 3 & 4, 2021) like many other sections is inevitable and this also helps to score in the Banking awareness, Static GK, and Financial Awareness sections. Remember, Banking Awareness, and Static Awareness Questions are asked from the General Awareness section. This will also help you to ride your preparations for the forthcoming exams.

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Important Days

World Braille Day- January 4

• World Braille Day was observed on January 4. The day was established by the UN General Assembly in December 2018. It commemorates the birth anniversary of Louis Braille, the man who invented the braille language.
• The day aims to raise awareness about Braille- a form of communication and written language for people who are blind and visually challenged.

National News

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurates Virtual Agri-hackathon 2020 in New Delhi

• Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated the Virtual Agri-hackathon 2020 in New Delhi. The application of the hackathon remains open till January 20, 2021.
• Minister stated that agriculture is the backbone of the country, and plans are afoot to strengthen this backbone with youth engagement, employment generation, technology, and digitisation.

New Delhi:       

• Chief Minister: Arvind Kejriwal
• Governor: Anil Baijal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of AIIMS Rajkot, Gujarat

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) Rajkot in Gujarat He noted that India has emerged to be the nerve centre of global health.
• Under this AIIMS project, it covers 201 acres of land and an estimated cost of 1,195 crores. It is expected to be completed by the mid of 2022.

Gujarat:                   

• Capital: Gandhinagar
• Chief Minister: Vijay Rupani
• Governor: Acharya Devvrat
• National Park: Blackbuck NP, Vansda NP, Gir Forest NP, Marine NP, Gulf of Kutch.

Jammu and Kashmir Government signs an MoU with NAFED for high-density apple, walnut, and cherry plantation

• Jammu and Kashmir Government signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED), the apex organisation of marketing cooperatives for agricultural produce in the country.
• NAFED is planning to invest 1700 crores for High-Density plantation of apple, cherry, walnut, flowers, etc. covering 5500 hectares in the next 5 years and three clusters of cold storage in Jammu & Kashmir at the cost of Rs. 500 crores.

Jammu and Kashmir:

• Capital: Srinagar (Summer), Jammu (winter)
• Lt Governor: Manoj Sinha
• National Parks: Hemis National Park, City Forest (Salim Ali) National Park, Dachigam National Park, Kishtwar National Park.
• Wildlife Sanctuaries: Changthang Cold Desert WLS, Gulmarg WLS, Jasrota WLS, Baltal-Thajwas WLS, Karakoram (Nubra Shyok) WLS.
• Lakes: Mansar Lake, Nagin Lake, Wular Lake, Surinsar Lake, Dal Lake.

TRIFED signs an MoU with DAY-NRLM to boost tribal livelihood development and SHG women

• TRIFED has tied up with Deen Dayal Antyodaya – National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) to undertake economic support programmes that will help boost livelihoods, especially that of the SHG women, including those from tribal populations of the country.
• The MoU was signed by Nagendra Nath Sinha, Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), and Pravir Krishna, Managing Director of TRIFED.

Government launches Global Pravasi Rishta portal & mobile app to connect with Indian diaspora across the world

• Union Minister of State for External Affairs Muraleedharan launched the Global Pravasi Rishta portal and mobile app to connect with Indian diaspora across the world. The portal will also assist Indians who reside overseas during any crisis management and will also lend a helping hand.
• The portal will act as a dynamic communication platform between our pravasis, the Ministry of External Affairs, and missions abroad, and help the Indian diaspora more intensively.

Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) launches first of its E-commerce portal “ekhadiindia.com”

• Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises’ (MSME) Khadi arm, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) unveiled Khadi India’s official e-commerce site com.
• The website catalogues over 50,000 products under more than 500 varieties. It also catalogues various categories of locally made khadi and village industries products.
• The portal is a step towards building an ecosystem that enables MSMEs to help achieve the Prime Minister’s goal of “Aatmanirbhar Bharat”.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched a missed call facility for LPG consumers in Bhubaneswar, Odisha

• Union Minister for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan launched a unique missed call facility for booking LPG refills and registration of new connections in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha.
• Indian Oil LPG customers can now give a missed call to 8454955555 for refill booking for all India and the new connection for Bhubaneswar city. The Minister also rolled out the second phase of the world-class octane 100 premium grade petrol, under the brand XP 100.

Odisha:                    

• Capital: Bhubaneswar
• Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik
• Governor: Ganeshi Lal
• Festivals: Dhanu Yatra, Budi Thakurani Yatra, Magha Saptami, Chhau, Dola Purnima.
• Folk Dances: Chhau, Gotipua, Ghumura, Ranappa, Chaiti Ghoda, Sambalpuri.

IOC launches India’s first remote monitoring system for oil refineries

• Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has launched India’s first remote monitoring system for oil refineries’ turbines in Hyderabad, Telangana. It was inaugurated by Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan.
• The Remote Monitoring & Operation Centre for Tracking of Indian Oil’s refinery gas turbines was implemented by BHEL-GE Gas Turbine Services (BGGTS), a joint venture of BHEL and General Electric.

International News

India to be co-chair of Asia Protected Areas Partnership (APAP), a regional forum to conserve wildlife habitats for three years

• India has been chosen as the IUCN-supported Asia Protected Areas Partnership (APAP) co-chair for three years till November 2023. In this tenure, India will assist other Asian countries in managing their protected areas.
• APAP currently has 21 members from 17 countries. It helps governments and other stakeholders to collaborate for more effective management of protected areas. India is replacing South Korea as the co-chair.

Indian Coast Guard signs pact with 7 Asian countries for Cooperation in Maritime Search and Rescue Operations

• Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has entered into an MoU with seven Asian countries (Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Vietnam) for cooperation in maritime search and rescue operations.
• The MoU is for cooperation in Maritime Search and Rescue (M-SAR) operations. SAR in India is controlled & co-ordinated by ICG through 3 Maritime Rescue Co-ordinating Centres(MRCC) at Mumbai, Chennai & Port Blair.

Australia changes one word in its national anthem to honour indigenous people

• Australia has changed one word in its national anthem to reflect what the Prime Minister called “The Spirit of Unity” and the country’s indigenous population. Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that the second line of the anthem, Advance Australia Fair, has been changed from “For we are young and free” to “For we are one and free.”

Australia:

• Capital: Canberra
• Currency: Australian dollar
• Prime Minister: Scott Morrison

Banking and Economy

RBI introduces the Digital Payments Index

• As announced in the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies as part of the Sixth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2019-20, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constructed a composite Digital Payments Index (DPI) to capture the extent of digitisation of payments across the country.
• The RBI-DPI comprises five broad parameters that enable deepening and penetrating digital payments over different periods.
• These parameters are Payment Enablers (25%), Payment Infrastructure – Demand-side factors (10%), Payment Infrastructure – Supply-side factors (15%), Payment Performance (45%), and Consumer Centricity (5%).

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)
• Subsidiaries: Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (BRBNM).

GST collection in December at an all-time high with over Rs 1.15 lakh crores revenue

• The Union Government’s booster shots for the economy seem to have triggered a step-up in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection in the month of December as the month saw the collection of over Rs 1.15 lakh crores.
• It was the highest ever GST collection since the implementation of the nationwide tax in July 2017. The revenues for the month of December 2020 are 12 percent higher than the GST revenues in the same month in 2019.

Acquisitions and Mergers

BEL signs an MoU with the Indian Navy for the initial supply of indigenously developed laser dazzlers

• Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has signed an MoU with the Indian Navy to initially supply 20 Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation Dazzlers (Laser Dazzlers).
• The Laser Dazzler is used as a non-lethal method for warning and stopping suspicious vehicles, boats, aircraft, UAVs, pirates,, from approaching secured areas during both day and night.

Indian Army signed a contract with Goa Shipyard to procure 12 patrol boats to monitor Lake Pangong

• The Indian Army has launched 12 high-performance patrol boats to enhance surveillance of large bodies of water, including Lake Pangong in eastern Ladakh, where India and China have severely isolated from the border.
• The Indian Army has signed a contract with Goa Shipyard Ltd, a state-owned public sector business, for 12 high-speed patrol boats for monitoring and patrol of large water bodies.

Awards and Recognitions

Indian Army Chief MM Naravane receives the Guard of Honour at ROK Army Headquarters, South Korea

• The Chief of Army Staff, General Manoj Mukund Naravane received a Guard of Honour at Republic of Korea (ROK) army headquarters at Gyeryong, South Korea.
• The Chief of Army Staff also called on General Nam Yeong shin, the Chief of Staff of the Republic of Korea Army, and discussed various issues of bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries.

Obituary News

Former Union minister Buta Singh passes away at 86

• Senior Rajasthan political leader and former Union Minister Buta Singh has passed away. He served as the Home Minister of India from 1986 to 1989. He also served as the Union Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Renowned Odia music director Shantanu Mohapatra passed away at 84

• Renowned Odia music director Shantanu Mohapatra passed away in Bhubaneswar, Orissa. Shantanu had been a prominent part of the Odia music industry for almost six decades. He was the first Odia music director to work with acclaimed singers and music composers of the Hindi film industry like Lata Mangeshkar, Mohd Rafi, Manna Dey, etc.

New Zealand Test cricket legend John Fulton Reid passed away at 64

• John Fulton Reid, one of New Zealand’s finest test batsmen, has died of cancer. The left-hander scored 1296 runs (including six centuries) at an average of 28 from 19 tests between 1979 and 1986, only second behind Kane Williamson among its compatriots to play more than 20 innings.

Sports News

14-year-old Leon Mendonca becomes the 67^th Grandmaster of India

• The 14-year-old Leon Mendonca from Goa has become India’s 67^th chess Grandmaster by winning the third and final norm at the Vergani Cup tournament in Italy. He is only the second Grand Master from Goa. Mendonca achieved the feat at 14 years, 9 months, and 17 days.

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