Daily Current Affairs: January 5, 2021

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National News

 Assam Rifles Public School in Shillong becomes the first Khelo India Sports School from North-East

• Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju launched the Assam Rifles Public School (ARPS) in Shillong, Meghalaya, as a Khelo India Sports School. At present, nine sports schools have been approved across the country, out of which five are managed by Defence and Para-military forces.
• The Government shall now bear the expenses for talented sports students of the school in terms of lodging, boarding, education expenses, competition exposure, insurance & medical, sports training & support, the salary of coaches & support staff, sports equipment, etc.

Meghalaya:                      

• Capital: Shillong
• Chief Minister: Conrad Sangma
• Governor: Satya Pal Malik.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to dedicate 450 km Kochi-Mangaluru CNG pipeline

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate the Kochi (Kerala) – Mangaluru (Karnataka) Natural Gas Pipeline to the nation via virtual mode. The event marks an important milestone towards the creation of the One Nation One Gas grid.
• The 450-kilometer-long pipeline has been built by GAIL (India) Ltd. It will carry natural gas from the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Regasification Terminal at Kochi, Kerala, to Mangaluru, Karnataka.

Government implements Rs. 320 crores project for 5 ports to enable the digital ecosystem

• According to the Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, the Government is implementing a 320 crores project for five major ports to provide a digital port ecosystem. These ports are Mumbai, Chennai, Deendayal, Paradip, and Kolkata (including Haldia).
• A total of 2,474 processes were rationalised, harmonised, optimised, and standardised to arrive at a final re-engineered process count of 162 processes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate the world’s longest railway platform in Hubballi, Karnataka

• Hubballi railway station of Karnataka is set to get the world’s longest railway platform with dimensions of 1,500 metres in length and 10 metres in width. The station is officially known as Shree Siddharoodha Swamiji railway station.
• The construction of the platform is done with an expenditure of 90 crores for remodeling of wards, building work, signalling, third entrance construction, electrical, and other related works.

Karnataka:               

• Capital: Bengaluru
• Chief Minister: S. Yeddyurappa
• Governor: VajubhaiVala
• National Park: Anshi NP, Kudremukh NP, Bandipur NP, Bannerghatta NP, Rajiv Gandhi (Nagarahole) NP.

ADB to provide $100 million loans to upgrade power distribution in Bengaluru, Karnataka

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a $100 million (around Rs. 730 crores) loan to modernise and upgrade the power distribution system in Bengaluru city. Besides the $100 million sovereign loans, ADB will provide a $90 million loan without a sovereign guarantee for the project to Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Ltd (BESCOM), one of the five state-owned distribution utilities in Karnataka.

Centre notifies 0-1 km area around the boundary of Kerala’s Mathikettan Shola Park as an Eco-Sensitive Zone

• The Central Government has notified an area varying from zero to one km around the boundary of Mathikettan Shola National Park in the Idukki district of Kerala as an Eco-Sensitive Zone. The area of the Eco-Sensitive Zone is 5 square kilometres.
• Mathikettan Shola National Park is a 82 square kilometres national park in Poopara village of Udumbanchola taluk in the Idukki district of Kerala.

Kerala:

• Capital: Thiruvananthapuram
• Chief Minister: Pinarayi Vijayan
• Governor: Arif Mohammed Khan.

TRIFED signs MoU with Akhil Bhartiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram for setting up of TRIFOOD Parks in Madhya Pradesh

• Tribal Co-operative Marketing Federation of India (TRIFED) signed MoU with Akhil Bhartiya Vanvasi Kalyan Kendra to set up TRIFOOD parks in Madhya Pradesh.
• They will also focus on other activities such as horticulture, fisheries, floriculture, animal husbandry, and craft. They will mainly work to improve the livelihood of tribals.

Madhya Pradesh:             

• Capital: Bhopal
• Chief Minister: Shivraj Singh Chauhan
• Governor: Anandiben Patel (Additional Charge).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the National Metrology Conclave 2021

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivers the inaugural address at the National Metrology Conclave through virtual mode. The conclave is organised by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL), New Delhi, has completed 74 years after its inception. The theme of the conclave is ‘Metrology for the Inclusive Growth of the Nation.’
• He will also dedicate National Atomic Timescale (generates IST with an accuracy of 2.8 nanoseconds) & Bhartiya Nirdeshak Dravya to the nation and laid the foundation stone of the National Environmental Standards Laboratory.

Government extends the benefit of Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme to all export goods from January 1

• The Government has decided to extend the benefit of the tax refund scheme Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) to all export goods from January 1, 2021.
• Under this scheme, the embedded central, state, and local duties or taxes will be refunded and credited to an exporter.

L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering bags over Rs. 7,000 crores order from HPCL Rajasthan Refinery

• L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering (LTHE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro, has bagged an over 7,000 crores order from HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Ltd (HRRL), a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and the Government of Rajasthan, for setting up a dual-feed cracker unit.
• The Engineering, Procurement, Construction & Commissioning (EPCC) contract is for setting up a Dual-Feed Cracker Unit (DFCU) for Rajasthan Refinery Project at Barmer. DFCU is the biggest EPCC contract awarded in the country to date in this sector.

Rajasthan:                       

• Capital: Jaipur
• Chief Minister: Ashok Gehlot
• Governor: Kalraj Mishra.

Chinese firm Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Company Ltd. wins the contract to build 5.6 km underground stretch of the Delhi-Meerut rapid rail project

• The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) has awarded a contract to a Chinese company, Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Company Limited, to construct a 5.6-kilometre underground stretch, from New Ashok Nagar to Sahibabad, of the Delhi-Meerut RRTS project.
• The Asian Development Bank is funding the 82-km Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Rapid Rail Transit System

International News

US Congress passes “Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act” For Pakistani Women

• The US Congress has passed the “Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act,” which will expand the number of scholarships available to Pakistani women to receive higher education under merit and needs-based programme.
• The bill requires the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to award at least 50 percent of scholarships under a Pakistan-based higher education scholarship programme to Pakistani women from 2020 to 2022.

Bajaj Auto becomes the World’s Most Valuable Two-Wheeler Brand

• Indian multinational two-wheeler and three-wheeler manufacturing company, Bajaj Auto, has become the most valuable two-wheeler company in the world after it crossed a market capitalization of more than 1 lakh crores.
• Bajaj share price on NSE closed at 3,479 per share, and at this point, the market capitalization stood at more than a lakh crore. It could not have come at a better time as Bajaj has hit the 75^th year in business.

Acquisitions and Mergers

Tata Power partners with SIDBI to offer affordable & collateral-free financing for Rooftop Solar for MSMEs Consumers

• Tata Power partners with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to offer an easy and affordable financing scheme for MSME customers in the rooftop solar segment. The scheme will empower MSMEs to adopt sustainable energy for their businesses and promote greener.
• The Partnership will provide a financing solution without any collateral at an interest rate of less than 10 percent. This will be complemented with a sanction within seven days and disbursement in four days.

Science and Technology

Indian Navy took delivery of the eighth LCU Landing Craft Utility ship manufactured by GRSE

• Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) has delivered IN LCU L-58 (Yard 2099), the eighth and last in the series of Landing Craft Utility ships to the Indian Navy. This ship is the 106^th Warship built and delivered by GRSE so far, since its inception in 1960, the highest number of warships delivered by any Indian Shipyard till date.
• The LCU (Landing Craft Utility) is a type of boat used by amphibious forces to transport equipment and troops to the shore. The ship can carry up to 216 personnel and 145 tonnes of cargo.

Appointments

Pankaj Mithal takes oath as the new Chief Justice of J&K and Ladakh High Court

• Justice Pankaj Mithal was sworn in as the new Chief Justice of the common court of the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. Chief Justice Mithal replaces Chief Justice Gita Mittal, who has retired recently.

Sanjay Kapoor elected as President of the All India Chess Federation (AICF)

• Sanjay Kapoor was elected President of the All India Chess Federation (AICF), while Bharat Singh Chauhan retained the secretary’s post. Naresh Sharma was selected as the treasurer by beating Kishore Bandekar (34-30).
• Kapoor, representing Uttar Pradesh Chess Association, defeated (33-31) incumbent P R Venketrama Raja in a close contest.

Indian Army appoints Major General Gautam Chauhan as the 1^st head of its Human Rights Cell

• Major General Gautam Chauhan, an officer of the Gorkha Rifles, took over as the first head of the Indian Army’s Human Rights Cell at its headquarters in New Delhi. He will work under Indian Army Vice Chief Lieutenant General SK Saini.
• The human rights cell will be the nodal point to examine any human rights violation reports. To enhance transparency and ensure investigative expertise is available to the section, an Indian Police Service officer of SSP/SP rank will be taken on deputation

UGC sets up a panel headed by R.P. Tiwari to work out common entrance test for all central universities

• The University Grants Commission (UGC) is exploring the feasibility of holding a Common Entrance Test (CET) for undergraduate admissions across all central universities from the next academic year.
• The UGC has set up a seven-member committee headed by the vice-chancellor of Central University of Punjab, P. Tiwari, to consider the issue (of) holding common entrance tests at the undergraduate level only from the next academic year in central universities to provide a single platform for admission.

Obituary News

Former Maharashtra minister Vilas Patil Undalkar passed away at 82

• Former Maharashtra cabinet minister and seven-time MLA Vilas Patil Undalkar died due to a brief illness. Undalkar, popularly known as ‘Kaka’, was elected seven times till 2014 from Karad-South Assembly seat.

Olympic bronze and World Cup-winning hockey player Michael Kindo passed away at 76

• Olympic bronze and World Cup-winning hockey player Michael Kindo passed away. He played 3 Men’s Hockey World Cup in 1971,1973 & 1975, where India bagged bronze, silver & gold medals. He also represented in the 1972 Olympic Games where India secured a bronze medal. Kindo received the Arjuna Award in 1972.

Sports News

TOPS sanctions specialised equipment for Para Table Tennis player Bhavina Patel

• The Mission Olympic Cell cleared financial proposals of athletes who are a part of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). Bhavina Patel, a Para Table Tennis player, belonging to Gujarat who was included in the TOPS Scheme in November 2020, had financial proposals of 7.04 lakhs sanctioned by the committee.
• Patel is currently ranked 8^th in the world and, by virtue of her current world ranking, is well-positioned to qualify for the Tokyo Paralympics and thus become the first Indian to do so in the sport of Para Table Tennis.

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