Daily Current Affairs: January 6, 2021

Daily Current Affairs (January 6, 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

National Bird Day- January 05

• National Bird Day is celebrated on January 5 every year to raise public awareness about the need to conserve the avian population. The day was founded in 2002. According to Born Free USA, nearly 12 percent of the world’s almost 10,000 bird species are in danger of extinction.

World war orphan day- January 06

• The World Day of War Orphans is observed on January 6 every year to raise awareness about children who have been orphaned due to wars. This day enables the international community to recognize the sufferings and plights of orphans during World War.

National News

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan flags off equipment for Indian Oil’s MEG Plant at Paradip, Odisha

• Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan flagged off from L&T’s Hazira plant in Surat district critical components bound for Indian Oil’s MEG (mono ethylene glycol) plant coming up at the refinery-cum-petrochemical complex at Paradip in Odisha.
• Three supercritical equipment are Ethylene Oxide Reactor, Wash Tower & De-ethyleniser, indigenously manufactured from L&Ts Hazira plant will be delivered to MEG plant being setup (an investment of Rs 5,654 crore) at refinery-cum-petrochemical complex at Paradip.

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.

Delhi government sets up Tamil academy to promote Tamil culture

• The Department of Art, Culture, and Language of the Delhi government set up a Tamil academy to promote the South Indian language and culture in the Capital. The academy will introduce various awards to promote and reward people’s works in the Tamil language and culture.
• The Delhi government has appointed a former municipal councillor and current member of Delhi Tamil Sangam N Raja as the vice-chairman of the academy.

New Delhi:

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

Indian Air Force chief R K S Bhadauria launches e-governance portal in New Delhi

• Indian Air Force Chief, Air Marshal R K S Bhadauria, formally launched the IAF e-Governance (e-Office) portal in New Delhi. The portal is part of Digital India and e-governance initiative that will transform the entire Indian Air Force into a paperless office workflow.
• The launch of e-governance in IAF marks a paradigm shift from the current method of correspondence, filing, and documentation to a digital one.

Ramesh Pokhriyal, Smriti Irani launch ‘Toycathon 2021’ to promote manufacturing of indigenous toys

• Union Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ and Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani launched a virtual toy hackathon ‘Toycathon 2021’. 
• The ToyCathon 2021 is being organised to create awareness among school students about our country’s rich cultural heritage. It will be based on nine themes. The portal can be accessed at https://toycathon.mic.gov.in.

Denmark’s Oscar nominee ‘Another Round’ to be opening movie at 51st IFFI in Goa

• International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will start on January 16, with the Indian premiere of the movie ‘Another Round’ by Thomas Vinterberg. Argentine filmmaker Pablo Cesar will be head of the IFFI jury.
• IFFI will close with India Premier of historical drama ‘Wife of a Spy’ by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who bagged Silver Lion for Best Director at Venice film festival.

Goa:

• Capital: Panaji.
• Chief Minister: Pramod Sawant.
• Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari (Additional Charge).

Madhya Pradesh government introduces ‘Launch Pad Scheme’ to make youth self-reliant

• Madhya Pradesh government introduced ‘Launch Pad Scheme’ for boys and girls coming out of childcare institutions and having completed 18 years of age. 
• The objective of this scheme of the Women and Child Development Department is to provide such a platform to these youth, through which they will be able to become self-reliant by continuing their education and training.

Madhya Pradesh:

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

World’s Largest Floating Solar Plant to Come up in Madhya Pradesh by 2022-23

• The world’s largest floating 600 MW solar energy project will be constructed at Omkareshwar dam on Narmada river in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh.
• The project is likely to begin power generation by the year 2022-23. The estimated investment in this project stands at Rs 3,000 crore. 

World Bank Signs $105 Million Project to Improve Waterways in West Bengal 

• The government of West Bengal and the World Bank signed a $105 million project to improve the inland water transport infrastructure in Kolkata, West Bengal. 
• West Bengal Inland Water Transport, Logistics & Spatial Development Project will facilitate passenger & freight movement across the Hooghly river; undertake spatial planning to improve accessibility in Kolkata Metropolitan Area; improving logistics sector.

West Bengal:

• Capital: Kolkata
• Chief Minister: Mamata Banerjee
• Governor: Jagdeep Dhankhar
• National Park (NP): Buxa NP, Gorumara NP, Neora Valley NP, Jaldapara NP, Singalila NP, Sundarbans NP.

International News

India sends relief materials to Fiji to tide over the effect of category 5 tropical cyclone Yasa

• India has sent the first consignment of relief materials to the cyclone-hit Fiji, the MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) announced. Fiji was hit by a Category 5 Tropical Cyclone ‘Yasa’ in December, which caused extensive damage and destruction of critical infrastructure.
• The relief material sent by the Government of India, consisting of shelter and hygiene kits, will provide immediate assistance to the cyclone-affected communities.

Boris Johnson cancels Republic Day visit to India over COVID-19 crisis in U.K.

• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has cancelled his planned India visit for the last week of January when he was to be the Chief Guest of the Republic Day festivities. It is cancelled in view of the pandemic which has escalated in the UK because of the new variant of coronavirus. The UK was chosen for ties post-Brexit.

Banking and Economy

World Bank keeps India’s GDP contraction forecast unchanged at 5.4% for FY 21

• The World Bank has forecast India’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to be 5.4 percent for the fiscal year 2021-22, primarily due to the current year’s low base effect. The multilateral organization has not upgraded its forecast for 2020-21 and still projects India’s economy to contract by 9.6 percent this year.
• For the South Asia region, the agency projected a growth of 3.3 percent in the calendar year 2021 and 3.8 percent in the calendar year 2022.

Acquisitions and Mergers

NBCC signed MoU with JKIT for establishing its towers at Jammu, Srinagar

• NBCC (National Buildings Construction Corporation Ltd) signed an MoU with J&K IT Infrastructure Development Company for establishing IT Towers at Jammu & Srinagar at the cost of Rs. 50 crore each. Lt Governor Manoj Sinha sets a deadline of 15 months & 17 months for completion of the towers at Jammu & Srinagar, respectively.
• These facilities will be available to local businesses and entrepreneurs on a rental-basis and will help give impetus to local start-ups and generate local employment.

DRDO Signs MOU with MAHA-METRO for implementation of Advanced Biodigester Mk-II Technology in Metro Rail Network

• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) signed MoU with Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation (MAHA –METRO) to conserve water and protect the environment by installing DRDO’s eco-friendly biodigester units (a non-sewered sanitation technology) in its facilities.
• DRDO will render technical support for implementing its advanced biodigester (a non-sewered sanitation technology) Mk-II technology for the treatment of human waste (night soil) in the metro rail network. The technology has been revamped to save water & space.

Science and Technology

ISRO to launch first satellite fully developed by Brazil’s space agency

• The ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) is set to launch Amazonia-1, the first satellite to have been entirely developed in Brazil by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), the Latin American nation’s apex space research body.
• Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates airline, has executed a cargo charter to transport Amazonia-1 from Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, to Chennai. 
• It is the first time that Emirates SkyCargo has transported a space satellite from South America.

Appointments

Lt General Shantanu Dayal to take charge as Deputy Chief of Staff

• Lt General Shantanu Dayal has been named the new Deputy Chief of Army Staff (DCOAS). Lt General Dayal is the Corps Commander of the Tejpur based 4 Corps. He will take the place of Lt General SS Hasabnis. 
• Among the changes was Lt General Taranjit Singh is the first Army officer to join as the Additional Secretary in the Department of Military Affairs retired. Lt General Anil Puri took charge in his place.

Justice S Muralidhar takes oath as Chief Justice of Orissa High Court

• Justice S Muralidhar took oath as the 32nd Chief Justice of Orissa High Court. Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal administered the oath of office to the new chief justice in a simple ceremony at Raj Bhavan.
• S Muralidhar was enrolled as an advocate on September 12, 1984, and practiced in civil courts in Chennai, Delhi High Court, and Supreme Court of India.

Alex Ellis appointed as the new British high commissioner to India

• Alex Ellis has been appointed new British High Commissioner to India, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) announced. Ellis succeeds Sir Philip Barton.
• The 53-year-old civil servant has been serving as Deputy National Security Adviser in the UK Cabinet Office for the government’s Integrated Review on diplomacy.

Karan Bajwa elected as the chief of Google Cloud’s Asia Pacific cloud division

• Microsoft and IBM veteran Karan Bajwa was appointed as head of Google Cloud in India in March 2020. Bajwa has been elevated as chief of Google’s Asia Pacific Cloud division. He will relocate to Singapore later in 2021 and continue as the interim leader for Google Cloud in India.
• Bajwa will lead all regional revenue and go-to-market operations for Google Cloud, including Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Google Workspace.

Justice Vineet Kothari takes oath as Gujarat High Court judge

• Justice Vineet Kothari was sworn in as the judge of Gujarat High Court. Chief Justice Vikram Nath administered the oath of office to Justice Kothari. Justice Kothari was the Acting Chief Justice in Madras High Court previously. 
• A 5-judge collegium led by the Chief Justice of India had transferred Kothari to the Gujarat High Court. 

Awards and Recognitions

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos tops the list of richest charitable gifts in 2020 with $10-billion climate change donation

• The world’s richest person made the single-largest charitable contribution in 2020, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual list of top donations, a $10 billion gift that is intended to help fight climate change.
• Amazon’s founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, whose “real-time” worth Forbes magazine estimates at roughly $188 billion (approximately Rs. 13,76,800 crores), used the contribution to launch his Bezos Earth Fund. The fund, which supports non-profits involved in the climate crisis, has paid out $790 million (roughly Rs. 5,800 crores) to 16 groups.

Indian Student Harsh Dalal wins recognition in Singapore for building a 25-million-dollar tech startup

• A 19-year-old Indian student Harsh Dalal, who is pursuing a diploma in business administration at Singapore Polytechnic, has earned recognition for running a tech startup. He has built the startup with four applications in his teenage while schooling.
• Featuring Dalal among young entrepreneurs shaping Singapore into a smart nation and running a USD 25 million tech startup under “On the Red Dot” finds out programme.

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