Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2021

Notes:
Indian Railways has successfully completed the 180kmph trial run of the new Vistadome tourist coaches.
The luxurious coaches were manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai. The Vistadome coaches have see-through glass rooftops and wide windows offering panoramic view. At present, there are 13 Vistadome coaches that are operational.

Notes:
Estonia is a country in Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland. Recently the Union Cabinet of India approved the proposal of the Ministry of External Affairs to open three new missions.
In 2021, three new missions of India would be opened in Estonia (Europe), Paraguay (South America) and the Dominican Republic (North America). This move would strengthen political relations and promote growth of bilateral trade and investment.

Notes:
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) along with the Indian Navy has conducted a successful trial of the SAHAYAK-NG.
It is the country’s first indigenously designed and developed air droppable container. The container, aided by GPS can carry a payload of up to 50 kg and can be dropped from a heavy aircraft. It is designed and developed by two DRDO labs and a private company ‘Avantel’.

Notes:
The Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) is to select an agency that will do an impact assessment of the UMANG application.
UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) app was launched in 2017. It aimed to provide over 2000 government services on a single platform. The Government wants to analyse why some citizens are not using the application.

Notes:
The Kolar Leaf-Nosed Bat, which is usually found in only two caves in the Hanumanahalli village in Kolar district of Karnataka.
Recently, the bat became extinct in one of the two caves. In response, the Karnataka Forest Department, along with the Bat Conservation India Trust (BCIT), are undertaking measures to save the remaining bats.

Notes:
The Kerala state Assembly has recently passed a resolution urging the Central Government to scrap the recent farm laws.
The resolution was passed unanimously with the support of the Opposition party, the United Democratic Front (UDF) also. The Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan presented the resolution in the House which convened for a special session to discuss on the laws.

Notes:
As per media reports, China has recently completed the track-laying work for a railway line which links the cities of Lhasa and Nyingchi in Tibet.
The cities are close to the Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh. This Sichuan-Tibet Railway is the second railway into Tibet, which starts from the capital of Sichuan Province, Chengdu and enters Tibet.

Notes:
Michael Kondo, who was a veteran Indian Hockey player, died at the age of 73 recently. He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1972.
He was a member of the first and only World Cup-winning team in 1975 in Kuala Lumpur. He was also a member of the team that won a bronze medal in the 1972 Olympics in Munich, where he scored three goals.

Notes:
The first hill-top Buddhist monastery of the Gangetic Valley has been found at Lal Pahari in Lakhisarai district of Bihar.
This is the first monastery located at the top of a hill. This is discovered during a joint collaboration of Bihar Heritage Development Society and the Visva-Bharati University, West Bengal. It was a Vihara, named as Srimaddharmaviharik aryabhiksusanghasya.

Notes:
Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is set to commence Seaplane services on select routes. It is called the Sagarmala Seaplane Services (SSPS).
It is to be implemented through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) named the Sagarmala Development Company Ltd (SDCL), which will function under the administrative control of the Shipping Ministry. The SPV will also include airline operators.