Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2021

Notes:
Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kiltan has recently reached the Sihanoukville Port in Cambodia to deliver 15 tonnes of disaster relief items for the flood-affected people.
Due to the floods occurred in November, over 8 lakh people are affected and over 40 people have died in Cambodia. This operation of INS Kiltan is a part of Mission Sagar-III under which humanitarian assistance and relief is provided to India’s friendly countries.

Notes:
In the Jhalawar District of Rajasthan, 50 crows had died of Avian influenza (Bird flu) recently. In response, a curfew was imposed surrounding the area.
While, death of crows has also been reported from the city of Jodhpur. The administration ordered to sanitise the affected area and send the samples to the National High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (NHSADL), Bhopal.

Notes:
Prime Minister released a certification course on innovative construction technologies named NAVARITIH (New, Affordable, Validated, Research Innovation Technologies for Indian Housing).
He also laid the foundation stone of Light House projects (LHPs) under Global Housing Technology Challenge (GHTC)- at six sites across six states.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has developed the Digital Payments Index (DPI), to record the expansion of digitisation of payments across the country.
The index has been constructed with March 2018 as the base period. As per the RBI, the DPI for March 2019 and March 2020 stand at 153.47 and 207.84 respectively. The index includes 5 parameters with the highest weightage for Payment Performance.

Notes:
The Parliament of Kazakhstan signed the ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
It is a document which commits the signatories to abolish capital punishment. Life imprisonment was introduced in the country in 2004 as an alternative punishment. While ICCPR was adopted in 1966, the second optional protocol was adopted in 1989.

Notes:
The annual waterbird census is to be conducted in the state of Andhra Pradesh, by the state forest department.
The regions included are the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary, areas near Godavari estuary, Kolleru Lake, Atapaka Bird Sanctuary and Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary in Krishna estuary. Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and Wetland International will provide technical support.

Notes:
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to provide a USD 100 million loan to upgrade the power distribution system in Bengaluru city.
Another USD 90 million loan will also be provided to the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company. The project also includes laying over 2500 km of fibre optical cables and moving distribution lines underground.

Notes:
Prayaas is the new community helping initiative adopted by Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL). Under this scheme, employees of IOCL Delhi Office would visit the night shelters located near IOCL’s fuel stations for distribution of blankets and essentials.
These night shelters are being run by the Government of Delhi and some NGOs to help the weaker section of the society.

Notes:
The Climate Research and Services (CRS) of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has released a Statement on Climate of India during 2020.
As per the statement, the annual mean land surface air temperature over India was above normal during the year 2020. The year 2020 was also named the eighth warmest year on record.

Notes:
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL) has adopted an international practice for production of Indian Certified Reference Material (CRMs).
The CRM, which is branded as ‘Bhartiya Nirdeshak Dravya’, supports the testing and calibration of laboratories, for assuring quality at par with international standards.