Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2021

Notes:
The 450 km long Natural Gas Pipeline between Kochi in Kerala and Mangaluru in Karnataja is constructed by GAIL (India) Ltd.
The 3000-crore project has been inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India, for commercial operations. The pipeline has the transportation capacity of 12 million metric standard cubic metres per day.

Notes:
The Standing Committee of National Board of Wildlife (SC-NBWL) has recently approved the advisory for management of Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC) in the country.
The Committee also approved the inclusion of Caracal, a wild cat found in some parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat, in the list of critically endangered species. At present, there are 22 wildlife species under recovery programme for critically endangered species.

Notes:
India recently launched the world’s first double stack long-haul container train. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the train on the 306km-long Rewari-Madar section of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC).
One such train carries freight equivalent to 270 high-capacity trailer trucks. The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India is constructing the Western and Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor.

Notes:
Veteran Fashion designer Satya Paul, known for his contemporary sari designs, died in Tamil Nadu, at the age of 79.
Initially he opened a clothing store and export business, and further expanded it to luxury fashion designing. He started a luxury clothing business in his own name. He also opened shops in many countries including UK, France and Japan.

Notes:
The Air India Express has become the first airline in India to use robotic technology to clean and disinfect the interiors of aircrafts.
It used an ultraviolet Robotic device, fitted with UV disinfection lamping system to disinfect its Boeing 737-800 aircraft. This technology was launched in India in association with ground handling agency AISATS.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced operational guidelines for the Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) scheme.
It aims to aimed to promote usage of more digital payments infrastructure across tier-3 to tier-6 centres. It also constituted an advisory council under the chairmanship of Deputy Governor B.P. Kanungo to manage the fund.

Notes:
The Embassy of Israel in India has appointed Joyshree Das Verma as Honorary Consul in the North-eastern region.
With an aim to increase the collaboration with India, the country’s embassy has made this appointment, with jurisdiction over eight states, namely Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura and Sikkim.

Notes:
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched a portal for the online sale of items falling under AFD-I category, through the Canteen Stores Department (CSD).
Against Firm Demand (AFD-I) category has expensive items including washing machines, microwave ovens, refrigerators, air-conditioners, mobile phones among others. Through this portal, lakhs of armed forces personnel and ex-servicemen can purchase the items from home.

Notes:
As per the recent Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, is the richest person in the world, with a net worth of USD 188.5 billion
He has overtaken the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on the index, which is a ranking of the world’s 500 wealthiest people. Last year, the share price of Tesla surged by over 700% after consistent profits and inclusion in S&P 500 Index.

Notes:
The Light Detection and Ranging Survey (LiDAR) for Delhi-Varanasi High-Speed Rail (DVHSR) Corridor was recently started from Greater Noida.
Under the survey, a helicopter is fitted with the Aerial LiDAR and imagery sensors. The first flight captured the data and details related to ground survey in three-four months. The survey uses 60-megapixel cameras, to capture minute details.