Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2021

Notes:
The Indian Government has approved the memorandum of cooperation on a framework for partnership related to “Specified Skilled Worker” between India and Japan.
As per the agreement, the skilled Indian workers, who have qualified the skill test and Japanese language test, will be granted a new status of residence of ‘Specified Skilled Worker’ by the Government of Japan. They will work in fourteen specified sectors in Japan.

Notes:
Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan released the India report on Longitudinal Ageing Study of India (LASI) Wave-1.
LASI is a nation-wide survey of scientific investigation of the health, economic, and social factors and consequences of the ageing population in India. The report will be used as a basic framework for developing programmes in national and state-level.

Notes:
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has termed India’s Equalisation Levy on e-commerce companies as ‘discriminatory’.
The Equalisation Levy or the Digital Service Tax is locally called as the Google Tax. The USTR also said that the Digital Service Tax burdens US commerce and hence it is actionable under Section 301 (of Trade Act, 1974).

Notes:
The country’s second largest public sector bank, Punjab National Bank has partnered with IIT Kanpur and FIRST (Foundation for Innovation & Research in Science & Technology), to establish Fintech Innovation Centre (FIC).
The Innovation centre will be set up at the IIT campus, which will facilitate research and development in technological solutions used in the Banking and Finance Sector.

Notes:
The India-Mongolia Joint Committee on Cooperation was recently held via video conference. Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan represented India.
During the meeting, he has confirmed the commitment of India on completion of the Mongol Refinery Project. Both the countries also reviewed the bilateral cooperation in hydrocarbons and steel sector.

Notes:
Flipkart has announced an MoU with the Logistics Skill Sector Council (LSC), and launched the Centre of Excellence (CoE), to skill the workforce of the e-Commerce Industry.
LSC is an organisation established by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, through National Skill Development Corporation of India (NSDC) and Karnataka Skill Development Centre (KSDC).

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.

Notes:
The Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry is to spend over Rs 1,200 crore, to create infrastructure for safe movement of wildlife on National Highways.
Infrastructure including construction of underpasses on the Nagpur-Jabalpur National Highway passing through the Pench National Park and at Gadchiroli-Chandrapur and Chimur-Vadodara highways.

Notes:
The United Kingdom has raised USD 1 billion from global donors to fund COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in developing countries.
This fund is including the USD 744.5 million of the pledged UK aid, with the remaining fund from global donors, under COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC). It aims to distribute one billion doses of coronavirus vaccines to 92 developing countries.

Notes:
The Storm Filomena hit Spain and has brought one of the heaviest snowfall in decades, across the central regions of Spain killing four people.
The Government is to send COVID-19 vaccine and food supplies to the areas cut off by the storm. As the temperatures are expected to fall to up to minus 10 degree Celsius, more dangerous situations are forecasted.