Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2021

Notes:
Tenzin Lekphell is the newly appointed Secretary General of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation).
He was seen in the news for his visit to Bangladesh. The country is also in the process of building a new premise for the Secretariat. BIMSTEC is a regional organization with 7 countries namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.

Notes:
France has hosted the One Planet Summit recently, in which 30 leaders, government officials and heads of international organizations participated. The summit was held in a virtual mode due to the ongoing COVID pandemic.
During the summit, which focussed on protecting terrestrial and marine ecosystems, and agroecology, 50 countries pledged to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030.

Notes:
India’s Bharat Dynamics and the global Aerospace company Thales have signed an agreement to collaborate on the STARStreak Air Defence system.
To be undertaken with the support of both the Governments of India and the United Kingdom, the project will enable the export if the system to various customers including the UK Armed Forces. With this, BDL can also offer the system to Indian Armed Force with 60% indigenous content.

Notes:
Technology major Google has reviewed hundreds of personal loan apps in India that were flagged by users and government agencies.
It has also removed those apps which were found to violate its user safety policies. Earlier, the RBI had warned the public not to fall prey to the unauthorised digital lending platforms and mobile apps. Google mandates the developers of financial services app to disclose all key information.

Notes:
A new institution under the CSIR named – National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR – NISCPR) has been formed by merging CSIR-NISCAIR (National Institute of science, communication and information resources) and CSIR-NISTADS (National Institute of science, technology and development studies).
The foundation stone for the new organization was laid by the Union Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan.

Notes:
The Prime Minster of India Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project (Phase-II) and Surat Metro Rail Project.
The Metro Projects are said to be environment friendly ‘Mass Rapid Transit Systems’. The Prime Minister also flagged off 8 trains connecting Kevadiya in Gujarat, where the Statue of Unity is located, to various parts of the country.

Notes:
The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs has released the report titled “International Migration 2020”.
The report stated that India had the largest diaspora population in the world with 18 million people from the country living outside India in 2020. It also mentions that UAE, USA and Saudi Arabia host the largest number of migrants from India.

Notes:
Russia has recently informed the United Nations that it is withdrawing and sending home 300 military instructors sent to Central African Republic (CAR), intended to train the African Nation’s Army.
The army of CAR was facing stiff offensive reactions from rebel groups ahead of last month’s elections.

Notes:
Indian Farm Forestry Development Co-operative Ltd (IFFDC) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with TRIFED of Tribal Affairs Ministry.
The organisations aim to work together for promoting tribal livelihood. They will jointly conduct training programmes for tribal artisans, to enhance their entrepreneurship skill and business development. IFFDC, promoted by Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), has been working in Farm Forestry, Climate Change, eco-restoration and livelihood generation.

Notes:
As per the recent study by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Both the species of Panda, namely Himalayan red panda (Ailurus fulgens) and the Chinese red panda (Ailurus styani) are present in India.
It also revealed that the Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh serves as the boundary by splitting the red panda into these two genetic species. As per another study, the Himalayan red panda was affected more during the Pleistocene glaciation.