Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2021

Notes:
In a recent annual study and winter count by Xerces Society, it is found that number of western monarch butterflies has been falling down rapidly. The count is found to be less than 2000 and the insect is said to be in the verge of extinction.
This butterfly is most familiar in North America and is a well-known pollinator species.

Notes:
India’s think tank “NITI Aayog” has recently released a book on “faecal sludge and septage management in urban areas”. This has been jointly developed by National Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (NFSSM) Alliance.
The book is in the form of a report, that enlists 27 case studies on implementation of faecal sludge and septage management (FSSM) initiatives.

Notes:
Meghalaya, Manipur & Tripura celebrated their 49th statehood day on January 21, 2021.
On January 21, 1972, these three states became full-fledged states under the North Eastern Region (Reorganisation) Act of 1971. It also led to the formation of the Union territories of Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh, which were declared as states on February 21, 1987.

Notes:
The Ministry of Home Affairs has recently announced the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar for 2021.
As per the notification, Rajendra Kumar Bhandari has been selected in the individual category of the award, while the Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (SEEDS) has been selected for the award in the institutional category.

Notes:
The World Health Organization (WHO) has collaborated with the American pharmaceutical firm Pfizer recently.
As per the deal, 40 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine will be distributed for poor and lower-middle income countries under its COVAX programme.

Notes:
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye was seen in the news recently as he had a discussion with the new UN envoy on reviving the stalled peace process.
The UN envoy Tor Wennesland, is the Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace Process. He also highlighted the openness of the country on any political process sponsored by the Quartet, comprising of the US, the UN, Russia and the European Union.

Notes:
Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli belonging to the ruling communist party of Nepal, has been expelled from the party by leaders Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and former PM Madhav Kumar.
This decision has been made by the party, after the PM P. Sharma Oli dissolved the Lower House of the Parliament called “Pratinidhi Sabha”.

Notes:
The Union Agriculture Ministry has proposed a Rs 19,000 crore National mission on edible oil for approval in the upcoming budget.
The mission seeks a five-year plan to achieve self-sufficiency in cooking oil production along with cutting its import. India spends almost Rs 75,000 crore annually in importing edible oil which will also promote local production and cut its cost.

Notes:
A 122-member armed forces contingent of Bangladesh participated in the Rajpath at the Republic Day parade of India.
This comes as a part of celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1971 Liberation War, by India and Bangladesh. While Bangladesh takes part in the parade for the first time, it is the third foreign country after France (2016) and the UAE (2017) to take part in India’s Republic Day parade.

Notes:
START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) is a bilateral agreement signed in 2010 between the United States and Russia.
The treaty, which emphasised on the reduction and limitation of strategic nuclear arms by the two countries, is set to expire next week. Russia’s lower house of parliament approved the extension of the treaty.