Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2021

Notes:
32 children across the county have been recently awarded the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar, 2021.
Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India has been giving away this award to children with outstanding abilities and accomplishments in the fields of innovation, scholastics, sports, arts & culture, social service and bravery.

Notes:
Union Ministry of Tourism organises ‘Bharat Parv’ every year, on the occasion of Republic Day Celebrations from 26th to 31st of January.
Since 2016, the event has been conducted near the Red Fort, New Delhi. The event aims to showcase the rich cultural diversity of the country. States and UTs will display their tourism destinations, cuisine, handicraft and unique features.

Notes:
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has been re-elected as the President of Portugal. The right-wing President won the elections with 60.7 percent of the vote.
Although the Prime Minister Antonio Costa is a Socialist, the President has a prominent role in the nation’s polity with superior role in foreign policy and national security. President of Portugal has the power to dissolve the Parliament.

Notes:
India’s economist Jayati Ghosh has been chosen to be a part of UN high-level advisory board on socio-economic challenges in post-COVID-19 world. The board would make recommendations to U.N. Secretary-General for making response to the future, especially after the post COVID era.
Ms. Ghosh is presently a professor of economics at University of Massachusetts.

Notes:
The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) released the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2021.
As per the report, India’s economy is projected to grow at 7.3 per cent in 2021 while it is estimated to contract by 9.6 per cent in 2020. According to the UN, the reasons for the contraction are the lockdown and the fallen domestic consumption.

Notes:
The United States President Joe Biden signed an executive order, which would impose rules on government procurement practices.
Dubbed as the ‘Buy American’ order, it aims to strengthen domestic manufacturing and ensure better access to small and midsize businesses. This is a part of the ‘Build Back Better recovery plan’ proposed by Joe Biden.

Notes:
A new School of Public Health (SPH) has been launched in the state of Rajasthan, to aid in healthcare management in the post-COVID-19 situation.
The school will provide technical support to health systems and help the State government in adopting new technologies. It will work on technology and surveillance mechanisms to help the policy makers.

Notes:
NGC 4535 is a famous galaxy and is one of the largest of the Virgo constellation. It is also dubbed as the “The Lost Galaxy”.
Virgo Cluster is located about 50 million light-years from Earth. The Scientists at NASA have spotted the spiral galaxy through their Hubble Space Telescope and released its images. It is a vast swirl of stars containing a distinct bar structure at its center.

Notes:
India announced a pledge of USD 150,000 to the programmes and activities of the UN peacebuilding fund this year.
TS Tirumurti, permanent representative of India to the United Nations announced this in a virtual address to the High-Level Replenishment Conference for the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund.

Notes:
As per the Science Magazine, Scientists have discovered a rare Martian Mineral named ‘Jarosite’ in the Antarctic ice.
After boring more than a mile deep in the Antarctic region, the yellow-brown mineral which is rarely seen on Earth but found more on Mars was spotted. Mars is believed to be a dusty place and this discovery may be used to explain this theory.