Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2021

Notes:
The 17th Ministerial Meeting of Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) was recently organised under the theme, “The New Normal and Safe and Healthy Tourism” virtually.
Riva Ganguly Das, Secretary of the Union Ministry of External Affairs represented India at the meeting. She highlighted about the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI), announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019.

Notes:
US President Joe Biden has recently proposed a five-year extension of New START Treaty with Russia.
The treaty limited the United States and Russia to 1,550 nuclear warheads each. It expires on February 5 this year since the former President Donald Trump stopped negotiations and tried to include China in the treaty.

Notes:
A new draft ‘Arctic’ policy has been released recently by the Government of India. The draft policy would be available for public opinion till Jan 26, 2021. It has been prepared after deliberations with several Ministries.
The policy aims to expand India’s scientific research, sustainable tourism and mineral oil and gas exploration in the Arctic region.

Notes:
Reigning Olympic champion, Carolina Marin from Spain and former World Champion Viktor Axelsen from Denmark recently claimed their second Thailand Open badminton men’s and women’s singles titles respectively.
The 27-year-old Carolina Marin went into the final without losing a single game across both tournaments. The Badminton World Federation World Tour Finals will be contested by the top eight of each discipline.

Notes:
As per the United Nations data, China has become the world’s top destination for new foreign direct investment in the year 2020. China overtook USA and gained the top spot in the world.
New overseas investments for USA fell by 49% in 2020 whereas in case of China, the FDI increased by 4%.

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:
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:
The UN Development Programme (UNDP) questioned 1.2 million people in 50 countries, conducting the biggest ever opinion poll on climate change.
As per the survey’s findings, two-thirds of the total people polled see a “global climate emergency”. The survey also revealed that in nations with fossil fuels as a major source of emissions, people strongly supported renewable energy.

Notes:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for milling copra and ball copra.
As per M S Swaminathan recommendations, the increase in MSP has been approved. The MSP of copra was raised by Rs 375 from the previous year, 2020 to Rs 10,335 per quintal. Farmers of 12 coastal states are likely to impact by the price hike.

Notes:
The state government of Rajasthan has recently reduced value-added tax (VAT) by two percent on petrol and diesel. This has relaxed the fuel prices in the state. Recently, the price of premium petrol price crossed Rs.100 in the state.
Petrol, Diesel and other fuels in India have been kept outside the ambit of Goods and Services Tax (GST). Presently, the state governments determine the VAT on these fuels.