Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2021

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:
The report of socio-economic survey of Delhi, conducted between November 2018 and November 2019 has been finalized and released recently.
As per the report, 10% of children aged between 6 and 17 are either school drop outs or have never attended formal schooling on account of financial disabilities.

Notes:
The Indian Government has approved the construction of over 1.68 lakh houses in urban areas under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Urban.
As per the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, the total number of houses sanctioned so far stands at 1.1 crore. Under PMAY-U, 41 lakh houses have been completed so far and over 70 lakh houses are under construction.

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:
The domestic capital market, denoted by SENSEX has touched a new height of 50,000 mark for the first time ever.
The Sensex was launched in 1986 as the country’s first equity index. The index commenced operations with 124 points. It reached 1000 points in 1990 and has grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 15.9% to reach 50,000 points in 2021.

Notes:
Union Home Minster Amit Shah launched Ayushman CAPF scheme, which will benefit around 10 lakh personnel of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and their family members.
The scheme is a joint initiative of National Health Authority (NHA) with the Ministry of Home Affairs. Cashless and paperless medical treatment will be given to the beneficiaries at 24,000 hospitals in the country.

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:
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:
The United States Senate confirmed veteran economist Janet Yellen as first woman Treasury Secretary of the country.
The 74-year-old eminent economist is also the Former chairperson of the Federal Reserve during the Global Financial Crisis. She is the third cabinet member of the Biden Administration to be confirmed by the Senate.

Notes:
The third consignment comprising of three number of France manufactured Rafale fighter jets have arrived at India recently. They would be soon inducted officially into the Indian Air Force. This would move up the Rafael’s fleet to 11 aircrafts in the Indian Air Force.
In September 2016, India had signed an agreement with France for purchase of 36 Rafael fighter jets at a cost of Rs.59,000 crores.