Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2021

Notes:
London approved the removal of the Statues of William Beckford and Sir John Cass from its iconic Guildhall home of statues.
After the Black Lives Matter protests, the city corporation set up a task force on tackling racism, which recommended removing the statues of the two figures. The city’s elected representatives voted for the decision.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs has launched a dedicated portal that would help in formulation of state and national-level programme for migrant workers.
The portal is named ‘ShramShakti’ and was launched by the Union Tribal Affairs Minister at Goa. He also launched a training manual for the migrant workers named ShramSaathi.

Notes:
India celebrates National Voters Day on January 25 every year to commemorate the foundation day of the Election Commission of India.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) was founded in 1950 on the same day and this occasion was first celebrated in 2011. This year’s theme is “Making Our Voters Empowered, Vigilant, Safe and Informed”. ECI launched e-EPIC (Electronic Electoral Photo Identity Card), as a part of celebration.

Notes:
The Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully conducted the maiden launch of Akash-NG (New Generation) Missile. It is a New Generation Surface to Air Missile designed to be used in Indian Air Force.
It has the capacity to intercept high maneuvering low RCS aerial threats. The test was carried out at the Integrated Test Range off the coast of Odisha.

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:
World Economic Forum (WEF) launched a global coalition at the ongoing Davos Agenda Summit to end racism at work place.
It has been named as “Partnering for Racial Justice in Business” initiative. Recently, Indian companies Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services joined the alliance, whose founding members include 48 organisations including Google, Microsoft, Deutsche Bank, EY, among others.

Notes:
The Union Health Ministry released the National Non-communicable Disease Monitoring Survey (NNMS).
In the survey conducted during 2017-18, it was revealed that two in five adults in India have three or more risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCD). The Health Minister also launched a framework on use of telemedicine for cancer, diabetes, heart diseases and stroke in India.

Notes:
A recent research by University of Sao Paulo has revealed that Melatonin hormone secreted in the lungs of human beings act as an effective barrier against Covid-19 infection.
It has been identified that the hormone secretion inhibits the expression of genes that are entry points for the virus.

Notes:
The United Kingdom (UK) has launched a New Variant Assessment Platform, which will be used to identify new variants COVID-19 viruses.
It uses genomics expertise possessed by UK and has been dedicated for use by countries which does not have sufficient resources for identifying the new Covid virus strains.