Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2021

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:
Tesla Chief Executive Officer the world’s richest person at present, Elon Musk announced that he has decided to give away USD 100 million as prize for the best carbon capture technology.
Carbon dioxide, released in electricity generation and industrial processes can be captured using various methods including post-combustion, pre-combustion and oxyfuel. The International Energy Agency also stated about the role of carbon capture technology in net-zero emissions recently.

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:
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 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:
Minister of Electronics and IT and Communications has recently launched virtual intelligence tool Tejas.
The tool can extract critical information for policy decisions thereby improving efficiency in government services. The Minister also launched a virtual portal to access routine office applications called ‘Work from Anywhere’ portal and ‘e-Auction India’.

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:
The International Customs Day is celebrated every year on January 26 across the world, led by the World Customs Organization (WCO). It is headquartered at Brussels, Belgium.
It was earlier called as the Customs Cooperation Council (CCC). The Day has been celebrated since 1983. This year the theme is ‘Customs bolstering Recovery, Renewal and Resilience for a sustainable supply chain’

Notes:
The Davos Dialogue of the World Economic Forum (WEF) which generally takes place at Davos of Switzerland, was conducted this year in an “all virtual” format.
During the virtual meet, Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi appreciated India’s efforts to fight against the COVID pandemic. Also, he shared India’s efforts and endeavours in four pillars of Industry 4.0.

Notes:
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has recently released an index named “’Asia-Pacific Personalised Health Index”.
India has ranked 10th out of 11 Asia Pacific countries in the index. This index measures the readiness of 11 countries – Australia, China, Japan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and New Zealand in adopting personalised healthcare.