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:
The Jammu and Kashmir administration approved the adoption of a new policy named ‘Land Allotment Policy 2021-30’.
The policy aims to lay down a framework to regulate zoning of industrial areas. It will also cover land allotment for health institutions and educational institutions. The policy aims to promote fair industrial growth in the UT.

Notes:
Department of Science and Technology has stated recently that the number of scientific publications from India has increased exponentially over the last 10 years and that India stands at 3rd position globally in number of scientific publications.
China and USA are ahead of India in the list. In the year 2017-18, 1,937 out of the total 13,045 patents were filed by Indians.

Notes:
The Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh has celebrated recently its 50th statehood day on January 25, 2021.
In 1970, the State of Himachal Pradesh Act was passed in the Parliament and the state came into existence from January 25, 2071. It is the 18th Indian state to be formed in the country. Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar was its first chief minister.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh has recently launched a mobile app named ‘Udyam Sarathi’ for seeking employment, as a part of the 3-day event marking UP DIWAS.
The state also announced the proposal to launch ‘Abhyudaya’ coaching centres, which would benefit the students who are preparing for various competitive examinations.

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:
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.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has cleared and approved the Policy on privatisation of public sector undertakings (PSUs). The policy would lay a detailed road map for presence of government ownership in strategic and non-strategic sectors of the country.
The Government has proposed for the presence of 1 to 4 Government owned entities in strategic sectors and completely exit from non-strategic sectors.

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.