Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2021

Notes:
The United Nations agencies namely the UNICEF, FAO, WFP and WHO jointly released the ‘Asia and the Pacific Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition’ report.
It is the third annual report on progress of Sustainable Development Goals and World Health Assembly targets 2030 on nutrition in the Asia and Pacific region. 24 million in the Asia and Pacific region are likely to suffer food insecurity.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to continue the MoRTH Professorial Chair focusing on research and development.
The Chair focusses on teaching and training in the field of Development of Highway Infrastructure. The Ministry aims to develop indigenous technologies to lower cost of construction and reduce construction period of transport projects.

Notes:
The UT Government of Puducherry has decided to sell Government securities of 4 years maturity, through which it aims to raise a capital of Rs.250 crore.
The sale would be conducted by the Reserve Bank of India – Mumbai. The securities would be in the denomination of Rs.10,000 and multiples thereof.

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:
The Maharashtra government is launching a new initiative named Jail Tourism in the state.
As a part of the programme, jails where many freedom fighters were jailed will be developed as Tourism sites. From January 26, 2021 the state has launched the programme starting with the 150-year-old Yerawada Jail. It will also include Nagpur, Thane, and Ratnagiri Jails.

Notes:
Rajasthan state has launched the new M-Sand Policy-2020 recently. The state Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said the state government aims to meet the quantity of sand needed for construction work in the state.
This would encourage the production of manufactured sand or M-sand and reduce the dependence on traditional sand.

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:
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:
As per media reports, the Government has appointed an expert panel to review industry’s objections to the proposed ban on 27 widely used pesticides.
Former assistant director general of ICAR, TP Rajendran is to chair the committee, which will submit the report in next three months. The Government has proposed to ban 27 pesticides, which are said to be harmful to animals and humans.

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.