Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2021

Notes:
Uttarakhand Government announced that the number of working days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) will be increased from 100 to 150.
As per the Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, the entire cost will be borne by the state government. He also launched the ‘Uttarakhand Aajeevika App’ to help unemployed people in the state to search for job opportunities.

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:
NASA has recently posted a picture of Abell 370, a massive cluster of galaxies, captured through its Hubble Space Telescope.
As per the statement of NASA, the massive gravity of the cluster makes the light to bend as it passes through. This phenomenon distorts the view of the galaxies behind Abell 370, which is located at 4.9 billion light-years away from the Earth.

Notes:
Reserve Bank of India recently released a discussion paper on revised regulatory framework for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs).
As per the paper, the regulatory and supervisory framework of NBFCs shall be based on a four-layered structure namely Base Layer, Middle Layer, Upper Layer and a possible Top Layer. RBI also recommended more power for the NBFC Boards on capital and risk management.

Notes:
Two new species of a rare ant genus have been recently discovered in Kerala and Tamil Nadu by a team of scientists from Punjabi University.
One of the two species which was discovered found in the Periyar Tiger Reserve of Kerala has been named Ooceraea Joshii, to honour the veteran biologist ‘Amitabh Joshi’.

Notes:
Border Security Force (BSF) organises the Operation “Garam Hawa” in summer season and operation “Sard Hawa” during the winter season every year.
BSF has recently launched “Operation Sard Hawa” of this year, under which it aims to increase security on the borders in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. This operation was scheduled from January 21 to 27, coinciding with the Republic Day.

Notes:
A resolution titled “Promoting a culture of peace and tolerance to safeguard religious sites” has been adopted in the United Nations General Assembly recently.
The resolution calls for efforts to promote a culture of tolerance and peace at all levels. It also invites the Secretary General to convene a global conference to advance the UN’s “Plan of Action to Safeguard Religious Sites”.

Notes:
Recently, the All-India Institute of Ayurveda – New Delhi has conducted a large largest public awareness campaign program on Ayurveda and Covid 19 pandemic and it has been named as “Ayu Samvad”.
This campaign is supported by Ministry of Ayush. More than 5 lakh lectures were organised across the country by Ayurveda Physicians, during the campaign.

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 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.