Test: January 2021 Weekly Current Affair - 4 - UPSC MCQ

The National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE) remained the world’s largest derivatives exchange for the second consecutive year in 2020 in terms of number of contracts traded, according to the Futures Industry Association (FIA).

Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society and. Rajendra Kumar Bhandari have been selected for the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar for their excellent work in Disaster Management.

A new book by foreign affairs consultant Mohamed Zeeshan has been released recently. The title “Flying Blind” alludes to the absence of a coherent strategy in making full use of these advantages.

Bilkis Bano, Bilkis Dadi, the octogenarian woman who emerged as the face of Shaheen Bagh protest movement, and prominent civil rights activist Harsh Mander have been conferred with Quaide Millleth award for year 2020.

On the occasion of National Girl Child Day, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched the ‘PANKH Abhiyan’ under the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ scheme in order to aid in empowerment and growth of the girl child.

Overseas investment by domestic companies fell by over 42 per cent to $1.45 billion in December 2020, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India(RBI).

The combined fiscal deficit of the states will hit a peak of Rs 8.7 lakh crore or 4.7 per cent of their GDP this fiscal on the back of steep fall in tax collections due to disruptions inflicted by the pandemic, according to a Crisil report.

Uttar Pradesh government will establish the first leather park of the country in Kanpur district. The park will be established in 268 area of land in Ramaipur village of Kanpur district and is expected to attract an investment of more than 5850 crores.

India was the seventh most-affected by the devastating impact of climate change globally in 2019 according to the Global Climate Risk Index 2021 released.
India was preceded by Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Bahamas, Japan, Malawi and Afghanistan in the list of countries most affected by the impacts of extreme weather events in 2019, the report by Germanwatch, a Bonn-based environmental organisation said.

The appointments committee (ACC) of the Cabinet cleared the names of two officials—Swaminathan Janakiraman and Ashwini Kumar Tewari as new managing directors of State Bank of India (SBI). The appointments are for a period of three years.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into India increased by 37 per cent to USD 43.85 billion during April-November 2020, according to data by the commerce and industry ministry.

Jayant N Khobragade has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat in Jakarta, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

National Voters’ Day is observed annually on 25 January in order to encourage more young voters to take part in the polling process. This year, the Election Commission of India is observing the 11th National Voters’ Day with the theme ‘Making Our Voters Empowered, Vigilant, Safe and Informed.’

Broadcasters industry body Indian Broadcasting Foundation has appointed former Chief Justice of Jammu & Kashmir High Court Justice Gita Mittal as the new Chairperson of Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC).
Mittal succeeds former Supreme Court Judge, Justice Vikramajit Sen, whose tenure as BCCC Chairperson has ended.

The online two days international Climate Adaptation Summit (CAS) 2021 hosted by the Netherlands, The summit was called as “CAS Online”.

The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Meghalaya was selected for a Special Award for Information Technology applications in Elections by the Election Commission of India (ECI), in the National Best Electoral Practices Awards-2020.

A study by Australia-based Lowy Institute has ranked India 86 out of 98 countries on its Covid performance in the 36 weeks that followed each country’s 100th confirmed case.
While New Zealand has scored the highest average score among countries followed by Vietnam, Taiwan Thailand and Cyprus. The United States is among the bottom five.

The book titled “India 2030: The Rise of a Rajasic Nation” is a collection of essays by the likes of Bibek Debroy, Vikram Sood, Raghunath Anant Mashelkar, Ram Madhav and David Frawley, among others. The book has been authored by Gautam Chikermane.

Central government think tank NITI Aayog has appreciated the “landmark transformation” of the government schools as they have secured the top score in the think tank’s India Innovation Index 2020.
The index said that given the high income levels of Delhi and the transformation of the government schools system, Delhi has reported the highest National Achievement Survey (NAS) score of 44.73.

The 17th Ministerial Meeting of Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) was held virtually. The meeting was hosted by the Republic of Turkey, the current chair of the ACD, under the theme “The New Normal and Safe and Healthy Tourism”.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been ranked third most-valued IT services brand globally, after Accenture and IBM, according to a report by Brand Finance.
Four Indian IT services companies TCS, Infosys, HCL and Wipro secured spots in the top-10 global tally.

Global public debt is estimated to touch 98 per cent of GDP at the end of 2020, International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its latest fiscal monitor update, according to which India’s government debt is expected to remain elevated at 83 per cent of GDP.

Iconic multi-talented artist Soumitra Chatterjee passed away at the age of 85 on November 15, 2020.
The authorised biography is titled ‘SOUMITRA CHATTERJEE A Life in Cinema, Theatre, Poetry & Painting’. Co-authored by Arjun Sengupta and Partha Mukherjee, the book will be published by Niyogi Books.

Border Security Force (BSF) launched “Operation Sard Hawa” under which it aims to increase security on the borders in Jaisalmer.

Colonel B Santosh Babu, the Commanding Officer of 16 Bihar Regiment, who lost his life during the Galwan Valley clash last year, was posthumously awarded with Maha Vir Chakra.