Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2021

Notes:
Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan has been nominated by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) as a member on the GAVI Board.
The Minister is to succeed Mr. Myint Htwe of Myanmar and will represent the South East Area Regional Office (SEARO)/ Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) constituency from 1st January 2021 until 31st December 2023.

Notes:
Last week, around 22,000 ducks died in Kuttanad and upper Kuttanad, in the state of Kerala. The preliminary tests could not find the certain reason for the deaths.
Recently, the samples of affected birds are to be sent to the National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal, to analyse and ascertain the reason.

Notes:
The United Kingdom approved the Covid vaccine developed by AstraZeneca along with the University of Oxford, thereby becoming the first country in the world to do so.
The country’s residents are already being administered with the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine since the first week of December 2020. The UK has ordered 100 million doses of the new vaccine, to vaccinate 50 million people.

Notes:
British Racing Driver Lewis Hamilton has been knighted in the traditional New Year Honours list of the United Kingdom.
The list recognises outstanding achievements in various fields including business, sport and politics among others. Lewis Hamilton, this year, equalled the record of seven Formula One world titles held by legendary racer Michael Schumacher.

Notes:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Prime Minister has approved to set up Multi Modal Logistics Hub (MMLH) and Multi Modal Transport Hub (MMTH) at Greater Noida.
The estimated cost of the hubs in the city in Uttar Pradesh is Rs 3,883.80 crores. As per the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the projects are estimated to generate employment for about 1 lakh persons by 2040.

Notes:
The Kerala state Assembly has recently passed a resolution urging the Central Government to scrap the recent farm laws.
The resolution was passed unanimously with the support of the Opposition party, the United Democratic Front (UDF) also. The Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan presented the resolution in the House which convened for a special session to discuss on the laws.

Notes:
Former General Manager of the Eastern Railway, Suneet Sharma has been appointed as the new Chairman & Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Railway Board (Ministry of Railways).
He will also serve as the ex-officio Principal Secretary to Government of India. After the completion of the term of incumbent chief V K Yadav, the appointments committee of the Cabinet has approved Suneet Sharma as the new Chairman & CEO.

Notes:
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) considered the condition of the sailors as a suo-motto step and asked the Ministry of External Affairs to take care of the crew members.
In response, the Ministry has asked China to provide urgent assistance to as many as 39 cre members of the stranded cargo vessels, which have been stuck for months near the Chinese ports of Jingtang and Caofeidian.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the permanent campus in the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Sambalpur in Odisha.
The institute has been functioning in a makeshift campus for more than five years, since it was launched as a third-generation IIM, in the year 2015-16.

Notes:
Prayaas is the new community helping initiative adopted by Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL). Under this scheme, employees of IOCL Delhi Office would visit the night shelters located near IOCL’s fuel stations for distribution of blankets and essentials.
These night shelters are being run by the Government of Delhi and some NGOs to help the weaker section of the society.