Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2021

Notes:
The bilateral Air Exercise, ‘Desert Knight Exercise’ between Indian Air Force and French Air and Space Force is scheduled to be held this month.
To participate in the exercise, A-400M tactical aircraft from France arrived at Jodhpur. Indian Air Force’s Mirage 2000, Su-30 MKI, Rafale, and IL-78 Flight Refuelling Aircraft will feature in the exercise. The two countries have organised six editions of air exercises named Garuda.

Notes:
The Assam Chief Minister laid the foundation stone of Science City at Tepesia, in the outskirts of Guwahati.
It would be built at a total expenditure of Rs. 184 crores. The main building is being built by National Council of Science Museum, Union’s Cultural Affairs department and state’s Science and Technology Department.

Notes:
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) signed an agreement with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to collaborate in sustainable geo-hazard management.
The expertise of one of the DRDO labs, Defence Geo Informatics Research Establishment (DGRE), would be used. This move aims to ensure Road safety of users on National highways (NHs) against the effects of landslides and other natural calamities.

Notes:
Namrup is a town located in the southeastern part of Assam state. Recently a meeting was held by the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers regarding the upcoming urea plant at Namrup.
The 12.7 lakh MMTPA capacity project is to be implemented jointly by the National Fertilizers Limited (NFL), Oil India Limited (OIL), Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited (RCF), Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Limited (BVFCL) and Assam government.

Notes:
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has announced to set up a Quantum Computing Applications Lab in association with Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Through this step, the researchers in educational institutions or start-up ecosystem, will get access to quantum computing hardware, simulators, and programming tools through Amazon Braket service, at no cost.

Notes:
The Toshali National Crafts Mela is annually organised in the state of Odisha. This year, the Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik recently inaugurated the event.
Many artisans from across the state and from many parts of the counry showcased their products in the handloom and handicraft fair. State Handicrafts Award and State Kalakruti Award were also presented to exceptional artisans.

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:
India is to host the Defence Ministers of the countries of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) in Bengaluru city on February 4, 2021.
This conclave will be organised alongside the upcoming Aero India in Bengaluru. The theme of the conclave will be ‘Enhanced Peace, Security and Cooperation in the Indian Ocean’.

Notes:
The domestic capital market, denoted by SENSEX has touched a new height of 50,000 mark for the first time ever.
The Sensex was launched in 1986 as the country’s first equity index. The index commenced operations with 124 points. It reached 1000 points in 1990 and has grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 15.9% to reach 50,000 points in 2021.

Notes:
The World Health Organization (WHO) has collaborated with the American pharmaceutical firm Pfizer recently.
As per the deal, 40 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine will be distributed for poor and lower-middle income countries under its COVAX programme.