Daily Current Affairs and GK | 23 January 2021

Topic: Important Days

1. National Girl Child Day Week: 21- 26 January

• The National Girl Child Day Week is being celebrated from 21 to 26 January 2021. It is being celebrated on the occasion of National Girl Child Day.
• National Girl Child Day is celebrated every year on 24 January to highlight the issues related to girl children in India.
• Its main objective is to raise awareness about the rights of a girl child and their education, health and nutrition.
• National Girl Child Day was started by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2008.

Topic: Defence

2. DRDO successfully tested Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW) from Hawk-I.

• DRDO has successfully conducted a flight test of indigenously developed Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW) from Hawk-I of HAL in Odisha.
• It was the ninth in series of SAAW successful tests conducted by DRDO so far.
• Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW):
  • It is developed by DRDO.
  • It is a long-range precision-guided anti-airfield weapon. It can easily hit the airfield assets such as radars, bunkers, taxi tracks, and runways, etc
  • It has a range of 100 km.
  • SAAW project was approved by the Government of India in 2013.
• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO):
  • It works under the Ministry of Defence.
  • It was established in 1958.
  • Chairman: G. Sateesh Reddy
  • Headquarters: New Delhi

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Important Days

3. 125^th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: 23^rd January 2021.

• 23^rd January 2021 is the 125^th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, a great freedom fighter born in 1897 in Cuttack (Odisha).
• Howrah-Kalka Mail has been renamed as Netaji Express by Railway Ministry. The film ‘Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero’ will be screened at 51^st IFFI. Shyam Benegal wrote and directed this film.  
• Government has declared his birthday 23^rd January to be celebrated as Parakram Diwas every year and formed a High-Level Committee to celebrate 125^th anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
• Unfinished autobiography of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose has been published with the title of an Indian Pilgrim.
• Subhas Chandra Bose:
  • Born on 23 January 1897, Subhas Chandra Bose became the President of the Haripura Congress session in 1938 and established Forward Block in 1939.
  • He defeated Pattabhi Sitaramayya in the 1939 elections for Congress President. He had given the slogan “Tum mujhe khoon do, main tumhe aazdi dunga”.
  • He was the leader of Azad Hind Fauj. Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das was his political guru.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/ Assam

4. PM Modi will start distribution of land patta to indigenous landless people of Assam at Sivsagar.

• PM Modi will start distribution of land patta to indigenous landless people of Assam at Sivsagar.
• Assam government is giving land pattas to landless people. 1 lakh people have already given land pattas.
• It is believed that Shivadol temple in Sivsagar district of Assam is the highest Shiva Temple in India. It is also believed that Joysagar in the Sivsagar district of Assam is the biggest man made tank in India.
• Assam:
  • The state capital is Dispur. The largest city is Guwahati.
  • State Dance: Bihu, State Bird: White-winged wood duck
  • The State Governor is Jagdish Mukhi and Chief Minister is Sarbananda Sonowal.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

5. Ministry of Road Transport & Highways signed MoU with IIT Roorkee, Uttarakhand.

• Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has signed an MoU with IIT Roorkee, Uttarakhand.
• The MoU is for continuing of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Professorial Chair.
• It focuses on Research and Development (R&D) in the area of Development of Highway Infrastructure.
• Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is the apex body responsible for sustainable, safe and internationally comparable quality of road infrastructure in India. It is currently headed by Nitin Gadkari.

Topic: State News/ Gujarat

6. Gujarat Government and Adani Port and SEZ Ltd. signed MoU for India’s largest multi-model logistic park.

• Gujarat Government and Adani Port and SEZ Ltd. have signed an MoU for setting up of India’s largest multi-model logistic park at Virochan Nagar in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
• The proposed park will be built in 1,450-acre at Virochan Nagar in Ahmedabad. It will be established in a phased manner in the next three years with an estimated investment of Rs 50,000 crore.
• The park will be connected with the dedicated Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor through rail.
• Gujarat:
  • It is a coastal state of India.
  • Capital: Gandhinagar
  • Governor: Acharya Dev Vrat, Chief Minister: Vijay Rupani
  • Lok Sabha seats: 26, Rajya Sabha seats: 11
  • Gir National Park is located in Gujarat.

Topic: State News/ Madhya Pradesh

7. WIPRO agrees to become Knowledge Partner of Madhya Pradesh Government.

• WIPRO has agreed to become a Knowledge Partner of the Madhya Pradesh Government.
• MP Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chauhan held a video conference with Mr. Azim Premji of WIPRO.
• WIPRO has planned for the establishment of a university in MP. It will also establish its Software Development Centre in Bhopal.
• WIPRO is an Indian company based in Bengaluru and owned by Azim Premji. Its CEO is Thierry Delaporte.
• Madhya Pradesh:
  • It is the second-largest state in India in terms of area.
  • Capital of Madhya Pradesh: Bhopal
  • Largest city of Madhya Pradesh: Indore
  • It shares its border with Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
  • Governor of Madhya Pradesh: Anandiben Patel

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

8. An MoU has been signed among MECL, RSMML and DMG for feasibility study of solution mining potash in Rajasthan.

• The Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL), Rajasthan State Mines & Minerals Limited (RSMML) and the Department of Mines & Geology (DMG), Rajasthan have signed a tripartite pact for feasibility studies of Solution Mining of Potash in Rajasthan.
• The agreement will help in doing the study of sub-surface salt deposits through solution mining.
• Rajasthan has a rich source of Potash; it is spread over an area of more than 50,000 sq. km in the Nagaur – Ganganagar basin.
• Potash and Sodium Chloride are used in fertilizers and chemical industries. Potash is also used in the manufacturing of glass and explosives.
• Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited is the nodal agency for doing this feasibility study in Rajasthan.
• Rajasthan mineral resources:

Topic: Space and IT

9. Ministry of Electronics & IT to establish a Quantum Computing Applications Lab to promote quantum computing research.

• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), in association with Amazon Web Services (AWS), will establish a Quantum Computing Applications Lab to promote the research and development related to quantum computing.
• It will provide quantum computing service to different stakeholders such as government ministries and departments, Scientists, academia, etc. It will also provide its service to manufacturing, healthcare, and agriculture sectors of India.
• The Quantum Computing Applications Lab will help government bodies and the scientific community to solve real-world challenge through experiments and prototypes.
• Quantum computing is the use of quantum phenomena such as superposition and entanglement to perform computation. Computers that perform quantum computations are known as quantum computers. It can solve complex computational problems of various sectors.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a cloud-based computing web services. 
• Ravi Shankar Prasad is the current Electronics and Information Technology Minister.

Topic: Appointment

10. Siddhartha Mohanty appointed as managing director of LIC.

• Siddhartha Mohanty has been appointed as the managing director of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). He will assume the post on 1 February.
• He is currently serving as MD & CEO of LIC Housing Finance. He had also served as the chief operating officer of LIC Housing Finance.
• He has replaced TC Suseel Kumar.
• His appointment has been approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
• At present, LIC has four managing directors and one Chairman. Vipin Anand, Mukesh Kumar Gupta, and Raj Kumar are the other managing directors.
• Life Insurance Corporation (LIC):
  • It was formed in September 1956. Government of India completely (100%) owns LIC. It is headquartered in Mumbai.
  • MR Kumar is the current chairman of LIC. Chairman and four Managing Directors (MDs) form the executive board of LIC.
  • Its slogan is “yogakshemam vahamyaham”.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

11. Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers chaired a meeting on upcoming urea plant at Namrup in Assam.

• D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers, conducted a meeting with Assam Government for the upcoming 12.7 lakh MMTPA capacity urea plant at Namrup in Assam.
• Government is establishing a urea plant at Namrup to attain self-sufficiency in urea production. It will help in meeting the domestic demand of urea and it will also export surplus urea to South Asian countries.
• Namrup project will create job opportunities and will foster the development of adjoining areas.
• Urea: It is widely used in fertilizers Industry and it is an important raw material for the chemical industry. Its chemical formula is CH₄N₂O.
• Namrup is located in Dibrugarh district of Assam. It is an important industrial town of Assam. India’s first natural gas-based fertilizer factory was established at Namrup.
• Namrup urea Project:
  • It is an ammonia-urea unit within the premises of BVFCL, Namrup.
  • It will be implemented by a joint venture of National Fertilizers Limited (NFL), Oil India Limited (OIL), Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited (RCF), Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Limited (BVFCL) and Government of Assam (GoA).