Daily Current Affairs 27th January, 2021

Daily Current Affairs 27 January 2021 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Madhya Pradesh CM launches ‘PANKH Abhiyan’ on National Girl Child Day
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.

• The CM also announced scholarships worth Rs6.47 crore for 26,099 girls under Ladli Laxmi Yojana. Addressing girl students virtually, he discussed with them their future plans and goals. 

UP becomes first state to have 2 airstrips on expressways for landing, take-off of fighter planes
With the completion of the construction of the 3,300-metre-long airstrip near Kurebhar on Purvanchal Expressway, Uttar Pradesh has become the first state in the country with two airstrips on expressways to facilitate emergency landing and take-off of fighter planes.

• One airstrip is on Lucknow-Agra Expressway while the other is on Purvanchal Expressway. 
• Airstrips on expressways are designed to facilitate emergency landing and take-off of fighter planes.All categories of aircraft can land on this airstrip. The Indian Air Force is likely to test the airstrip soon. 

Kolkata Gets First of its Kind Boat Library, to Host Sessions on Book Launches, Music and More
The West Bengal Transport Corporation in collaboration with a heritage book store here has launched a children’s library on a boat, the first of its kind initiative. 

• The idea behind the boat library is that one can read books while appreciating the beauty of Kolkata, cruising on the Hooghly river. 
• Children will be able to choose from a selection of 500 titles in English and Bengali on the Young Readers’ Boat Library.
• The trip will start at Millenium Park, and the boat will travel to Belur Math jetty and return, he said. There will be three trips on all weekdays. The boat has a free wifi facility as well. A ride on the boat would cost Rs 100 for adults and Rs 50 for children.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah Chairs North Eastern Council Plenary Meeting
Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Shillong to chair the 69th Plenary Meeting of the North Eastern Council (NEC).The meeting would be attended by the MoS (Independent Charge), Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER) and Vice-Chairman, Dr Jitender Singh and members of the NEC comprising Governors and Chief Ministers of the eight north-eastern States.

• The meeting discussed various developmental projects currently in progress and future plans for the entire North Eastern region. 
• Shah also launched the Ayushman Bharat programme for central armed police forces at Guwahati in Assam.

Tamil Nadu CM inaugurates Jayalalithaa Memorial in Chennai
PicsTamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy inaugurated Jayalalithaa Memorial at Chennai. 

• The 79 crore worth grand memorial is built on a nine acre land situated on the shores of the Marina Beach. The phoenix shaped memorial has a statue of Jayalalithaa and MGR with an artificial waterfall. 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India seventh on index of countries impacted by climate change in 2019
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.
• Between  2000 and 2019, over 475,000 people lost their lives as a direct result of more than 11,000 extreme weather events globally and losses amounted to around US $2.56 trillion (in purchasing power parities).
• The report was released just ahead of the Global Adaptation Summit hosted by Netherlands wherein UN secretary general Antonio Guterres is likely to call upon developed countries and donor agencies to increase funding to adaptation measures of developing countries. 

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

IMF Chief Projects 5.5% Global Economic Growth for 2021
The global economy, ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic, is projected to grow at 5.5 per cent in 2021 and 4.2 per cent in 2022, the IMF said, reflecting the expectations of a vaccine-powered strengthening of business activities later in the year and additional policy support in a few large economies.

• The global economy contracted by an estimated 3.5 per cent in 2020 amidst the unprecedented health crisis.
• In its latest update, the IMF projected an 11.5 per cent growth rate for India in 2021. This makes India the only major economy of the world to register double-digit growth in 2021, it said. China is next with 8.1 per cent growth in 2021 followed by Spain (5.9 per cent) and France (5.5 per cent). 

China surpasses US as largest recipient of FDI in 2020: UN
China climbed to the No.1 ranking globally attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) of $163 billion in 2020 amid a raging global pandemic, according to the UN’s latest report on global investment, knocking the US, which attracted $134 billion, off the first spot.

• Global FDI plunged by 42 percent in 2020 to an estimated $859 billion last year, from $1.5 trillion in 2019, and it was more than 30 percent below the trough after the global financial crisis in 2009, a new report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) showed. 
• The global FDI plunge, as the data showed, was concentrated in developed countries, where FDI inflows fell by 69 percent to an estimated $229 billion, the lowest level in 25 years.
• Inflows to Europe fell into negative territory at negative $4 billion. Among EU members, 17 saw their FDI decline with Germany posting a large decrease despite a jump in cross-border M&As, while the UK seeing no new inflows last year.
• The decline in developing economies was relatively measured at 12 percent to an estimated $616 billion, the report showed. The share of developing economies as it relates to global FDI reached 72 percent, the highest share on record. 

Indian Startups Received $10.14 Billion in Funding in 2020: Report
Indian startups are estimated to have received $10.14 billion in funding across more than 1,200 deals in 2020 despite the COVID crisis, a report by consulting firm HexGn said. Even though the total investment received in 2020 is lower than that of 2019 ($14.5 billion), the number of deals were higher by 20 percent. 

• This is the third year in a row that India has kept its number four position globally after the US, China and the UK. Globally, startups raised over $308 billion in funding, with the US garnering $165 billion.
• The report said Bengaluru, Delhi NCR and Mumbai accounted for 90 percent of the startup investments in the country, signalling concentration of angel investors and appetite in these regions. Bengaluru led with $4.3 billion in startup investments, followed by Delhi NCR ($3 billion) and Mumbai ($2 billion).
• In terms of sectors, e-commerce attracted the highest investment with $3 billion, followed by fintech at $2.37 billion and edtech at $1.52 billion. However, sectors like transportation and logistics, and travel and tourism saw more than 90 percent drop in investments in 2020 as compared to 2019. 
• Startups that attracted maximum funding in 2020 include Zomato ($1.02 billion), Byju’s ($922 million), Phonepe ($807 million), Unacademy ($260 million) and Ecom Express ($250 million), as per the HexGn report.  

APPOINTMENTS

Italian PM resigns following criticism over spending in coronavirus crisis
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte tendered his resignation following widespread criticism of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

• This decision comes exactly a week after Conte won the first of two confidence votes at the Lower House of Parliament by 321 in favour, 259 against and 27 abstaining.  
• Conte sought the confidence vote on January 19 after former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, now a senator who leads the Italia Viva party, pulled out of the ruling majority last week, sparking a government crisis. 

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa re-elected as president of Portugal for 2nd term
Portugal’s president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was returned to office for a second term, in an election held amid a devastating COVID-19 surge that has made the European country the worst in the world for cases and deaths.

• Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa captured 61.5% of the vote, with 98.5% of districts reporting. He had been widely expected to win.

AWARDS

Padma Awards 2021 announced
Padma Awards – one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.

• These awards cater to various disciplines including art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports and civil service. 
• Click here to Read More……………………..

Maha Vir Chakra awarded to Galwan valley hero Col Santosh Babu posthumously
President has approved awards of 455 Gallantry and other Defence decorations to Armed Forces personnel and others. These include one Mahavir Chakra, 5 Kirti Chakras, 5 Vir Chakras, 7 Shaurya Chakras, 4 Bar to Sena Medal (Gallantry), 130 Sena Medal (Gallantry), one Nao Sena Medal (Gallantry), 4 Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry), 30 Param Vishisht Seva Medal, 4 Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, 51 Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, 11 Yudh Seva Medal, 3 Bar to Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty), 43 Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty) including 2 COVID Warriors, 8 Nao Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty), 14 Vayu Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty), 3 Bar to Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) including one COVID Warrior and 131 Vishisht Seva Medal including 12 COVID Warriors.

• Colonel B Santosh Babu, the Commanding Officer of 16 Bihar Regiment, who lost his life during the Galwan Valley clash last year, will be posthumously awarded with Maha Vir Chakra.
• Subedar Sanjiv Kumar of 4th Battalion Parachute Regiment, CRPF Inspector Pintu Kumar Singh, CRPF Head Constable Shyam Narayan Singh Yadav, CRPF Constable Vinod Kumar will be posthumously awarded with Kirti Chakra. Deputy Commandant CRPF Rahul Mathur will be awarded Kirti Chakra.
• Naib Subedar Nuduram Soren of 16 Bihar Regiment, Havildar K Palani of 81 Field Regiment, Naik Deepak Singh of Army Medical Corps 16 Bihar Regiment and Sepoy Gurtej Singh of 3rd Battalion Punjab Regiment will be awarded Vir Chakra posthumously. Havildar Tejinder Singh of 3 Medium Regiment will be awarded Vir Chakra.
• Major Anuj Sood of 21st Battalion Rashtriya Rifles, Jammu and Kashmir police inspector Arshad Khan, J&K police Selection Grade Constable GH Mustafa Barah, J&K police Constable Naseer Ahmed Kolie and J&K Special Police Officer Bilal Ahmed Magray will be posthumously awarded with Shaurya Chakra.Rifleman Pranab Jyoti Das of 6th Battalion Assam Rifles and Paratrooper Sonam Tshering Tamang will be awarded Shaurya Chakra.

OBITUARIES

Former India Goalkeeper Prasanta Dora passes away
Former India and Mohun Bagan, East Bengal goalkeeper Prasanta Dora died. He was 44. 

• He was among some of the famous pairs of brothers who played for India with the list including the legendary Pradip Kumar and Prasun Banerjee, Climax and Covan Lawrence, and Mohammed and Shafi Rafi among others.
• Prasanta was also adjudged Best Goalkeeper in Bengal’s successive Santosh Trophy triumphs in 1997-98 and 99. At club-level, Prasanta started his career at the Tollygunge Agragami before moving to Calcutta Port Trust, Mohammedan Sporting, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.

BOOKS &AUTHORS

“India 2030: Rise of a Rajasic Nation” by Gautam Chikermane
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. 

• A new book captures the many aspects of a future that will culminate in India becoming the world’s third-largest economy and a regional power before the decade gets over.

IMPORTANT DAYS

International Customs Day
January 26 is celebrated as the International Customs Day (ICD) to recognizes the role of custom officials and agencies in maintaining border security.

• It is the day designated to honour the custom officials and agencies for their function in taking care of the flow of goods across the world borders.
• 2021 will witness the theme of “Customs bolstering recovery, renewal and resilience” which will focus on the endeavours of customs to emerge from the pandemic crisis and help people.

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