Daily news 20 January 2021

International News

1. Netherlands PM Mark Rutte and his entire cabinet quits

• The Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte and his entire Cabinet has resigned recently over the childcare subsidies scandal, in which thousands of families were wrongly accused of child welfare fraud.
• However, the Rutte government will stay on in a caretaker role until parliamentary elections in March 2021.
• The resignation brings to an end a decade in office for Rutte, although his party is expected to win the election, putting him first in line to begin talks to form the next government. If he succeeds in forming a new coalition, Rutte would most likely again become prime minister.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• Netherlands Capital: Amsterdam; Currency: Euro

State News

2. Maharashtra renames Gorewada international zoo after Bal Thackeray

• The Maharashtra government has renamed Gorewada International Zoo in Nagpur as 'Balasaheb Thackeray Gorewada International Zoological Park. The zoological park will come up on nearly 2,000 hectares forest land.
• Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will inaugurate the Indian safari at the zoo on January 26. Three special 40-seat capacity vehicles and an online ticket booking facility will be made available to the people as soon after the Indian safari is inaugurated.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• Chief Minister of Maharashtra: Uddhav Thackeray; Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

3. Nitish Kumar inaugurates state’s first Bird Festival ‘Kalrav’

• The Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar has inaugurated the first-ever bird festival of the state, ‘Kalrav’, at Nagi-Nakti bird sanctuary, located in Jamui district.
• The festival was organized by the state environment, forest and climate change department to create awareness among people about birds, especially the migratory birds. He will also launch the logo of the bird festival and also release a coffee table book on the birds available at the sanctuaries.
• The Nagi- Nakti Bird Sanctuaries have been the home of a wide variety of indigenous species of birds and of migratory birds that turn up during the winters from places like Eurasia, Central Asia, the Arctic Circle, Russia and Northern China.
• Over 136 species of birds have been spotted at these sanctuaries.
• Not just that, around 1,600 bar-headed geese, which is about 3% of the global population of this variety, have been seen here, as per a report of the Wetlands International and because of this rare phenomenon, the Birdlife International, a global body, has held the Nagi Dam Bird Sanctuary to be globally important for the conservation of birds' population and has declared it as an important bird area.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• Chief Minister of Bihar: Nitish Kumar; Governor: Phagu Chauhan.

Defence News

4. India to procure 21 MiG-29 and 12 Sukhoi-30MKI fighter aircraft from Russia

• The Government of India is set to procure 21 MiG-29 and 12 Sukhoi-30MKI fighter aircraft from Russia. Apart from this, the Centre will also purchase the upgrades of the existing fleets of aircraft from Russian state-run defence export arm Rosoboronexport.
• The new set of 21 MiG-29 will add to existing 59 such jets already with the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the 12 Sukhoi-30MKIs, on the other hand, will add to the existing fleet of 272 such fighter aircraft.

Appointments News

5. Kiren Rijiju gets additional charge of Ayush Ministry

• Ministry for Sports and Youth Affairs, Kiren Rijiju has been given the additional charge of the Ayush Ministry. He will hold the fort till Shripad Yesso Naik recovers from an accident.
• The President has directed that this arrangement may continue till Shri Shripad Yesso Naik resumes his work related to Ministry of AYUSH.”
• The President, as advised by the Prime Minister, has directed that during the hospitalisation and treatment of Shri Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH); and Minister of State in Ministry of Defence, following a road accident, his portfolio related to Ministry of AYUSH, be temporarily assigned to Shri Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State (Independent Charge) in addition to his existing portfolios.

Summits and Conferences News

6. 15th India Digital Summit 2021 begins

• The India Digital Summit, the flagship event of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) is one of the biggest conferences for the digital industry.
• Honourable Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & IT and Law & Justice, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, who is the chief guest, will deliver the inaugural address at the Summit.
• The summit, in its 15th year, will bring thought leadership on various digital initiatives that will cover Policies, Business, Investment, Advertising, Digital Commerce, Start-ups Ecosystem, Emerging Tech, and other Digital Trends.
• The theme for this year’s summit, which is being held virtually is ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat – Start of New Decade’ in line with the government’s ‘Make for the World’ Initiatives.
• The staggering increase in the total number of internet users in rural India recently presents us with the unique opportunity to establish India as a global powerhouse of Digital Growth.

Science and Technology News

7. Infosys receives Google Cloud Partner Status

• Infosys has recently announced that it has been accredited with the Google Cloud Partner Specialization in the data and analytics space. Infosys is among the top global system integrators which have been accredited with this specialization.
• Infosys has received this recognition as the company has successfully demonstrating end-to-end capabilities on Google Cloud including warehousing on the cloud and data ingestion.
• Infosys has showcased robust methodology, strong industry expertise, technical proficiency, success in specialized data and analytics solutions, and service areas.
• These data and analytics offerings are a part of Infosys Cobalt.
• Along with AI capabilities, these data and analytics offerings help in optimizing costs paving the way for AI and cloud-native digital transformation for enterprises, migrating workloads to Google Cloud, and modernize data landscapes.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• Infosys Founded: 7 July 1981.
• Infosys CEO: Salil Parekh.
• Infosys Headquarters: Bengaluru.

Books and Authors News

8. Goa CM releases book 'Manohar Parrikar - Off the Record'

• Goa Chief Minister, Pramod Sawant has released a book ‘Manohar Parrikar- Off the Record’ at a function organized at Institute Menezes Braganza hall in the city. The book has been written by senior journalist Waman Subha Prabhu.
• The book ‘Manohar Parrikar- Off the Record’ is a collection of memories of Mr Prabhu who happened to be with late Parrikar during the journey of his life.
• In the book, the author has endeavoured to narrate the multi-faceted personality of late Manohar Parrikar. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, while speaking, said Late Manohar Parrikar was a great visionary who had dreamt to serve Goa.

Obituaries News

9. Padma Award winning Renowned Oncologist Dr V Shanta passes away

• Padma Award winning renowned oncologist Dr V Shanta has passed away. She was the chairperson of Adyar Cancer Institute in Chennai, which she joined in 1954. The institute is known for providing state-of-the-art healthcare to all patients.
• Dr V Shanta was a recipient of the prestigious Padma Shri (1986) and Padma Bhushan (2006) for her efforts for making quality and affordable cancer treatment accessible to everyone. She was also awarded the Padma Vibhushan and the Ramon Magsaysay awards.

Miscellaneous News

10. India’s 1st Labour Movement Museum to be set up in Kerala

• The first-of-its-kind Labour Movement Museum, in India, would be launched in Alappuzha in Kerala, to showcase the history of the world labour movement.
• The museum will portray the growth of the world labour movement and the history of Kerala’s labour movement, through pictures, documents and other exhibits. Alappuzha is famous as the global houseboat tourism hub.
• The New Model Cooperative Society Limited, previously run by the Bombay Company, has been converted into the Labour Movement Museum.
• It will portray, through pictures, documents and other exhibits, the growth of the world labour movement and the history of Keralas labour movement.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• Kerala CM: Pinarayi Vijayan.
• Kerala Governor: Arif Mohammad Khan.

11. Bhawana Kanth to become 1st woman fighter pilot at R-Day parade

• Flight lieutenant Bhawana Kanth will become the 1st woman fighter pilot to take part in the Republic Day parade.
• She will be a part of the Indian Air Force’s tableau in the 2021 Republic Day Parade that will showcase mock-ups of the light combat helicopter, light combat aircraft, and the Sukhoi-30 fighter plane.
• At present, Bhawana is posted in Rajasthan and flies the MiG-21 Bison fighter plane.
• Bhawana is also one of the first women fighter pilots to be inducted into the Indian Air Force in the year 2016.
• She was inducted into IAF in 2016 along with Mohana Singh and Avani Chaturvedi.
• Since then 10 women have been commissioned as fighter pilots in IAF.
• Induction of Bhawana and other two women fighters was an experimental scheme of induction of women in IAF’s combat stream introduced in the year 2015.