India's 1st Fire Park and virtual platform 'Agnishama Seva'

• Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik virtually inaugurated India's first 'Fire Park' at Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. On that occasion CM Patnaik also launched the virtual platform 'Agnishama Seva' to provide through which 16 fire related services can be availed.

• The Fire Park is a first of its kind initiative to provide awareness on fire safety measures, mainly focusing on School and College students.

• The Fire Service Portal 'Agnishama Seva' portal will provide 16 fire related services.

• This can be accessed through www.odishafshgscd.gov.in (Odisha Fire Service, Home Guards & Civil Defense) website.

Indian Navy Coordinates 2nd Edition of 'Sea Vigil 21'- Largest Coastal Defence Exercise

• The Second Edition of the Biennial Pan-India, Largest Coastal Defence Exercise 'Sea Vigil-21" coordinated by Indian Navy took place

• The Defence Exercise involved 13 Coastal States/Union Territories.

• Apart from the Navy, the Indian Air Force, Indian Coast Guard (ICG), National Security Guard (NSG), Border Security Force (BSF), oil handling agencies & airports participated in the exercise.

• Sea Vigil 21' is a build up towards the major Theatre level TROPEX (Theatre-level Readiness Operational Exercise) which Indian Navy conducts every 2 years.

West Bengal CM Inaugurated 26th Kolkata International Film Festival 2021

• Mamata Banerjee Chief Minister of West Bengal inaugurated the 7 day 26th edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival(KIFF) 2021. Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, the brand ambassador of West Bengal virtually attended the inaugural ceremony from Mumbai.

• As a part of the 26th KIFF, 81 full length movies and 50 short films and documentaries from more than 45 countries will be screened at 8 venues

• "Apur Sansar" by Satyajit Ray was screened as the inaugural film.

CSIR-NIO/NGRI sign MoU with POI FEB, Russia to conduct research in Marine Science

• CSIR-NIO of Goa (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research-National Institute of Oceanography) & CSIR-NGRI of Hyderabad (National Geophysical Research Institute) virtually signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pacific Oceanological Institute, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (POI FEB RAS) in the field of Marine Sciences and Technology.

• POI is the largest research institution in FEB of Russian Academy of Sciences with 31 research units consisting of modern scale devices.

About CSIR-NIO:

• Director - Professor Sunil Kumar Singh
• Location - Dona Paula, Goa

About CSIR-NGRI:

• Director - Virendra M. Tiwari
• Location - Hyderabad, Telangana

UNICEF, WHO, IFRC and MSF collaborates to stockpile a global Ebola Vaccine

• World's four leading Health and Humanitarian organisations UNICEF, World Health Organisation (WHO), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) collaborated to stockpile a global Ebola Vaccine with financial assistance from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

• The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization has recommended 500,000 doses of Ebola vaccine to be stockpiled, as a precautionary measure to the sudden Ebola outbreak.

• Currently, 6890 doses of vaccine is available in the stockpile, which will be upgraded to the recommended level in the coming days.

• Ebola Vaccine- Injectable single-dose Ebola vaccine (VSVAG-ZEBOV-GP, live), Manufactured by Merck,Sharp & Dohme (MSD) Corp.

• The Stockpile will be stored in Ultra Cold Storage, in Switzerland and transported to the country in need within 48 hours.

• Ebola was first discovered in Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976.

• India, Vietnam hold 13th Defence Security Dialogue virtually

• 13th India-Vietnam Defence Security Dialogue was held virtually.

• During the virtual summit, both countries had signed 7 MoUs (Memorandum Understandings).

About Vietnam:

• Prime Minister – Nguyen Xuan Phuc

• Capital, Hanoi
• Currency- Vietnamese dong

RBI forms WG to Examine Lending Transactions via Online Portals, Apps

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has formulated a 6-member Working Group (WG) to study all aspects of digital lending activities (including lending through online platforms and mobile apps) in the regulated financial sector as well as by unregulated players so that an appropriate regulatory approach can be put in place.

• The group will be chaired by Jayant Kumar Dash, Executive Director, RBI and will submit its report within three months.

Internal Members (RBI)

• Ajay Kumar Choudhary, Chief General Manager-in-Charge, Department of Supervision, RBI
• Vasudevan, Chief General Manager, Department of Payment and Settlement Systems, RBI
• Manoranjan Mishra, Chief General Manager, Department of Regulation, RBI (Member Secretary)

External members: 2

• Vikram Mehta, Co-founder, Monexo Fintech
• Rahul Sasi, Cyber Security Expert & Founder of CloudSEK

About India Post Payments Bank(IPPB):

• It was setup under the Department of Post, Ministry of Communication with 100% equity owned by Government of India.
• Established - 2018
• MD & CEO J.Venkatramu
• Headquarter - New Delhi, Delhi
• Tagline- Aapka Bank, Aapke Dwaar

About Financial Software and Systems (FSS):

• Established 1991

• Founder, Chairman and Managing Director - Nagaraj Mylandla
• Headquarter - Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Mahindra Lifespace Developers Signed an MoU with SBI

• Mahindra Lifespace Developers has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with State Bank of India (SBI) to speed up the home loan approvals as well as offer special discounts to customers and employees of both the companies.

• Mahindra Lifespaces projects across MMR, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai and Nagpur has already received approval from SBI.

About Mahindra Lifespace Developers:

• Chairman - Mr. Arun Nanda

• Managing Director & CEO - Mr. Arvind Subramanian

Tesla Inc Registers India subsidiary in Bengaluru, Karnataka

• Tesla Inc, United States based Electric car maker has incorporated a fully owned subsidiary in Bengaluru, Karnataka as a first step to establish a Research & Development (R&D) unit in India.

• It is also in the process of setting up a manufacturing plant at Dharwad, Karnataka for producing electric vehicles in India.

Harsh Vardhan virtually Inaugurates the 5th National Kayakalp Awards 2019-20

• Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Virtually Inaugurated the 5th National Kayakalp Awards for the year 2019-20 along with Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare.

• District Hospital Reasi of Jammu and Kashmir was awarded the First Prize of INR 50 Lakhs under Kayakalp Scheme.

• JIPMER (Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research), Pondicherry was awarded the second under the Kayakalp award for Category Group 'A' Central Government health facilities, hospitals with more than 1,000 beds.

• All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Bhubaneswar was also adjudged as the best Central Government hospital under B category.

• Angul District headquarters Hospital (DHH) of Odisha received Kayakalp award under Hospital Category

• Sub Divisional Hospital (SDH) Rairangpur of Mayurbhanj district was felicitated as Winner Hospital in SDH/Community Health Center (CHC) category for the year 2019-20.

• Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MOHFW) launched the National Initiative 'Kayakalp' under Swachh Bharat Mission in 2015 to ensure Hygiene, Sanitation & Cleanliness in Public Health Facilities in India.

• The number of Kayakalp facilities has increased to 7, 615 in 2019-20.

• MOHFW has collaborated with the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation & launched Swachh SwasthSarvatra (SSS) program.

• Under the program, One Community Health Centre (CHCs) situated within the Open Defecation Free (ODF) block will receive a one-time grant of INR 10 lakhs under National Health Mission (NHM).

• The fund can be used for undertaking improvement activities to upgrade CHC into Kayakalp CHC.

IRDAI formulated expert committee to improve health insurance in India

• India's insurance regulator IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) formulated a 10- member advisory committee to improve the product quality and coverage of the health insurance in the country.

• The committee will be chaired by IRDAI chairman and will have tenure of 1 year.

• To examine the availability of products, suggest approaches on the coverage of specific diseases, and develop a strategy on treatment protocol or rate structure.

• To examine that policy conditions are protecting the interest of the policyholders.

About IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India):

• Chairman- Dr. Subhash Chandra Khuntia

• Headquarter- Hyderabad, Telangana

Jüri Ratas Resigned as the Prime Minister of Estonia

• Jüri Ratas, Prime Minister (PM) of Estonia and the leader of the Centre Party resigned following the Party's corruption allegations involving the pandemic relief fund.

• Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia has nominated Kaja Kallas, the leader of the opposition centre right Reform party as a candidate for the next Prime Minister of Estonia.

• Kaja Kallas will become the first Female Prime Minister, if she forms the next government.

About Estonia:

• President- Kersti Kaljulaid

• Capital- Tallinn
• Currency- Euro

2020 Hurun Global 500 List Features 11 Indian Firms; India Ranks 10th

• 2020 Hurun Global 500 list - a list of 500 most valuable companies across the globe, of Hurun Research features a total of 11 Indian companies. According to the report India secured the 10th rank with 11 companies. Topped by United States with 242 companies.

• Apple tops the list with a value of 2.1 Trillion USD followed by Microsoft with a value of 1.640 Trillion and Amazon with a value of 1.610 Trillion and Alphabet with 1.2 trillion USD.

• Released By: Hurun in association with China luxury tea brand Empereur.

• State Bank of India ranked 45th in the Most valuable listed state-controlled companies in the world in 2020.

About Hurun Report:

• Chairman and Chief Researcher- Rupert Hoogewerf (Hu Run) Headquarters- Shanghai, China

About Hurun India:

• MD and Chief Researcher- Anas Rahman
• Headquarters- Mumbai

Padma Shri Awardee & Renowned Social Worker D Prakash Rao passes away

• 63-year old D. Prakash Rao, a Padma Shri Awardee & Renowned Social Worker passed away in Cuttack, Odisha due to a Brain Stroke. Prakash Rao hails from Cuttack, Odisha.

• An Tea Seller, he was conferred with Padma Shri in 2019 to recognize his contribution towards boosting the value of education among slum & orphan kids in Cuttack.

• He had started the school 'Asha O Ashwasana' in Buxi Bazaar area in 2000 to provide free education to kids from slums. The school was run from his earnings at his Tea Stall.

• His School provided basic level education from Kindergarten to Class III for the kids and later helped them to get enrolled in various government schools.

• His services were highlighted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his radio address 'Mann ki Baat'.

Indian Armed Forces Celebrated 5th Veteran Day - 14th January 2021

• Indian Armed Forces annually celebrates the Veteran Day on 14th January to recognise the contributions of the veterans of the Indian Armed Forces.

• The 14th January 2021 marks the celebration of the 5th Veteran Day by the Indian Armed Forces.

• The day honours and recognises the service of Field Marshal KM Cariappa, OBE, the first Commander in Chief of Indian Armed Forces, who retired from the services on 14th January 1953.

Releases on Veteran Day:

• Admiral Karambir Singh released the "Swarnim Vijay Varsh" song dedicated to the valor and courage of the Indian soldiers during the 1971 war.

• The song was written by Kumar Vishwas, composed by Chris Powell and sung by Roomy.

• The Indian Army has released the magazine "Samaam" and the Indian Air Force released the magazine "Vayu Samvedna" exclusive for the veterans and their families.