Title Title Daily Current Affairs Capsule 10th January 2021

Daily CurrentTitle
              Affairs Capsule
             Title 2021
      10th January

World Hindi Day 2021: 10 January

World Hindi Day is celebrated every year on January 10.

      The day marks the anniversary of the first World Hindi Conference which was inaugurated on January 10,
       1975 by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi.
      However, the celebration of first World Hindi Day was commenced on 10 January 2006 by former Prime
       Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.
      Hindi is not only the country’s most-spoken language, but it is the third most-spoken language in the world
       with 615 million speakers after English, Mandarin, according to the UN.
      While January 10 is celebrated as World Hindi Day, September 14 is celebrated as Hindi Divas or National
       Hindi Divas in India.
      National Hindi Divas is celebrated on September 14 to commemorate the adoption of Hindi as an official
       language of India by the Constituent Assembly.

Central African Republic president Touadera wins reelection

Faustin-Archange Touadera was re-elected as the president of the Central African Republic with more than 53%
votes.

   The 63-year-old president has been in power since 2016 but has struggled to seize control of vast parts of
       the nation from armed militias.
      The Central African Republic, a producer of gold and diamonds, has a population of 4.7 million.
      Capital: Bangui
      Currency: Central African CFA franc

Indian Railways achieves a train speed of 130 kilometer per hour on Golden Quadrilateral - Golden
Diagonal route

Indian Railways has started the New Year by achieving a landmark to enhance the maximum speed to 130
kilometres per hour for 1,280 km length out of 1,612 Km in Golden Quadrilateral - Golden Diagonal route.

      This covers the entire GQ-GD route over South Central Railway, except Vijayawada - Duvvada section,
       where signaling upgradation work is in progress.
      The enhanced speed limits could be achieved due to the systematic and planned strengthening of track
       and its infrastructure by removing bottlenecks in these sections at a fast pace.
      This included heavier rails, laying of 260 meters long welded rail panels, improvement of curves and
       gradients among others.

India to rollout world's largest vaccination drive on Jan 16

The vaccination drive for COVID 19 will kick off on 16th January in the country.

   Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chaired a high-level meeting to review the status of COVID-19 in the
       country along with the preparedness for COVID vaccination.
      Emergency Use Authorisation or Accelerated Approval has been granted by the National Regulator for
       two vaccines - Covishield and Covaxin - which have established safety and immunogenicity.
      The vaccination exercise is underpinned by the principles of people’s participation, utilizing experience
       of elections and Universal Immunization Program.

Brazil seeks two million doses of Covishield vaccine from India on priority basis

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has requested India for 2 million doses of Covishield vaccine produced
indigenously by the Serum Institute of India, Pune.

      Mr Bolsonaro has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expedite the shipment of Covishield
       vaccine to Brazil without affecting India's vaccination program.
      Brazilian National Immunization Program has finalized the Covishield and Covaxin for emergency use in
       the country.
      Earlier, the federally funded Fiocruz biomedical center had requested an emergency use authorization for
       Covishield vaccine coming from India.

MP-UP close to agreement on Ken-Betwa link project

Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat reviewed the Ken-Betwa project.

      The governments of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were close to an agreement on it.
      Discussions on the project were underway between the two States since 15 years and now some minor
       issues are left for which there is a need for clarifications.
      The project that aims to transfer surplus water from the Ken river in MP to Betwa in UP to irrigate the
       drought-prone Bundelkhand region spread across the districts of two states

   The Ken-Betwa River linking project will benefit the dry Bundelkhand area in MP and UP.
      There are 31 river interlinking projects planned in the country, of which Ken-Betwa is the first that has
       reached an advanced level of planning.

Gujarat CM decides to create new Bagasara Prant in Amreli district

Gujarat Chief Minister has decided to create a new Bagasara Prant in Amreli district.

      This will take the state’s revenue services nearer to the people and provide services faster.
      The newly created Bagasara Prant would come into effect on 26th January, which includes Bagasara and
       Vadiya talukas in it.
      Since the districts with larger geographical areas cause inconvenience to the people, the state government
       has been reorganizing smaller districts and talukas for administrative convenience, faster development,
       reducing workload as well as saving the people's time.

Cherry Blossom Mao Festival held in Manipur

In Manipur, the Cherry Blossom Mao Festival was held at Senapati district marking the beginning of pink season
in the district.

      The Mao area of Senapati district in Manipur is known for Cherry Blossom, a plant which is popularly
       known as Sakura in Japan.
      The Manipur government started organizing the festival every year from 2017 onward.
      However this year, the authority decided to scale down the festival due to COVID-19 pandemic.

High Level Committee to commemorate 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

A High Level Committee, headed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been constituted to commemorate
the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a befitting manner.

      Union Culture Ministry has said that the High Level Committee will decide on the activities for a one year
       long commemoration, beginning 23rd January 2021.
      The Members of the Committee include distinguished citizens, historians, authors, experts, family
       members of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, as well as eminent persons associated with Azad Hind Fauj.

Bandhan Bank launches ‘Shaurya Salary Account’ to provide banking services to Defence personnel

Private lender Bandhan Bank has launched ‘Bandhan Bank Shaurya Salary Account’ to provide banking and
financial services to the personnel of the Armed Forces and Paramilitary services.

      Bandhan Bank Shaurya Salary Account comes with a host of convenience and ease of banking with
       internet and mobile banking.
      They will be offered other preferential services such as six per cent interest on balance over Rs one lakh,
       unlimited free ATM transactions across ATMs, waiver of issuance and annual charge on Shaurya Visa
       Platinum Debit Card and unlimited free NEFT/RTGS/IMPS/DD transactions.