Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 01 January 2021

SSC CGL Current Affairs

::NATIONAL::

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rajkot in Gujarat and said that the nation had emerged as the nerve centre of global health.
“India will play the most important role in the future of health and the health of future,” he said, adding that the country has proven its capacity to adapt, evolve and expand on ideas when needed. “Our focus was always on humanity, the PM said, adding that India has emerged as the nerve centre of global health.
“Bidding farewell to this year with a new health infrastructure reflects the difficulties we faced in 2020 and also stands for the hope we have for the year,” PM Modi said. The last day of 2020 is dedicated to all health workers who are putting their lives at stake to keep us safe, he added.
The project will mean generation of thousands of jobs, good health care and development of Gujarat, the PM said. “We could only establish 6 AIIMS after so many years of independence. In 2003, Atal ji’s government took the initiative to establish 6 more AIIMS. In the past 6 years, we have started work on establishing 10 more AIIMS,” PM Modi said.

The government kept interest rates of small savings schemes, including that of Public Provident Fund or PPF, unchanged for the January to March quarter.
Interest rates of small savings schemes are revised on a quarterly basis. The rates of interest on various small savings schemes for the fourth quarter of 2020-21, starting from January 1 and ending March 31, 2021, shall remain unchanged from those notified for the third quarter (October to December), the government said in a statement.
Besides PPF, the government offers many small savings schemes including Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY), National Savings Certificate (NSC), Post Office Time Deposits and Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS).
The popular girl child savings scheme Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account continues to offer the highest interest rate among the small savings schemes.

Chief of Army Staff Gen M M Naravane held extensive talks with his South Korean counterpart Gen Nam Yeong Shin on ways to boost bilateral military ties, and visited several key installations, including the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), during his tour of the East Asian nation, officials said on Thursday.
The Chief of Army Staff also visited the headquarters of the South Korean Army at Gyeryong city where he was given a guard of honour, they said.
Gen Naravane arrived in Seoul on Monday and held separate talks with Minister of National Defence Suh Wook, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Won In Choul and Minister of Defence Acquisition Planning Administration Gang Eun Ho.
He visited the South Korean Army headquarters on Tuesday and the DMZ on Wednesday.
The DMZ is a buffer zone that separates North and South Korea since the Korean war in the 1950s.
General MM Naravane #COAS received a Guard of Honour at ROK Army Headquarters #Gyeryong #RepublicofKorea. #COAS also called on General Nam Yeong shin, Chief of Staff of the Republic of Korea Army and discussed issues of bilateral defence cooperation.

The remarkably preserved carcass of an Ice Age-era woolly rhino has been unearthed by locals in eastern Siberia, researchers have said.
The rhino was revealed by the melting permafrost in the Abyisky region of Yakutia in north-eastern Russia.
With most of its internal organs intact, the rhino is among the best-preserved animals ever found in the region.
Experts will deliver the rhino to a lab for further studies next month.
They are waiting for ice roads to form so they can take the remains to the city of Yakutsk, where scientists will take samples and carry out radiocarbon analyses.
Valery Plotnikov, a researcher who examined the remains, told Russian media the rhino was between three and four years old when it died, probably from drowning.
She said much of the rhino's soft tissue was still visible, including part of the intestines and genitals.

Michael Kondo, a team member of India’s 1975 hockey World Cup-winning and 1972 Olympics bronze winning squad, died on Thursday at a Rourkela hospital due to age-related issues.
“Michael Kindo passed away at the Ispat General Hospital due to age related problems. He was bed-ridden for quite some time and was also suffering from depression.