04th January 2021 Current affairs

1. Britain became the first nation in the world on January 4, 2020 to roll out the low-cost and easily transportable Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. An 82-year-old man, dialysis patient Brian Pinker, became the first in the world on January 4th to receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. He received his first vaccine dose at Oxford’s Churchill Hospital.
2. The 51st International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will be held in the Indian state of Goa from January 16-24, 2021. The festival will open with Indian premiere ‘Another Round’ by Thomas Vinterberg.
3. India signed a $231 million loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on December 30, 2020 to construct a 120 megawatt (MW) hydroelectric power plant in Assam to boost electricity generation capacity in the state.
4. Kazakhstan President Kassyam-Jomart Tokayev signed a law that sanctions the ‘Second Optional Protocol’ to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The protocol entails a formal commitment to abolishing the death penalty.
5. The Uttar Pradesh state government will launch a special program named ‘Kisan Kalyan Mission’ on January 6, 2021, to double the income of farmers of the state. The program will cover all the assembly constituencies of the state.
6. A well-preserved Ice Age woolly rhino was found in the permafrost in Yakutia, Russia’s extreme north with many of its internal organs still intact. The remains of the animal are so well-preserved that most of its soft tissues are still intact, including a part of the intestines, thick hair and a lump of fat.
7. The world Braille Day is celebrated on January 4th to commemorate the birth anniversary of Louis Braille, the inventor of Braille for the vision-impaired people. Louis Braille was born on January 4, 1809 in the town of Coup ray in northern France.
8. Iran plans to enrich uranium to up to 20 percent purity at Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, according to UN nuclear watchdog – International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This would take Iran’s nuclear enrichment program to pre-2015 levels.
9. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India on 31st December 2020 signed a $100 million loan to modernize and upgrade the power distribution system to enhance the quality and reliability of electricity supply in Bengaluru city in the state of Karnataka. The loan will strengthen the capacity of BESCOM in operation and maintenance of underground cabling, environment and social safeguards, financial management and commercial financing. Improved financial management capability will help BESCOM access domestic and international commercial financing market.