1. US President Donald Trump has declared a state of emergency in Washington DC ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20, 2021. The declaration of emergency comes after pro-Trump supporters breached the security of US Capitol building on January 6.
2. The Goa state government has banned the entry of poultry from neighboring states as a precautionary measure amid the emergence of bird flu cases in several states in the country.
3. The US House Democrats plan to vote to impeach President Donald Trump on January 13, 2021. The House will vote on 12th January on a resolution urging Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from power and then vote to impeach the President.
4. Three US Presidents have faced impeachment by the Congress—Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. However, no U.S. president has ever been removed from office through impeachment.
5. National Youth Day is observed on January 12, 2021. The date was chosen to honor the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, one of India’s greatest spiritual and social leaders.
6. The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has found promising concentrations of vanadium in the palaeo-proterozoic carbonaceous phyllite rocks in Arunachal Pradesh’s Papum Pare district.
7. NASA is set to launch the most powerful rocket in the world on January 17, 2021. NASA has named it as the Space Launch System. The rocket has been built to carry the first woman and the next man to the moon.
8. The One Planet Summit was held this year on 11th January 2021. The summit is an international event that aims to advance the protection of the nature and ecosystems.