1. Karnataka retained its position as the most innovative major state in the country in the India Innovation Index 2020 released by NITI Aayog on January 20, 2021. Karnataka scored 42.5, followed by Maharashtra at second place with a score of 38 and Tamil Nadu at third place with 37.91 score. Bihar was ranked last in the index with 14.5 score.
2. Himachal Pradesh topped the India Innovation Index 2020 among the NE/ Hilly states with a score of 25.06, followed by Uttarakhand and Manipur, while Meghalaya was ranked last with 12.15 score.
3. Delhi topped the India Innovation Index 2021 among the UT/ City States with a score of 46.60, followed by Chandigarh and Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep came last with 11.71 score.
4. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju has been given the additional charge of the AYUSH Ministry. This follows the hospitalization and treatment of AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik following a severe road accident. The arrangement will continue till Naik resumes his work related to the Ministry of AYUSH.
5. The Gujarat state government has decided to rename dragon fruit as “Kamalam”, which means Lotus in Sanskrit. The renaming has been done as the outer shape of the fruit resembles a lotus.
6. The Union Cabinet on January 20, 2021 was apprised of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Uzbekistan for cooperation in the field of Solar Energy. The main area of work under the agreement is to identify research, demonstration and initiation of pilot projects between the institutes of the two nations.
7. Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa launched Avolokana software on January 20, 2021 to enable the government to access data on sanctions and expenditures incurred by 39 departments on 1,800 programmes implemented by them.
8. Prime Minister Uttar Pradesh virtually released financial assistance worth Rs 2,691 crores to over 6 lakh beneficiaries in Uttar Pradesh under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Gramin on January 20, 2021.