National:
Parliamentary Messenger in Rajasthan Book:
- The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu released the book titled “Parliamentary Messenger in Rajasthan”, on 5 February 2021.
The book is written by Dr K N Bhandari and focuses on the health and education initiatives undertaken through the MPLAD Scheme on the recommendation of Dr Abhishek Singhvi in Rajasthan over 12 years from 2006 to 2018.
MPLAD Scheme was announced basically to empower people’s representatives by enabling them to serve their constituents.
Ambikatanayadatta National Award:
- Poet, critic and columnist, H. S. Shivaprakash has been conferred with Ambikatanayadatta National Award. The award has been presented by Kannada Border Development Authority Chairman C Somashekar. The award instituted by the Da Ra Bendre National Memorial Trust.
Covid Woman Warrior Award:
- Union Forest and Science and Technology Minister Prakash Javadekar conferred the Covid woman warrior award on 31 January 2021 to SP B Raja Kumari of Vizianagaram district.
The award is given on the occasion of the 29th foundation day for National Commission for Women at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi.
33rd Kerala Science Congress & Young Scientist Award:
- The 33rd Kerala Science Congress was held in Thiruvananthapuram from 25th January to 30th January, 2021. It is an annual event conducted by the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology & Environment every year during the last week of January.
The focal theme of the 33rd Kerala Science Congress was ‘Pandemics: Risks, Impact and Mitigation’.
The Kerala State Young Scientist Award instituted by the KSCSTE is intended to honour talented young Scientists in recognition of their outstanding contribution in Science and Technology.
Kerala State Young Scientist Awardees for 2020:
- Dr. A.A. Ambily (Asst. Professor) from Cochin University of Science & Technology
- Dr. Deepu Sivadas (Post Doctoral Fellow) from Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanical Gardenand Research Institute, Palode, TVM
- Dr. Sreejith Shankar.P (Assistant Professor) from CSIR-NIIST, Pappanamcode, Trivandrum
- Dr.R.Sudharshan Kaarthik (Assistant Professor) from IIST, Valiyamala, Trivandrum
International:
Oxford Hindi Word of the Year 2020:
- The Oxford Hindi Word of the Year is a word or expression that is chosen to reflect the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of the passing year, and have lasting potential as a term of cultural significance.
The Oxford Languages Hindi Word of the Year 2020 is- ‘Aatmanirbharta or Self-Reliance’.
Appointment of Chief of Staff of NASA:
- Indian-American scientist, Bhavya Lal has been appointed as the Acting Chief of Staff of NASA, the US space agency.
Sports:
2021 ATP Cup Tournament:
- The 2021 ATP Cup tournament was held in Melbourne, Australia from 2nd February to 6th February, 2021.
The 2021 ATP Cup was the second edition of the ATP Cup, an international men’s tennis tournament held by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
Winner:
In the final match on 7 February 2021, Daniil Medvedev won the ATP Cup title for Russia. Russia team won the tournament, defeating Italy 2–0 in the final.