National:
97th Battalion of Rapid Action Force:
- The Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah laid the foundation stone of 97th Battalion of Rapid Action Force (RAF) in Bullapur near Bhadravathi in Shimoga district of Karnataka on 16 January 2021.
He said that this Battalion will always stand shoulder to shoulder with the people for peacekeeping throughout Southern India and within the region up to Goa.
SKOCH Challenger Award to Ministry of Panchayati Raj:
- The Ministry of Panchayati Raj received the coveted “SKOCH Challenger Award”, under “Transparency in Governance” category on 16 January 2021.
The award has been given for IT-led initiatives and transformational reforms leading to outcome-based performance improvement, better transparency and strengthening of the e-Governance in Panchayati Raj Institutions across the country.
The award was received by the Secretary of Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Shri Sunil Kumar at the 70th Virtual SKOCH Summit (SKOCH Public Policy Forum).
“SKOCH Challenger Award” to Ministry of Tribal Affairs
International:
G7 Summit Invitation:
- G7 summit will be held this year in Cornwall during June 11-13. Prime Minister Boris Johnson invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the G7 Summit. Besides India, UK has also invited the leaders of Australia and South Korea to attend as guest countries.
The member countries of G7 are UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US.
Sports:
Yonex Thailand Open Badminton Tournament:
- The Yonex Thailand Open badminton tournament held at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand from 12 to 17 January 2021.
Tournament Winners 2021:
Men’s Singles:
Danish Badminton Player, Viktor Axelsen
Women’s Singles:
Spanish Badminton Player, Carolina Marin
Men’s Doubles:
Taiwanese Badminton Player, Lee Yang
Taiwanese Badminton Player, Wang Chi-lin
Women’s Doubles:
Indonesian Badminton Player, Greysia POLII
Indonesian Badminton Player, Apriyani RAHAYU
Mixed Doubles:
Thai Badminton Player, Dechapol PUAVARANUKROH
Thai Badminton Player, Sapsiree TAERATTANACHAI
Death:
- Puducherry BJP MLA, K G Shankar died due to cardiac arrest on 17 January 2021. He was 70. He was one of the three legislators nominated by the Union Home Ministry to the Assembly.