• Elon Musk’s SpaceX created a new world record by launching 143 satellites on a single rocket last night. SpaceX has beaten the Indian space agency ISRO's record of deploying 104 satellites in a single launch in February 2017. The launch vehicle for the SpaceX record-breaking flight was the Falcon 9 rocket.
• The 143 satellites launched last night include commercial and government CubeSats, microsats and 10 Starlink satellites. Onboard was also a spacecraft belonging to Nasa. According to sources, SpaceX offered a very low price of 15,000 dollars per kilogram for each satellite to be delivered to a polar sun-synchronous orbit.

• India celebrates National Voters Day on January 25 every year to mark the foundation day of the Election Commission of India.
• The Election Commission was founded in 1950 on this day. The occasion was first celebrated in 2011.
• President Ram Nath Kovind virtually addressed the celebrations today. During the event, the President conferred the National Awards for the year 2020-21. 
• This year's theme is "Making Our Voters Empowered, Vigilant, Safe and Informed". 
• The National Voters Day ceremony is aimed at increasing voter enrolment, with special focus on new voters. The celebrations include felicitating new voters and handing them their Elector Photo Identity Cards.

• Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli has been expelled from the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) over his decision to dissolve the Parliament.
• The Prime Minister was removed from the party by a Central Committee at a meeting of the party's splinter group held on January 24, 2021. 
• The decision comes amid repeated threats by the rival faction leaders who had said that they would revoke Oli's membership over his decision to dissolve the Nepal Parliament. The rival faction spokesperson Narayankaji Shrestha said that the party leaders are planning further action against Oli after his ouster from the party.

• Mongolia’s prime minister resigned a day after protests against his government’s Covid-19 control measures erupted in capital Ulaanbaatar.
• Prime Minister Khurelsukh Ukhnaa submitted his resignation and a proposal to dissolve his government after hundreds gathered outside the parliament building to demonstrate against the policies. Parliament, which is controlled by Khurelsukh’s Mongolian People’s Party, voted overwhelmingly to accept his resignation.
• The protests erupted after a video appearing to show a mother being hastily discharged from a local maternity hospital in a bathrobe because she had tested positive for the coronavirus was widely circulated online. Demonstrators flocked to parliament to protest her treatment, some wearing only bathrobes and slippers to show solidarity with the woman.

• For the first time, a 122-member strong contingent of the Bangladesh Armed Forces will participate in India’s Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi on January 26.
• The contingent from Bangladesh will be led by Commander Lieutenant Colonel Abu Mohammed Shahnoor Shawon and his deputies Lieutenant Farhan Ishraq and Flight Lieutenant Sibat Rahman.
• The contingent comprises soldiers of the Bangladesh Army, sailors of the Bangladesh Navy and air warriors of the Bangladesh Air Force, it said.
• The Bangladesh Army units comprise 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10 and 11 East Bengal Regiments and 1,2 and 3 Field Artillery Regiments, who have the distinct honour of fighting and winning the 1971 Liberation War.

• Uttar Pradesh government will provide free coaching to students preparing for various competitive exams like JEE, NEET, NDA, CDS and UPSC. Addressing a UP Day function, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced the launch of an ambitious, state-wide, free coaching facility - ABHYUDAYA from next month.
• The free coaching facility program Abhyudaya will start from Basant Panchmi. In the first phase, it will start in 18 divisional headquarters of the state, where coaching will be imparted physically and virtually. Officials will also devote their time and experts will also be posted there. The infrastructure of government schools, colleges and universities will be used for Abhyudaya coaching centres.

• Germany’s current account surplus shrank for the fifth year in a row in 2020 as China overtook Europe’s biggest economy during the COVID-19 pandemic to run the world’s largest current account surplus, a survey by the Ifo institute showed on Friday.
• The data underlines a tectonic shift in world trade triggered by the coronavirus crisis as higher demand across the globe for medical protection gear and electronic devices boosted Chinese exports.
• The Munich-based Ifo institute said China’s current account surplus, which measures the flow of goods, services and investments, more than doubled to $310 billion last year.

• The ITBP team took home the trophy after a thrilling win over Ladakh with the score line (goals) 5-1. The match was held at Gulmarg Ice Rink, Gulmarg Development Authority, Jammu and Kashmir (UT). 
• Top teams of Ice Hockey in India participated in the Championship organized from 16 to 22 January, 2021. 
• The ITBP has a strong Ice Hockey team; with many of its players also represent the national Ice Hockey team. In recent years, the ITBP Ice Hockey team had won numerous tournaments in the region defeating all teams and became the National Ice Hockey Champions in 2019 as well. 

• The Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar has been awarded to 32 children this year for their tremendous and outstanding accomplishments and exceptional abilities in several fields such as innovation, scholastics, sports, arts, culture, social service, and bravery.
• The children who have been awarded this prize are from across the country. The Ministry of Women and Child Development issued a statement saying that the awardees are from 32 districts of 21 states and Union territories.
• The Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar is awarded to children every year to recognize their excellence and outstanding efforts made in several fields. This year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the event virtually.

• Former civil servant, historian and author Narendra Luther passed away in Hyderabad on January 19, 2021. He was 89.
• Luther, who was also a poet, was ailing for some time. He is survived by wife, a son and a daughter.
• One of the first officers of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), he was considered to be an authority on Hyderabad's history and culture and a symbol of the city's "Ganga Jamuni tehzeeb".
• He was also engaged in conservation activities playing a key role in the Society to Save Rocks.
• The last rites were performed at Vaikunta Mahaprasthanam, Whisper Valley, in the evening.

Download Daily GK PDF of 25 January  2021