News in Short

• Members of the oil cartel OPEC and their partners have agreed to raise output slightly in February and March, but only in Russia and Kazakhstan.
• To ensure the market is not flooded with oil while pandemic-related risks to demand remain high, OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia decided to cut its own production by one million barrels per day in both months.
• The decision represents a compromise between two of the biggest oil producers, Russia and Saudi Arabia, because Moscow had wanted to raise overall crude output by 500,000 barrels per day starting in February.
• Demand for crude fell under the effects of the virus in 2020 and oil-producing nations have been trying to adjust output accordingly to underpin prices.

• Former Manchester City and England midfielder Colin Bell has died aged 74 following a short illness. Bell was a member of the City side that won the old First Division title in 1967/68 and the FA Cup in 1969.
• Known as “The King of the Kippax” by fans and compared to a race horse by coach Malcolm Allison because of his extraordinary stamina, Bell was at the heart of City’s successful side of the late 1960s and 70s.
• He made 492 appearances for the club over 13 seasons, scoring 152 goals, and also won 48 caps for England, netting nine times.

• India suffered economic losses to the tune of $2.8 billion due to internet shutdowns in 2020, according to a report released by a United Kingdom-based digital privacy firm Top10VPN.
• The report put India at the top of the list of 21 countries that restricted their citizens’ access to internet in 2020. It added that India saw 8,927 hours of internet blackout or restricted bandwidth access. Myanmar, Yemen, Ethiopia, Turkey, and Syria were among the countries included in the report.
• The report specifically spoke about internet restrictions imposed by the government in Jammu and Kashmir, after it abrogated the erstwhile state’s special status under Article 370 in August last year.
• The report added that internet restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir adversely affected businesses, schools and the distribution of medicine.

• Airborne COVID-19 infection is definitely possible under certain conditions, according to a study by CSIR-CCMB.
• Chances of picking up SARS-CoV-2 or the novel coronavirus from air is directly related to the number of positive cases in the room, their symptomatic status and duration of the exposure in closed room.
• In neutral environmental conditions, the virus does not seem to spread farther away from the patients, especially if they are asymptomatic.
• The study shows that early detection and isolation of positive individuals helps in preventing infection of other family members in a home setting.

• Chennai received the highest rainfall in a single day so far for the month of January after over a century. The heavy rains have resulted in inundation in many parts of the city.
• The rains came as a surprise as the Northeast monsoon season ends in December. The reason for such rains was attributed to La Nina weather condition.
• La Niña is a weather pattern that occurs in the Pacific Ocean. In this pattern, strong winds blow warm water at the ocean's surface from South America to Indonesia.