Latest Current Affairs For Friday 22nd October, 2021

Current Affairs in One Minute

1-Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate these medical colleges during his visit to Siddharthanagar on October 25th. 

2-Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has introduced the facility of Free High Speed WiFi service at all metro stations of its Yellow Line section from HUDA City Centre to Samaypur Badli. 

3-India clinched the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship for eighth time defeating Nepal 3-0 in Male. 

4-Malayalam actor Jayasurya, who just a few day backs wrote himself into the record books when his 100th film was released, added another feather to his crowded cap when he was named Best Actor by the jury of the 51st Kerala State Film Awards. 

5-Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah inaugurated and laid foundation stones of various development projects from the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Island in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. 

6-An Audio-Visual Song by renowned singer PadmaShri Kailash Kher to promote the vaccination drive across the country, was launched by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. 

7-Union Minister for Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated the 29th“HunarHaat” at Rampur, Uttar Pradesh. 

8-The 8th Edition of joint military exercise between the Indian Army and the Sri Lankan Army, Exercise MITRA SHAKTI which was conducted from 04 - 16 October 2021, culminated at Combat Training School, Ampara. 

9-A team from 4/5 Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) which represented the Indian Army at the prestigious Cambrian Patrol Exercise at Brecon, Wales, UK from 13th to 15th October 2021 has been awarded Gold medal. 

10-To commemorate World Food Day, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, under the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme, organised the Food Tech Summit on 16th October 2021. 

Drone developer FIXAR ties up with Paras Aerospace to enter Indian market

European commercial drone and software developer FIXAR announced its entry in the fast emerging domestic unmanned aerial vehicle market in collaboration with Paras Aerospace, a subsidiary of Paras Defence.

As a first step towards this partnership, the company will launch its flagship fixed wing drone FIXAR007 in the country.

The initial agreement targets delivery of 150 drones to the operators in India in the next 6-8 months. 

Rupifi partners with Muthoot Finance to provide instant credit to SMEs

SME lender and fintech Rupifi has partnered with Muthoot Finance to power 15 mn small and medium-sized enterprises with access to instant credit.

The companies started this partnership earlier this year and are now looking to scale this across different industry verticals in the country.

Launched in January 2020, Rupifi allows SMEs to flexibly repay their dues as and when required with a per-day interest pricing but without any monthly EMIs.

RBI imposes ₹1 crore penalty on Paytm Payments Bank

The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of 1 crore on Paytm Payments Bank for violating provisions of Payment and Settlement Systems Act 2007.

The central bank noted that Paytm payments bank's application seeking issue of final certificate of authorization, did not reflect its factual position.

This is related to an offence committed of the nature referred to in Section 26 (2) of Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

Paytm Bank CEO:  Vijay Shekhar Sharma

Imtiaz Ali appointed as ambassador of Russian Film Festival in India

Director-producer Imtiaz Ali appointed as the ambassador of the Russian Film Festival in India.

As part of the festival, ten notable Russian films of various genres will be premiered for Indian audiences on Disney+ Hotstar.

The first-ever online Russian Film Festival in India is organized by ROSKINO with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. 

The festival was launched in 2020 and has already been successfully held in 14 countries. 

Jailed Russian Opposition leader Alexei Navalny wins EU’s Sakharov Prize

Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was awarded the EU’s Sakharov Prize 2021. 

It European Union's top human rights prize.

In awarding the Sakharov Prize to Mr. Navalny, the European Parliament praised his “immense personal bravery.”

The 45-year-old activist was poisoned with a nerve agent last year and promptly arrested upon his return to Moscow from treatment in Germany and later imprisoned.

Sri Lanka receives 1st consignment of Nano Urea (liquid) from India

Sri Lanka has received the first consignment of 3.1 million litres high quality non-harmful Nano Nitrogen liquid fertiliser from India.

It will help the island nation's Eastern province in the cultivation of maize and paddy.

Nano Nitrogen Liquid Fertilizer was developed by IFFCO, with the objective of addressing imbalanced and excessive use of conventional Urea.

It has been developed indigenously, for the first time in the world.

Govt extends PMGKP insurance scheme for another six months

The center extended the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP), the insurance scheme for healthcare workers fighting covid-19 for another six months.

The scheme was launched in March 2020 to provide comprehensive personal accident cover of Rs. 50 Lakh to health care providers including community health workers and private health workers. 

The current period of the policy is ending on 20 October 2021.

So far, 1351 claims have been paid under the scheme.

India more vulnerable to heat extremes: Lancet report

According to the Lancet Countdown report, India is one of the five countries in the world whose vulnerable populations had the most exposure to extreme heat over the past five years.

And this exposure is increasing.

Yet, like many countries, India is under-prepared to prevent, mitigate or treat the health effects of climate change.

As per the report India has become 15% more vulnerable to extremes of heat than in 1990.

Former US President Trump plans to launch his own social media platform

Former US president Donald Trump announced to launch his own social networking platform called "TRUTH Social,".

The long-awaited platform will be owned by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which also intends to launch a subscription video on-demand service that will feature "non-woke" entertainment programming.

The Trump Media & Technology Group will merge with blank check company Digital Acquisition Corp to make TMTG a publicly-listed company. 

A Balasubramanian appointed AMFI chairman, Radhika Gupta vice chair

A Balasubramanian, CEO of Aditya Birla Sun Life Asset Management, has been elected as the Chairman of Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). 

He has earlier served as the AMFI Chairman for the period 2017 – 2019 and now would continue to hold the office till the conclusion of the next AGM.

He is also appointed as the ex-officio Chairman of AMFI Financial Literacy Committee. 

Radhika Gupta, CEO, Edelweiss AMC, has been elected as the Vice-Chairperson of AMFI.

UNESCO prize for world-acclaimed Kung Fu Nuns

The Kung Fu Nuns of the Drukpa order of Buddhism has won the prestigious Martial Arts Education Prize 2021 from the UNESCO International Centre. 

The prize recognises the Kung Fu Nuns’ heroic acts of service and championing of gender equality across the Himalayas.

Through martial arts, the Drukpa nuns empower young girls to defend themselves, build confidence, and take on leadership roles in their communities.

The Kung Fu Nuns hail from the Drukpa Lineage of Buddhism. 

Police Commemoration Day 2021: 21st October 2021

Every year, October 21 is celebrated as the Police Commemoration Day, to pay tributes to all police personnel who died in the line of duty.

Since 2012, the Police Commemoration Day Parade is being held at the National Level at the Police Memorial in Delhi.

In 2018, PM Narendra Modi inaugurated India's first national police museum in Delhi.

Handled by the IB and the CAPFs, the museum depicts the history, uniform and gear of central and state police forces in India.

NPCI launches NTS platform for card tokenization

NPCI launched the NPCI Tokenization System to support tokenisation of cards as an alternate to storing card details with merchants. 

The NTS will support the tokenisation of RuPay cards to further enhance the safety of customers. 

With NTS, acquiring banks, aggregators, merchants and others can get themselves certified with NPCI and can play the role of Token Requestor to help save the token reference number, Token Reference On File (TROF) against all card numbers saved.

PM Modi inaugurates Kushinagar International Airport in Uttar Pradesh

PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the Kushinagar International Airport.

This becomes the 9th airport in Uttar Pradesh to scheduled passenger flights.

A charter from Colombo was the first flight to land in Kushinagar with over 100 Buddhist monks and dignitaries.

Kushinagar International Airport will facilitate pilgrimage to Lord Buddha's mahaparinirvana sthal of Lord Buddha, thereby boosting the economy of the region.

UP Governor: Anandiben Patel

PM Narendra Modi to be awarded prestigious Lokmanya Tilak Award 2023

The Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust (Hind Swaraj Sangh) would confer the prestigious Lokmanya Tilak National Award 2023 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Pune on August 1, 2023.

Reason: This award recognizes PM Modi's supreme leadership under which India has climbed the ladder of progress

It is presented annually on the occasion of Lokmanya Tilak's death anniversary.

Other awardees: Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sharad Pawar, Cyrus Poonawalla, and Manmohan Singh. 

J&K Bank wins award for Best Performance in CASA

Jammu & Kashmir Bank has been felicitated for the Best Performance in CASA-India (1st Runner up in Small Bank Category) at ICC Emerging Asia Banking Conclave & Awards 2022.

The event was participated by banks from India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka & Myanmar.

The function was organized by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Goa.

Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group headquartered in Calcutta.

India poised to become world’s 2nd-largest economy by 2075: Goldman Sachs

According to the Investment Bank Goldman Sachs, India is poised to become the world’s second-largest economy by 2075.

As per the report, India would cross Japan, Germany, and the US With a population of 1.4 billion people.

India’s GDP is estimated to expand remarkably, reaching 52.5 trillion dollars surpassing the US GDP projection.

The labour force participation set to make India the second-largest economy in the world by 2075.

L&T and Spain's Navantia sign agreement for submarine project

L&T has signed a teaming agreement with Spanish-based Navantia for the submission of a techno-commercial bid for the Indian Navy’s prestigious P75 (India) submarine program.

P75 (India) Submarine Project is expected to be valued at €4.8 billion.

Navantia would carry out the design of P75(I) submarines based on its S80 class of submarines.

The first S80 class submarine was launched in 2021 and is undergoing sea trials prior to its delivery to Spanish Navy. 

India overtakes China as most attractive emerging market for investing

According to a study by Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management, India has overtaken China to become the most attractive emerging market for investing in sovereign wealth funds this year.

Reason: This is due to its solid demographics, political stability, and proactive regulation. 

Positives for the nation also include the rapidly expanding demography, strong regulatory actions, and a welcoming climate for sovereign investors.

World Population Day 2023: 11 July

World Population Day is observed every year on July 11 in order to raise awareness about global population issues, including population control.

2023 theme: Unleashing the power of gender equality: Uplifting the voices of women and girls to unlock our world’s infinite possibilities. 

It was established by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1989, after the day the world approximately reached a population of five billion, which was observed on 11 July 1987.

MoHUA conducts SBM-U 2.0 Planning & Implementation Review-cum-Workshop

The Housing Ministry organized a review-cum-workshop to evaluate and accelerate the planning and implementation of the SBM-Urban 2.0.

PM Modi launched the 2.0 versions of SBM-U and AMRUT on October 1, 2021.

SBM-U 2.0: Achieving 100% waste segregation in all households and premises and 100% door-to-door collection of segregated waste from each. 

AMRUT 2.0: To provide complete coverage of water supply to all households and sewerage and septage in 500 AMRUT cities. 

Gujarat CM launches pilot project of ‘Antyodaya Shramik Suraksha Yojana’

Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel launched the Antyodaya Shram Suraksha Accident Insurance Scheme from Kheda

All those registered under the e-Shram portal from Nadiad will benefit from the scheme.

It is being implemented through the Indian Postal Department, the IPPB, and the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Under this scheme, insurance with a premium of Rs. 289 and Rs. 499 per year will be a big support to workers in the event of death or partial disability.

OCA elects Sheikh Talal as the new President

Kuwait’s Sheikh Talal Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah has been elected as the new President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).

He replaced his older brother Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, who led the OCA for 30 years until 2021.

The OCA was founded in 1982 by his father Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who led it until 1990.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees.

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance wins Insurer Innovation Award 2023

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance has won the Insurer Innovation Award 2023 for the APAC region at the 8th World Digital Insurance Awards, hosted by TDI - The Digital Insurer.

Recognition: Bajaj Allianz Life's ground-breaking WhatsApp Conversational Platform - empowering customers to digitally services their policies seamlessly. 

The award entries were shortlisted by industry experts and the winner was selected by the community through pre-voting and live event voting.