Monthly Current Affairs October 2021

FINANCE AND BANKING

• RBI supersedes boards of SREI Infrastructure Finance, SREI Equipment Finance
  • RBI recently superseded the boards of directors of Srei Infrastructure Finance Limited (SIFL) and Srei Equipment Finance Limited (SEFL), citing governance concerns and payment defaults.

• RBI grants banking licence to Unity Small Finance Bank
  • The Reserve Bank of India has granted a banking licence to Unity Small Finance Bank Ltd (USFBL), which was established jointly by the Centrum Financial Services Ltd (CFSL) and Resilient Innovations Private Limited (BharatPe), to carry on a SFB business in India.

• RBI authorised Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) to collect Direct taxes
  • The Reserve Bank of India has authorised Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) to collect direct taxes on behalf of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
  • After obtaining the approval, KVB has started the integration process with the CBDT to collect direct taxes.

ECONOMY

• IFSCA Constitutes an Expert panel on Sustainable Finance
  • International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has constituted an Expert Committee to recommend an approach towards the development of the Sustainable Finance Hub at IFSC.

• IFSCA launches Global FinTech Hackathon Series ‘I-Sprint’21’
  • The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has launched the global FinTech Hackathon Series ‘I-Sprint’21’.

• GoI launches ‘Waste to Wealth’ web portal
  • The government of India has launched a web portal called “Waste to Wealth” to enhance cooperation for sustainable development through economy and community participation.
  • The web portal will bring together technology providers, government stakeholders and urban local bodies to find solutions to India’s waste problems, mainly plastic waste.

NATIONAL

• Home Minister Amit Shah flags off NSG's pan-India car rally 'Sudarshan Bharat Parikrama'
  • Union Home Minister Amit Shah flagged off the National Security Guard (NSG) All India Car Rally 'Sudarshan Bharat Parikrama' from the Red Fort.
  • The rallies are organized by the Union Home Ministry.

• Govt launches ICMR’s drone-based vaccine delivery model
  • The Centre launched Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) vaccine delivery model --Drone Response and Outreach in North East (i-Drone).

• Union Minister Kiren Rijiju Inaugurates India's First Sports Arbitration Centre in Gujarat
  • Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju inaugurated the country's first "Sports Arbitration Centre of India" in Gujarat which will serve as an independent body to fast track disputes in the sports sector.
  • Sports Arbitration Centre of India (SACI) is going to give a major push to make the sports sector big.

INTERNATIONAL

• Tunisia Names First Woman Prime Minister
  • Tunisia’s president named Najla Bouden Ramadhane as the country’s first female prime minister.

• World's First Malaria Vaccine Approved By WHO
  • The World Health Organization (WHO) endorsed the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine, the first against the mosquito-borne disease.
  • The WHO recommendation is for RTS,S - or Mosquirix - a vaccine developed by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline in 1987.

• Germany unveils world's first automated, driverless train
  • German rail operator Deutsche Bahn and industrial group Siemens unveiled the world's first automated, driverless train in the city of Hamburg.
  • Four such trains will join the northern city's S-Bahn rapid urban rail network and start carrying passengers from December, using the existing rail infrastructure.

REPORTS AND INDEXES

• The State of the World’s Children 2021
  • Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya released UNICEF’s global flagship publication - “The State of the World’s Children 2021; On My Mind: promoting, protecting and caring for children’s mental health” in New Delhi.
  • The report details the significant impact of COVID-19 pandemic on children’s mental health.

• Henley Passport Index 2021
  • The Henley Passport Index (HPI) is a global ranking of countries according to the number of destinations their holders can visit without a prior visa.

• 58th Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index
  • The Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI) ranks the world’s top 40 markets on the attractiveness of their renewable energy investment and deployment opportunities. The rankings reflect assessments of market attractiveness and global market trends.
  • 58th edition of ‘Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index’ (RECAI) has been released by consultancy firm Ernst & Young (EY).

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• NASA's 1st mission ‘Lucy’ to distant asteroids launched
  • NASA's newest asteroid probe, named Lucy, blasted off from atop the ULA Atlas V 401 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

• Water vapor detected on Jupiter's ocean moon Europa
  • The Hubble space telescope has picked up the presence of persistent water vapour on Europa, Jupiter's fourth-biggest moon.

• South Korea launched first domestically built rocket
  • South Korea has conducted the first test launch of its domestically built rocket.
  • The three-stage rocket, emblazoned with South Korea’s flag and carrying a dummy satellite, blasted off at from a launch site in Goheung, but failed to put its payload into orbit.

AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

• Himachal Pradesh becomes 1st state to begin organised cultivation of dalchini
  • The CSIR’s Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT) has introduced cinnamon cultivation in Himachal Pradesh on a pilot basis.

• APEDA signs MoU with ICAR-Central Citrus Research Institute
  • For boosting exports of citrus and its valued added products, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ICAR-Central Citrus Research Institute (ICAR-CCRI), Nagpur.

• Tamil Nadu’s ‘Kanniyakumari Clove’ gets GI Tag
  • The unique clove spice grown in the hills of Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu has been awarded a geographical indication (GI) as ‘Kanyakumari clove’.

DEFENCE

• 'AUSINDEX': India, Australia Participate In 4th Edition Of Biennial Maritime Series
  • India and Australia participated in the fourth iteration of the biennial maritime series 'AUSINDEX'.
  • The maritime exercise is being conducted in the Northern Australia Exercise Area.

• India, UK begin two-week military exercise in Uttarakhand
  • India and the UK kickstarted a two-week military exercise at Chaubatia in Uttarakhand to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries.
  • The 6th edition of the ''Ajeya Warrior'' exercise is part of an initiative to develop interoperability and sharing of expertise with friendly foreign nations. The exercise will culminate on October 20.

• India, Sri Lanka begin 12-day military exercise Mitra Shakti 21
  • The 8th Edition of India Sri Lanka bilateral joint Exercise Mitra Shakti will be conducted at Combat Training School, Ampara in Sri Lanka from 4 to 15 October 2021.

EVENTS

• PM Modi visits Azadi@75 Expo in Lucknow
  • PM Narendra Modi inaugurated 'Azadi@75 - New Urban India: Transforming Urban Landscape' Conference-cum-Expo at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in Lucknow.
  • The conference-cum-expo is being organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) as part of 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'.

• PM Participates in G20 Extraordinary Summit on Afghanistan
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated virtually in the G20 Extraordinary Summit on Afghanistan.
  • The Meeting was convened by Italy, which currently holds the G20 Presidency, and chaired by Italian Prime Minister Mr. Mario Draghi.

• PM Modi to address 28th NHRC foundation day programme
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the 28th National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) foundation day programme through video conferencing.
  • Union home minister Amit Shah and NHRC chairperson Justice Arun Kumar Mishra was also present during the event.

AWARDS AND REWARDS

• Global Leadership Award 2021
  • Prominent Indian industrialists Shiv Nadar and Mallika Srinivasan have been chosen by a top India-centric business advocacy group as the recipients of its 2021 Global Leadership Award.

• Nobel Prize of Physiology or Medicine 2021
  • The Nobel Prize in the field of Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to US. scientists David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian. They were cited for their discovery of receptors for temperature and touch.

• Nobel Prize in Physics 2021
  • The Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded to scientists Syukuro Manabe (Japan) and Klaus Hasselmann (Germany) and Giorgio Parisi (Italy) for work that is essential to understanding how the Earth’s climate is changing, pinpointing the effect of human behavior on those changes and ultimately predicting the impact of global warming.

• Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021
  • The Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2021 has been awarded to Germany's Benjamin List and US-based researcher David MacMillan for their development of a precise new tool for molecular construction: organocatalysis.

SPORTS

• Boxing great Manny Pacquiao announces retirement
  • Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao has announced retirement officially.
  • Pacquiao finished his 26-year, 72-fight career with 62 wins, eight losses and two draws. Of those 62 wins, 39 were by knockout and 23 by decision.
  • He won 12 world titles.

• India women took the field for their first-ever pink-ball Test
  • The Indian women’s cricket team took their first-ever pink-ball Test against hosts Australia at the Carrara Oval. This is the first time since 2006 that they will play two Tests in a year.

• Smriti Mandhana becomes first Indian woman to score Pink ball Test century
  • Indian women’s cricket team opener Smriti Mandhana became the first Indian woman to score a century in a pink-ball Test when she played a 127-run knock against Australia in the one-off Pink Ball Test.
  • This is also the first century by an Indian woman on Australian soil.
  • Mandhana made 127 off 216 balls with the help of 22 boundaries and a six at the Carrara Oval.