Weekly Current Affairs 16th September- 22nd September 2021

FINANCE AND BANKING

• Exports of software services up 2.1% to $148.3 billion in 2020-21: RBI survey
  • Exports of software services, including services delivered by foreign affiliates of Indian companies, recorded 2.1 per cent growth during 2020-21 and stood at USD 148.3 billion, as per a Reserve Bank survey.

• UPI to be linked to Singapore’s PayNow by July 2022
  • RBI recently said it is working on a project with the Monetary Authority of Singapore to link the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with the city-state’s fast payments system PayNow.
  • The linkage is targeted to be operational by July 2022.

ECONOMY

• World Bank Group to discontinue Doing Business report
  • The World Bank Group has decided to discontinue publication of its Doing Business report on country investment climates following allegations of irregularities.
  • The decision was taken after a probe of data irregularities allegedly due to pressure by some top bank officials to boost China’s ranking in 2017 came to light.

• Govt approves PLI scheme for Drones and Drone Components
  • To boost Modi government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat, the Centre has approved the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for drones and drone components.
  • According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, drones offer multiple benefits to almost all sectors of the economy, including defence, agriculture, infrastructure, surveillance, mining, emergency response, transportation, geo-spatial mapping, law enforcement, etc.

• Rail Kaushal Vikas Yojana: Indian Railways to provide entry level training to 50,000 youths
  • As part of 75 years of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Railway Ministry has launched Rail Kaushal Vikas Yojana, under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana.
  • The Centre’s Rail Kaushal Vikas Yojana aims to empower India’s youth by offering entry level training in industry relevant skills through Indian Railways’ training institutes.

NATIONAL

• Govt notifies Kushinagar Airport as Customs airport
  • The Central Government has notified the Kushinagar Airport in Eastern Uttar Pradesh as customs notified airport in the country. With this, the airport will be able to handle international passenger movements as well.

• PM Modi launches Sansad TV
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched “Sansad TV" along with Vice President of India and Rajya Sabha Chairperson, M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla at the Main Committee Room, Parliament House Annexe.

• iRASTE: Nitin Gadkari launches AI-powered road safety project
  • Union Minister Nitin Gadkari launched “iRASTE”, an Artificial Intelligence-powered project, on a pilot basis in Nagpur in Maharashtra with the aim of reducing accidents by 50 per cent in Vidarbha's biggest city.

INTERNATIONAL

• Iran becomes full-time SCO member
  • Iran was officially admitted as a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
  • The decision to admit Iran as a full member was declared in the 21th summit of the SCO leaders in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. So far Iran was an observer member of the organization.

• 107-year-old Japanese identical twins recognized as world's oldest
  • Two Japanese sisters age 107 years and 300 days have been certified as the world's oldest living identical twins and the oldest ever recorded.
  • Umeno Sumiyama and Koume Kodama had their record recognized as of Sept. 1.

STATES

• J&K Lieutenant Governor launches Mission ‘One Gram Panchayat-One DIGI-Pay Sakhi’
  • To promote door to door digital banking and financial services in remote areas of J&K, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha launched Mission ‘One Gram Panchayat-One DIGI-Pay Sakhi’ in the UT.
  • Initially, the DIGI-Pay facility will be provided in 2000 remote villages of the UT and in the first phase, 80 women from Self Help Groups from across the Jammu and Kashmir Division have been selected as DIGI-Pay Sakhis.

• Charanjit Singh Channi takes oath as next Punjab chief minister
  • Congress' Charanjit Singh Channi took oath as the 16th chief minister of Punjab, replacing Captain Amarinder Singh who resigned.
  • The 58-year-old Dalit Sikh leader was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Banwarilal Purohit.

• Sikkim declares 'Katley' as state fish
  • The Sikkim government has declared Neolissochilus hexagonolepis commonly known as Copper Mahseer and locally named as 'Katley' as a state fish to highlight the importance of the fish and to give emphasis to its conservation measures.

REPORTS AND INDEXES

• 3rd State Food Safety Index
  • In an effort to galvanize States to work towards ensuring safe food for citizens, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya released Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)’s 3rd State Food Safety Index (SFSI) to measure the performance of States across five parameters of food safety.
  • The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare felicitated nine leading States/UTs based on the ranking for the year 2020-21 for their impressive performance.

• Global Innovation Index 2021
  • The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has come up with the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2021.
  • India has improved its ranking to 46th place among 132 economies, up from 48 in the previous year’s ranking.

• Climate change could displace 216 million by 2050: Report
  • World Bank has come up with Groundswell report.
  • As per the report, more than 216 million people across six world regions could leave their homes by 2050 due to climate change unless action is taken.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• First all-civilian SpaceX crew launches into space
  • The first all-civilian crew bound for orbit has blasted off from the US state of Florida on board a SpaceX rocket ship, marking a new era in the space tourism business.
  • The spacecraft, carrying billionaire e-commerce executive Jared Isaacman and three other private citizens he chose to join him, lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.

• IIT Bombay Launches Project Udaan, AI-Based Translation For Non-English Speakers
  • On the occasion of Hindi Diwas, IIT-Bombay launched “Project Udaan” on 14 September 2021.
  • Project Udaan enables the translation of textbooks and other study material of engineering and other streams from English to Hindi and other Indian languages.

AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

• TRIFED enters into an MoU with Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FIIT) of IIT-Delhi
  • TRIFED has entered into a collaborative project with Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FIIT), a unit established by IIT Delhi and M/s Rusicaa Beverages Private Ltd, Purbi Singhbhum, Jharkhand to commercialize the production of Mahua Nutra beverage – A Heritage Drink in the State of Jharkhand.

• Agriculture Ministry inks MoU with 5 firms
  • The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare signed 5 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) for pilot projects with five private companies — CISCO, Ninjacart, Jio Platforms Limited, ITC Limited and NCDEX e-Markets Limited (NeML).

• SVAMITVA dashboard launched to monitor its implementation
  • Union Minister for Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Giriraj Singh launched the dashboard for monitoring the implementation of SVAMITVA scheme.
  • The scheme aims to provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India.

DEFENCE

• 15th Indo-Nepal joint military exercise begins
  • The 15th edition of Indo-Nepal joint military exercise "Surya Kiran" began in Pithoragarh of Uttarakhand on September 20.

• Indian & Indonesian Navy Participate In 3rd Edition Of 'Samudra Shakti' In Jakarta
  • The 3rd edition of Bilateral Exercise ‘Samudra Shakti’ is scheduled from September 20 to September 22.
  • The Indian navy will be participating in Samudra Shakti with the Indonesian navy to enhance mutual understanding and interoperability in maritime operations between the two navies.

• Indian Military Contingent Takes Part In SCO 'Peaceful Mission' In Russia
  • The Ministry of Defence announced that an Indian military contingent took part in the 6th edition of the SCO 'Peaceful Mission' 2021, which is being held at Orenburg in Russia, in an attempt to build closer ties among SCO member states.

EVENTS

• India to hold Global Buddhist Conference in November
  • India will be holding the first-ever Global Buddhist Conference in November, which will become an annual feature.
  • The event is being planned by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) from 19th to 20th November in Nalanda, Bihar in the campus of the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara.

• 21st Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated virtually in the 21st Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), and through video-message in the Joint SCO-CSTO Outreach Session on Afghanistan.

• Ladakh to roll out first edition of ‘The Himalayan Film Festival’ on September 25
  • Ladakh is all set to inaugurate the very first edition of The Himalayan Film Festival 2021 (THFF).
  • The festival will commence from September 24 at Leh, and will conclude on September 28.

AWARDS AND REWARDS

• National Florence Nightingale Award for 2020
  • The National Florence Nightingale Award, the highest national distinction a nurse can achieve, has been conferred upon Brig SV Saraswati, deputy director-General of Military Nursing Service (MNS) for 2020.

• World's 100 Most Influential People of 2021: TIME Magazine
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla have been named among the world's 100 most influential people of 2021 by TIME magazine.

• Mumbai’s Ayaan Shankta named 2021 International Young Eco-Hero for environment project
  • 12-year-old environmental activist from Mumbai, Ayaan Shankta, has been named as the 2021 International Young Eco-Hero in recognition of his efforts to solve tough environmental problems.
  • Ayaan Shankta won third place in the 8-14 age category for his project Conservation and Rehabilitation of Powai Lake.

SPORTS

• 60th National Open Athletics: Harmilan Kaur broke 19-Year-Old Record In 1500m
  • Punjab’s Harmilan Kaur Bains shattered a 19-year-old record to win the women's 1500m title while Delhi teenager Taranjeet Kaur emerged as the fastest in the 100m dash of the 60th National Open Athletics Championships in Warangal, Telangana.
  • Harmilan narrowly missed the qualification mark for the 2022 World Championships set at 4:04.20s.

• Raja Rithvik becomes India’s 70th GM
  • R Raja Rithvik has become India’s 70th chess Grandmaster. The 17-year old is from Warangal.
  • Rithvik, who earned his first GM norm in 2019, achieved his second and third norms in less than a month.

• Pankaj Advani lifts Asian Snooker Championship for second successive time
  • India’s Pankaj Advani successfully defended the Asian Snooker Championship at the Al Messila, in Doha, Qatar outplaying Amir Sarkhosh of Iran.
  • The 36-year-old triumphed in 2019. In 2019, Pankaj also became the only player who won the titles in all forms of billiards, snooker, 6Reds, and 10Reds competitions.