Weekly Current Affairs 23rd October- 31st October 2021

FINANCE AND BANKING

• RBI exempts borrowers with less than Rs 5-crore bank loans from ambit of current accounts circular
  • RBI recently exempted borrowers with less than Rs 5 crore of banking system exposure from its current accounts circular.
  • It also exempted accounts opened under specific instructions of the central and state governments from meeting the restrictions under the circular.

• SEBI changes framework on investor grievance redressal system
  • SEBI recently tweaked the framework pertaining to investor grievance redressal system and arbitration mechanism at stock exchanges.
  • Under the new framework, SEBI said forming of exclusive panel for appellate arbitration is not required and members can serve on both the panels — arbitration and appellate arbitration.

• IEX starts trade in Energy Saving Certificates
  • Indian Energy Exchange has commenced Energy Saving Certificates (ESCerts) trade.
  • The trading on the IEX will happen once a week on every Tuesday.

ECONOMY

• LIC, EPFO to invest in NHAI’s maiden InvIT
  • Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) together may invest between Rs 600 and Rs 700 crore in NHAI’s maiden infrastructure investment trust (InvIT).
  • NHAI aims to raise Rs 5,100 crore through the exercise.

• India, Italy to collaborate on green hydrogen, gas sector
  • India and Italy have agreed to explore development of green hydrogen, setting up renewable energy corridors, and joint projects in the natural gas sector as the two nations sought to strengthen partnership in energy transition.
  • The two countries agreed on this during the Indian Prime Minister’s G20 Summit in Rome.

• ADB, India sign USD 100 million loan for agribusiness development in Maharashtra
  • The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India recently signed a USD 100 million loan to promote the agribusiness network to boost farm incomes and reduce food losses in the state of Maharashtra.

NATIONAL

• Election Commission Of India Launches Garuda App
  • To ensure faster, transparent and timely completion of election work, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has introduced the ‘Garuda’ app for digital mapping of all polling stations by adding latitude and longitude by booth-level officers (BLOs).

• PM Modi launches Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission worth Rs 64,000 crore in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, to address gaps and strengthen the critical health care network from village and block to the district and national level in the next four to five years.

• NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission launched Digi-Book Innovations for You
  • NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) has launched – “Innovations for You” an attempt to showcase the success stories of Atal Innovation Mission’s Startups in different domains. These startups have worked to create new, disruptive and innovative products, services, and solutions that can pave a path for a sustainable future.

INTERNATIONAL

• Financial Action Task Force’s Grey List
  • Global terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) retained Pakistan and added three more countries — Turkey, Jordan, and Mali — to its Grey List.
  • Mauritius and Botswana are removed from the grey list.

• Uzbekistan president secures second term in election
  • Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has been re-elected for a second five-year term.
  • Mirziyoyev swept to victory with 80.1 percent of the vote in election.

• India, UK, Australia to launch IRIS at COP26
  • India, along with Australia, the UK and small island developing states (SIDS) will be launching a new initiave for Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS) on the sidelines of the upcoming Conference of Parties (COP26).

STATES

• Chhattisgarh CM launches Shri Dhanwantri Generic Medical Store Scheme
  • Chhattisgarh Chief minister Bhupesh Baghel virtually launched the Shri Dhanwantri Generic Medical Store Scheme.

• Madhya Pradesh govt announces implementation of Mukhyamantri Ration Aapke Dwar Yojana
  • Madhya Pradesh government has announced the implementation of Mukhyamantri Ration Aapke Dwar Yojana in the state from November.
  • Under the scheme, ration will now be transported by vehicles in those villages where there are no fair price shops.

• Maharashtra CM inaugurates India’s first wildlife DNA testing lab in Nagpur
  • Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray inaugurated India’s first wildlife DNA testing lab in Nagpur.

REPORTS AND INDEXES

• TB cases reporting in India down by 41% due to pandemic: WHO
  • According to the World Health Organization's 2021 Global TB Report, reporting of tuberculosis (TB), cases in India went down by 41% between 2019 and 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Times Higher Education’s Reputation Ranking 2021
  • The annual Reputation Ranking is published by Times Higher Education (THE).
  • The ranking, comprises 202 universities from 29 countries and regions.

• Karnataka tops State Energy Efficiency Index (SEEI) 2020
  • State Energy Efficiency Index 2020 (SEEI) is launched by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and Alliance for an Energy-Efficient Economy (AEEE).
  • Karnataka has topped the Index.
  • Rajasthan is on second rank followed by Haryana on third.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• China launches Shijian-21 satellite
  • China successfully launched a new satellite, Shijian-21, from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province.
  • The satellite was launched by a Long March-3B carrier rocket and entered the planned orbit successfully.

• 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

• Crop insurance claims at Rs 9,570 cr for 2020-21
  • There has been more than 60 per cent decline in the crop insurance claims of farmers at Rs 9,570 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) for the 2020-21 crop year from the previous year as there were no major crop losses.

• India’s first ‘test tube’ Banni buffalo calf born in Gujarat
  • The first IVF calf of “Banni” breed of buffaloes, found primarily in Gujarat’s Kutch region, was born at a farmer’s house in the state’s Gir Somnath district.
  • Banni buffalo is known for its resilience and higher milk-producing capacity in an arid environment.

DEFENCE

• Indian Army Celebrates 75th Infantry Day In Jammu
  • Indian Army observed 75th Infantry day, on 27 October 2021.
  • The Infantry Day is observed as a remembrance of the first military operations carried out by independent India when the Indian army repelled the first attack on its soil on October 27, 1947 in the Kashmir valley.

• Russia, China launch joint naval drill in Sea of Japan
  • Russia and China held joint naval drills, Joint Sea 2021, in the Sea of Japan and practiced how to operate together and destroy floating enemy mines with artillery fire.

• DRDO successfully tests high-speed expendable aerial target ABHYAS
  • Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully tested the high-speed expendable aerial target (HEAT), ABHYAS, used for evaluation of various missile systems, from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Bay of Bengal in Odisha.

EVENTS

• Aadhaar Hackathon 2021
  • As a part of the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav', the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will host the Aadhaar Hackathon 2021 in October.
  • The Aadhaar Hackathon will be organised to reach out to young minds who are still at various Engineering institutes and want to step into the real world.

• 16th East Asia Summit
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the 16th East Asia Summit hosted by Brunei through video conference.
  • The 16th EAS also discussed important regional and international issues including Indo-Pacific, South China Sea, UNCLOS, terrorism, and situation in Korean Peninsula and Myanmar.

• 18th India-ASEAN Summit
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually participated and addressed the 18th ASEAN-India Summit at the invitation of the Sultan of Brunei.
  • The year 2022 will mark the completion of 30 years of Indian and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) partnership and will be celebrated as 'ASEAN-India Friendship Year'. ASEAN-India summits are held annually to engage at the highest level.

AWARDS AND REWARDS

• Earth Guardian Award
  • The Parambikulam Tiger Conservation Foundation (PaTCoF), a non-profit organisation under the forest department that strives to facilitate conservation of tiger and biodiversity in Parambikulam tiger reserve, has bagged the Earth Guardian Award instituted by the NatWest Group.

• National Film Awards 2021
  • Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu presented the 67th National Film Awards to those who won this year.
  • The prestigious awards show recognised the best of cinema in 2019.

• 1st Satyajit Ray Award
  • Acclaimed Hungarian film director Istvan Szabo, American filmmaker and actor Martin Scorsese will be conferred with the first Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Cinema at 52nd edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) to be held in Goa in November.

SPORTS

• 2021 BNP Paribas Open
  • The 2021 BNP Paribas Open (also known as the 2021 Indian Wells Masters) was a professional men's and women's tennis tournament currently played in Indian Wells, California.
  • It was the 47th edition of the men's event and 32nd of the women's event, and was classified as an ATP Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2021 ATP Tour and a WTA 1000 event on the 2021 WTA Tour.

• FIFA Ranking 2021
  • Belgium remain on top of the FIFA Rankings 2021.
  • India has also moved one spot ahead to the 106th position.

• Badminton: Denmark Open 2021
  • The 2021 Denmark Open was a badminton tournament which took place at the Odense Sports Park in Odense, Denmark and had a total prize of US$850,000.
  • Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen won the Denmark Open by defeating Japan’s Kento Momota.