Weekly Current Affairs 9th November - 15th November 2021

FINANCE AND BANKING

• RBI imposes curbs on Babaji Date Mahila Sahakari Bank
  • RBI recently imposed several restrictions on Maharashtra-based Babaji Date Mahila Sahakari Bank, including capping withdrawals at Rs 5,000 for customers, amid deterioration in the lender’s financial position.

• Individuals can now directly buy T-bills, G-Secs from market
  • Individuals can now directly purchase treasury bills, dated securities, sovereign gold bonds (SGB) and state development loans (SDLs) from primary as well as secondary markets under the RBI Retail Direct Scheme.

• FPIs can invest in debt securities issued by InvITs, REITS
  • RBI recently allowed FPIs to invest in debt securities issued by Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) by Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs).

ECONOMY

• Govt inks USD 61 mn loan pact with ADB for development projects in Agartala
  • The central government has inked a pact with multi-lateral funding agency Asian Development Bank for USD 61 million (around Rs 454 crore) loan to fund development projects in Agartala, Tripura.

• PM inaugurates Purvanchal Expressway
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently inaugurated Purvanchal Expressway.
  • Purvanchal Expressway is a 340.8 km long, 6-lane wide access-controlled expressway in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The expressway connects Chand Saray village near Gosainganj in Lucknow district with Haydaria village on NH-31 in Ghazipur district.

• IBM launched a client innovation center in Mysuru
  • IBM Corp. launched a client innovation centre in Mysuru with support from the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) to attract companies to set up operations in cities beyond Bengaluru.
  • It will support the rapid, high-tech driven economic growth in tier-2 and -3 regions while providing comprehensive hybrid cloud and AI technology consulting capabilities.

NATIONAL

• PM Modi lays foundation stone of road projects in temple town Pandharpur
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone through video conference for two road projects aimed at improving connectivity to the temple town of Pandharpur in Maharashtra.

• Srinagar joins UNESCO's Creative Cities Network
  • Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, has joined the UNESCO's Creative Cities Network (UCCN). It has been designated as a creative city of craft and folk arts.

• Meghalaya Cabinet approves creation of Eastern West Khasi Hills district
  • The Meghalaya Cabinet approved a proposal to upgrade the Mairang civil sub-division to a full-fledged district. It will be called Eastern West Khasi Hills district.
  • Mairang is now a sub-division under West Khasi Hills district.

INTERNATIONAL

• Astronaut Wang Yaping Becomes First Chinese Woman To Walk In Space
  • Astronaut Wang Yaping became the first Chinese woman to walk in space.
  • Her team completed a six-hour stint outside the Tiangong space station as part of its ongoing construction.

• US becomes 101st member country of International Solar Alliance
  • The US became the 101st member of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), an inter-governmental organisation formed by India and France to accelerate the global adoption of solar power.

STATES

• Punjab cabinet approval to slash interest rate on hiked land cost from 15% to 7.5%
  • The Punjab cabinet gave approval to reduce the interest rate on the enhanced land cost to be recovered from allottees in areas under improvement trusts.
  • The rate of interest to be charged on the enhancement recoverable will be reduced from 15 per cent to 7.5 per cent.

• Maharashtra signs MoU to boost adoption of electric vehicles
  • The Maharashtra government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian arm of the USA-based Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) to support adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in Maharashtra.

• Meghalaya: Wangala Festival
  • The Wangala Festival, also known as the 100 drum festival is celebrated with much zeal and enthusiasm in India’s north-eastern state of Meghalaya.
  • Celebrated since 1976, it’s the most important festival of the Garo tribe.

REPORTS AND INDEXES

• Global Drug Policy Index 2021
  • The inaugural Global Drug Policy Index 2021 is released by the Harm Reduction Consortium.
  • Top ranked Nations: Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, the UK and Australia are the five leading countries on humane and health-driven drug policies.
  • India’s Rank: India’s rank is 18 out of 30 countries.

• Climate Change Performance Index 2022
  • The 17th edition of the Climate Change Performance Index, compiled by Germanwatch, the New Climate Institute, and the Climate Action Network, was released.
  • Top ranked Nations: The first three ranks of the overall rankings were kept empty as none could score more than 80 per cent or above in all index categories to achieve an overall very high rating. The first three ranks in the greenhouse gas emissions category, too, were kept empty.
  • Denmark was at 4th position in the climate performance list with 76.92 per cent score, followed by Sweden and Norway with 74.46 and 73.62 per cent scores respectively.
  • India’s Rank: In the overall rankings, India is at number 10 with a score of 69.22.

• National logistics Index 2021
  • The Ministry of Commerce & Industry recently came up with the Logistics Ease Across Different States 2021 Index.
  • In the index, Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab emerged as the best performing states with respect to mobility of goods and efficiency of the logistics chain. This index provides ranking to states on the basis of logistics infrastructure.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• China launches sustainable development satellite SDGSAT-1 to study Earth from space
  • China sent a satellite into orbit as part of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
  • A Long March 6 rocket, one of China's new-generation launch vehicles, lifted off from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China.

• Indian Origin Astronaut Raja Chari-led Crew 3 Mission to Lifted Off
  • NASA and the Elon Musk-owned private rocket company SpaceX have launched four more astronauts on a flight to the International Space Station (ISS).
  • The "Crew 3” mission consists of Indian-origin NASA astronaut Raja Chari as its mission commander and three other astronauts.

AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

• Punjab became 1st Indian state to approve Tissue Culture-Based Seed Potato Rules
  • The Punjab government approved the ‘Punjab Tissue Culture Based Seed Potato Rules-2021’ to develop Punjab as a standard potato seed centre.

• Centre launches 3-month campaign to provide Kisan Credit Card to livestock, dairy, fishery farmers
  • The Central Government recently launched a nationwide campaign to provide the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) to all eligible animal husbandry, dairy and fishery farmers in the country and is targeting to enrol around two crore people in the next three months.

DEFENCE

• 32nd Edition of Indo-Thai Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT)
  • The 32nd edition of India-Thailand Coordinated Patrol (Indo-Thai CORPAT) between the Indian Navy and the Royal Thai Navy was conducted from 12 – 14 November 2021.
  • Indian Naval Ship (INS) Karmuk, an indigenously built Missile Corvette and His Majesty’s Thailand Ship (HTMS) Tayanchon, a Khamrosin Class Anti-submarine Patrol Craft, along with Maritime Patrol Aircraft from both navies are participating in the CORPAT.

• INS Vela, India’s fourth Scorpene-class submarine, delivered to Indian Navy
  • INS Vela, the country’s fourth Scorpene-class submarine, was delivered to the Indian Navy after more than two years of sea trials. The delivery of the attack submarine, which underwent sea trials since May 2019, is seen as a major shot in the arm for the Indian Navy in terms of strength and capability.

• India and France to hold 6th edition of bilateral Army exercise
  • India and France will be jointly conducting the 6th edition of the Indo-France Joint Military Exercise, called “EX SHAKTI 2021” in Frejus, France.
  • Both the countries will be participating in the three biennial training exercises namely- GARUDA, VARUNA & SHAKTI.

EVENTS

• 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26)
  • The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, from 31 October to 13 November 2021.
  • The summit was hosted jointly by the United Kingdom and Italy.

• c0c0n 2021: Hacking & Cyber Security Conference
  • The 14th edition of the annual international cyber security conference of the Kerala Police 'c0c0n 2021' was held on the virtual platform.
  • The theme of the event was 'Improvise, adapt and overcome'.

• Goa Maritime Conclave – 2021
  • The third edition of Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC) – 2021 was hosted by the Indian Navy under the aegis of Naval War College, Goa.
  • The theme for this year’s edition of GMC was “Maritime Security and Emerging Non-Traditional Threats: A Case for Proactive Role for IOR Navies”.

AWARDS AND REWARDS

• President confers 'General of Indian Army' rank to Nepal Army Chief
  • Nepal Army Chief Gen Prabhu Ram Sharma was conferred with the honorary rank of 'General of the Indian Army' by President Ram Nath Kovind.
  • Nepal conferred the honorary rank of 'General of Nepal Army' to Indian Army Chief Gen MM Naravane during his visit to Kathmandu in November last year.

SPORTS

• Sankalp Gupta is India’s 71st Grand Master
  • Nagpur teenager Sankalp Gupta has become India’s 71st Grandmaster.
  • The 18-year-old Gupta secured the GM title by earning his third GM norm when he finished second with 6.5 points in the GM Ask 3 round-robin event in Arandjelovac, Serbia.

• Mitrabha Guha becomes India's 72nd Grand Master
  • Kolkata-based player Mitrabha Guha has become India's 72nd chess Grand Master.
  • The 20-year old Guha achieved the GM title after securing the final norm at the ongoing GM Third Saturday Mix 220 tourney in Novi Sad, Serbia.

• World Table Tennis Contender Lasko 2021
  • India’s Manika Batra and Archana Girish Kamath won the women’s doubles title at the World Table Tennis Contender Lasko 2021 event in Lasko, Slovenia.
  • They defeated Puerto Rico’s Diaz sisters, Adriana and Melanie.