Daily GK Update- 23rd Oct, 2021

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. India crosses 100-crore COVID-19 vaccination doses milestone: India completed 100 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines on 21st October, in about 9 months since the drive began. PM Modi called the achievement “the triumph of Indian science, enterprise and collective spirit of 130 crore Indians”. The Prime Minister visited the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and interacted with healthcare workers and people receiving the vaccine. To mark the occasion, the Union Health Ministry held a series of events and released a two-minute and four-second video with rap and visual representation of the country’s fight against COVID-19.

Some important facts about Vaccine drive:

(1) India took 85 days to touch the 10-crore vaccination mark, 45 more days to cross the 20-crore mark and 29 more days to reach the 30-crore mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

(2) The country took 24 days to reach the 40-crore mark from 30-crore doses and then 20 more days to surpass the 50-crore vaccination mark on August 6. It then took 76 days to go past the 100-crore mark.

(3) The top five States which have administered the highest number of doses are Uttar Pradesh followed by Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

(4) The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with health care workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started on February 2.

 

2. Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh launches improved Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi-NCR: The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune has developed a new ‘Decision Support System’ (DSS) and enhanced the existing ‘Air Quality Early Warning System’ (AQEWS) for Delhi-NCR region, to have better air-quality management in the region. IITM Pune is an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. The institute has also developed a dedicated website for DSS, to deliver quantitative information about the contribution of emissions from Delhi and surrounding districts to the air quality. The new and improved systems were launched by Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences, as a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav week organised by the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

 

3. J&K sign MoU with Dubai Govt for real estate development, industrial parks and more: The Jammu and Kashmir administration has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Dubai for rapid development and growth in the Union Territory. Under the MoU, the government of Dubai will help in development of real estate sector, industrial parks, IT towers, multipurpose towers, logistics, medical college, super specialty hospital and various more business enterprises in Jammu and Kashmir. The development will help the Union Territory to reach new heights in Industrialization and sustainable growth.

 

4. Imtiaz Ali appointed ambassador of Russian Film Festival: Director-producer Imtiaz Ali has been roped in as the ambassador of the Russian Film Festival in India. As part of the festival, ten notable Russian films of various genres are being premiered for Indian audiences on Disney+ Hotstar from October 16 to November 27. Russia and India are cooperating in the field of cinematography through the BRICS.

About the festival: The festival brings celebrated and popular romances, dramas, and comedies from Russia like Ice, On the Edge, Tell Her, Doctor Liza, The Relatives, Another Woman!, Jetlag among others. 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 Cinema Fund, the Moscow City Tourism Committee, Discover Moscow, Rossotrudnichestvo, and with the assistance of Kartina Entertainment. The festival was launched in 2020 and has already been successfully held in 14 countries, with more than 200 thousand viewers.

 

5. A new book titled ‘Stars In My Sky’ by Divya Dutta: National Award-winning actress Divya Dutta has come up with her second book titled, “The Stars in My Sky: Those Who Brightened My Film Journey”. The book, published by Penguin Random House India (PRHI), will be released on October 25, 2021. In her new book, Divya Dutta shares her experiences with some of the stalwarts of Bollywood who played a significant role in her film career.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Ecuador declares state of emergency over crime wave: Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso has declared a 60-day state of emergency in the South American country, due to the rise in violent drug crimes. President Lasso has pointed to drug trafficking and consumption as the main drivers behind an increase in murders, home burglary, thefts of vehicles and goods, and muggings.

Under the emergency measures, the armed forces and police would work together to carry out “arms checks, inspections, 24-hour patrols, and drug searches, among other actions. Ecuador is a transit country for cocaine smuggled from neighbouring Peru and Colombia and much of the crime wave is thought to be drug-related.

Note: Ecuador Capital: Quito; Ecuador Currency: United States Dollar.

 

2. India ranks 40th in 2021 Mercer CFS Global Pension Index survey: Mercer Consulting, a leading global management consulting firm, has released the 13th edition of the Mercer Global Pension Index (2021 MCGPI). India has been ranked at 40th position out of 43 countries in the 2021 Mercer CFS Global Pension Index survey. In 2020, India was ranked at 34th position out of 39 pension systems.

Iceland has topped this ranking with an index value of 84.2 followed by the Netherlands with 83.5 and Norway with 82.0. India had an overall index value of 43.3. Thailand had the lowest overall index value at 40.6. The 2021 MCGPI, has added 4 new retirement systems: Iceland, Taiwan, UAE and Uruguay.

About Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index (MCGPI): MCGPI is an annual survey by Mercer Consulting, which aims to benchmark the retirement income system. ii. MCGPI uses three sub-indices, adequacy, sustainability and integrity to measure each retirement income system against more than 50 indicators. The Index is published by Mercer, in collaboration with CFA Institute and the Monash Centre for Financial Studies.

 

3. International Snow Leopard Day: 23rd October: Every year, October 23 is observed as International Snow Leopard Day since 2014. The day commemorates the anniversary of the Bishkek Declaration and to celebrate this endangered cat and raise awareness for its conservation and protection. It was on October 23, 2013, when political leaders from 12 countries came together to endorse the ‘Bishkek Declaration on the conservation of snow leopards. Snow Leopard is found in 12 countries. They are India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Mongolia, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

 

4. Mole Day: 23rd October: On 23rd October every year mole day is celebrated which is popular amongst all chemistry enthusiasts. This day is marked to commemorate and honour the Avogadro‘s number. The celebration of this day happens from 6:02 a.m. to 6:02 p.m commemorating the chemistry is measuring unit. This occasion aims to make the students interested in chemistry and its concepts. The theme for the occasion, inspired by the mascot – A Mole. This year the theme is DispicaMole Me.

History of the day: Mole Day originated in 1980 when an article came into the hype in the science teacher which was about a high school chemistry teacher celebrating this day with her ideas. This day was internationally accepted when the National Mole Day Foundation was established on 15 May 1991.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Australia’s James Pattinson retires from international cricket: Australian fast bowler James Pattinson has retired from international cricket after realising that he won’t be in the reckoning for the Ashes series due to fitness issues. The 31-year-old, who has played 21 Tests and 15 ODIs, though will continue to play domestic cricket. Pattinson claimed 81 Test wickets and 16 ODI scalps in his career after making his Test debut in December 2011 alongside Mitchell Starc and David Warner against New Zealand in Brisbane. His last Test was against New Zealand in Sydney in January 2020 while he last played an ODI way back in September 2015 against England at Leeds.

 

2. Overview of 2021 BNP Paribas Open held at Indian Wells: The 2021 BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, also known as the 2021 Indian Wells Masters, was held from October 04 to 18, 2021 at Indian Wells, California, US. This marks the 47th edition of the men’s BNP Paribas Open (ATP Masters) and the 32nd Edition of the women’s BNP Paribas Open (WTA Masters).

The list of winners:

(1) Cameron Norrie won his maiden ATP Masters 1000 by winning the Men’s singles title at the 2021 BNP Paribas Open

(2) Paula Badosa defeats Victoria Azarenka to win the Women’s Singles Title

(3) Elise Mertens and Su Wei Hsieh won the Women’s Doubles title

(4) John Peers and Filip Polasek won the Men’s Doubles title

About BNP Paribas Open: The BNP Paribas Open is the largest combined ATP Tour Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 tennis event. It is annually held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, the USA.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. NPCI launches card tokenisation platform ‘NTS’: The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched the NPCI Tokenization system (NTS) to further enhance the safety of customers and provide a seamless shopping experience to consumers. The NPCI Tokenization System (NTS) will support the tokenisation of RuPay cards, to provide an alternate for storing card details with merchants.

NPCI’s Token Reference On File(TROF) service will help RuPay cardholders, to maintain the security of their financial data. With NTS, acquiring Banks, Aggregators, Merchants & others can get themselves certified with NPCI & can play the role of Token Requestor to help save the Token reference number (Token Reference On File) against all card numbers saved.

Note: National Payments Corporation of India MD & CEO: Dilip Asbe; National Payments Corporation of India Headquarters: Mumbai; National Payments Corporation of India Founded: 2008.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Nabard subsidiary ‘NABSanrakshan’ sets up Rs 1000 cr credit guarantee fund trust: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has announced the creation of an Rs. 1,000 crore Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for FPOs (CGFTFPO), a dedicated fund for providing credit guarantees to FPOs. The fund has been launched under the trusteeship of NABSanrakshan Trustee Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NABARD.

For this, NABSanrakshan has signed a trust deed with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. The Trust has been registered at Mumbai. The credit guarantee offered through the trust will enhance the creditworthiness of FPOs besides facilitating cost-effective production and productivity leading to higher net incomes to the farmers who are members of FPOs.

Note: Chairman of NABARD: G R Chintala; NABARD Founded: 12 July 1982; NABARD Headquarters: Mumbai.

 

2. A Balasubramanian becomes new Chairman of AMFI: A Balasubramanian has been elected as the new Chairman of the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). He replaces Nilesh Shah, the Managing Director of Kotak Mutual Fund. Balasubramanian is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aditya Birla Sun Life Asset Management. Meanwhile, Radhika Gupta, the MD and CEO of Edelweiss AMC, has been appointed as vice-chair of AMFI.

Note: Association of Mutual Funds in India Founded: 22 August 1995; Association of Mutual Funds in India Headquarters: Mumbai.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Kung Fu Nuns wins UNESCO’s Martial Arts Education Prize 2021: The well known Kung Fu Nuns of the Drukpa order of Buddhism has won the inaugural UNESCO’s Martial Arts Education Prize 2021, for their brave and heroic acts of service and championing of gender equality across the Himalayas. The Nuns empower young girls through martial arts, to defend themselves, build confidence, and take on leadership roles in their communities.

About the award: The award has been launched by UNESCO ICM (International Centre of Martial Arts for Youth Development and Engagement), to collect and promote good practices of martial arts education (MA Edu.)