Current Affairs 15 October 2021

We are here for you to provide the important Recent and Latest Current Affairs 15 October 2021, which have unique updates of Latest Current Affairs 2021 events from all newspapers such as The Hindu, The Economic Times, PIB, Times of India, PTI, Indian Express, Business Standard and all Government official websites.

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NATIONAL AFFAIRS

PM launched Rs 100 Lakh cr Gati Shakti- National Master Plan for Infrastructure Development from New Delhii.The Central government is undertaking efforts for the Next Generation Infrastructure to improve ease of living as well as ease of doing business. On these lines, the Prime Minister (PM) of India, Narendra Damodardas Modi had announced ‘PM GatiShakti – National Master Plan for Multi-Modal Connectivity’ in his Independence Day speech on August 15, 2021.
ii.Following this, on October 13 2021, GatiShakti, a Rs. 100 lakh-crore project was officially launched by the Indian PM during an event at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
iii.Gati Shakti is a digital platform collaborating 16 Central Ministries and Departments for integrated planning and coordination to implement infrastructure connectivity projects of more than 1,200 industrial clusters.
iv.In line with PM Gati Shakti, Mumbai Port Trust is undertaking a number of projects promoting multimodal connectivity which is premised upon two pillars, namely cargo-related projects and Sea Tourism.
About Ministry of Commerce and Industry:
Piyush Goyal Constituency– Maharashtra
Minister of State– Som Parkash (Constituency- Hoshiarpur, Punjab); Anupriya Patel (Constituency- Mirzapur,Uttar Pradesh)
>>Read Full News

CRISP-M Tool for Mahatma Gandhi NREG Scheme Launched; Climate Resilient Program Started in 7 StatesUnion Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Shri Giriraj Singh virtually launched Climate Resilience Information System and Planning (CRISP-M) tool for integration of climate information in Geographic Information System (GIS) based watershed planning under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Scheme (MGNREGS).

• Giriraj Singh launched this service along with Lord Tariq Ahmad, Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth in the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
• This tool will be implemented in seven districts of states such as Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Rajasthan.
• Th Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Government of UK and Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India are jointly working towards climate resilience.

Mahatma Gandhi NREGA & Mahatma Gandhi NREGS
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (Mahatma Gandhi NREGA) is the foundation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS) and provides guaranteed employment.

• Central Government has powers to make rules and to amend Mahatma Gandhi NREGA.
• State Governments have powers to make rules and amend the concerned State scheme.

>>Read Full News

PM Modi Virtually Addressed in 28^th NHRC Foundation Day programme

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 28^th National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) foundation day programme virtually. Union home minister Amit Shah and NHRC chairperson Justice Arun Kumar Mishra participated in the event.

• NHRC was established on 12^th October 1993.It is established under the Protection of Human Rights Act (PHRA), 1993 as amended by the Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Act, 2006.
• NHRC is an organisation which represents India’s concern for the promotion and protection of human rights.

Uttar Pradesh Tops in Funding Units Under PMEGP

Uttar Pradesh became top in India by financing the highest number of units under Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP).

• The UP government has facilitated a total of over Rs 123 crore as margin money under PMEGP with a total cost of the project worth over Rs 450 crore in the current FY21-22.
• Uttar Pradesh has risen from 14th to 2nd rank in Ease of Doing Business.
• PMEGP scheme is implemented by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) functioning as the nodal agency at the national level and the same is implemented through State KVIC Directorates, State Khadi and Village Industries Boards (KVIBs), District Industries Centres (DICs) and banks at the state level.

Union Minister Shri Anurag Thakur Launches Nationwide Clean India Programme from Prayagraj

Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Anurag Thakur participated in cleanliness drive on the launch of nationwide Clean India programme from Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh.

• This program aims to create awareness, mobilize people and ensure their involvement in cleaning waste mainly Single Use Plastic waste throughout the country.
• This initiative, 75 Lakh kg waste mainly plastic waste will be collected and disposed with the support and voluntary participation of citizen.
• Department of Youth Affairs of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports under Indian Government in commemoration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is organizing nationwide Clean India Programme from 1st October 2021 to 31st October 2021.
• The programme is being organised across the country through the networks of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) affiliated Youth Clubs & National Service Scheme affiliated Institutions.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

WHO releases 1st Ever Global Roadmap to Defeat Meningitis by 2030
The World Health Organization (WHO) along with its partners (including UNICEF, PATH, the Gates Foundation) have launched the 1st ever Global strategy to defeat “Meningitis”- a disease that kills hundreds of thousands of people each year.
i.The strategy “Global Roadmap to Defeat Meningitis by 2030” was launched by WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, during a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.
What is Meningitis?

• Meningitis is an inflammatory disease that affects the membranes that surrounds the Brain & Spinal cord.
• It can be caused by either Bacteria or by Viruses, while the one caused by Bacteria is the most serious one leading to around 250,000 deaths a year.

WHO Target – As per the current roadmap, WHO & its partners target to eliminate the Bacterial Meningitis by 2030 & reduce the overall deaths by 70%.
WHO & partners, decided on collaborative research towards vaccines for Meningitis & provide proper guidance to countries to eliminate the disease.
Meningitis as an epidemic is spread across the world, yet most prevalent in the 26 Sub-Saharan African Countries.
Roadmap for Meningitis Response & Prevention:

• To attain high immunization coverage & develop new affordable vaccines
• Providing proper guidelines & preventive measures to countries
• Immediate medical support to affect persons & ensure high awareness on meningitis
• Framing National accountability plans towards prevention, care and after-care services to meningitis affected persons.

About World Health Organization (WHO): 
Founded – 7 April 1948
Director General – Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Headquarter – Geneva, Switzerland

PM Narendra Modi Participated in Virtual G20 Extraordinary Leaders’ Meeting 2021 on AfghanistanIn October 2021, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi virtually participated in the ‘G20 Extraordinary Leaders’ Meeting on Afghanistan’, which has been organised to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

• The meeting was convened by Italy (as it is currently holding the G2O Presidency) and chaired by Italian PM Mario Draghi.

Key Points:
i.Issues related to the humanitarian situation, terrorism, and human rights in Afghanistan were discussed during the meeting.
ii.PM has mentioned the support required from G20 nations for United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution 2593, which was adopted in August 2021 at the UNSC meeting (which was held under the Indian presidency to discuss the situation in Afghanistan).
iii.PM has mentioned the 500 development projects that have been implemented by India in Afghanistan.
iv.In September 2021, PM participated in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) – Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) outreach meeting on Afghanistan.

• During the 21st meeting of SCO, the member countries adopted the ‘Dushanbe Declaration’ to promote counter-terrorism & stability in Afghanistan.

About G20:
i.The G20 is the international forum established in 1999 to bring together the world’s major economies. Its members account for more than 80 percent of world GDP, 75 percent of global trade and 60 percent of the global population.
ii.The G20 does not have a permanent secretariat, whereas its activities are established by the rotating Presidencies.
iii.G20 members: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. Spain is also invited as a permanent guest.

EY’s Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index 2021: India Retained 3rd Rank, US Tops India has retained its 3rd rank in the 58th edition of Ernst & Young Global Limited’s (EY) ‘Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index 2021’ (RECAI).

• RECAI is a biannual report being released since 2003. Under which, EY ranks the world’s Top 40 countries based on the attractiveness of their renewable energy investment and deployment opportunities.

Top 5 ranking of RECAI:

Corporate PPA Index 2021: Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) Index was newly included in the current edition of RECAI, in which India ranked 6th among the top 30 PPA markets.
About Ernst & Young Global Limited (EY):
Headquarters – London, United Kingdom (UK)
Global Chairman & CEO – Carmine Di Sibio
>>Read Full News

EAM S Jaishankar Visited 3 Central Asian countries – Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Armenia from October 10-13External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar made a 4-day official visit to Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Armenia from 10-13 October 2021, to further expand bilateral ties between the three Central Asian nations and discussed key regional issues including the developments in Afghanistan.
Key Points:
i.Kyrgyzstan:

• During 10-11 October, the EAM visited Kyrgyzstan, this is his 1st visit to the country as EAM.
• He had a bilateral meeting with the Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan Ruslan Kazakbaev and agreed to provide a USD 200 million Line of Credit (LOC) to support the development of High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP) in Kyrgyzstan.

ii.Kazakhstan: The EAM visited Kazakhstan on 11-12 October and addressed the 6th Ministerial meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures (CICA) 2021 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.
iii.Armenia: EAM visited Armenia from 12-13 October. It was the first-ever visit of an EAM of India to independent Armenia. He had meetings with his Ararat Mirzoyan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and also called on Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia
About Kyrgyzstan:
Capital – Bishkek
President – Sadyr Japarov
Currency – Kyrgyzstani som
>>Read Full News

MoS External Affairs Meenakashi Lekhi participates in 60th NAM Meeting at Serbia
Meenakashi Lekhi, Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs participated in the 60th Anniversary NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) Commemorative Meeting at Belgrade, Serbia during her visit between 10-13 October 2021. She was the Special Envoy of the Prime Minister to attend the High-level Commemorative Meeting.
i.The meeting was jointly co-hosted by H.E. Alexsander Vučić, President of Serbia and NAM Chair, H.E. President Aliyev of Azerbaijan.
ii.She discussed the current developments in world peace & justice, situation in Afghanistan and emphasized the promotion of mutual sovereignty.
MoS Visit to Serbia:
i.She participated in the Meeting of Women Heads of Delegations and Ministers of Foreign Affairs, which was hosted by the President of the 76th UNGA at the UN House in Belgrade.
ii.Conducted bilateral meetings with Serbia’s Deputy PM and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, Minister of Defence, Minister of Culture and Information, and Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications.
iii.A bilateral Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP) was signed to strengthen cooperation in fields of Culture and Arts.
iv.MoS delivered a lecture on ‘Structure of Judiciary in India’ at the Law Faculty of the University of Belgrade.
v.She unveiled the bust of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore in Belgrade.
About Non-Aligned Movement (NAM):
NAM was established in 1961, by like-minded countries, which decided not to support either the USA or the Soviet Union in the Cold war.
Members – 120 Member States, 17 Observer Countries & 10 Observer organizations.
Jawaharlal Nehru represented India in the first NAM conference at Belgrade in 1961.
About Serbia:
Capital – Belgrade
Currency – Dinar
Prime Minister – Ana Brnabić

BANKING & FINANCE

PayPal signs MoU with IIFT to launch India Digital Trade Facilitation ForumOn October 13, 2021, digital payments firm PayPal signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) to increase the knowledge base of Indian micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs).

• It will be done through the launch of India Digital Trade Facilitation Forum (IDTFF) for MSMEs.

What will IDTFF do?
i.IDTFF will educate, guide, and raise awareness amongst MSMEs about marketing, scaling, digitalization and exports through masterclasses.

• This will help them to expand their consumer base and reach a global audience.

ii.Virtual webinars will also be hosted with industry experts, traders and policymakers on ongoing challenges.
About PayPal:
President and CEO– Dan Schulman
Headquarters– California, United States

PhonePe Tie-up with NBBL Launched Recurring Payment Link – ClickPayThe digital payment platform PhonePe has partnered with National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) Bharat BillPay Ltd (NBBL) and launched a unique payment link named ‘ClickPay’ to enable customers to make recurring online bill payments.
Features of ClickPay:
i.Two-step process: The recurring payment link which will be sent by the biller (on clicking the link) will lead the customer directly to the payment page for paying the bill amount instantly.
ii.This feature will facilitate the customers as it will overcome the need for remembering the unique identifiers and account details associated with making bill payments.
iii.It will also reduce the errors that are occurring due to manual inputs during bill payments.
iv.Using PhonePe the users could send and receive money, recharge mobile, data cards, pay at stores, make utility payments, make investments, buy gold, etc.
Note – In April 2021, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) formed its wholly-owned subsidiary NBBL to offer recurring payment services and transferred all its Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) transaction mandates to it. Click here to know more
About PhonePe:
It was acquired by Flipkart acquires in 2016
Establishment – 2015
Headquarters – Bengaluru, Karnataka
CEO – Sameer Nigam

U GRO Capital, Kinara Capital Partnered to Lend MSMEsU GRO Capital and Kinara Capital have made a strategic co-origination partnership to offer collateral-free business loans to small business entrepreneurs in India.

• As per the partnership statement, both organisations were planning to disburse Rs 100 crores by the end of FY22 to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the manufacturing, trading, and service sectors.
• They plan to provide finance for MSMEs in the range of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 30 lakh with tenure ranging from 12–60 months.

Key Points:
i.Kinara Capital will complete the process of loan application to loan disbursement within 24-hours.
ii.Financing could be availed for working capital and asset purchase directly from Kinara Capital.
iii.The women entrepreneurs could avail business loans with upfront discounts through the HerVikas program of Kinara Capital.
iv.The collaboration lead to U GRO’s analytical data-driven decisions and integration through APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) with the smart technology platform of Kinara Capital
v.The partnership was mainly supported by U GRO Capital’s Gro X-stream platform which is API-driven and a customizable technology platform for fintech, payment platforms, Neobank, etc.
About Kinara Capital:
Headquarters – Bengaluru, Karnataka
Founder & CEO – Hardika Shah

Indian Bank and Fisdom Joined Hands for Digital Wealth Management Products
Indian Bank made a tie up with a fintech company Fisdom for its mobile banking app to manage the new digital wealth management products.

• Fisdom offers financial products, such as mutual funds, insurance and National Pension Scheme (NPS) on its platform.
• Indian Bank is the seventh-largest public sector bank in India, following the merger with Allahabad Bank.This partnership makes the customers to invest in pension funds and digital gold and even file income tax returns online.

IOB Joined with TN Govt’s IFHRMS
Indian Overseas Bank is now integrated with TN Govt’s IFHRMS (Integrated Finance Human Resource Management System) portal designed for collection of all treasury receipts.With this ,Indian Overseas Bank is now authorized to collect all the receipts of Tamil Nadu Government under IFHRMS portal through both offline and online.

• IFHRMS portal is developed to improve operational efficiency by integrating Human Resources and Financial services.
• Indian Overseas Bank has also joined Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) in promoting pension and retirement planning.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS   

James Sangma of Meghalaya  Won 2021 PETA India Award for ‘Vegan Leather’  InitiativeThe Forest &  Environment Minister  of Meghalaya, James Pangsang Kongkal Sangma received the Progressive Business Concept Award of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) India 2021 for his Vegan Leather initiative. He started an initiative to make ‘Vegan Leather’ from Pineapples in the northeastern states of India.
Key points
i.The state administration is planning to build a museum to spread awareness about climate change and protection of vulnerable animals. It will be called the Climate Change Museum.
ii.According to PETA, it estimates that  animal agriculture – which includes the murder of animals for clothing  is responsible for approximately a fifth of all human-induced greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). In the 2020-21 fiscal year, India exported USD 3.68 billion in footwear, leather, and leather products.
iii.Meghalaya contributed to about 8% of total pineapples produced in India.
About Vegan Leather
Vegan leather is a material that mimics leather, but is created from artificial or plant products instead of animal skins. It is most often made from two different plastic polymers; polyurethane (PU) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) – they are commonly used due to their wrinkled texture which helps to give the effect of real leather.
About Pineapple leather
Pineapple leather is a non-woven textile material, but it  is not made from animal skin. It is also  called Pinatex,    made from a combination of natural fibers from the pineapple leaf, and plastic and resin.
About  PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)
Founded: 1980
Headquarters: Norfolk, Virginia, United States
President – Ingrid Newkirk           

SPORTS

Divya Deshmukh becomes India’s 21st Woman Grand MasterOn 13th October 2021, Divya Deshmukh, a 15-year-old from Nagpur, Maharashtra became the 21st Woman Grand Master (WGM) of India after qualifying in the 3rd WGM norm. She attained this feet during the “First Saturday Grand Master(GM)” in Budapest, Hungary.
i.During the tournament, she also qualified for the 2nd norms of International Masters (IM), now there is only one norm ahead for her to qualify as an IM.
Note – Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi was India’s 1st Women Grandmaster, while Viswanathan Anand became India’s 1st Grandmaster in 1988.
ii.Divya Deshmukh scored 5 points from 9 rounds during the tournament to secure the 3rd & final WGM-norm.
iii.In September 2021, R Raja Rithvik became the 70th Grandmaster of India.
About All India Chess Federation (AICF):
Founded – 1951
President – Sanjay Kapoor
Headquarters – New Delhi, Delhi (Source – https://aicf.in/contact/)

‘Our Goal for All’ – Tagline for 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup Unveiled

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) unveiled ‘Our Goal for All’ as the official tagline for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022.
Highlights
i.’Our Goal for All’ implies the unity and collective effort of the Asian football members to create a glorious future for women’s football.
ii.The AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022 will take place in three Indian cities of Maharashtra – Navi Mumbai, Mumbai and Pune– from January 20 to February 6 in 2022.
iii.Top 12 football teams from Asia will participate in the cup which include reigning champions Japan, 2018 runners-up Australia, third-placed China PR and hosts India. They will be joined by Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Korea Republic, Philippines, Thailand , Vietnam and others.
About Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
President–  Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa
Founded- 1954
Headquarters- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

OBITUARY

Father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb Abdul Qadeer Khan passed away

Pakistani nuclear scientist and metallurgical engineer Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan (85), also known as the father of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, passed away in Islamabad, Pakistan. He was born in 1936 at Bhopal, British India.

• Khan founded the Engineering Research Laboratory, or ERL, for the purpose of developing a uranium-enrichment capability. In May 1981 the laboratory was renamed the Khan Research Laboratory, or KRL.
• After Pakistan’s defeat to India in 1971, Pakistan wished to build a nuclear bomb as a future deterrent.
• Khan was working at a European company involved in building centrifuges to enrich uranium.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Standards Day 2021:October 14  World Standards Day or International Standards Day is observed on October 14 every year at the global level.  This date was chosen to mark the first meeting of delegates of IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), ISO( International Organization for Standardization) and ITU ( International Telecommunication Union) in from 25 countries in London, United Kingdom who established an international organisation for facilitating standardisation.Objective-
To create awareness about the importance of standardisation to the world.
World Standard Day 2021 Theme-
‘’Standards for Sustainable Development Goals – Our Shared Vision for a Better World”.
About ISO (International Organization for Standardization)
Headquarters– Geneva, Switzerland
President- Eddy Njoroge
Members – 165 national standards bodies.
>>Read Full News

STATE NEWS

Karnataka SHEC & NASSCOM signs MoU with for Industry-aligned Skill Development of StudentsThe State Higher Education Council (SHEC)of Karnataka signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) to provide Industry-aligned skill development experiences to students of higher education.
It was signed in the presence of Minister of Higher Education, Dr C N Ashwatha Narayana at Vidhana Soudha.
Key points
i.The skill development courses will be available on the ‘Future Skills Prime’ platform of NASSCOM, as per national occupational standards of the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) to students and faculty members of higher education institutions.
ii.All universities in the state are covered under this MoU, it will benefit more than 5 lakh students of higher education (studying in government and private institutions) every year.
iii.Courses such as  Digital Fluency, Artificial Intelligence, and Cyber Security will become part of the curriculum.It will also provide infrastructure resources, faculty training etc.
About Karnataka
Zoological park – Atal Bihari Vajpayee Zoological Park, Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Garden, Dr. K.Shivarma Karanth Pililkula Biological Park
Tiger reserve- Kali Tiger Reserve also known as Dandeli – Anshi Tiger reserve, Nagarahole Tiger Reserve
Wildlife sanctuary– Arabithittu Wildlife Sanctuary , Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary, Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary

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