Current Affairs 31 October 2021

We are here for you to provide the important Recent and Latest Current Affairs 31 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.

Our Current Affairs October 2021 events will help you to get more marks in Banking, Insurance, SSC, Railways, UPSC, CLAT and all State Government Exams. Also, try our Latest Current Affairs Quiz and Monthly Current Affairs 2021 PDF which will be a pedestrian to crack your exams.

Read Current Affairs in CareersCloud APP, Course Name –  Learn Current Affairs – Free Course – Click Here to Download the APP

We are Hiring – Subject Matter Expert | CA Video Creator | Content Developers(Pondicherry)

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

NITI Aayog Releases Report on ‘Health Insurance for India’s Missing Middle’i.On October 29, 2021, NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog released a comprehensive 2021 report titled ‘Health Insurance for India’s Missing Middle’ stating the current situation, existing gaps in the health insurance coverage across the Indian population and offers recommendations to increase health insurance coverage.
ii.It was launched in the presence of NITI Aayog CEO (Chief Executive Officer) Amitabh Kant and Additional Secretary Dr Rakesh Sarwal.
iii.The 30% of the population or 400 million individuals (urban and rural areas), devoid of health insurance is termed as the ‘missing middle’.
About NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog
Established– 2015
Chairperson– Prime Minister of India (Currently- Narendra Modi)
Headquarters– New Delhi
>>Read Full News

Agri Minister Narendra Singh Tomar Addressed National Conference On International Year Of Fruits And VegetablesNarendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, addressed the National Conference on “International Year of Fruits and Vegetables” organized by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW), in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations(FAO).
Objective:
To create awareness about the importance of fruits and vegetables in human nutrition, health, food security and its importance in achieving Sustainable Development Goals(SDG).
About the conference:
i.This is a part of the observance of the United Nations(UN)’s International Year of Fruits and Vegetables(IYFV), 2021.
ii.The theme of IYFV 2021 is “Awareness about the nutritional benefits of fruits and vegetables for balanced and healthy diet and lifestyle.”
Gist of Union Minister’s address:
i.MoA&FW has identified 10 globally popular Exotic fruit crops of commercial importance and 10 important Indigenous fruit crops with high nutritional and nutraceutical properties.
ii.The State Horticulture Departments have been given targets for 2021-22 for the area expansion of these crops.
iii.8951 hectares area for exotic fruits and 7154 hectares area for indigenous fruits will be brought under cultivation during the current year.
Highlights of the Conference:
i.Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar released the operational guidelines for the Horticulture Cluster Development Programme and QR code of the guidelines.
ii.Garth Atkinson, International Expert made a presentation on “Global shift in Horticulture Supply Chain” and informed about the current practices of Production, Post-harvest Management, Processing, Logistics, Marketing and their future trends.
Key Points:
i.India, the second–largest producer of horticulture, is producing around 12% of the global fruit and vegetable production.
ii.In 2019-2020, India recorded the highest ever production of horticulture (320.77 million metric tonnes) and the production in 2020-2021 is estimated to be around 329.86 million metric tonnes.
About Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW):
Union Minister– Narendra Singh Tomar (Constituency- Morena, Madhya Pradesh)
Minister of state– Sushri Shobha Karandlaje (Constituency- Udupi Chikmagalur, Karnataka); Kailash Choudhary (Constituency- Barmer, Rajasthan)

Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya Addressed the Inaugural Session of CII Asia Health 2021 SummitDr Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, addressed the inaugural session of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Asia Health 2021 summit(28-29th October 2021).
The theme of the CII Asia Health 2021 summit is “Transforming Healthcare for a better tomorrow”.
Objective:
To deliberate on the 5 critical A’s of Awareness, Accessibility, Adoption, Accountability and Affordability that determine and impact the Healthcare Sector.
Key People:
Dr Vinod K Paul, Member of NITI Aayog, Dr R.S. Sharma, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the  National Health Authority and the officials of CII participated in the summit.
Highlights:
i.CII launched the report titled “Telemedicine Demystified – Necessity During the Pandemic, Boon for the Future”, a joint study by CII and IQVIA which maps the Telemedicine landscape in India and how it has added value to the Indian healthcare ecosystem since the outbreak of the pandemic.
ii.The report highlights the major disparities in the current ecosystem and states the importance of telemedicine as a major change for healthcare in India.
Key Points:
i.Union Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya stated that the government is focusing on the theme of ‘From Token To Total Health’. The PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25th October 2021 is an initiative in this regard.
ii.Dr Vinod K Paul stated that the government aims to achieve the doctor-patient ratio of 1:1000 as prescribed by World Health Organization (WHO) by 2024.
About Ministry of Health and Family Welfare(MoHFW):
Union Minister– Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya(Rajya Sabha- Gujarat)
Minister of State– Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar(Constituency- Dindori, Maharashtra)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Exercise ‘Blue Flag 2021’ Held in Israel: IAF’s Mirage 2000 Aircraft Squadron ParticipatedA total of 84 Indian Air Force (IAF)  personnel took part in the international multilateral combat exercise Blue Flag 2021, along with IAF’s Mirage 2000 aircraft squadron at Israel’s Ovda Airbase.

• The exercise involves Air Force missions from 8 countries, to share knowledge and combat experience to improve operational capabilities. It was held for 2 weeks in Israel from October 17 to 28, 2021.
• Theme: Integration of fourth and fifth-generation aircraft in complex operational scenarios.
• Objective:  To improve combat compatibility among participating countries by providing an opportunity for integrating weapon systems, combat doctrines, and operational protocols.
• Participants: The other Seven countries that have participated in the exercise include the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Greece, and Israel.
• The Indian Mirages and the French Rafale have participated in the exercise for the 1st time

About Israel:
Capital – Jerusalem
Currency – Israeli Shekel
Prime Minister – Naftali Bennett
>>Read Full News

19th Meeting of Prosecutors General of SCO hosted by India’s SC Tushar MehtaThe 19th meeting of Prosecutors General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states was hosted by Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General of India on October 29, 2021 through video conferencing mode.

• SCO Prosecutors General sign a protocol to deal with human trafficking especially women and children.
• The 20th meeting of the Prosecutors General of the SCO Member States will be held in the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2022.

About Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
SCO comprises eight member states – India, China, Pakistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.
HeadQuarters – Beijing, China
Secretary General – Vladimir Imamovich Norov
>>Read Full News

BANKING & FINANCE

Mastercard, LEAF Launched a Digital Platform ‘LFN’ for Farmers Mastercard has partnered with Lawrencedale Agro Processing India (LEAF) and launched a digital platform LEAF Farmer Network (LFN) to improve financial access and inclusion among the farmers in India.

• LFN will include benefits such as digitisation of harvest data, providing enhanced access to markets and expertise on better crops, and bringing in transparency by connecting the farmers directly with buyers.
• Farmers across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu will be benefited from the LFN.

Key Features of LFN:
i.Digitisation: Through LFN, the farmers could negotiate for price with complete transparency and manage end-to-end logistics with quality control. The network will also provide access to good quality produce at scale.
ii.LFN is a model developed through a secure phone-driven and internet agnostic technology provided by Mastercard. It digitises the farmers’ produce buying process.
iii.The entire process under LFN could be managed alone by farmers, with support from LFN agents.
iv.The network will connect the buyers, farming inputs, suppliers, agriculture-techs, and banks with FPOs (Farmer Producer Organisations)/farmers and digitise the marketplaces, payments, workflows, and farmer transaction histories.
v.It will improve the farmers’ income by supporting them through comprehensive training and capacity building in the entire lifecycle of the harvest, including post-harvest management
vi.The launch of LFN is an extension of Mastercard Farm Pass, a pilot programme, which was introduced in 2018 in Andhra Pradesh.
About MasterCard:
Headquarters (Global) – New York,  U.S.
Headquarters (India) – Mumbai, Maharashtra
CEO – Michael Miebach

Federal Bank & Aditya Birla Health Insurance Announce Bancassurance Partnership The Federal Bank and Aditya Birla Health Insurance Co. Limited (ABHICL) entered into a Bancassurance Partnership. As a part of this alliance, Federal Bank will provide to  its  customers innovative health insurance solutions offered by ABHICL.
Major benefits
i.Customers of Federal Bank will have facilities like Day 1 cover for asthma, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coaching on nutrition etc  and these facilities will be provided by ABHICL’s industry-first innovative solutions.
ii.The partnership will expand the range of health insurance offerings to around more than 1250 branches and 8.9 million customers of the Federal Bank
About Aditya Birla Health Insurance Co. Limited (ABHICL)
Chairman :  Kumar Mangalam Birla
CEO : Mayank Bathwal
Founded : 2015
About Federal Bank
Founded: 23 April 1931
Headquarters: Aluva, Kerala
Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer: Shyam Srinivasan
Tagline: Your Perfect Banking Partner

Yes Bank Launches ‘FinBooster’ Credit Card with BankBazaar.comYes Bank and BankBazaar.com together launched a Co-Branded credit card named FinBooster to measure the Creditworthiness of the customers.

• FinBooster is built around a credit fitness tracker.

Features
i.FinBooster uses CreditStrong app Subscription (credit fitness report) which helps customers to track creditworthiness that improves the Credit score.

• Credit Score – This is an indicator of customers creditworthiness or customers ability to repay loans. It is expressed as numbers based on the repayment history towards different loan types.

ii.No Maximum credit  limit
iii.Customers can earn reward points on online dining, grocery and apparel purchases and can easily redeem them for over 250 catalog products.
iv.The customers can share reward points with family and friends.
About Yes Bank
Founded – 2004
Headquarters – Mumbai,Maharashtra
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – Prashant Kumar
Tagline – Experience Our Expertise
About BankBazaar.com
Founded – 2008
Headquarters – Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – Adhil Shetty

  AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

Wipro’s Azim Premji tops Edelgive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021; HCL’s Shiv Nadar at 2nd 

Hurun India and EdelGive have jointly released the Edelgive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021. The list was topped by Azim Premji, the founder chairman of Wipro, with a donation of Rs 9,713 crore during fiscal 2020-21 which is around Rs 27 crore a day.

• HCL’s Shiv Nadar has secured the 2nd rank with a total contribution of Rs 1,263 crore towards upliftment causes.
• India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, CMD of Reliance Industries, has secured the 3rd rank with a contribution of Rs 577 crore followed by Kumar Mangalam Birla & family at 4th rank with Rs 377 crore.                      

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

DRDO & IAF flight tested India’s 1st Long-Range 1 ton Guided Bomb successfully

i.On October 29, 2021, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Air Force (IAF) team successfully flight tested India’s first Long-Range Bomb (LRB), with a range of ~50 to 150 kilometres, from an aerial platform Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur in Odisha.
ii.The LR Bomb has been designed and developed indigenously by Research Centre Imarat (RCI), a DRDO laboratory located at Hyderabad in coordination with other DRDO laboratories.
iii.It can carry a warhead of 1000 kilograms (1 ton).
About Research Centre Imarat (RCI)-DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation):
Director– Ummalaneni Raja Babu
Headquarter– Hyderabad, Telangana
>>Read Full News

OBITUARY

Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai, Former PM of Afghanistan Passed Away Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai, the former Prime Minister (PM) of Afghanistan and a renowned jihadi leader passed away at the age of 77 in Kabul, Afghanistan. He was born in 1944 in Malang Village of Khaki Jabbar district of Kabul Province, Afghanistan.
About Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai:
i.Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai has served as the acting PM of Afghanistan under President Burhanuddin Rabbani during 1995-1996 prior to the 1996 Taliban Takeover.
ii.He fled from Afghanistan after the takeover and remained in exile till the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
iii.Between 1992 and 1996 he has served the government of Afghanistan in various key positions.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

A book titled “John Lang: Wanderer of Hindoostan, Slanderer of Hindoostanee, Lawyer for the Ranee” by Amit RanjanA book titled “John Lang: Wanderer of Hindoostan, Slanderer of Hindoostanee, Lawyer for the Ranee” authored by Amit Ranjan. The book is about John Lang’s life, his exploits and literary works.The book was published by Niyogi Books.
Key points
i.John Langs was an  Australian journalist  and lawyer settled in India in the 19th century. He fought many cases against the British and also represented Rani Laxmibai in her legal battle against the annexation of her kingdom of Jhansi by the East India Company (EIC).

• He defended Rani Laxmibai, when she lost the right to rule Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh) under Doctrine of Lapse.

*******

Click Here View – AC Excluded News 2021

Current Affairs Today (AffairsCloud Today)