Daily Current Affairs and GK | 11 September 2021

Topic: Committees/ Commissions/ Taskforces

1. Government formed a committee to frame new laws for drugs, cosmetics, and medical devices.

• The government has constituted a committee for framing the Drugs, Cosmetics and Medical Device Bill.
• The government has formed this committee to replace the existing Drugs and Cosmetics Act, formed in 1940.
• This eight-member committee will be headed by Dr. V G Somani, Drugs Controller General of India. It will submit its report by November 30.
• The committee comprises different stakeholders including manufacturers, scientists, doctors and patient groups.
• Now, Medical devices are ‘treated’ as drugs for the purpose of regulation by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).
• The Drugs and Cosmetics Act has been amended earlier for several times to add new clauses in the act.

Topic: Appointments

2. President appointed new governors in four states.

• President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed new governors in four states.
• Lt Gen Gurmit Singh (retd) has been appointed as the Governor of Uttarakhand after Baby Rani Maurya resigned from the post.
• Banwarilal Purohit has been appointed as Governor of Punjab. Earlier, he was holding the additional charge of the Governor of Punjab with Tamil Nadu.
• Governor of Assam Prof. Jagdish Mukhi has been given the additional charge of Governor of Nagaland.
• Nagaland Governor RN Ravi has been appointed as Governor of Tamil Nadu.

• Newly appointed Governors list:

Topic: Awards and Prizes

3. British writer Susanna Clarke wins Women's Prize for Fiction.

• British writer Susanna Clarke has won ‘Women's Prize for Fiction’ for her novel Piranesi.
• She has won $41,000 prize for her second novel. Her second novel was published 16 years after her first, 'Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell', became a global best-seller.
• Clarke was one of two British authors among six finalists for the prize.
• Women's Prize for Fiction was founded in 1996. It is given to female English-language writers.
• Previous winners of Women's Prize for Fiction include Zadie Smith, Tayari Jones and Maggie O'Farrell.

Topic: National News

4. Centre signs ceasefire agreement with Niki Sumi faction of National Security Council of Nagaland (NSCN) Khaplang (K).

• Centre has signed ceasefire agreement with Niki Sumi faction of National Security Council of Nagaland (NSCN) Khaplang (K).
• The agreement has become effective from 08 September for the period of one year.
• NSCN (K) had unilaterally abrogated ceasefire with the Centre in March 2015.
• Government has since signed ceasefire agreements with NSCN (NK), NSCN (R) and NSCN (K)-Khango.
• In 2015, NSCN (K) was designated as terrorist organization under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Topic: State News/ Uttar Pradesh

5. President Kovind to lay foundation stone of Uttar Pradesh National Law University.

• President Ram Nath Kovind will lay the foundation stones of Uttar Pradesh National Law University and the new building complex of the Allahabad High Court.
• He will also lay the foundation stone of multi-level parking, advocate chamber library, and an auditorium.
• The Uttar Pradesh National Law University will be established in the Jhalwa area of Prayagraj.
• The new building complex of the Allahabad High Court will have around 2600 chambers for lawyers.
• This is the second time in two weeks that the President has visited Uttar Pradesh. Earlier, he laid the foundation of the first AYUSH University of Uttar Pradesh in Gorakhpur district.

Topic: International News

6. India and Australia to hold first 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue.

• India will host the first-ever 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue with Australia.
• Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Peter Dutton will meet with Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
• Both countries’ leaders will discuss bilateral, regional, and global issues of mutual interest. Both sides will also discuss the ways to boost cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.
• The inaugural 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue is another step to elevate the India-Australia bilateral relationship.
• India and Australia are members of Quad coalition. In 2020, India and Australia elevated their bilateral to 'Comprehensive Strategic Partnership' level.
• Recently, India and Australia conducted the fourth edition of the bilateral exercise ‘AUSINDEX’. Australia also participated in Malabar Exercise.
• India and Australia bilateral trade is around USD20 billion annually. Both countries are negotiating on a bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement.
• India also hold 2-2 Ministerial format meetings with the USA and Japan.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Appointments

7. Sardar Iqbal singh Lalpura becomes Chairman of National Commission for minorities.

• Sardar Iqbal Singh Lalpura has been appointed as the Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities.
• He is a former IPS officer and before being appointed as National Minorities Commission’s chairman, he was the spokesperson for BJP.
• He has written nearly 14 books on Sikh philosophy and history. ‘Japji Sahib ek vichaar’, Gurbaani ek vichaar’, and ‘Raj Karega Khalsa’ are some famous books written by him.
• He has won President’s police medal, Shiromani Sikh Sahitkar award, Sikh scholar award, etc.
• In February, Vijay Sampla was appointed as Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes.

Topic: Geography

8. Super typhoon ‘Chanthu’ can hit Philippines and Taiwan.

• A super typhoon ‘Chanthu’ is moving towards the Philippines and Taiwan.
• Chanthu is about 580 kilometers (360 miles) away from Taiwan's southernmost tip. It can hit the northeastern tip of the Philippines.
• Destructive winds of super typhoon ‘Chanthu’ can affect Santa Ana town badly, where around 35,000 people live.
• Tropical storms regularly hit Taiwan during the summer season.
• Scientists have warned that typhoons are becoming more powerful as the world becomes warmer because of man-made climate change.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

9. Atal Innovation Mission launched Space challenge in association with ISRO & CBSE.

• Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) has launched Space challenge in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
• The challenge has been named ATL Space Challenge 2021. All school students are applicable to take part in this challenge.
• The challenge has been designed for all the school students, mentors, and teachers across the country.
• It will give an opportunity for students of classes 6 to 12 to solve digital age space technology problems.
•  The ATL Space Challenge 2021 aligns with the World Space Week 2021, which is being celebrated from 4 to 10 October.
• The ATL Space Challenge 2021 has been launched as part of the “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” initiatives.

Topic: International News

10. Cuba becomes first country to start vaccination of toddlers against Covid-19.

• Cuba has become the first country in the world to start the vaccination of toddlers against the Covid-19 virus. It has started vaccination of children between the age group of 2 to 12 years.
• Cuba aims to vaccinate all children before reopening schools. The vaccines of Cuba have not undergone international scientific review.
• Several other countries in the world are vaccinating children above the age of 12. China, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela have announced to vaccinate younger children.
• Chile approved Chinese Sinovac vaccines for children between 6 and 12 years.

Topic: Environment and Ecology

11. World’s largest Carbon Capture Plant Opened in Iceland.

• The world’s largest carbon capture plant has been opened in Iceland.
• The facility has been named "Orca” and is located on a lava plateau in southwest Iceland.
• It has the capacity to capture 4,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year and pump it into underground caverns.
• Orca has increased the Earth's annual carbon capture capacity by 40 percent to 13,000 metric tons. It will capture the carbon equivalent to the annual emissions made by 790 cars.
• In 2020, around 31.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide were emitted.
• The world's first commercial carbon capture facility was opened in Switzerland in 2017.
• Carbon sequestration is the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is captured through biological, chemical, and physical processes.