Daily Current Affairs and GK | 21 October 2021

Topic: Reports and Indices

1. India has ranked 40^th position out of 43 global pension systems, according to Mercer's study.

• India is on 40^th rank out of 43 pension systems across the world in the 2021 Mercer CFS Global Pension Index survey.
• According to the 2021 Mercer CFA Global Pension Index Survey (MCGPI), India has needed to make strategic reforms to improve the pension system to ensure adequate retirement income.
• India was ranked 34 out of 39 pension systems in 2020.
• The overall index value of India among the countries analysed is 43.3, which is lower than the index value of 45.7 in 2020.
• Iceland has been ranked highest with an overall index value of 84.2 worldwide and Thailand has ranked the lowest with an overall index value of 40.6.
• The index highlights key strengths of retirement pension systems around three sub-indexes, which are:
  • Adequacy: India scored in this index is 33.5
  • Sustainability: India scored in this index is 41.8
  • Integrity: India scored in this index is 61.0

Topic: Appointments

2. Retired Commodore Amit Rastogi appointed new Chairman and Managing Director of National Research Development Corporation.

• Amit Rastogi is a retired commodore, who spent 34 years in the Indian Navy.
• He has been appointed as the chairman and managing director of the National Research Development Corporation.
• His educational background is Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from JNU and Master’s degree in Electronics & Telecommunication from Poona University and M.Sc. (Defence & strategic studies) from Madras University.
• NRDC is an enterprise of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science & Technology.
• It is involved in many developments, promotions, and transfers of technologies emanating from various national R&D institutions. 

(Source: PIB)

Topic: Sports

3. China beats Japan by 3-1 in Uber Cup 2021 Finals.

• China clinched the Uber Cup trophy by beating defending champions Japan 3-1.
• Huang Dong Ping and Li Wen Mei defeated Misaki Matsutomo and Nami Matsuyama by 24-22, 23-21. This is the 15th time China has won the competition.
• Indonesia lifted the Thomas Cup trophy for the first time since 2002 after defeating China in the final.
• In the Semi-finals, Japan won against South Korea & China defeated Thailand by 3-0.
• With 14 titles, Indonesia is the most successful nation in the history of the team championship of men's badminton.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

4. Indian Railways shuts down Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation.

• Indian Railways has decided to shut down the Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation.
• Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation was set up for the redevelopment of stations across the country.
• It becomes the second organization to be shut down by railways after the closure of the Indian Railways Organization for Alternate Fuel.
• Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation has been dissolved based on the recommendations of Sanjeev Sanyal for the rationalization of railway bodies.
• The station managed by IRSDC will be handed over to respective Zonal Railways.

Topic: Important Days

5. Police Commemoration Day: 21 October

• Police Commemoration Day is observed every year on 21^st October to honor the loyalty and supreme sacrifice of police personnel for the nation.
• On 21 October 1959, CRPF scripted a saga of valour and sacrifice in the inaccessible, inhospitable terrain of Hot Springs in Ladakh.
• A patrol team of twenty personnel from CRPF and Intelligence Bureau (IB) went in search of a missing reconnaissance party when it was ambushed by Chinese forces.
• In this incident, ten policemen were killed while fighting with the Chinese. From that day, October 21 is now commemorated as the Police Commemoration Day all over India.

Topic: Sports

6. Fencer Bhavani Devi wins Charlellville National Competition in France.

• Fencer Bhavani Devi has won Charlellville National Competition in France in the individual women’s sabre event.
• After winning the competition, she thanked coach Christian Bauer, Arnaud Schneider, and all teammates.
• At the Tokyo Olympics, she had won her round of 64 matches against Tunisia’s Nadia Ben Azizi.
• She is India's first Olympic fencer. She became the first Indian to compete in the fencing at Tokyo Olympics.
• She is currently ranked 50^th in the world and is the top-ranked fencer from India.
• Fencing is the sport of fighting with long thin pointed weapons. A fencer is a person who practices fencing as a sport.

Topic: Agriculture

7. Sri Lanka receives first consignment of non-harmful Nano Nitrogen liquid fertilizer from India.

• Sri Lanka has received the first consignment of 3.1 million liters of non-harmful Nano Nitrogen liquid fertilizers from India.
• It will help in increasing the productivity of paddy, and maize in the eastern province of Sri Lanka.
• Recently, Sri Lankan Government has banned the import of chemical fertilizers. Sri Lanka’s annual fertilizers imports cost is around 400 million U.S. dollars.
• President Rajapaksa has decided to impose a total ban on agrochemicals to make Sri Lankan farming 100% organic.
• IFFCO has developed nanotechnology-based Nano Urea (Liquid) fertilizers to address the issue of excessive use of conventional Urea.
• Nano urea can enhance farmer's crop yields and save nitrogen to up to 50 percent.

Topic: Personality in News

8. IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath to resign in January 2022.

• International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief Economist Gita Gopinath will resign from her post in January 2022. She will again join as a professor at Harvard University’s economics department.
• Gita Gopinath was the IMF’s first female chief economist and the second Indian to hold the post after Raghuram Rajan.
• Indian-American economist had joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the Chief Economist in January 2019.
• She also helped in setting up a team inside the IMF to analyze Climate change.
• Gopinath has co-authored the “Pandemic Paper" on ending the Covid-19 pandemic. It helped countries in setting the target of vaccination.

Topic: Geography

9. Mount Aso Volcano erupted in Japan.

• A volcano named Mount Aso erupted in Japan, after which volcanic ash spread up to 11,500 feet in the sky. Meteorological Agency of Japan has raised the alert level for the volcano.
• Mount Aso is one of the world's largest active volcanoes and the largest volcano in Japan. It is a popular tourist destination. This volcano is located in southern Kyushu island.
• Japan is one of the most volcanically active countries in the world.  Mount Fuji is the tallest and most famous volcano in Japan.
• Japan's most volcanoes are in Hokkaido, the Tohoku, Kanto, and Chubu regions.
• A volcano can be active, dormant, or extinct stage. When the mantle of the Earth melts, it comes out in the form of lava through cracks on the Earth’s surface.

Topic: Environment and Ecology

10. India more vulnerable to heat extremes: Lancet report

• Recently, the medical journal the Lancet has released the report titled ‘the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change’.
• According to this report, India has become 15% more vulnerable to extremes of heat than in 1990.
• The report has provided an update on the relationship between climate change and public health.
• In 2020, elderly people were affected by more days of heatwave compared to the 1986-2005 baseline average.
• As per the report, Chinese, Indian, American, Japanese, and Indonesian senior citizens were the most affected by extreme heatwaves.
• Around 295 billion hours of potential work were lost across the world in 2020 due to extreme heat exposure.
• The greatest losses of potential work were in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India. The mortality from heat has also increased in India and Brazil between 2018 and 2019.
• The economic losses due to extreme heatwave in medium-HDI countries are three times higher than the very high HDI countries.

Topic: Books and Author

11. Prof Shafey Kidwai authored a new book ‘Sir Syed Ahmad Khan: Reason, Religion And Nation’.

• Eminent scholar Shafey Kidwai has authored a new book titled “Sir Syed Ahmad Khan: Reason, Religion, And Nation”.
• It is published by Routledge India and the foreword of the book has been written by professor Irfan Habib.
• The book was released on 17th October, which was the 204th birth anniversary of Syed Ahmad Khan.
• The book revolves around Sir Syed’s life and work and it also describes the contribution of Syed Ahmad Khan in the modern India.
• Shafey Kidwai has kept Sir Syed in the pantheon of the 19th century polymaths like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Keshab Chandra Sen, Rajendra Lal Mitra, and Harish Chandra Mukherjee.

Topic: Defence

12. Defence Minister launched project monitoring portal for military engineer services.

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has launched web-based project monitoring portal for military engineer services.
• The portal will help in real-time monitoring of projects from its inception to completion.
• The portal will also benefit armed forces. They would be able to get project information using this portal.
• Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N) has developed the portal.
• The portal is the first project management e-Governance initiative to be implemented by the Military Engineer Services (MES).
• MES is also implementing 9 other e-Governance applications to increase productivity, build transparency and improve efficiency towards infrastructural development for the Army.
• Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N) is located in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Topic: State News/Madhya Pradesh

13. Madhya Pradesh government to implement Mukhyamantri Ration Aapke Dwar Yojana.

• Madhya Pradesh government will implement Mukhyamantri Ration Aapke Dwar Yojana in state from next month.
• In this scheme, ration will be transported by vehicles in those villages where there are no fair price shops.
• The objective of the scheme is to provide ration material to Divyanga and senior citizens near their homes so that they do not have to go to ration shops in other villages to get their monthly meals.
• Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan informed that state government has decided to give a subsidy of Rs 4 thousand 981 crore for the domestic consumers under the Griha Jyoti Yojana.
• State cabinet has decided to give a subsidy of more than Rs 15 thousand 722 crore for the consumers of the agriculture sector.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

14. Tourism Minister inaugurated two-day conference on ‘Tourism in Buddhist Circuits – A way forward’ in Kushinagar.

• Union Minister for Tourism Shri. G. Kishan Reddy has inaugurated two-day conference on ‘Tourism in Buddhist Circuits – A way forward’ in Kushinagar.
• Union Minister for Civil Aviation Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia, MoS for Culture Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, MoS for Civil Aviation General (Retd.) V K Singh and MoS for Culture Ms. Meenakshi Lekhi were present on the occasion.
• Ministry of Tourism is organising two days’ conference titled “Tourism in Buddhist Circuit – A way forward” on 20th & 21st October 2021 at Kushinagar.
• Shri G Kishan Reddy highlighted the Buddhist circuit around Kushinagar, Sravasti, and Kapilvastu that is being developed as a part of the SWADESH Darshan scheme.
• He also spoke about several Buddhist circuit projects in other parts of the country such as Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
• He said that to provide relief to the tourism stakeholders, a loan scheme has been finalized under which the approved tour operators are eligible for a loan upto Rs 10 lakh and approved guides will be eligible for loan of Rs 1 Lakh.
• He said that a comprehensive National Tourism policy is under consultation process and will be finalized very soon.
• Till now, Ministry of Tourism under its Swadesh Darshan Scheme have sanctioned 76 projects under various themes since 2014.
• Under Buddhist circuit of Swadesh Darshan scheme, projects have been sanctioned by the Ministry of Tourism in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
• Ministry of Tourism under the Iconic Tourist Destinations Development Scheme has identified various destinations.
• These destinations include three major Buddhist centres which are Ajanta (Maharashtra), Ellora (Maharashtra) and Bodh Gaya (Bihar).
• Swadesh Darshan scheme is a scheme of Ministry of Tourism. It was launched in 2015. It aims to promote, develop and harness the potential of tourism in India.

(Source: PIB)