Daily Current Affairs and GK | 22 October 2021

Topic: Sports

1. 72^nd edition of Inter-Services Football Championship is held in Kochi.

• The 72^nd edition of the Inter-Services Football Championship was conducted at Maharaja Stadium, Kochi from 15 to 20 October 2021.
• Signal School under the aegis of the Southern Naval Command, conducted the four-day-long championship at Naval Base, Kochi.
• Teams of the Indian Navy, Army Red, Army Green, and the Indian Air Force have participated in this Football Championship.
• The final match was played between Army Red and Air Force. The Indian Air Force has won the championship.
• Chief of Staff of Southern Naval Command, Rear Admiral Antony George had been invited as a Chief Guest for the finals and Closing Ceremony on 20th Oct 2021 and he presented the Services Football Trophy to the Indian Air Force.
• The objective behind the championship is to select the Services football team for the Senior National Football Championship 2021-22.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: Miscellaneous

2. Imtiaz Ali has been assigned as an ambassador of Russian Film Festival in India.

• Imtiaz Ali is a director-producer of Hindi film, has been appointed as the ambassador of the Russian Film Festival in India.
• Ten notable Russian films of various genres are going to be premiered for Indian audiences on Disney+ Hotstar from October 16 to November 27 during this festival.
• ROSKINO has organized the first-ever online Russian Film Festival in India 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 help of Kartina Entertainment.
• This festival was launched in 2020 and has already been successfully held in 14 countries, with over 200 thousand viewers.
• Other Appointments:
  • KL Rahul has been appointed as the brand ambassador of the smartphone company Realme.
  • Karisma Kapoor has been appointed as the brand ambassador of the Sukkhi, an online-first fashion jewelry brand.
  • Kajal Agarwal has been appointed as the official regional brand ambassador of Prega News for the southern market.

Topic: Reports and Indices

3. India got 71^st rank on Global Food Security index 2021 among 113 countries.

• India has been kept on 71^st position in the Global Food Security index 2021 among 113 countries.
• According to the report, India with an overall score of 57.2 has performed better than Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
• In case of availability of food, quality and safety as well as protecting natural resources for food production, India scored better than Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
• In the food affordability category, Pakistan with 52.6 points, and Sri Lanka with 62.9 points scored better than India (50.2 points).
• Global Food Security index report has been released by Economist Impact and Corteva Agriscience.
• Ireland, Australia, the UK, Finland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, Japan, France, and the US are on the top ranks with GFS scores in the range of 77.8 and 80 points.
• In the Global Food Security index 2021, India’s score has improved only by 2.7 points while China’s score has improved by 9.6 points.
• GFS Index 2021 also showed that global food security has decreased for the second year in a row after seven years of progress.

Topic: Books and Authors

4. Gulzar penned his memoir “Actually ... I Met Them”.

• Indian poet-lyricist Gulzar has authored a new book titled “Actually… I Met Them: A Memoir”.
• It was published by Penguin Random House India. It was released on 18 October 2021.
• In this book, he has written about Bimal Roy, Ritwik Ghatak, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, and Mahasweta Devi.
• In his new memoir, he revealed that initially Kishore Kumar was set to feature in 1971's cult classic release Anand.

Topic: International News

5. Barbados elected its first ever President.

• Barbados has elected its first-ever President. Dame Sandra Mason will be sworn in as its President on 30 November.
• 30 November will mark Barbados's 55^th anniversary of independence from Britain.
• Barbados is preparing to become a republic and remove Queen Elizabeth as head of state. The government announced the plan to move to a republic status last year.
• Dame Sandra is the first woman to serve on the Barbados Court of Appeals. She has been governor-general since 2018.
• Barbados will not be the first former British colony in the Caribbean to become a republic.
• Guyana took that step in 1970. Trinidad and Tobago followed suit in 1976 and Dominica in 1978.
• In a Republic, the head of the state is directly or indirectly elected. In Monarchy, the head of the state is hereditary.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

6. India Internet Governance Forum (IIGF) to be conducted in November 2021.

• India Internet Governance Forum (IIGF) will be conducted from 8th to 11th of November 2021 with the theme ‘Empower India through Power of Internet’.
• Ministry of Electronics and IT, National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) and Multistakeholder Group will jointly conduct IIGF.
• A curtain-raiser event of the India Internet Governance Forum (IIGF) was recently concluded. It is a precursor to IIGF.
• The salient feature of the IIGF will be the three plenary sessions on themes given below.
  • India &Internet- India’s Digital Journey and Her Global Role
  • Equity, Access & Quality – High-speed Internet for All
  • Cyber Norms and Ethics in Internet Governance
• The objective of the curtain raiser event was to discuss and deliberate on the roadmap to Digitisation.
• Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar informed that India has around 80 Crore internet users at the moment. 40 Crore people are still outside the network.
• India Internet Governance Forum (IIGF) has been constituted in conformance to IGF-Paragraph 72 of the UN-based Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
• The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is a multi-stakeholder platform bringing representatives together from various groups to discuss public policy issues related to the Internet.
• Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was for the first time convened in October–November 2006.
• 16th annual IGF meeting (IGF 2021) will be hosted by Poland in Katowice from 6-10 December. Internet United will be its overarching theme.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: International News

7. Turkey added to FATF's 'grey list', Pakistan to remain there.

• The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has retained kept Pakistan on its grey list and added Turkey to the list.
• Jordan and Mali are also added to the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
• Pakistan has completed 30 out of 34 action plans of the Financial Action Task Force. FATF has been focusing on Pakistan's money laundering deficiencies.
• In June 2018, Pakistan was kept on the grey list for failing in the check of money laundering and terror financing.
• The inclusion in the grey list has adversely affected the financial aid to Pakistan from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
• FATF showed concern about the current evolving money laundering and terrorist financing risk activities in Afghanistan.
• Financial Action Task Force (FATF): It is an intergovernmental organization. It was established in 1989 to develop policies to deal with money laundering on the initiative of G-7.

Topic: National News

8. Union Cabinet approved PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan.

• Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan. It will include implementation, monitoring, and support mechanism for providing multi-modal connectivity.
• The government had launched a 100 lakh crore national master plan for multi-modal connectivity to develop infrastructure and to boost the economy.
• Implementation framework includes Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGOS), Network Planning Group (NPG), and Technical Support Unit (TSU) with required technical competencies.
• Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGOS) will be headed by Cabinet Secretary. It will review and monitor the implementation of the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan to improve logistics efficiency.
• With this approval, PM Gati Shakti will bring various stakeholders together and help in integrating different modes of transportation.
• CCEA has also approved formation, composition, and terms of reference for Network Planning Group (NPG).
• Gati Shakti Master Plan will provide the framework for the National Infrastructure Pipeline program. It will help the country's local manufacturers in becoming competitive.

Topic: Space and IT

9. South Korea launched its first Homegrown rocket into Space.

• South Korea launched its first domestically produced rocket into Space. The 200-ton liquid-fueled Nuri named rocket has been launched from the Naro Space Center in Goheung.
• According to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, it has been designed to put satellites into low orbit (600-800 km) around Earth.
• South Korea too has launched many space launch vehicles in the past but this is the first time that South Korea has launched an indigenous rocket.
• South Korea will test the Nuri rocket again next year. It will boost space industry of South Korea.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

10. Parambikulam Tiger Conservation Foundation wins Earth Guardian Award.

• The Parambikulam Tiger Conservation Foundation has bagged the Earth Guardian Award instituted by the NatWest Group.
• Parambikulam Tiger Conservation Foundation is a non-profit organization under the forest department. It works for the conservation of tigers and biodiversity in the Parambikulam tiger reserve.
• The award was instituted by NatWest Group India at the 11th edition of the NatWest Group Earth Heroes Awards.
• Earth Guardian Award is given to recognize the efforts of individuals and institutions for outstanding work in the conservation of biodiversity.

Topic: Sports

11. James Pattinson announced retirement from Test cricket.

• Australian fast bowler James Pattinson has announced his retirement from Test cricket ahead of the Ashes.
• He played 21 tests and took 81 wickets at an average of 26.3. He has taken 300 first-class wickets.
• He has made his test debut in December 2011 against New Zealand. He was named the best player of the series for his 14 wickets in two matches.
• Pattinson had played a key role in Australia's 2019 Ashes campaign in England.

Topic: Important Days

12. International Stuttering Awareness Day: 22 October

• International Stuttering Awareness Day is observed every year on 22 October.
• Every year, stuttering communities and associations celebrate International Stuttering Awareness Day across the world.
• October 22 was adopted as the International Stuttering Awareness Day in 1998.
• It is observed to raise awareness of stuttering, which affects one percent of the world's population.
• Stuttering is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds.
• About 80 percent of children, who begin to stutter in early childhood, get out of the condition as they grow. It is four times more common in males than in females.