Daily Current Affairs and GK | 23 September 2021

Topic: Sports

1. GM D Gukesh wins Norway Open 2021 Masters.

• GM D Gukesh has won Norway Chess Open 2021 in Stavanger. It is his second consecutive win of this month.
• He scored 8.5/10 and remained undefeated. He improved his rating by 6.7 points.
• He is India’s youngest and the world’s second youngest Grandmaster. Earlier, he won the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour, Gelfand Challenge in June 2021.
• Iniyan P scored 7.5/10 and finished at second position.
• Chess is a competitive board game played between two players. Checkmate, King, Bishop, Castling are some prominent terms, which are used in Chess.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

2. Sheikh Hasina has been awarded SDG Progress award.

• The Sustainable Development Solutions Network has conferred Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with ‘SDG Progress Award’.
• She has been awarded for the steady progress of Bangladesh in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• She was awarded at the ninth Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development. Her leadership was appreciated for supporting the SDG campaign.
• Bangladesh is among the top three countries that have progressed most on the SDG Index score since 2015.
• Sustainable Development Goals are a collection of 17 goals designed to achieve a better and more sustainable future. It was launched in 2015 by the UNDP and these have to be achieved by 2030.

Topic: Art and Culture

3. First Himalayan Film Festival to be inaugurated by Anurag Thakur on 24 September 2021.

• First Himalayan Film Festival will be inaugurated by Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur on 24 September 2021.
• The festival is five days long and is being held at Leh, Ladakh from 24^th to 28^th September 2021.
• Shershah is the opening feature film of the festival. It’s Director Vishnuvardhan and the lead actor Siddharth Malhotra will be present at the inauguration of the festival.
• Shershah is a biographical war film based on Param Vir Chakra awardee Capt. Vikram Batra.
• The festival includes the screening of popular films, workshops, master classes, in-conversation sessions and competition sections. It also includes food festivals, cultural shows and music fests.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: Awards and Prizes

4. Fairooz Faizah Beether of Bangladesh selected for 2021 Changemaker Award.

• Fairooz Faizah Beether of Bangladesh has been selected for the 2021 Changemaker Award.
• Fairooz Faizah Beether has been selected by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for promoting good health and well-being. Fairooz Faizah is co-founder of Moner School.
• It is an anonymous online platform, which works to educate youth about the importance of mental health care through training, workshops, and a 24/7 online mental health first aid service in Bangladesh.
• Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has been selected as the winner of the 2021 Global Goalkeeper Award.
• Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has been selected for her ‘unwavering global leadership on gender equality and continued advocacy to address the COVID pandemic’s disproportionate impact on women and girls’.
• Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is former United Nations under-secretary-general and executive director of UN Women.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Environment and Ecology

5. Punjab, Haryana, UP, Rajasthan, and Delhi developed action plan to tackle Stubble burning and air pollution.

• Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Delhi have developed detailed monitorable action plans to resolve the issue of agricultural stubble burning and air pollution.
• The action plans have been formulated based on the framework made by the Commission for Air Quality Management.
• The government has already procured one lakh 43 thousand 801 machines for crop residue management. Another 56 thousand 513 machines will be procured in the current year.
• The directions have been also issued to state Governments, road owning agencies, and municipal bodies for abatement of dust from Roads and open areas.
• NCR state Governments are promoting industries to use cleaner fuels. State Governments are also promoting e-vehicles in the transport sector.
• A dedicated task force has been set up in each NCR state for smooth traffic management.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

6. Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying signed MoU with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

• An MoU has been signed between the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
• The main aim of the MoU is to support India’s livestock sector. Both will work together for improving India’s livestock sector.
• Gates Foundation will provide technical assistance to the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying for sustainable growth of India’s livestock sector.
• India’s livestock sector contributes 4.11% in GDP and 25.6% in Agriculture GDP. Around 20.5 million people are dependent on the livestock sector for their livelihood.
• The livestock sector includes animal husbandry, dairy, and fisheries sectors. It is an important pillar of the Indian Economy.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

7. India hosted first India-UK Consular Dialogue through video conferencing.

• India hosted the first India-United Kingdom Consular Dialogue in the virtual medium.
• Devesh Uttam, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs led the Indian delegation while the UK delegation was led by Jennifer Anderson.
• Both sides discussed the ways to strengthen people-to-people contacts as part of the India-UK 2030 roadmap.
• They also discussed ways to early resolution of consular grievances through systematic information sharing, and cooperation on visas, extradition cases, and mutual legal assistance.
• The next India-UK Consular Dialogue will be organized in 2022 in London.
• Earlier, India and the UK held the first meeting of the India-UK Financial Markets Dialogue on 8th July.

Topic: Important Days

8. International Day of Sign Languages: 23 September

• The International Day of Sign Language is observed every year on 23rd September.
• International Day of Sign Languages was first celebrated in 2018. It is observed to raise awareness about the importance of sign language for deaf people.
• UN General Assembly adopted 23 September as the International Day of Sign Languages to mark the establishment of the World Federation of the Deaf.
• The theme of this year’s International Day of Sign Languages is “We Sign For Human Rights”.
• According to the World Federation of the Deaf, there are more than 70 million deaf people worldwide. Around 300 different sign languages are used in the world.
• The International Week of the Deaf was first celebrated in September 1958.

Topic: International News

9. India and UAE started negotiations for Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.

• Union Minister for Trade and Commerce Piyush Goyal and UAE Minister of State for Foreign trade Dr Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi started negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
• UAE is India’s third-largest trading partner. UAE is the second-largest export destination for India after the United states.
• The first round of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations will be organized from 23-24 September.
• Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will create jobs opportunities, strengthen the bilateral economic ties, and raise living standards.  CEPA can increase the bilateral trade to USD 100 billion within five years.
• Comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) is a free trade agreement between two countries. India has signed CEPA with many countries.

Topic: Agriculture

10. Central government fixes food grain production target for the current 2021-22 crop year at 307.33 million tonne.

• Central government has fixed food grain production target for the current 2021-22 crop year at 307.33 million tonne.
• This target is little less than the record 308.65 million tonne output forecast for the 2020-21 crop year.
• Government has fixed the target for current crop year during National Conference on Agriculture for rabi campaign 2021-22 held through video conferencing.
• Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated the event and said that the Centre will fully support states to increase production and productivity.
• The aim of conference was to review and assess the crop performance during the preceding crop season and also fix crop-wise targets for rabi season in consultation with state governments.
• It had also aimed at ensuring supply of critical inputs and facilitate adoption of innovative technologies with a view to enhancing production and productivity of crops.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: Indian Economy

11. ADB lowers India’s growth projection for FY 2021-22 to 10%.

• Asian Development Bank (ADB) has lowered Financial Year 2021-22 growth projection to 10% from 11% earlier.
• This has been done by taking into account Covid-19 pandemic’s adverse impact on services, domestic consumption, and the urban informal sector.
• In its Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2021 report, ADB said that downward revision in growth forecast is result of impact of rise in Covid-19 cases in May on India’s economic recovery.
• ADB said that the economy is expected to recover strongly during April 2021-March 2022. It will grow by 10% in full fiscal year. The growth will moderate to 7.5% during April 2022-March 2023.
• In April, ADB had projected India’s growth at 11 % for the ongoing financial year. RBI has kept India’s real GDP growth projection at 9.5 % for 2021-22 in its last monetary policy review.

Topic: State News/Uttar Pradesh

12. Uttar Pradesh government to develop Electronic Park near Noida.

• Uttar Pradesh government will develop Electronic Park for electronic devices and accessories near Noida.
• As per Arun Vir Singh, CEO of the Yamuna Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), the Electronic Park is likely to attract an investment of Rs 50,000 crore.
• He said that the park may be developed in an area of 250 acres either in Sector 14 or Sector 10 of the YEIDA near Jewar Airport.
• Work is being carried out for the Noida International Airport in Jewar area of Gautam Buddh Nagar district.
• The airport will be India's biggest airport upon completion. It will be spread over an area of 5,000 hectares.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

13. Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh proposes Integrated Aroma Dairy Entrepreneurship for Jammu & Kashmir.

• Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh has proposed Integrated Aroma Dairy Entrepreneurship for Jammu & Kashmir to increase the income of farmers.
• He met Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala and proposed Integrated Aroma Dairy Entrepreneurship for Jammu & Kashmir.
• Dr Jitendra Singh suggested Shri Rupala that Jammu & Kashmir’s stock of Animal Husbandry and Dairy resources can be integrated with Aroma Mission.
• Aroma Mission has already been launched in J&K by CSIR under the aegis of Union Ministry of Science & Technology.
• Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Aroma Mission, also popularly referred as "Lavender or Purple Revolution", has started from J&K.
• He said, the efforts of CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-lllM), Jammu, are laudable because they have introduced the crop native to Europe, in the districts of Doda, Kishtwar and Rajouri in J&K.

Topic: Appointments

14. Government appointed 13 new secretaries in the Union government.

• Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has appointed 13 new secretaries in various ministries and departments.
• The secretaries of Higher Education, Sports, Telecommunications, Aviation, Culture, and Inter-State Council Secretariat are retiring on 30 September.
• K. Rajaraman has been made Secretary, Telecommunications while Rajiv Bansal has been appointed as secretary, Civil Aviation.
• Govind Mohan has been appointed as Secretary, Culture as Raghvendra Singh will complete his term on 30 September.
• Anuradha Prasad has been appointed as Secretary, Inter State Council Secretariat at the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• Sujata Chaturvedi, has been appointed as Secretary, Sports in the Ministry of Youth Affairs.
• K. Sanjay Murthy, currently serving as CEO and Managing Director, National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Ltd, has been appointed as Secretary, Higher Education in Ministry of Education.
• Vice Chairman of Delhi Development Authority Anurag Jain has been made Secretary of Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.
• Rajesh Aggarwal will be the Secretary of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.