Daily Current Affairs and GK | 25 September 2021

Topic: Important Days

1. International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons: 26 September

• Every year International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons is observed on 26 September.
• The International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons was observed for the first time in September 2014.
• In 2013, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted September 26 as the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
• The main objective of the day is to make people aware about the threat of nuclear weapons to humanity and the necessity for their total elimination.
• It is also the anniversary of an incident of 1983 when a nuclear war was almost launched due to malfunctions in the Soviet nuclear weapons early warning system.

Topic: Defence

2. India Army to organise ‘Bijoya Sanskritik Mahotsav’ to mark golden jubilee of India-Pak war.

• Indian Army will organize “Bijoya Sanskritik Mahotsav” from 26 to 29 September in Kolkata. It will be observed to mark the golden jubilee of the India-Pak war 1971.
• The event will be inaugurated by Lieutenant General Manoj Pande, Army Commander, Eastern Command.
• Various cultural programs including film screening, theatre plays, musical concerts, and band performances will be conducted during this event.
• It will be organized as part of the Swarnim Vijay Varsha celebrations to commemorate the golden jubilee of the India-Pak war.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Reports and Indices

3. IIT Bombay is among top 22 % in 2022 QS Graduate Employability Rankings.

• Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay is among top 22 % in 2022 QS Graduate Employability Rankings released on September 23, 2021.
• In the QS Graduate Employability Ranking 2022, IIT Bombay has moved up to 101-110 rank from the previous ranking of 111-120.
• On employer reputation indicator, IIT Bombay ranked at 70th place globally with a score of 73.9.
• Out of total of 550 institutes, 12 Indian universities and institutes have found a place in 2022 QS Graduate Employability Rankings list.
• Six Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Delhi University (DU) and Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru (IISc) are included in the list.
• Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Graduate Employability Rankings 2022 has been released by QS, a British company.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

4. Contract signed between Ministry of Defence and Airbus Defence & Space, Spain.

• A contract has been signed between Ministry of Defence and Airbus Defence & Space, Spain for acquisition of 56 C-295MW transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
• Defence Ministry also signed an Offset Contract with Airbus Defence and Space.
• These contracts were signed after the approval accorded by Cabinet Committee on Security earlier this month.
• Out of 56, forty aircraft will be manufactured in India by TATA Consortium. Indigenous Electronic Warfare Suite will be installed in all 56 aircrafts.
• All the deliveries will be completed within ten years of signing of the contract.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

5. India and Australia hold first Joint Working Group meeting on Coal and Mines.

• India and Australia hold the first Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting on Coal and Mines.
• Additional secretary in Ministry of Coal Vinod Kumar Tiwari represented the Indian side while Paul Trotman lead the Australian side.
• Both sides discussed the Indian coal resources in the present and future scenario. They also discussed India-Australia collaboration on Clean Coal Technology, Surface Coal Gasification, Coal Bed Methane, and Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage.
• Many issues like Business to Business collaboration on coal technology, transfer of technology, cooperation on skill development and training were also discussed.
• India-Australia Energy Dialogue will be organized next month.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

6. Amit Shah to address first mega conference of cooperatives in New Delhi.

• Home Minister Amit Shah will address the first mega conference of cooperatives in New Delhi on 25 September.
• The conference has been organized by Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), the National Cooperative Federation of India, Amul, and Sahakar Bharti.
• More than 2,000 people associated with cooperatives will attend this conference. More than 80 million are expected to virtually participate in the event.
• This will be the first time where members of cooperatives will hear from the minister directly about the Centre’s plan for the sector.
• Recently, the Ministry of cooperation was formed by the Government. The main aim of the ministry is to strengthen the cooperative movement in India and to provide a separate administrative, legal, and policy framework.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Sports

7. Odisha to host junior men’s World Cup Hockey in November.

• The junior men’s World Cup Hockey will be organized in Bhubaneswar from the 24th November 5th December 2021.
• 16 countries will take part in this event and it will be organized in the Kalinga stadium. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik unveiled the logo and trophy for the tournament.
• Earlier, Odisha had hosted the 2018 men’s hockey world cup.
• In the last edition, the Indian junior team had won the world cup.
• India’s largest hockey stadium is being built in Rourkela.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National News

8. Ministry of Civil Aviation released India’s airspace map for drone operations.

• Ministry of Civil Aviation has released India’s airspace map for drone operations.
• The drone airspace map has been released as a follow-through of the liberalized Drone Rules, 2021. Recently, the government has replaced UAS Rules, 2021 with the liberalized Drone Rules, 2021.
• The government has also launched the PLI scheme for drones on 15 September 2021.
• Drones are very helpful in many sectors like agriculture, mining, infrastructure, transportation, etc. India is aiming to become a global drone hub by 2030.
• Features of Drone Airspace Maps:
  • The airspace map demarcates the yellow and red zones across the country.
  • Yellow zone is the airspace above 400 feet in a designated green zone.
  • Drone operations in the yellow zone require permission from the concerned air traffic control authority.
  • Red zone is the ‘no-drone zone’. The drones can be operated only after the permission of the Central Government.
  • The drone airspace map is available on the digital sky platform.

Topic: National News

9. Food Processing Industries minister inaugurated North East Summit on Food Processing Industries in Shillong.

• The two-day North East Summit on Food Processing Opportunities has been inaugurated by Union Minister Jal Shakti Prahlad Singh Patel.
• It has been organized to build partnerships for inclusive growth in the food processing sector in the region. During the two-day summit, experts from different fields will deliver lectures.
• The main focus of the North East Summit on Food Processing Opportunities will be on infrastructure, connectivity in PPP mode, skill development, financial inclusion, and service sector.
• He also paid tribute to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, who delivered his last speech at IIM Shillong.
• In the Northeast, only 60,000 units registered under MSME. It represents only 0.7 percent of the country’s total registered units.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

10. Quad leaders agreed to cooperate on COVID-19 vaccines, clean energy, and space.

• Quad leaders pledged to make the Indo-Pacific region free and open. They also agreed to cooperate on Covid-19 vaccines, clean energy, and space.
• US President Joe Biden hosted the first-ever in-person Quad Summit on September 24, 2021.
• Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Japan Yoshihide Suga, and Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi attended the meeting. The leaders also agreed to hold a summit meeting every year.
• The Quad is formed to counter China in the Indo-Pacific region. The first meeting of Quad leaders was organized virtually in March 2021.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

11. ZSI and Natural History Museum of United Kingdom sign MoU.

• Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Kolkata and Natural History Museum (NHM) of United Kingdom have signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
• The MoU was signed between Dr. Dhriti Banerjee, the first lady Director of ZSI and Director, NHM, London. This MoU will be for a period of five years.
• NHM, London and ZSI, Kolkata will be mutually benefited on the faunal diversity research through scientific exchange between the two institutions.
• Through this MoU both the institutions are committed to implementing 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
• ZSI is headquartered in Calcutta and has 16 Regional Centres. ZSI is the largest repository of Fauna in the entire south and Southeast Asia region.
• India has only 2.4% of the world's land area. Species diversity in India is 8.1 %. India is one of seventeen megadiverse countries of the world. The identified megadiverse countries are given in the next table.

Topic: Reports and Indices

12. Startup Genome’s The Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2021 ranked Bengaluru at 23rd place among top 30 global startup ecosystems.

• Startup Genome’s The Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2021 has ranked Bengaluru at 23rd place among top 30 global startup ecosystems.
• Delhi was among the runners’ up with a rank of 36. In 2020 rankings, Bengaluru was ranked at 26th place.
• Mumbai ranked at number 1 among the Emerging Ecosystems. Chennai, Pune, and Hyderabad figure in the top 100 Emerging Ecosystems.
• In Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2021, Silicon Valley in California is ranked at first place. It is followed by New York City and London at the 2nd place.
• The average salary for a software engineer in the Bengaluru is $13,000 against a global average of $42,100.
• As per the report, global startup economy is worth over $3.8 trillion in ecosystem value.
• 50% of the Top 30 ecosystems come from North America and 27% come from Asia.
• The Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2021 has been released by Startup Genome and Global Entrepreneurship Network. It is most comprehensive and widely read startup research. It includes a ranking of 140 ecosystems.

Topic: Indian Polity

13. Fast and Secured Transmission of Electronic Records (FASTER) system introduced by Supreme Court.

• Fast and Secured Transmission of Electronic Records (FASTER) system has been introduced by Supreme Court. 
• Through FASTER system, Supreme Court’s decisions can be communicated electronically and securely to prison authorities and investigating agencies.
• Supreme Court has introduced FASTER system after an order on July 16 by a Special Bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana.
• The FASTER system is intended to make sure that undertrials have not made to wait for days on end behind bars to be released because the certified hard copies of their bail orders were late to reach the prison.
• The system would also prevent unnecessary arrests and custody of people even after the court has already granted them protection.