Daily Current Affairs and GK | 7 October 2021

Topic: Awards and Prizes

1. 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Benjamin List and David MacMillan.

• Benjamin List and David MacMillan have won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their development of asymmetric organocatalysis.
• Organocatalysis is an indigenous tool for molecule building. They have developed a precise new tool for molecular construction, which had a great impact on pharmaceutical research.
• They have developed a third type of catalysis. It is called asymmetric organocatalysis and builds upon small organic molecules.
• They have shown that organic catalysts can be used to drive multitudes of chemical reactions.
• Last year, the 2020 Nobel in Chemistry was awarded jointly to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna.
• Chemistry was the most important science for Alfred Nobel’s own work.
• The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded 113 times to 188 Nobel Prize laureates between 1901 and 2021.
• Frederick Sanger is the only laureate who has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry twice, in 1958 and 1980.

Topic: State News/ West Bengal

2. First consignment of GI tagged sweet dish Mihidana exported from West Bengal to Bahrain.

• The first consignment of GI-tagged sweet dish Mihidana has been exported from West Bengal to Bahrain.
• The consignment has been exported by APEDA registered M/S DM Enterprises, Kolkata and imported by Aljazira Group, Bahrain.
• In January 2021, a consignment of Jaynagar Moa was also exported to the Kingdom of Bahrain.
• In recent years, APEDA has focused on increasing the export of lesser known, indigenous and GI-tagged food products from the country.
• APEDA is continuously promoting the export of GI-certified products.
• A GI tag can be issued for agricultural, natural or manufactured goods that have a unique quality, reputation or other characteristics attributable to their geographical origin.

Topic: Biotechnology and Diseases

3. Multilingual Dementia Research and Assessment (MUDRA) Toolbox released by ICMR.

• Multilingual Dementia Research and Assessment (MUDRA) Toolbox has been released by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
• MUDRA Toolbox has been released in five Indian languages- Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.
• As per ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava, the toolbox includes various cognitive tests to assess different domains of cognition such as attention and executive function, memory, language.
• MUDRA Toolbox is an initiative by ICMR Neuro-Cognitive Tool Box (ICMR -NCTB) consortium to change India's dementia and mild cognitive impairment research and clinical practices.
• It is a collective effort by India’s seven leading centres. Their names are NIMHANS (Bengaluru), AIIMS (New Delhi), SCTIMST (Thiruvananthapuram), NIMS (Hyderabad), Apollo Hospital (Kolkata), Manipal Hospital (Bengaluru) and Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College.
• Dementia is a syndrome. In Dementia, there is deterioration of cognitive functions. Most common form of dementia is Alzheimer's disease.

(Source: ICMR)

Topic: Biotechnology and Diseases

4. WHO endorsed and recommended first Anti-Malaria vaccine.

• World Health Organization (WHO) has endorsed and recommended first Anti-Malaria vaccine.
• WHO has recommended widespread use of RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine among children in sub-Saharan Africa and in other regions with moderate to high P. falciparum malaria transmission.
• WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that malaria vaccine for children is a breakthrough for science, child health and malaria control.
• He also said that use of malaria vaccine on top of existing tools to prevent malaria could save many lives each year.
• RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) is known by the brand name Mosquirix. It is a recombinant protein-based malaria vaccine. It is only approved malaria vaccine as of 2021.

Topic: Agriculture

5. First consignment of Jackfruit, Passion fruit and Nutmeg products exported from India to Australia.

• The first consignment of Jackfruit, Passion fruit, and Nutmeg products have been exported from India to Australia.
• APEDA has facilitated the exports of the first consignment of jackfruit, Passion fruit, and Nutmeg sourced from Kerala to Melbourne.
• These products have a shelf-life of more than one year. APEDA is responsible for promoting exports of value-added and health products from India.
• The gluten-free products prepared from Jackfruit and Passion fruit can be used as an alternative to fast food.
• In March 2018, Kerala had declared Jackfruit the State Fruit of Kerala.  Jackfruit is rich in protein and used as meat substitute among vegans. Jackfruit leaves, bark, inflorescence, and latex are used in traditional medicines.
• APEDA: It is a government organization established in 1985. It is responsible for the promotion of the export of agro products.

Topic: International News

6. Tax Inspectors Without Borders launches its programme in Seychelles in association with India.

• Tax Inspectors Without Borders launched its programme in Seychelles in association with India.
• India has been chosen as the partner administration for this initiative. India has provided tax experts for this initiative.
• In the next one year, India in collaboration with the TIWB secretariat will help Seychelles in strengthening its tax administration by sharing technical expertise.
• The main focus of this initiative will be on Transfer Pricing cases of tourism and financial services sectors.
• This is the sixth TIWB programme in which India has supported by proving tax experts.
• Tax Inspectors Without Borders is a joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
• It has been designed to support developing countries in building tax audit capacity.

Topic: National News

7. Government approved setting of Seven mega textile parks.

• The Union government has approved the setting up of seven mega textile parks, to boost domestic manufacturing of textiles.
• The 7 Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel Parks (MITRA) will be set up at Greenfield/Brownfield sites located in different states with an outlay of Rs 4,445 Crore.
• The Sites for the park will be selected by a "Challenge Method" based on objective criteria.
• The parks will follow the ‘5F’ Formula --- farm to fiber; fiber to factory; factory to fashion; fashion to foreign.
• 50 percent area of the park will be used for pure manufacturing activities, 20 percent area for utilities, and 10 percent of the area for commercial development.
• The parks will be developed by a special purpose vehicle (SPV) owned by the state government and the central government in a public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
• It will enhance the competitiveness of the textiles industries. It will create job opportunities for millions of people.
• Rs 500 crore will be provided to all greenfield parks and Rs 200 crore to brownfield parks for the development of common infrastructure.

Topic: Important Days

8. World Cotton Day: 7 October.

• World Cotton Day is celebrated every year on 7 October. The first World Cotton Day was celebrated in Geneva in 2019.
• World Cotton Day was established by the International Cotton Advisory Committee and the World Trade Organization.
• The theme for World Cotton Day 2021 is “Cotton for Good”.
• The main aim of the day is to raise awareness about the cotton sector and the critical role it plays in economic development.
• ​United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) supports World Cotton Day as an important opportunity to celebrate the contribution of cotton stakeholders to economic development.
• India is the second-largest cotton producer and largest consumer in the world.

Topic: Defence

9. Defence Accounts Department developed IT-enabled payment system named ‘PRABAL’.

• The Defence Accounts Department under the Ministry of Defence has developed an IT-enabled payment and accounting system named ‘PRABAL’.
• It has been developed to ensure that the domestic defence suppliers get payments without any delay.
• PRABAL Project will increase the cash flow and will strengthen the financing of the Indian defense sector.
• Defence Accounts Department has also designed a Central Pay Package System. It will make salary and other payment disbursements of Defence personnel and civilians completely paperless.
• Defence Accounts Department is an agency for giving financial advice, make payments, and doing accounting of all charges related to the Armed Forces.

Topic: International News

10. Abiy Ahmed sworn in as Ethiopia’s PM for second five year term.

• Abiy Ahmed has sworn in as Ethiopia’s PM for second five year term.
• He took the oath of office on 04 October. Supreme Court Chief Justice Meaza Ashenafi administered him oath.
• His Prosperity Party won parliamentary elections that were held earlier this year. In June, the party won 410 out of 436 seats. 
• His government is facing challenges such as conflict in northern Tigray region. He was appointed prime minister in 2018.
• He won 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for restoring normal ties with Eritrea.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

11. Yemeni humanitarian organization won 2021 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award.

• 2021 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award has been won by Yemeni humanitarian organization, Jeel Albena Association for Humanitarian Development.
• The organization has won the award for providing support to Yemenis displaced by conflict in Yemen, which is facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
• The organization was founded in 2017 by Ameen Jubran. It is based in the Red Sea port city of Hudaydah.
• UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award honours individuals, groups or organizations working to protect refugees, other displaced and stateless people.
• It was established in 1954. It includes a commemorative medal and a monetary prize of US$ 150,000.
• It celebrates the legacy of Fridtjof Nansen, a Norwegian scientist and first High Commissioner for Refugees for the League of Nations.

Topic: Space and IT

12. Russian actor and film director reach at International Space Station to make first movie in space.

• Russian actor Yulia Peresild and film director Klim Shipenko has reached at International Space Station to make first movie in space.
• They rocketed to space on a mission to make the world’s first movie in orbit. They left for the International Space Station in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft together with cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov.
• Their Soyuz MS-19 lifted off on 05 October from the Russian space launch facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan and arrived at the station.
• Peresild and Klimenko are to film segments of a new movie titled “Challenge.”
• In this movie, a surgeon role played by Peresild rushes to the space station to save a crew member who needs an urgent operation in orbit.
• NASA had also talked to actor Tom Cruise about making a movie in orbit. As per the report from May 2020, Tom Cruise was developing the project alongside director Doug Liman, Elon Musk and NASA.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Personality in News

13. Noted Cartoonist Yesudasan dies at the age of 83.

• Noted Cartoonist Yesudasan has died at the age of 83 in Kochi.
• He started in the world of political cartoons through Janayugom Malayalam Daily.
• He worked with Shankar's Weekly published from New Delhi. He also worked with satirical magazines Cut-Cut and Tuk Tuk.
• He also worked with Malayala Manorama Group of Publications as its Staff Cartoonist.
• He was the former Chairman of Kerala Lalitha Kala Academy. He was the founder Chairman of Kerala Cartoon Academy.
• Indian Institute of Cartoonists had felicitated him with Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Kerala Government had given him Swadeshabhimani Kesari Award for his contributions to the cartoon and media sector.
• He has authored four books -- Aniyara, Pradhana Drishti, Postmortem and Varayile Nayanar. He has also authored dialogues for the Malayalam film Panchavadipalam.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Environment and Ecology

14. Uttar Pradesh is the largest emitter of fine particulate matter in India.

• According to an analysis by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), Uttar Pradesh is the largest emitter of PM2.5 in India.
• The main reason for the PM2.5 emissions in Uttar Pradesh is emissions from solid-fuel used in households.
• Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar are the top polluter states of India.
• Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Manipur were among the lowest emitters states of PM2.5.
• U.P.’s PM2.5 range is between 588 to 976 kilo-tons (Kt) per year while Maharashtra’s emission range is between 415-549 Kt.
• Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) also tracks pollutants that emerged from agriculture waste burning, power utilities, industry, dust, and transport.
• PM_2.5, PM₁₀, Nox (nitrous oxides), SO₂ (Sulphur dioxide), CO (Carbon Monoxide), and NH₃ (Ammonia) are major pollutants.
• National Clean Air Campaign (NCAP) aims to reduce pollution in 122 most polluted cities of India by 2024.