santhosh@ace online current affairs

santhosh@ace online current affairs

World food day• World Food Day is being celebrated

every year on October 16 to commemorate the date of the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation in 1945.

•The theme for World Food Day this year is “Our actions are our future- Better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life,” as per the official website of FAO.


Sakharov prize - alexei navalny

• The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, commonly known as the Sakharov Prize, is an honorary award for individuals or groups who have dedicated their lives to the defense of human rights and freedom of thought.

• Named after Russian scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, the prize was established in December 1988 by the European Parliament

• Imprisoned Russian Opposition leader Alexei Navalny


Earthshot prize• Dubbed as the “Eco Oscars”, The Earthshot Prize is an award set up by

Prince William and the Royal Foundation, the charity founded by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

• Established in 2020, 2021 was the first year when awards were handed out to finalists for their contributions towards the five UN Sustainable Development Goals —

• Restoration and protection of nature,

• air cleanliness,

• ocean revival,

• waste-free living

• and climate action


• An awards ceremony will take place in different cities across the world each year between 2021 and 2030 to award five winners The Earthshot Prize.

• Five, one million-pound prizes will be awarded each year for the next 10 years, providing at least 50 solutions to the world’s greatest environmental problems by 2030.



• Protect and restore nature Winner: The Republic of Costa Rica for "a scheme paying local citizens to restore natural ecosystems that has led to a revival of the rainforest.“

•Revive our oceans winner :Coral Vita (Bahamas), for a "coral farming project designed to restore the world's dying coral reefs.“

• Build a Waste-Free World Winner: The City of Milan Food Waste Hubs (Italy), for a "city-wide initiative that has dramatically cut waste while tackling hung

• Fix our Climate Winner: AEM Electrolyser, (Thailand/Germany/Italy), for "an ingenious clean hydrogen fuel technology designed to transform how homes and buildings are powered."


TAKACHAR TECHNOLOGY• Takachar has developed a cheap, small-scale, portable technology that

attaches to tractors in remote farms. The machine converts crop residues into sellable bio-products like fuel and fertilizer.

• This plays out every year in the fields surrounding New Delhi. Smoke from man-made infernos fills the air, with serious consequences for the health of locals.

• One of their number is Vidyut Mohan. His social enterprise, Takachar, is putting out the fire.

•


Parambikulam tiger reserve-kerala

• The Parambikulam Tiger Conservation Foundation (PaTCoF) has won the “Earth Guardian Award” which was instituted by the NatWest Group.

• These awards were instituted by NatWest Group India. They are part of an initiative which recognises the efforts of individuals and institutions that are working to subvert the climate change by conserving & preserving biodiversity in India.


barbados• The Caribbean Island called Barbados, in a bid to become a republic, has

elected its first ever president.

• Sandra Mason, who is the current governor-general of the island, will sworn in as president on November 30, 2021.

• November 30 marks the 55th anniversary of independence of Barbados from Britain

• Sandra Mason had announced the break with Britain in September 2020 and said that, time has come to fully leave the colonial past behind.


Satyajit Ray Lifetime achievement awaRd”.

The 52nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is going to held in Goa from November 20 to November 28, 2021 GOA in which Hungarian filmmaker Istvan Szabo

Hollywood icon Martin Scorsese

Istvan Szabo is the most notable Hungarian filmmakers.

Martin Scorsese is one of the greatest and most influential directors in film history. He established filmmaking history in nine films made with Robert De Niro,


Mount manipur• The Union government rechristened

Mount Harriet, a historical tourist spot in the’. Andaman and Nicobar islands, as ‘Mount Manipur

• Mount Harriet is an important symbol of the Anglo-Manipur War of 1891

• After the Anglo-Manipur War of 1891, several Manipuris who had fought the British in the war, including Maharaja KulachandraDhwaja Singh, were exiled to the British penal colony in the Andaman Islands.


Rule of law index 2021• India has ranked 79 out of 139

countries and jurisdictions in the World Justice Project’s (WJP) Ruleof Law Index 2021 report.

• WJP Rule of Law Index 2021 ranks the countries based on scores ranging from 0 to 1, with 1 indicating the strongest adherence to the rule of law.

• Pakistan has ranked lowest at 130


Global huger index• The report was prepared by the Irish aid agency Concern

Worldwide and Germany’s Welt Hunger Hilfe.

• The report termed the level of hunger in India as “alarming".

• India was ranked 101 out of 117 in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) for 2021 from 94 in the previous year, trailing behind its South Asian neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

• Neighbours Nepal (76), Bangladesh (76), Myanmar (71) and Pakistan (92)




Global Food Security Index 2021Tenth edition of the Global Food Security Index was published

recently. In the index, India has been ranked at 71st position

• The GFS Index is sponsored by Corteva Agriscience while it is designed & constructed by London-based Economist Impact.

• The index is published every year. GFS measures the underlying drivers of food security on the basis of understated factors:

• Affordability

• Availability

• Quality and Safety

• Natural Resources and Resilience


• India has been ranked at 71st position out of 113 countries. Its overall score is 57.2 points.

• India performed better than Pakistan (75th), Sri Lanka (77th), Nepal (79th) and Bangladesh (84th).

• China has been ranked way ahead of India at 34th.

• Countries like Ireland, Austria, Finland, the UK, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Japan, Canada, the US and France shared the top rank.

• Their overall GFS score was in the range of 77.8 and 80 points


Henley Passport Index (HPI) 2021• Report Name - ‘Henley Passport Index (HPI) 2021’

Released by - Henley and Partners

• India’s ranking has slipped by 6 places to 90thfrom 84th in Q2 2021 allowing its passportholders to travel 58 countries without visa.

•

The index has been topped by Japan andSingapore as they allow visa-free travel to 192countries to their passport holders.


india’S fiRSt Banni BUffaLO ivf caLf BORn• With the birth of first IVF calf of a

Buffalo breed namely Banni in the country, India’s OPU - IVF work has reached to next level.

• This is the first Banni Buffalo IVF calf in the country.

• This first IVF Banni calf is born out of 6 Banni IVF pregnancies established at the doorsteps of a farmer, Vinay . L. Wala of Sushila Agro farms, located at Dhanej in Somnath district of Gujarat.

•Ovum Pick-Up (OPU) and aspiration processes for the in vitro fertilization (IVF) of Banni Buffaloes were planned.


Prerana sthal• ‘Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Prerana Sthal’

was inaugurated at Naval Science & Technological Laboratory (NSTL), Visakhapatnam on October 15, 2021 on the occasion of 90th birth anniversary .

• The NSTL is the premier naval research laboratory of DefenceResearch & Development Organisation (DRDO).


Renewable energy country

• Report Name - Renewable Energy CountryAttractiveness Index 2021’ (RECAI), 58th edition

• Released by - Ernst & Young Global Limited’s (EY)

• India has retained its 3rd rank in the RECAI 2021

• First ranK.USA


who• World Health Organization (WHO) along with its

partners (including UNICEF, PATH, the Gates Foundation) have launched the 1st ever Global strategy to defeat “Meningitis”- a disease that kills hundreds of thousands of people each year.

• The strategy “Global Roadmap to Defeat Meningitis by2030” was launched by WHO Director-General, DrTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, during a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland


WEALTH REDISTRIBUTION COUNCIL• Pressing on with his campaign

promise of redistributing wealth and reducing inequality,

• Japan’s new prime minister Fumio Kishida unveiled a flagship council, which will be responsible for strategizing how to tackle wealth disparities and redistribute wealth to household


KISHANGANGA POWER STATION• Shri R. K. Singh, Union Minister

of Power, New & Renewable Energy, visited Dam site of 330 MW NHPC Kishanganga power station at Gurez in BandiporaDistrict of the UT of Jammu & Kashmir.

• The Kishanganga Hydroelectric Project is a run-of-the-river hydroelectric scheme in Kashmir, India.

• Its dam diverts water from the Kishanganga River (also called the Neelum River) to a power plant in the Jhelum River basin.santhosh@ace online current affairs

MARTAND SUN TEMPLE

• Union Minister Piyush Goyalvisited the Sun temple at Martand. Located atop a hillock, the temple is one of the earliest known sun temples much older than Konark and Modhera.


• The Martand Sun Temple, also known as Pandou Laidan is a Hindu temple dedicated to Surya (the chief solar deity in Hinduism) and built during the 8th century CE.

• he Martand Sun Temple was built by the third ruler of the Karkota Dynasty, Lalitaditya Muktapida, in the 8th century CE. It is said to have been built during 725-756 CE.


Ayush van-kandla port• Union Minister of AYUSH, Sarbananda

Sonowal inaugurated Ayush Van, a dedicated forest for Ayurvedic plants in a program held at the DeendayalPort Trust (DPT) – Rotary Forest in the city.

• The Ayush Van was set up in 30 acres of land allotted by DPT in green-belt area where tree plantation is being done to improve greenery in urban area and increase density of tree cover in the Kutch region.


BACHELOR OF SOWA RIGPA MEDICINE AND SURGERY (BSRMS)

• Sowa Rigpa is a traditional and popular medicinal practice in the Himalayan region.

• So far, only two deemed to be universities, namely Central Institute of Buddhist Studies (CIBS) in Leh and Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (CIHTS) located in Saranath are offering the degree in Sowa Rigpa medicine.

•In a gazette notification issued on 14th of October, UGC recognized BSRMS as a new degree under Medicine & Surgery, Ayurveda, Unani, Homeopathy and Health & Allied Sciences, Pharmacy, Paramedical and Nursing.


Talabira coal mines• NLC India Limited, a Navratna

Company under the administrative control of the Ministry of Coal is operating Talabira II&III coal mines (20 MT annual capacity) in OdishaState.

• Talabira II&III OCP has commenced production from the financial year 2020-21 and supplying coal to its End Use plant, NTPL, Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu.


Saksham centres• As part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, a

total of 152 Centre for Financial Literacy & Service Delivery (SAKSHAM Centres) across 77 districts of 13 states launched

• under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana -National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) of the Ministry of Rural Development during 4-8th October, 2021.

•


Un human rights council• India has been re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council

(2022-24) for a record 6th term with an overwhelming majority and vowed to continue to work for the promotion and protection of Human Rights through "Samman, Samvad and Sahyog.“

• UN Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system which consists of 47 Member States elected directly and individually by secret ballot by the majority of the members of the General Assembly.


One health project• The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and

Technology, GoI, supported a mega consortium on ‘One Health’ and launched the First ‘One Health’ project of DBT.

• This Consortium, consisting of 27 organisations led by DBT-National Institute of Animal Biotechnology, Hyderabad, is one of the biggest one health programs launched by Govt of India in post-COVID times.

• Use of existing diagnostic tests and the development of additional methodologies when required are mandated for the surveillance and for understanding the spread of emerging diseases.


RAIL KAUSHAL VIKAS YOJANA (RKVY).

• The RKVY program is under aegis of PradhanMantri Kaushal Vikasa Yojana (PMKVY) – a scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) to achieve vision of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat.

Total 50,000 Youths will be trained over period of three years in 75 Railway Training Institutes, spread all across India.


PLI SCHEME FOR TELECOM AND NETWORKING PRODUCTS• The PLI Scheme is being launched by DoT with the objective to

boost domestic manufacturing in the telecom and networking products by incentivising incremental investments and turnover with total outlay of ₹ 12,195 crore.

• The scheme is effective from 1st April, 2021. Investment made by successful applicants in India from 1st April, 2021 onwards and up to FY 2024-25 shall be eligible, subject to qualifying incremental annual thresholds.

• The support under the Scheme shall be provided for a period of five (5) years, i.e. from FY 2021-22 to FY 2025-26.


Kolkata port

• Port of Kolkata or Kolkata Port, officially known as SyamaPrasad Mookerjee Port Trust (Formerly Kolkata Port Trust), is the only riverine major port of India, located in the city of Kolkata, West Bengal, around 203 kilometres from the sea.

• It is the oldest operating port in India and was constructed by the British East India Company in 1870.


Lukha river


Lukha river• The Lukha river is in the East Jaintia Hills district where most of

Meghalaya’s rat-hole coal mines are located.

• The Lukha — “reservoir of fish” in the local Pnar language —was considered toxic beyond redemption a decade ago because of the contamination on acid mine drainage and run-off from the coal mines.

• The pilot project to rejuvenate the Lukha by using algae to remove toxic contents from the water has become a success. The detoxification process is called phycoremediation.


Urban heat island• Mumbai lost 81% of its open land (barren spaces without any

vegetation), 40% green cover (forests & scrublands) and approximately 30% of its water bodies (lakes, ponds, floodplains) between 1991 and 2018, while the built-up area (areas developed upon) rose by 66% in the same period, says a recent study.

• It concludes that the city witnessed a 2-degree Celsius average temperature rise across 27 years.

• With this pace of urbanisation and landscape transformation, it is expected that the Urban Heat Island intensity will further increase in the city.


Police naik• The Maharashtra government announced they have scrapped

the position of a Police Naik (PN) in the force.

• Now in the absence of the PN post, Constables will directly get promoted to Head Constables in 10 years.

• These Head Constables in turn will get promoted to ASI’s in another 10 years, ie. 20 years of service. And in next 10 years i.e. 30 years of their service, they will be eligible to be promoted as Police Sub Inspectors.


Butcher files• The Central Information Commission (CIC) has observed in an

order that the disclosure of files provided by India’s second Army chief, General Sir Roy Bucher, to the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library on Jammu and Kashmir is in “national interest”.

The files are related to the period of 1947-49 and may throw light on the Accession of J&K.

General Sir Francis Robert Roy Butcher served as second chief of the Indian Army between January 1, 1948 to January 15, 1949.

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