Test: October 2021 Weekly Current Affair - 1 - UPSC MCQ

i. The government approved the continuation of the ‘National Export Insurance Account’ (NEIA) scheme giving financial allocations of Rs 1,650 Crore for a tenure FY22 to FY26.
ii. Nimach-Ratlam railway, Madhya Pradesh and Rajkot-Kanalus Railway Line, Gujarat got the approval of doubling the total length.
iii. The Government approved capital infusion of Rs 4,400 crore to ECGC Ltd. (Export Credit Guarantee Corporation Ltd.) over a period of 5 years & listed it on the Initial Public Offering (IPO) on stock exchanges to mobilize fresh capital from the market.

India’s Sania Mirza and her Chinese partner Shuai Zhang won the 2021 Ostrava Open women’s doubles title in the women’s doubles final of the Ostrava Open held in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

To support youth from rural and semi-urban areas, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoL&E) launched DigiSaksham in collaboration with Microsoft India.
i. Microsoft India has also roped in Aga Khan Rural Support Programme-India and its knowledge partner TMI e2E Academy for rolling out this initiative.

‘Pathway to God’ explores the spiritual roots of Mahatma Gandhi’s career, presenting in his own words his intellectual, moral, and religious approaches to self-realization.

NITI Aayog released a performance assessment report of district hospitals in India titled ‘Best Practices in the Performance of District Hospitals’.
i.This report is the 1st-ever performance assessment of district hospitals undertaken across India.
ii.District hospitals in India, on an average, have 24 beds per 1 lakh population, with Bihar having the lowest average of 6 beds and Puducherry the highest of 222.

‘Akasa’ an “ultra low-cost carrier”, or ULCC was launched by stock market investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala.

The 8th Edition of India-Sri Lanka bilateral joint Military Exercise ‘Mitra Shakti – 2021’ was scheduled to be conducted at Ampara, Sri Lanka to enhance interoperability & sharing best practices in counter-insurgency operations.
About Sri Lanka:
Capital – Colombo, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
President – Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy won the men’s 100 metres gold at the Tokyo Olympics, breaking retired Jamaican star Usain Bolt’s 13-year hold on the event.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Laxmanbhai Mandaviya launched a delivery model namely ‘ICMR’s Drone Response and Outreach in North East (i-Drone)’. ICMR stands for New Delhi based Indian Council of Medical Research.
i. This is for the first time that a ‘Make in India’ drone was used in South Asia to transport COVID-19 vaccine in Manipur.

The UN’s World Space Week is annually observed across the globe from 4th to 10th October to commemorate contributions and achievements made in the field of space science and technology.
i. The theme of World Space Week 2021 is “Women in Space” to create awareness of the issue of gender diversity in the space sector.

Mansukh Mandaviya, the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare released UNICEF’s (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) global flagship publication – ‘The State of the World’s Children 2021; On My Mind: promoting, protecting and caring for children’s mental health’.
i. It stated that 14% of 15 to 24-year-olds (or 1 in 7) in India were reported feeling depressed or having little interest in doing things.

Assam Fisheries Minister Parimal Suklabaidya launched an app named ‘Fishwaale’. It has become India’s first e-fish market app. It will provide a boost to Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).
About Assam:
River- Brahmaputra river, Barak river, Iril river
Ramsar site– Deepor Beel

The Labour Ministry reconstituted the expert group responsible for determining the national floor level minimum wages under the Code on Wages. Economist and statistician SP Mukherjee will lead the 9-member group.
Ajit Mishra, who headed the previous panel, excused himself from discharging his duty on account of his personal and other professional commitments.

Former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida was elected as the president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and set to become the next and the 100th Prime Minister(PM) of Japan.
About Japan:
Capital– Tokyo
Currency– Japanese Yen

The Indian Navy signed the ‘Terms of Reference’ (ToR) with the Royal Australian Navy to conduct Navy to Navy (N2N) talks under the framework of the ‘Joint Guidance for the India – Australia Navy to Navy Relationship’ document signed by the Navies.
About Australia:
PM – Scott Morrison
Capital – Canberra

Padmaja Chunduru was appointed as the new Managing Director (MD) & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL). Padmaja Chunduru served as the MD and CEO of Indian Bank for 3-year before her term ended in August 2021.
About National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL):
Established – 1996
Headquarter – Mumbai, Maharashtra

NITI Aayog tie-up with Intel and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to establish a new experience studio at the NITI Aayog Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Center (CIC).
i.The studio will act as a hub for experimentation with advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the field of agriculture, health care, and smart infrastructure.

About NMCG:
It stands for National Mission for Clean Ganga.
Director General: Rajiv Ranjan Mishra
Established: 2th August 2011

The Coal Ministry constituted a panel to review and benchmark the timelines in project execution. The panel will also review the tendering process having a value of more than Rs 300 crore of Coal India Limited (CIL), its subsidiaries & other PSUs.

Linus Pauling is the only person to have been awarded two unshared Nobel Prizes – the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize.

The Ministry of Railways announced that the construction work of the new 2.05 km Pamban Railway Bridge in Mandapam will be completed by March 2022. The bridge will connect Rameswaram to the mainland in Tamil Nadu. It will be India’s first vertical lift railway bridge over the sea.
i. Railway Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) is developing the sea bridge with the cost of Rs 250 crore.

Russia successfully test fired a Zircon (Tsirkon) hypersonic cruise missile from the Severodvinsk nuclear submarine for the 1st time.
About Russia:
Capital – Moscow
President – Vladimir Putin
Currency – Russian ruble

The Ministry of Textile approved to continue its Comprehensive Handicrafts Cluster Development Scheme (CHCDS) up to March 2026 with a total outlay of Rs 160 crore. It supports handicraft artisans & Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises(SMEs) to enhance production and exports.
About Ministry of Textiles:
Union Minister– Piyush Goyal (Rajya Sabha- Maharashtra)

The National Voluntary Blood Donation Day is annually observed across India on October 1st to create awareness about blood donation and promote voluntary blood donation across India.
i. The theme of the National Voluntary Blood Donation Day 2021 is “Give Blood and keep the world-beating”.

Amrutanjan Health Care Limited (Amrutanjan) appointed Tokyo Olympic’s weightlifting silver medalist Mirabai Chanu and wrestling Bronze medalist Bajrang Punia as the brand ambassadors of its range of products in pain management.