Current Affairs – 16 Oct 2021

Ritesh Chauhan named as CEO of PM Fasal Bima Yojana

Senior bureaucrat Ritesh Chauhan has been appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and Joint Secretary, Agriculture under the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare. Chauhan will have a combined tenure of seven years up to September 22, 2023. He is a 2005-batch IAS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre. He will succeed Ashish Kumar Bhutani, who was appointed in 2018.

India ranks 101 in Global Hunger Index 2021

India’s rank has dropped to the 101st position among 116 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2021. In 2020, India was placed at 94th spot, out of 107 countries. The 2021 GHI score of India is recorded at 27.5 out of 50, which comes under the serious category. Neighbouring countries like Nepal (76), Bangladesh (76), Myanmar (71) and Pakistan (92) are also in the ‘alarming’ hunger category but have fared better at feeding its citizens than India, according to the report.

Top countries in the Index

A total of 18 countries, including China, Kuwait and Brazil, shares the top rank. The GHI score of these 18 nations is less than 5. This means that these countries suffer very less from hunger and malnutrition.

About the Global Hunger Index:

The Global Hunger Index (GHI) measures and tracks hunger at global, regional, and national levels. The index is published jointly by Welthungerhilfe (WHH) and Concern Worldwide. Based on current GHI projections, the index states that the world as a whole will not achieve a low level of hunger by 2030.

GHI scores are determined based on values of four indicators:

• Undernourishment (share of the population with insufficient caloric intake),
• Child wasting (share of children under age five who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition),
• Child stunting (share of children under age five who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition), and
• Child mortality (mortality rate of children under age five, partly reflecting the fatal mix of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments).

Reliance Industries tops in Forbes World’s Best Employer 2021 Ranking

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has topped the Indian corporates in the World’s Best Employers 2021 rankings published by Forbes. Globally, Reliance is placed at 52nd position among 750 global corporates. South Korean giant Samsung Electronics has topped the overall ranking as World’s Best Employers 2021, followed by US giants IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Alphabet and Dell Technologies.

About the World’s Best Employers 2021:

• The World’s Best Employers 2021 has been prepared by Forbes in partnership with market research company Statista.
• The ranking is based upon surveying 1,50,000 full-time and part-time workers from 58 countries working for multinational companies and institutions, where employees rated their employers on numerous points.
• Parameters used during the survey for the ranking include the image, economic footprint, talent development, gender equality and social responsibility.

UCO Bank chief A K Goel elected as Chairman of IBA

A K Goel, managing director and chief executive (MD & CEO) of UCO Bank has been elected as the chairman of Indian Bank’s Association (IBA) for 2021-22. He has replaced Rajkiran Rai G, MD & CEO, Union Bank of India. IBA is a representative body of management of banking in India operating in India and is headquartered in Mumbai.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

BPCL launches automated fuelling technology UFill

The Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has launched an automated fuelling technology called “UFill”, to provide a swift, secure and smart experience to its customers at outlets by providing them with control of fuelling. The new digital technology obviates the need to look at zero or final reading or any such offline manual interventions, to give complete control to customers over Time, Technology and Transparency in fuelling experience.

What is Ufill?

• The UFill functionality can be used with any payment app like GPay, PayTM, PhonePe etc as well as offers real-time QR and voucher codes through SMS.
• Additional if customers make payment in advance, and the amount paid in advance is partially used, the balance amount is immediately refunded to the bank account of the customer.
• The UFill technology has been launched in 65 cities across India and will soon be launched in the rest part of the country.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

Union Minister Anurag Thakur launches MyParkings App

The Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Singh Thakur inaugurated the ‘MyParkings’ app. The IOT technology-enabled app has been developed by Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL) with South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) to digitize all authorized parking under SDMC municipal limits.

About the facility:

• The facility will be subsequently rolled out in other municipality divisions across India.
• The main objective of the app is to help reduce pollution by minimising the time spent searching for parking spots.
• The MyParking App will offer an effortless solutions to users for hassle-free parking and booking of online parking slots to park their vehicles without inconvenience.

Vishwakarma Vatika to be set up at Hunar Haats

The Government of India has decided to set up a “Vishwakarma Vatika” at every “Hunar Haats” to protect, preserve and promote India’s glorious legacy of centuries-old skills of artisans and craftsmen. The first such “Vishwakarma Vatika” has been set up in “Hunar Haat” at Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, organised from October 16 to 25, 2021.  The name is derived from the Hindu deity “Vishwakarma” who is worshipped as the God of architects.

About the Vishwakarma Vatika:

• The “Vishwakarma Vatika” will be inaugurated by Union Minister for Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Dharmendra Pradhan on October 16, 2021.
• The new initiative will provide a single stop place to proficient craftsmen, sculptors, stonemasons, blacksmiths, carpenters, potters and other artisans from across the country, to give live demonstrations of how India’s traditional art and craft and elegant indigenous handmade products are made.

PM Narendra Modi dedicates 7 new Defence PSUs to the nation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated seven new Defence PSUs, carved out of OFBs, to the nation. These 7 new companies have been formed following the dissolution of the 200-year-old Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) w.e.f October 01, 2021. Under the OFB there were 41 factories and 9 ancillary bodies.

Now, these factories will be distributed among the seven newly created companies. Also, the 70,000 employees of these OFBs will be sent to the seven new entities, with no change in the service condition of the employees.

The seven new defence PSUs includes:

• Munition India Ltd,
• Armoured Vehicles Nigam Ltd
• Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Ltd
• Troop Comforts Ltd
• Yantra India Ltd
• India Optel Ltd
• Gliders India Ltd

Telangana develops India’s first smartphone-based eVoting solution

Telangana has developed India’s first smartphone-based eVoting solution considering the Covid-19 pandemic. The system will undergo a dry run in the form of a dummy election being conducted in Khammam district with the registration on the application open from October 8-18 and the dummy voting on October 20.

The eVoting solution has been developed by Telangana State Election Commission (TSEC) with the implementation support of the Emerging Technologies Wing of the IT Department of the State and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC).

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• Telangana Capital: Hyderabad;
• Telangana Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan;
• Telangana Chief minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao.

Varanasi to become first Indian city to use ropeway services for public

Varanasi of Uttar Pradesh will become the first city in India to use ropeway services in public transportation. Overall, Varanasi will be the third city in the world after Bolivia and Mexico City to use ropeway in public transportation. The total cost of the ropeway project is Rs 424 crore. The total distance of 4.2 km will be covered in just 15 minutes.

The project will be executed on a public-private partnership model. The cost of the project will be divided between the Centre and the state government at 80:20. Four stations of the ropeway services pilot phase will be at the height of above 11 meters.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• UP Capital: Lucknow;
• UP Governor: Anandiben Patel;
• UP Chief minister: Yogi Adityanath.