Current Affairs – 18 Oct 2021

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty: 17 October

The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is observed every year on 17 October across the globe. The day aims to raise awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution around the world, particularly in developing countries. 2021 Theme: Building Forward Together: Ending Persistent Poverty, Respecting all People and our Planet”.

History of the day:

This year marks the 28th anniversary of the declaration by the General Assembly, in its resolution 47/196 of 22 December 1992, of 17 October as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. This year also marks the 32nd anniversary of the Call to Action by Father Joseph Wresinski — which inspired the observance of October 17 as the World Day for Overcoming Extreme Poverty — and the recognition by the United Nations of the day as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

37th Raising Day of National Security Guard

The National Security Guard (NSG) force, popularly known as Black Cats, observes its Raising Day on October 16, every year. The year 2021 marks the 37th anniversary of the establishment of the NSG. NSG is an elite counter-terrorism unit under the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs.

About National Security Guard (NSG):

The NSG is a Federal Contingency force to deal with anti-terrorist activities. The NSG is a force equipped and trained to deal with the specific situation and is therefore used in exceptional circumstances to thwart serious acts of terrorism. It was established in 1984, NSG is popularly known as the Black Cats. It is an elite striking force in the country trained and equipped to handle situations like a terrorist attack, hijacking, and hostage captivity.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams: 

• National Security Guard Headquarters: New Delhi;
• DG of National Security Guard: M A Ganapathy;
• The motto of the National Security Guard: Sarvatra Sarvottam Suraksha.

Navrang Saini gets additional charge as Chairperson of IBBI

Navrang Saini has been given the additional charge as the Chairperson of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI). The post fell vacant after M.S. Sahoo retired after a five-year tenure on September 30. Saini is a Whole Time Member of IBBI.

The government has assigned additional charge of Chairperson to Mr Saini in addition to his existing duties. This will be for three months or till the joining of a new incumbent to the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier, it said in a release on October 13.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams: 

Pradeep Kumar Panja appointed as Chairman of Karnataka Bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of Pradeep Kumar Panja as the Chairman of Karnataka Bank Ltd. He will begin his role as the part-time non-executive Chairman with effect from November 14, 2021, for a period of three years. He will succeed P Jayarama Bhat, who will retire on November 13, 2021.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

Jonas Gahr Store becomes Norway’s new PM

Jonas Gahr Store, the Leader of the Labour Party in Norway, has assumed the charge of the Prime Minister of Norway with effect from October 14, 2021. In September 2021, Store’s Labour Party won the parliamentary elections, following which incumbent Prime Minister Erna Solberg and her government stepped down.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, the leader of Norway’s centre-left Labor Party, stood outside the royal palace with his 19-member team — 10 women and nine men — that includes the leader of the euroskeptic Center Party, Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, who becomes finance minister.  Emilie Enger Mehl became Norway’s youngest-ever justice minister at age 28, while the foreign minister portfolio went to another woman — Anniken Scharning Huitfeldt.

India re-elected to UN Human Rights Council

India has been re-elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for a sixth term on October 14, 2021, with an overwhelming majority. The new three-year term of India will be effective from January 2022 to December 2024. India received 184 votes of the 193 votes cast in the election.

The elections were held for a total of 18 seats and countries needed a minimum of 97 votes to get elected to the 47 UN member council. The headquarters of the UNHRC is in Geneva, Switzerland.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

Russia-China holds naval drill “Joint Sea 2021” in Sea of Japan

The Russia and China joint naval exercises “Joint Sea 2021” has kicked off at Russia’s Peter the Great Gulf, in the Sea of Japan, on October 14, 2021. The exercises will culminate on October 17, 2021. During the war game, the combined force would practice shooting at targets designed to imitate enemy surface ships and hold air-defence drills.

The drill is being carried out as part of ‘Joint Sea’ 2021, the series of bilateral naval exercises that have been taking place between the two services since 2012. The exercise is being held from 14–17 October, Russian state news agency TASS reported. The PLAN is participating in the exercise with the Type 052D destroyer Kunming

India beat Nepal 3-0 to win 2021 SAFF Championship

India beat Nepal, 3-0, to win the 2021 SAFF Championship final title, held on October 16, 2021, at the National Football Stadium in Male, Maldives. This is the eighth SAFF Championship title claimed by the Indian men’s national football team. Previously the team had won the title in 1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015.

Sunil Chhetri , Suresh Singh Wangjam and Sahal Abdul Samad were the goal scorer for the Indian team in final. Top Scorer in the championship Sunil Chhetri (Captain) – 5 goals. Meanwhile, Sunil Chhetri scored his 80th international strike at the championship to equal his score with iconic Lionel Messi and became the second-highest goal-scorer in international football among active players.

Divya Deshmukh becomes India’s 21st Woman Grand Master

15-year-old Divya Deshmukh became India’s 21st Woman Grand Master (WGM) after achieving her 2nd International Master (IM) at Grand Master (GM) in Budapest, Hungary. He scored five points in the nine rounds and ended up with a performance rating of 2452 to secure her final WGM norm.

Divya also secured her second IM-norm and is now a norm away from becoming an International Master. Apart from three wins, she played out four draws while losing two games in the tournament.

Russian team back on Earth after filming first movie in space

A Russian film crew are back on Earth after wrapping up scenes for the first movie shot in space. Klim Shipenko and actor Yulia Peresild left the International Space Station and landed in Kazakhstan – to be met by a crew filming touchdown scenes. The movie has been in its own kind of space race – with Tom Cruise. He is apparently part of a Hollywood filming-in-space project involving Nasa and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

The filmmakers had blasted off from the Russia-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan earlier this month, travelling to the ISS with veteran cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov to film scenes for “The Challenge”.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• International Space Station Launch date: 20 November 1998.

Rahul Dravid appointed as Team India head coach

Former Indian batter, Rahul Dravid has been appointed as Team India’s head coach and he will be succeeding Ravi Shastri, whose tenure at the helm ends after the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup in the UAE. As per reports, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and honorary secretary Jay Shah had a meeting with Dravid in Dubai and pleaded with him to take charge of the national team. As per reports, Dravid, also known as ‘The Wall’ of Indian cricket, has been roped in on a two-year contract and he will draw a salary of INR 10 crores.

Team India has also appointed lieutenant Paras Mhambrey as their bowling coach, replacing Bharat Arun. Even as Vikram Rathour has been persisted with as the batting coach, the decision on who should replace fielding coach R Sridhar hasn’t been made just yet.

ICC & UNICEF to Partner for Mental Wellbeing of Children & Adolescents

Ahead of the 2021 men’s T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman, the International Cricket Council (ICC) and UNICEF have that they would partner to help break the stigma around mental health by raising awareness about the issue amongst children and adolescents.

The ICC and UNICEF are aiming to raise awareness of mental health and wellbeing amongst children and adolescents and encourage greater conversation and understanding of it throughout the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 beginning.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

Indian Army wins gold medal in the Exercise Cambrian Patrol 2021

A team from 5th Battalion-4 (5/4) Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) representing the Indian Army won the gold medal at the prestigious Cambrian Patrol Exercise which was held in the United Kingdom. The Indian Army team took part in the event and competed with a total of 96 teams including 17 international teams representing Special Forces and prestigious Regiments from different parts of the world.

The Indian Army team received rich accolades from all the judges. The team was praised for their excellent navigation skills, overall physical endurance and delivery of patrol orders.

About Cambrian Patrol Exercise

• The exercise was held from October 13th to 15th 2021 at Brecon, Wales in United Kingdom.
  Exercise Cambrian Patrol was organised by the UK Army.
• It is considered as the ultimate test of human endurance and team spirit.
• It is sometimes also referred as “Olympics of Military Patrolling” among militaries of the world.
• Out of 96 participating teams, only three international patrols were awarded a gold medal this year, till the 6th phase of this Exercise.

SEBI constitutes 4-member high powered advisory committee on settlement orders

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), has constituted a four-member “high powered advisory committee on settlement orders and compounding of offences”. The Chairman of the committee will be Vijay C Daga, retired judge of the High Court of Bombay. The terms of reference of the Committee will be as per “Securities and Exchange Board of India (Settlement Proceedings) Regulations, 2018”.

The other members of the panel include:

• Former law secretary in Ministry of Law & Justice: PK Malhotra
• Ex-Chairman of Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP: PR Ramesh
• Advocate, Partner, Raval & Raval Associates: DN Raval