Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2021

Notes:
The International Maritime Organization is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating shipping. It is headquartered at London.
World Maritime Day 2021 is celebrated every year on 30 September. IMO has declared 2021 a year of action for seafarers, who are facing hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Maritime Theme for 2021 is “Seafarers: at the core of shipping’s future”. The IMO building, including the Seafarer Memorial, will be lit in blue light on World Maritime Day, to unite the maritime community.

Notes:
SEBI’s board recently cleared a proposal for setting up a ‘Gold exchange’ and a ‘Social Stock Exchange’. In the Gold Exchange, the metal will be traded in the form of Electronic Gold Receipts (EGRs) and they will be notified as securities.
Any recognised stock exchange, existing as well as new, can launch trading in EGRs. Vault manager should be a body incorporated in India, registered with SEBI and should have a net worth of at least Rs 50 crore. The social stock exchange will be operated for fundraising by social enterprises.

Notes:
Union Minister of Power has recently approved a “Dispute Avoidance Mechanism” through ‘Independent Engineer’ (IE).
The CPSEs executing Hydro Power Projects had been raising concerns that the present mechanism of dispute resolution in Hydro Power sector did notaddress the conflicts between the Employer and the Contractor at their initial stage.

Notes:
Najla Bouden Romdhane has been named Tunisia’s first female prime minister. Before two months President Kais Saied assumed executive authority, sacked the prime minister and suspended parliament.
The President had said that during the emergency period, the government would be responsible to the president. Hence, the new Prime Minister would have less direct power than previous Prime Ministers.

Notes:
The Yidan Prize is an education award that recognizes individuals, or teams, who have contributed significantly to education research and development.
The Yidan Prize Foundation have awarded India-based Dr Rukmini Banerji and US-based Professor Eric Hanushek the prestigious Yidan Prize 2021. Nine laureates have been awarded the Yidan Prize since its inception in 2016. Dr Rukmini Banerji, Chief Executive Officer of the Pratham Education Foundation, is awarded for her work in improving learning outcomes.

Notes:
NITI Aayog recently released a performance assessment report of district hospitals in India, titled Best Practices in the Performance of District Hospitals.
The report is made with collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and WHO India. The assessment framework covers 10 Key Performance Indicators and a total of 707 district hospitals across all States and UTs participated in the assessment. The Health Management Information System (HMIS) data for the year 2017–18 was used as baseline. 75 district hospitals across 24 States and UTs emerged as top performers.

Notes:
Every year, the 30th September is celebrated as the International Translation Day. This day is chosen to remember the Bible translator St. Jerome, who is considered the father of translators.
A resolution in this regard was passed by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in the year 2017, in order to recognise the role played by language professionals in connecting nations and promoting peace.

Notes:
The Indian Navy had signed the “Joint Guidance for the India – Australia Navy to Navy Relationship” on 18th August 2021, following which India has signed Terms of Reference for the Conduct of Navy-to-Navy Talks” with Australia.
The signing ceremony was held virtually between the Rear Admiral of the two Navies.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India has mandated all banks to make Additional Factor Authentication (AFA) by way of OTP for all recurring or repetitive payments of value Rs.5000 and above, especially for the ones made through credit and debit cards. This has come into effect from 1st October 2021.
RBI has also mandated that customers are notified about the scheduled payment 24 hrs in advance by the bank.

Notes:
A discussion document titled ‘India’s Path to Power: Strategy in a World Adrift’ was released by Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research. The policymakers include former NSA Shivshankar Menon.
As per the paper, India should maintain an outward orientation of its economy and avoid being pushed to the margins of regional and global economy, to enhance its growth prospects and improve people’s welfare. They recommended that India should further strengthen its partnership with the United States, Japan and Europe.