Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2021

Notes:
The national Mid-Day Meal Scheme has been renamed as PM POSHAN Scheme. Involvement of Farmers Producer Organizations (FPO) and Women Self Help Groups in implementation of the scheme are also mentioned in the new features.
The Union Cabinet approved the ‘PM POSHAN in Schools’ scheme that will provide hot cooked meal to students of elementary classes in government and government-aided schools across the country. It will also cover students of balvatikas or pre-primary classes.

 

Notes:
According to the Union Finance Ministry’ status report on India’s external debt, India’s External debt to GDP ratio increased marginally to 21.1% from 20.6% as at end-March 2020.
India’s external debt rose by 2.1% year-on-year to $570 billion as of March-end 2021. Reserves to external debt ratio increased to 101.2% from 85.6% during the same period. With this, it can be concluded that India is a net creditor to the world. The sovereign debt at $107.2 billion rose by 6.2%. The non-sovereign debt grew 1.2% to $462.8 billion.

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:
National Voluntary Blood Donation Day is celebrated on 1st October of every year across the country. It aims to raise awareness about Blood donation and promote voluntary Blood donation in the country.
The theme for this year’s Blood donation event is “Give Blood and keep the world beating”. On this day various public and private organizations hold Blood donation camps and awareness activities.  Our country needs around 1.45 crore units of blood every year. Collection of blood is done through 3500 licensed blood banks across the country.

Notes:
The President of Ecuador has recently declared a state of emergency in the prison system of the country. This decision is followed by a prison massacre event in which more than 115 prison inmates are reported dead.
The state of emergency gives powers to the Government to deploy police and soldiers inside prisons to bring violent situations under control.

Notes:
Senior IOFS officer ER Sheikh has assumed charge as the first director general of the Ordnance Directorate. The Ordnance Directorate is a newly created entity to replace the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB).
ER Sheikh is a 1984 batch Indian Ordnance Factory Service (IOFS) officer who has served in various capacities in various ordnance factories. He is very much known for setting up a modern production line at Varangaon for manufacture of small arms and ammunition.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Rural Development has launched the People’s Plan Campaign-2021 “Sabki Yojana, Sabka Vikas” and the Vibrant Gram Sabha Dashboard recently.
The campaign was launched by the Union Minister Giriraj Singh, during which he also released a booklet on People Plan Campaign-2021 for preparation of plans for 2022-23.

Notes:
The All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), under the aegis Union Ayush Ministry has developed an immunity booster kit for children named “Bal Raksha Kit”, which can be consumed by children upto the age of 16 years. This can be undertaken by the children till the time vaccine is available for COVID 19 disease.
The Ministry has planned that, on National Ayurveda Day (November 2), 10,000 Bal Raksha kits would be distributed free-of-cost.

 

Notes:
The Armies of India and Sri Lanka are set to participate in the 12-day military exercise – “Mitra Shakti”, which would be held in Combat Training School in Sri Lanka’s Ampara. This is the 8th edition of the joint military exercise between the two countries.
India would be represented by a contingent of 120 personnel. This exercise is aimed to promote close coordination and interoperability among the two military forces.

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.