Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2021

Notes:
Padmaja Chunduru has been appointed managing director and chief executive officer (MD & CEO) of National Securities Depositories (NSDL).
She has earlier served as the MD & CEO of Indian Bank between September 2018 and August 2021. Her appointment has been approved by the shareholders of NSDL. She is succeeding GV Nageswara Rao, who was the previous MD & CEO of NSDL.

Notes:
Delhi-based environmental organisation Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE) has received the 2021 Right Livelihood Award.
The organisation empowers vulnerable communities to protect their livelihoods and claim their right to a clean environment. The award is known as Sweden’s alternative Nobel Prize. Other awardees include Cameroonian women rights activist Marthe Wandou, Russian environmental activist Vladimir Slivyak, and Canadian Indigenous rights defender Freda Huson.

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:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated CIPET: Institute of Petrochemicals Technology, Jaipur through video conference.
The Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering & Technology (CIPET), formerly called as the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering & Technology, was established in 1968 by India with the assistance of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) at Chennai.

Notes:
The Global Financial Stability Report is a semi-annual publication by the International Monetary Fund, which gives detailed review on the stability of global financial markets.
In the recent Global Financial Stability Report, the IMF has dedicated an exclusive chapter to cryptocurrency. Under it, IMF mentions that rapid growth of the crypto ecosystem presents new opportunities at the same time, it has cautioned about the financial stability challenges.

Notes:
Venezuela is set to launch a new currency that will feature six fewer zeros. The country is facing world’s worst inflation and economic crisis for some years.
The highest denomination of the Venezuelan bolivar had previously been a one-million bolivar note. That will now become a one bolivar note. Hereafter, the highest denomination for the new currency will be 100 bolivar, worth a little less than $25.

Notes:
Russia recently announced that it had successfully test launched a Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile from a submarine for the first time.
The country’s Defence Ministry said that the Severodvinsk submarine had fired the missile in the Barents Sea, successfully hitting its target. Russia had earlier tested firing the Tsirkon missile from a warship in July

Notes:
Every year, First Monday of October is observed by the United Nations as “World Habitat Day”, to stress on the basic right of all to adequate shelter and to highlight the state of our habitats. This year, it was observed on October 4.
The theme for this year’s World Habitat Day is “Accelerating urban action for a carbon-free world”.

Notes:
The Madhya Pradesh Cabinet has approved the proposal to provide government land in exchange for the private land being acquired for Atal Pragati Path.
It is a 313-km four-lane expressway project implemented under the Bharatmala project. The proposed Atal Pragati Path will pass through Sheopur, Morena and Bhind districts of Madhya Pradesh. The state government is providing land free for the project.

Notes:
The High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People (HAC) is an intergovernmental group, co-chaired by France and Costa Rica. Its objective is to support the adoption of a target to protect 30% of the planet’s land and 30% of its oceans by 2030 (30×30 target).
The Coalition was officially launched at the One Planet Summit in 2021. It currently has around 70 members. India officially joined the coalition at a ceremony held between the French and Indian governments in New Delhi.