Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2021

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Power has recently released the “Framework for Implementation of Market Based Economic Despatch (MBED) Phase 1”. This framework aims to lower the cost of power purchase to consumers.
Under this framework, the state distribution companies (DISCOMs) will now be able to plan power purchases from the day-ahead market at power exchanges.

Notes:
The PM on the 75th Independence Day speech had announced for “PM Gati Shakti Master Plan” at a total financial outlay of Rs.100 lakh crore, aiming for holistic infrastructure development.
The scheme is proposed to offer modal connectivity to more than 1000 industrial clusters and would include projects under existing schemes like Bharatmala, Sagarmala, Udaan etc.

Notes:
Indian Born Dr.Abdul Qadeer Khan, also known as the father of Pakistan’s atomic weapons program died recently in Pakistan. He was born in the year 1936 in Bhopal and moved to Pakistan during the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan.
Dr. Khan is said to have made Pakistan a nuclear power, from its scratch.

Notes:
The conservative Chancellor of Austria – Sebastian Kurz has stepped down from the post, on allegations and suspicion of corruption.
This move has been made by Sebastian three days before a special sitting of the country’s parliament, in which the members were preparing to back a motion of no-confidence, which might have forced him out of the post.

 

Notes:
Every year, October 10th is observed as the World Mental Health Day by the World Health Organisation (WHO). This day is celebrated to raise awareness of mental health issues and mobilise support in this regard.
This year’s October 10 is observed under the tagline “Mental health care for all: let’s make it a reality”.

Notes:
WHO launched its ‘Strategy to Achieve Global Covid-19 Vaccination by mid-2022’ launched last week. As a part of the strategy, India will soon submit its covid-19 vaccination targets to WHOwith an updated national vaccination trajectory.
It will also include plans defining dose requirements, investment required for manufacturing the vaccines and their distribution through the government. As per WHO, all countries must meet its targets to vaccinate 40% of their population by end-2021 and 70% by mid-2022.

Notes:
As per the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), India’s consumer price inflation fell sharply to 4.35% in September from 5.3% in August.
This five-month low inflation is due to a favourable comparison with last year and moderating food prices, which offset a rise in the cost of crude oil and fuel. This also marks the third consecutive month within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) tolerance band of 2%-6%.

Notes:
A Team of scientists from Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), Guwahati have used tea and banana waste to generate non-toxic activated carbon. This substance is said to be used in industrial pollution control, water purification, food and beverage processing etc.
Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology is an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India.

Notes:
World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF jointly released the 2021 State of The World’s Hand Hygiene report.
As per the report, all households in the world’s 46 least developed countries could have handwashing facilities by 2030 if the world invested less than $1 per person per year, in hand hygiene. An annual cost to governments on promoting handwashing with soap at home comes to 2.5% of the average government health expenditure in these countries.

Notes:
Actor William Shatner flew aboard a Blue Origin rocket-ship on a suborbital trip and landed in the Texas desert to become at age 90 the oldest person ever in space.
Blue Origin, U.S. billionaire businessman Jeff Bezos’s company carried out its second tourist flight. Shatner was one of four passengers aboard the fully autonomous New Shepard spacecraft. The four astronauts travelled above the internationally recognized boundary of space known as the Karman Line, about 100 km above Earth.