Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2021

Notes:
The Union Home Ministry began tripartite talks with Gorkha representatives from the Darjeeling Hills, Terrai and Dooars region and the Government of West Bengal.
The talks were held with the objective of resolving the demand of statehood in the North Bengal region. The talks were chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah. The second round of talks with the officials of the Government of West Bengal is scheduled in November 2021.

Notes:
Paralympian Deepa Malik – Indian athlete and a silver-medallist at the 2016 Paralympics has been appointed as the independent director of the Hospitality firm Oravel Stays Ltd (OYO), in its board.
OYO is an organisation which brings travellers and hotels / homes on a single platform.

Notes:
Ernst & Young (EY) has released the 58th edition of “Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index”. This ranks world’s top 40 nations based on attractiveness of their renewable energy investment.
India has been ranked at 3rd position without a position change compared to last year’s rankings. USA and China have been placed in the top 2 spots.

Notes:
The Director-General of the World Health Organisation has set up the WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins on Novel Pathogens (SAGO).
The SAGO will advise the Secretariat on technical and scientific considerations on emerging and re-emerging pathogens. An Indian epidemiologist, Dr Raman Gangakhedkar, will be part of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Scientific Advisory Group for determining the origin of covid-19 pandemic.

Notes:
As per the International Monetary Fund’s ‘Fiscal Monitor’ Report, the global debt has jumped to a new high of USD 226 trillion. Advanced economies and China contributed more than 90 per cent to the accumulation of world-wide debt in 2020.
India’s debt increased from 68.9 per cent of its GDP in 2016 to 89.6 per cent in 2020. It is projected to jump to 90.6 per cent in 2021. The debt of governments, households and non-financial corporations added up to USD 226 trillion in 2020.This is the highest increase on record.

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:
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has launched “U Fill” which is an automated fueling technology at the fuel outlets.
The technology is said to eliminate manual intervention during vehicle fueling enhance the customer experience. The company has launched the technology in 65 cities.

Notes:
China beat Japan 3-1 in the Uber Cup final, held in Aarhus, Denmark, to reclaim Uber Cup title. This is China’s 15th Uber Cup title win out of 19 finals.
Indonesia lifted the Thomas Cup trophy for the first time since 2002 after defeating the defending champions China 3-0 in the final match held in Aarhus, Denmark. Uber and Thomas Cup are the biennial international badminton championship played by the women and men’s national teams of the members of Badminton World Federation.

Notes:
Every year, 17th October is celebrated as World Trauma Day across the world. This day highlights the high rate of accidents and injuries causing death and disability across the world and the need to prevent them.
Road Traffic Accident (RTA) is the leading cause of trauma across the world. Every year, over 5 million people die from injuries across the world. In India alone, around one million people die and 20 million are hospitalized every year due to injuries.

Notes:
The 8th India-U.S.A. Economic & Financial Partnership Dialogue was held at Washington D.C recently, in which India was represented and Chaired by the Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman. The meeting was co-chaired by Secretary of the Treasury of the United States Dr. Janet Yellen.
Discussions on macroeconomic outlook and economic recovery from COVID, financial regulatory and technical collaboration between the two countries were held.