Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2021

Notes:
German rail operator Deutsche Bahn and industrial group Siemens unveiled the world’s first automated, driverless train in the city of Hamburg.
The project is part of a 60 million euro ($70 million) modernisation of Hamburg’s rapid urban rail system. As per the operator, this project can bring up to 30 percent more passengers, can improve punctuality and save more than 30 percent energy.

Notes:
The Central Government has accorded “Maharatna” status to Power Finance Corporation (PFC). PFC is the 11th state-owned entity to get the status, joining the elite group of ONGC, Indian Oil Corporation, SAIL among others.
“Maharatna” status is granted to a company which has recorded more than ₹ 5,000 crore of net profit for three consecutive years, an average annual turnover of ₹ 25,000 crore for three years or should have an average annual net worth of ₹ 15,000 crore for three years.

Notes:
Former bureaucrat Amit Khare, who retired recently as higher education secretary, has been appointed as advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He has been appointed for two years on contract basis, as per a personnel ministry order issued. Mr Khare is a 1985 batch (retired) IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre.  The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment in the rank and scale of secretary to government of India.

Notes:
India Exim Bank conducted a study titled “Prospects for Enhancing India Japan Trade Relations”. It has highlighted that over the past decade, India’s total trade with Japan has increased from 10 billion to almost 18 billion, with exports valued at US 5 billion and imports 13 billion in 2019.
It also noted that despite having a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Japan, India is undergoing a persistent trade deficit with Japan, which has doubled during the decade, to almost US$ 8 billion in 2019.

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:
The Malabar series of exercises, which began as an annual bilateral naval exercise between India and the US in 1992.
The Indian Navy is set to participate in the Second Phase of Multilateral Maritime Exercise Malabar along with the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force, Royal Australian Navy and the United States Navy. It is being conducted in the Bay of Bengal from 12 – 15 Oct 2021. First Phase of the exercise was conducted in the Philippines Sea in August.

Notes:
Union Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Shri Giriraj Singh jointly launched Climate Resilience Information System and Planning (CRISP-M) tool.
It is used for integration of climate information in Geographic Information System (GIS) based watershed planning under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme. It was launched along with Lord Tariq Ahmad, Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth in the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office through a virtual event.

Notes:
BrokerChoose, a broker discovery and comparison platform has released its annual proliferation index. As per the index, India has the highest number of individuals owning cryptocurrency with 10.07 crore users.
The second position is occupied by USA with 2.74 crore crypto and Russia is placed at the third position.

Notes:
The Maharashtra government recently announced that they have scrapped the position of Police Naik.
The decision is set to impact nearly 45000 constables in the state police force. Before this decision, a police constable (PC) would get promoted to Police Naik (PN) after 10 years of service. In another 10 years they will move to the Head Constable (HC) rank and retire as Assistant Sub Inspectors (ASI).

Notes:
The Government of Delhi has launched an App named “MyParkings”, which permits people to book parking slots online in areas under the jurisdiction of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation.
The app has been designed to provide information about the present number of parked vehicles, total free parking spaces available etc. The app has been built by Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited.