Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2021

Notes:
NASA’s Deep Space Atomic Clock, has successfully ended its mission. The clock was built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in southern California.
The Deep Space Atomic Clock is an ultra-precise, mercury-ion atomic clock. It was launched aboard the Department of Defense Space Test Programme 2 mission on June 25, 2019. After the instrument completed its one-year primary mission in Earth orbit, NASA extended the mission to collect more data.

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:
The Union Power Ministry has set a revised policy to use biomass pellets in coal-burning thermal power plants.
This guideline encourages the use of agricultural waste which is otherwise burnt by farmers, causing air pollution. The decision mandates three categories of thermal power plants to use a five per cent blend of biomass pellets along with coal. The policy will come into force in October 2022

Notes:
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held talks with the top Kyrgyztan leadership to boost bilateral ties, including defence cooperation.
India also agreed to provide a USD 200 million Line of Credit for development projects in the country. Jaishankar is on his four-day visit to Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Armenia with an aim to further expand bilateral ties with the three Central Asian countries.

 

Notes:
Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder, known as ASKAP, is a radio telescope situated at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Australia. It is run by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australian Government agency.
Recently, using this telescope, Astronomers have discovered unusual signals coming from the direction of the Milky Way’s center. This new signal had very high polarisation and varying brightness. It was named as ‘ASKAP J173608.2-321635’.

Notes:
The Aerial Archaeological Mapping Explorer has been launched to offer virtual flights over ancient landscapes. The digital aerial archaeology tool will allow users to see landscapes from England’s past.
Historic England, the agency that looks after the tool, enables people to discover previously unknown details through virtual flights over England, about local landscapes, including prehistoric hill forts, Roman settlements and cold war military stations etc.

Notes:
The European Union issued its debut Green Bonds and attracted strong demand from investors.
Regarded as the largest green bond deal, the €12bn sale of 15-year debt attracted more than €135bn of orders. The proceeds will be passed on to member states to be spent on areas such as energy efficiency, transport and nature protection. EU has joined a host of member states, including Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Poland, in issuing green debt.

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:
The Manila headquartered Asian Development Bank has announced that it has elevated its target to deliver climate financing to its developing member countries to $100 billion. This would be achieved in the period 2019–2030.
This decision has been made by the ADB on account of worsening climate crisis and call for increased climate finance.

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.