Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2021

Notes:
“River ranching programme” designed as a special activity under the PM Matsya Sampada Yojana under the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying aims to augment and enhance fish production.
The programme has been launched by the Union Minister Shri Parshottam Rupala at Brijghat, Garh Mukteshwar, Uttar Pradesh.

 

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:
NITI Aayog released a ‘Handbook on sustainable urban plastic waste management, jointly released with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Niti Aayog suggested urban local bodies to adopt the material recovery facility (MRF) model & operate it as a public-private partnership model. A materials recovery facility, also called as a materials reclamation facility or recycling facility is a specialized plant that receives, separates, and prepares recyclable materials for marketing to end-user manufacturers.

Notes:
As per the Finance Ministry’s Monthly Economic Review, India is well-placed on the path to swift recovery with growth impulses visibly transmitted to all sectors of the economy. The FInance Minister also said that economic activity is gaining further momentum in September.
India’s merchandise exports crossed the $30-billion mark for the sixth consecutive month in fiscal year 2021-22. The rate of growth of bank credit stood at 6.7 per cent year-on-year in the fortnight ending September 10, 2021, compared to 5.3 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year, it added.

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:
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:
The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has launched the PM Gati Shakti, a ‘national masterplan’ for multi-modal connectivity on 13th October 2021.
The master plan aims to use geo-mapping and real-time data on a single portal, to make sure that there is transparency and visibility over the project planning and implementation. Presently 16 government departments are part of the master plan.

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 Rail Kaushal Vikas Yojana is a technical skill development programme organized and conducted by the Indian Railways, to unemployed youths of age 18-35 years. The scheme aims to enhance their employability and entrepreneurship
Recently, the Indian Railways’ Banaras Locomotive Works had successfully conducted the training for its first batch of trainees, and distributed self-employment toolkits cum certificated to the trainees.