Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2021

Notes:
NASA’s Psyche Mission is set to be launched next year. It will be the first spacecraft to study an asteroid that is rich in metals, but not in not rich in dust and ice.
The mission will be targeted to the Psyche asteroid that orbits the Sun in the main asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter. Observations from ground and telescopes shown that the asteroid, which is 280 kilometres wide, is largely made up of metals.

Notes:
Every year on October 8, the country celebrates Indian Air Force Day. This year will celebrate the 89th anniversary of Indian Air Force Day.
The day commemorates the establishment of Indian Air Force (IAF) on the same day in 1932. The first operational squadron was established in April 1933. The day also aims to increase awareness about the Indian Air Force, also known as the ‘Bhartiya Vayu Sena’.

Notes:
Darwin’s ground sloth (Mylodon darwinii), lived in South America between 1.8 million years and 12,000 years ago.
Though the six living sloth species are relatively small and herbivorous tree-dwellers, some species roamed from Alaska to South America. As per findings of a recent study, the extinct species was between 3 and 4 m long and weighed between 1 and 2 tons. The study also contradicts that all sloths were necessarily herbivores.

 

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:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has kept India’s growth forecast for 2021-22 unchanged at 9.5%, in its latest World Economic Outlook report.It also projected India’s economy to grow 8.5% in FY23.
In July, IMF had slashed India’s growth forecast for FY22 to 9.5% from earlier projection of 12.5%. It has lowered the global growth projection marginally to 5.9% from 6% earlier. Supply disruptions in advanced economies and worsening pandemic impact in developing countries are the reasons.

Notes:
International Energy Agency (IEA) recently released its World Energy Outlook 2021 report. As per the report, almost $4 trillion investment into clean energy is required to meet the Paris Agreement pledge to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The IEA mentioned some developing economies financing such projects, including India’s expansion of solar panels.

Notes:
The Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) is an intergovernmental military alliance of 6 full time members (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan) and two non-member observer states (Afghanistan and Serbia).
Recently the CSTO has proposed to hold a military drill near the Afghan border in Tajikistan from October 22-23.

Notes:
Vidyut Mohan, an Indian entrepreneur has been named the winner of Prince William’s inaugural Earthshot Prize under the “clean our air” category, for his innovation which recycles agricultural waste into sellable bio-products.
This prize is also called Eco Oscars and is awarded to innovators who strive to save the planet earth.

 

Notes:
Allium negianum, a plant discovered in Uttarakhand in the year 2019 has been recently confirmed as a new species of Allium, in journal PhytoKeys.
Allium is the genus that includes many foods such as onion and garlic, among 1,100 species globally. It was discovered in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. It grows at 3,000 to 4,800 m above sea level. The scientific name Allium negianum honours late Dr Kuldeep Singh Negi, an explorer and Allium collector.

Notes:
India is set to host young leaders from 75 democracies under the initiative of Gen-Next Democratic Network.
As per the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), this initiative is a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. Young leaders below the age of 35 from the ruling party, opposition party and other major parties are being invited. The first batch will include leaders from Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Japan, Indonesia, Chile and Zambia.