Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2021

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 USA celebrates ‘Indigenous Peoples’ Day’ as a holiday that celebrates and honours Native American peoples and commemorates their histories and cultures.
It started in 1977 as a day of respect at a discrimination conference. It has now become a national holiday honored by President Joe Biden. This day falls on the same day Columbus Day, first recognized as a national holiday in 1934 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Notes:
Indian American Satya Nadella, the Microsoft CEO, is among the corporate leaders to receive this year’s prestigious C K Prahlad award for Global Business Sustainability Leadership.
Created in 2010, the prestigious award recognises exceptional private-sector action that promotes sustainability, innovation and long-term business success. Four of Microsoft’s top leaders including Nadella received the honour for their collaborative leadership.  Microsoft aims to transform into a carbon negative company by 2030 and to remove all its historical emissions by 2050.

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:
A key UN biodiversity summit, with an aim to protecting biodiversity has commenced in China, which witnessed the participation of delegates from about 195 countries. Discussion on “30 by 30” agenda that would accord 30% of the Earth’s land and oceans protected status by 2030 is being discussed in the summit.
During the summit, Chinese Government has committed and pledged a sum of $233 million into a fund, to protect biodiversity in developing countries.

Notes:
The 6th ministerial meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) began in Nur-Sultan, the capital city of Kazakhstan.
The CICA is an intergovernmental forum aimed at strengthening regional cooperation and ensuring peace, security, and stability in Asia. The first CICA summit was held in June of 2002. The members include 27 Asian countries, including India, China, Russia, nine observer states, and five international organizations.

Notes:
The Naval forces of China and Russia have commenced the “The Naval Interaction-2021” joint Naval exercise, which aims to enhance the two country’s capability and hone their skills to jointly deal with maritime security threats.
The exercise is taking place at Russia’s Peter the Great Gulf in the Sea of Japan.

Notes:
Government think tank NITI Aayog launched the ‘Geospatial energy map’ of the country. It captures data on all sources of energy, in a comprehensive way.
As per the NITI Aayog, the energy maps available in the country were fragmented and scattered across multiple departments or ministries. It can be used by policymakers, investors, environmentalists, financial institutions and disaster management authorities.

Notes:
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) announced the launch of the NPCI Tokenization System (NTS).
The Token Reference On File (TROF) service will help millions of RuPay cardholders maintain the security of their financial data. This will enable tokenization of cards as an alternative to storing card details with merchants. The card details of cardholders will be secure at the RuPay Network Secure vault.