Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2021

Notes:
Russia is set to host the third meeting of the Moscow format of consultations on Afghanistan. India will be represented at joint-secretary level at the meeting.
The Moscow Format was established in 2017 as a six-party system comprising Russia, Afghanistan, India, Iran, China and Pakistan. It was then expanded with the inclusion of more countries. Its meetings were held in Moscow in 2017 and 2018. India and Taliban may have their first face-to-face meeting at the occasion.

Notes:
Talpiot Cemetery is seen in the news recently, as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited the place as he began his five-day visit to Israel.
It is the cemetery for Indian soldiers who laid down their lives in the region during the World War I, located in Talpiot, Jerusalem. About 900 Indian soldiers are buried in cemeteries across Israel in Jerusalem, Ramle and Haifa. The Indian Army commemorates September 23 every year as Haifa Day to pay its respects to the three brave Indian Cavalry Regiments.

Notes:
Infrastructure firm Larsen & Toubro Limited emerged as the lowest bidder for the construction and maintenance of the first three buildings of the Common Central Secretariat under the Central Vista redevelopment project.
According to the Central Public Works Department’s bid documents, Larsen & Toubro quoted around Rs 3,141 crore.Tata Projects Limited is constructing a new parliament building while Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Limited is executing the redevelopment work of the Central Vista Avenue stretching from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate.

Notes:
The Assam Cabinet has approved the creation of a directorate and posts under the newly-established Indigenous Faith and Culture Department.
The directorate is set to begin the process of preserving indigenous faiths such as Bathou of the Bodo community and Heraka of the Zeme Naga community. These are considered to be endangered because of conversions to mainstream religions.  Arunachal Pradesh had formed the Department of Indigenous Affairs five years ago to insulate the indigenous faiths.

Notes:
India is ranked at 71st position out of 113 countries in the Global Food Security (GFS) Index 2021, with an overall score of 57.2 points. It is a global report released by Economist Impact and Corteva Agriscience.
Ireland, Australia, the UK, Finland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, Japan, France and the US shared the top rank with the overall GFS score in the range of 77.8 and 80 points on the index. The GFS Index considers 58 unique food security indicators including income and economic inequality.

Notes:
Sri Lanka has received the first consignment of 3.1 million litres high quality non-harmful Nano Nitrogen liquid fertiliser from India.
This will help Sri Lanka in the cultivation of maize and paddy. The country’s President Rajapaksa had decided to impose a total ban on agrochemicals, to make Sri Lankan farming 100% organic. This decision to stop chemical fertiliser imports led to several protests among farmers.

Notes:
The UN En­v­­i­ron­ment Programme (UNEP), along with the leading rese­a­r­ch institutes released the 2021 Production Gap Report.
The report measures the gap between governments’ plan­ned production of coal, oil, and gas and the global production levels consistent with meeting Paris Agreement limits. As per the new report, governments plan to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than the consistent level to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

Notes:
The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is a multi-stakeholder platform, which brings representatives together from various groups, to discuss public policy issues related to the Internet.
The Indian Government along with National Internet Exchange of India and other Stakeholders has decided to host its own Internet Governance Forum  in November this year. The India Internet Governance Forum (IIGF) will recognize every citizen as a stakeholder and enable them to participate in policy dialogue and decision making.

Notes:
According to the 2021 Global Agricultural Productivity Report (GAP Report), total factor productivity (TFP) is growing at an annual rate of 1.36 per cent.
This is below the Global Agricultural Productivity Index, whose annual target is at 1.73 per cent growth to sustainably meet the needs of consumers for food and bio-energy in 2050. TFP tracks changes in how efficiently agricultural inputs such as land, labour, fertiliser and machinery are transformed into outputs like crops and aquaculture products.

Notes:
China has passed a new Education Law to reduce students’ homework and off-school tutoring. It aims to strike a balance between academics, rest and physical education.
China has been making large efforts to exercise strict controls over the citizens’ personal and social lives. There have been several legislations to limit the time kids and youth spend on playing video games.