Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2021

Notes:
The Border Roads Organization (BRO) is constructing a 500-metre tunnel near Nechiphu pass in Arunachal Pradesh.
It aims to cut down the travel time for vehicles going towards the forward base near China border. It primarily aims to bring down the time taken by military vehicles by six kilometres and 20 minutes. The Nechiphu tunnel is being constructed at an altitude of 5,600 feet under Project Vartak of BRO.

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:
The first meeting of the Foreign ministers of India, Israel, the UAE and the USA held recently. It is dubbed as the New QUAD.
The virtual meeting discussed on increasing trade, enhancing cooperation in maritime security and global public health, as well as joint infrastructure projects in transportation and technology. Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar held discussions with his counterparts.

Notes:
Fencer Bhavani Devi, won the women’s individual sabre title at the Charlellville National Competition in France.
She made history at the Tokyo Olympics by becoming the first Indian to compete in fencing at the Olympics. Though she won the first round, she was defeated by bronze-medallist Manon Brunet of France in the next round. The top-ranked fencer from India is currently ranked 50th in the world.

Notes:
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. unveiled a new server chip that’s based on advanced 5-nanometer technology. The new chip is based on micro-architecture provided by the SoftBank Group Corp.-owned Arm Ltd.
Named as Yitian 710, the Arm-based server chip is the third semiconductor introduced by Alibaba since 2019, following an artificial intelligence chip as well as a chip used for internet-of-things. China has been inviting companies to build a homegrown semiconductor industry and to achieve self-sufficiency.

Notes:
Tech Major Microsoft has launched a start-up program called AI Innovate along with an AI Playbook that will help start-ups in the country adopt the technology.
Microsoft has also been involved in two similar programs for agri-tech and health-tech startups. As per a 2020 report by Nasscom, data and AI have the potential to add $500 billion to the economy by 2025 and can account for 10% of the country’s GDP.

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.

Notes:
The Indian Railways has recently ordered to dissolve Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC).
The Cabinet secretariat had recommended to integrate, and undertake structural reforms in various bodies under Railways Ministry. It also suggested merger of various institutions of the railways. The report on ‘Rationalisation of Government Bodies under the Ministry of Railways’ was prepared by Sanjeev Sanyal, Principal Economic Advisor.

 

Notes:
Every year, the Uttar Pradesh state conducts State-level Sugarcane competition to award farmers for high yield per hectare.
This year, a farmer from western Uttar Pradesh has won the State cane competition with a sugarcane yield of 2,635 quintal per hectare. The award is given in four categories namely: ratoon, early plant, general plant and drip irrigation.

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.