Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2021

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:
Union Minister Piyush Goyal inaugurated 250mm Seer Water supply scheme in Kashmir. The project would benefit around 10000 people and will be completed under the ambit of Jal Jeevan Mission.
The Union Minister also inaugurated tourist hut of Pahalgam Development Authority at Golf Course Pahalgam. He also inaugurated Forest Departments Deodar sapling plantation drive being conducted under the banner of Green JK Drive, under which a total of 1 lakh saplings will be planted as part of the drive.

Notes:
India has ranked 40th out of 43 pension systems across the world in the 2021 Mercer CFS Global Pension Index survey.
In 2020, India was placed at 34th position out of 39 pension systems. Iceland was ranked highest with an overall index value of 84.2 while Thailand had the lowest overall index value at 40.6.
The index analyses the strengths of retirement pension systems around three sub-indexes – adequacy, sustainability and integrity.

Notes:
Egyptian-Sudanese Joint Exercise “Guardian of the South – 1” began recently at Egypt’s Mohamed Nagib Military Base.
The exercise is being executed by Egyptian Border Guard Force elements, and Sudanese infantry elements trained on border security. It includes lectures, practical exercises on achieving integration among forces, Exhibition of arms and equipment used in border security is also held.

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:
Mount Aso is the largest active volcano in Japan, and is one of the largest in the world. It is located in the island of Kyushu, and its peak is located 1,592 meters above sea level.
Japan’s Mount Aso volcano recently erupted, spewing a huge column of hot gas and ash over 3,500 metres into the sky. Japan’s meteorological agency raised alert level for the volcano to level 3 on a scale of 5, and asked people not to approach the mountain.

Notes:
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched a web-based project monitoring portal for military engineer services (MES).
The portal has been developed by the Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG-G). It will enable real time monitoring of projects along the process. All stakeholders not only from MES but also the Armed Forces can gain access to the project information.

Notes:
The ‘Police Commemoration Day’ is observed every year in India on October 21. The day is observed memory of 10 police personnel who died at Hot Springs in Ladakh while fighting Chinese troops in 1959.
The Police Forces across the country paid tributes to 377 martyrs from the police and Central Armed Police Forces from last year. They also paid tributes to the warriors, who lost their lives during the times of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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:
Bangladesh has announced that it would present its “climate prosperity plan” at the upcoming UN Climate Conference at Glasgow.
Bangladesh is considered prone to extreme weather and rising ocean levels. The plans aim to lessen the effects of climate change on the economy. It also seeks to boost renewable energy, make agriculture more resistant to climate shocks and restore mangroves to protect coasts from cyclones.