Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2021

Notes:
Every year, 16th October is observed as International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN), which is an event marking the night when moon is near the first quarter phase.
On this date, the moon will be in waxing gibbous, an intermediate phase in which it is not yet full. Celebration of this event is sponsored annually by the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA.

Notes:
The Indian Navy received its 11th P-8I long range maritime patrol aircraft from Boeing. The Navy has signed a contract of 12 P-8Is from Boeing in two batches.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also launched an ‘Integrated Unmanned Road Map for Indian Navy’ at the second edition of the Naval Commanders Conference. This will outline all unmanned aerial and underwater platforms and efforts of the Navy in modernisation.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Culture, International Buddhist Confederation in association with the Government of Uttar Pradesh is organising the Abhidhamma Day on the auspicious occasion of Ashwin Poornima.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also participating in an event marking Abhidhamma Day at Mahaparinirvana Temple. Eminent monks from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, South Korea, Nepal, Bhutan, Cambodia and ambassadors of several nations will take part in occasion.

Notes:
Valneva SE, a French vaccine company, announced the results from its Phase 3 trial of its inactivated Covid-19 vaccine candidate, VLA2001.
As per the company, the vaccine was as effective as the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. VLA2001 is an inactivated, adjuvanted vaccine. The Sars-CoV-2 virus is killed using chemicals, heat, or radiation and delivered in an inactivated form. India’s Covaxin vaccine is also an inactivated vaccine.

Notes:
Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and AYUSH Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated Ayush Van, a dedicated forest for Ayurvedic plants, at Gandhidham, Gujarat.
The Ayush Van was set up in 30 acres of land allotted by the Deendayal Port Trust (DPT). Tree plantation is being done to improve greenery in urban area and increase density of tree cover in the Kutch region.

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:
Hardoi MLA Nitin Agrawal was recently elected Deputy Speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, which has five months left in its tenure.
Agrawal became the MLA from Samajwadi Party (SP) in 2017, later switched to the BJP. In 2019, SP sought his disqualification from the Assembly under the anti-defection law and was rejected by the Speaker. Article 178 contains the position for Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of a state. More than two years of constitution in 2019, the 17th Lok Sabha remains without a Deputy Speaker.

Notes:
Ashfaqullah Khan, an Indian freedom fighter, was sentenced to death at the age of 27 for the Kakori train robbery. He was born on October 22, 1900 and he was remembered recently on his anniversary.
Ram Prasad Bismil and Chandrashekhar Azad were among the people who were part of the Kakori train robbery of 1925. He used to write poems in Urdu and Hindi, under the pen name Varasi and Hazarat.

Notes:
India has become the top source of Chinese rice imports during January-August this year. The shipments during the month of August alone accounted for 45 per cent of the total imports.
This data has been released in the USDA’s Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report on China’s rice prices. It said Indian rice made up 23 per cent of total imports by China during January-August this year.

Notes:
WeProtect Global Alliance, a global movement released the ‘Global Threat Assessment report 2021’. As per the report, COVID-19 contributed to a significant spike in child sexual exploitation and abuse online.
WeProtect Global Alliance is a global movement of more than 200 governments, private sector companies and civil society organisations. It aims to transform the global response to child sexual exploitation and abuse online.