Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2021

Notes:
The Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) is an autonomous institution under the Union Ministry of Earth Science, and is located at Pune.
The institution has developed and launched a new ‘Decision Support System’ (DSS) aimed to enhance the existing ‘Air Quality Early Warning System’, for air quality measurement and management in Delhi – NCR.

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:
China played host to the Second UN Global Sustainable Transport Conference in 2021. The conference concluded with the Beijing Statement, which called for “adopting integrated, interdisciplinary, and cross-sectoral approaches, supported by greater international cooperation”.
China’s President Xi Jinping committed to establish a Global Innovation and Knowledge Center for Sustainable Transport as a contribution to global transport development.

Notes:
Former US President Donald Trump has recently announced plans to launch a new social media network, called TRUTH Social.
Though he was active in social media, Mr Trump was banned from Twitter and suspended from Facebook after his supporters stormed the US Capitol. Last year, Twitter and Facebook even started deleting some of his posts or labelled them as ‘misleading’.

Notes:
Konkan Shakti 2021 is the first-ever tri-services joint exercise between India and the UK. The week-long exercise has begun recently.
The exercise will be a platform to share each other’s experiences and to showcase the cooperation between the two countries. The maritime component of the exercise will be conducted off India’s west coast and the Harbour phase will be held in Mumbai. The land phase of the exercise will be held at Chaubatia in Uttarakhand.

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:
As per the Union Budget 2021-22, the total public health sector allocation stood at 1.2 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
The FICCI and KPMG in India released a report titled ‘COVID-19 Induced Healthcare Transformation in India’. As per the report, India needs to raise public health spending to 2.5 – 3.5 per cent of GDP to support healthcare transformation. The report also suggests to set up a district level Health System Index.

Notes:
South Korea has launched its first homegrown rocket. It is named as the Korean Satellite Launch Vehicle II, also known as Nuri.
The vehicle took off from Goheung, about 500km (310 miles) south of Seoul. Though it completed its full flight sequence, the vehicle failed in its goal of putting a dummy satellite in orbit. South Korea plans to carry out four more launches of the Nuri until 2027 to increase reliability.

Notes:
International Union for Conservation (IUCN), Global conservation body alerted Assam government on the threats faced by Bengal florican.
As per IUCN, Development activities and the state government’s plan to set up a university at Kokilabari seed farm near Manas National Park in Assam has posed a threat to the Bengal florican. IUCN urged that the Kokilabari seed farm, which is a haven for the Bengal florican, should be protected by declaring it a community reserve.

Notes:
The 52nd edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is set to be held in Goa, from November 20 to 28.
The Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur announced that Hollywood veteran Martin Scorsese and celebrated Hungarian film-maker Istevan Szabo will be honoured with the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement award at this year’s film festival. IFFI has also invited major OTT players to participate in the festival.