Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2021

Notes:
Every year World Food Day is observed on October 16, to raise awareness on the issue of hunger and healthy food habits for all. It marks the founding day of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in the year 1979.
This year the day is jointly be led by organisations like FAO, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the World Food Programme (WFP). The theme for World Food Day 2021 is “Safe food now for a healthy tomorrow”.

Notes:
Under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), the premium to be paid by farmers is fixed at 1.5% of the sum insured for rabi crops and 2% for Kharif crops, while it is 5% for cash/horticultural crops.
The balance premium is split between the Centre and states. The government has constituted a working group, to roll out an overhauled PMFBY from kharif 2022. The working group will find out reasons for high premium rates and suggest mechanism to rationalize them. This comes at the backdrop of exit of several states from the scheme

Notes:
Retired commodore Amit Rastogi, took over as the chairman and managing director of the National Research Development Corporation.
Amit Rastogi has been appointed to this position, after his service of 34 years in Indian Navy. NRDC is an enterprise of DSIR, Ministry of Science & Technology. It was established in 1953 to promote the development, promotion and transfer of technologies from various national R&D institutions.

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:
Allium negianum, a plant discovered in Uttarakhand in the year 2019 has been recently confirmed as a new species of Allium, in journal PhytoKeys.
Allium is the genus that includes many foods such as onion and garlic, among 1,100 species globally. It was discovered in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. It grows at 3,000 to 4,800 m above sea level. The scientific name Allium negianum honours late Dr Kuldeep Singh Negi, an explorer and Allium collector.

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:
India is set to host young leaders from 75 democracies under the initiative of Gen-Next Democratic Network.
As per the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), this initiative is a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. Young leaders below the age of 35 from the ruling party, opposition party and other major parties are being invited. The first batch will include leaders from Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Japan, Indonesia, Chile and Zambia.

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:
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:
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.