Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2021

Notes:
The United States has recently released the first-ever National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on climate. As per the report, India has been categorised as a ‘country of concern’ along with 10 other countries.
The other countries on the list are Afghanistan, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Iraq, Pakistan, Nicaragua, Colombia, Myanmar and North Korea. The report has also named two regions of concern, countries on the African continent.

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.

Notes:
A statistical analysis conducted by Mumbai-based International Institute for Population Studies shows that life expectancy in India has dropped by two years due to Covid-19 pandemic.
According to IIPS, the life expectancy at birth for men and women has declined from 69.5 years and 72 years in 2019 to 67.5 years and 69.8 respectively in 2020. The study also found out that the Covid mortality was reported to be the highest for men in the age group of 35-69.

Notes:
The World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley said that 22.8 million people, more than half of Afghanistan’s 39 million population, were facing acute food insecurity and “marching to starvation”.
Two months ago, it was announced that 14 million were in the edge of food crisis. The UN official also announced that millions of Afghans, including children, could die of starvation unless urgent action is taken. He also urged to free the frozen funds to be used for humanitarian efforts.

Notes:
The Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan launched phase II of the Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF).
It is a two-year-long fellowship that aims to create opportunities for youth to contribute to enhance skill development at the grassroots. MGNF Phase-I was launched with IIM Bangalore as the academic partner while for this phase 8 more IIMs have been onboarded.

Notes:
The UN Disarmament Week is observed annually during the month of October. This year disarmament week started on October 24 and the week-long observance will continue till October 30.
It aims to promote the awareness and understanding the issues of disarmament in several countries. The observance aims to reduce the use of weapons, specifically nuclear weapons, to bring peace in the society. The United Nations Disarmament Commission (UNDC) was set up in 1952 under the UN Security Council to eliminate all weapons of mass destruction.

Notes:
Kyrgyzstan is a central Asian country, with Bishkek as its capital and Kyrgyzstani som as its currency.
Recently, India and Kyrgyzstan held their first strategic dialogue between the National Security Council Secretariats of the two countries. During the meet, the two countries agreed to enhance cooperation in defence and counter-terrorism segments.

Notes:
East Asia Summit (EAS) is an intergovernmental forum comprising of 18 members – ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) along with Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the USA.
The 16th meeting of the EAS was held recently in a virtual format, in which India was represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Notes:
Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman participated in the 6th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) via video conference from New Delhi.
The Meeting has been jointly organized by AIIB and the Government of United Arab Emirates on the theme of “Investing Today and Transforming Tomorrow”. India is a Founding Member and the second largest shareholder in AIIB.

Notes:
The regional association BIMSTEC will adopt the connectivity master plan which includes 267 projects worth USD 124 billion in its upcoming summit at Colombo.
The Secretary-General of BIMSTEC Tenzin Lekphell said that BIMSTEC Charter will also be signed during the summit. Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization. Set up in 1997, it includes seven member states Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.