Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2021

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:
Global terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) retained Pakistan on its ‘Grey List’ of countries.
FATF also announced that three new countries: Turkey, Jordan, and Mali have also been added to the Grey List. FATF affirmed that Pakistan is cooperating and only four action items remain to be completed. In June this year, FATF had retained Pakistan on its ‘Grey List’ for failing to check money laundering, leading to terror financing.

Notes:
Andrew Yule & Co Ltd is a Central Public Sector Enterprise in Tea Sector under Ministry of Heavy Industries. It is a 158 years old company with 15 Tea Gardens spread across Assam and West Bengal.
The CPSE has launched a series of Azadi Amrut Chai in Orthodox, Elaichi, Adrakh and Masala flavors,  to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and to commemorate the 75th year of India’s Independence. It will be available at Tea Board counter of Parliament, TRIFED outlets, Udyog Bhawan and other Central Government offices.

Notes:
France has successfully launched the ‘Syracuse 4A satellite’ into orbit. It is a state-of-the-art satellite, designed to allow France’s armed forces across the globe to communicate swiftly and securely.
The Ariane 5 rocket carrying the Syracuse 4A satellite took off from Kourou, in French Guiana. The satellite has anti-jamming antenna and digital transparent processor on board and can guarantee a high resistance to extreme jamming methods.

Notes:
The Central Government notified Indian Telegraph Right of Way (Amendment) Rules, 2021 recently. It has fixed a nominal one-time compensation of ₹1,000 per km (maximum).
The amendments also aim to incorporate uniform procedure for establishment of overground telegraph line. These will ease the permission procedures for establishment and augmentation of digital communication infrastructure across the country.

Notes:
Australia has recently given in-principle to a target of zero net carbon emissions by 2050. This target has been announced by the Prime Minister Scott Morrison when he leaves for a UN summit in Glasgow, Scotland.
It has not moved from its 2015 pledge at Paris climate summit to reduce emissions by 26 per cent to 28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.

Notes:
China is set to vaccinate its children from ages 3 to 11. 76% of the population has been fully vaccinated in China.
Local city and provincial level governments issued notices announcing the vaccination of children. China had approved two vaccines: ‘Sinopharm’s’ from the Beijing Institute of Biological Products and ‘Sinovac’ for children age 3-17. But it has only been vaccinating the children of ages 12 and older.

Notes:
On October 26, 2021, India and Sweden are set to celebrate the 8th Innovation Day. The online event was themed “Accelerating India Sweden’s Green Transition”
The event was hosted by India Unlimited in association with the Embassy of India in Sweden, Sweden-India Business Council (SIBC), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Start-Up India. Various aspects of climate change and the possible solutions to bring green transition were discussed.

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:
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is an intergovernmental forum established in the year 1967 and is headquartered in Indonesia.
This year’s diplomatic summit of ASEAN has commenced recently, and it has refused to allow Senior General Min Aung Hlaing of Myanmar to represent the country. In turn Myanmar has skipped the meeting as a protest to the ASEAN’s decision.