AUGUST 2021

 Emergency extended in Myanmar

 Military had seized power from elected government six months ago in February 2021.
 According to Military leader, state of emergency will achieve its objectives by August
2023.
 Military government named itself as “caretaker government” and Min Aung Hlaing as
prime minister.

 Clinical trials of ‘Ashwagandha’ to be conducted by Indian and UK

 All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) and UK’s London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine (LSHTM) signed a memorandum of understanding to conduct clinical trials of
Ashwagandha. Clinical trials would be conducted on 2,000 people in three UK cities
namely Leicester, Birmingham and London.

 PV Sindhu becomes first Indian to win two Olympic medals

 At Rio Olympics, Sindhu had won women’s singles badminton silver in her Olympics
debut.
 Sindhu defeated ‘He Bingjiao’ od China in women’s singles bronze medal match at
Tokyo Olympics 2020.
 She is the first Indian woman to win an Olympic silver and also the first Indian woman
to finish on podium two times at Olympics.

 e-RUPI Digital Payment Solution to be launched by PM Modi

 National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) developed e-RUPI platform on its UPI
platform.
 It has on boarded banks to act as issuing entities.
 e-RUPI will be delivered to mobile phones of beneficiaries through SMS-string or a QR
code.
 It will be like a prepaid gift-voucher that can be redeemed at specific accepting centres
without any credit or debit card, mobile app or internet banking.
 It will connect sponsors of the services with beneficiaries and service providers digitally
without any physical interface.
 Olympics Hockey: Indian Women team enter Semi-finals for first time
 Indian Women Hockey team have entered the Semi-finals for the first time.
 India played against three-time champions Australia and made it to the semi-finals by
beating Australia. India will semi-final against Great Britin.

 General Insurance Business passed in Lok Sabha

 The General Insurance Business Amendment bill passed in Lok Sabha.
 General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021 will allow
government to lower down its stake in State-owned general insurance companies and
generate required resources.
 It will also help public sector general insurers design innovative products

 PM Modi to chair UNSC debate

 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the United Nations Security Council
(UNSC) meeting on 9th Aug 2021.

 India will highlight its goal of promoting responsible and inclusive solutions to
international peace and maritime security.
 India would also pitch for a reformed multilateral system.

 Translation Automation AI Tool : AICTE

 All India Council for Technical Education presented an Automation Translation AI Tool, a
unique tool which translates English language content into 11 different Indian
languages.
 Tool is capable of translating English books, complex formulae, research journals,
Government documents and English videos to stated languages.

 Essential Defence Services Bill-2021 passed in lok sabha

 On Aug 3 2021, Lok Sabha passed the Essential Defence Services Bill-2021, which
prevent workers of government-owned ordnance factories from going on strike to
oppose corporatization of units.

 Bill gives power to the government to declare services mentioned in it as essential

defence services.
 Tribunals Reforms Bill passed by Lok Sabha
 Lok Sabha passed the Tribunals Reforms bill – 2021.
 Bill provides for abolition of tribunals or authorities under several Acts by amending
Cinematograph Act of 1952, Copyrights Act of 1957, Customs Act of 1962, Patents Act
of 1970, Airport Authority of India Act of 1994 as well as Trade Marks Act of 1999.

 Indian Olympics contingent to be Guests on Independence Day: PM Modi

 India sent a large contingent for last three editions of Summer Olympics.
 Tokyo Olympics 2021 is observing a 228-member strong contingent from India who are
participating in 18 sporting events.
 India’s Olympic contingent for Tokyo 2020 comprises of 127 participants from 18 sports.
 Two alternate players including one reserve goalie in men’s and women’s hockey
squads have also been sent.

 Parliament passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2021
 Recent amendment bill will provide for an alternate insolvency resolution process for
micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
 This resolution will be called as “pre-packaged insolvency resolution process (PIRP)”.
 A committee of creditor will also be constituted under CIRP to decide on insolvency
resolution.

 Consumption Expenditure Survey (CSE) reveals Indian Poverty scale.

 According to There has been a rise in incidence of poverty since 2011-12 in consistent
with the leaked NSO’s CES data for 2017-18.

 As per the leaked data, rural consumption between 2012 and 2018 had decreased by
8%, while urban consumption had increased by 2%.
 By 2019-20, poverty had increased in the rural as well as urban areas. Rural areas
witnessed highest increase from 25% to 30%.

 Smart City Projects of Visakhapatnam ready for inauguration

 The smart city initiative, VMRDA park (also known as VUDA Park) on Beach Road and
Multi Level Car Parking (MLCP) Project at Jagadamba Junction.
 Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has approved 42.7 crore Indian
Rupees for two smart city projects.

 Lovlina Borgohain : India’s third medal at the Olympics

 Boxing player Lovlina Borgohain won the bronze medal against the Busenaz Surmeneli
from Turkey in 69kg welterweight category, marking India’s third medal at the
Olympics.
 Lovlina Borgohain has also become the second Indian female boxer, after MC Mary
Kom, to win an Olympic bronze.

 United Nations Security Council (UNSC restoration of Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan

 UNSC restoration of Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan.
 UNSC expressed its deep concern over high levels of violence in war-torn Afghanistan
following the Taliban stepping up its military offensive.
 Ministration of UNSC is seen by most of its members as a better alternative than
allowing this situation to escalate.

 INS Vikrant conducted maiden sea trials

 Aircraft Xarrier INS Vikrant conducted its maiden sea trials. It will be fully operational by
2022.

 Navy will accept this warship and then conduct aviation trials.
 Under the aviation trials, take-off and landing of Russian MiG 29K fighter jets would
take place.
 In the maiden trail, Navy conducted the deck landing of Navy’s Sea King helicopters.
Carrier has been designed by Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design.

 World Bank project on Dam Safety Program

 World Bank and Indian Central Water Commission signed a deal of 250 million project
on long term dam after program.
 Project will help in improving the safety and performance of existing dams across
different states in India.

 Agreement for the project was signed by Additional Secretary of Department of

Economic Affairs under Ministry of Finance.
 Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India bill passed by Rajya Sabha.
 Rajya Sabha passed the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India bill.

 Bill seeks to aide government’s plan of privatisation of smaller airports under its asset
monetisation programme that was announced during union budget for 2021-22.

 It also promises to help in faster development of small airports and expediting regional
air connectivity UDAN scheme by expanding air connectivity in remote areas.

 Earthquake Early Warning Mobile App launched by IIT Roorkee

 IIT Roorkee has launched the Earthquake Early Warning Mobile App. Earthquake early
warning system will alert people regarding the onset of calamity on mobile application.
 It can detect onset of the Earthquake and issue warnings before significant tremors take
place in state.
 This mobile app project was sponsored by Uttarakhand State Disaster Management
Authority (USDMA).

 Nutrition-focused welfare programmes launched by Rajasthan

 Rajasthan Govt launched the nutrition-focused welfare programmes for children and
women in the state. In this programme, Indira Rasoi Yojana will provide food to poor
and needy twice a day. This scheme had extended relief to people amid the pandemic.
Government is also promoting a healthy lifestyle for pregnant women and is extending
support to such women in order to enable them to give birth to healthy children.

 Dhriti Banerjee appointed as first women director of Zoological Survey of India

 Dhriti Banerjee is a prolific scientist. She had been conducting research in
zoogeography, taxonomy, morphology and molecular systematics.
 She will take charge of Zoological Survey of India in a week. She has worked as the co-
ordinator of ZSI’s Digital Sequence Information Project, since 2012.

 Earth Observation Satellite to be launched by ISRO

 ISRO set to launch an Earth Observation Satellite on August 12.
 Satellite will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.
 Satellite called EOS-03 will be carried on board the 14th flight of the GSLV celled GSLV-
F10.
 GSLV-F10 will place satellite in the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. EOS-03 will reach
the final geostationary orbit using its onboard propulsion system.

 World’s First Atomic Bombing marked its 76th Anniversary

 Japan marked the 76th Anniversary of World’s First Atomic Bombing as US dropped two
Atomic bombs on Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug 6 and Aug 9, 1945.
 Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, attended a memorial to commemorate the
76th anniversary of the disaster.

 ‘PM-DAKSH’ Portal and ‘PM-DAKSH’ Mobile App to be launched on Aug 7

 Two platforms , ‘PM-DAKSH’ Portal and ‘PM-DAKSH’ Mobile App.

 PM DAKSH Portal and app have been developed to make skill development schemes
accessible to target groups of Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Safai
Karamcharis.

 Inner Line Permit abolished for Indians at Ladakh

 NO need of Inner Line Permit for Indian National visiting the protected places of the
Leh.
 Ladakh Administration took the major decision which will help Indian nationals to move
to Ladakh and extension of foreigners will boost rural tourism in the Union Territory.

 PM Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan Scheme results announced

 five crore beneficiaries have been enrolled and four crores have been trained under
Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan Scheme, over two crore women
beneficiaries are registered under the scheme.

 Out of them, one crore women beneficiaries are certified under scheme which accounts
for 54 percent of the total certified beneficiaries under it.
 Single dose vaccine approved for emergency use in India
 New Covid 19 vaccine approved for emergency use in India.
 The vaccine of Johnson and Johnson is one of the five emergency use authorised
vaccines in India.
 The vaccine is called as Janssen covid 19 Vaccine which has been developed in
Netherlands and it will boost India's fight against the covid 19.

 Rajiv Gandhi khel Ratna award renamed as major dhyan Chand khel Ratna award
 PM Narendra Modi announced that Rajiv Gandhi khel Ratna award has been renamed
as Major Dhyan Chand khel Ratna award.
 This award is the highest sporting honour in India.
 Major Dhyan Chand was a popular Indian field hockey player and won the three
Olympic gold medals for India in the early 19th century.

 Mixed vaccine of Covishield and Covaxin Produce better immunity

 In the recent study conducted by ICMR, Mixed vaccine of Covishield and Covaxin
Produce better immunity.
 The study also found that there were no adverse effect of the mixed vaccine on the
Volunteers.

 PM Modi to launch ujjwala-2 to scheme for Uttar Pradesh

 The second phase of the scheme would be launched in Uttar Pradesh on August 10.
 The Ujjwala to scheme will add 1 crore additional LPG connection to the homes and the
villages of Uttar Pradesh.
 The scheme was launched under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala yojana in 2016.

 Neeraj Chopra wins first gold in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

 Ace javelin thrower created history by winning second individual gold in the Olympics
for India.
 New Neeraj Chopra hurled the javelin 87.58 meters to script the first individual gold in
2020 Tokyo Olympics.
 Flame of hope passed to the Paris for next Olympics
 The flame of hope also the flag of Olympics was passed to Paris.
 The next 2024 Olympics would be hosted by Paris.

 The flame of hope is the symbol of special Olympic Games as it indicates the same spirit
as the Olympic flame.

 The 2022 nomination for Padma awards starts

 The nomination for the Padma awards that is Padma shree, Padma bhushan and Padma
vibhushan has started and the last date of nomination is September 15 2021.
 The Padma awards will be announced on the occasion of Republic day 2022.

 The Border Roads Organization celebrates 75 years of Independence

 The Border Roads Organization celebrated 75 years of independence of India, on this
occasion the BRO will organise nationwide welfare and patriotic activities and events, it
also comprises 75 medical camps across 75 locations and 75 schools.

 Border Roads Organization was started in 7th May 1960.

 Border Roads Organization construct and maintain roads in the states of India, that
shares international border with neighbouring countries.
 Earlier Border Roads Organization was functioning under the Ministry of Road Transport
& Highways. Now it is completely controlled by Ministry of Defence.

 Needle free COVID-19 vaccine to get approval soon in India

 The drug firm Zydus cadila’s needle free COVID-19 vaccine is set to get its permission for
emergency use authorization approval in India.
 The other five vaccines approved for COVID-19 in India are Covaxin, Covisheild,
Moderna vaccine and Johnson and Johnson single dose vaccine.

 The Kakori train conspiracy renamed as kakori train action

 Uttar Pradesh government has renamed the landmark freedom movement of Kakori
Train conspiracy as Kakori train action and paid tributes to the revolutionaries who
were hanged for robbing a train at Kakori in Uttar Pradesh, the event happened in the
year 1925 during the Indian freedom movement.
 79 years of Quit India movement
 To mark the 79th anniversary of Quit India movement, The ministry of culture, tourism,
and and development of North East region inaugurated an exhibition on August 8 2021
at National Archives of India in New Delhi.

 Foreign nationals can get COVID-19 vaccine in India through Cowin portal

 The resident foreign nationals of India can now register on Cowin portal from August 9,
2021 to get vaccinated in India, the foreigners can use their passport as identity
document to register themselves on Cowin after the successful registration they will get
a slot to get vaccination done.

 Indian Space Research organization to launch EOS-3 satellite

 ISRO is set to launch satellite from its Geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle.
 The earth observation satellite will be launched on Aug 12 from Satish Dhawan Space
Centre sriharikota.
 The satellite will reach geostationary orbit using onboard proportional system.

 The 2020 Global Youth Development Index report released

 Among 181 countries in Global Youth Development Index, India was ranked at 122nd
position.

 Singapore was ranked at the top for the first time, the report is prepared on the basis of
developments in youth with respect to education health employment equality, peace
and security.

 Maharashtra government announces Rajiv Gandhi award for excellence in

Information Technology
 The government of Maharashtra announced the new award in Information Technology
field, the award would be presented to the institutions and companies for their
outstanding performance in Information technology sector, the award will be
announced on August 20, 2021

 The first naval exercise of India and Saudi Arabia : INS Kochi to represent Indian Navy
 Exercise “AL-MOHED AL-HINDI 2021” joint naval exercise between India and Saudi
Arabia begin on August 11 2021, the Indian Navy is represented by INS Kochi.
 It is the first ever bilateral naval exercise between India and Saudi Arabia.

 The Climate Change Conference president chief to visit India

 Alok Sharma is set to visit India in August to meet the leaders of the country that has
become the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases following USA and China.

 Alok Sharma is the current president of the United nations climate change conference
and climate chief of United Kingdom government.

 Delhi airport emerged among the world's top 50 best airports in 2021
 The Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi has been ranked at 45th position in
SkyTrax 2020 airport awards list.
 Delhi airport emerged as the best airport in India for third consecutive year.
 Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bangalore have also found rank among worlds 100 best
airports.

 Durand football cup to be held in Kolkata

 the 130th edition of Durand cup to be held in Kolkata from September 5 to October 21,
2021.
 Durand cup is the Asia’s oldest football tournament, the tournament will be organised
by All India Football Federation and government of West Bengal.

 Neeraj Chopra ranked second in World Athletics rankings 2021

 Indian gold medalist Neeraj Chopra has finished at number 2 rank in World Athletics
ranking.
 He has become India’s first athlete to win gold in track and field at Olympics.

 He threw the javelin to a distance of 87.5 meters.

 Indore named as India's first water plus city

 In Swatch survekshan 2021 award the cleanest city in India Indore is named as the
India's first water plus city.
 To get certification of water plus city, dirty water should not go into any river, 30% of
the cities sewer water needs to be recycled and reused, public toilets must be
connected to sewer lines and it must be cleaned.
 Water molecules on Moon discovered by Chandrayana 2
 Chandrayaan-2 orbiter of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has detected water
molecules on Moon’s surface.
 According to the researchers, there was widespread lunar hydration and unambiguous
detection of OH and H2O signatures in between 29-degree north and 62-degree north
latitudes on the moon.

 Fit India Freedom Run 2.0 launched

 Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Anurag Thakur, launched a nationwide
programme of Fit India Freedom Run 2.0.
 Fit India Freedom Run 2.0 was flagged off from Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium,
New Delhi.
 Fit India Freedom Runs will be organised across 744 Districts, 75 villages in each of 744
Districts and 30,000 Educational Institutions in India.

 “Cleancity app” launched by North Delhi Municipal Corporation

 North Delhi Municipal Corporation has launched the Cleancity app, it is a mobile driven
application launched to help residents to register complaints for picking up garbage in
that area.
 The app will provide citizens to look after GPS location of garbage-lifting vehicles,
register their complaints and give suggestions to improve the services.

 Tamil Nadu becomes first state to cut petrol price by 3rs/ltr

 Price cut was announced by State Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan during his
budget speech on August 13 and it came into effect from August 14.
 It is expected to cause a revenue loss of ₹1,160 crore for the state.

 Indian wetlands added to Ramsar list

 Four sites that have been included are Thol from Gujarat, Wadhwana from Gujarat,
Sultanpur from Haryana and Bhindawas from Haryana.
 These sites are home to endangered Egyptian Vulture, Sociable Lapwing, Saker Falcon,
and near threatened Dalmatian Pelican.

 Girls can get admitted in Sainik Schools

 This decision was taken following the messages from lakhs of female students that they
also want to study in Sainik School.

 Girls were first allowed in Sainik schools of Mizoram about 2.5 years ago.

 Door-to-door delivery of Diesel by Bharat Petroleum

 Bharat Petroleum has launched the door-to-door delivery of “High speed diesel”.
Initiative of door-to-door delivery using mobile dispensers has resulted in
commissioning of 1588 FuelKarts and 129 FuelEnts within two years across the industry.
 High speed diesel is usually used as a fuel in medium and high-speed compression
ignition engines that operates above 750 rpm.
 It is used in commercial vehicles, locomotives, stationary diesel engines and pumps etc.

 Satellite Phones to Forest Guards

 Kaziranga National Park of Assam have become the first national park of India to be
equipped with satellite phones.
 About 10 satellites phones were handed over to forest personnel of Kaziranga National
Park by Assam Chief Secretary Jishnu Barua.
 This decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa
Sarma May 27, 2021.

 Cattle Preservation Bill passed by Assam Govt

 Assam Cattle Preservation Bill, 2021 was passed by Assam Govt. Assam Cattle
Preservation Bill, 2021 prohibits the sale and purchase of beef in areas inhabited by
non-beef-eating communities.
 It also prohibits the sale and purchase of beef within a radius of 5 km of a temple or a
satra (Vaishnavite monastery).

 Smart Health Cards to be provided by Odisha Govt

 Smart health cards will be provided to 3.5 crore people in 96 lakh families in the state.
 Beneficiaries of national & state food security schemes and Annapurna and Antyodaya
initiatives will be provided these cards.
 Under it, women can avail treatment up to Rs 10 lakh per year. Other family members
will get the benefit of up to Rs 5 lakh each.

 Gatishakti National Master Plan announced by PM Modi

 This initiative will create employment opportunities for youth in India.
 It will also lead to growth and development of infrastructure.
 Gati Shakti plan will help in raising global profile of local manufacturers.
 It will also help manufacturers to compete with their counterparts cross the world.

 It also increases the possibilities of new future economic zones.

 National Hydrogen Mission launched by PM Modi

 This mission was announced in the backdrop of India spending Rs 12 trillion annually to
meet its energy needs.
 The mission seeks to make India a global hub for green hydrogen production and
exports.
 India currently imports 85% of its oil and 53% of its gas demand.

 India target to become ‘Energy Independent’ by 2047

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted India’s target to become ‘energy
independent’ by 2047, when India will be celebrating 100th year of Independence. India
targets to become energy independent through a mix of electric mobility, gas-based
economy and mixing ethanol in petrol.
 Prime Minister highlighted his target of making India a hub for hydrogen production.

 Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin resigned

 Following the months of political turmoil in Malaysia, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin
resigned.
 He and his cabinet resigned after losing his majority.
 His resignation is going to open another chapter of instability as there is absence of any
obvious successor currently.

 New visa rules for Afghans

 MHA took this decision in the aftermath of prevailing situation in Afghanistan.

 A new category of electronic visa has been announced to fast-track their applications
for entry into India.
 This electronic visa is dubbed as “e-Emergency X-Misc Visa”.
 Government has also announced that it will allow people belonging to non-Muslim
minority of Afghanistan to come to India.

 Military Skirmish at Gaza Isarel-Border

 Militants in Gaza Strip fired rocket at Israel on August 16, 2021.

 The rocket was however intercepted by Iron Dome anti-missile system of Israel.
 It was the first such attack since 11-day war in May 2021. Israel has pledged to retaliate.

 Vriksharopan Abhiyan – 2021 to be launched by Coal Ministry

 Coal Ministry is all set to launch the Vriksharopan Abhiyan – 2021.

 Ministry of Coal have set an ambitious target to cover 2385 hectares of area under “Go
Greening” drive.

 Areas will be covered under bio-reclamation or plantation.

 Financial Inclusion Index introduced by RBI

 Reserve Bank of India introduced the financial inclusion index on August 17, 2021.
 The Financial Inclusion Index will be used to capture the extent of financial inclusion in
India.

 This index was part of the announcements made in first bi-monthly monetary policy of
April 2021.

 MeitY-NASSCOM Start-up Women Entrepreneur Awards 2020-2021 announced

 MeitY-NASSCOM Women Startup Entrepreneurs Awards is the first step that recognizes
and cultivates the entrepreneurial spirit in women.
 Awards inspire next generation of women to lead Indian digital era in order to serve as
guiding role models.
 It also encourages promising entrepreneurs who contribute to the nation’s economy as
well as social community.

 Women to appear for NDA exam: Supreme Court

 Supreme Court has allowed the women to appear for National Defence Academy (NDA)
exam which is scheduled for September 5, 2021.

 NDA is the joint defence service training institute of Indian Armed Forces.

 First batch of Indian athletes leave for Paralympics

 2020 Summer Paralympics is branded as Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
 They are an upcoming major international multi-sport parasports event.

 First batch of Indian athletes, including flagbearer Thangavelu Mariyappan have left for
the Tokyo Paralympics on August 18, 2021.

 “UNITE Aware” tech to help protect UN peacekeepers

 UN peacekeeping missions continue to operate in challenging situations involving
terrorists, armed groups and non-state actors.
 Because of nature of peacekeeping has become more complex, it is significant that out
capabilities are in pace to secure the peace keepers.
 External Affairs Minister (EAM), S Jaishankar, announced the rollout of “UNITE Aware”
tech.

 India and Vietnam: Bilateral Maritime Drill conducted in South China Sea
 From Indian side, INS Ranvijay and INS Kora undertook bilateral maritime exercises.
 While from Vietnam, frigate VPNS Ly Thai To (HQ-012) took part. Indian Naval ships
arrived at Cam Ranh, Vietnam for harbour phase.
 It also conducted professional interactions with VPN maintaining extant Covid-19
protocols.
 MoU on Disaster Management approved by India and Bangladesh
 MoU was signed between National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA),
 Ministry of Home Affairs of India and Ministry of Disaster Management & Relief of
Bangladesh.
 MoU involves Cooperation in the field of Disaster Management, Resilience and
Mitigation.

 5th edition of the Defence India Start-up Challenge (DISC)

 5th edition of the Defence India Start-up Challenge (DISC) launched on August 19, 2021.
 DISC was launched under Innovations for Defence Excellence – Defence Innovation
Organisation (iDEX-DIO).
 This challenge is meant to achieve self-reliance and foster innovation and technology
development across the defence and aerospace sectors.

 N. K. Singh: New President of Institute of Economic Growth Society

 NK Singh, has been elected as the new president of Institute of Economic Growth (IEG)
Society.
 He is the Chairman of 15th Finance Commission.
 He succeeded former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh who was the President of IEG
since 1992.

 ‘Ubharte Sitaare Fund’ launched by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

 Ubharte Sitaare fund has been set up jointly by Exim Bank and SIDBI.

 It will be launched in Lucknow.

 Finance minister will also launch India Exim Bank’s study on ‘Exports from Uttar
Pradesh: Trends, Opportunities and Policy Perspective’.
 On the occasion, India Exim Bank’s publication on ‘Indian Sports Goods Industry:
Strategies for Tapping the Export Potential’ will also be launched.

 PM Modi virtually inaugurates multiple projects in Somnath

 Inaugurated projects include the Somnath Promenade, reconstructed temple precinct
of Old (Juna) Somnath and Somnath Exhibition Centre.
 While inaugurating the projects, PM highlighted that, India needs to strengthen
religious tourism.
 It will provide employment to youth and enable them to get knowledge about our past.

 DRDO developed Advanced Chaff Technology

 The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed an

advanced chaff technology with the objective of safeguarding Indian Air Force Fighter
Jets from enemy missiles.

 It was developed by two DRDO laboratories namely Defence Laboratory of Jodhpur and
High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) of Pune.

 Ismail Sabri Yaakob appointed as the New Prime Minister of Malaysia

 King of Malaysia has appointed Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the prime minister of Malaysia.
 Ismail Sabri Yaakob replaced Muhyiddin Yassin as Prime Minister.
 Yassin stepped down as he lost the majority in parliament as he failed to effectively
manage public health system.

 Ismail Sabri was earlier Muhyiddin’s deputy who has now taken over amid surge in
covid-19 infections and economic slowdown.

 Ismail Sabri secured majority support of 114 out of 222 members in Parliament.

 Small Business Loans Initiative launched by Facebook

 This initiative was launched in partnership with online lending platform, Indifi.
 It will extend help to small and medium businesses (SMBs) who advertise on Facebook
in order to get quick access to credit with the help of independent lending partners.
 India is the first country where Facebook rolled out this initiative.

 This facility is open to businesses that are registered across 200 towns and cities in India

 India’s Highest Herbal Park inaugurated near Indo-China border

 This high-altitude herbal park was inaugurated with the aim of conserving various
medicinally and culturally important alpine species and to conduct research on
propagation and habitat ecology of these species.
 The Park has been developed on the area of three acres in Mana Village. The land was
given by Mana Van Panchayat.
 It was developed by the Research Wing of Uttarakhand Forest Department.

 India to procure AK-103 rifles

 India and Russia have signed a deal to immediately procure AK-103 Rifles on August 20,
2021.
 Under this programme, India is procuring several AK-103 series of assault rifles from
Russia for the Indian Army.
 Deal was finalised under the provisions of emergency procurement or emergency
financial powers which have been granted to the three services to make urgent
purchases.
 Indian Army has a requirement of 770,000 AK-47 203 rifles. Out of this, 100000 will be
imported and rest will be manufactured in India.

 25 Megawatt floating solar PV project commissioned by NTPC Ltd

 NTPC Ltd commissioned the largest floating solar PV project in Visakhapatnam.

 It is a 25 MW project on reservoir of Simhadri thermal power station.
 The floating solar project has a unique anchoring design. It was constructed over an
area of 75 acres of reservoir.
 This project has the potential of generating electricity from more than 1 lakh solar PV
modules.
 2000MW coal-fired Simhadri Station is the first power project that implemented an
open sea intake from the Bay of Bengal which has been operational for more than 20
years.

 Exercise Konkan 2021 begun in English Channel

 Konkan exercise witnessed the participation of integral helicopters of two ships and
Falcon Electronic Warfare aircraft.

 Exercises like co-ordinated anti-submarine procedures, combined maritime picture

compilation, firing drills, replenishment at sea and combat formation maneuvering
were conducted during the exercise.
 These exercises and diverse professional engagements enabled Exercise Konkan 2021 in
consolidating interoperability which in turn have helped in establishing a strong bond of
friendship between both the navies.

 QUAD: Malabar Naval Exercise began

 he navies of India, US, Australia, and Japan are all set to conduct the Malabar Naval
Exercise from August 26, 2021.
 The sea drill will be conducted off the Guam island, which is a territory of US. It is
located 2,500 km east of the Philippines.
 It will be conducted with the aim of enhancing inter-operability, gaining from best
practices, and developing a common understanding of procedures required for
maritime security operations.
 Series of complex surface, under-water and air operations will be conducted as a part of
the drill.

 India’s First Smog Tower inaugurated in Delhi

 India’s first smog tower is inaugurated at Baba Kharak Singh Marg in Connaught Place
(CP), Delhi.
 It is over 20-metre-tall structure and was set up to improve air quality in a radius of
around 1 km.
 The tower will operate at full capacity after the monsoon season.

 ‘National Monetisation Pipeline’ scheme launched by Finance Minister

 A four-year National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) scheme was launched by Finance

Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
 Scheme was launched with a Rs 6 lakh crore unlock value in brownfield projects. It also
engages the private sector.
 They will have the rights but not the ownership in projects. Scheme will be using the
funds for infrastructure creation across India.
 Under the scheme, roads, railways and power sector assets would be comprising of
more than 66 per cent of the total estimated value of the assets to be monetised.

 ‘Vaccinate India Programme’ launched by Vice President

 Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu, launched “Vaccinate India Programme” on
August 24, 2021.
 On the occasion, he appealed to the people to strictly follow COVID-19 norms.
 This programme was organised by Give India Foundation and Sustainable Goals
Coordination Centre in Bengaluru.

 India-Philippines conducts naval exercise in South China Sea

 This exercise was conducted five days after conducting a similar drill with Vietnam in
the region.
 Indian and Vietnamese navies had conducted the naval exercise on August 18.
 The South China Sea region has been witnessing growing Chinese military expansionism.
 Indian Navy had deployed its guided missile destroyer INS Ranvijay and guided missile
corvette INS Kora while the Philippine Navy has deployed its frigate BRP Antonio Luna,
in the exercise.
 This joint exercise included several operational maneuvers. Participating ships were
satisfied with the consolidation of interoperability that was achieved through this
operational interaction at sea.

 Labour ministry to launch e-Sharm Portal

 The labour ministry is set to launch a National Database for Unorganised Workers
(NDUW) or e-Sharm portal on August 26, 2021.

 This portal will help in bringing millions of unorganised workers in India on a common
platform.

 As per an estimate, 92% of India’s workforce of 500 million is unorganised. They are
often deprived of minimum wages and other forms of social security.

 Krivak class stealth frigates to be delivered to India in 2023

 According to head of United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) of Russia, first of two
additional Krivak class stealth frigates, which are being built by Russia, is likely to be
delivered to India by 2023.
 Indian Navy currently operates six Krivak class frigates that weight about 4,000 tonnes.

 Operation Devi Shakti

 External affairs minister S Jaishankar called the evacuation process as ‘Operation Devi
Shakti’ while saluting the efforts of Indian Air Force and Air India.
 This announcement was made after 78 people, including 25 Indian nationals, were
brought to India from Dushanbe (Tajikistan) in a special Air India flight.
 They were brought out of Taliban-controlled Kabul to Dushanbe in aircraft of Indian Air
Force (IAF).

 World’s largest and tallest observation wheel to be set up at Dubai

 Ain Dubai, observation wheel will the latest addition to the long list of record-breaking
attractions in Dubai.

 Ain Dubai is about 42.5m taller than the London Eye.

 It will take visitors to the height of 250 metres in order for them to enjoy the majestic
view of Dubai’s picturesque skyline.
 It is located at Bluewaters Island, near Dubai Marina.
 It can carry up to 1,400 passengers in its 48 capsules, providing views of Dubai Marina,
Burj Al Arab, Palm Jumeirah, and Burj Khalifa.

 mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine trails to begin India

 First mRNA-based covid-19 vaccine, called HGCO19, is being developed by a Pune-based

biotechnology company, Genova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd.

 The company submitted its interim clinical data for Phase I study to the Central Drugs
Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to get the further approval. According to the
Ministry of Science and Technology, interim Phase- I data suggests that HGCO19 vaccine
is safe, tolerable, and immunogenic.

 KAZIND-21, Indo-Kazakhstan Joint Training Exercise

 5th edition of Indo-Kazakhstan Joint Training Exercise called KAZIND-21 is to be
conducted from August 30 to September 11, 2021.
 This joint training exercise will be conducted as a part of military diplomacy.
 It seeks to strengthen the growing strategic relation with Kazakhstan.
 Training exercise will be conducted at Aisha Bibi in Kazakhstan.
 Jal Shakti Ministry launched SUJALAM campaign
 SUJALAM Campaign is a 100 days campaign launched as a part of the Azadi Ka Amrit
Mahotsav celebrations.
 This campaign seeks to create more ODF Plus villages by undertaking waste water
management across villages in India.

 During the campaign, ten lakh Soak-pits will be created.

 Efforts under the campaign would be directed towards achieving the ODF plus status for
villages in an accelerated manner.

 Mission Vatsalya: Special Programme for Widows

 Maharashtra Govt has launched the Special Programme for Widows, “Mission Vatsalya”
in order to help women who lost their husbands to COVID-19.
 Mission Vatsalya will provide several services and some 18 benefits under one roof to
those women.
 It been designed for widows, with special focus on widows coming from rural areas,
poor backgrounds and deprived sections.
 Under this mission, schemes like Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana and Gharkul Yojana will
benefit those for women.

 Multinational peacekeeping exercise, “Shared Destiny-2021”

 Militaries of China, Mongolia, Thailand and Pakistan will participate in “Shared Destiny-
2021”.
 All the participating countries will dispatch about 1,000 troops to be the part of drills.
1000 troops will involve units of infantry, security, fast response, engineering,
helicopter, transportation, and medical service.

 “Greater Male Connectivity Project”

 India and Maldives have signed pact with Maldives on one of the major connectivity
initiatives called “Greater Male Connectivity Project”.

 India will start the largest-ever infrastructure project called Greater Male Connectivity
Project (GMCP) in the Maldives.
 For the project, India will grant $100 million and a line of credit worth Rs 400 million.
 GMCP is the flagship project of President Solih’s presidency and will be an enduring
symbol of India-Maldives partnership.

 India’s First Green Hydrogen Plant to be set up at Mathura refinery

 Indian Oil will build India’s first Green Hydrogen Plant at Mathura refinery.
 This plant will be an addition in order to expand the existing crude oil refining capacity
by 25 million tonnes per annum.
 Indian Oil has been pursuing its ambitious plans of hydrogen production across various
types such as in renewable power to generate green hydrogen.

 India’s first Quantum Computer Simulator Toolkit launched

 Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has launched the India’s
first ‘Quantum Computer Simulator (QSim) Toolkit’.

 Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has launched the India’s
first ‘Quantum Computer Simulator (QSim) Toolkit’.
 It is developed by IIT Roorkee and IISc Bangalore.

 Bharat Series (BH-Series) for new vehicles

 Ministry of Road Transport and Highways launched the BH-series to facilitate seamless
transfer of vehicles.

 Vehicle with this registration mark will not require assignment of any new registration
mark when owner of the vehicle shifts from one state to other.

 India-Germany conducts Joint Exercise in Gulf of Aden

 The joint exercise included helicopter landings as well as search & seizure operations.
 Frigate ‘Trikand’ from Indian Navy exercised with German frigate called ‘Bayern’. INS
Trikand is deployed for anti-piracy patrol in Gulf of Aden region.

 Delhi has world’s most CCTV Cameras in Public Places

 According to Forbes India, Delhi has world’s most CCTV Cameras in Public Places.
 Forbes India report has UT Delhi on the top with 1,826.6 CCTV cameras per square mile.
 Delhi is followed by London with 1,138 cameras per square mile. Chennai was placed at
third place with 609.9 CCTV cameras.
 Report placed Mumbai at 18th place with 157.4 CCTV cameras per square mile.

 Delhi was ranked at 1 among 150 cities of the world. Delhi has three times more CCTV
cameras than Chennai and 11 times more than Mumbai.

 Ants, avocados, robotic arm launched to Space by SpaceX

 SpaceX launched shipments of ants, avocados, human-sized robotic arm toward the
International Space Station on August 29, 2021.
 The Dragon is carrying more than 2,170 kilograms of supplies and experiments as well
fresh food like avocados, lemons, and ice cream for seven astronauts of the space
station.

 Silver Medal in Paralympics: Discus thrower Yogesh Kathuniya

 Discus thrower, Yogesh Kathuniya, clinched a silver medal on August 30 in the men’s
F56 event in F56 classification 2020 Paralympics.

 Brazil’s defending champion and world record holder, Claudiney Batista dos Santos,
won the gold medal for best throw of 45.59m.

 Leonardo Diaz Aldana from Cuba won the bronze for throw of 43.36m

 AYUSH Ministry launched Y-Break App

 It was launched by Union AYUSH minister, Sarbananda Sonowal.
 On the occasion, several bouquets of activities and campaigns was launched by Ministry
of Ayush to commemorate Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.

 FIT India Mobile Application Launched

 Fit India App is free and available in English & Hindi on the Android and the iOS
platforms.
 It was developed in a way that it works even on basic smartphones.
 This app will bring ease of checking one’s fitness levels.
 It comprises of unique features such as fitness score, activity trackers, animated videos,
and my plan in accordance with the individual specific needs.

 Avani Lekhara wins Gold Medal in 2020 Paralympics

 Shooter Avani Lekhara has won India’s first gold medal in 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

 Avani Lekhara won medal in women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing (SH1) event.
 Avani finished 7th with a score of 621.7 and become the 5th Indian athlete to won a
gold medal in the 2020 Paralympics Games.

 U.S. ends 20-year war in Afghanistan

 This announcement was made after the last American military flight flew out of the
Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul before the August 31 deadline.
 America announced the formal end of America’s longest war, just before the 20th
anniversary of the September 9/11, in which Al Qaeda terrorists hit the twin towers in
New York.

 Jungle Tea Toy Train Safari launched in Darjeeling

 Toy-train safari will run from Siliguri junction to Rongtong station in West Bengal.
 This is the Northeast Frontier Railways NRF’s second attempt to attract tourists and
improve tourism business in Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR).
 Existing direct DHR Toy train service was discontinued for one and a half years due to
covid-19 pandemic.

 6 Gold medals for India in Asian Youth Championships

 Indian boxers won six gold medals along with nine silver and five bronze medals in the
Asian Youth Championship.

 In the event, women’s competition was significantly depleted because of pullouts

caused by COVID-19 related travel restrictions.

 Preeti Dahiya, Sneha Kumari, Khushi and Neha won the gold medals in the women’s
draw.

 Out of 10 women finalists, six made directly to the finals because of small size of their
respective draws.
 Dahiya defeated Kazakhstan’s Zuldyz Shayakmetova by 3-2. Khushi defeated Dana Diday
of Kazakhstan by 3-0 in bouts.
 Bishwamitra Chongtham and Vishal are the gold-winners in the men’s competition.
 Preeti, Khushi, Tanisha Sandhu, Nivedita, Tamanna and Simran won the silver medals in
women’s competition.
 Vishvanath Suresh, Vanshaj and Jaydeep Rawat won silver medals in men’s competition.

 Naval Exercise between Indian Navy and Algerian Navy

 The Indian and Algerian navies conducted their first ever naval exercise off the coast of
Algeria.
 Stealth ship INS Tabar represented India while Algeria was represented by its naval ship
ANS Ezager.
 As part of the exercise, activities like communication procedures, coordinated
maneuvers, and past steam were carried out between Indian and Algerian warships.
 SEPTEMBER 2021

 Food Emergency declared in Sri Lanka

 Sri Lanka declared a state of emergency over food shortages on August 31, 2021 after
private banks in the country ran out of foreign exchange to finance imports.
 This move followed sharp price rises for sugar, rice, onions and potatoes.
 Price rise was supplemented by long queues outside stores because of shortages of milk
powder, cooking gas and kerosene oil.

 India’s first meeting with Taliban

 During the meeting, discussions focused on safety, security and early return of Indian
nationals who were stranded in Afghanistan.
 India’s only concern was that “Afghanistan’s soil should not be used for any anti-Indian
activities and terrorism”.
 During the meeting, Taliban leader assured the Indian Ambassador that all issues will be
positively addressed.

 World’s highest motorable road in Ladakh

 A road connecting Leh to the Pangong Lake was inaugurated on August 31, 2021 by
Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal.

 The stretch passing through the Kela Pass at 18,600 feet is the world’s highest
motorable way.

 The road was constructed by 58 Engineer Regiment of the Indian Army.

 It will reduce the distance between Leh (Zingral to Tangtse) to Pangong Lake crossing
the Kela Pass by 41 kms.

 ‘Innovation Mission Punjab’ (IMPunjab) campaign launched

 IMPunjab is a public-private partnership mission that will bring in global investors and
experts to catalyze start-ups.
 This Mission will boost the growth potential of Punjab and create a thriving economy by
means of generating jobs and inviting investment.
 It will also mobilise a global pool of ambassadors and partners to attract investment,
mentorship and market access.

 Multination military exercise ‘ZAPAD 2021’.

 ZAPAD 2021 is a 13-day exercise.
 It will be held between September 3 to September 16. More than a dozen nations will
take part in the exercise.
 China and Pakistan are also expected to join the exercise as observers.
 A Indian Army contingent is set to participate in the Exercise.

 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Vaccine scientist Dr Firdausi Qadri

 Dr Qadri is an emeritus scientist at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease
Research, Bangladesh.
 She is also a laureate of the 2020 L’Oréal-Unesco for Women in Science Award which
was presented to her for her advocacy of early diagnoses and global vaccination & her
work on understanding and preventing infectious diseases affecting children across
developing countries.

 ‘Saath’ initiative launched for SHGs in Jammu and Kashmir

 Rural Enterprises Acceleration Programme called ‘Saath’ for Self Help Group (SHG)
women was launched on September 1, 2021.
 This initiative will help about 48000 SHGs in which about four lakh women are
connected, in Jammu and Kashmir.
 Saath initiative will focus on mentoring and market linkages of products that created by
these women.

 Government also aims to create 11000 more SHGs in upcoming years.

 Twitter launches new feature called ‘Super follows’

 The ‘Super follow’ feature allows creators to sell subscriptions in order to access the
special content.
 This feature was launched as Twitter strives to be a preferred online venue for clickable
stars and seeks to boost its own income in the manner that it doesn’t clutter the
platform up with ads or promotions.

 BEL to supply Anti-Drone System for Indian Navy

 Indian Navy signed a contract with the Bharat Limited (BEL) for the supply of the first
indigenous comprehensive Naval Anti Drone System (NADS).
 The NADS comprises of both ‘hard kill’ and ‘soft kill’ capabilities. The NADS has been
developed by DRDO and manufactured by BEL.
 It is the first indigenously developed anti-drone system that will be inducted into the
Indian Armed Forces.

 Pilot project of Coal India to replace Diesel with LNG

 State-owned Coal India Ltd. (CIL) has started the pilot project to replace Diesel with LNG
on September 1, 2021.

 CIL has started the process of retrofitting LNG kits in its dumpers, the big trucks that are
engaged in transportation of coal.

 This move will help CIL to save around Rs 500 crore annually. This pilot project will also
help in reducing its carbon footprint.

 Miniature helicopter for Mars mission developed by China

 Chinese space science agency, this miniature helicopter was developed after the
historic landing of robotic rover on the Mars.
 The prototype helicopter is similar to the robotic helicopter Ingenuity in appearance,
which was developed by NASA for its Perseverance mission.
 Chinese prototype helicopter also comprise of two rotor blades, a sensor & camera
base and four thin legs.
 However, it does not comprise of solar panel at the top like in Ingenuity. China has
planned its first crewed mission to the Mars in 2033.

 BRICS Bank adds UAE, Bangladesh, Uruguay as new members

 New Development Bank (NDB) by BRICS group of nations has added United Arab
Emirates, Uruguay and Bangladesh as the new members on September 2, 2021.
 New Development Bank was Launched in 2015 by the BRICS Members- Brazil, Russia,
India, China and South Africa.
 It was formerly referred as “BRICS development bank”. It is headquartered in Shanghai.
 The first regional office of the NDB was set up in Johannesburg, South Africa while
second regional office was established in 2019 in Brazil, followed by in Russia.

 2020-22 World Social Protection Report

 As per report, more than half of the world population are not getting any form of social
protection.
 This trend of no social protection is there even after expansion of social protections
amidst the global outbreak of COVID-19.
 Only 47 per cent of the global population had effective access to one social protection
benefit, in 2020 while 53 per cent (4.1 billion people) had no protection at all.
 People in Europe and Central Asia are among the best covered population.
 84 per cent of populations in Europe and Central Asia are having access to at least one
benefit.

 New State animal and State bird for Ladakh

 Ladakh adopted these species two years after it was separate Union created as a
separate Union Territory (UT) from the erstwhile State of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).
 Snow leopard and black-necked crane are the designated State animal and State bird
respectively.

 Air-Launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle programme launched by India and USA

 India and the United States had signed a Project Agreement for the ‘Air-Launched
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle’ in the end of July 2021.
 Air-Launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (ALUAV) will be launched under the ambit of
Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI).

 The PA was signed on July 30 in between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and U.S.
 Department of Defence (DoD) by co-chairs of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on Air
Systems.

 India becomes 1st Asian Country to launch a Plastics pact

 India has become the first Asian Country to launch a Plastics pact on September 3,
2021.
 This new platform was developed by World-Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF India) in
collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
 It will help to promote a circular system for plastics. New platform was launched by
British High Commissioner to India, Alexander Ellis.
 It will bring together prominent enterprises on a national level to make pledges for the
creation of a circular plastics system.
 Kisan Store launched by Amazon
 Kisan Store is an online platform that enable farmers of India to get access of more than
8,000 agriculture inputs like farm tools & accessories, seeds, plant protection, nutrition
etc.
 These products are listed by small and medium businesses (SMBs).

 Products will be available at competitive prices on Amazon India and will be delivered at
the doorstep of farmers.

 These stores comprise of thousands of products listed from over 20 brands.

 DCGI approves CORBEVAX for clinical trials

 Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) gave approval to another indigenous COVID-19
vaccine candidate called CORBEVAX for two clinical trials.
 Vaccine maker Biological E received approval to conduct phase two and three clinical
trials on children between five to eighteen years of age.
 Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance
Council (BIRAC) have supported Biological E’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate of Biological
E, right from Preclinical Stage to Phase-III clinical studies.

 Arunachal Pradesh launched Two Agri schemes

 One scheme was launched in agriculture sector, called ‘Atmanirbhar Krishi Yojana’, and
Second scheme was launched in horticulture sector, called ‘Atmanirbhar Bagwani
Yojana’.

 Both the schemes are part of the Atmanirbhar programme that was announced by
central government during the budget session of 2021.
 Rs 120 crores has been allocated to Atmanirbhar Krishi Yojana and Rs 60 crores
allocated for Atmanirbhar Bagwani Yojana.

 AYUSH AAPKE DWAR campaign launched by Ayush Ministry

 AYUSH AAPKE DWAR campaign was launched with the aim of distributing medicinal
plant saplings to 75 lakh households in India in one year.
 These medicinal plants include Ashoka, Tejpatta, Stevia, Ashwagandha, Jatamansi,
Giloy/Guduchi, Shatavari, Guggulu, Lemongrass, Tulsi, Sarpagandha, Brahmi, Kalmegh
and Amla.
 Govt signed a tripartite ‘Karbi Peace Accord’
 Theaccord is significant because insurgency by Karbi group has a long history in Assam
which is marked by killings, ethnic violence, abductions and taxations since 1980s.
 Karbi is a major ethnic community in Assam and are dotted by several factions and
splinters.

 About 200 Karbi terrorists will be present while signing of the agreement.
 These 200 Karbi terrorists are part of 1,040 terrorists who surrendered before the
Assam government in February 2021.

 Avani Lekhara becomes 1st Indian woman to win 2 Paralympic medals

 Avani Lekhara has become the 1st Indian women to win two Paralympic medals at a
single edition of the Paralympics on September 3, 2021.
 Avani Lekhara won a bronze medal in women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions (SH1) event.
 She made history with a third-place finish. She had become the first Indian woman to
win gold in women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing (SH1) event at the ongoing Paralympics.

 She made more history on Friday with a third-place finish in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions
event.

 Suhas Yathiraj becomes 1st IAS officer to win Paralympics medal

 Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj, current district magistrate of Noida, has become the first IAS
officer to win Paralympics medal.
 He ended his campaign with the winning of historic silver.
 He lost gold to top seed Lucas Mazur of France in the men’s singles SL4 class final at the
Tokyo Paralympics on September 5.
 Mazur has also won three gold medals in European Championships, in the qualifying
group A match.
 But India made a tremendous effort in the final to challenge him.

 India’s first Dugong Conservation Reserve to be set up in Tamil Nadu

 Dugong or sea cow is an endangered marine mammal.
 It is facing extinction because of habitat loss, sea pollution, and loss of seagrass.
 Dugong is found in Gulf of Mannar and at Palk Bay in Tamil Nadu.
 Gulf of Mannar is a shallow bay area between south eastern end of Tamil Nadu and
western Sri Lanka.
 With the help of community participation, Government will also construct a Dugong
Marine Conservation Reserve in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay area to protect the
species.
 Marine Conservation Reserve will be established over an area of 500km in Palk Bay.
 It is believed that, an estimated 200 individuals live in the Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar
area which would largely benefit from Tamil Nadu government’s recent decision to
establish conservation reserve.

 Vatan Prem Yojana launched in Gujarat

 Vatan prem Yohana is a repackaged version of Madar-e-Vatan scheme by the state
government of Gujarat.
 Madar-e-Vatan has been renamed due to association of the title with Persian language.
 In the earlier version of the scheme, contribution of the state government and NRIs was
50:50. Now, it has been changed to 60:40.

 Cruise Service begins between Varanasi-Chunar

 This cruise service in Ganga River will run from Varanasi to historic Chunar fort in
Mirzapur.

 Tourists travelling to Varanasi can now travel around 30 km long journey in River Ganga.
 Tourists can now enjoy the day-long luxury cruise ride which starts at 9 a.m. in the
morning from Ravidas ghat.
 It returns to Varanasi at around 5pm from the Chunar fort. State government is further
planning to extend this journey till Sangam in Prayagraj.

 Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft completes 9,000 orbits around moon

 Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft of India has completed more than 9,000 orbits around the
Moon.
 Imaging and other scientific instruments on the aircraft have been providing excellent
useful data since then.
 Chairman of ISRO, K Sivan, Chandrayaan-2 comprises of eight payloads and are
conducting remote sensing and in-situ observations of the Moon at 100 km altitude
from the lunar surface.
 On the occasion, K Sivan also released data product and science documents besides the
data from Chandrayaan-2 orbiter payloads. Science data are being made available to
academia and institutes in order to analyse them.
 It will also help in bringing more science from Chandrayaan-2 mission.

 New interactive website PhonePe Pulse

 PhonePe Pulse website features millions of transactions done by clients on an
interactive map of India.

 PhonePe’s data was introduced with the aim of accurately reflecting the increasing
usage of digital payment options, especially in light of COVID outbreak.

 PhonePe’s data is having more than 45% market share currently.

 PRANA Portal launched by Union environment minister, Bhupendra Yadav

 PRANA Portal will be used to track the progress of the National Clean Air Programme
(NCAP) in order to comply with India’s commitment to ensure clean air and blue skies to
everybody.
 This portal was launched on the occasion of ‘International Day of Clean Air for Blue
Skies’ in non-attainment cities (NAC).
 Non-attainment cities are those cities that failed to meet the National air quality
standards in a five-year period.
 With India’s efforts, 86 cities showed a better air quality in 2019 and it increased to 104
cities in 2020.

 Vidyanjali Portal launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

 Vidyanjali portal was launched with the objective of facilitating education volunteers,
donors or CSR contributors for school development.
 About Vidyanjali Portal, Vidyanjali portal was launched to enable community or
volunteers to contribute by connecting with the government and government-aided
schools of their choice directly.

 ‘Business Blasters’ Programme launched by Delhi Govt

 ‘Business Blasters’ programme was launched with the aim of developing young
entrepreneurs at school-level by providing students some seed money in order to start
a business.
 It will be implemented across all the Delhi government schools under the
“Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum (EMC)”.
 Under the programme, class 11 and 12 students will be provided seed money of Rs
2,000 to start their business.
 The programme was started at the School of Excellence Khichripur under a pilot project.
 9 groups of 41 students were formed in this and they were provided the seed money of
Rs 1,000. They made huge profits in it.

 CCS clears procurement of 56 Airbus transport aircraft

 This decision would provide a major fillip to the transport fleet of Indian Air Force.
 This deal to buy the C-295MW transport aircraft will cost upwards of Rs 20,000 crore.
 First 16 of these aircraft will be delivered from Spain in flyaway condition, within 48
months of the signing of contract.
 Remaining 40 aircrafts will be manufactured in India by a consortium headed by the
Tata Group in over 10 years.
 Ministry will buy the transport aircraft from Airbus Defence and Space S.A., Spain.

 MRSAM System handed over to IAF by DRDO

 Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has handed over the first
deliverable Firing Unit (FU) of Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) System to
Indian Air Force (IAF) on September 9, 2021.
 Handing over of the system to IAF is a giant leap towards becoming “Aatmanirbhar
Bharat” and it will be a game changer in the air-defence-system.

 Piyush Goyal appointed as India’s Sherpa for G20

 G20 is an influential grouping which brings together the major economies of world.
 Next G20 Summit is scheduled to take place from October 30 to 31, 2021 under Italian
Presidency.

 India will hold the G20 Presidency from December 1, 2022 and will also convene G20
Leaders’ Summit in 2023 for the first time.
 Emergency Landing Facility inaugurated in Rajasthan
 The emergency landing facility has been constructed on the Satta-Gandhav stretch of
National Highway (NH) 925A in Barmer, Rajasthan.
 On the occasion, C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft of Indian Air Force (IAF)
landed at the emergency field landing at the National Highway in Jalore, Rajasthan.

 This is the first time; a National Highway will be used for emergency landing of IAF
aircraft.

 ‘Centre of Excellence on Offshore Wind’ to be launched by India and Denmark

 During the meeting, it was highlighted that energy transition towards green is an
important part of India’s policy.
 India has set a target of 450 Giga Watt of Renewable Energy capacity by 2030.
Currently, India’s whole renewable energy portfolio is at 146 GW.
 Minister noted that, among G-20 countries, only India’s actions are in consonance with
the Paris Climate agreement with respect to global rise in temperature.
 India is also looking towards making Ladakh, Andaman Nicobar Island and Lakshadweep
Island green in energy and transport.
 Both the ministers jointly launched ‘Centre of Excellence on Offshore Wind’ under the
Green Strategic Partnership.

 Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2021

 Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2021 will be undertaken by the Department of Drinking
Water and Sanitation (DDWS) across the country.
 DDWS has commissioned the Survekshan in 2018 and 2019 earlier.
 This programme was launched with the aim of supporting acceleration of ODF (Open
defecation free) Plus interventions and increase momentum of improving ODF
Sustainability and Solid & Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) activities in villages.
 It seeks to achieve the goal of comprehensive cleanliness.

 BRICS Summit hosted virtually by India

 Summit was participated by all other BRICS Leaders namely, President of Brazil Jair
Bolsonaro, President of Russia Vladimir Putin President of China Xi Jinping and President
of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa.
 During the summit, Indian Prime Minister appreciated the cooperation received from
BRICS partners during Chair ship of India this year.
 During the summit, PM Modi highlighted the leading role played by BRICS countries in
the post-COVID global recovery.
 He called for an enhanced BRICS cooperation with the motto of ‘Build-back Resiliently,
Innovatively, Credibly & Sustainably’.
 Summit was concluded with the adoption of ‘New Delhi Declaration’.

 100-day plan unveiled for Civil Aviation Sector

 This plan would focus on 16 areas. Out of these, 8 is related to policy and 4 is related to
reforms.
 As per plan, six heliports will be developed in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand under
the regional air connectivity scheme called UDAN.
 Minister also announced a new policy for Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO)
activities.
 Under the 100-day target, three main foundations are infrastructure, policy targets and
reforms initiative.
 Under it, four airports will be made operation or developed optimally.

 PM Modi inaugurates Sardardham Bhavan at Ahmedabad

 Sardardham Bhavan has been constructed at the cost of 200 crore rupees.
 It comprises of modern facilities such as library, hostel, career guidance & training
centre for boys as well as girls coming from rural areas and a multipurpose auditorium.
 Kanya Chhatralaya will house 2000 girls, irrespective of their economic criteria.
 Both the establishments are dedicated to the Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel.

 Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP) between India – US

 SCEP was launched in line with U.S.-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030
Partnership that was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe
Biden in April 2021 at the Leaders’ Summit on Climate.

 It organizes inter-governmental engagement on the basis of five pillars of

cooperation:Power and Energy Efficiency, Responsible Oil and Gas, Renewable Energy,
Sustainable Growth and Emerging Fuels.
 Food Processing Unit inaugurated in Morena, MP
 Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Prahlad Singh Patel, inaugurated
a Food Processing Unit of M/s Sahara Frozen Foods in Morena, Madhya Pradesh.
 Food Processing Unit was inaugurated under a central sector cold chain scheme called
Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana.

 England becomes First country to mandate new homes to install EV chargers

 Under the legislation, all new homes and offices will be required to feature smart
charging devices which can automatically charge vehicles during off-peak periods.
 According to it, new office blocks will require to install a charging point for every five
parking spaces.
 This law will make England the first country in the world, that require all new homes to
have EV chargers.
 The legislation is part of the movement that seeks to rapidly boost the number of
chargers in England ahead of UK’s 2030 ban of new fossil-fuel vehicles.
 Home and office EV charger proposal is expected to start in 2022.

 Defence Dialogue to be held alongside the DefExpo between India and Africa
 Istitutionalisation of the India Africa Defence Dialogue will help in building on existing
partnerships between African countries and India.
 It will also help in exploring new areas of convergence for mutual engagements in areas
such as training, capacity building, cyber security, counter terrorism and maritime
security.
 India has also decided that Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies & Analyses
will be the knowledge partner of India Africa Defence Dialogue.
 The institute will assist in providing necessary support to the defence cooperation
between both the countries.

 Bhupendra Patel appointed as the New Chief Minister of Gujarat

 Bhupendra Patel sworn in as the Chief Minister of Gujarat on September 13, 2021.

 He was sworn in by Governor Acharya Devvrat at the Raj Bhavan, Gandhinagar.

 He took oath a day after he was elected as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party
leader.
 Cabinet members will be sworn in later after party will decide the names.
 In the Cabinet, it is likely that larger representation will be given to the legislators from
Saurashtra and north Gujarat where BJP expects to improve its prospects in the
Assembly election of the state.

 Innovative ways for Waste Collection to be introduced in Noida

 Innovative methods comprise of high-tech features such as pasting QR codes outside

houses, installation of GPC & CCTV on vehicles carrying garbage.

 Authority has made several changes in present method of garbage collection.

 It will keep a close eye on the process of collection of garbage by digital means.
 With this provision, authority would be able to trace real-time location of any vehicle on
garbage collection duty.
 As of now, GPS was being used only in vehicles doing mechanical sweeping of roads.
 CCTV cameras will also be installed at the waste processing plant to monitor the
movement of vehicles engaged in carrying garbage.

 Adarsh Gram Yojana to be started in 36000 villages

 Under the scheme, villages having 50 percent tribal population would be given priority.
 This scheme would be started by Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Around 1700 tribal villages in
Assam will be converted into model village under the scheme.
 Apart from model villages, 184 new Van Dhan Kendra will also be set up in Assam in
order to benefit 60 thousand people.

 Nuclear surveillance allowed for IAEA by Iran

 Iran has allowed the international inspectors to install new memory cards into
surveillance cameras across its sensitive nuclear sites and to continue filming there.

 This announcement was made by Mohammad Eslami of the Atomic Energy Organization
of Iran.

 Currently, Tehran holds all recordings at its sites in the backdrop of negotiations over
the U.S. and Iran returning to the 2015 nuclear deal got stalled in Vienna.
 Iran is now enriching small amounts of uranium to its closest levels to weapons-grade
purity because its stockpile continues to increase.

 ‘Project Udaan’ launched by IIT, Bombay

 Project Udaan enables the translation of textbooks and other study material of the
engineering and other streams from English to Hindi & other Indian Languages.

 This project was envisaged by Prof. Ganesh Ramakrishnan from Department of

Computer Science & Engineering in IIT Bombay.

 It is a donation based and Artificial Intelligence-based translation ecosystem.

 It helps in translating engineering textbooks and learning materials in one-sixth the time
as compared to manual tasking.
 This machine translation will be aided by human effort.

 ‘Millet Mission’ launched by Chhattisgarh

 Millet Mission initiative was launched with the aim of giving the farmers right price for
small cereal crops and to provide them input assistance, procurement arrangements
and processing.
 This mission also seeks to ensure that the farmers get benefit from the expertise of
experts.

 Sansad TV to be Launched
 Sansad TV was created by merging the Rajya Sabha TV and Lok Sabha TV in February
2021.
 Government also appointed the CEO of Sansad TV in March, 2021.
 The launch date of Sansad Tv, September 15, coincides with the International Day of
Democracy.
 Sansad TV programming primarily includes four categories: Functioning of Parliament &
democratic institutions, Governance and implementation of schemes & policies, History
& culture of India and Issues, interests and concerns of contemporary nature.

 MoU with Italy for Disaster Risk Reduction approved by Cabinet

 MoU was signed between National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of India
and Department of Civil Protection of the Presidency of Council of Ministers of Italy.
 MoU will help in strengthening the areas of preparedness, response as well as capacity
building in the field of Disaster Management.

 PM Modi on Time’s ‘100 most influential’ list

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been named among 100 most influential people of
2021 by the Time Magazine.

 Apart from PM Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and CEO of Serum
Institute of India, Adar Poonawalla have also been named among the world’s 100 most
influential people.
 Time magazine unveiled its annual list of ‘The 100 Most Influential People of 2021’ on
September 15, 2021.

 This annual list is a global list comprising of US President Joe Biden, Vice-President
Kamala Harris, Duke & Duchess of Sussex Prince Harry & Meghan, former US president
Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and co-founder of the Taliban, Mullah
Abdul Ghani Baradar.

 SCO Peaceful Mission 2021 begun in Russia

 The Indian military contingent consisting of an all arms combined force of 200
personnel, including 38 personnel from the Indian Air Force, is taking part in the
Exercise PEACEFUL MISSION -2021.

 This exercise is being held in the Orenburg Region of South West Russia from
September 13 to 25, 2021.
 6th edition of the Exercise Peaceful Mission is being hosted by Russia, with the aim of
fostering close relations between SCO member states.
 The exercise also seeks to enhance abilities of the military leaders for commanding the
multi-national military contingents.

 AUKUS: New security partnership for Indo-Pacific

 US President Joe Biden administration has announced a new trilateral security
partnership for the Indo-pacific.
 Security partnership was done between Australia, United Kingdom and United States.

 This security grouping called AUKUS, will focus towards advancing strategic interests in
the Indo-Pacific region.
 Officials noted that, the trilateral grouping was security focused and is different but
complementary to arrangements like the Quad.
 Reusable GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle to be developed by ISRO
 The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working on technologies in order to
develop reusable GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle.
 This new technology will help ISRO to land its GSLV Mk-III launch vehicles vertically.

 It will be similar to what Elon Musk’s SpaceX is doing.

 With this technology, ISRO also seeks to recover the first and second stages of the
launch vehicle.
 Development of reusable GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle will help ISRO is saving money as
well.

 Eklavya Model Residential School approved by Cabinet

 Eklavya Model Residential School will be constructed at the Majjivalasa village of Araku
Valley mandal in Visakhapatnam district.
 Cabinet has also decided to allot 53.45 acres of land to Yogi Vemana University at
Masapeta village of Rayachoti mandal.

 Swachhata Pakhwada launched in Cochin Port Trust

 Swachhata Pakhwada 2021 was launched at the Cochin Port Trust and the Swachhata
pledge was administered in all departments on September 16, 2021.

 On the occasion, shramdaan cleaning activities were also started in the Port areas.
 Activities that were proposed during the Pakhwada comprise of cleaning of work places,
crafts & public spaces and office premises within the Port area.
 Programmes will be led by all heads of the department during the period.

 “Rail Kaushal Vikas Yojana” launched by Indian Railways

 RKVY was launched by Minister of Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw.
 This Mission will provide Railways an entry level training in industry relevant skills with
the help of 75 Railway training institutes across India.
 This mission seeks to empower youth by providing entry level training in skills relevant
to industry as part of 75 years of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.

 International Coastal Clean-up Day observed by Eastern Naval Command (ENC)

 The day was celebrated by the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) at Visakhapatnam.
 As part of the day, ENC carried the Coastal Clean-up Drive at Yarada Beach, Bheemili
Beach and other sea fronts in the premises of Naval units of Visakhapatnam.
 About 500 Naval personnel, Defence Civilians and their families overtook the clean-up
drive by complying to the COVID19 protocols.
 The clean-up drive was launched with the aim of creating awareness among people to
keep beaches clean, safeguarding our environment and inculcating the habit of
respecting the coastlines which ultimately nurtures the marine biodiversity.

 Third Foreign Office Consultations held by India and El Salvador

 India and El Salvador held their Third Foreign Office Consultations in San Salvador on
September 17, 2021.
 Indian side was led by Secretary (East), Riva Ganguly Das while and El Salvadoran side
was led by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Integration & Economic Promotion,
Ambassador Adriana Maria Mira.
 During the consultations, both of them noted the warm and friendly relations between
India and El Salvador.
 They also reviewed the bilateral relations in all the fields including health, trade &
investment, tourism, energy, aquaculture, transport, aviation & infrastructure, consular
& development partnership and culture.
 Both the countries decided to exchange their best practices in the area of public
diplomacy.
 They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of common interest
such as cooperation in the United Nations and finally agreed to work closely across the
multilateral arena.

 “Ek Pahal Campaign” launched by Ministry of Law and Justice

 The Ministry of Law and Justice has launched a Pan-India Special Campaign called “Ek
Pahal Drive” for Justice Delivery at doorstep on September 17, 2021.
 The campaign was launched in a bid to encourage mass registration under Tele-Law.
 The campaign was launched by Department of Justice and NALSA. This campaign seeks
to actualize the aspiration of access to justice for citizens in India.

 Two Indian Projects to get the Earthshot Prize

 One of the selected projects is- Solar-Powered Ironing Cart project that has been
designed by a 14-year-old Tamil Nadu schoolgirl.
 Second project is- Agricultural Waste Recycling Concept developed by an entrepreneur
from Delhi.
 Total of 15 finalists have been selected out of hundreds of nominations from across the
world for the Environmental Prize.

 International Blue Flag certification for two more Indian beaches

 Blue flag certification is an international eco-level tag.
 With the addition of two beaches, the total number of such beaches in India have
reached to 10.

 Two beaches that received the certification in 2021 are Kovalam in Tamil Nadu and
Eden in Puducherry.

 Blue Flag recertification was also done for eight nominated beaches namely, Shivrajpur
in Gujarat, Ghoghla in Diu, Kasarkod & Padubidri in Karnataka, Kappad-Kerala,
Rushikonda in Andhra Pradesh, Golden in Odisha and Radhanagar in Andaman &
Nicobar.
 All these beaches were awarded this certificate in the year 2021.

 Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina conferred with SDG Progress award
 Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, has been conferred with the “SDG Progress
Award” and was introduced as the “jewel in the crown of the day” at an event on
September 20, 2021.
 Award was conferred by the UN-sponsored Sustainable Development Solutions
Network (SDSN).
 She was awarded for Bangladesh’s steady course in responding to the universal call of
action to end poverty, protect the planet as well as ensure peace & prosperity for all.
 This event was a significant international acknowledgement of the nation’s success in
spearheading the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) after achieving the Millennium
Development Goals (MDG).

 Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has developed charger for Electric
Vehicles
 ARAI has developed its indigenous charger for electric vehicles (EV) in order to give a
push to EV ecosystem in India.
 ARAI has developed indigenous technology for EV charger called AC001.
 It has been taken up for manufacturing and promotion by the Bharat Electronics.
Charging points will be set up by Bharat Electronics while the parts for EV charger
systems like Type 1, Type 2, CCS & CHAdeMO will be manufactured locally.
 Apart from that, ARAI is setting up its new centre in Takwe because, ADAS (Advanced
Driver Assistant System) vehicles and cylinder testing centres requires dedicated space.

 Foreign minister of Nepal seeks friendly ties with India & China
 Newly-appointed Foreign Minister of Nepal, Narayan Khadka, seeks to maintain friendly
ties with India as well as China.
 He will work towards maintaining friendly and balanced relations with both the
countries and forge national consensus with political parties on the foreign relations
matters.

 SC dismissed Centre’s plea to postpone Women’s entry into NDA

 The Supreme Court has rejected a plea by Central Government to postpone the entry of
women into National Defence Academy (NDA) till May 2022.
 Bench led by Justice SK Kaul told Additional Solicitor General, Aishwarya Bhati that, it is
difficult to postpone everything by a year.
 It refused to modify August 18 interim order, that allowed women candidates to appear
in the NDA and the Naval Academy Examinations and to train at the NDA.
 It also posted the matter for the third week of January 2022 to issue further directions
which might be needed in the case.

 India to become trans fat-free by 2022

 As per Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) study, India is all set and is
on the right track to become industrial trans fat-free by 2022.
 In India, only 1.34 percent of the newly tested processed food samples shows more
than the permissible levels of ingredients.
 FSSAI cited pan-India survey results and dismiss the perception of excessive use of
industrial trans fats in processed food products.
 India has mandated to reduce the limit of industrially produced trans fats to 2 per cent
in order make India free from the industrially produced trans fats by 2022, one year
ahead of the WHO guidelines.

 Lunar Crater Named After Matthew Henson

 Matthew Henson was one of the first people who stand at the very top of the world, in
1909.
 The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named a Lunar crater at the south pole
of the moon after the Arctic explorer Matthew Henson.
 Proposal to name the crater after Henson was put forward by Jordan Bretzfelder who is
an Exploration Science summer intern with Lunar & Planetary Institute, in Houston.

 First edition of Himalayan Film Festival to be hosted at Leh

 The film festival will be inaugurated by Information and Broadcasting Minister, Anurag
Thakur, on September 24.
 Himalayan Film festival will run for five days from September 24 to 28.

 Ladakh is hosting the film festival as part of the celebrations of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit
Mahotsav’ to commemorate 75 years of India’s Independence.
 The 5-day festival will comprise of several segments to capture audience and film buffs
alike.

 CAF World Giving Index 2021

 India has been ranked at the 14th spot. Its rank has improved up from the 10-year
global rank of 82.
 CAF report notes that, India is one of the fastest climbers on the Index.
 According to the report, 61% Indians have helped a stranger during the Covid-19
pandemic in 2020.
 36% of Indians donated money. 34% Indians volunteered for social causes in India.

 International start-up hubs ranking 2021

 As per the comprehensive ranking of international start-ups, London, Mumbai and
Bangalore have been featured among the world’s top start-up hubs.
 London maintained the second-place ranking along with the New York for second
consecutive year, despite Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic.
 Bangalore has also been ranked at 23rd position, maintaining the position among top
30 global tech hubs. Delhi was ranked at 36th .
 Mumbai has been ranked at first position in the Emerging Ecosystems ranking,
outperforming the fast-growing ecosystems in areas of performance, funding, talent
and market research.
 Karnataka is also the 4th largest technology and innovation cluster in the world and is
home to more than 400+ global R & D centres.

 Pradhan Mantri Digital Health Mission (PMDHM)

 PMDHM scheme will be launched with the aim of harnessing technology in order to
improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and transparency of healthcare delivery across
India.
 It seeks to provide a better access to healthcare data.

 It also seeks to create a national digital health infrastructure by building Health IDs,
Unique Identifiers for doctors & health facilities, telemedicine & e-pharmacy, Personal
Health Records etc.
 This scheme will digitalize the healthcare by creating a country-wide digital health
ecosystem.

 It will enable the patients to store, access and give consent to share their health records
with doctors as well as health facilities of their choice.

 Defence Ministry places 7500-Cr order for 118 Arjun tanks

 Defence ministry placed this order with Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF), Chennai to supply
the 118 Arjun Mk-1A tanks.
 Arjun tank has been designed and developed by Defence Research & Development
Organisation (DRDO).
 This tank has incorporated numerous upgrades on Arjun MBT, which is in-service main
battle tank of the Indian Army.

 56 Airbus C-295 military aircraft contract signed by Ministry of Defence

 56 Airbus C-295 aircraft will replace the Indian Air Force’s (IAF’s) legacy fleet of Avro HS-
748 aircraft.
 As per 2.5 Billion dollar contract, Airbus will deliver the first 16 aircraft in ‘fly-away’
condition.
 It will be delivered from its final assembly line in Seville, Spain.
 Other 40 aircraft will be manufactured and assembled in India by Tata Advanced
Systems (TASL).
 Manufacturing will be done in India as part of an industrial partnership between Airbus
and TASL.

 India’s Covishield Vaccine recognised by Italy

 Italy has recognised Covishield vaccine against the Coronavirus on September 24, 2021.
 Covieshield vaccine against coronavirus was jointly developed by Oxford University &
pharma giant AstraZeneca while it was manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.
 With this recognition by Italy, Indian cardholders inoculated by covishield vaccine would
now be eligible to get an Italian green pass.
 This recognition is an outcome of a meeting between Health Minister Mansukh
Mandaviya and his Italian counterpart Roberto Speranza.

 World’s highest EV charging station opened in India

 World’s highest EV charging station was opened at Kaza town, which is located in of
Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh.
 The EV charging station was opened on September 23, 2021 in order to promote a
sustainable environment.
 It is the world’s highest electric vehicle charging station located at 500 ft.
 Along with the EV charging station, two women drove electric vehicles from Manali to
Kaza to promote a clean and green environment.
 All the products including chargers of this station are made in India.

 PM Modi to address UNGA in New York

 PM Modi is the first world leader who is scheduled to address the UN General
Assembly.
 The UN General Assembly session is expected tp commence from 6.30 pm IST.
 PM Modi reached New York after holding his first bilateral meeting with US President
Joe Biden on September 24.
 He also attended his first in-person Quad summit, hosted by Joe Biden.

 Interactive digital airspace map for drone operations released

 Ministry of Civil Aviation released an “interactive digital airspace map” for flying drones,
that demarcates areas into different zones for flying drones across India.
 Zones for flying drones also include yellow and red zones.
 The release of the map is in line with the revamped drone rules which are based on
premises of self-certification and non-intrusive monitoring of the activities.
 Airspace map may be modified from time to time by authorised entities under the
drone rules, that were notified on August 25, 2021, several permissions have been done
away with.
 Number of forms required has been reduced from 25 to 5. Types of fees have also been
drastically reduced from 74 to 4.

 Hunarbaaz Awards presented

 National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRD&PR), Hyderabad
under the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) presented “Hunarbaaz Awards” to 75
diyangjan candidates.

 Awards were presented to candidates from 15 states as a part of Azaadi ka Amrit

Mahotsav on September 25, 2021.
 September 25 also marked the occasion of Antyodaya Diwas which is observed on birth
anniversary of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.

 CSIR innovation award presented two Class 10 students

 Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu presented the Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR) innovation on September 26, 2021.

 Awards were presented to two Class 10 students from Udupi district in a virtual
ceremony.

 Those students are Anusha and Rakshitha Naik from Charamakki Narayana Shetty
Memorial Government High School in Ardi Village.

 They received the award for their project named “Gas Saving Kit”.
 Award was sponsored by the Union Ministry of Science and Technology, that will reach
to students in a week, via post. It comprises of a cash prize of Rs 20,000.

 Centre on Quantum Technologies launched by IIT Delhi

 Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has set up a ‘Centre of Excellence (CoE) on
Quantum Technologies’ in a bid to conduct research activities in the related field.
 This CoE will bring synergy and coherence in the activities that are being carried out at
IIT Delhi.
 It will also support the principal investigators to pitch in for several significant projects
from the DST and other agencies.

 Lewis Hamilton becomes First F1 driver to win 100 Grands Prix

 Britain’s Lewis Hamilton has become the first ever Formula-one driver who reached to
his 100 wins after finishing at first in the Russian Grand Prix on September 26, 2021.
 In Russian Grand Prix Hamilton finished over 53 seconds ahead of the second-placed
Max Verstappen.

 Dubai’s second biggest trade partner is India

 Dubai had a trade volume of 86.7 billion dirham with China in H1 (first half) of 2021.

 It is followed by India and the U.S. respectively at second and third positions.
 Trade with India has increased by 74.5% year-on-year to 67.1 billion dirhams in 2021
from 38.5 billion dirham in H1 of year 2020.
 China recorded a growth of 30.7% growth year-on-year. It is having a total trade of 66.3
billion dirhams with Dubai in H1 2021.

 Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission launched by PM Modi

 Under this mission, a unique digital health ID will be provided to the people. This ID will
contain all the health records of person.

 This mission was launched under the pilot project National Digital Health Mission.
 The nationwide rollout of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission coincides with the third
anniversary of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY).
 Third anniversary is being marked by the National Health Authority (NHA).

 New version of Akash missile, Akash Prime flight-tests by DRDO

 Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has tested a new version of
Akash Missile called ‘Akash Prime’ on September 27, 2021.

 It was launched from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) of Chandipur, Odisha, Missile
intercepted and destroyed an unmanned aerial target mimicking an enemy aircraft
during its maiden flight test after improvements.

 Akash Prime missile has been equipped with an indigenous active RF (radio frequency)
seeker for improving its accuracy.

 Fossil of Oldest Koala-hunting eagle discovered in Australia

 Scientists have excavated the remains of an ancient eagle near a barren, dried-up lake
in Southern Australia.
 This majestic bird is believed to be 25 million years old when the land of southern
Australia was teemed with lush forests.
 For eagle, this part of the land was teemed with helpless prey. It was found near
Australia’s Lake Pinpa, which is now-deserted.
 Discovery includes a whopping 63 well-kept fossils which also comprises the entirety of
the eagle’s skeleton.

 Amrit Grand Challenge Program launched by Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh

 This programme will identify 75 Start-Up Innovations in Telemedicine, Digital Health,
Block Chain, mHealth with BIG Data, Artificial intelligence and other technologies.
 Launch of Grand Challenge coincides with the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, it has become
more imperative for Young Start-ups and entrepreneurs to come out with Innovative
Ideas and Solutions for healthcare challenges in India.
 Under this initiative, 75 Best Chosen Start-ups will be an asset for India to lead it in the
next 25 years.

 Ordnance Factory Board dissolved into 7 PSUs

 Defence Ministry has issued an order to dissolve the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) in
effect from October 1, 2021.

 Those seven companies are: Munitions India Limited, Advanced Weapons and
Equipment India Limited, Armored Vehicles Nigam Limited, Yantra India Limited, India
Optel Limited, Troop Comforts Limited and Gliders India Limited.

 Amul Honey product launched by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar

 This product was launched under cooperation with the ‘National Bee Board (NBB)’.
 During the event, Tomar emphasized on importance of National Beekeeping and Honey
Mission in increasing the income of small farmers. National Beekeeping and Honey
Mission is being implemented in India to double the income of farmers or beekeepers
through beekeeping.
 Budgetary allocation of Rs 500 crores have been made for this mission.

 Right Livelihood Award 2021

 Right Livelihood Award 2021 was conferred to Delhi-based environmental organisation
“Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE)”.

 This award is also known as “Sweden’s alternative Nobel Prize”.

 LIFE has received the award for its “grassroots approach to empower vulnerable
communities in protecting their livelihoods and claiming their right for a clean
environment.”

 Amazon Future Engineer Programme launched in India

 E-commerce giant, Amazon India, announced the launch of “Amazon Future Engineer”
on September 27, 2021 in India.
 Amazon Future is its global computer science education programme.
 As per company, Amazon future programme will enable access to quality computer
science education as well as career opportunities for students from underrepresented
and underserved communities.
 During the first year of its launch, Amazon aims to enable and deliver learning
opportunities to about 1 lakh students from 900 government and aided schools in seven
states of India.

 ‘PM POSHAN’ to be continued in Schools

 PM POSHAN scheme would run for five more years. It will run from 2021-2022 to 2025-
26.

 Scheme has been approved with a financial outlay of 54,062 crore rupees from the
Central Government.

 State Government and Union Territories administrations have sanctioned an outlay of

31,733 crore rupees.

 In this phase, scheme will cover around 11.80 crore children studying across 11.20 lakh
schools.
 Central Government will further bear an additional cost of 45,000 crore rupees to
provide food grains to these children. Total budget of the scheme is 1,30,795 crore
rupees.

 Najla Bouden Romdhane becomes Tunisia’s first female Prime Minister

 Najla Bouden Romdhane has become the first female prime minister of Tunisia on
September 29, 2021.
 He has been named as Prime Minister, two months after President Kais Saied assumed
his charge, dismissed the former prime minister and suspended parliament.
 Romdhane was assigned to form a new government in the midst of growing domestic
and international discontent regarding president’s power seizure.

 Facebook launches Creator education programme in India

 Facebook launched the largest “creator education and enablement programme” in
India on September 30, 2021.
 This programme will provide an opportunity to content creators, on its platform and
Instagram, to learn, earn and grow their communities. While addressing the 2021
edition of ‘Creator Day India’, Instagram Head Adam Mosseri noted that India is one of
the fastest growing markets for photo sharing and short video platform.
 India has become the best place for creators to grow and make a living.
 So, Facebook has planned to do this by developing a range of creative tools in order to
democratise expression.
 For instance, Reels is a great example of democratised creativity.
 On an average, more than 6 million Reels are produced in India per day.
 Social media platform is also introducing monetisation tools in order to help creators
earn through content.
 OCTOBER 2021

 World Cotton Day was observed on October 7, across the world, in a bid to raise
awareness regarding the cotton sector among people.

 Anshu Malik has become the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the final of 2021
World Wrestling Championships.

 Nobel Prize in Literature 2021 was conferred to Tanzanian novelist “Abdulrazak

Gurnah”.
 The novelist was awarded with the Prize for his uncompromising & compassionate
penetration of “effects of colonialism” and fate of refugees in the gulf between cultures
& continents.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi digitally launched the ‘Indian Space Association’ (ISpA)
on October 11, 2021.
 Indian Space Association (ISpA) is the premier industry association of space and satellite
companies.
 ISpA is represented by leading home grown and global corporations having advanced
capabilities in space & satellite technologies.
 Founding members of ISpA include Nelco (Tata group), Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro,
Mapmyindia, OneWeb, Walchandnagar Industries and Ananth Technology Limited.

 Indian Air Force is celebrating its 89th Foundation Day on October 8, 2021.
 IAF is the air arm of Indian Armed Forces. It was formed on October 8, 1932 as an auxiliary
air force in British Empire.
 British Empire honoured India’s aviation service with prefix Royal during World War II.
 The name “Royal Indian Air Force” was kept after India gained independence in 1947.
 Prefix Royal was removed in 1950, when government transitioned to a Republic.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to launch first ever National Infrastructure
Masterplan called “Pradhan Mantri Gati Shakti”.
 This Masterplan will bring together 16 Ministries and seven core infrastructure sectors,
on a single platform in order to synergise project planning across stakeholder ministries
for avoiding duplication, plug gaps and expedite clearances at the right time.
 This Master Plan will provide a framework for ‘National Infrastructure Pipeline program’.

 As per data of “Central Electricity Authority of India”, India is facing an unprecedented

shortage of coal stocks across the thermal plants which might lead to a power crisis.
 As of now, three thermal power stations in Punjab, thirteen in Maharashtra, four in Kerala
are shut due to shortage of coal.

 Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Parshottam Rupala,
launched the River Ranching Programme on October 8, 2021.
 Highlights The programme was launched at Brijghat, Garh Mukteshwar, Uttar Pradesh
Along with Uttar Pradesh, other 4 states namely, Orissa, Uttarakhand, Tripura and
Chhattisgarh also participated in the launch of ‘nationwide River Ranching program’.

 Sunil Chhetri has equalled the legendary Pele by making the 77th international goal as
his 83rd minute strike, on October 10, 2021.
 77th goal by Chhetri during the strike helped India to beat Nepal by 1-0.

 World Mental Health Day was observed across the world on October 10, 2021 with the
objective of raising awareness on mental health issues.
 The campaign is being organised by the World Health Organisation under the slogan:
“Mental health care for all: let’s make it a reality”.

 The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) unanimously voted to recognise a
clean, healthy & sustainable environment as a universal right.
 This right was recognised by UNHRC on October 8, 2021 in Geneva, Switzerland.
 Right to a clean environment was first rooted in “1972 Stockholm Declaration”.
 UNHRC is a United Nations body that seeks to promote and protect human rights
worldwide.
 Council comprises of 47 members and they are elected for staggered three-year terms on
a regional group basis. Its headquarter is in Geneva, Switzerland.

 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2021 was released by “United Nations

Development Programme (UNDP)” and “Oxford Poverty & Human Development
Initiative (OPHI)”.
 This report examines the level and composition of multidimensional poverty across 109
countries covering 5.9 billion people.
 The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) was launched by the UNDP and the OPHI in the
year 2010. MPI uses three dimensions and ten indicators including:
 Education: Years of schooling and child enrolment (1/6 weightage each)
 Health: Child mortality and nutrition (1/6 weightage each)
 Standard of living: Electricity, drinking water, flooring, sanitation, cooking fuel and assets.

 Three United States-based economists namely, David Card, Joshua D Angrist and Guido
W Imbens have been conferred the “Nobel prize in Economics 2021”.
 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences, is conferred in memory of Alfred Nobel and
is widely known as Nobel Prize for Economics.

 Railways successfully operated two long haul freight trains called “Trishul” and
“Garuda” for the first time in South-Central Railway (SCR).
 Trishul is the first long haul train of SCR comprising three freight trains, that is 177 wagons.
The train was started from ‘Kondapalli station of Vijayawada division’ to ‘Khurda division
East Coast Railway’.
 SCR is followed up with the similar train called Garuda on October 8. The train was started
from Raichur of Guntakal division to the Manuguru of Secunderabad division.
 South-Central Railway is one among the 18 zones of Indian Railways.
 Its jurisdiction is spread over Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and
Madhya Pradesh.
 The zone has three divisions under its administration, namely Secunderabad, Hyderabad
and Nanded.

 International Energy Agency (IEA) has invited India to become its full-time member.
 IEA comprises of 30 member countries and eight associate nations. Four countries are
seeking for a full membership namely, Colombia, Chile, Israel and Lithuania.
 IEA was founded in 1974 by industrialised countries under the framework of Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

 German rail operator, Deutsche Bahn and industrial group, Siemens launched the first
automated & driverless train of the world on October 11, 2021.
 This project is being developed by ‘Siemens and Deutsche Bahn’. It is being dubbed as
“world first”.
 Though the train is controlled by digital technology and is fully automated. But a driver
will sit on the train to supervise journeys of the passengers on board.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend the G20 Extraordinary Leaders’ Summit
on October 12, 2021.
 G20 Extraordinary Leaders’ Summit was organised to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
 This event was convened by the G20 Italian Presidency in virtual mode.
 G20 is an intergovernmental forum consisting of 19 countries and European Union (EU).

 Ministry of Civil Aviation has given a no-objection certificate (NOC) to new airline
named ‘Akasa Air’ for its operation in India.
 Akasa Air is baked by Rakesh Jhunjhunwala as well as ex-Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube.
 Akasa Airline is a Ultra-low-cost carrier service. Under this airline business model,
company focuses on keeping operating costs lower than the typical budget airlines such
as IndiGo and SpiceJet.

 Former chief of State Bank of India, Rajnish Kumar, has joined the Board of BharatPe as
chairman.

 Central Government has given “Maharatna” status to Power Finance Corporation (PFC).
 PFC has become the 11th state-owned entity in India to enter the Maharatna category.
 Maharatna status is accorded to a company that has recorded more than net profit of Rs
5,000 crore for three consecutive years or average annual turnover of Rs 25,000 crore for
three years.
 PFC was incorporated in 1986. It works under the jurisdiction of the Union Power Ministry.

 The World Arthritis Day is observed on October 12, each year in a bid to raise awareness
regarding the joint diseases which causes suffering from pain and stiffness.

 The Henley Passport Index 2021 was released recently in which India’s rank has dropped
by six places as compared to 2020 index.
 This year India has been ranked at 90th.

 American President, Joe Biden, has proclaimed October 11 as “Indigenous Peoples’

Day”.
 Indigenous Peoples’ Day is typically observed on the second Monday of October.
 This Day recognizes the Indigenous communities who have lived in United States for
thousands of years. It grew increasingly common as the replacement for Columbus Day.

 Former higher education secretary, Amit Khare, was appointed as advisor to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.

 The Subject Expert Committee on Covid-19 has approved the “emergency use” of
Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin vaccine for children aged between 2-18 years old.
 Covaxin is codenamed as BBV152. It is an inactivated virus-based COVID-19 vaccine.
 It was developed by Bharat Biotech in association with the Indian Council of Medical
Research (ICMR).
 Covaxin uses a traditional technology which is similar to inactivated polio vaccine.
 In the initial phase, sample of SARS-CoV-2 was isolated by National Institute of Virology,
India. Then this sample was used to grow large quantities of virus using the vero cells.
 Following this, viruses were soaked in beta-propiolactone, in order to deactivate them by
binding to their genes.
 Resulting inactivated viruses were then mixed with aluminium-based adjuvant
Alhydroxiquim-II.

 The Union Home Ministry started tripartite talks with “Gorkha representatives” from
Darjeeling Hills, Terrai & Dooars region as well as the Government of West Bengal.
 Tripartite talks were started in a bid to resolve long-standing demand of statehood in
North Bengal region.
 Delegation from the Gorkhaland raised their demand of separate state of Gorkhaland as
well as grant of Scheduled Tribe status to 11 Gorkha sub-communities.
 Gorkhaland comprise of Nepali-speaking people from Darjeeling, Kurseong, Kalimpong,
and other hilly districts of West-Bengal.
 People of these areas have cultural, ethical, and language differences with Bengali
community of West-Bengal.
 The Indian Navy is set to take part in “Second Phase of multilateral maritime exercise”
called “Exercise Malabar” along with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Japan Maritime
Self Defence Force (JMSDF) and the United States Navy (USN).
 Malabar exercise was conducted in the Bay of Bengal from 12 October to 15 October
2021.
 First phase of this exercise was conducted from August 26-29, 2021 in Philippines sea.
 Second phase of the exercise will be bigger than the first phase that was conducted off
the Guam coast, US in the Western Pacific.
 Malabar exercise started as an annual bilateral naval exercise in the year 1992 between
India and the US.

 United Nations Biodiversity Summit started in China, on October 12, 2021.

 During the summit, countries will also be debating “30 by 30” plan in order to give 30% of
lands and oceans protected status.
 Countries will also set goal for stopping the creation of plastic waste. Though, China has
not yet committed for this plan.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a Rs 100 lakh crore national master plan called
“Gati Shakti National Master Plan”.
 This plan aims to lend more power and speed to projects by connecting all the concerned
departments on one platform.
 Under the plan, the private players will get a boost to invest in National infrastructure
because of easy clearances and monetary help available to them.
 This project will also provide last-mile connectivity to the economic zones in a limited
timeframe.

 Home Ministry has enhanced the powers of Border Security Force (BSF).
 Under the enhanced power, officers will have the power to search and arrest.
 As per Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the decision to expand the jurisdiction of BSF was
taken in the backdrop of recent droppings of drone weapons from across the border.

 Union Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Giriraj Singh, launched the
“Climate Resilience Information System and Planning (CRISP-M) tool” through a virtual
event.
 The CRISP-M tool has been launched in order to integrate the climate information in the
“Geographic Information System (GIS) based watershed planning” under the MGNREGA.
 This tool will help in embedding climate information in GIS based planning as well as
implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA (MGNREGA).

 Government has incorporated new rules under the “Medical Termination of Pregnancy
(Amendment) Act, 2021, which was passed in March 2021.
 India and the United States are set to start the 17 th edition of 15-day mega military
exercise in Alaska from October 15, 2021 in a bid to further deepen bilateral military
cooperation between both the countries.
 Exercise Yudh Abhyas is a step towards growing military cooperation between the both
the countries.

 The Department of Biotechnology launched a ‘One Health’ consortium on October 14,

2021 in virtual mode.
 This consortium was launched in the backdrop of Covid-19 pandemic, that showed the
relevance of ‘One Health’ principle in governance of infectious diseases.
 Primary goal of ‘One Health’ is to encourage the collaborative efforts of stakeholders
across the stated three domains in order to achieve best health outcomes for humans,
animals, and environment.

 The Northern Ireland protocol was designed to prevent checks across the border
between Northern Ireland (US) and the Republic of Ireland (EU), following Brexit.
 Under this protocol it was agreed that Northern Ireland will continue to follow EU rules
on product standards in order to prevent checks across the border.
 Goods entering Northern Ireland from Scotland, England or Wales would be inspected.

 China and Russia are holding Joint naval drills called “Joint Sea 2021 naval exercise” in
the Sea of Japan.
 The drill started in Russia’s Peter the Great Gulf in Sea of Japan.

 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) seminar on ‘Role of Women in Armed Forces’

was organised on October 14, in virtual mode.
 SCO, also dubbed as Shanghai Pact, is a Eurasian political, economic & security alliance.
Announcement for creating SCO was made on June 15, 2001 in Shanghai, China.
 This proposal was put forward by leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
 Original five members of SCO; China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan; were
previously members of Shanghai Five group that was founded in April 1996.
 Since then, organization has expanded its membership to eight states.
 Newest members of SCO are India and Pakistan. Both the countries joined as full members
on June 9, 2017 at Astana summit of SCO.

 Global Hunger Index 2021, which is prepared jointly by Irish aid agency called ‘Concern
Worldwide’ and German organisation called ‘Welt Hunger Hilfe’, was released on
October 14, 2021.
 In the index, India has been placed to 101st position out of 116 countries.

 On October 15, 2021, seven new defence companies were dedicated to the nation by
the Defence Ministry.
 The seven companies that were carved out of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), are:
 Munitions India Limited (MIL),
 Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL),
 Troop Comforts Limited (TCL),
 Gliders India Limited (GIL),
 Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVANI),
 Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited (AWE India),
 India Optel Limited (IOL) and Yantra India Limited (YIL).
 OFB is an organisation working under the Department of Defence Production (DDP) of
Ministry of Defence (MoD).
 There were 41 Indian Ordnance Factories which now have been converted into 7 Defence
Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs).

 Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Prerna Sthal was inaugurated on October 15, 2021 at Naval Science
& Technological Laboratory (NSTL), Visakhapatnam.
 Prerna Sthal was inaugurated to commemorate 90th birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Dr
APJ Abdul Kalam as well as to commemorate ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.

 A bilingual mobile application ‘Healthy Smile’ was launched by AIIMS in a bid to raise
awareness on maintaining oral hygiene among children.
 This app is an initiative of the Department of Paediatric and Preventive Dentistry, with
the help of AIIMS intramural research grant.

 India got re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council for 2022-24 term on October 14,
2021 with the overwhelming majority in United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
 The 193-member General Assembly elected Argentina, Cameroon, Benin, Finland, Eritrea,
Honduras, Gambia, Lithuania, India, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Luxembourg, Montenegro,
Qatar, Paraguay, UAE, Somalia, and the USA by secret ballot for 2022-2024 term.
 Members of the Council will serve for a period of three years. They will not be eligible for
immediate re-election following two consecutive terms.

 The International Day for Rural Women is observed on October 15, every year.
 International Day for Rural Women 2021 is observed under the theme “Rural women
cultivating good food for all”.

 On October 15, Global Handwashing Day was observed across the world in order to
raise awareness and develop better understanding on the importance of hand hygiene
in keeping people safe and healthy.
 Theme of the ‘Global handwashing Day’ in year 2021 is “Our Future is at Hand – Let’s
Move Forward Together.”

 China launched a three-person crew for a mission of six-month on board the Shenzhou-
13 spaceship to its space station on October 16, 2021.
 The crew is planned to set up new record for the time spent in space by Chinese
astronauts as China moves for completing the orbiting structure.

 An Indian Project, Takachar’s Innovation, that recycles agricultural waste into fuel has
won the “Prince William’s inaugural Earthshot Prize”, which is also called as “Eco
Oscars.
 Eco Oscars honour people who are trying to save the planet Earth.
 This prize is awarded to five winners each year, whose projects help the environment.
 It will be awarded annually from 2021 to 2030.
 It is given by the Royal Foundation, which is headquartered in London, England.

 The Italian Presidency of the G20 grouping has unveiled “G20 Innovation League”, in a
bid to create a sustainable future.
 It is a new and unique initiative that have been designed to drive forward innovative
projects, which in turn will help in creating a sustainable future.
 G20 Innovation event was held in Sorrento, Italy.

 A team from 5th Battalion-4 (5/4) Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) representing the Indian
Army won gold medal at the prestigious Cambrian Patrol Exercise which was held in
United Kingdom.
 Exercise was held from October 13th to 15th 2021 at Brecon, Wales in United Kingdom.
 Gold Medal was presented to the Indian Army team by General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith
who is the Chief of General Staff of British Army.

 The Government of Gujarat has decided to give a financial assistance of Rs 5000 per
person belonging to tribal community for pilgrimage Shri Ram Janmabhoomi in
Ayodhya.
 This announcement was made at a gathering in “Shabari Dham” which is a pilgrim site in
Dangs district of Gujarat. Shabari Dham is associated with Lord Sri Ram.

 World Food Day is observed every year on October 16. Year 2021 marked the 76th
World Food Day.
 This day in 2021 was celebrated under the theme- “Safe food now for a healthy
tomorrow”.
 The main purpose to celebrate this day is to promote the message that “food is a basic
and fundamental human right. It also spread awareness on malnutrition and obesity.

 The International day for Eradication of Poverty is observed every year on October 17.
 The first commemoration of International day for Eradication of Poverty” took place in
Paris, France, in the year 1987.
 The day honoured the victims of poverty, hunger and violence.
 As per report of financial times, China tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile in
August 2021, demonstrating an advanced space capability.
 Countries like Russia, China and US are developing hypersonic missiles that travel at the
speed five times that of sound. However, they run slower than ballistic missiles.
 These missiles are harder to intercept and can be manoeuvred.

 American Space Agency, NASA, launched the first-of-its kind mission on October 16,
2021 to study the Trojan asteroids of Jupiter.
 The space probe is called as Lucy.
 Lucy spacecraft was carried by an Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance (UAL), which
is a joint venture of Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin Corp.
 Jupiter trojans are also called as trojan asteroids.
 Each trojan revolves around one of Jupiter’s stable Lagrange points, either L4 or L5.

 The Delhi government floated tenders for developing a portal called “Rojgar Bazaar 2.0”
on October 14, 2021.
 The portal will provide employment related services to the youth of Delhi.

 The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) hosted the ‘Aadhaar Hackathon
2021’ from October 28, 2021.
 Aadhaar Hackathon 2021 has been themed on two topics:
 Enrolment and Update:This topic primarily covers some of the real-life challenges which
are faced by the residents while they update their address.
 Identity and Authentication:Under this theme, the UIDAI is soliciting innovative solutions
for proving the identity without sharing Aadhaar number or any demographic
information.
 UIDAI is a statutory authority which was established under the provisions of the Aadhaar
Act 2016 on July 12, 2016.
 It was established under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
 It was created to issue Unique Identification numbers (UID), dubbed as “Aadhaar”, to all
the residents of India.

 India, Israel, United States and United Arab Emirates (UAE) are ready to build on
momentum created by “Abraham Accords” by holding the first meeting of their foreign
ministers on October 18, 2021.
 Abraham Accords are a joint statement between Israel, the US and the UAE. It was signed
on August 13, 2020.
 The term was also used to refer to normalisation agreements between Israel & UAE and
Israel & Bahrain collectively.
 It is the first public normalization of relations between any Arab country and Israel since
1994. The accords have been named after Abraham, emphasizing the shared belief
between Judaism and Islam.
 Both of them are Abrahamic religions which strictly support monotheistic worship of the
God of Abraham.

 World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and other agency released its new report
on October 19, 2021.
 In its report, these agencies warned that, Africa’s rare glaciers are going to disappear in
next two decades because of climate change.

 Prime Minister, Narendra Modi visited Uttar Pradesh on October 20, 2021 to attend
Abhidhamma Day Programme.
 On the occasion, Prime Minister inaugurated the Kushinagar International Airport.
 Abhidhamma Day symbolises the end of three-month rainy retreat called “Varshavaas or
Vassa”.
 This rainy retreat is observed by the Buddhist Monks. During this period, monks stay at
one place in vihara & monastery for offering prayer.

 India and Russia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate in

mining and steel sector.
 The MoU between both the countries was singed in Moscow.
 It envisages on the implementation of commercial activities and joint projects in coking
coal.

 India and Taliban are set to meet face-to-face at the “Moscow Format” meeting which
will be hosted by Russia on October 20, 2021.
 The Moscow Format was set up in the year 2017 as a six-party mechanism. It involved
Russia, India, Afghanistan, Iran, China and Pakistan.
 The format was later expanded with the inclusion of some more countries. Its meetings
were held in Moscow in the year 2017 and 2018.

 National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) announced for the launch of NPCI
Tokenization system (NTS) on October 20, 2021 in order to provide support to the
tokenisation of cards as an alternate for storing card details with merchants.
 The NTS will support the tokenisation of RuPay cards in order to further enhance the
safety of customers as well to provide a seamless shopping experience for the consumers.
 NPCI is the specialised division of Reserve Bank of India. It works under the jurisdiction of
Ministry of Finance.
 It was established to operate retail payments and settlement systems in India.
 NPCI was established in December 2008 and is registered under Section 8 of the
Companies Act 2013. It was established by the RBI and Indian Banks’ Association.

 Prestigious “Martial Arts Education Prize 2021” was conferred to the world-renowned
Kung Fu Nuns of Drukpa order of Buddhism.
 Kung Fu Nuns are an order of Buddhist nuns, belonging to the Drukpa Kagyu lineage. It is
a thousand-year-old sect and is led by the Gyalwang Drukpa.

 National Police Commemoration Day is observed every year on October 21, in India.
 This day is dedicated to the sacrifices of ten policemen, who died in Chinese firing in the
year 1959.
 National Police Museum was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on
October 15, 2018.
 It is handled by the central armed police forces (CAPFs) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

 Former US President, Donald Trump, has launched his own social media network called
“TRUTH Social”.
 This platform was launched after Donald Trump faced bans from Facebook and Twitter.

 Mount Aso volcano in Japan, erupted on October 20, 2021 and emitted a giant column
of ash to about thousands of metres into the sky.

 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recently released its report called
“2021 Production Gap Report”.
 Report measures the gap between “governments’ planned production of coal, gas & oil”
and “global production levels in consistent with the limits of Paris Agreement”.
 UNEP helps in coordinating responses to the environmental issues within the system of
United Nations. The body was established by Maurice Strong, in the year 1972, following
the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm.

 Sri Lanka has received the first consignment of non-harmful Nano Nitrogen liquid
fertiliser from India on October 20, 2021.
 The fertilizer will help Sri Lanka in the cultivation of maize and paddy.

 The Parambikulam Tiger Conservation Foundation (PaTCoF) has won the “Earth
Guardian Award” which was instituted by the NatWest Group.
 PaTCoF is a non-profit organisation under forest department which seeks to facilitate
conservation of tiger and biodiversity in the Parambikulam tiger reserve.
 Parambikulam Tiger Reserve also includes erstwhile Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary,
which is spread across 391 square kilometres. It is a protected area in Palakkad district of
Kerala.

 The United Kingdom (UK) and India are set to launch their biggest joint military exercise
called “Konkan Shakti”.
 In the exercise, there will be re-entry of UK’s Carrier Strike Group (CSG) into western
Indian Ocean waters.
 Konkan Shakti is the first tri-service exercise between India and United Kingdom.
 Intel has announced the launch of “Intel Unnati Program” on October 21, 2021 in order
to help equip engineering students in India with data-centric skills.
 Intel Unnati Program has been launched across 15 colleges which are in process to set up
Centres of Excellence in their campuses. Currently, these labs are operational in 3
institutes like Galgotias University (UP), Vinayaka Mission in Tamil Nadu and OPJU in
Chhattisgarh.

 The Caribbean Island called Barbados, in a bid to become a republic, has elected its first
ever president.
 This move will also remove Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II as head of state of Barbados.
 Sandra Mason, who is the current governor-general of the island, will sworn in as
president on November 30, 2021.

 Tenth edition of the Global Food Security Index was published recently. In the index,
India has been ranked at 71st position.
 Countries like Ireland, Austria, Finland, the UK, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Japan,
Canada, the US and France shared the top rank.
 Their overall GFS score was in the range of 77.8 and 80 points.
 India has been ranked at 71st position out of 113 countries. Its overall score is 57.2 points.

 South Korea has launched its first ever space rocket on October 21, 2021.
 This is the first rocket completely developed and built in South Korea.
 However, it failed to successfully deploy a test satellite into orbit.

 NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) launched a new digi-book-called

“Innovations for You” in a bid to showcase the success stories of start-ups set up under
the Atal Innovation Mission in different domains.

 Global terror financing watchdog, Financial Action Task Force (FATF), retained Pakistan
on the ‘Grey List of countries’.
 FATF is an intergovernmental organisation. It was founded in the year 1989 following the
initiative of G7 grouping for developing the policies to combat money laundering.

 The 52nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is going to held in Goa from
November 20 to November 28, 2021 in which Hungarian filmmaker Istvan Szabo and
Hollywood icon Martin Scorsese will be honoured with “Satyajit Ray Lifetime
Achievement Award”.
 Istvan Szabo Istvan Szabo is the most notable Hungarian filmmakers.

 The United States has successfully tested the hypersonic missile technology on October
20, 2021.
 Hypersonic Missile Technology is a new weapons system which is already being deployed
by Russia and China.
 Hypersonic missiles such as traditional ballistic missiles can fly at five times the speed of
sound that is, Mach 5.
 These missiles are more manoeuvrable as compared to their ballistic counterparts.

 Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully tested the high-
speed expendable aerial target (HEAT) called ABHYAS
 ABHYAS has been designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development
Establishment (ADE) of DRDO, headquartered in Bengaluru.
 ABHYAS is powered by a gas turbine engine due to which, aircraft will sustain a long
endurance flight at a subsonic speed.
 This target aircraft has been equipped with MEMS-based Inertial Navigation System (INS)
in order to navigation along with Flight Control Computer (FCC) for guidance and control.
 It has been programmed for fully autonomous flight.

 Bangladesh has planned to present its “climate prosperity plan” at the United Nations
climate talks in Glasgow.
 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) has been scheduled from October 31 to
November 12 in Glasgow, Scotland.

 Indian state of Karnataka is celebrating “Kittur Rani Chennamma Jayanthi” on October

23, 2021.
 She was Indian Queen of Kittur which was a princely state in Karnataka.
 She led an armed rebellion in the year 1824, against the British East India Company (BEIC).
 She rebelled in confrontation of the doctrine of lapse in a bid to maintain Indian control
over the region.

 India has handed over 34.9 km long cross-border rail link to Nepal government, that
connects Jayanagar in Bihar to Kurtha in Nepal.
 It was built under the grant assistance programme of Indian government.
 Under the grant assistance of India, gauge conversion of 34.9 km narrow gauge has been
completed.

 To commemorate Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, Indian Navy is conducting an Offshore

Sailing Regatta under the aegis of Indian Naval Sailing Association (INSA).
 Offshore Sailing Regatta is being conducted from Kochi to Goa.
 In the event, Six Indian Naval Sailing Vessels namely, Tarini, Mhadei, Neelkanth, Bulbul,
Kadal Pura and Hariyal will participate.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Pradhan Mantri Atma Nirbhar Swasth Bharat
Yojana in Varanasi.
 PMASBY is going to be one of the largest pan-India schemes to strengthen healthcare
infrastructure across India.
 This scheme is being launched in addition to the National Health Mission.
 Under PMASBY following institutions would be set up:
 A National Institution for One Health
 4 New National Institutes for Virology
 9 Biosafety Level III laboratories
 Regional Research Platform for WHO South-East Asia Region and
 5 New Regional National Centre for Disease Control.

 On October 23, 2021, India’s first IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) calf of Banni breed of
buffaloes was born at a farmer’s house in Gir Somnath district of Gujarat.
 Banni buffalo are also known as “Kutchi” or “Kundi”. This breed of buffalo is found
primarily in Kutch district of Gujarat.
 This breed of buffaloes is preserved by a local community of Kutch called the ‘Maldharis’.

 The United Nations Day is observed on October 24, every year since 1948.
 The United Nations was officially established on October 24, 1945, after the UN Charter
was ratified by China, the Soviet Union, France, the United States and the United Kingdom
as well as other signatories.
 President of United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt had coined the name “United Nations”.
 He was also the first to use this name in Declaration by United Nations during Second
World War, on January 1, 1942.
 Currently, there are 193 Member States and each of them are a member of the UN
General Assembly as well.

 First indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) of India, named Vikrant, started its second phase
of sea trials on October 24, 2022.
 IAC Vikrant has been constructed at a cost of Rs 23000 crores. It is a 40000-tonne aircraft
carrier.
 It will operate MH-60R multi-role helicopters, MiG-29K fighter jets and MKamov-31
helicopters.
 It comprises of more than 2300 compartments and has been designed for a crew of 1700
people.
 INS Vikrant has been built by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL).

 For the first time, China has enacted a national law on “protection and exploitation” of
country’s land border areas.
 Timing of the new border law is significant as China continues to be at loggerheads with
India across the Line of Actual Control (LAC), separating both the countries.

 Indian government notified “Indian Telegraph Right of Way (Amendment) Rules, 2021”
on October 22, 2021, for incorporating provisions related to nominal one-time
compensation.
 The rules also seek to incorporate “uniform procedure for establishing overground
telegraph line in Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016”.
 Earlier, RoW Rules were only covering underground optical fibre cable (OFC) and mobile
towers.
 RoW is the legal right, allowing online filing of application. Basically, this is a framework
for setting up telecom towers, laying fibre cables, settling disputes, and improve
coordination among companies.

 Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu presented the 67th National Film awards on October
25, 2021.
 51st Dadasaheb Phalke Award was conferred to actor Rajinikanth.
 Manoj Bajpayee, Kangana Ranaut and Dhanush were conferred with acting honours.
 Best Feature Film award was given to Priyadarshan’s Malayalam period epic named
‘Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea’.
 Best Hindi Film Award was presented to Chhichhore movie, starring the late Sushant Singh
Rajput.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure
Mission.
 This mission was launched with the objective of filling critical gaps in public health
infrastructure.
 It will bridge the gap between critical care facilities and primary care across urban and
rural areas.
 It will also help in strengthening 80 Viral Diagnostic and research labs.
 It will also set up “WHO regional research platform for South Asia” in a bid to strengthen
this network.

 A National Steering Committee (NSC) has been formed to implement NIPUN Bharat
Mission.
 NIPUN stands for “National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and
Numeracy”.
 This mission was launched by the “Department of School Education and Literacy” in July
2021.
 Committee will be chaired by Union Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan. Minister
of State for Education, Annapurna Devi will act as the vice-chairperson.

 A two-day G-20 Summit was held in Italy in October.

 Members of the grouping account for more than 80 per cent of the World’s GDP, 60
percent of the world’s population and 75 per cent of global trade.
 It holds meeting every year since 1999 and a yearly summit since 2008.
 Rome summit has been centred around the theme “People, Planet, Prosperity”.
 This was the eighth G-20 summit attended by PM Modi.
 National Tribal Dance Festival will be held in Raipur from October 28 to October 30.
 First edition of the National Tribal Dance Festival was organised in the year 2019.
 It witnessed the participation of tribal communities from 25 states of India along with six
guest countries.
 National Tribal Dance Festival will feature multiple artists belonging to diverse tribal
communities from different parts of India.
 Artists from countries like Kingdom of Eswatini, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, Uganda, Sri Lanka,
Mali, Syria, and Palestine will also take part in the event.

 India and Sweden celebrated the 8th Innovation Day on October 26.
 The online event was organised under the theme ‘Accelerating India Sweden’s Green
Transition’.
 Sweden is among the countries that recognised India’s independence from the United
Kingdom in the year 1947.
 Both the countries established their formal diplomatic relations in 1949.
 India has established an embassy in Stockholm. On the other hand, Sweden established
an embassy in New Delhi.

 Swasth Mahila, Swasth Goa initiative was launched by “YouWeCan Foundation” in Goa.
 The initiative was launched by YouWeCan foundation which is run by international cricket
icon and humanitarian Yuvraj Singh.
 Under the initiative, free treatment will be provided for all the positive cases. For treating
them, government of Goa will also extend its support.

 On October 26, 2021, India and Kyrgyzstan held their first strategic dialogue in New
Delhi.
 During the summit, both the countries agreed to enhance security & defence
cooperation.
 India established diplomatic relations with Kyrgyzstan in 1992 after the independence of
Kyrgyzstan on August 31, 1991.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 16th East Asia Summit virtually.
 East Asia Summit is a regional forum, inaugurated in 2005.
 The summit is held annually by the leaders of 16 nations which are part of East Asian,
South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Oceanian regions, on the basis of ASEAN Plus Six
mechanism.
 The summit includes ten ASEAN members namely, Brunei, Indonesia, Cambodia,
Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore.
 Other members of the summit are India, Japan, China, Australia, the Republic of Korea,
the United States, New Zealand, and Russia.
 India is the founding member of East Asia Summit and has committed to enhance the
strength and increase the efficiency of this forum.
 The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is observing the “Vigilance Awareness
Week 2021” from October 26 to November 1, 2021.
 The CVC is observing this week with a theme of “self-reliance and integrity”.
 CVC is an apex Indian governmental body, that was established in 1964 for addressing the
governmental corruption.
 It was given statutory status in 2003, by an act of Parliament.
 It is an autonomous body and free of control from any executive authority.

 The World Day for Audiovisual Heritage is observed on October 27, every year.
 Audio-visual Heritage Day is observed with the aim of raising general awareness among
people related to the need of taking urgent measures.
 The Audio-visual Heritage Day 2021 was observed under the theme “Your Window to the
World”.

 Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises launched the “SAMBHAV National
Level Awareness Programme, 2021” in new Delhi on October 27, 2021.
 Under the initiative, students from different colleges or ITIs from across the India will be
encouraged to take entrepreneurship.
 MSME is the apex executive body that formulate and administer the rules, regulations and
laws related to micro, small and medium enterprises in India.
 Narayan Rane is the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
 Ministry of Small-Scale Industries and Agro & Rural Industries was established in October
1999.
 But it got split into the Ministry of Small-Scale Industries and Ministry of Agro & Rural
Industries in the year 2001.

 ESA’s Proba-1 minisatellite was launched two decades ago, on October 27, into orbit.
 It has completed 20 years.
 Proba-1 mission carry several low-cost, commercial-off-the-shelf systems and
components.
 It is sometimes described as ‘NewSpace before NewSpace’.
 European Space Agency (ESA) is an intergovernmental organisation comprising of 22
member states.
 ESA was established in 1975. It is headquartered in Paris.

 The Ministry of Civil Aviation launched “Krishi Udan 2.0 scheme” on October 27,
2021.
 Under “Krishi Udan 2.0 scheme”, cargo-related infrastructure will be built in airports of
hilly, tribal, and north-east regions.
 The scheme has been launched with the aim of channelising the immense potential of
Indian agriculture with logistical help of civil aviation in a bid to achieve the goal of
doubling farmers’ income.
 The online platform (e-Kushal) would be developed under Krishi Udan 2.0 scheme for
facilitating information dissemination to stakeholders.
 The National e Governance Division (NeGD) of the Ministry of Electronics and IT
organised “AI Pe Charcha (AI Dialogue)” on October 28, 2021.
 AI Pe Charcha was organised under the theme- “AI for Date Driven Governance”.
 AI Pe Charcha is an initiative of “Ministry of Electronics & IT”.
 It is a series of panel discussions, which involves several global and domestic leaders from
Government as well as industry.

 Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman, is on the

official visit to Italy for attending ‘G20 Joint Finance and Health Ministers’ meeting
in Rome.
 G20 Rome Summit is the climax of G20 process and the final stage of intense work, at the
Leaders’ level, which is carried out within the Ministerial Meetings, Engagement Groups
and Working Groups throughout the year. This summit will be the 16th G20 gathering at
Heads of State & Government level.
 The working meetings of Heads of State and Government is scheduled to held at Rome
Convention Centre ‘La Nuvola’.
 The first G20 heads of the state & government was held in Washington in November 2008.
While the last meeting was held virtually under the Presidency of Saudi Arabia in
November 2020.

 India has successfully test-fired a surface-to-surface ballistic missile called Agni-5 on

October 27, 2021.
 Agni-V is an Indian nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
 The missile uses a three-stage solid-fuelled engine, which can strike the targets up to the
range of 5000-km with a very high degree of accuracy.
 The Agni-5 missile has been built by the Defence Research Development Organisation
(DRDO).

 Union Health Ministry has asked states and Union Territories to come up with
district-level plan and launch a “Har Ghar Dastak” (Knock every door) campaign
across poor performing districts.
 Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh are the states under focus because of
low vaccination rate.
 Central government has also asked states & union territories to set up the ante, in those
areas where first & second dose vaccination coverage is below the national average.

 Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) is organising the “Deep Dive
Online Training Programme” with the aim of strengthening cyber security ecosystem in
India.
 It is a part of the series of workshops, that are organised by National e-Governance Division
under the Cyber Surakshit Bharat initiative.
 Cyber Surakshit Bharat Initiative was launched by the Ministry of Electronics &
Information Technology (MeitY) in January 2018.
 Government of India reconstituted the seven-member Economic Advisory Council
(EAC) to the prime minister on October 27, 2021.
 It has been reconstituted for a period of two years.
 Bibek Debroy will continues to be the chairman of council.
 EAC-PM is an independent body, which advises the government on economic and policy-
related matters. It was first constituted in September 2017 for a period of two years. It
replaced the erstwhile PMEAC, which was chaired by former governor of Reserve Bank
of India, C Rangarajan.

 Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India, Sushil Chandra, led a three-member

delegation to Uzbekistan to oversee the presidential election, that was held on October
24, 2021.
 Indian delegation was present in Uzbekistan, from October 21-25 to oversee the
presidential election, as an international observer.
 President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, won the election with more than 80% of the
vote. He has been re-elected for a second five-year term.

 The Director General of Indian Coast Guard (ICG), K Natarajan, commissioned the
indigenously built Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) “Sarthak” on October 28, 2021.
 ICGS Sarthak will be based at Porbandar in Gujarat.
 ICGS Sarthak is the 4th ship among the series of five OPVs, which are being built for ICG
by Goa Shipyard Limited.
 ICG is a maritime law enforcement and search & rescue agency, operating under the
Ministry of defence of India. Its jurisdiction is over the territorial waters of India, including
the contiguous zone & exclusive economic zone. The agency was established on February
1, 1977 under the Coast Guard Act, 1978.

 Indian Railway has introduced a special train called Gati Shakti Express to ease the
extra rush of passengers during festive seasons like Diwali and Chhath Puja.
 Train will run between Anand Vihar Terminal-Patna-Anand Vihar Terminal.

 The 13th Meeting of Heads of National Statistical Offices of BRICS countries was
held under the theme- “NSOs efforts in monitoring Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs)”.
 Meeting was chaired by Dr. G. P. Samanta, who happens to be the Chief Statistician of
India & Secretary of Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation.
 BRICS is the acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
 These members are known for their significant influence in the region.
 The respective government of the BRICS state meet annual formal summits starting from
2009.
 The 13th BRICS Summit was held by the India on September 09, 2021 under the theme
'BRICS @ 15: Intra-BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus'

 The seventh frigate of P1135.6 class was launched on October 28, 2021 for the Indian
Navy.
 Frigate was launched at Yantar Shipyard in Russia’s Kaliningrad.
 Frigate ships feature “stealth technology” with respect to low radar and underwater noise
signatures.
 Both the ships will be delivered from Russia by 2023.
 During the inaugural ceremony, this ship was named as “Tushil”. It means protector shield
in Sanskrit.

 Facebook Inc. has been renamed to Meta Platforms Inc., or Meta to reflect its
commitment to develop the new surround-yourself technology called as “metaverse.”
 The metaverse is sort of internet brought to life and are rendered in 3D. it is a “virtual
environment” wherein people can go inside, instead of just looking at on the screen.
 Through this platform, people can meet, play and work using virtual reality headsets,
smartphone apps and augmented reality glasses.
 NOVEMBER 2021

 Astronaut Wang Yaping has become the first Chinese woman to walk in space.
 As a part of ongoing construction, team of Wang Yaping completed a six-hour stint outside
Tiangong space station. Wang and her colleague Zhai Zhigang stepped out of Tiangong on
November 7, 2021.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to address the Tribal Pride Day Mahasammelan in
Madhya Pradesh
 Mahasammelan is being organised to commemorate the birth anniversary of Lord Birsa
Munda.
 Birsa Munda was an Indian tribal freedom fighter, folk hero and a religious leader. He
belonged to the Munda tribe. He led the tribal religious millenarian movement, arising
from Bengal Presidency (now Jharkhand) during the British Raj, in the late 19th century.

 Srinagar has joined the UNESCO’s network of creative cities.

 Chennai and Varanasi are included in UNESCO Cities of music.
 Jaipur is included in UNESCO city of crafts and folk arts.
 Mumbai is included in UNESCO city of film.
 Hyderabad is included in UNESCO City of gastronomy.

 Google unveiled a new doodle on October 8, 2021 to celebrate the 104th birthday of cell
biologist Dr Kamal Ranadive.
 Kamal Jayasing Ranadive was an Indian biomedical researcher. She is known for her
research in cancer regarding links between cancers and viruses.
 She was awarded the Padma Bhushan (third highest civilian award in India) for Medicine,
in 1982.

 The Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs has amended the Legal Metrology (Packaged
Commodities) Rules, 2011, by which companies are now required to print ‘unit sale price’
on packaged commodities.
 New amendment will be applicable from April 2022.
 Quantity should either be in ‘number’ or ‘unit’ and it should be mentioned as “xxN or xxU”
on the pack.

 The Logistics Ease Across Different States 2021 Index was recently published by Ministry
of Commerce & Industry. This is the third edition of Index.
 Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab are the best performing states (Top 3 slot respectively)
 Tamil Nadu (4th) and Maharashtra (5th) are among top-5 slot.
 Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand have witnessed a significant improvement as
compared to 2019 LEADS ranking. These states have emerged as the top improvers.
 Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh launched the first-ever Mentorship programme on
November 8, 2021.
 This mentorship programme will help in promoting scientific temper among masses, by
strengthening scientific research & innovation efforts in India.

 Department of Justice launched the week-long “Tele-Law on Wheels” campaign, on

November 8, 2021, joining the celebrations of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
 The Tele-Law on Wheels Campaign is being organised with aid of “CSC e-Governance”.
CSC e-Governance is a network of more than 4 lakh digitally enabled CSCs across India.
 Under the campaign, Ministry will launch “Citizens’ Tele-Law Mobile App” on November
13. This App will help in connecting the beneficiaries directly with Panel Lawyers who are
offering legal advice and consultation.

 Manika Batra and Archana Girish Kamath from India have won the women’s doubles title
at World Table Tennis Contender Lasko 2021.
 Both, Batra & Kamath, are ranked at 36th They beat 23rd ranked Puerto Rico’s Diaz
sisters, Adriana and Melanie, in three games at the final on November 7, 2021.

 Uttarakhand Foundation Day is being observed on November 9. The day is celebrated

annually to mark the formation of 27th state of India.
 State of Uttarakhand is known as ‘Land of Gods’.
 State of Uttarakhand share its border with Nepal, Tibet, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and
Uttar Pradesh.
 It also has four most sacred and revered Hindu temples called as Char Dham of
Uttarakhand namely Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.

 The annual Leonids Meteor Shower has started and will be active between November 6
and 30, 2021.
 The Leonids are considered as a major shower, featuring the fastest meteors. The
meteors usually travel at speeds of 71 km per second. The rates are usually as low as 15
meteors per hour. Leonids are also called as fireballs meteors, because of their bright
colour and earth-gazer meteors because they streak close to the horizon.
 A Leonid shower turns into a meteor storm, every 33 years. During Meteor storm,
hundreds to thousands of meteors are observed every hour. A Leonid storm is called as
meteor storm when around 1,000 meteors are visible per hour. Last meteor storm took
place in 2002.

 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to organise its first global hackathon called ‘HARBINGER
2021–Innovation for Transformation’ focusing on digital payments.
 Through this hackathon, RBI seeks ideas on easy-to-use, innovative, non-mobile digital
payment solutions to convert small-ticket cash transactions into digital mode to remove
physical act of payment.
 The Ministry of Civil Aviation declared “Srinagar International airport” as a “Major
Airport” on November 6, 2021.
 Airport was declared as major airport by exercising powers conferred by Sub-Section (i)
of Section 2 of the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India Act, 2008.
 AERA is a regulatory agency working under Government of India, as a statutory body. It
regulates tariff and other expenditure & fees for major airports. It was established under
the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India Act (AERA), 2008.

 The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) celebrates Legal Services Day on November
9 annually in India.
 The Day is celebrated to commemorate the enactment of Legal Services Authorities Act
1987 in India.
 On October 11, 1987, the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 was enacted and it came
into force on November 9, 1995.
 The National Legal Services Day was established with a mandate for offering support and
help to the weaker and poor groups including women, disabled persons, Scheduled
Tribes, Scheduled Castes, victims of natural calamities and victims of human trafficking.

 Recently, most of the developing nations like China, India and African countries, have
asked around US $1.3 trillion per year from wealthy countries in climate finance which
will start from 2030.
 LMDC is a group of developing countries, organised as a block negotiator in international
organizations like United Nations and World Trade Organization. LMDC represent about
50% of the world’s population. Member countries of the Like-Minded Group include
Bangladesh, Algeria, Bhutan, Belarus, Cuba, China, India, Egypt, Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Philippines, Syria, Sudan, Vietnam, and
Zimbabwe.
 The COP26 is the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference. It is being held in
Glasgow, Scotland, under the presidency of United Kingdom. It started on October 31 and
will conclude on November 12. The CoP comes under the United Nations Climate Change
Framework Convention (UNFCCC). UNFCCC was established in 1994.

 A regional security summit was hosted by India on November 10, 2021.

 Countries issued a joint statement, dubbed as “Delhi Declaration on Afghanistan”. As per
the statement, eight participating nations discussed the evolving Afghan situation
including the global ramification in the aftermath Taliban’s takeover.
 The eight nations, which attended the conference include India, Russia, Iran, Uzbekistan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

 The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has started first tour of Shri
Ramayana Yatra Special train on November 7, 2021.
 This will be 13 nights / 14 days special train. It will depart on November 16, and complete
its tour on November 29.
 The train will cover the destinations including- “Hampi – Nasik – Chitrakut Dham –
Varanasi – Gaya – Sitamarhi – Janakpur (Nepal) – Ayodhya – Nandigram – Prayagraj –
Shringaverpur” in that order.
 Travel cost for one person would be Rs 14,490.
 Boarding Points are- Madurai, Dindigul, Thanjavur, Tiruchchirappalli, Chidambaram,
Kumbakonam, Mayiladuthurai Jn, Villupuram Jn., Cuddalore Port, Davangere, Chennai
Egmore, Katpadi Jn, Jolarpettai Jn, Yesvantpur, Arsikere Jn., Gadag and Hubballi Jn.

 On November 10, 2021, Union Cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi approved

declaration of November 15 as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas.
 The Janjatiya Gaurav Divas will be observed to commemorate tribal freedom fighters.
 November 15 also marks the birth anniversary date of Birsa Munda who is considered as
God by tribal communities across India.
 He belonged to the Munda tribe and spearheaded an Indian tribal religious Millenarian
movement in late 19th century across the tribal belt of present-day Bihar and Jharkhand.

 World Science Day for Peace and Development is observed on November 10, every year
to highlight importance and relevance of science in our daily lives.
 The World Science Day 2021 was observed with the theme- ‘Building Climate-Ready
Communities’.

 United States of America (USA) became the 101st member country to join International
Solar Alliance (ISA).
 ISA is an alliance of 124 countries. It was initiated by India. Most of the member countries
are sunshine countries, lying either partly or completely between Tropic of Cancer and
Tropic of Capricorn. This alliance was launched with the objective of working for efficient
consumption of solar energy and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. It was first proposed
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2015. It is a treaty-based inter-
governmental organization. It is the largest grouping of states across the world.
 ISA is headquartered in Gurugram, India. Its foundation stone was laid by Narendra Modi,
and French President Francois Hollande in 2016.

 World’s longest bi-lane road tunnel called “Sela Tunnel” is being built on Balipara-
Charduar-Tawang (BCT) road by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), under Project
Vartak.
 The BCT road connects East Kameng, West Kameng, and Tawang districts of Arunachal
Pradesh to the rest of India.

 India launched an electric vehicle awareness web portal called “e-Amrit Portal” on
November 10, 2021.
 e-AMRIT portal stands for “Accelerated e-Mobility Revolution for India’s Transportation”.
This web portal was developed by NITI Aayog in association with the UK government as
part of India-UK Joint Roadmap 2030.
 The e-AMRIT portal was launched with the aim of creating awareness regarding electric
mobility in India. It has been developed as a ‘one-stop site’ containing all the information
regarding adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in India.

 German-watch in collaboration with Climate Action Network (CAN) and New Climate
Institute, published the “Climate Change Performance Index 2022”.
 In the index, India maintained its 10th rank.
 As per report, while United States has been ranked at 55th position among 66 countries
with very low rating, despite USA is improving since it re-entered global climate
negotiation process after President Joe Biden came to power.
 China has moved down four places as compared to 2020 ranking. It is ranked at 37th
 European Union is ranked at 22nd position, six places down as compared to 2020 ranking.
It has been given ‘medium’ rating.
 UK is occupying 7th slot.
 Denmark emerged as the topper in the list with 76.92 per cent score.
 Denmark is followed by Sweden and Norway.

 National Education Day is celebrated on November 11, to mark the birth anniversary of
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
 Maulana Abul Azad was an Indian independence activist, writer, Islamic theologian, and
a senior leader of Indian National Congress (INC). He became the First Minister of
Education of Independent India and served from 1947 to 1958 in Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru’s cabinet.

 Ruling Communist party (CCP) of China passed a rare ‘historical resolution’ to praise
president’s decisive significance in rejuvenation of China.
 This resolution has provided a significant boost to President Xi Jinping’s grip on power.
 Through this resolution, The President has put himself at the centre of the grand narrative
of his Party and modern China.

 Karnataka government started celebration of ‘Onake Obavva Jayanti’ on the 11th of

November from the year 2021.
 Onake Obavva was a woman-soldier who had fought against Hyder Ali forces in
Chitradurga in 18th century.
 She fought in the kingdom of Chitradurga in Karnataka. She is celebrated in the state of
Karnataka, along with Abbakka Rani, Kittur Chennamma and Keladi Chennamma. She
belonged to Holayas (Chalavadi) community.

 During COP26 conference in Glasgow, it was decided that Egypt will host COP27 United
Nations Climate Change Conference in 2022.
 COP is the apex decision-making authority of UNFCCC. It meets every year.
 The first COP meeting was held in March 1995 in Berlin, Germany. COP meets in Bonn,
seat if the secretariat.
 The office of the COP President rotates among five United Nations regional groups
namely, Asia, Africa, Central & Eastern Europe, Latin America & the Caribbean, and
Western Europe & Others.
 President of COP is usually the environment minister of home country, who is elected by
acclamation after opening of COP session.

 During a recent health check of London’s famous River Thames, it was found that, it is
now home to seahorses, seals, eels, and sharks.
 River Thames is also known alternatively as River Isis in some parts. It is a river flowing
through southern England including London. It is the longest river entirely in England. It
is also the second-longest river in the United Kingdom, after River Severn.

 52nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will be held from November 20 to
November 28, 2021.
 The golden peacock award will be earmarked for best film at the IFFI. It comprises of a
cash prize of Rs 40 lakh. Award will be shared equally by producer and director of the best
film.
 Silver Peacock award will be given to Best director. It carries a cash prize of Rs 15 lakh.
 IFFI jury comprises of renowned Iranian filmmaker Rakhshan Banietemad, Sri Lankan
filmmaker Vimukthi Jayasundara, British film producer Stephen Woolley, Indian
producer-director Nila Madhab Panda and Colombian filmmaker Ciro Guerra.

 Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) programme was launched in the state of

Karnataka.
 Pneumococcal is the name of group of diseases which are caused by bacterium
Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus). Streptococcus pneumoniae is the main
cause of bacterial pneumonia in children aged under five years.
 World Pneumonia Day is observed on November 12, annually. The day was established in
2009 by Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia.

 Indian Army is set to conduct the sixth edition of the biennial training exercise with French
Army from November 15, 2021, in series of joint training exercises with friendly nations.
 In the exercise, platoon strength of a Gorkha Rifles Infantry Battalion will participate,
representing India.
 French army will be represented by troops of 21st Marine Infantry Regiment of the 6th
Light Armoured Brigade.

 India is observing the Janjatiya Gaurav Divas on November 15, 2021.

 November 15 is significant as it marks the birth anniversary date of Birsa Munda.
 Birsa Munda had played a significant role in India’s independence. He fought against
exploitative British colonial system. He belonged to the Munda tribe.

 Bhadla Solar Park, located in Rajasthan, is the World’s largest solar power park.
 The Park comprises of 10 million solar panels at the park. These solar panels contribute
to an operational capacity of 2245 MW.

 Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is set to address the event of first Audit Diwas on
November 16, 2021.
 First edition of the Audit Diwas will be celebrated to mark the historic origins of the
institution of CAG and the contribution made by it to the governance, transparency and
accountability.
 CAG is the Constitutional Authority in India. It was established in accordance with Article
148 of the Constitution of India. CAG is empowered to Audit all receipts and expenditure
of the central as well as state governments. The CAG is the statutory auditor of
Government-owned corporations. It conducts supplementary audit of government
companies, where Government is having an equity share of 51 per cent.
 The CAG has been ranked at 9th place in the order of precedence. It enjoys same status
as the sitting judge of Supreme Court.

 State Cabinet of Arunachal Pradesh, headed by Chief Minister Pema Khandu, approved
“Kaiser-i-Hind” as state butterfly on November 13, 2021.
 During the meeting, cabinet also adopted ‘Pakke Tiger Reserve 2047 declaration on
climate change-resilient & responsive Arunachal Pradesh’ with the aim of lowering
emissions and sustainable development.

 On November 19, 2021 in the morning, several countries will witness the next eclipse of
the moon. It will be the longest Partial lunar eclipse of the century.
 A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align so that the Moon passes into
Earth's shadow.

 Ministry of Science & Technology inaugurated “Tech NEEV@75” on November 15, 2021
as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
 Tech NEEV@ 75” is a year-long celebration, highlighting the impact of Science Technology
Innovation (STI) in empowering community to create equitable inclusive economic
growth.

 Kashi Utsav is being organised in Varanasi from November 16 to November 18, 2021 to
celebrate classic heritage & culture of Kashi.
 A unique theme has been dedicated to each day of the festival. The themes are:
 Kashi ke Hastakshar;
 Kabir, Raidas ki Bani aur Nirgun Kashi and
 Kavita aur Kahani – Kashi ki Zubani.
 Russia has started the delivery of S-400 missile system to India, in a bid to boost India’s
air-defence capabilities.
 The missile is capable of protecting its air defence bubble against missiles, rockets, cruise
missiles and aircraft.
 S-400 Triumf is a mobile, surface-to-air missile (SAM) system. It was developed in by
Almaz Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering in 1990s, as an upgrade to S-300
family. The first battalion of newest surface-to-air missile systems assumed duty on
August 6, 2007. China was the first foreign buyer of the missile, in 2014. Since then,
countries like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Belarus and India have all acquired, or expressed
interest in the system.

 The International Day of Tolerance is observed every year on November 16.

 As a part of this annual observance, UNESCO introduced an award to honour individuals
who contributed towards promotion of the spirit of tolerance or non-violence by their
behaviour, and work across the fields like arts, science, and culture. The award is called
as “UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize”.

 On November 16, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Purvanchal
Expressway.
 The expressway was developed by “Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development
Authority (UPEIDA)”.
 UPEIDA stands for Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority. It was
established in 2007 by Uttar Pradesh government, to develop expressway projects in the
state. Its headquarter is at Paryatan Bhawan in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow.

 National Press Day is observed every year on November 16, to commemorate the
presence of responsible and independent press in India.
 Theme for National Press Day 2021 is ‘Who is Not Afraid of Media?’

 Clean Ocean International Expert Group of UN Decade for Ocean Science for Sustainable
Development, is going to present its short list of activities & goals as well as “Clean Ocean
Manifesto” on November 19, 2021.
 The group has set up two aims, in order to help United Nations in attaining the goal of
clean ocean:
 Reducing marine debris by 50-90 per cent and globe circling & high-tech system of
monitors.
 The expert group is co-chaired by:
 Angelika Brandt from Germany- A Southern Ocean & Antarctica biodiversity expert, and
 Elva Escobar Briones from Mexico- A deep sea biodiversity expert.
 Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, inaugurated a curtain raiser event
on November 18, 2021, regarding Wings India, 2022.
 The event was held under the theme: “India@75: New Horizon for Aviation Industry”.
 The Wings India, 2022 aims to bring the key stakeholders of Global Aviation market, States
Governments, International regulators, and business associations together as a group
representing airlines, in order to facilitate direct interaction with airport operators,
various airlines, cargo operators and other players on a common platform.

 World Toilet Day is observed on November 19, every year to raise awareness on
importance of toilets and sanitation in our daily lives.
 World Toilet Day 2021 was observed under the theme- “Valuing toilets”.

 President Ram Nath Kovind is set to honour around 342 cities that have been conferred
star rating for being garbage-free and clean in ‘Swachh Survekshan 2021’.
 Swachh Survekshan 2021 has become the world’s largest cleanliness survey by surveying
around 4320 cities.

 On November 20, 2021, China launched a new satellite called “Gaofen-11 03” from the
Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre.
 Gaofen is a series of high-resolution Earth imaging satellite of China, which is used for
state-sponsored program China High-resolution Earth Observation System (CHEOS). First
Gaofen series satellite, called Gaofen 1 was launched in 2013. Gaofen-11 03 is an Earth
observation satellite, which is operated by CNSA. It was separated in the Sun-synchronous
orbit, successfully.

 AYUSH Minister and Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda
Sonowal, announced to expand ‘North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda and Folk Medicine
Research (NEIAFMR)’ in Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh.
 NEIAFMR is an autonomous National Institute under the AYUSH Ministry. NEIFM at
Pasighat was established to conduct systematic research, documentation and validation
of traditional health practices and folk medicine of the region. Institute was established
with the objective of functioning as an apex research centre for all aspect of Folk Medicine
and creating an interface between scientific research, survey, validation & documentation
of folk medicine practices and traditional healers.

 On the occasion of World Fisheries Day on November 21, 2021, Balasore district in Odisha
received India’s “Best Marine District” award.
 World Fisheries Day is celebrated on November 21 every year to recognise the
contributions of fisher folks, fish farmers, and people involved in fishery trade worldwide.

 World Television Day is observed on November 21 across the globe, to highlight the
importance of television beyond an electronic tool.
 Television was invented in 1924 by a Scottish engineer, John Logie Baird. In India,
Television was introduced with the assistance of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on September 15, 1959, in New Delhi.

 World Children’s Day is observed on November 20, to promote feeling of togetherness

among children.
 World Children’s Day was observed under the theme- ‘A Better Future for Every Child’. It
is being observed in accordance to global covid-19 pandemic.

 The United Kingdom (UK) is going to host a summit of Foreign and Development Ministers
from G7 in December 2021, in the city of Liverpool.
 South-East Asian countries will also attend upcoming G7 Foreign Ministers’ meetings for
the first time.
 United Kingdom holds the G7 Presidency in 2021.

 Indian Navy formally commissioned INS Visakhapatnam at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.
 INS Visakhapatnam is 163m in length and 17m in breadth. It has a displacement of 7,400
tonnes. The ship can be regarded as one of the significant potent warships to have been
constructed in India. It is propelled by four powerful Gas Turbines, in a Combined Gas and
Gas (COGAG) configuration. The warship is capable of achieving speeds of 30 knots. It has
been named after the historic coast called Visakhapatnam, in Andhra Pradesh.

 Pratham NGO has been awarded with the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize 2021 for its work on
expanding the scope for education in India.
 The Indira Gandhi Peace Prize is an annual prestigious award. It has been named after
former prime minister Indira Gandhi. It is conferred every year since 1968 by Indira
Gandhi Memorial Trust. It comprises of a monetary award of Rs. 25 lakh and a citation.

 Karnataka celebrated “Kanakadasa Jayanthi” on November 22, 2021 to pay tribute to Shri
Kanaka Dasa, who was the 15th century poet, saint and social reformer.
 Kanaka Dasa was a Haridasa, and a renowned composer of Carnatic music, poet, musician
and philosopher. He is famous for his keertanas and ugabhoga, compositions for Carnatic
Music.

 Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU)-UNESCO Peace Media Awards 2021 were
presented on November 17, 2021 at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
 Awards were given by UNESCO in collaboration with ABU, under an initiative called
‘Together for Peace’ (T4P). This competition was open for TV, Radio and digital platforms.
 Programme ‘DEAFinitely Leading the Way’ of Doordarshan won award under ‘Living Well
with Super Diversity’ category.
 All India Radio’s programme called ‘Living on the edge – The coastal lives’ won award in
‘Ethical & Sustainable Relationship with Nature’ category.
 NASA is set to test a “Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) technology” in
space, with the aim of speeding up space communications.
 Laser technology in space will allow 10–100 times more data sent back to Earth, as against
radio frequencies. This technology will also prevent overcrowding of radio frequency
spectrum.

 The Sagar Shakti Exercise was held from November 19 to 22, 2021 in creek sector of the
Kutch peninsula.
 The exercise witnessed participation of the Indian Army, Indian Air Force, Indian Navy,
Indian Coast Guard, Gujarat Police, Border Security Force, and the Marine Police.

 Weather bureau of Australia declared on November 23, 2021 that; a La Nina weather
phenomenon had developed in Pacific Ocean for the second consecutive year.
 La Nina is an oceanic and atmospheric phenomenon, which is a colder counterpart of El
Nino. It is a part of broader El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate pattern. Name of
La Nina originates from Spanish for ‘the girl’. Phenomenon of La Nina is usually associated
with more tropical cyclones, greater rainfall, and cooler than average temperatures in
equatorial Pacific Ocean. The events typically last about a year.

 Indian Railways has launched a new scheme called “Bharat Gaurav Scheme” on November
23, 2021. Under this scheme, private tour operators can take trains on lease from railways
and run these trains on any circuit of their choice.
 Theme-based tourism circuit means, trains like:
 Guru Kripa which goes to all places linked to Guru Nanak
 Ramayan-themed train which goes to all places related to Lord Ram.

 The Indian Navy is set to commission INS Vela, on November 25, 2021, which is the fourth
stealth Scorpene class submarine under Project 75.
 INS Vela has been built by Mumbai-based Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd in association
with M/s Naval Group of France

 The Hubble Telescope has observed “Prawn Nebula”, which is a massive stellar nursery
located around 6,000 light-years away in Scorpius constellation.
 The Hubble Space telescope was launched in 1990 into low Earth orbit. It is named after
astronomer Edwin Hubble.
 Prawn Nebula is also called as IC 4628. It is an emission nebula located in Sagittarius Arm
of the Milky Way. Its distance is around 6,000 light-years from Earth in Scorpius
constellation.

 India, The Maldives and Sri Lanka are holding the 15th edition of the biennial trilateral
coast guard exercise ‘Dosti’, in the Maldives.
 The Dosti Coast Guard Exercise was first launched in 1991. These exercises were bilateral
earlier, involving Indian coast guard and Maldives Coast Guards. Sri Lanka joined these
exercises in 2012 for the first time. Since then, it has become trilateral exercise.

 The National Milk Day is celebrated on November 26, every year.

 The day is celebrated to honor Dr. Verghese Kurien, who is the father of India’s White
Revolution.

 Minister of State (MoS) for Ayush, Munjpara Mahedrabhai, virtually inaugurated the
Ayurveda Parv-2021 on November 26, 2021 in New Delhi.
 The Ayurveda Parv is organised with the aim of ensuring greater acceptance of Ayurveda
among masses and popularizing Ayurveda as mainline treatment for several lifestyle
diseases.
 In India, Ayurveda is promoted by Ministry of AYUSH, which was constituted by Indian
government on November 9, 2014. India also celebrates “National Ayurveda Day” on
Dhanteras, which marks the birth of Dhanvantari.

 6th edition of the BRICS Film Festival awards was announced at the 52nd International
Film Festival of India in Goa. For the first time, BRICS Film Festival was held alongside IFFI
during November 20 to November 28, 2021.
 Best film Award was shared by South African Film “Barakat” and Russian Film “The Sun
above me Never Sets”.
 Barakat has been directed by Amy Jephta while The Sun above Me Never Sets has been
directed by Lyubov Borisova.

 Senior bureaucrat Vivek Johri was appointed as the chairman of Central Board of Indirect
Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on November 28, 2021.
 CBIC is the nodal national agency to administer GST, Customs, Central Excise, Service Tax
& Narcotics in India. CBIC is headed by a chairperson and comprises of six members.
 The Customs & Central Excise department was established by the British Governor
General of India in 1855, for administering customs laws and for collecting import duties
or land revenue. CBIC is one of the oldest government departments in India.

 The Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh is set to get 13 cheetahs in 2022.
 Supreme Court expert committee had selected Kuno National Park as the habitat for
African cheetah in January 2021. The expert committee was constituted by the court for
implementing the Cheetah Translocation Project. Kuno was preferred over Nauradehi
Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh and Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan.

 United Nations observes the “International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People” on
November 29, every year.
 The observance of this day is held at United Nations Headquarters in New York as well as
United Nations Offices at Geneva and Vienna.
 International Day of Solidarity solemnly commemorate the adoption of resolution 181 (II),
by the assembly on November 29, 1947. This resolution provided for the partition of
Palestine into two States, one Arab and one Jewish.

 World’s tallest rail bridge pier will soon come up in North-eastern state of Manipur.
 This bridge is being constructed by Indian Railways at Noney Valley in Manipur. Bridge is
having the height of 141 metres.
 Bridge will break the record of Mala – Rijeka viaduct with height of 139 meters. It is
located in Montenegro, Europe.

 Barbados has become the World’s newest republic, around 400 years after it became a
British colony.
 Barbados, the Caribbean Island nation, removed Queen Elizabeth II as the head of the
state.
 Dame Sandra Prunella Mason, took over as the President of Barbados.
 Mason was selected as President of Barbados, at a joint meeting of both the Houses of
Parliament of Barbados.

 Skyroot Aerospace test-fired India’s first privately built cryogenic rocket engine called
Dhawan-1.
 Dhawan-1 engine comprises of a vacuum thrust of about 1.5kN. Engine was tested on a
specially constructed testbed at Solar Industries in Nagpur. The engine is the upper stage
of Vikram-2 launch vehicle. It uses environment friendly combinations called LNG and
LOX. It is entirely 3D printed. Engine has been named in honour of Satish Dhawan.

 Shillong’s famous Cherry Blossom Festival 2021 was held from November 25 to 27, 2021
in Meghalaya.
 The International Cherry Blossom Festival is hosted in Shillong, Meghalaya annually in
mid-November.
 Cherry Blossom is a flower of many trees of genus Prunus or Prunus Cerasus. It is the
national flower of Japan.
 DECEMBER 2021

 The BWF world Tour 2021 finals was held between PV Sindhu of India and Seyoung of
Korea. Seyoung won the cup and Sindhu settled in for a silver medal.
 Currently, Viktor Axelsen of Denmark holds the top rank in Men’s singles. S
 rikanth of India holds 14th rank. Tai Tzu – ying holds the top rank in women’s singles.
 PV Sindhu holds seventh rank.

 The India – Russia 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue was held in New Delhi in December 2021.
 It was held by the defence ministers and external affairs ministers of the two countries.
 This is the first 2+2 Dialogue held between India and Russia.
 During the dialogue India signed a contract with Russia to procure more than six lakh AK
– 203 rifles.
 The agreement was signed under the Indo – Russia Rifles Private Limited Programme.
Under the agreement, rifles are to be manufactured under a joint venture in Amethi.

 Project RE – HAB is Reducing Elephant Human – Attacks using Bees. It was recently
launched in Assam.
 The Project RE – HAB creates “bee fences”. The honey bees in these fences’ thwart
elephant attacks in human habitations. They dissuade the elephants without harming
them.
 The Project RE – HAB is implemented by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission
(KVIC). The KVIC is a statutory body established under Khadi and Village Industries
Commission Act, 1956.
 The Project was first launched in Karnataka. Upon its huge success in the state, it is to be
launched in West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

 The Exercise Ekuverin is a joint military exercise held between India and Maldives. It is
held between the armies of India and Maldives.
 Ekuverin means “Friends” in Dhivehi language. It is an Indo – Aryan language. It is spoken
in India, Lakshadweep and Maldives.

 The 22nd President’s Standard Award was presented to the 22nd Missile Vessel of the
Indian Navy. During the 1971 India – Pakistan War, the vessel bombed the Karachi port
and sunk Pakistani ships.
 The President’s Standard is the highest honour awarded in military. It has same honour
as that of President’s Colours awards.
 However, it is awarded to a smaller military formation or unit as compared to the
President’s Colours. It is presented by the President of India.
 The 22nd Missile Vessel Squadron is also called “The Killer”.
 The Imaging X – Ray Polarimetry Explorer is called IXPE. It is a NASA Space Observatory.
 It has three identical telescopes that measure the polarization of cosmic X – Rays.
 The main goal of the mission is to understand the high – energy astrophysical processes
and their sources.
 This supports the first science objective of NASA, which is, How the Universe works.
 The IXPE Mission was developed by Small Explorer Program of NASA.

 Matua is an uninhabited volcanic island located in the Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of
Okhotsk. It is in the northwest Pacific Ocean.
 Recently the Russian Military deployed its defence missile systems called the Bastion
systems to the Matua Island.

 Every year, the International Civil Aviation Day is celebrated on December 7. It is

celebrated by the United Nations and several other international organisations.
 The International Civil Aviation Day is celebrated under the following theme: “Advancing
Innovation for Global Aviation Development”

 Yutu – 2 is a Chinese lunar rover that was launched to the moon in Chang’e 4 mission.
 The Chang’e 1 and Chang’e 2 missions were orbiters.
 The Chang’e 3 landed on the near side of the moon with Yutu – 1. Chang’e 5 mission
brought moon sample to the earth.

 The US Government recently announced the boycott of Olympics 2022. The Olympics
2022 is to be held in Beijing.
 The US cited that “China’s human rights ATTROCITIES” is the main reason for its boycott.
The US has named the boycott as “Diplomatic Boycott”.
 On December 8, 2021. Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison announced that,
Australia will not send officials to February’s Winter Olympics in Beijing.
 What is the issue?
 China is hosting both Summer and Winter Olympics. This is the first time in the Olympics
history that a country is hosting both Summer and Winter Olympics.
 The Summer and Winter Olympics are held once in four years.
 The Summer Olympics is generally referred to as Olympics with more number of countries
participating. On the other hand, the Winter Olympics is relatively smaller event.
 The summer Olympics are held once in four years, mainly during the leap years.
 The winter Olympics are held two years after the leap year.
 The Summer Olympics were held in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, etc. And the Winter Olympics
were held in 2002, 2006, 2010, etc.
 China hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008 and is now to host the Winter Olympics in
2022.
 The Nai Manzil Scheme was launched by the Ministry of Minority Affairs in 2015. The main
objective of the scheme is to equip the minority youth with employable skills.
 Other Similar Scheme
 Seekho Aur Kamao: It means Learn and Earn. It is also called SAK scheme. It is a placement
linked skill development scheme. It aims to provide skills to minority youths in the age
group of 14 to 45 years. It includes modern and traditional skills based on the
qualification, market potential and economic trends. It reserves 33% of the total
allocation to the female beneficiaries.
 USTTAD: USTTAD is Upgrading the Skills and Training in Traditional Arts or Crafts for
Development. It aims to promote and preserve rich heritage of traditional arts and crafts
of minority communities.
 Hamari Dharohar Scheme: The scheme aims to preserve the culture, practices, beliefs,
customs and traditions of minority communities in the country.
 Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram: Aims to provide better infrastructure facilities to
the minority communities mainly in education and health.
 Navya Savera Scheme: Aims to empower minority community students preparing for
competitive exams

 On December 7, 2021, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

tested the “vertical launch-short range surface-to-air missile”, successfully.
 VL-SRSAM is a quick reaction surface-to-air missile, that has been developed by DRDO.
 It comprises of features like mid-course inertial guidance through fibre-optic gyroscope
as well as active radar homing during terminal phase.
 Missile has the capability of ‘lock on before launch (LOBL)’ and lock on after launch (LOAL).

 Comet A1 Leonard is a long period comet. It was discovered by GJ Leonard in January

2021.
 It was the first comet to be discovered in 2021. The comet will pass near the earth on
December 18, 2021.
 Retrograde orbit is the rotational motion of the astronomical object in the direction
opposite to the rotation of the primary.
 On the other hand, prograde orbit is the motion of the object in the same direction as
that of its primary.
 Assume, sun is rotating west to east. If the earth is revolving west to east, then the earth’s
orbit is called prograde. If the earth is revolving east to west then the orbit is called
retrograde.

 The Hornbill Festival, which is called the ‘Festivals of Festivals’, is a 10-day annual cultural
fest of Nagaland.
 Apart from the Hornbill festival, the other popular festival of the Nagas is the Lui Ngai Ni.
 It is the seed sowing festival that is celebrated by the Naga Tribes of Manipur.
 PANEX-21 is a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Exercise. It is to be held for the
BIMSTEC countries.
 The exercise is to be held among the BIMSTEC countries: Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal,
Myanmar, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.

 National Commission for Women (NCW) launched a pan-India capacity building

programme called “She is a Changemaker” on December 7, 2021.
 She is a Changemaker programme was launched for women in Politics.
 NCW is the statutory body of Government of India. It is usually concerned with advising
the government on all policy matters related to women.
 NCW was established on January 31, 1992 in accordance with the provisions of National
Commission for Women Act, 1990.
 The first chairperson of the commission was Jayanti Patnaik.
 The Rashtra Mahila is the monthly newsletter, published by NCW in both Hindi and
English.

 On December 8, 2021, Indian Air Force Helicopter Mi-17V5 crashed in the Nilgiris, near
Coonoor city.
 The helicopter crash has killed Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife along with
11 members of his personal staff.
 He was appointed as the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Indian Armed Forces and
he served as CDS from January 2020 until his death in December 2021.
 Before CDS, he served as 57th and last Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee and
26th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army.

 Union Cabinet approved the Ken-Betwa River interlinking project, ahead of elections to
major North Indian states.
 The Ken-Betwa River Interlinking Project aims to transfer surplus water from Ken River in
MP to Betwa River in UP in a bid to irrigate the drought-prone Bundelkhand region.
 Bundelkhand region spread across the districts of two states:
 Banda, Jhansi, Lalitpur and Mahoba districts in UP & Tikamgarh, Panna and Chhatarpur
districts in MP.

 Union Cabinet approved the extension of flagship housing-for-all scheme named

“Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G)” till March 2024.
 This scheme was previously called as Indira Awas Yojana.
 Under the scheme, financial assistance worth Rs 120,000 is provided in plain areas and Rs
130,000 in difficult areas for construction of houses.
 56th and 57th Jnanpith Awards were announced recently, for the year 2020 and 2021
respectively.
 Assamese Poet Nilmani Phookan Jr. and Konkani Novelist Damodar Mauzo have emerged
as the winners of 56th and 57th Award respectively.
 They were selected for their contribution to Indian literature.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate the Rs 9,802 crore Saryu Canal National
project in Balrampur district of Uttar Pradesh on December 11.
 The Saryu Canal project is the biggest in Uttar Pradesh. Under this project, five rivers
namely Ghagra, Rapti, Banganga, Saryu and Rohini, have been connected.
 The Saryu River originates at a ridge south of Nanda Kot Mountain in Bageshwar district
of the Uttarakhand.
 It flows through Kapkot, Seraghant and Bageshwar, towns and finally discharging into the
Sharda River at Pancheshwar, which is located at India—Nepal border.
 It then flows into Ghaghara River in Sitapur District of Uttar Pradesh. Lower Ghaghara is
also known as Saryu River, especially when it flows through the city of Ayodhya.

 Parliament of Germany has elected Olaf Scholz as the ninth post-World War II chancellor,
on December 8, 2021.
 The Chancellor of Germany is officially called as the federal chancellor of Federal Republic
of Germany.
 He is the head of federal government of Germany. He also acts as the commander in chief
of German Armed Forces during wartime.

 Google India announced the results for its Year in Search 2021 and has recapped the top
search trends of 2021 in India.
 As per result, the top searches are Cricket and CoWin.

 Chennai is all set to adopt innovative water management strategies and transform into a
sponge city to curb the urban flooding.
 Sponge city is a new urban construction model for flood management, and to strengthen
ecological infrastructure & drainage systems.

 Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointment Catherine Russell as the head of UN

children’s agency UNICEF.
 UNICEF is the successor of United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. It
was established on December 11, 1946, in New York.

 The United Nations General Assembly observes Human Rights Day on December 10, every
year.
 The Human Rights Day in year 2021 was observed under the theme- “Equality, reducing
inequalities, advancing human rights.”

 December 12, 2021 marked the launch date of first amateur radio satellite called OSCAR
1, which stands for “Orbiting Satellites Carrying Amateur Radio”.
 OSCAR 1 satellite comprises of a battery-powered 140 MW transmitter, that operate in
the 2-meter band.
 It was not only the world’s first non-governmental satellite but also the first satellite
constructed by a collection of private individuals.

 Max Verstappen have won his first “Formula One (F1) world title”, leaving behind Lewis
Hamilton, at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
 Max Emilian Verstappen is a Belgian-Dutch racing driver, who is currently competing in
Formula One with Red Bull Racing.

 21 years after Lara Dutta won the title of Miss Universe, Harnaaz Sandhu from India has
become the new Miss Universe 2021, on December 12.
 The 70th Miss Universe 2021 was held in Eilat, Israel.
 Crown was presented to Ms Sandhu by Andrea Meza, who was the former Miss Universe
2020 from Mexico.

 India voted against a UN Security Council (UNSC) draft resolution to securitise climate
change.
 The draft resolution was moved jointly by Niger and Ireland.
 Russia had vetoed the resolution.
 UNSC is among six principal organs of the United Nations (UN).
 Major powers of UNSC include:
 Establishing peacekeeping operations
 Enacting international sanctions
 Authorizing military action.
 UNSC comprises of fifteen members:
 Five permanent members: China, France, Russia, United Kingdom of Great Britain &
Northern Ireland, and the United States.
 Ten members are elected on a regional basis, for two years term.

 India successfully launched Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo System

(SMART) from Abdul Kalam Island, off the Odisha coast.
 SMART is a next-generation, missile based standoff torpedo delivery system.
 It has been designed to enhance the anti-submarine warfare capability.
 DRDO is a premier agency, working under Department of Defence Research and
Development of Ministry of Defence.
 It is charged with military’s research and development. The agency is headquartered in
Delhi. It was established in 1958.

 Myanmar’s shadow government has allowed the use of world’s largest cryptocurrency
called Tether.
 Tether is a cryptocurrency, which is hosted on the Ethereum blockchain.
 Its tokens are issued by Tether Limited.
 Tether limited is controlled by owners of Bitfinex. Tether is called a stablecoin, since it
was originally designed to always be worth one USD and maintain $ 1.00 in reserves.
 Cryptocurrency is a collection of binary data, working as a medium of exchange.
Cryptocurrency are not found in physical form like paper money.
 It is a tradable digital asset or digital money. Bitcoin was the first decentralized
cryptocurrency, which was released in 2009. Bitcoin was invented in 2008.

 Solar Hamam, a locally designed and branded heating system is gaining popularity across
the villages of Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The Solar Hamam provides an
anti-freezing outlet. It provides for 15-18 litres of boiling hot water, within first solar
illumination of 30-35 minutes, at maximum temperature of 90°C in the morning.

 Bank of Baroda (BoB) has launched a wearable payment solution called “bob World
Wave”.
 It has been designed to ensure seamless and convenient digital payments for customers.
 Bob world wave is a “Bank’s on the go” wearable payment solution.
 BOB is India’s fourth nationalised bank and a financial services company. It works under
the ownership of Ministry of Finance.

 On December 14, 2021, Ladakh received its first ever FM radio station in the capital city
Leh.
 The frequency for Leh & Kargil will be 91.1 FM. It will cover 50 kilometres aerial distance
in radius.

 India, Iran and Uzbekistan held talks on joint use of the Chabahar Port.
 Chabahar seaport is in Chabahar located in Iran, on the Gulf of Oman.
 The port serves as the only oceanic port of Iran. It comprises of two separate ports
namely, Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti.

 Malta has become the first country in European Union to legalise cannabis at home and
for personal use.
 Cannabis is a generic term denoting the several psychoactive preparations of Cannabis
sativa plant.
 It is the most widely cultivated, trafficked and abused illicit drug worldwide, by far.
 Major psychoactive constituent of cannabis is Delta tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

 The eighth Indian Ocean Dialogue was held on December 15, 2021.
 Dialogue was hosted under the theme- “Leveraging Digital Technologies for Health,
Education, Development, and Trade in Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Member
States”.
 IORA is an international organisation comprising of 23 states which share borders with
the Indian Ocean.
 It is a regional forum, tripartite in nature. It brings together representatives of
Government, Academia and Business to promote co-operation and closer interaction
between them.
 Coordinating Secretariat of IORA is situated at Ebene in Mauritius.

 Recently, a scientific paper revealed that, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe successfully entered
the Sun’s Corona on April 28, 2021.
 Corona is the outermost layer of Sun’s atmosphere. Here, strong magnetic fields bind
plasma as well prevent turbulent solar winds from escaping.
 Parker Solar Probe is a NASA space probe. It was launched on August 12, 2018. It was
launched with objective of making observations of outer corona of the Sun.

 A rare variety of Assam tea called Manohari Gold Tea set a record, as it was auctioned at
a record price of Rs 99,999 per kg.
 Manohari Gold Tea is produced by Manohari Tea Estate. It is produced in upper Dibrugarh
district of Assam.

 State-run NTPC Ltd has awarded India’s first green hydrogen microgrid project in Andhra
Pradesh.
 Green hydrogen is produced by separating water into hydrogen and oxygen using an
electrolyzer, which is powered by renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

 On December 15, 2021, seven times Formula One (F1) champion Lewis Hamilton has
received “knighthood” for services to motorsport.
 He is a British racing driver, currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes.

 The All-India Mayor’s Conference is being organised by the department of Urban

Development of Uttar Pradesh.
 Exhibition will be organised under the theme “Changing Urban Environment” in the TFC
premises.
 The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully tested the
new generation nuclear capable ballistic missile ‘Agni P’.
 Agni P is a two-stage canisterised solid propellant ballistic missile, having a dual redundant
navigation and guidance system.
 It is a medium-range ballistic missile, developed by Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) as the successor of Agni-I and Agni-II missiles.
 It is the sixth missile in Agni (missile) series of ballistic missile. The missile can be either
transported on train or stored in canister.

 Typhoon Rai hit the south-eastern part of the Philippines, bringing heavy rains and
flooding causing displacement of thousands over a large area.
 Typhoon Rai is called as Typhoon Odette in the Philippines.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been conferred with Bhutan’s highest civilian award
called Ngadag Pel gi Khorlo on December 17, 2021.
 He was conferred with the award on the occasion of Bhutan’s National Day.
 Celebration includes a public address by the Druk Gyalpo as well as a procession including
a statue of Ugyen Wangchuck, honouring the first Druk Gyalpo and independent
Bhutanese nation.
 The Druk Gyalpo is the head of state of Bhutan. Bhutan is also known as Drukyul, in the
Dzongkha language. It translates to “The Land of Thunder Dragon”.
 Kings of Bhutan are called as Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King) while, Bhutanese people call
themselves Drukpa (people of Druk).

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Goa on December 19, to attend Goa Liberation Day
celebrations.
 Goa Liberation Day is observed on December 19 every year. This Day marks the success
of ‘Operation Vijay’, which was undertaken by Indian Armed Forces to liberate Goa from
Portuguese rule.
 Goa was liberated on December 19, 1961.

 Shuttler Kidambi Srikanth became the first Indian man to win a silver medal at BWF World
Championships.
 In the final, he was defeated by Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew by 21-15, 22-20.

 Indian Navy conducted the first sea trials for Indian Navy’s indigenously built stealth
destroyer called Mormugao, in the Arabian Sea.
 The maiden sea voyage of the warship has been built under the project P-15B. Its
development coincides with the 60th anniversary of liberation of Goa from Portuguese
rule.
 Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently launched Rashtriya Ekta Geet, which has been
composed by the National Cadet Core cadets.
 Rashtriya Ekta Geet has been composed in 22 languages. It is based on the theme of
national integration.
 NCC was established by the Act of 1950.
 It was set with the objective of making up for the shortage in Army.
 In 1920, ‘University Corps’ was replaced by the University Training Corps (UTC), with the
aim of raising the status of UTC and make it attractive to the youth.

 The International Human Solidarity Day was observed globally on December 20, to
honour the “Unity in Diversity”.
 The logo for the day has been designed by considering its theme.
 Logo comprises of four humans surrounding the earth, with their arms outstretched.
Different colours of the arms symbolises unity in diversity.
 The theme is centered around promoting cultural equality, social justice that is directed
towards human and social development (specifically in developing countries). The theme
remains the same every year.

 On December 21, 2021, first batch of Indigenous Armoured Engineer Reconnaissance

vehicles were inducted into the Indian Army.
 Indigenous Armoured Engineer Reconnaissance vehicle has been designed by Defence
Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
 The AERV has been developed by modifying the amphibious infantry fighting vehicle
called BMP-II.
 The vehicle has been designed to meet tactical and combat requirements of military
engineers who are carrying out terrestrial and under-water surveys in difficult terrains.

 On December 20, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved world’s first
injectable medication for reducing the risk of acquiring HIV.
 Apretude is an injectable drug. Its generic name is “cabotegravir extended-release
injectable suspension”.

 On December 22, 2021, the first successful test flight of short-range surface-to-surface
Pralay missile was conducted.
 Pralay is a canisterised surface-to-surface, short-range ballistic missile (SRBM).

 Oldest university of Hong Kong launched an overnight operation on December 23, 2021
to dismantle a statue that commemorates people killed in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in
latest blow to academic freedoms.
 “Pillar of Shame” are a series of 8-metre (26-feet) high statues, constructed by Jens
Galschiot.

 The National Consumer Day is observed on December 24, every year in India.
 The National Consumer Day 2021 is being observed under the theme “Tackling Plastic
Pollution”.

 India’s first indigenously built missile corvettes, INS Khukri (P49), was decommissioned
after 32 years of service at Visakhapatnam on December 24, 2021.
 INS Khukri (P49) was named after INS Khukri (F149), which was lost in combat. It was the
lead vessel of her class of corvettes, giving service to the Indian Navy.

 The Indian Army launched a contemporary messaging application named, ASIGMA, which
is dubbed as “Army Secure IndiGeneous Messaging Application”.
 It will replace the AWAN (Army Wide Area Network) messaging application.

 Ever since Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was elected to office, an ‘India Out’
campaign has cropped up within the country.
 The campaign is led by government critics. The critics accuse Maldives President
government of “allowing Indian boots on the ground”. It comprises the sovereignty of the
island nation.
 However, the ruling administration has denied the presence of any Indian military in
Maldives, or any threat to Maldives’s sovereignty.

 NASA’s Psyche mission is going to be launched in August 2022.

 It will be the first launch to explore a giant metal asteroid known as Psyche in the main
asteroid belt.
 The asteroid Psyche is in between Mars & Jupiter and is orbiting the Sun.

 The 97th edition of the World Sangeet Tansen Festival was started in Gwalior, Madhya
Pradesh on December 25, 2021.
 The stage of the festival has been constructed on the theme of “Siddhanath temple”
which is situated in Omkareshwar.

 The prestigious Global Environment and Climate Action Citizen Award was presented to
Surat’s noted industrialist Viral Desai.
 Viral Desai is popularly known as Greenman, because of his love for the environment.

 The State of Telangana has become India’s first state to compete 100 per cent 1st dose
Covid-19 vaccination.
 State is ahead of national average by 9 per cent in terms of first dose while it is ahead of
national average by 3 per cent in second dose.

 On December 30, 2021, Central government declared entire Nagaland as a “disturbed

area” for six more months, under the AFSPA Act.
 This decision was taken days after the central government constituted a high-level
committee for examining the possibility of withdrawal of controversial Armed Forces
(Special Powers) Act from Nagaland.
 The Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 gives power to the armed forces to maintain
public order in “disturbed areas”.
 With this act, armed forces are authorised to use force or even open fire after warning a
person found to be in contravention of the law.

 On December 30, 2021, the Sahitya Akademi announced its prestigious “Sahitya Akademi
Awards, Yuva Puraskar as well as Bal Sahitya Puraskar” for 2021 in various languages.
 Namita Gokhale received the Sahitya Akademi Award in English for her novel titled ‘Things
to Leave Behind’.
 Megha Majumdar won the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar 2021 award for her debut book
‘A Burning’, which was published in 2020. This book is about struggles of life in India.
 Anita Vachharajani won the Bal Sahitya Puraskar 2021 award in the English language. She
was awarded for her children’s book titled ‘Amrita Sher-Gil: Rebel With A Paintbrush’.

 On December 29, 2021, the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) announced to add Egypt
as its new member.
 Egypt is the fourth new member admitted into NDB, following Bangladesh, United Arab
Emirates (UAE) and Uruguay.
 NDB is a multilateral development bank.
 It was jointly founded by the BRICS countries in 2014, at the 6th BRICS Summit in
Fortaleza, Brazil. But it was formally opened on July 2015.
 Its headquarter is at Shanghai, China.

 On December 31, 2021, World’s longest Metro Line was opened in China’s Shanghai
Province.
 Shanghai is one of the four direct-administered municipalities in China.
 It is located on the southern estuary of Yangtze River.
 Huangpu River also flows through it.
 The city is the most populous urban area in China as well as the most populous city in the
world.
 It is the only city in East Asia, having its GDP greater than its corresponding capital.

 ‘Pandemic’ has been chosen as the top word of 2020 by Merriam-Webster dictionary.
 Pandemic is a combination of pan, for all, and demos, for people or population with roots
in Latin and Greek.

 The “world’s loneliest elephant” Kaavan (36) embarked on a mammoth move from
Islamabad zoo in Pakistan to retirement in a Cambodian sanctuary. Kaavan is the only
Asian elephant in Pakistan.

 The World AIDS day was celebrated on December 1 2020 all over the world under the
team missionary Global solidarity, shared responsibility.
 The theme for World AIDS Day 2021 is “End inequalities. End AIDS. End Pandemics”.

 Ballon d’Or awards presented in Paris

 Lionel Messi of Argentina and French club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) wins men’s Ballon
d’Or award
 Alexia Putellas, captaining Barcelona to a treble-winning season, won the women’s Ballon
d’Or
 19-year-old Pedri (Pedro Gonzalez Lopez) of Barcelona won the Kopa Trophy for the best
player aged under-21
 Paris Saint-Germain’s Gianluigi Donnarumma won the Yashin Trophy for the best
goalkeeper
 Best Striker of the Year award won by Robert Lewandowski of Poland and Bayern Munich
 Best Club of the Year award went to EPL club Chelsea
 JANUARY 2022

 Making Elections Inclusive, Accessible and Participative is the theme of National Voters'
Day observed on 25 January 2022.
 It was the 12th National Voters' Day in 2022.
 It is celebrated on 25 January. The main objective behind the celebration is to encourage,
facilitate, and maximize enrolment, especially for new voters.
 The day has been celebrated since 2011 across the country to mark the foundation of the
Election Commission of India, i.e. 25th January 1950.
 First executive of Election Commission of India was Sukumar Sen

 Andhra Pradesh has increased the retirement age for its employees from 60 to 62 years.
 Along with that, the salary will also be hiked by 23.39 per cent.
 In a meeting with the representatives of the Employees' Union, Andhra CM YS Jagan
Mohan Reddy made the announcements.

 It's all in the mind is the theme of National Youth Day 2022 observed on 12 January 2022.
 Every year on January 12, India celebrates National Youth Day, also known as Yuva Diwas,
to commemorate the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.
 He was one of the most prominent philosophers, monks, and thinkers of India.
 This day was first declared as National Youth Day in 1984 by the government of India to
pay tribute and honor the teachings of Vivekananda.
 Since then, Rashtriya Yuva Diwas is celebrated all across the country.
 Swami Vivekananda’s original was Narendra Nath Dutta
 Swami Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission

 Captain Harpreet Chandi The British Sikh Army officer who has become the first person
of Indian origin to complete a solo unsupported trek to the South Pole.
 Harpreet Kaur Chandi is a British physiotherapist and British Army medical officer who
completed a solo expedition across Antarctica to the South Pole, on 3 January 2022.
 Extra Fact : India’s observatories in Antarctica are Bharati, Maitri, Dakshin Gangotri.

 Sindhutai Sapkal the Indian social worker and social activist known particularly for her
work in raising orphaned children in India passed away on 04.01.2022.
 She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2021 in the Social Work category.
 Padma Shri also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic
of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan.
 It is awarded by the Government of India every year on India's Republic Day.

 India's first geological park of India will be built in Lamheta, Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.
 The geological park will be built in Lamheta, because this place is among significant places
in the world, from a geological point of view.
 In 1928, William Henry Sleeman had discovered Dinosaur fossils from this area. UNESCO
has also recognised Lamheta as a geo heritage site.
 Geopark is a unified area, which advances the protection and use of geological heritage
in a sustainable manner.
 It also promotes the economic well-being of the people living there.

 Padma Vibhushan Awards

 Arts - Ms. Prabha Atre
 Literature and Education - Shri Radheyshyam Khemka (Posthumous)
 Civil Service - General Bipin Rawat (Posthumous)
 Public Affairs - Shri Kalyan Singh (Posthumous)

 The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the
Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna.
 Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished
service".
 All persons without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex are eligible for these
awards

 79th Golden Globe Awards

 Best Motion Picture (Drama): The Power of the Dog directed by Jane Campion.
 Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): West Side Story directed by Steven Spielberg.
 The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the members of the Hollywood
Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both
American and international film and television.

 India and UK conclude first round of talks for Free Trade Agreement.
 Both countries agreed to an early harvest scheme or a limited trade agreement to lower
tariffs on a small set of goods apart from easing rules for select services.
 Further, they agreed to avoid “sensitive issues” and focus on areas where there is more
complementarity.
 The agriculture and dairy sectors are considered sensitive sectors for India in trade talks.
 Also, a target of doubling the trade between India and the United Kingdom (UK) by 2030
has also been set.

 Free Trade Agreement (FTA)

 It is a pact between two or more nations to reduce barriers to imports and exports among
them.
 Under a free trade policy, goods and services can be bought and sold across international
borders with little or no government tariffs, quotas, subsidies, or prohibitions to inhibit
their exchange.

 Indian Naval Placement Agency signs MoU with IIFL Home Finance Ltd.
 Indian Naval Placement Agency (INPA) was established on 28 Feb 06 and has been
providing employment assistance to retired / widows / next of kin / retiring naval
personnel.

 Neeraj Chopra honored with the Param Vishisht Seva Medal.

 Neeraj Chopra is an Indian track and field athlete who is the reigning Olympic Champion
in javelin throw.
 As of August 2021, he is ranked second internationally by World Athletics.
 Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) is a military award of India.
 It was constituted in 1960 and since then till date, it is awarded in recognition to peace-
time service of the most exceptional order and may be awarded posthumously.
 Other Awards : Padma Shri, Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for Athletics, Arjuna
Award for Athletics

 Kerala to get country’s first Graphene Innovation Centre.

 Graphene is known for its extraordinary electrical and electronic properties, and as per
latest research, it could replace indium and bring down the cost of OLED screens in
smartphones.
 India’s first innovation centre for graphene will be set up in Kerala by the Digital University
Kerala (DUK), along with Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET) in
Thrissur, for Rs 86.41 crore.
 This will be the first graphene Research and Development (R&D) incubation centre in the
country.
 Tata Steel Limited is set to be the industrial partner of the centre.
 Kerala’s Kumbalangi becomes the country's 1st sanitary-napkin free village.
 Kumbalangi is an island village in the outskirts of Kochi city in the state of Kerala, India.
Situated amidst backwaters, around 12 km from the city center.
 Kumbalangi is a major tourist attraction and is famous for its Chinese fishing nets.
 The village has previously won acclaim as India’s first model tourism village.
 This move is a part of ‘Avalkayi’ initiative, which is being implemented in the Ernakulam
parliamentary constituency, in association with “Thingal Scheme '' of HLL Management
Academy and Indian Oil Corporation.
 Avalkayi initiative - Under this initiative, menstrual cups will be distributed to women
aged 18 and above in Kumbalangi village. 5000 menstrual cups will be distributed under
it.

 Amar Jawan Jyoti merged with the flame at the National War Memorial.
 Amar Jawan Jyoti is an Indian memorial conceptualized and constructed after the Indo-
Pakistani War of 1971 and inaugurated on 26 January 1972.
 It was the national war memorial in India until February 2019 when the new National War
Memorial and its own flame was inaugurated and lit.
 On 21 January 2022, the older flame was merged with the newer one at the National War
Memorial.

 Sumeet Bhale wins gold medal at the International Folk Art Festival.
 Lavni artist from Maharashtra, Sumeet Bhale of Fulbari taluka has won a gold medal at
the International Folk Art Festival in Dubai.
 Lavani is a genre of music popular in Maharashtra.
 It is a combination of traditional song and dance, which is particularly performed to the
beats of Dholki, a percussion instrument.

 India to introduce Radio-Frequency Identification-based e-passport.

 Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) refers to a wireless system comprising two
components: tags and readers.
 The reader is a device that has one or more antennas that emit radio waves and receive
signals back from the RFID tag.

 Losoong: Sikkimese New Year festival celebrated.

 Losoong is a Sikkimese New Year festival and carnival which celebrates the end of the
annual harvest season at the conclusion of the tenth month of the Tibetan Lunar
Calendar.
 The festival is primarily celebrated by Bhutia and Lepcha tribes in India, Bhutan and Nepal.
 Daniel Ortega sworn in as President for the fourth term in Nicaragua.
 Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American isthmus, bordered by Honduras
to the northwest, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean
to the southwest.
 Managua is the country's capital and largest city and is also the third-largest city in Central
America.

 Indian Railways’ Railway Protection Force launches "Mission Amanat".

 Indian Railways launch 'Mission Amanat' to help find passengers' lost luggage, details to
be posted on the official website.
 This will help the passengers in tracking and getting back their lost belongings as well as
ensure the safety and security of passengers and their luggage and belongings.

 Kochi becomes the first city with a water metro project.

 Kochi, Kerala has become India’s first city to have a Water Metro Project after the launch
of its first boat in December 2021, namely ‘Muziris,’ among the 23 battery-powered
electric boats being manufactured by Cochin Shipyard Limited.
 This launch is a part of the Rs 747-crore project which is operated by Kochi Water Metro
Ltd (KWML). The boats will be called Water Metros.

 UJALA scheme completes 7 years; 36 Cr LEDs distributed across India.

 Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) was launched by Prime Minister of India
Narendra Modi on 5 Jan 2015.
 The project is spearheaded by the Energy Efficiency Services Limited.In non-subsidized
LED lamp distribution projects, this program is considered the world's largest.
 The UJALA scheme also known as the LED-based Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme
(DELP) aims to promote the efficient usage of energy for all i.e., its consumption, savings
and lighting.
 Aims to promote efficient use of energy at the residential level.
 Enhance the awareness of consumers about the efficacy of using energy-efficient
appliances and aggregating demand to reduce the high initial costs, thus facilitating
higher uptake of LED lights by residential users.

 Exercise Milan 2022: India to host 46 nations, largest by the Indian Navy.
 Milan began in 1995 and is held biennially and brings together Navies of all the countries
in the region.
 It has so far been held at Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar but is now being shifted to
Visakhapatnam which offers more infrastructure as well as sea space for the exercise.
 It has several themes such as anti-submarine warfare among others along with
deliberations, including by subject matter experts.

 ISRO is likely to launch “Aditya-L1 mission” to study the sun, in year 2022.
 Aditya L1 mission will be launched to study Sun’s corona (Visible and Near infrared rays),
chromosphere (Ultra Violet), Sun’s photosphere (soft and hard X-ray), solar winds &
flares, solar emissions, and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). It will also carry out round-
the-clock imaging of the Sun.
 Lagrange Points has been named after Italian-French mathematician Josephy-Louis
Lagrange.

 Xiomara Castro was sworn in as the first woman president of Honduras.

 Honduras is a Central American country. Its capital is Tegucigalpa. It is located along the
coast of Caribbean Sea.

 Rafael Nadal won his 21st Grand Slam title. He beat Daniil Medvedev at the Australian
Open Final to grab his Grand Slam. With this Nadal has become the first player to win 21
grand slam titles.

 The Government of India has appointed Anantha Nageswaran as the new Chief Economic
Advisor. He is a former member of Prime Minister Economic Advisory Council.
 It is an independent body. Nageswaran had led the council for PM Modi.
 Currently Dr Bibek Debroy is the Chairman of the council. The council advises the PM on
national and international economic issues.

 Deccahorns are private firms whose value exceeded over ten billion USD. Recently Swiggy
has become the fourth Indian company to earn the tag. The other three companies that
hold the tag already are Paytm, a FinTech, Oyo (a hotel aggregator) and Byjus (an Edtech).
Facebook was the first Deccahorn.

 Every year, the National Voters Day is celebrated on January 25. The day is celebrated to
increase the enrolment of new voters in the country.
 “My Voter is my Future – power of one vote” programme was launched.
 On National Voters Day, 2022, a book called “Pledging to Vote – A Decadal Journey of the
National Voters Day in India” was published.
 Every year the National Tourism Day is celebrated on January 25.
 Theme of National Tourism Day is Rural and Community centric tourism.

 The International Day of Education is observed on January 24, annually.

 The day was observed with the theme– ‘Changing Course, Transforming Education’.

 Government of Assam conferred its highest civilian award ‘Assam Baibhav’ on Ratan Tata,
on January 24, 2022.
 It is the highest civilian award in State of Assam. This award was officially declared by chief
minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on December 2, 2021.
 It was declared on the occasion of “Asom diwas” (Assam Day). The Award carries a cash
prize of Rs 5 lakh.

 P V Sindhu won the 2022 Syed Modi India International Badminton.

 In women’s single, P. V. Sindhu won the title. Malvika Bansod was the runner.
 This international tournament is held in India annually. In 2009, it was converted into a
BWF tournament. BWF is Badminton World Federation.

 Every year the National Girl Child Day is celebrated on January 24. The day is celebrated
to promote the rights of girl child in the country.
 The Government of India did not announce any theme in 2022.

 Abide with Me is a Christian hymn. It was created by Henry Francis Lyte. It is a prayer
where the speaker asks the god to stay with him throughout his life and also after death.

 On January 23, 2022, India celebrated 125th Birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra
Bose. His birth anniversary is also marked as “Parakram Diwas or Courage Day. This day
was announced in 2021.

 The Border Security Force, BSF launches Operation Sard Hawa. Under the operation, the
BSF increases the surveillance in the Pakistan border.
 It is usually launched in the Rajasthan border, especially in the Jaisalmer region. It is a
regular annual exercise. It is launched in the month of January.

 The Collarwali tigress in Pench Tiger Reserve of India recently died. It died because of age.
The last rites were conducted by the Forest Department of the state of Madhya Pradesh.
The tigress died at the age of 16.
 The tigress earned popularity after its was featured in a BBC documentary called “Spy in
the jungle”. After this documentary, she became one of the best known tigers of India.

 In 2020, resignation rates in United States increased amid the fear and uncertainty caused
by the covid-19 pandemic.
 One year later, the workforce experienced a collective burnout, as a result they left their
jobs at unprecedented rates.
 This phenomenon of mass resignation is being described as Great Resignation.

Most Successful books to crack defence exams :

Available on Amazon / Flipkart