VISION

1)  International Day of Peace: 21 September

•Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The UN General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, through observing 24 hours of non-violence and cease-fire.

•The 2021 theme for the International Day of Peace is “Recovering Better for an Equitable and Sustainable World.” Celebrate peace by standing up against acts of hate online and offline, and by spreading compassion, kindness, and hope in the face of the pandemic, and as we recover.

2)  World Alzheimer’s Day: 21st September

•World Alzheimer’s Day is observed globally on September 21 every year. The day aims to raise awareness about the stigma that runs around Alzheimer disease and related dementia. World Alzheimer’s Day was launched at the opening of ADI’s annual conference in Edinburgh on 21 September 1994 to celebrate our 10th anniversary.

•The theme for World Alzheimer Day 2021 is “Know Dementia, Know Alzheimer’s”.

3)  International Week of Deaf People 2021: September 20 to 26

•Every year, the full week ending on the last Sunday of September is observed as the International Week of the Deaf (IWD). In 2021, IWD is being observed from September 20 to 26, 2021. The last Sunday of the month of September is celebrated as the World Day of Deaf or International Day of the Deaf (September 26, 2021). The theme of 2021 IWD is “Celebrating Thriving Deaf Communities”.

4)  Iran becomes 9th member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

•Iran was officially admitted as a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The decision to admit Iran as a full member was declared in the 21st summit of the SCO leaders in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. At the end of the 21st Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the leaders of the eight main members of the organisation agreed to change the membership of the Islamic Republic of Iran from an observer member to a full member and signed the relevant documents.

•Accordingly, the technical process of Iran becoming one of the main members of the organisation has begun and Iran will henceforth cooperate and interact with member countries as the main member of the important regional organisation.

5)  FSSAI’s 3rd State Food Safety Index 2021 released

•Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Mansukh Mandaviya has released the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)’s 3rd State Food Safety Index (SFSI) to measure the performance of States across five parameters of food safety. The Minister felicitated nine leading States/UTs based on the ranking for the year 2020-21 for their impressive performance.

•Minister also flagged off 19 Mobile Food Testing Vans (Food Safety on Wheels) to supplement the food safety ecosystem across the country taking the total number of such mobile testing vans to 109.

6)  Geeta Samota becomes ‘Fastest Indian’ to Summit Two Peaks

•CISF official Geeta Samota became the “fastest Indian” to summit two peaks located in Africa and Russia. Earlier this month, Sub Inspector Geeta Samota had scaled Mount Elbrus in Russia, the highest peak in Europe. While Mt Elbrus (5,642 mts) is in Russia, the Kilimanjaro peak (5,895 mts) is located in Tanzania and is Africa’s highest peak.

•Samota works with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), a central paramilitary force under the command of the Union home ministry. Geeta Samota joined CISF in 2011 and was in the unit in 2012. She has also scaled Mt Satopanth (7075 metres; located in Uttarakhand) and Mt Lobuche (in Nepal). She was also a team member of the Mt Everest expedition team of the CAPF.

7)  Book title “The Three Khans: And the Emergence of New India” by Kaveree Bamzai

•A book has titled “The Three Khans: And the Emergence of New India” authored by Kaveree Bamzai. In the book, senior journalist, Kaveree Bamzai has juxtaposed the careers of the 3 Khans, Aamir, Shah Rukh, & Salman, with the most tumultuous times in the history of the republic. Art often responds to social and political dimensions,& in a country short of role models, film stars often play double roles.

8)  India ranks 46th in Global Innovation Index 2021

•India has been ranked at 46th place in the Global Innovation Index 2021 released by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). India has jumped 2 spots from last year’s ranking. Under the Lower middle-income category group, India has been ranked at the second spot after Vietnam. The Global Innovation Index 2021 captures the innovation ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.

📰 Done and dusted: On the National Register of Citizens process

APTI PLUS Current Affairs Monthly Magazine September 2021

Insights IAS Prelims Exclusive 2021 Art & Culture-2 PDF

1)  Charanjit Singh Channi to be next chief minister of Punjab

•The Congress party has elected Charanjit Singh Channi, the outgoing technical education minister, as the new chief minister of Punjab after Captain Amarinder Singh resigned from the post. He has been elected as the leader of the Punjab Congress Legislative Party (CLP). He is an MLA from the Chamkaur Sahib assembly constituency. He will become Punjab’s first Dalit chief minister.

•Captain Amarinder Singh, who resigned as the chief minister of Punjab on Saturday following months of infighting between him and Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief Navjot Singh Sidhu.

2)  Rajnath Singh launches a book title ‘Shining Sikh Youth of India’

•The Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has released a book titled ‘Shining Sikh Youth of India’ in New Delhi, as a part of the commemoration of the 400th birth anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru of Sikhs. The book has been authored by Dr Prabhleen Singh, administrative officer at the Punjabi University, Patiala. It covers 100 inspirational and motivational success stories of Sikh youth in India who have done exemplary work in their respective fields.

3)  Ministry of Law and Justice launches “Ek Pahal” campaign

•Department of Justice under the Ministry of Law and Justice has launched the “Ek Pahal”  campaign to encourage mass registration under Tele-Law. The Ek Pahal campaign will run across the country from 17th September till 2nd October. The “Ek Pahal” campaign will cover 51,434 Common Service Centres in 50,000 Gram Panchayats in 633 districts across 34 States and UTs.

4)  Manipur’s Sirarakhong Chilli and Tamenglong Orange gets GI tag

•Two famous products of Manipur, Hathei chilli, which is found in Manipur’s Ukrul district and is known for its unique flavour, and Tamenglong mandarin orange have been granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag. This is a historic milestone in the history of Manipur and it will increase the income of farmers in Manipur.

5)  ‘Katley’ declared as state fish of Sikkim

•The Government of Sikkim has declared ‘Cooper Mahseer’ locally named as ‘Katley’ as the state fish. Neolissochilus hexagonolepis is the scientific name of the Cooper Mahseer. The decision has been taken to highlight the importance of the Katley fish and to give emphasis to its conservation measures. The fish has high market value and is highly preferred by the public in the State.

•The Sikkim government has also declared the reservoirs of the State to be open for fishing activities. License shall be issued by the Directorate of Fisheries to the interested individual fishermen or fishermen co-operative societies or SHGs for fishing in the reservoirs in accordance with the existing provisions under the Sikkim Fisheries Rules, 1990. The reservoirs are in Chungthang in North Sikkim, Legshep in West Sikkim along with Dikchu and Rorathang in East Sikkim.

6)  LIC Launches Mobile App ‘PRAGATI’ for Development Officers

•Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has launched a new mobile app ‘PRAGATI’ for the exclusive use of its Development Officers. PRAGATI stands for “Performance Review Application, Growth And Trend Indicator”. LIC has been taking a lot of customer-centric and digital initiatives for ease of operations for its customers and field force.

7)  NPCI partners with Liquid Group to enable UPI QR-based payments acceptance

•NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) has partnered with Liquid Group Pte. Ltd. (Liquid Group) to enable UPI QR-based payments acceptance in 10 markets across North Asia and Southeast Asia. This partnership will help BHIM App users to make UPI QR-based payments in the 10 markets of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan, from early 2022.

•This strategic partnership with Liquid Group is a formidable step towards achieving our vision of taking our robust and popular payments solutions to global markets. This will enable UPI QR-based payment acceptance and scale-up in Asian markets.

8)  World Bank Group Discontinues Doing Business Report

•The World Bank Group has decided to discontinue publication of its ‘Doing Business” rankings of country business climates after a review of data irregularities in the 2018 and 2020 reports. The decision was taken by the Board of Executive Directors, World Bank Group management after data irregularities on Doing Business 2018 and 2020 were reported.

•To fill the void created by the discontinuation of this report, World Bank would be working on a new approach to assessing the business and investment climate.

9)  Fino Payments Bank appoints Pankaj Tripathi as brand ambassador

•Fino Payments Bank (FPBL) has appointed Indian actor Pankaj Tripathi as its first brand ambassador, for a period of two-year. Pankaj Tripathi will be the face of Fino Payments Bank’s marketing campaigns across various platforms, to promote its products and services.

•To begin with, the actor will be the face of Fino bank’s first campaign titled ‘Fikar Not’. He will work with the brand in promoting its products and services representing through Fino’s ever-present and friendly neighbourhood local banker – Hamesha available!

10)  Pankaj Advani wins Asian Snooker Championship 2021

•India’s Pankaj Advani won the Asian Snooker Championship 2021 by defeating Amir Sarkhosh. He has won this title for a second consecutive time. He is the winner of the last Asian Snooker Championship held in 2019. In 2019, Pankaj also became the only player who won the titles in all forms of billiards, snooker, 6Reds, and 10Reds competitions. Yasin Merchant (1989, 2001), Alok Kumar (2004), Aditya Mehta (2012) were the other Indians who won the championship.

11)  Harmilan Kaur Bains sets new record in 1500m race at National level

•Harmilan Kaur Bains of Punjab has created a new national record in the women’s 1500m race by clocking 4:05.39 to bag the gold at the 60th National Open Athletics Championships in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Hanamkonda in Telangana. With this achievement, the 23-year-old athlete has erased the 19-year-old record held by Sunita Rani in 1500m at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan by clocking 4:06.03.

📰 1.2 lakh people died in road accidents in 2020: NCRB

 APTI PLUS Current Affairs Monthly Magazine August 2021

 Shankar IAS August 2021 Monthly Mainstorming PDF