VISION

1)  Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2021: October 01 to 31

•Every year the Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) is observed in the month of October, from 01 to 31. The annual international health campaign aims to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure. The pink ribbon is an international symbol of breast cancer awareness.

2)  PM Modi visits Azadi@75 Expo in Lucknow

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated ‘Azadi@75 – New Urban India: Transforming Urban Landscape’ Conference-cum-Expo in Lucknow at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan as a part of Azadi@75 celebrations. The theme of the three-day event is “New Urban India”. It will culminate on October 07, 2021. The Conference-cum-Expo is organised by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA).

•The Conference-cum-Expo is a platform to showcase the prospective transformative urban missions and highlight the achievements and the flagship urban development missions undertaken in the past 7 years of the Modi government.

3)  Vice President inaugurates Mahabahu Brahmaputra River Heritage Centre

•Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has inaugurated the Mahabahu Brahmaputra River Heritage Centre in the presence of Governor Jagdish Mukhi and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Guwahati in the state of Assam. The centre was originally served as the residence of the British deputy commissioner of Kamrup. Nearly 150 years after it was constructed, the iconic DC Bungalow of Guwahati was opened to the public as a heritage centre.

4)  5th India-Japan Bilateral Maritime Exercise JIMEX-21 begins

•The fifth edition of India – Japan Maritime Bilateral Exercise JIMEX was held in the Arabian Sea from 06 to 08 October 2021. The Indian Navy is represented by indigenously built Guided Missile Stealth Destroyer Kochi and Guided Missile Frigate Teg, P8I Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft, Dornier Maritime Patrol Aircraft, integral helicopters and MiG 29K fighter aircraft.

6)  GI tagged sweet dish Mihidana has been exported to Baharain

•The first consignment of Geographical Indication (GI) tagged sweet dish Mihidana, from Bardhaman, West Bengal has been exported to the Kingdom of Bahrain. This initiative is part of the effort to promote indigenous & Geographical Identification (GI) tagged products of India globally. The product was exported by APEDA registered M/S DM Enterprises, Kolkata.

•West Bengal’s Bardhaman got the GI tag for the Mihidana sweetmeats in 2017. A GI tag is a sign denoting a specific geographical origin and possesses qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.

7)  Alibaug white onion gets GI tag for health benefits

•The famed white onion of Alibag in Maharashtra’s Raigad district was given the Geographical Indication (GI) tag bringing worldwide recognition to its unique sweet taste, no-tears factor, as well as its medicinal properties. The soil of Alibaug taluka has low sulphur content. The NABL-approved lab test report mentions low pungency, sweet taste, ‘no tear’ factor, low pyruvic acid, high protein, fat & fibre, etc.

•The agriculture department here and Konkan Agriculture University had jointly submitted the GI application on January 15, 2019. On September 29 this year, the proposal was scrutinised in the Mumbai office of the Registrar of Patents and it was decided to confer GI tag on Alibag’s white onion.

8)  Centre launches ICMR’s drone-based vaccine delivery model ‘i-Drone’

•The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Mansukh Mandaviya, launched ‘i-Drone’, a drone-based vaccine delivery model for Northeast states. The i-Drone has been developed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). i-Drone stands for ICMR’s Drone Response and Outreach in North East.

•The main objective of this tool is to facilitate vaccine delivery to tough and hard-to-reach terrains of India, and to improve healthcare accessibility to the last mile. Currently, the drone-based delivery project is being implemented in Manipur, Nagaland, and the union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Island. ICMR collaborated with the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur for conducting an initial study to test the capacity of drones to carry and transfer vaccines safely.

9)  India joins Seychelles’ Tax Inspectors Without Borders programme

•The Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) has launched its programme in Seychelles. India has been chosen as the Partner Administration for this programme. The country will be providing its Tax Expert in support of the initiative. The focus of the 12-month programme will be on Transfer Pricing cases of tourism and financial services sectors.

10)  CoinDCX ropes Amitabh Bachchan to raise crypto awareness

•Crypto exchange CoinDCX has roped in Amitabh Bachchan as a brand ambassador to spread awareness about cryptocurrencies. Through this collaboration, CoinDCX wants to increase awareness around crypto and popularise it as an emerging asset class. CoinDCX wants to ensure that crypto is accessible to everyone.

•The crypto industry in India is on an exponential climb, rising gradually over the previous few years, with millions of Indians emerging as early adopters of the crypto asset class.

11)  Eric Braganza appointed as CEAMA president

•The Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA) has appointed Eric Braganza as its president for a two-year term. He succeeds Godrej Appliances Business Head and Executive Vice-President Kamal Nandi for the CEAMA chair. Braganza, an alumnus of Sri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi, has over 35 years and has held senior management positions in the consumer electronics and appliances industry in various companies.

12)  The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021 announced

•The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021 was awarded jointly to Benjamin List and David W.C. MacMillan “for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis.”  This has had a great impact on pharmaceutical research and has made chemistry greener. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021.

•Catalysts are thus fundamental tools for chemists, but researchers long believed that there were, in principle, just two types of catalysts available: metals and enzymes. Benjamin List and David MacMillan are awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021 because in 2000 they, independent of each other, developed a third type of catalysis. It is called asymmetric organocatalysis and builds upon small organic molecules.

📰 Health benefit package under Ayushman Bharat revised

 Why in news?

Julius and Patapoutian have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology 2021 for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.

What is their discovery about?

• In the human body, only very specific proteins sense heat and relay this signal to the nervous system which then triggers an appropriate response.
• Scientists knew that such sensors must exist, but were not able to identify them until Julius discovered the first heat receptor in capsaicin, the chemical compound in chilli peppers.
• That first discovery led to identification of several other receptors that can sense coldness, pressure, etc.

What is the mechanism of the receptors?

• When something hot or cold touches the body, the heat receptors enable the passage of some specific chemicals like calcium ions through the membrane of nerve cells.
• The entry of the chemical inside the cell causes a small change in electrical voltage, which is picked up by the nervous system.
• There is a whole spectrum of receptors that are sensitive to different ranges of temperature.
• Things are similar for sensing coldness.
• These receptors were sensitive not just to external touch, but could detect temperature or pressure changes inside the body as well.

What is the significance of this discovery?

GS Score Weekly Current Affairs October 2021 Week 01 PDF

 What is the issue?

The annual report, ‘Crime in India’ was released by NCRB to provide insights on the patterns of crimes that were registered in 2020.

What does the report say?

• Crime rate - States/UTs such as Tamil Nadu (1808.8), Kerala (1568.4) and Delhi (1309.6) recorded the highest crime rate (crimes per one lakh people) overall.
• Crime against women - There was an 8.3% decline and out of the total registered cases, 30.2% were of the category “cruelty by husband or his relatives”.

Insights IAS Current Affairs September 2021 Hindi PDF

1)  Ganga River Dolphin Day: 5 October

•In India, the ‘Ganga River Dolphin Day’ is observed every year on October 5, to raise awareness and encourage conservation of Ganga River Dolphins. It was on this day in 2010, that Ganga Dolphins were declared national aquatic animals. Then, in 2012, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Uttar Pradesh government jointly began the dolphin conservation campaign in the country.

2)  World Teachers’ Day observed on 5th October

•World Teachers’ Day, also known as International Teachers Day, is held annually on October 5 since 1994. The Day aims to focus on appreciating, assessing and improving the educators of the world and to provide an opportunity to consider issues related to teachers and teaching. The Theme for 2021 International Teachers Day is “Teachers at the heart of education recovery”.

3)  PM Narendra Modi launches Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 and AMRUT 2.0

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the second phase of the two flagship missions, namely, Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), from Dr Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi. The SBM-U 2.0 and AMRUT 2.0 have been designed to realise the aspiration of making all cities ‘garbage free’ and ‘water secure’. The outlay of SBM-U 2.0 is around Rs 1.41 lakh crore. The outlay of AMRUT 2.0 is around Rs 2.87 lakh crore.

4)  India Pavilion inaugurated at Dubai Expo 2020

•The World Expo 2020 has been organised at Dubai in the United Arab Emirates from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022. The main theme of the Dubai Expo 2020 is “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”. The Expo was originally scheduled to take place from 20 October 2020 to 10 April 2021 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

•Expo 2020 is the first to be held in the MENA & SA (the Middle East and North Africa & South Asia) region. World Expos provide a platform to showcase the greatest innovations that have shaped the world we live in today. The grand event will have 191 country pavilions.

5)  Himachal Pradesh becomes 1st state to begin organised cultivation of dalchini

•The CSIR’s Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT) has introduced cinnamon cultivation in Himachal Pradesh on a pilot basis. True cinnamon or Cinnamomumverum is grown mainly in Sri Lanka, while minor producing countries include Seychelles, Madagascar, and India.

•India imports 45,318 tonnes of cinnamon annually from China, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Indonesia and Nepal. With the cultivation of Cinnamomum Verum, HP has become the first state of India to have organized cultivation of cinnamon.

6)  Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed takes oath for second term

•The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed has been sworn in for a second five-year term. He was administered the oath of office by Supreme Court Chief Justice Meaza Ashenafi. Abiy’s Prosperity Party was declared the winner of June’s parliamentary elections, which were criticised by opposition parties but described by external observers as improved from past elections. He is serving as prime minister of Ethiopia since 2018.

•Mr Abiy won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for restoring ties with neighbouring Eritrea and for pursuing sweeping political reforms. He is dealing with a war that is spreading from the Tigray region and ethnic violence.

7)  GST collection for September crosses ₹1.17 lakh crore

•The gross GST revenue collected in the month of September was 1,17,010 crore rupees, which included a CGST component of 20,578 crores, SGST is 26,767 crore and IGST component of 60,911 crore rupees. The revenue for September was 23% higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year. During the month, revenue from import of goods was 30% higher.

8)  B C Patnaik takes charge as MD of LIC

•BC Patnaik has taken charge as Managing Director of Life Insurance Corporation of India. He was appointed as Managing Director by the Government of India notification dated July 5, 2021. Prior to taking charge as Managing Director of LIC, Patnaik was Secretary-General, Council for Insurance Ombudsmen, (CIO) Mumbai. He joined LIC of India in March 1986 as a Direct Recruit Officer.

9)  Alok Sahay appointed as Secretary-General of Indian Steel Association

•The Indian Steel Association (ISA) has announced that Alok Sahay has assumed office as its new secretary-general and executive head, taking over from Bhaskar Chatterjee. Sahay who is the former executive director of the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) has experience of almost four decades in the steel industry.

•Sahay has worked closely with the steel industry and the Government as one of the core industry representatives to advocate on trade-related matters at national and international forums. His experience also includes training at British Steel and tenure as visiting fellow at Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford University.

10)  The Nobel Prize in Physics 2021 announced

•The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics 2021. Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann, Giorgio Parisi jointly won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics for groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of complex physical systems. The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden. The prestigious award comes with a gold medal and 10 million Swedish kronor (over $1.14 million).

11)  Sanjay Bhargava to head Starlink satellite broadband venture in India

•Sanjay Bhargava, who had worked with Elon Musk as part of a team that had founded electronic payment firm, PayPal, will now head the tech billionaire entrepreneur’s Starlink satellite broadband venture in India. Bhargava joins SpaceX as Starlink’s country director (India), as the Musk-led US aerospace company gears up to compete with Bharti group-backed OneWeb.

📰 Govt. to survey water availability in 500 cities