4th October, 2021 Current Affairs

Sakshi Education

NATIONAL
World’s largest Khadi National Flag unveiled in Leh

Marking the 152nd birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi along with the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence, Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, R. K Mathur unveiled the monumental National Flag at an event organized by Fire Fury Corps, Indian Army at Leh.
The world’s largest Khadi national flag prepared by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) weighing 1000 kgs (approx.) measures 225 feet long and 150 feet wide.
A whopping 4600 meters of hand-spun, hand-woven Khadi cotton bunting have been used in making the flag which covers an area of 33,750 square feet.
“The tri-colourhas been divided into 9 equal parts weighing around 100 kg each and each part measures 50 x 75 feet.”

World Bank: $150 million to Chennai’s Sustainable Urban Services

World Bank has approved about $150 million program to support Chennai’s Sustainable Urban Services and to turn it into a “world-class city”.
This programme will fulfil Tamil Nadu’s vision of making Chennai into a city which is more green, liveable, and resilient towards climate change.
Apart from programme in Tamil Nadu, World Bank has also approved a $40 million project that will improve the quality of health services in the state Meghalaya. It will also strengthen capacity of state in handling health emergencies like COVID-19 pandemic.

Assam: LokapriyaGopinathBordoloi Award

On October 3, 2021, the “LokapriyaGopinathBordoloi Award for National Integration and National Contribution 2021” was conferred by the Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu.
Awards were conferred to “Shillong Chamber Choir”, Assam branch of Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust as well as writer Nirod Kumar Baruah.
This award is one of the biggest civilian awards in Assam. It carries a citation along with a cash prize of Rs.5 lakh.
Award is conferred in the name of first chief minister of Assam, LokapriyaGopinathBordoloi. He was a multi-dimensional figure with outstanding accomplishments. He was also conferred the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1999.
It is one of the biggest civilian awards of Assam, which is bestowed upon the institutions and individuals from diverse fields to honor their exemplary contributions towards integration of nation.

INTERNATIONAL

India- Sri Lanka to take part in ‘Mitra Shakti 21’ Exercise

8th Edition of the “India Sri Lanka bilateral joint Exercise” called Mitra Shakti will be conducted from October 4 to October 15, 2021 at Combat Training School, Ampara in Sri Lanka.
In the joint exercise, all arms contingent of 120 personnel from the Indian Army will participate along with the battalion of the Sri Lankan Army.
This exercise will be conducted with the aim of promoting close relations between Armies of India and Sri Lanka.
It also seeks to enhance inter-operability and share best practices to counter insurgency and terrorism operations.
It will involve tactical level operations at the sub unit level.
Operations will be held in international Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism environment.
The exercise will act as the catalyst to bring synergy and cooperation at grass root level between the Indian army and Sri Lankan Army.

IMF Report on Crypto Ecosystem

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released its report called “Global Financial Stability Report”, highlighting how digital currency assets brings in financial stability challenges.
In its report, IMF notes that rapid growing crypto ecosystem presents new opportunities to the world. However, this digital currency assets also pose several financial stability challenges.
According to report, Technological innovation is starting a new era of making payments and other financial services faster, cheaper more accessible. Such transaction also allows to flow across borders swiftly.
According to IMF, rapid growth and increasing adoption of crypto assets pose financial stability challenges.
Such decentralized currencies could also lead to instability as they are extremely volatile. They are much more volatile than the equities or commodities or exchange rates.
Its transaction costs are fairly expensive as compared to digital money.
As per report, such transaction destabilizes the capital flows. It also poses several operational and financial integrity risks from the providers of crypto asset.

ECONOMY

RBI’s new auto Debit Rules

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has mandated new auto-debit rules on October 1, 2021 in order to strengthen the safety and security of card transactions.
As per RBI’s directive, there will be no automatic recurring payment for several services like utility bills, DTH, recharge of phone and OTT because additional factor of authentication (AFA) will become mandatory onwards.
Under new directives, banks will have to inform the customers in advance regarding the recurring payments due. Transactions will not be automatic but will be done after customer has authenticated it.
Under the new norms, banks are required to send a one-time password to the customers for recurring payments of more than Rs. 5000.
RBI had made AFA mandatory with the objective of making digital payments in India safe and secure. It also seeks to protect customers from fraudulent transactions.

India clocks $100 billion in quarterly exports for the first time

For the first ever, India’s exports surpassed the $100 billion mark in the quarter ending September. India clocked a total of $101.89 billion in exports during July-September quarter (FY20-21).
According to an official statement issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India’s exports reached $197 billion.In September alone, the exports stood at $33.44 billion, as compared to $ 33.28 billion in August and $35.17 billion in July.
The aim of $400 Billion exports in a year.
With exports from India touching $197 billion in the first 6 months of the current financial year, the government is leaving stone unturned and has set a target of $400 billion in exports for the financial year.
As per the data issued by the Commerce Ministry, the value of non-petroleum exports stands at $ 28.53 billion in September 2021, registering a growth of 18.72 per cent over non-petroleum exports, which stood at $24.03 billion in September 2020.
In a major boost to export prospects of agricultural produce, India has achieved significant growth of 21.8 per cent in the export of agricultural and processed food products in April-August 2021-22 over the corresponding period of 2020-21.

ENVIRONMENT

American bumblebee could be declared endangered

According to US Fish and Wildlife Services, the American bumblebee population has decreased by 89% in past 20 years, and it could be declared as “endangered species”.
US Fish & Wildlife Services will conduct a one-year review, after which the species would become protected under “Endangered Species Act (ESA)”.
The ESA act provides a legal framework to safeguard endangered species from extinction.
This announcement was made in the backdrop of a petition of August 2021 that was filed in support of listing made by “Center for Biological Diversity (CBD)” and Albany Law School student group named as “Bombus Pollinator Association of Law Students”.
As per CBD, the American bumblebee has completely vanished across eight states namely Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, Idaho, Vermont, North Dakota, Wyoming and Oregon in the North America. Its population has also declined by 99% in New York. In other 19 states in Southeast & Midwest, its population has declined by 50%.

New species of blind freshwater eel discovered in Mumbai

New species of blind freshwater eel has been by four scientists from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).
Eel species was discovered from a well in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
As per scientists, eel is a blind freshwater hypogean.
This is the first such discovered species from Maharashtra and Northern western Ghats.
Species has been named as ‘Rakthamichtysmumba’to pay tribute to the city it was found in.
Newly discovered freshwater bright-pink colored species is completely blind and a subterranean freshwater fish.
The blind eel has a genetic distance of 21.6 – 22.8% as compared to other known species ofRakthamicthys genus.
This is the 5th species from Rakthamicthys genus to have originated from India.

Wildlife Week 2021

Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, inaugurated the Wildlife Week 2021 on October 2, 2021 at Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar.
Wildlife Week 2021 is being observed from October 2nd to October 8th.
This week is a sincere effort that raise awareness among people for the protection of wildlife resources.
On the occasion, government of J&K has opened Dachigam National Park for public. To provide easy access to the park, permission will be granted using an online portal which is operated by J&K Forest and Wildlife Department.

Tiger rallies started across 51 Reserves

On October 2, 2021, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav started off tiger rallies in 18 tiger range States in India.
Tiger Rallies were started across 51 reserves as a part of “Wildlife Week Celebration” and “AzadikaAmritMahotsav”.
In seven days, from October 2 to October 8, these rallies would cover a distance of about 7,500 km.
Rallies would be traversing the diverse and picturesque landscapes across the country.
Rallies were virtually kicked off in three tiger reserves namely,

SPORTS

BiligiriRanganathaswamy Temple (BRT) Tiger Reserve, Karnataka

NavegaonNagzira Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra and
Sanjay Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh.
India wins Bronze at Asian TT Championships
- The Indian men’s table tennis team has won bronze medal at the Asian Table Tennis Championships on October 1, 2021.
- Indian team won bronze after losing to South Korea by 0-3 in the semi-finals.
- Team was assured of winning a medal after beating Iran by 3-1 in the quarterfinals on September 29.
- Both the semi-finalists won a bronze medal.
- It is a biennial table tennis tournament and is regarded as continental championships by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The tournament was organized by theTable Tennis Federation of Asia (TTFA) from 1952 to 1972. Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU) started its own Asian Championships because of conflict between national table tennis associations in Asia.