16th September, 2021 Current Affairs

Sakshi Education

NATIONAL
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.

RMI India launched ‘Shoonya’ Campaign

NITI Aayog, in association with the RMI and RMI India, launched Shoonya campaign on September 15, 2021.
Shoonya campaign is an initiative to work with consumers and industry in order to promote pollution-free delivery vehicles.
This campaign was launched with the aim of accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in urban delivery segment and raise consumer awareness regarding the benefits of pollution-free delivery.
Industry stakeholders like e-commerce companies, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), fleet aggregators and logistics companies are expanding their efforts on electrifying last mile deliveries.
In the initial phase, about 30 companies like Tata Motors, Mahindra Electric, Ashok Leyland, Zomato, Sun Mobility, Lightning Logistics, Big Basket, Brudart, Swiggy and Hero Electric attended a kick-off meeting that was chaired by CEO of NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant.
Govt. approves PLI Scheme for auto, auto-components and drone industries
Union Cabinet has approved a Rs. 26058 crore production linked incentive (PLI) scheme on September 15, 2021, for auto, auto-components and drone industries in order to enhance India’s manufacturing capabilities.
PLI scheme will help in incentivizing the emergence of global supply chain of advanced automotive technologies in India.
Incentives of Rs. 26,058 crores will be provided to industry in the period of five years.
It is expected that in the period of five years, the PLI scheme for the automobile and auto components industry will result into the fresh investment of over Rs. 42500 crores as well as incremental production of about Rs 2.3 lakh crore.
PLI scheme will also create additional employment opportunities of more than 7.5 lakh jobs.
The scheme for auto sector is open to existing automotive companies and new investors that are currently not available in automobile or auto component manufacturing business.

INTERNATIONAL
Cabinet approves MoU with Italy for Disaster Risk Reduction

Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Italy on Cooperation in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management on September 15, 2021.
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 seeks to bring in place a system, where both India and Italy will benefit from the Disaster Management mechanisms of each other.
MoU will help in strengthening the areas of preparedness, response as well as capacity building in the field of Disaster Management.

World Bank: 21 million to be out of Covid-induced poverty

The World Bank cut back on the Covid-induced poverty estimates by 21 million on September 15, 2021.
World bank also said that, the global poverty may be turning the corner on pandemic in 2021.
It also warned that the number of poor in the backdrop of Covid was still unprecedented.
Implications of this estimate are that, the global poverty is projected to decline. Further, the pace of reduction is returning to pre-pandemic trend.
According to the World Bank, the covid-19 pandemic led to 97 million more people towards poverty in 2020. This was lower by 21 million from the last estimate.
The pace of reduction is similar to what was expected before the pandemic spread. Thus, recovery taking place will not be sufficient to bridge gap the pandemic has caused in 2020.

6th Edition of Exercise SCO Peaceful Mission 2021

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.
SCO Peaceful Mission is a Multilateral & Joint Counter Terrorism Exercise.
The exercise is conducted biennially under the “military diplomacy” between the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states.
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.

Science and Technology

SpaceX launched 4 amateurs on private Earth-circling trip

SpaceX launched four amateurs on its first ever private flight on September 15, 2021.
SpaceX first ever “Earth-circling trip” was started onboarding two contest winners, a health care worker as well as their rich sponsor.
This is the most ambitious leap in space tourism.
This was the first time any rocket blasted off toward orbit with an all-amateur crew and no professional astronauts.
Two men and two women are looking forward to spend three days on Dragon capsule circling the world.
They will be circling the Earth on an unusually high orbit at 160 km higher than the International Space Station.
Their flight will splash down off the Florida coast by September 19th
Dragon capsule aimed for an altitude of 575 km, beyond the Hubble Space Telescope.

ECONOMY

UNCTAD: Indian economy to expand by 7.2% in 2021

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released its Trade and Development report on September 15, 2021.
According to the report, India’s economic growth rate will be increased to a four-year high of 7.2 per cent in 2021 as compared to a contraction of 7 per cent in 2020.
With this growth rate, India will be the fastest growing economy after China.
China is projected to grow by 8.3 per cent.
These calculations were made on the basis of GDP at constant dollars in 2015.
UNCTAD has also projected that, India’s economy will outpace all other major economies in the year 2022 even though the growth would be slower, at 6.7 per cent.
According to the report, India’s economy that reduced by seven per cent in 2020, showed a strong growth of 1.9 per cent in first quarter of 2021, in the backdrop of the momentum of second half of 2020. It was also supported by government spending in goods and services.