Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2021

Notes:
Padmaja Chunduru has been appointed managing director and chief executive officer (MD & CEO) of National Securities Depositories (NSDL).
She has earlier served as the MD & CEO of Indian Bank between September 2018 and August 2021. Her appointment has been approved by the shareholders of NSDL. She is succeeding GV Nageswara Rao, who was the previous MD & CEO of NSDL.

Notes:
France and Greece announced a multibillion-euro Defence deal, which includes the decision of Greece to buy three French warships.
Greece will boost its Defense capacities in the Eastern Mediterranean amid tensions with Turkey. President Emmanuel Macron and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced a Defense and security strategic partnership in Paris. Greece has already bought 18 French Rafale fighter jets.

Notes:
The state government of Rajasthan has launched a campaign named ‘Prashasan Gaon ke Sang’. It aims to enable access to 22 departments of the local administration for the people of remote villages in the state.
Under the campaign, the departments would hold camps at every gram panchayat to offer on-spot solutions to the applicants. The camps in villages would be held under the observation of respective District Collectors on weekdays. Services related to land deeds and issuance of various certificates are also done.

Notes:
The NITI Aayog, Amazon Web Services and Intel have jointly created a new experience studio, which is located at NITI Aayog Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Center, New Delhi.
This premise would serve as an experimentation facility for government, start-ups, enterprises, and industry experts. It would house technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT), augmented reality and virtual reality etc.

Notes:
The All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), under the aegis Union Ayush Ministry has developed an immunity booster kit for children named “Bal Raksha Kit”, which can be consumed by children upto the age of 16 years. This can be undertaken by the children till the time vaccine is available for COVID 19 disease.
The Ministry has planned that, on National Ayurveda Day (November 2), 10,000 Bal Raksha kits would be distributed free-of-cost.

 

Notes:
The Indian Navy had signed the “Joint Guidance for the India – Australia Navy to Navy Relationship” on 18th August 2021, following which India has signed Terms of Reference for the Conduct of Navy-to-Navy Talks” with Australia.
The signing ceremony was held virtually between the Rear Admiral of the two Navies.

Notes:
The Dubai Expo 2020, the world’s biggest trade and commerce exhibition would run for a period of 6 months from 1 October to 31 March 2022. This World Expo hosted by Dubai, United Arab Emirates, has the theme, ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’.
In the Expo, India has 1 lakh square feet pavilion which showcases India’s emerging sectors, achievements of ministries and states. One floor of the India pavilion is devoted to India’s art, dance, and culture. The pavilion was constructed by state-run NBCC and FICCI decided the content to display.

Notes:
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has recently announced that he is retiring from politics after the end of his term. He also announced that he will not run for vice president in next year’s elections.
The President’s former aide, Senator Bong Go, filed his candidacy for the Vice Presidency. As per the constitution of Philippine, Presidents are limited by the to a single six-year term. The 76-year-old leader has announced last month that he would run for the vice-presidency in 2022.

Notes:
A discussion document titled ‘India’s Path to Power: Strategy in a World Adrift’ was released by Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research. The policymakers include former NSA Shivshankar Menon.
As per the paper, India should maintain an outward orientation of its economy and avoid being pushed to the margins of regional and global economy, to enhance its growth prospects and improve people’s welfare. They recommended that India should further strengthen its partnership with the United States, Japan and Europe.

Notes:
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recently published the latest edition of “Model Lists of Essential Medicines and Essential Medicines for Children”. The new list has prioritized access to diabetes and cancer treatments.
The list has included new medicines to assist people who want to stop smoking and new antimicrobials to treat serious bacterial and fungal infections.