Daily Current Affairs 12th October, 2021

Daily Current Affairs 12 October 2021 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Navy to host its largest exercise, Ex Milan, February 2022
India is set to host its largest naval exercise, Ex Milan, early next year for which 46 countries have been invited, a senior defence official said.

• “Ex Milan is being planned for February 2022 and invites have been sent to 46 countries. Several of them have already confirmed their participation.

India, Nepal sign agreements to boost cross-border train services
India and Nepal have signed two agreements aimed at boosting cross-border train services.

• The signing of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for starting passenger train services on the Jaynagar-Kurtha section will help finalise the technical aspects of running passenger trains in this region.

PM Modi launches Indian Space Association for govt, pvt coordination
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Indian Space Association (ISpA), an industry body of government and private companies which aims to supplement the Centre’s efforts in commercial space exploration and space-based communication.

• ISpA is an industry body of government and private companies that aims to supplement the Centre’s commercial space exploration and space-based communication efforts.
• The private companies associated with the industry are Larson & Toubro, OneWeb, Nelco (Tata Group), Bharti Airtel, MapmyIndia, Ananth Technology Ltd Walchandnagar Industries and other members like Godrej, Hughes India, Azista-BST Aerospace Pvt Ltd, BEL, Centum Electronics and Maxar India.

Arvind Kejriwal launches ‘Desh Ke Mentor’ Programme for career guidance
Chief  Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched a programme under which students of Delhi government schools will be provided guidance on career choices by citizens who are successful in their respective fields.

• The ‘Desh ke mentor’ programme entails ‘adopting’ one to 10 government school students who can be mentored by citizens who are successful in their respective fields.
• Mentors will take out 10 minutes every week to guide students over the phone. Interested citizens can adopt between one to 10 children studying in the city’s government schools as part of the initiative.

Railways successfully operated two long haul freight trains Trishul, Garuda for 1st time
Railways has successfully operated two long haul freight trains Trishul and Garuda for the first time over South-Central Railway. Long haul trains, which are twice or multiple times longer than the normal composition of freight trains, provide a very effective solution to the problem of capacity constraints in critical sections.

• Trishul is the first long haul of South-Central Railway comprising of three freight trains of 177 wagons. This train was started on 7th of this month from Kondapalli station of Vijayawada division to Khurda division of East Coast Railway.
• The Ministry said, South Central Railway followed it up with running of yet another similar one named Garuda on 8th of this month from Raichur of Guntakal division to Manuguru of Secunderabad division.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India agrees to USD 200 million Line of Credit to support development projects in Kyrgyzstan 
India agreed to a $200 million Line of Credit support for development projects in Kyrgyzstan, as External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held “cordial and constructive” talks with his Kyrgyz counterpart Ruslan Kazakbaev on a wide range of bilateral and global issues, including Afghanistan.

• Mr. Jaishankar also gifted Indian epics and classics to the Manas-Mahatma Gandhi library in Bishkek.
• Mr. Jaishankar will be in Kazakhstan from October 11 to 12 to attend the 6th Ministerial meeting of the Conference of Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA).

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

Reliance New Energy Solar acquires REC Solar Holdings for $771 mn
Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance New Energy Solar, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries (RIL), has acquired REC Solar Holdings (REC Group) from China National Bluestar (Group) Co.

• An RIL statement said the transaction is for an enterprise value of $771 million.
• This is the first major renewable energy deal, where an equipment manufacturing facility has been acquired.

Adani Group takes over management of Jaipur International Airport
Adani Group took over the responsibilities of the Jaipur International Airport from the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

• The airport has been leased out to the group by the government of India for a period of 50 years.
• The company will work on the operations, management and development of the Jaipur airport through PPP mode.

SPORTS

FIFA unveils Ibha – official mascot of U-17 2022 Women’s World Cup
World football body, FIFA unveiled the official mascot of the U-17 Women’s World Cup India 2022 “Ibha” an Asiatic lioness representing women power.

• Ibha aims to inspire women and girls across India and around the world to realise their potential.
• The tournament will be held in India from October 11-30 next year.

Valtteri Bottas wins 2021 Turkish Grand Prix
Valtteri Bottas has won the F1 Turkish Grand Prix 2021. This is his first title of this season.

• Max Verstappen came second while Sergio Perez finished third. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton finished fifth.

APPOINTMENTS

Chief Economic Adviser KV Subramanian resigns
K V Subramanian stepped down as Chief Economic Adviser after a 3-year tenure. He said he has decided to return to academia.

• The government had appointed Subramanian, a ISB Hyderabad professor, as the CEA in December 2018. He had succeeded Arvind Subramanaian.

AWARDS

Malayalam writer Benyamin bags Vayalar Award
Well-known Malayalam writer Benyamin has bagged the 45th Vayalar Ramavarma Memorial Literary Award for his book “Manthalirile 20 Communist Varshangal”.

• The prestigious award, instituted by the Vayalar Ramavarma Memorial Trust, comprises a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, a sculpture designed by renowned sculptor Kanayi Kunhiraman and a citation, the organisers said.

‘Kanyakumari Clove’ Gets Geographical Indication Tag
The unique clove growing in the hills of Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu has been awarded a geographical indication (GI) as ‘Kanyakumari clove’.

• Cloves, an aromatic crop, is cultivated in an area of 750 hectares in the slopes of the Western Ghats of Kanyakumari district such as Karumpara, Maramalai, Mahendragiri and Velimalai.
• Eventually, this is 73 percent of the total area under cloves in Tamil Nadu.

Three US-based economists win economics Nobel Prize for work on natural experiments
A U.S.based Canadian David Card, Israeli-American Joshua Angrist and Dutch-American Guido Imbens won the Nobel Economics Prize for insights into the labour market and “natural experiments”.

• Half of the prize went to Card, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley “for his empirical contributions to labour economics.” Card’s work has focused on labour market effects of minimum wages, immigration and education.
• The other half went jointly to Angrist, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Imbens, a professor at Stanford, “for their methodological contributions to the analysis of causal relationship.

OBITUARIES

National Award winning actor Nedumudi Venu passes away
Versatile Malayalam film actor Nedumudi Venu passed away after recovering from COVID-19.He was 73.

• He had acted in more than 500 films, including a few Tamil films, in a career spanning four decades. The actor also featured in a 2017 English movie titled ‘Chaurahen’.
• The exceptionally talented actor was the winner of three National Film awards and six Kerala state film awards.He was also a talented Mridangam player and a folk singer.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

“Quest for a Stable Afghanistan: A View from Ground Zero” book by Sujeet Sarkar 
Thr book titled “Quest for a Stable Afghanistan: A View from Ground Zero” has been written by Sujeet Sarkar.

• In “Quest for a Stable Afghanistan: A View from Ground Zero”, author Sarkar says that the haggard and faulty policies of the West have put the country on the brink of a deeper and increasingly worrisome crisis.
• It analyses the Afghan war and focuses on the future that lies ahead of Afghanistan.

IMPORTANT DAYS

International day of Girl Child
Every year, International Day of the Girl Child is celebrated by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on October 11 to promote its pledge to promote the progress and safety of girls.

• The theme for International Day of Girl Child 2021 is ‘Digital generation’. Our generation’.

World Arthritis Day
World Arthritis Day, referred to as WAD, is a global awareness day held every year on 12 October.

•  WAD aims to help raise awareness in all audiences across the world of the existence and impact of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases, often referred to as RMDs.

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