Daily Current Affairs 22nd September, 2021

Daily Current Affairs 22 September 2021 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Niti Aayog Launches New Initiative to Promote Zero-Pollution Delivery Freight Vehicles
Government think tank Niti Aayog and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) launched an initiative to promote zero-pollution delivery vehicles by working with consumers and industry.

• The campaign, Shoonya, aims to accelerate adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in the urban deliveries segment and create consumer awareness about the benefits of zero-pollution delivery.
• Initially, close to 30 companies including Mahindra Electric, Tata Motors, Zomato, Ashok Leyland, Sun Mobility, Lightning Logistics, Big Basket, Bluedart, Hero Electric, and Swiggy among others attended the kick-off meeting chaired by Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya releases FSSAI’s 3rd State Food Safety Index
In an effort to galvanize States to work towards ensuring safe food for citizens, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya released Food Safety and Standards Authority of India FSSAI’s 3rd State Food Safety Index to measure the performance of States across five parameters of food safety

• This year, among the larger states, Gujarat was the top ranking state, followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Among the smaller states, Goa stood first followed by Meghalaya and Manipur. Among UTs, Jammu and Kashmir, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and New Delhi secured top ranks.
• On the occasion, Mr Mandaviya flagged off 19 Mobile Food Testing Vans Food Safety on Wheels to supplement the food safety ecosystem across the country taking the total number of such mobile testing vans to 109.
• The Minister also released the results of PAN-India survey for identifying the presence of industrially produced trans fatty acid content in the selected foods. Mr Mandaviya also launched various innovative initiatives by FSSAI including the Eat Right Research Awards and Grants to encourage and recognize high-quality research in the area of food safety and nutrition in India, a logo for Vegan Foods for easy identification and distinction from non-vegan foods for empowering consumers to make informed food choices. He also released various e-books that advocate and capture recipes around local seasonal food items, indigenous millets and plant-based sources of protein.

Ministry of Education forms National Steering Committee for development of National Curriculum Frameworks
Ministry of Education formed the National Steering Committee for the development of National Curriculum Frameworks.

• The committee will be chaired by former Chairman of ISRO Dr K Kasturirangan. Chancellor of National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration Mahesh Chandra Pant, Chairman of National Book Trust Govind Prasad Sharma, Vice-Chancellor of the Jamia Millia Islamia University Najma Akhtar, First Vice-Chancellor of Central Tribal University of Andhra Pradesh T V Kattimani, guest professor at IIT Gandhinagar and Indian author of French origin Michel Danino and American mathematician of Indian origin Manjul Bhargava are part of the 12 member committee.
• The Committee will discuss different aspects of School Education, Early Childhood Care and Education, Teacher Education and Adult Education keeping in focus all the recommendations of NEP 2020 related to these four areas for proposing curriculum reforms.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Indian, Indonesian navies take part in maritime exercise ‘Samudra Shakti’
The Indian Navy and the Indonesian Navy are taking part in a bilateral maritime exercise, known as ‘Samudra Shakti’. The two-day exercise is being held near to Sunda Strait from 20 to 22 September.

• This is the third edition of Samudra Shakti, which aims to strengthen maritime cooperation between the two navies and bolster friendship bonds across the Indo Pacific.
• The Indian Navy’s multi-role guided missile stealth frigate INS Shivalik and anti-submarine corvette INS Kadmatt are representing the service in the exercise.

APPOINTMENTS

Air Marshal V R Chaudhari appointed as next Chief of IAF
The government appointed Vice Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari as the next Chief of the Air Staff (CAS). The current CAS, Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria, is set to retire on September 30.

• Air Marshal Chaudhari was commissioned in the fighter stream of the Air Force on December 29, 1982. He has flying experience of more than 3800 hrs on a wide variety of fighter and trainer aircraft, including missions flown during Op-Meghdoot and Op-Safed Sagar.

Manika Sheokand appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for Water Conservation Campaign by the Haryana government
VLCC Femina Miss Grand India 2020 Manika Sheokand was appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador of the Water Conservation Campaign for the Haryana Government.

• Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar handed over appointment letter and an agreement to Manika at a programme organised at Haryana Niwas.

Facebook India Appoints Former IAS Officer Rajiv Aggarwal As Head Of Public Policy
Facebook India said it has appointed ex-IAS officer and former Uber executive Rajiv Aggarwal as the Director of Public Policy.

• He succeeds Ankhi Das, who quit in October last year. She was embroiled in a controversy for opposing enforcement of hate-speech rules against right-wing leaders in the country.
• Aggarwal, in this role, will define and lead important policy development initiatives for Facebook in India on an agenda that covers user safety, data protection and privacy, inclusion and internet governance.

Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown appointed WHO Ambassador for Global Health Financing
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced the appointment of Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, as its ambassador for Global Health Financing.

• Brown, according to the WHO, has played an instrumental role in trying to get rich countries as well as the private sector to ensure equitable distribution of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines.

AWARDS

CISF Official Geeta Samota Becomes ‘Fastest Indian’ to Summit Two Peaks
CISF official Geeta Samota successfully scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. With this, the 31-year-old became the “fastest Indian” to summit two peaks located in Africa and Russia.

• She has also scaled Mt Satopanth (7075 metres; located in Uttarakhand) and Mt Lobuche (in Nepal). She was also a team member of the Mt Everest expedition team of the CAPF.
• Apart from Geeta Samota, CISF official Seerapu Srikant also successfully scaled Mount Kilimanjaro.

Veerappa Moily, Arundhathi Subramaniam, Other Winners Receive Sahitya Akademi Award
Politician-writer M Veerappa Moily and poet Arundhathi Subramaniam were among the 20 authors who received the Sahitya Akademi Award for 2020 at a ceremony. The award, which includes a casket containing an engraved copper plaque, a shawl and an amount of Rs 1,00,000, was presented at the award presentation function.

• While Moily received the prestigious award for his epic poetry ‘Sri Bahubali Ahimsadigvijayam‘ in Kannada, Subramaniam won the award for her poetry collection, “When God is a Traveller”, in English.
• The other winners in poetry include Harish Meenakshi (Gujarati), Anamika (Hindi), RS Bhaskar (Konkani), Irungbam Deven (Manipuri), Rupchand Hansda (Santali), and Nikhileswar (Telugu). Nanda Khare (Marathi), Maheshchandra Sharma Gautam (Sanskrit), Imaiyam (Tamil) and Sri Hussain-ul-Haque bagged the award for their novels.
• Apurba Kumar Saikia (Assamese), (late) Dharanidhar Owari (Bodo), (late) Hiday Koul Bharti (Kashmiri), Kamalkant Jha (Maithili) and Gurdev Singh Rupana (Punjabi) have received the award for short stories.
•  The Akademi has named Gian Singh (Dogri) and Jetho Lalwani (Sindhi) the winners for their plays, while Mani Shankar Mukhopadhyay, popularly known as Shankar received the award for memoir (Bengali).

PM Sheikh Hasina conferred award for Bangladesh’s steady progress in achieving UN SDGs
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been conferred with SDG Progress award for Bangladesh’s steady progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the  UN sponsored Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).

• Prime Minister Hasina is currently visiting the US to attend the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
• Foreign Minister Dr. A K Abdul Momen called this award an international acknowledgement of Bangladesh’s success in spearheading the SDGs.

India now has 10 International Blue Flag beaches
Two more beaches in India have been awarded “Blue Flag” certification, an international eco-level tag, taking the total number of such beaches in the country to 10, the Environment Ministry said.

• The two beaches to receive the certification this year are Kovalam in Tamil Nadu and Eden in Puducherry.
• Blue Flag certification is a globally recognised eco-label accorded on the basis of 33 stringent criteria in four major heads which are environmental education and information, bathing water quality, environmental management and conservation and safety and services in the beaches.

President Kovind confers National Florence Nightingale Award 2020
President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the National Florence Nightingale Award 2020 to Deputy Director General of Military Nursing Service Brig S V Saraswati. 

• Brig Saraswati as a renowned operation theatre nurse, has assisted in more than 3,000 lifesaving and emergency surgeries and has trained residents, operation room nursing trainees and auxiliary staff in her career.

OBITUARIES

Former England Footballer Jimmy Greaves passes away
Jimmy Greaves, one of England’s most prolific strikers and Tottenham Hotspur’s record goalscorer, passed away. He was 81.

• He scored 44 goals in 57 games for England and was a member of the 1966 World Cup-winning squad.
• He holds the record for most goals in the English top flight with 357, and scored 266 in 379 matches for Tottenham.

Mizoram U-19 Head Coach And Former Bengal Spinner Murtaza Lodhgar passes away
Former Bengal left-arm spinner and Mizoram U-19 head coach Murtaza Lodhgar died of cardiac arrest. He was 45.

• Lodhgar was in the port city with the Mizoram colts, who were set to play the league phase of Vinoo Mankad Trophy (U-19 National one-dayers) as BCCI’s domestic season is set to commence.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

“The Three Khans: And the Emergence of New India” book by Kaveree Bamzai
The book titled “The Three Khans: And the Emergence of New India” written by Kaveree Bamzai has been released recently.

• In the book, senior journalist, Kaveree Bamzai has juxtaposed the careers of the 3 Khans, Aamir, Shah Rukh, & Salman, with the most tumultuous times in the history of the republic. Art often responds to social and political dimensions,& in a country short of role models, film stars often play double roles.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Alzheimer’s Day
World Alzheimer’s day is observed on 21 September every year to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

• The theme for World Alzheimer’s day 2021 is ‘Know dementia, know Alzheimer’s’.
•  This year’s theme will focus on warning signs of dementia. It will encourage people to seek information, advice and support in informing people about the signs and symptoms.

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