1 october 2021

CURRENT AFFAIRS
1 OCTOBER 2021
Dr.A.PRABAHARAN
www.indopraba.blogspot.com

Commission on Air Quality Management directs Delhi,
neighbouring states to monitor dust mitigation measures
 The Commission for Air Quality and Management (CAQM) has issued
directions to the state governments of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh
and Rajasthan to monitor dust mitigation measures in order to curb
the problem of air pollution arising from the Construction and
Demolition (C&D) activities in the National Capital Region (NCR).
 The Environment Ministry stated that the introduction of a robust
online mechanism for monitoring dust mitigation measures is
necessary to ensure strict implementation of the Construction and
Demolition Waste Management Rules.
 The state governments have been requested to set up a 'Web Portal'
for monitoring compliance of dust mitigation measures by project
proponents.
 The Commission for Air Quality and Management will review
compliance with dust mitigation measures periodically.

Home Minister Amit Shah approves release of Rs. 7,274 crores to
23 states as central share of SDRF
 The Central Government has approved the release of the second
installment of its share of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF)
amounting to Rs. 7,274.40 crores, in advance, to 23 states in the
country.
 The decision of releasing the second installment was taken by the
Union Home Minister Amit Shah as part of the Indian Government’s
initiative to facilitate the state governments all over the country to
have enough funds in their SDRF to deal with any form of
emergency arising out of any disaster.
 As per the statement by the Union Home Ministry, five states have
already been released in advance the second installment of the State
Disaster Response Fund amounting to Rs. 1,599.20 crores.


Govt extends AFSPA in 3 districts of Arunachal Pradesh
 The Central government on October 1, 2021, extended the Armed Forces (Special
Powers) Act in three districts of Arunachal Pradesh by another six months.
 The government declared the three districts of Changlang, Longding, and Tirap in
Arunachal Pradesh along with the areas that fall under the jurisdiction of Mahadevpur
and Namsai police stations bordering Assam as ‘disturbed areas’ under Section 3 of
the AFSPA Act in the wake of recent insurgent activities. The order issued by the Union
Home Ministry will be effective from October 1, 2021, till March 31, 2022, unless
withdrawn.
 AFSPA in three districts of Arunachal Pradesh
 Through a notification dated April 1, 2021, the Central Government by the powers
conferred by Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (28 of 1958)
had declared the three districts Changlang, Longding, and Tirap in Arunachal Pradesh
and the areas under the jurisdiction of four police stations – two in Namsai district and
one each in Lohit and Lower Dibang Valley districts of bordering Assam as ‘disturbed
areas’.
 However, for the first time in the order issued on October 1, 2021, the AFSPA will be
lifted from Sunpura police station in Lohit district and Roing police station in Lower
Dibang Valley district owing to the improved security situation.

How to Download International Travel
Certificate from CoWin?
 Cowin has now introduced an option to download
the International Travel Certificate for those who plan to travel
abroad.
 The International Travel Certificate complies with WHO's
international travel guidelines.
 The new International Travel Certificate feature was introduced on
Cowin on September 30, 2021. NHA CEO RS Sharma said in a
statement, "Building a world-class digital platform for vaccination,
we have ensured CoWIN certification is compliant with the WHO-
DDCC: VS data dictionary. Now, international travellers can
download an international version of their certificate that reflects
their date of birth from CoWIN."


India, US agrees to set-up joint working
group in defence industrial security
 The Industrial Security Agreement summit between India and
the United States took place between September 27 to
October 1, 2021, in New Delhi.
 The high-level summit between the two nations was organized
to develop a protocol for the exchange of classified information
between the defence ministries of both countries.
 The Industrial Security Agreement (ISA) Summit was led by the
Designated Security Authorities namely Anurag Bajpai from
India’s side and David Paul Bagnati from the United States’s
side.

People's Plan Campaign 2021 launched
 Panchayati Raj Minister Giriraj Singh launched People's Plan Campaign
2021- Sabki Yojana Sabka Vikas on September 30, 2021 along with
the Vibrant Gram Sabha Dashboard.
 The Minister also released a booklet on the People Plan Campaign-2021
for the preparation of plans for FY 2022-23.
 While addressing the event, the Minister stated that Panchayats are the
centre points of grassroots democracy and he informed that there are
about 31.65 lakh elected Panchayat representatives across the country,
among whom 14.53 lakh are women.
 He stated that these panchayats can bring about tremendous
transformational changes in rural areas and that they have a significant
role to play in the effective and efficient implementation of flagship
schemes that are aimed at transforming rural India.

RV Suchiang becomes first native woman of Meghalaya to take
charge as Chief Secretary of state
 RV Suchiang has become the first-ever native woman Chief Secretary of
Meghalaya. Rebecca Vanessa Suchiang is a 1989 batch officer of the Indian
Administrative Services and has been appointed by the State Government.
 The outgoing Chief Secretary of Meghalaya M.S. Rao handed over the charge
to RV Suchiang in the presence of the top officials of various departments.
 M.S. Rao had taken charge of the position on December 31, 2021, and retired
on September 30.
 Before Suchaing, PP Trivedi had become the first female Chief Secretary of
Meghalaya in the late 80s, however, Suchiang has become the first native
woman of Meghalaya to hold the post.
 While talking about her appointment, RV Suchiang said that it is an honour to
get the opportunity and that she hopes that she will be able to push the
agenda of good governance.

PM Modi launches Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, AMRUT 2.0
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0
and AMRUT 2.0 on August 1, 2021.
 The missions have been designed to make all our cities ‘Garbage Free’ and
‘Water Secure.
 The Swach Bharat Mission 2.0 has been launched with the aim of making the
cities garbage-free. PM Narendra Modi said while launching the mission "that
with the 2nd phase, we also aim sewage and safety management, making
cities water-secure and ensuring that dirty nullahs don't merge into rivers."
 PM Modi also said on the occasion, "This 2nd phase of Swachh Bharat
Mission-Urban 2.0 & AMRUT 2.0 is also an important step in fulfilling dreams
of BR Ambedkar. It's our privilege that today's program has been organised at
BR Ambedkar Center. He believed that urban development was pivotal to
equality."


India, Australia resume negotiations of Comprehensive
Economic Cooperation Agreement, to sign by end of 2022
 ndia’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and Australian Minister
for Trade, Tourism, and Investment Dan Tehan have formally launched the
resumption of negotiations on the India-Australia Comprehensive Economic
Cooperation Agreement (CECA) during the 17th India-Australia Joint Ministerial
Commission on September 30, 2021.
 Both India and Australia reiterated their commitment to sign a CECA by the end
of 2022 including reaching an interim agreement by December 2021.
 During the 17th India-Australia Joint Ministerial Commission, both ministers
deliberated on key issues such as expediting negotiation of bilateral CECA,
increased two-way trade, resolving tax-related issues faced by Indian software
companies in Australia, and the 12th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial
Conference (MC12) which is scheduled to be held towards the end of 2021 in
Geneva, Switzerland.
 Both India and Australia reiterated their commitment to sign a CECA by the end
of 2022. This includes reaching an interim agreement by December 2021 to
liberalize and deepen bilateral trade in goods and services. Since 2011, India has
been negotiating the CECA including investment and related issues and trade in
goods and services.

DigiSaksham: Joint initiative by Labour Ministry and
Microsoft to enhance employability of youth
 The Union Labour and Employment Minister Bhupendra Yadav on
September 30, 2021, launched DigiSaksham in collaboration with
Microsoft. It is a digital skills programme that aims at enhancing
the employability of youth by imparting the digital skills that are
significant in an increasingly technology-driven era.
 DigiSaksham is Central Government’s joint initiative with Microsoft
India and is an extension of the government’s ongoing
programmes to support the youth from rural and semi-urban
areas.
 The Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav, while speaking on the
launch of DigiSaksham, said that the fast-paced technology
upgradations, reskilling, constant skilling and up-skilling is a must.

Venezuela introduces new currency with six less zeros
 Venezuela on October 1, 2021 introduced a new currency with six fewer zeros. The
highest denomination of the new currency will be 100 bolivars, as compared to the
earlier higher denomination of 1 million bolivar.
 Venezuela's old currency had almost become worthless as a result of years of the
world’s worst inflation. The new currency is expected to help ease both cash
transactions and bookkeeping calculations.
 Venezuela's old payment system was near collapse due to inflation and the large
number of digits, which made practical math almost unmanageable. Under the old
payment system, a two-litre soda bottle could cost about 8 million bolivars.
 With many of the bills scarce, customers are often forced to pay thick wads of
paper. There was also a limit on daily withdrawals with banks allowing customers to
withdraw a maximum of 20 million bolivars in cash a day and sometimes even less
if the bank is running short of bills.
 So the consumers had to largely rely on digital payment methods or on US dollars
to make purchases. The number of digital transactions has gone up in recent times,
with more than 60 percent done in US dollars.

Cyclone Shaheen: Likely to intensify into
severe cyclonic storm over Arabian Sea
 Cyclone Shaheen is likely to intensify into a severe
cyclonic storm during the next 24 hours. October 1, 2021,
the deep depression over the northeast Arabian Sea off
the Gujarat coast intensified into cyclonic storm Shaheen
around 5.30 am, informed the Indian Meteorological
Department (IMD).
 The deep depression has been caused by the remnants
of cyclone Gulab. The weather system caused heavy rains
in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat in the past 24 hours.

COVID-19 Vaccine for children: Phase 2/3 trials of COVOVAX in
children aged between 7 and 11 start in Pune
 The phase 2/3 trials of the COVOVAX Coronavirus vaccine in children
between the ages of 7 and 11 started on September 29, 2021, in
Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical College, Pune.
 The Medical Director of Pune’s hospital, Dr. Sanjay Lalwani informed
that the 2/3 trials of COVOVAX Vaccine for children aged between 7
and 11 have started and that nine children have been enrolled for the
trial.
 He further added, “for the children who wish to enroll their parents
are counseled in local vernacular language and that the audiovisual
consulting process has been documented.
 Once the parents give their consent, the volunteer is subjected to an
RT-PCR test and an antibody test. Although, this does not stop the
children from being part of the trial.
 As many as 9 centers have been identified all over India for the
phase 2/3 trials of COVAVAX vaccine for children, including Bharati
Vidyapeeth Medical College Hospital in Pune.

India’s external debt rises by 2.1 per cent in FY21
 India’s external debt jumped by 2.1 per cent year-on-year to USD 570 billion
as at March-end 2021, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, as per the Finance
Ministry. India’s external debt to GDP ratio jumped to 21.1 per cent at March-
end 2021 from 20.6 per cent as at end-March 2020.
 However, the Reserves to external debt ratio jumped to 101.2 per cent from
85.6 per cent during the same period which made India secure the position
as a net creditor to the world, as per the status report on India’s external debt
by Finance Ministry.
 At March-end 2021, India’s external debt was at USD 570 million, with an
increase of USD 11.5 billion over March-end 2020 level. India’s external debt
to GDP ratio jumped to 21.1 per cent at March-end 2021 from 20.6 per cent
as at end-March 2020.
 The long-term debt was at USD 468.9 billion at March-end 2021, with an
increase of USD 17.3 billion over March-end 2020 level. The short-term debt
in total external debt came down to 17.7 per cent at March-end 2021
compared to 19.1 per cent at March-end 2020.

1 october 2021

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1 october 2021