Top Current Affairs 21st October 2021 at Freshers Wisdom

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Top Current Affairs

Global Iodine Deficiency Day 2021: 21 October

• Every year, World Iodine Deficiency Day is observed on 21 October across the world.
• It is celebrated to create awareness of importance of Iodine in everyday diet. 
• According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 54 countries are still iodine deficient.
• Also, the day aims to bring out the necessity of iodine for the normal growth, function, and development of living organisms.

M. Night Shyamalan named 2022 Berlin Film Fest Jury President

• Indian-American filmmaker M Night Shyamalan has been announced as the president of the international jury for the 2022 Berlin International Film Festival.
• Shyamalan is a known figure in Hollywood, courtesy his blockbuster thriller movies such as “The Sixth Sense”, “Unbreakable”, “Signs”, etc.
• Berlinale International Film Festival will be held from February 10 to 20, 2022.

Javagal Srinath and Harbhajan Singh gets the Life Membership from MCC

• India’s Harbhajan Singh and Javagal Srinath have been awarded life membership of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), joining 16 other cricketers who were given the honor this year.
• The MCC, based at Lord’s, is the custodian of cricket laws.
• Harbhajan is India’s third-highest wicket-taker in Tests with 417 dismissals.
• Srinath is an ICC Elite Panel Match Referee and former Indian cricketer.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump launches ‘TRUTH’ social platform

• Former president Donald Trump has announced he will launch his own social media app and news company to compete with ‘Stand Up to Big Tech’
• The new company will be named the Trump Media & Technology group and will launch an app called “TRUTH Social”.
• TRUTH is currently or pre-order in the Apple app store and will only be available to invited guests during a Beta launch in November.

Karnataka: 20 villages of Kalaburagi district achieve 100% vaccination

• The District Health Official (DHO) of Kalaburagi S Ganjalkhed said that around 20 villages in his district have achieved 100 per cent vaccination of the eligible population.
• Further, he also claimed that around 162 villages have achieved 90 per cent vaccination whereas around 340 villages have achieved 80 per cent vaccination of the eligible population.

FDA takes additional actions on the use of the third dose for COVID-19 vaccine

• The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of third doses of the Moderna and Johnson and Johnson (Janssen) vaccines against the novel COVID-19 for eligible individuals.
• The use of a single booster dose of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine may be administered at least 2 months after completion of the single-dose primary regimen to individuals 18 years of age and older.

LumiraDx’s Covid-19 antigen test emergency use approval in India

• LumiraDx, a next-generation point of care diagnostics testing company announced it has received emergency use approval by India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation for its SARS-CoV-2 Antigen test for use in India.
• The test detects antigen nucleocapsid protein from a nasal swab with results in under 12 minutes from sample application.

Police Commemoration Day: 21 October

• Police Commemoration Day is observed on 21st October, every year.
• The day commemorates the sacrifices of ten policemen who lost their lives while defending Indian borders with China in 1959.
• A National Police Memorial has been created at Chanakyapuri, New Delhi as a testimony of the sacrifices made by countless policemen in the performance of their duty. 

Conference on ‘Tourism in Buddhist Circuits – A way forward’ held

• Ministry of Tourism is organizing a two-day conference titled “Tourism in Buddhist Circuit – A way forward” on 20-21 Oct’21 at Kushinagar.
• The conference was inaugurated by the Union Minister for Tourism, Culture G. Kishan Reddy.
• During his address, he highlighted the Buddhist circuit around Kushinagar, Sravasti, and Kapilvastu that is being developed as a part of the SWADESH Darshan scheme.

CoinDCX onboards Ayushmann Khurrana for its ‘Future Yahi Hai’ campaign

• CoinDCX has roped in Ayushmann Khurrana for its ‘Future Yahi Hai’ campaign.
• It is designed to spread awareness and information about crypto investments.
• India’s first crypto unicorn CoinDCX, brings investing and trading solutions for crypto-based financial products for retail and enterprise customers.
• Its products include CoinDCX, CoinDCX Pro, DCX Learn, Cosmex.

Inmarsat partners with BSNL to offer broadband on airlines and ships

• BSNL has got necessary approvals to offer British satellite telecommunication company Inmarsat’s Global Xpress (GX) mobile broadband services in India.
• Under BSNL’s Inflight and Maritime Connectivity (IFMC) license, GX will be available to Indian customers across government, aviation, and maritime.
• The new license will allow it to offer faster “Ka-band” broadband on its GX network.

Microsoft launches program to help Indian startups deploy AI at scale

• Microsoft has launched a startup program called AI Innovate along with an AI Playbook that will help start-ups in the country adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI).
• Microsoft  AI Innovate program aims to empower startups to achieve meaningful innovation at scale.
• The 10-week program will start as a quarterly cohort in November 2021 in partnership with The Indus Enterpreneurs (TiE), Mumbai.

NPCI launches tokenisation of RuPay cards as a safety measure

• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on 20 Oct 2021 launched NPCI Tokenization System (NTS) to support tokenization of RuPay cards.
• The launch comes after RBI mandated tokenization of cards from 1 Jan’22.
• Card tokenization refers to a process that replaces details of a card, such as its number and CVV, used for making a transaction with an encrypted algorithmically generated token. 

PM Modi inaugurate Vishram Sadan at NCI in AIIMS’ Jhajjar campus

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Infosys Foundation Vishram Sadan at National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the Jhajjar campus of AIIMS, New Delhi, on 21 October 2021.
• He will also deliver an address after the inauguration.
• The 806-bed Vishram Sadan has been constructed as part of Corporate Social Responsibility at a cost of about ₹93 crores.

IESA’s Vision Summit 2021 to focus on India’s accelerated ESDM growth

• The India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA) organized its flagship event, Vision Summit 2021, from 18-21 Oct’21.
• IESA is India’s leading industry association for ESDM (Electronics System Design and Manufacturing) sector.
• The Vision Summit 2021 #VS2021 theme is ‘India’s Accelerated ESDM Growth: The Defining Decade.’ 
• It was inaugurated by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

German central bank chief, Jens Weidmann, to step down after 10 years

• The head of Germany’s central bank Bundesbank Jens Weidmann will step down after a decade.
• He will leave the office at the end of 2021 for personal reasons.
• Previously an adviser to outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Weidmann has headed the Frankfurt-based Bundesbank since May 2011.

RBI imposes monetary penalty on Paytm Payments Bank

• The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a monetary penalty of ₹1 crore on Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) over certain specified violations.
• PPBL had submitted information that did not reflect the factual position.
• Furthermore, RBI also imposed a fine of over ₹27 lakh on Western Union Financial Services Inc (WUFSI) for non-compliance with certain provisions.

TVS Motor Company wins India Green Energy Award

• TVS Motor Company has been recognized in the category ‘Outstanding Renewable Energy User’ at the 3rd edition of the India Green Energy Award 2020 by the Indian Federation of Green Energy (IFGE).
• It has been awarded as an acknowledgement of its sustainable efforts to increase the usage of alternative power sources in renewable energy to ensure long-term energy security and stability.

India achieves milestone of 100 crore covid vaccinations

• The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 100-crore milestone on 21 October 2021.
• According to the government’s CoWin website, over 70 crore people have been administered the first dose of vaccine.
• The top five states which have administered the highest number of doses are Uttar Pradesh followed by Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh.

Rashmika Mandanna tops the Forbes List of Most Influential South Stars

• Actor Rashmika Mandanna topped the list of most influential actors in the South, by Forbes India.
• Put together by Forbes India, the list comprises many popular celebrities from South India, including Vijay Devarakonda, Yash, Allu Arjun, and many others.
• Yash stood at third while Vijay Devarakonda came second on the list.

MetricStream appointed Aravind Varadharajan as Managing Director, India

• Governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) products and solutions company MetricStream has appointed Aravind Varadharajan as the Managing Director of India.
• He is currently the senior vice-president of the company.
• Prior to joining MetricStream, he was managing director – sales of intelligent Cloud and Infrastructure at Accenture.
• The firm is headquartered in San Jose, California.

Voice AI company Skit appoints Ashish Gupta to the board of directors

• Voice AI company Skit has appointed Ashish Gupta as an independent member of its board of directors.
• Ashish Gupta has started several enterprises in his career including Junglee, Helion Ventures, and Drishti Technologies.
• Skit is an artificial intelligence SaaS voice automation company.
• Its suite of speech and language solutions enables enterprises to automate their call centre operations.

OnePlus promotes Navnit Nakra to India CEO and Head of India region

• OnePlus has elevated Navnit Nakra as its India CEO and Head of OnePlus India region operations.
• As part of this new senior leadership role, Nakra will spearhead the company’s business operations and overall strategy for the India region.
• Navnit Nakra, who was previously serving as the Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Sales in India, joined the company in February 2020.

World’s oldest, Nebra Sky Disc, to go on display at British Museum

• The British Museum in London will display an ancient object called the Nebra Sky Disc.
• The 3,600-year-old “Nebra Sky Disc” is one of the oldest surviving representations of the cosmos in the world.
• The object is being loaned to the museum by Germany’s State Museum of Prehistory in Halle that owns it and will be showcased as part of an exhibition on Stonehenge.

Indian Army establishes Airspace Control Centre in Arunachal Pradesh

• The Indian Army has established Airspace Control Centre for the first time in the forward area in West Kameng, Arunachal Pradesh.
• This is the first time such a centre has been established in the forward area.
• The aim of the centre is to track movement and allow operations to go seamlessly.
• It’s a new brigade for the Eastern sector.

Adidas ropes in Deepika Padukone as global brand ambassador

• Adidas has announced its partnership with Deepika Padukone who will endorse Adidas women globally.
• Deepika joins other female brand ambassadors associated with Adidas in India—including Mirabai Chanu; Lovlina Borgohain, Nikhat Zareen and Simranjeet Kaur; sprinter Hima Das, and squash player Dipika Pallikal.

World-renowned Kung Fu nuns win UNESCO prize for Martial Arts

• The world-renowned Kung Fu Nuns of the Drukpa order of Buddhism have won the Martial Arts Education Prize 2021 from the UNESCO International Centre for Martial Arts.
• The prize recognizes the Kung Fu Nuns’ heroic acts of service and championing gender equality across the Himalayas.
• Through martial arts, the Drukpa nuns empower young girls to defend themselves, and take on leadership roles.

India ranks 71st on Global Food Security Index 2021

• India is ranked at 71st position in the Global Food Security (GFS) Index 2021 of 113 countries.
• It lags behind Pakistan and Sri Lanka in terms of food affordability.
• Ireland, Australia, the UK, Finland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, Japan, France and the US shared the top rank with the overall GFS score in the range of 77.8 and 80 points on the index.

NABARD subsidiary signs trust deed for Credit Guarantee Fund Trust

• NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) subsidiary NABSanrakshan has signed a trust deed for Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Farmer Producer Organisations (CGFTFPO).
• The credit guarantee fund of Rs 1,000 crore will be housed in CGFTFPO.
• The CGFTFPO is only the second such trust formed in the agriculture and allied sector for providing credit guarantee.

Four new judges were sworn in as Additional Judges of Kerala High Court

• Four new judges were sworn in at Kerala high court on 20 October 2021.
• Those who were sworn in as judges were Sophy Thomas, who was the first woman registrar general of the high court; PG Ajith Kumar, CS Sudha, and C Jayachandran.
• Including the new judges, the number of judges at the high court now stands at 41, with six of them being women.

Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha launches “JK eCop” mobile app

• Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha declared the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) project of J&K Police “Go-Live” on 20 October 2021.
• He also launched the “JK eCOP” mobile application at Raj Bhavan in Srinagar.
• The app will provide all police-related public services and has features like one-click access for locating the nearest Police Station.

Zendaya becomes youngest CFDA Fashion Icon Award, recipient

• The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) announced that Zendaya will be the 2021 recipient of the youngest CFDA Fashion Icon Award.
• The 25-year-old actor’s global impact on fashion includes her support to the emerging designers and her much-famous partnership with Tommy Hilfiger.

Former leading New Zealand cricket umpire Fred Goodall dies, aged 83

• Former New Zealand test cricket umpire Fred Goodall has died, aged 83.
• Goodall, was New Zealand’s leading umpire during the 1970s and 1980s, standing in 24 tests and 15 one-day internationals between 1965-88.
• He was a central figure in the historic 1980 series between New Zealand and the West Indies, with the tourists dissatisfied with the officiating of Goodall.