First UN World Cotton Day – 7th October 2021

World Cotton Day is annually observed across the globe on 7th October to celebrate the contribution of the stakeholder of the cotton sector towards economic development. The day also fosters the sustainable trade policies for cotton and enables the least developed countries to gain more benefits along the cotton value chain.

7th October 2021 marks the observance of the first ever official United Nations(UN) World Cotton Day.

According to the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), the event theme for 2021 World Cotton Day is ‘Cotton for Good’.

NHA hiked HBP Rates under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana

The National Health Authority (NHA) revised the Health Benefit Package (HBP 2.2) of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) under which the rate of around 400 procedures increased by 20% to 400%. The AB PM-JAY scheme is implemented by NHA.

• This revision saw an addition of a new medical package related to black fungus management.
• The categories involved in this revision include radiation oncology procedures (for cancer), medical management procedures, and other procedures like right/left heart catheterisation, arthrodesis, cholecystectomy, appendicectomy etc.

Cabinet approves Productivity Linked Bonus to Railway Employees for FY21; Setting up of 7 MITRA parks approved

On October 6, 2021, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved the following, i.Cabinet approves Productivity Linked Bonus to railway employees for the financial year 2020-21 ii.Government has approved setting up of 7 Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel

Cabinet approves Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) to railway employees for FY2020-21

Cabinet approved the Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) for FY2020-21 that is equivalent to 78 days’ wages. It is for all eligible non-gazetted Railway employees excluding RPF (Railway Protection Force) /RPSF (Railway Protection Special Force) personnel.

• The maximum amount payable per eligible railway employee is 17,951 for 78 days.
• The outlay of this PLB is estimated to be 1984.73 crore with ceiling of Rs.7000/- p.m.

Government has approved setting up of 7 Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA पीएम िमत्र) Parks

On the lines of the Union Budget 2021-22 announcement, the Union Cabinet approved the setting up of 7 Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) parks with a total outlay of Rs 4,445 crore for five years period. This decision has been taken to make India at par with the global textiles.

• The details for the same were provided by Union Minister Piyush Vedprakash Goyal, Ministry of Textiles.

Parks Location:

The parks will be set up at greenfield/brownfield sites located in different willing states.

• Brownfield sites will get a maximum of Rs 200 crore from the Central Government for the development of common infrastructure (30%of the project cost). These sites have been built on before. It is normally associated with urban areas.
• Greenfield sites will get maximum Development Capital Support (DCS) of Rs 500 crore. These have not been built on before, usually rural / countryside areas.

5th India-Japan Maritime Bilateral Exercise JIMEX 2021 held at Arabian Sea

The 5th edition of India-Japan Maritime Bilateral Exercise, ‘JIMEX 2021’ between Indian Navy (IN) and the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) is being held in Arabian Sea from October 6-8, 2021.

• It was initiated in January 2012 for maritime security cooperation.

UN warns water shortage can hit five billion people by 2050

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warns that the number of people affected by water scarcity is expected to rise as climate change increases the global risk of water-related hazards like floods and droughts.

• According to the report
‘The State of Climate Services 2021:
Water’, 3.6 billion people had inadequate access to water at least one month per year in 2018.

• The situation is expected to rise to more than five billion by 2050.
• Terrestrial water storage (TWS) dropped at a rate of 1 cm per year in 20 years (2002-2021).
• Note: TWS is the water available on the land surface and in the subsurface, including soil moisture, snow and ice.
• The biggest losses have occurred in Antarctica and Greenland.
• There is only 0.5 per cent of water on Earth which is usable and available freshwater.

India sweeps 2021 FIH Hockey Star Awards

For the first time ever, India swept the eight 2021 International Hockey Federation’s (FIH) annual Hockey Star Awards with drag-flickers Harmanpreet Singh and Gurjit Kaur claiming the Player of the Year honours in men and women.

• However, world no. 1, Tokyo Olympics champions expressed disappointment over the voting system and the outcome of FIH Hockey Star Awards after none of their players won any award.

i.Harmanpreet Singh and Gurjit Kaur were the India’s top scorers in Tokyo with 6 and 4respectively.
ii.For Belgium men, Alexander Hendrickx and Arthur van Doren were voted the second and third best players with Vincent Vanasch named the second best goalkeeper and Shane McLeod the second best coach.
iii.In 2019, Indian men’s team skipper Manpreet Singh won the Player of the Year honour and Prasad and Lalremsiami (women) took home the Rising Star of the Year awards.
iv.There were no awards in 2020 due to Covid-19.

Mukesh Ambani Tops 2021 Forbes India Rich List
The Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) Managing Director (MD) and Chairman Mukesh Ambani with net worth of USD 92.7 billion retained the top position in the list of Forbes India Rich List 2021. Mukesh Ambani became the wealthiest Indian for the 14th year in a row. Gautam Adani, the founder of Adani Group, is now a close second with a USD74.8 billion fortune. Industrialist Shiv Nadar, the founder and chairman of HCL technologies is at third position.

USIBC Presented 2021 Global Leadership Humanitarian Awards to Leaders of Accenture, IBM & Microsoft

The United States(US)-India Business Council (USIBC) has presented the 2021 Global Leadership Humanitarian Awards to Julie Sweet, CEO and Chair of Accenture; Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO of IBM; and Brad Smith, President and Vice-Chair of Microsoft.

• The award recognises their contribution in forming a Global Task Force on Pandemic Response (GTF) to assist India to combat the 2nd wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• They had coordinated a group of more than 40 CEOs to assemble the corporate resources to support the relief efforts in India.

Shiv Nadar, Mallika Srinivasan Honoured with USIBC 2021 Global Leadership Award: Shiv Nadar, founder and chairman emeritus, HCL Technologies and Mallika Srinivasan Chairman & Managing Director of Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited (TAFE) has been named the recipient of the USIBC 2021 Global Leadership Award.

• The award will be presented to Shiv Nadar and Mallika Srinivasan during the 2021 India Ideas Summit held on October 6 – 7, 2021.

Global Leadership Awards: The Global Leadership Awards instituted in 2007, recognises the top corporate executives from the United States and India, who have demonstrated exemplary leadership and played a major role in advancing the strategic and economic partnership between the countries

Note: Previously the award has been presented to N Chandrasekaran, Chairman of the TATA group, Jim Taiclet CEO of Lockheed Martin, Sundar Pichai CEO of Google and Adena Friedman President of Nasdaq.

Tanzanian Novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah won the Nobel Prize in Literature 2021

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature to Abdulrazak Gurnah, a Tanzanian novelist based in the United Kingdom for his works on the effects of colonialism and fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents.

• The 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature was presented by Mats Malm, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy.

• The 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature consists of a gold medal and a cash prize of 10 million Swedish Kronor (around Rs 8.5 crores).

About Abdulrazak Gurnah:

i.Abdulrazak Gurnah, born in 1948 in Zanzibar, Tanzania, is serving as a professor at the University of Kent, Canterbury, England.

ii.He is also the associate editor of the journal Wasafiri.

iii.He published his debut novel titled “Memory of Departure” in 1987.

iii.He has authored 10 novels and numerous short stories. His books include Pilgrims Way (1988), Paradise (1994) – shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction, Desertion (2005) – shortlisted for a 2006 Commonwealth Writers Prize, The Last Gift (2011) and Afterlives (2020)

Nobel Prize in Literature 2020:

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature was presented to American poet Louise Glück for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal.

About Nobel Prize in Literature:

i.The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to 118 laureates between 1901 and 2021 of which 16 are women.

ii.The Nobel prize in literature was not awarded on 7 occasions, 1914, 1918, 1935, 1940, 1941, 1942, and 1943.

iii.Only on 4 occasions, 1904, 1917, 1966, and 1974, the prize was shared between 2 individuals.

iv.At the age of 41, Rudyard Kipling won the prize in 1907 and became the youngest literature laureate.

Facts about Nobel Prize:

i.The Nobel Prize can be shared by up to 3 individuals and in the case of the Nobel Peace Prize, it can also be awarded to an organisation.

ii.Since 1974, the Prize cannot be awarded posthumously, if the recipient dies after the announcement of the prize, the prize can still be awarded to them.

Fire-Boltt Appointed Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli as its Brand Ambassador

Fire-Boltt, India’s leading smart wearable brand, has appointed Indian cricketer Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador. As the brand ambassador he will take part in the various marketing, advertisement and endorsement campaigns of the brand.

• The products of Fire-Boltt range from smartwatches, Bluetooth earphones, Bluetooth headphones, true wireless earbuds, Bluetooth speakers, soundbars and lifestyle shoes.

Note: National award winning Bollywood Actor, Vicky Kaushal, was appointed as the first ever brand ambassador of Fire-Boltt.
 

NABARD Sanctioned Rs 303 Crore to Odisha for 24 Bridge Construction

In October 2021, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) sanctioned assistance of Rs 303 crore under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) to the Government of Odisha for the construction of 24 bridges in the state.

• The rural infrastructure projects will improve connectivity for 24.13 lakh people in 823 villages across 13 districts of the state.

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