Daily Current Affairs 16 September 2021 – Gkseries

Current Affairs is the most important area in all competitive exams. But the difficulty level is very high. That’s why; many aspirants get confused, how to select Current Affairs for Preparation of Competitive Examination? In this Post, Daily Current Affairs 16 September 2021, we have tried to cover each and every point and also included all important facts from National/ International news that are useful for upcoming competitive examinations such as UPSC, SSC, Railway, State Govt. etc.

Daily Current Affairs 16 September 2021

iRASTE project: Nitin Gadkari launches AI-powered road safety project to reduce accidents by 50%

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday launched “iRASTE”, an Artificial Intelligence-powered project, on a pilot basis in Nagpur in Maharashtra with the aim of reducing accidents by 50 percent in Vidarbha’s biggest city.

The Full form of iRASTE is Intelligent Solutions for Road Safety through Technology and Engineering.The Govt will focus on vehicle safety in the collaboration of intel, INAI, IIIT-Hyderabad, CSIR-CRRI (Central Road Research Institute), Mahindra & Mahindra and Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and aims to move towards a “Vision Zero” accident scenario.

Shoonya Program: Niti Aayog launches for promoting zero-pollution delivery vehicles

NITI Aayog, with RMI and RMI India’s support, launched Shoonya—an initiative to promote zero-pollution delivery vehicles by working with consumers and industry. The campaign aims to accelerate adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in the urban deliveries segment and create consumer awareness about the benefits of zero-pollution delivery.

• The main purpose of the Shoonya initiative is to promote zero-pollution delivery vehicles by working with consumers and the industry.
• The Launched Shoonya initiative will help in accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in the urban deliveries segment.
• it will also help in creating consumer awareness about the benefits of zero-pollution delivery.

India to organize first-ever Global Buddhist Conference in November

India will be holding the first-ever Global Buddhist Conference in November, which will become an annual feature. The event is being planned by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) from 19th to 20th November in Nalanda, Bihar in the campus of the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara.

The academic conference, being organized by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), will become an annual feature. Four regional conferences in India (Telangana, Saranath, Gangtok, and Dharamshala) and abroad (Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and Cambodia) will be organized, in the run-up to the conference. The reports of these regional conferences will be presented at the inaugural Global Buddhist Conference.

About the Conference:

• Global Buddhist Conference focuses on making India the center of Buddhism, by promoting Buddhist activities, like academic, cultural, seminars, people travelling for festivals like Buddha Purnima, Vesak.
• As a part of the event, an award for the promotion of Buddhist studies, which will be given on November 21 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, carrying a cash reward of $20,000 (around Rs 14.7 lakh), a plaque, and a gold-plated medallion.

Lasith Malinga announces retirement from all forms of cricket

• Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka’s 2014 T20 World Cup winning captain, has announced his retirement from T20Is, marking his retirement from all forms of cricket on September 14, 2021.
• The 38-year-old had already retired from Test cricket in 2011 and then from the ODIs in 2019.
• He played 30 Tests, 226 ODIs and 84 T20Is for Sri Lanka in which he took a total of 546 wickets (101 in Tests, 338 in ODIs and 107 in T20Is) across all formats.
• Malinga holds the record for most hat-tricks in international cricket.

UNCTAD projects Indian economy to expand 7.2% in 2021

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has pegged India’s economic growth rate to hit a four-year high of 7.2 percent for 2021 against a contraction of 7 percent in 2020.

The UNCTAD has pegged India’s economic growth rate as follows, in its Trade and Development report released on September 15, 2021:

• Calendar Year (CY) 2021 – 7.2%
• Calendar Year 2022 – 6.7%

India’s economy shrank by 7 percent in Calendar Year 2020.

IIT Bombay rolls out language translator ‘Project Udaan’

As India celebrated Hindi Diwas, the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay rolled out ‘Project Udaan’, which enables translation from English to Hindi and all Indian languages of textbooks and learning materials in engineering and all main streams of higher learning.

• The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has launched ‘Project Udaan’, a language translator,  to break the language barrier in education, which hampers the flow of messages.
• The Project Udaan, a donation-based project, is an end-to-end ecosystem, which can translate scientific and technical content from English to Hindi and all other Indian languages.
• sProject Udaan uses an AI-based translation software ecosystem, to translate engineering textbooks and learning materials, and all main streams of higher learning, in the desired language, in one-sixth of the time taken by a team of domain and linguistic experts working manually on it.

Raja Randhir Singh appointed acting president of Olympic Council of Asia

India’s Raja Randhir Singh has taken over as acting president of the Olympic Council of Asia after Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, former President appeals a guilty verdict in a Swiss forgery trial.

A five-time Olympic shooter and an Asian Games gold medalist in 1978, Singh was promoted to the role from his position as an honorary life vice president.

During the interim period, Raja Randhir Singh will carry out the duties and responsibilities of the OCA President, starting with the OCA Executive Board Meeting scheduled to be held on 13th September 2021.” Singh had been part of OCA as secretary-general for 24 years since 1991 and is the longest-serving executive board member. He is also an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee.

Bhanumati Gheewala to get National Florence Nightingale Award 2021

The Florence Nightingale Award will be given to a nurse, Bhanumati Gheewala, from Sir Sayajirao General Hospital. She has been in charge of COVID-19 positive pregnant women’s deliveries as well as infant care. She worked in the gynecology department as well in the paediatric ward.

She worked in the gynecology department as well in the pediatric ward. In 2019, when the wards of the hospital were waterlogged due to flood. She carried her duty in the gynecology department and the pediatric ward.

What is the Florence Nightingale Medal?

The Florence Nightingale Medal Commission is made up of several members and staff members of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, including several nursing professionals, as well as the head nurse of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. A representative of the International Council of Nurses is also present at the Commission’s meetings. Until 1991, the medal was only awarded to female nurses due to regulatory restrictions. It is now open to both men and women, and it is given out every two years to a maximum of fifty people around the world.

International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer 2021

In 1994, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 16 September the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, commemorating the date of the signing, in 1987, of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (resolution 49/114).

The International Day for the preservation of the Ozone layer is observed on September 16 every year. This day is also known as World Ozone Day. The main purpose of this day is to raise awareness of the depletion of the Ozone Layer and search for solutions to preserve it.

The United Nations General Assembly designated the day of World Ozone Day to mark the signing of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1987. The day was designated on December 19th, 2000.The Theme 2021 for World Ozone Day: ‘Montreal Protocol – keeping us, our food and vaccines cool.’

NIOS won UNESCO Literacy Prize 2021 for Innovation in Education

The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) of India has won the prestigious UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize 2021 at UNESCO’s New Delhi office.

National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), run by the education ministry, has bagged global recognition from UNESCO for its innovative approach towards education. The recognition is for educating differently-abled people through technology-enabled inclusive learning material. The NIOS move has a specific focus on Indian sign language-based content.

By awarding NIOS the King Sejong Literacy Prize, the jury has recognized the value of providing for the unique educational and language needs of PwD learners by developing teaching content in sign language through digital mode. The award-winning programme focuses on the use of digital tools and local language to help persons with disabilities the option to access Indian Sign Language (ISL)-based content. Five other outstanding literacy programmes have been also awarded UNESCO International Literacy Prize 2021 on the occasion of International Literacy Day.

National Florence Nightingale Awards 2020

President Shri Ram Nath Kovind has conferred the National Florence Nightingale Awards 2020 at a virtual ceremony. President has conferred the awards to 51 health care workers and nurses for their selfless dedication and compassion, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

List of Winners

Peace Mission-2021: India joins in an SCO joint military exercise in Russia

India participated in the 6th edition of a multinational military exercise named “Peace Mission-2021”, has been organized by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Russia’s Oregon.

The main purpose of this exercise is to boost close relations between SCO member states.It will also increase the abilities of the military leaders to command multi-national military contingents.

Russia is hosting the 6th military exercise ‘Peaceful Mission-2021’ in the Orenburg region. and the Peaceful Mission-2021 exercise will be conducted between 13th September 2021 and 25th September 2021. From the Indian side, all arms combined force of 200 personnel including 38 personnel from the Indian Air Force has participated in the Exercise Peaceful mission -2021.

South Korea Test-Fires First Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile

On 15th September 2021, South Korea successfully test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), has become only the 7th country in the world with advanced technology.

North Korea fired a pair of projectiles in the East Sea, South joined the alleged nuclear race by testing its first submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). According to BBC, the test of SLBM was pre-planned and not in reaction to its twin state, nuclear discussions with which have largely remained stalled. Notably, South Korea, a non-nuclear state, became the first country of its kind to develop and test such a system. Other countries including United States, Russia, China, Britain, France, North Korea, and India have tested or developed SLBMs.

South Korea has become the 1st country in the world to develop SLBM without nuclear weapons.

Tata Steel commissions India’s first plant to capture CO2 from blast furnace gas

Tata Steel on Tuesday commissioned a 5-tonne per day (TPD) carbon capture plant at its Jamshedpur Works, making it the country’s first steel company to adopt such a carbon capture technology that extracts CO2 directly from the blast furnace gas.

The Plant has the capability to capture 5 tonnes of CO2 per day (5-tonne per day (TPD)). The plant will play an important role in resuing the captured CO2 on-site to promote a circular carbon economy.

In the last year 2020, Tata Steel partnered with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS). it also aims to build a strong ecosystem in the country for meeting the decarbonization commitments under the Paris Agreement.