CURRENT AFFAIRS DESTINATION FOR UPSC & STATE CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATIONS
The Supreme Court of India on October 27, 2021 appointed an independent expert technical committee headed by a former apex court judge, Justice R.V. Raveendran, to examine allegations that the government used an Israeli spyware, Pegasus, to snoop on its own citizens. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana asked the committee to submit its report “expeditiously”. Justice Raveendran would oversee the functioning of the technical committee Read More …
The first Black U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell died on October 18, 2021 at the age of 84. Despite being fully vaccinated against COVID-19, he died due to complication from the disease. Gen. Powell, who was wounded in Vietnam, served as U.S. National Security Adviser under President Ronald Reagan from 1987 to 1989. He joined President George W. Bush’s administration in 2001 as secretary of state, the first Black Read More …
Secretary DDR&D and Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy has been conferred the prestigious Aryabhata Award by Astronautical Society of India (ASI) for his outstanding life-time contribution to the promotion of astronautics in India. Dr G Satheesh Reddy is a pioneer in the area of R&D of advanced avionics, navigation and missile technologies. He has contributed immensely to strategic and tactical missile systems and helped the country become self-reliant in Read More …
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2021 to Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace. Ms Ressa and Mr Muratov are receiving the Peace Prize for their courageous fight for freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia. Maria Ressa uses freedom of expression to expose abuse of power, use of Read More …
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has notified constitution of the National Road Safety Board, along with Rules thereof, on 3rd September, 2021. The Rules specify provisions regarding its composition , eligibility for Chairman and Members of the Board, selection process, term of office, procedure for resignation and removal, powers and functions of the Board, meetings of the Board etc. The Head Office of the Board shall be in the National Read More …
On September 30, 2021, E.R. Sheikh assumed charge as first Director General of the Ordnance Directorate (Co-ordination and Services). It is the successor organization of Ordnance Factory Board (OFB). An Indian Ordnance Factory Service (IOFS) officer of the 1984 batch, he has been a spearhead of modernization E.R. Sheik a graduate of IIT Kanpur, he has served in various Ordnance Factories. He was General Manager of the Ordnance Factory, Itarsi Read More …
Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE)-a Delhi-based environmental organisation is among the winners of the 2021 Right Livelihood Award-known as Sweden’s alternative Nobel Prize. Other awardees include Cameroonian women rights activist Marthe Wandou, Russian environmental activist Vladimir Slivyak, and Canadian Indigenous rights defender Freda Huson.. The LIFE has won the award for its “grassroots approach of empowering vulnerable communities to protect their livelihoods and claim their right to a Read More …
Renowned feminist activist Kamla Bhasin passed away on September 25, 2021. She was 75. Kamla Bhasin was born in 1946 in Shahidanwaali village in Punjab (now in Pakistan). Bhasin had joined the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1976 — a job she retired from in 2002. In 2004, she set up Sangat, a South Asian Feminist Network. She was also the founder of women’s organisation Jagori.
NHPC’s 510 MW Teesta-V Power Station located in the Himalayan State of Sikkim has been conferred with the prestigious Blue Planet Prize by International Hydropower Association (IHA), a London based non-profit membership association operating in 120 countries. The award had been conferred to Teesta-V Power Station based on its sustainability assessment undertaken by a team of accredited lead assessors of IHA in 2019 using the Operation Stage tool of the Read More …
The Presiding Officers Conference will be held in Shimla from October 26 to 28, 2021. The conference will discuss the diminishing standard of discipline, decorum and decency in our legislatures. The Conference will be attended by the Presiding officers from Panchayat level to the Parliament. It will also be the centenary year of the Presiding Officers Conference that was held for the first time in Shimla in 1921. The Presiding Read More …
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has kickstarted a campaign under ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’. The Pension Regulator will be observing 1st October 2021 as the National Pension System Diwas (NPS Diwas) to promote pension and retirement planning for a carefree ‘azad’ retirement. PFRDA is promoting this campaign on its social media platforms with #npsdiwas. The pension regulator aims to encourage every citizen (working professionals and self-employed professionals) to plan towards Read More …
Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal on September 23, 2021 inaugurated the ‘Centre of Excellence in Logistics and Supply Chain Management’ at the National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai. The Centre will act as a driving force to train and launch top quality programs to disseminate advanced knowledge and promote Digitisation, Analytics, and IoT Application and Decision Support Systems through Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning applications Read More …
Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina has been conferred with SDG Progress award for country’s steady progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the UN sponsored Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). Development economist Jeffery Sachs appreciated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for spearheading the SDG campaign even during the COVID 19 pandemic. The SDSN (Sustainable Development Solutions Network) was set up in 2012 under the auspices of the UN Read More …
Fairooz Faizah Beether of Bangladesh has been chosen for the 2021 Changemaker Award for her work promoting good health and well-being by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Changemaker Award celebrates an individual who has inspired change using personal experience or from a position of leadership. Fairooz Faizah is co-founder of Moner School which is an anonymous online platform active in the field of mental health. It works with Read More …
Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shri Anurag Thakur will inaugurate the first Himalayan Film Festival on 24th September, 2021. The festival spanning five days is being held at Leh, Ladakh from 24th to 28th September 2021. The inaugural of the festival will witness the presence of makers and cast of the super hit movie Shershah, including Director Shri Vishnuvardhan and the lead actor Shri Siddharth Malhotra. Shershah is also Read More …