DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 10 – 11 October 2021
NMDC Wins two Prestigious Environment Awards
- National Mineral Development Corporation Ltd.(NMDC),Country’s largest iron ore producer, a CPSE under Ministry of Steel has bagged Gold Award in Environmental Sustainability category and Kumaraswamy Iron Ore Mine bagged Platinum Award in Environment Management category. The function was organised by Sustainable Development Foundation (a unit of EK KAAM DESH KE NAAM) and the awards were presented in the 10th conference held at Dehradun. The Governor of Uttarakhand, Lt. General Shri Gurmit Singh was the Chief Guest of the inaugural function.
- NMDC is selected for the awards based on its contribution towards implementation of Sustainable Development Goals and Environment Management initiatives at its production projects. On behalf of NMDC, the awards were received by Shri M Jayapal Reddy, CGM RP and Shri Sanjeev Sahi, CGM, Donimalai Complex from Chief Guest of the valedictory function Dr Harak Singh Rawat, Minister of Forest, Power, Labour, Environment, Government of Uttarakhand, Shri Reddy also presented a paper on “Environmental Management during COVID-19” which is well appreciated by delegates and organizers.
Long Haul Freight Trains ‘Trishul’ and ‘Garuda’
- Indian Railways has successfully operated two long haul freight trains “Trishul” and “Garuda” for the first time over South-Central Railway(SCR).
- Long haul trains, which are twice or multiple times longer than the normal composition of freight trains, provide a very effective solution to the problem of capacity constraints in critical sections.
- Trishul is SCR’s first long haul comprising of three freight trains, i.e., 177 wagons. This train was started on 07.10.2021 from Kondapalli station of Vijayawada division to Khurda division of East Coast Railway.
- SCR followed it up with running of yet another similar one named Garuda on 08.10.2021 from Raichur of Guntakal division to Manuguru of Secunderabad division. In both the cases the long-haul trains comprised of empty open wagons for loading of coal meant for predominantly thermal power stations.
- Any train having a composition of more than 59 wagons is called a long-haul train.
72nd TERRITORIAL ARMY DAY
- The Territorial Army celebrated its 72nd Raising Day on 09 Oct 2021. On the solemn occasion, Director General Territorial Army, Lt Gen Preet Mohindera Singh paid tributes to the fallen brave hearts by laying a wreath at the National War Memorial. Several commemorative events were held across the country to mark the occasion.
- The Territorial Army in its current form came into being when the Territorial Army Act was enacted on Aug 18, 1948. Initially, the Territorial Army consisted of Infantry, Armoured Corps, Air Defence Artillery, Signals, Supply and other departmental units. It was formally raised by the first Governor General Shri C Rajagopalachari on 09 Oct 1949, which has since been celebrated as Territorial Army Day.
- The Territorial Army has several units affiliated to various regiments of the Indian Army, apart from Home and Hearth battalions based on the concept of Sons of Soil. Engineer TA Battalions are deployed for maintenance of the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. The Territorial Army also has 10 Ecological TA Battalions which are responsible for restoration of ecological environment of the country carrying out plantation in rugged and inhospitable terrain, reviving wetlands, restoring water bodies, and undertaking water conservation measure by building check dams. Apart from this, some TA Battalions also perform specialist tasks at the Indian Railways, Indian Oil Corporations and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.
World Postal Day
- World Post Day is celebrated each year on 9th of October to mark the anniversary of establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874.
- India has been a member of the Universal Postal Union since 1876. The purpose of World Post Day is to create awareness about the role of postal sector in the lives of people and businesses as well as contribution to the socio-economic development of countries.
- The theme for this year’s World Post Day is ‘Innovate to recover’.
- On World Post Day, we remember the invaluable contributions of postal workers in ensuring public service delivery during the trying times of Covid pandemic.
“Indian Space Association” to be Launched Today
- ISpA is the Premier Industry Association of Space and Satellite companies, which aspires to be the collective voice of the Indian Space industry.
- It will undertake policy advocacy and engage with all stakeholders in the Indian Space domain, including the Government and its agencies.
- Echoing the Prime Minister’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, ISpA will help in making India self-reliant, technologically advanced and a leading player in the space arena.
- ISpA is represented by leading home grown and global corporations with advanced capabilities in space and satellite technologies. Its founding members include Larson & Toubro, Nelco (Tata Group), OneWeb, Bharti Airtel, Mapmyindia, Walchandnagar Industries and Ananth Technology Limited.
- Other core members include Godrej, Hughes India, Azista-BST Aerospace Private Limited, BEL, Centum Electronics, Maxar India.
India, Denmark Sign 4 Agreements
- India and Denmark have inked four agreements and decided to expand cooperation following bilateral talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen in New Delhi yesterday. The agreements were signed in the field of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, on establishing a Centre of Excellence towards natural refrigerants for tropical climates with potential applications and on mapping of ground water resources and aquifers.
- The two countries also decided to expand ties in the fields of health and agriculture. Addressing the media after the talks, Prime Minister Modi said, India and Denmark have continued their cooperation even during the pandemic. He said, in their virtual summit a year ago, both the countries had taken the historic decision of green strategic partnership.
Fiji Celebrates 51st Anniversary of their Independence
- External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has greeted the Government and people of Fiji on the 51st anniversary of their Independence. In a tweet, Dr Jaishankar said, as a development partner, India is committed to strengthening the long-standing ties between the two countries.
- Fiji is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean.
- It lies about 1,100 nautical miles (2,000 km: 1,300 mi) northeast of New Zealand.
- Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about 110 are permanently inhabited—and more than 500 islets, amounting to a total land area of about 18,300 square kilometres (7,100 sq mi).
World Wrestling Championship 2021
- The 2021 World Wrestling Championships was the 17th edition of the World Wrestling Championships of combined events and was held from 2 to 10 October 2021 in Oslo, Norway.
- The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated Anshu Malik for winning silver medal and Sarita Mor for winning Bronze medal at World Wrestling Championship 2021.
ISSF Junior World Championship
- Indian athletes bagged all the medals in the four events on the final day of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Championships in Lima, Peru.
- In the medal standings, India finished at the top with 40 medals in total, including 16 gold, 15 silver and nine bronze.
- The second place in the medals tally went to the USA with 21 medals that included seven gold, eight silver and six bronze medals. Italy, France and Germany followed the top two with a tally of 10, nine and 10 medals, respectively.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
- National Mineral Development Corporation was founded in
- 1948
- 1958
- 1968
- 1978
ANSWER: B
- HQ of National Mineral Development Corporation
- Patna
- New Delhi
- Hyderabad
- Bhubaneshwar
ANSWER: C
- National Mineral Development Corporation works under
- Ministry of Steel
- Ministry of Mines
- Ministry of Commerce
- Ministry of Heavy Industries
ANSWER: A
- Nagarnar Steel Plant is situated in which state
- Chhattisgarh
- Jharkhand
- West Bengal
- Odisha
ANSWER: A
- Which of the following is not an official language of Fiji
- Fijian
- English
- Hindi
- None
ANSWER: D
- Universal Postal Union was founded in
- 1874
- 1864
- 1854
- 1844
ANSWER: A
- The Universal Postal Union established by the ____ of 1874
- Treaty of Bern
- Treaty of Denmark
- Treaty of Sevres
- Treaty of Westphalia
ANSWER: A
- De facto Capital of Switzerland
- Geneva
- Bern
- Berlin
- Zurich
ANSWER: B
- Capital of Denmark
- Copenhagen
- Kolding
- Roskilde
- Aarhus
ANSWER: A
- The Nordic Council was established in
- 1950
- 1951
- 1952
- 1953
ANSWER: C
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