Current affairs notes on October 06-10

1.The initiative under PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi or PM SVANidhi Scheme will help these vendors grow their business which was severely hit and are still struggling due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is a special micro-credit facility plan to provide affordable loan of up to ₹10,000 to more than 50 lakh street vendors, who had their businesses operational on or before 24 March 2020.Small Industries Development Bank of India is the technical partner for implementation of this scheme.

2. The Supreme Court recently asked the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India about the steps taken to implement the K.V. Kamath Committee report on recommendations to bail out sectors affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In August this year, RBI set up a committee headed by K.V. Kamath on restructuring ofcorporate  loans impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

3. Americans Harvey J Alter and Charles M Rice, and British scientist Michael Houghton have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus. Hepatitis C is a liver disease.

4. Yuddh Pradushan Ke Virudh: Launched by Delhi Government. It is an anti-pollution campaign.

5. India has successfully flight-tested its indigenously developed Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART) from a test range off Odisha coast. SMART is a missile assisted release of lightweight anti-submarine torpedo system for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations far beyond torpedo range.

6. The United Nations designated the first Monday of October of every year as World Habitat Day to reflect on the state of our towns and cities, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter. 2020 Theme: Housing For All — A Better Urban Future.

7. 2020 Nobel Prize in physics has been awarded to Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez for furthering the understanding of black holes. A black hole is formed when stars collapse and can be defined as a space in the universe with an escape velocity so strong that even light cannot escape it. Awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

8. 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded for CRISPR/Cas9 ‘Genetic Scissors’. Emmanuelle Charpentier and American Jennifer Doudna share the prize for developing the CRISPR/Cas9 tool to edit the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with precision.

9. National Air Quality Index: Launched in 2014 with outline ‘One Number – One Color -One Description’. The measurement of air quality is based on eight pollutants, namely: Particulate Matter (PM10), Particulate Matter (PM2.5), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Ozone (O3), Ammonia (NH3), and Lead (Pb).

10. The Centre has appointed RBI’s senior-most Executive Director M. Rajeshwar Rao as Deputy Governor. As per the RBI Act-1934, the central bank should have four deputy governors — two from within the ranks, one commercial banker and another an economist to head the monetary policy department. RBI established on:1935.

11. New Development Bank has approved infrastructure projects worth 741 million dollars in India. It is a multilateral development bank operated by the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). Headquartered in Shanghai, China.

12. Union Cabinet has approved the Ratification of seven chemicals listed under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). Signed in 2001 and effective from May 2004 (Ninety days after the ratification by at least 50 signatory states) aims to eliminate or restrict the production and use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

13. American poet Louise Gluck has won the 2020 Nobel Literature Prize. Presented by- Swedish Academy.

14. October 8 is celebrated as the Air Force Day. Army Day is celebrated on 15 January, Navy Day is celebrated on 4 December.

15. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said it will conduct on-tap targeted long-term repo operations (TLTRO) for an amount of Rs 1 lakh crore to ensure comfortable liquidity conditions in the system. The LTRO is a tool under which the central bank provides one-year to three-year money to banks at the prevailing repo rate, accepting government securities with matching or higher tenure as the collateral.

16. The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) has won the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to combat hunger around the world and improve conditions for peace in areas affected by conflict.

17. Rudram Anti-Radiation Missile: Successfully test-fired recently from a Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft. The missile has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It is the first indigenous air-to-ground missile developed by the DRDO, after the supersonic BrahMos, which has been developed jointly with Russia.

18. RBI has decided to rationalise risk weightage on housing loans. Risk weight refers to the capital banks keep aside as provisioning to cover any loan defaults.

19. Gujarat govt. bans garba during Navaratri. It is a famous folk dance of Gujarat. Garba refers to “Garba deep” which is an earthen pot with holes.