Important Current Affairs 16th October 2021

INTERNATIONAL

European Union launches first green bond in October 2021

•The European Commission issued its inaugural green bonds Tuesday, raising 12 billion euros ($13.8 billion) from a sale that attracted strong demand from investors.

•The EU's executive branch is planning to issue up to 250 billion euros in green bonds by the end of 2026 as part of its plans to finance the 27-nation bloc's recovery from the C-19 crisis.

NATIONAL

Tamil Nadu set to be first state to give kids C-19 vaccine

•Tamil Nadu is to become the first in the country to administer C-19 vaccines to those aged 2-18 years, said State Health Minister M Subramaniam on Wednesday.

•The Centre has made a formal announcement on the vaccine and sent the proposal for an expert opinion, and once Tamil Nadu gets the nod, the State would be the first to administer the vaccine, Subramaniam told reporters here.

•An expert panel of the Central drug authority has recommended granting emergency use authorisation to Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for children and adolescents in the 2 to 18 years age group with certain conditions.

•If approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), it would be the second C-19 vaccine after Zydus Cadila's needle-free ZyCoV-D to receive EUA for use in those below 18 years.

AIIMS Launched 'dental hygiene app' for children

•The Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry at AIIMS has launched a dental health education app for children to help them develop good oral health practices.

•The “Healthy Smile” app is a bilingual app—developed through the AIIMS intermural research grant—has features such as a musical 2-minute brushing timer with “motivational songs”, brushing demonstration videos, preventive dental care tips, oral care tips for pregnancies, and FAQs.

•AIIMS authorities said that this was felt to be required because dental caries was found to be prevalent in the pediatric population in the country to the extent of 40-50 percent.

SPORTS

MS Dhoni becomes first in world cricket to captain in 300 T20 Games

•Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Friday became the first player in world cricket to captain a team in 300 T20 games across various competitions, during his side's IPL summit clash against Kolkata Kight Riders here.

•The 40-year-old former India captain, playing his 10th IPL final (ninth for CSK as captain), has led the 'Yellow Brigade' in 214 games across 12 editions that they have taken part out of the 14 IPL seasons.

•He has also led Rising Pune Supergiants during one IPL season apart from leading India in six T20 World Cups. His crowning glory would certainly be leading India to the T20 World Cup title in South Africa back in 2007.

APPOINTMENT & RESIGNATION

Ritesh Chauhan appointed as the CEO of PM Fasal Bima Yojana

•Senior bureaucrat Ritesh Chauhan has been appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and Joint Secretary, Agriculture under the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.

•Chauhan will have a combined tenure of seven years up to September 22, 2023. He is a 2005-batch IAS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre. He will succeed Ashish Kumar Bhutani, who was appointed in 2018.

UCO Bank chief A K Goel is new IBA chairman, succeeds Union Bank MD

•A K Goel, managing director and chief executive (MD & CEO) of UCO Bank has been elected as the chairman of Indian Bank’s Association (IBA) for 2021-22. He has replaced Rajkiran Rai G, MD & CEO, Union Bank of India.

•IBA is a representative body of management of banking in India operating in India and is headquartered in Mumbai.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Food Day 2021: 16th October

•World Food Day (WFD) is celebrated every year on 16 October across the globe to eradicate worldwide hunger from our lifetime. WFD also commemorates the date of the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1945. Theme 2021: “Safe food now for a healthy tomorrow”.

•The main focus of this day is that food is a basic and fundamental human right. WFD commemorates the day in 1945 when the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was founded.

RANKING

Global Hunger Index 2021: India ranks on 101st

•India’s rank has dropped to the 101st position among 116 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2021. In 2020, India was placed at 94th spot, out of 107 countries. The 2021 GHI score of India is recorded at 27.5 out of 50, which comes under the serious category. Neighbouring countries like Nepal (76), Bangladesh (76), Myanmar (71) and Pakistan (92) are also in the ‘alarming’ hunger category but have fared better at feeding its citizens than India, according to the report.

•A total of 18 countries, including China, Kuwait and Brazil, shares the top rank. The GHI score of these 18 nations is less than 5. This means that these countries suffer very less from hunger and malnutrition.

Forbes World’s Best Employer 2021 Ranking: Reliance Industries is on tops

•Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has topped the Indian corporates in the World’s Best Employers 2021 rankings published by Forbes. Globally, Reliance is placed at 52nd position among 750 global corporates. South Korean giant Samsung Electronics has topped the overall ranking as World’s Best Employers 2021, followed by US giants IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Alphabet and Dell Technologies.

•The World’s Best Employers 2021 has been prepared by Forbes in partnership with market research company Statista.

•The ranking is based upon surveying 1,50,000 full-time and part-time workers from 58 countries working for multinational companies and institutions, where employees rated their employers on numerous points.

•Parameters used during the survey for the ranking include the image, economic footprint, talent development, gender equality and social responsibility.