Important Current Affairs 18th October 2021

INTERNATIONAL

Jonas Gahr Store is the Norway’s new Prime Minister

• Jonas Gahr Store, the Leader of the Labour Party in Norway, has assumed the charge of the Prime Minister of Norway with effect from October 14, 2021. In September 2021, Store’s Labour Party won the parliamentary elections, following which incumbent Prime Minister Erna Solberg and her government stepped down.

• Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, the leader of Norway’s centre-left Labor Party, stood outside the royal palace with his 19-member team — 10 women and nine men — that includes the leader of the euroskeptic Center Party, Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, who becomes finance minister.  Emilie Enger Mehl became Norway’s youngest-ever justice minister at age 28, while the foreign minister portfolio went to another woman — Anniken Scharning Huitfeldt.

NATIONAL

Mount Harriet in Andaman to be named Mount Manipur

• Manipur broke into celebration on Sunday after the Centre renamed the Andaman and Nicobar Islands' 'Mount Harriet', where Manipur's Maharaja Kulchandra Dhwaj Singh and 22 other freedom fighters were imprisoned, as 'Mount Manipur' in their honour.

• Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said government has asked people to organise candlelight celebration to express to Prime minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for renaming the 'Mount Harriet National Park' as 'Mount Manipur National Park' in memory of the freedom fighters of the state.

• The Chief Minister tweeted: "In a fitting tribute to Maharaja Kulachandra and other Manipuri freedom fighters imprisoned at Mount Harriet in Kalapani, Home Minister Amit Shah ji has renamed Mount Harriet as Mount Manipur. We're immensely thankful to PM Narendra Modi Ji & Amit Shah Ji for such a great honour of our heroes."

Mumbai Postal department launched 'Know Your Postman' App

• Mumbai postal department on October 16 launched an android-based mobile application 'Know Your Postman' on the occasion of National Mails Day.  This is the first application to get details of your beat postman in the history of the Mumbai Postal region.

• The purpose of the app is to connect citizens easily to their local beat postman and facilitate delivery at per their convenience. At present, the database has more than 86,000 localities and the team is working on adding more as well.

• "Mumbai is a very big region, so it will take time to add all the localities in our database. But as of now, we have more than 86,000 localities in the database.

APPOINTMENT & RESIGNATION

Imtiaz Ali appointed as ambassador of Russian Film Festival in India

• Director-producer Imtiaz Ali has been roped in as the ambassador of the Russian Film Festival in India. As part of the festival, ten notable Russian films of various genres will be premiered for Indian audiences on Disney+ Hotstar from October 16 to November 27. Ali said the festival will act as a ground for many future cinematic collaborations between the India and Russia.

• “Russia and India have cultural ties that go back a long way. Film stars like Raj Kapoor and Mithun Chakraborty have been very popular in Russia and at the same time, Russian music and cinema have been a part of popular culture in India.

Navrang Saini gets additional charge as Chairperson of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India

• Navrang Saini has been given the additional charge as the Chairperson of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI). The post fell vacant after M.S. Sahoo retired after a five-year tenure on September 30. Saini is a Whole Time Member of IBBI.

• The government has assigned additional charge of Chairperson to Mr Saini in addition to his existing duties. This will be for three months or till the joining of a new incumbent to the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier, it said in a release on October 13.

RBI appointed Pradeep Kumar Panja as the Chairman of Karnataka Bank

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of Pradeep Kumar Panja as the Chairman of Karnataka Bank Ltd. He will begin his role as the part-time non-executive Chairman with effect from November 14, 2021, for a period of three years. He will succeed P Jayarama Bhat, who will retire on November 13, 2021.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Menopause Day 2021 : 18th October

• World Menopause Day is held every year on the 18th October. The purpose of the day is to raise awareness of the menopause and the support options available for improving health and wellbeing. We encourage professionals and women to participate in this global awareness raising campaign by printing and sharing these materials, organising events to engage their communities, and sharing World Menopause Day social media posts.

• The theme for World Menopause Day 2021 is Bone Health.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

The Great Indian Kitchen wins the best Film award at the 51st KSFA

• Jeo Baby-directed "The Great Indian Kitchen", which revolves around the story of a newly-wed couple in a traditional middle class family, bagged the titles for the best film and screenplay in the 51st Kerala State Film Awards announced on Saturday.

• The small-budget movie, which shattered the myth of domesticity and raised some disturbing questions against patriarchy, was a huge hit.

• Popular actors Jayasurya and Anna Ben were adjudged the the best actor and actress titles for their stellar performances in the movies "Vellam" and "Kappela" respectively, while Siddharth Siva bagged the recognition for the best director through his movie "Ennivar.

India's project Takachar wins Prince William's Earthshot Prize

• A Delhi-based entrepreneur's agricultural waste recycling project was named among the winners of Prince William's inaugural Earthshot Prize, dubbed the "Eco Oscars", at a gala ceremony in London on Sunday evening.

• Vidyut Mohan led Takachar was named the winner of the GBP 1 million prize for its cheap technology innovation to convert crop residues into sellable bio-products in the "clean our air" category.

• It was among five worldwide winners of the prize, created by William, the Duke of Cambridge, to reward people trying to save the planet.

Veteran artist Veer Munshi to get Harmony India Award

• Veteran artist Veer Munshi, Kashmiri singer Prof Kailash Mehra and Sahitya Akademi awardee Zareef Ahmad Zareef are among 16 eminent personalities of various fields in Jammu and Kashmir to get this year's Harmony India Awards at a ceremony on Sunday.

• This is the 7th edition of the Harmony India Awards to be held on Sunday at Teacher's Bhawan.

• Creative personalities, artists, musicians, writers, social activists, theatre and visual artists, journalists has felicitated for their outstanding contribution in the growth and development of the nation.