October Current Affairs 2021 UPSC IES IRMS

1. Digi Saksham programme

• Recently, the Union Labour Ministry and Microsoft India have jointly launched a digital skilled platform — DigiSaksham — to enhance youth employability.

• Free of cost training in digital skills including basic skills as well as advanced computing, will be provided to more than 3 lakh youths in the first year.

• Implemented by: Aga Khan Rural Support Programme India (AKRSP-I).

• AKJRSP-I is a non-denominational, non-government development organization. It works as a catalyst for the betterment of rural communities by providing direct support to local communities.

Need:

• To bridge the gap of India’s digital divide, placing the country on the path to inclusive economic recovery and preparing India’s talent to thrive in a digital future catering not only to the needs of the domestic economy but also to tap the overseas employment opportunities.

In what areas training would be provided?

• Under the initiative, training would be provided in areas such as Java Script, Data Visualisation, Power Bi, Advance Excel, HTML, software development fundamentals, programming languages, introduction to coding, etc.

2. PM launches Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 and AMRUT 2.0

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the second phase of the two flagship missions, namely, Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), from Dr Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi.

• The SBM-U 2.0 and AMRUT 2.0 have been designed to realise the aspiration of making all cities ‘garbage free’ and ‘water secure’. The outlay of SBM-U 2.0 is around Rs 1.41 lakh crore. The outlay of AMRUT 2.0 is around Rs 2.87 lakh crore.

1. Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U):

• The Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM-U), launched on 2nd October 2014 aims at making urban India free from open defecation and achieving 100% scientific management of municipal solid waste in 4,041 statutory towns in the country.

Features of SBM-U 2.0:

1. Make all cities ‘garbage free’ and ensure grey and black water management in all cities other than those covered under AMRUT
2. Make all urban local bodies open defecation free+ and those with a population of less than one lakh as open defecation free++, to achieve the vision of safe sanitation in urban areas
3. Source segregation of solid waste, utilising the principles of 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle), scientific processing of all types of municipal solid waste and remediation of legacy dumpsites for effective solid waste management.

2. Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation

• The Government of India has launched the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) with the aim of providing basic civic amenities like water supply, sewerage, urban transport, parks to improve the quality of life for all especially the poor and the disadvantaged. The focus of the Mission is on infrastructure creation that has a direct link to the provision of better services to the citizens.

Features of AMRUT 2.0:

1. Provide 100 per cent coverage of water supply to all households in around 4,700 urban local bodies by providing about 2.68 crore tap connections.
2. Provide 100 per cent coverage of sewerage and septage in 500 AMRUT cities by providing around 2.64 crore sewer or septage connections.
3. Adopt the principles of a circular economy and promote conservation and rejuvenation of surface and groundwater bodies promote data-led governance in water management and technology sub-mission to leverage the latest global technologies and skills..

3. IEA invites India to become full-time member

• Recently, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has invited India, the world’s third-largest energy consumer, to become its full-time member.

• India became an Associate member of IEA in March 2017 but it was in engagement with IEA long before its association with the organization.

• India is becoming increasingly influential in global energy trends. Its in-depth report on India’s energy policies, which was released in January 2020, states that the country’s demand for energy is set to grow rapidly in the coming decades, with electricity use set to increase particularly fast.

• The country’s reliance on fuel imports makes further improving energy security a key priority for the Indian economy.

IEA’s Membership:

1. The IEA is made up of 30 member countries. It also includes eight association countries.
2. A candidate country to the IEA must be a member country of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
3. It mainly focuses on its energy policies which include economic development, energy security and environmental protection. These policies are also known as the 3 E’s of IEA.

Major Reports:

1. World Energy Outlook Report.
2. World Energy Investment Report.
3. India Energy Outlook (important)

4. Gati Shakti National Master Plan

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ‘PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan‘ for multi-modal connectivity.

• Gati Shakti is a digital platform that will bring together 16 ministries including rail and road for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects.

• Gati Shakti is different from the already announced national infrastructure pipeline and national monetization pipeline; Gati Shakti’s master plan is more about bringing the coordination for the planning of all infrastructure connectivity projects that have been announced under the national infrastructure pipeline. Simply put, the Gati Shakti master plan will bring maximum planning and coordination and minimize delays between the government stakeholders, in this case, various ministries. The master plan would be focusing more on ending inter-ministerial silos.

• Under this Rs 100 crore Gati Shakti master plan, the government is aiming to develop 11 industrial corridors and two new defense corridors in Tamil Nadu and UP. In addition to these, all villages in India with 4G network coverage, expansion of the national highways network to 2 lakh kilometers, etc. Also, the creation of 220 new airports, helicopters, and water aerodromes, 17000 km of new gas pipeline network are some of the targets that the government wants to achieve.

5. Global Hunger Index: India at 101st rank

• Global Hunger Index 2021, which is prepared jointly by an Irish aid agency called ‘Concern Worldwide’ and a German organization called ‘Welt Hunger Hilfe’, was released. The Index termed the hunger level in India is alarming.

• In the index, India has been placed in the 101st position out of 116 countries.

• In 2020, India was positioned at 94th.

How GHI Score is calculated?

• GHI score is calculated on the basis of four indicators namely

1. Undernourishment
2. Child wasting (share of children aged under five who are wasted i.e., those having low weight for their height.
3. Child stunting (children aged under five who are having low height for their age.
4. Child mortality (mortality rate of children aged under five).

6. India, US, UAE, and Israel form a new QUAD

• Foreign Ministers of India, the US, Israel, and the UAE concluded a virtual meeting. The meeting is a strong manifestation of the changes in West Asian geopolitics and the formation of another Quad-like grouping in the Middle East.

• The new grouping is possible after the resumption of formal diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE, through the Abraham Accord.

• The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, also known as the Quad, is a strategic dialogue between the United States (US), India, Australia, and Japan. The Quad was formed in 2007 by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe along with support from the then US Vice President Dick Cheney, Indian PM Manmohan Singh, and Australian PM John Howard.

7. India announces new climate targets at COP26

• India recently announced new climate targets at COP26 under its ‘Panchamrit strategy’. It has taken a bold leap towards cementing its commitment to clean energy and letting the world know its future approach towards fighting climate change.

• The five-fold strategy to fight climate change, termed Panchamrit, was announced by Indian PM at the ongoing COP26 meeting at Glasgow. The strategy also includes a target year for reaching Net-Zero.

What new climate targets have been pledged by India at COP26?

• India made five big-ticket announcements at the climate change meeting in Glasgow:

1. India will increase its non-fossil energy capacity to 500GW (India had earlier extended its target to 450GW out of which 100GW is already installed) by 2030.
2. India will meet 50% of its energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030.
3. India will reduce the total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes from now onwards till 2030.
4. By 2030, India will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by 45%.
5. By the year 2070, India will achieve the target of Net Zero.

• India has also given the slogan of One LIFE (Lifestyle For Environment ), One World at Glasgow.

Also Read:

1. Current Affairs January 2021
2. February Current Affairs 2021
3. March Current Affairs 2021
4. Current Affairs April 2021
5. Current Affairs May 2021
6. June Current Affairs 2021
7. July Current Affairs 2021
8. August Current Affairs 2021
9. Current Affairs September 2021