Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 04 September 2021

::National::

Gujarat to host Defense Expo 2022

DefExpo, the flagship event of ministry of defence, has got a new destination. The next edition of DefExpo— Asia's biggest land, naval and internal homeland security systems exhibition—will take place at Gandhinagar in Gujarat from March 11 to 13, 2022.
The 12th edition of DefExpo will be the first ever major defence show in Gujarat.
The last edition of the event was held in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. Incidentally, Lucknow is the parliamentary constituency of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. During the Lucknow edition of DefExpo, emphasis was given to Uttar Pradesh defence corridor, and the main theme of Defence Expo 2020 was: 'India: The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub'. The focus of 2020 event was: 'Digital Transformation of Defence'.
Traditionally, DefExpo was always held at New Delhi’s PragatiMaidan, the usual venue for such exhibitions. It travelled to Goa in 2016 when the then defence minister ManoharParrikar decided to take it to his home state. Then, in 2018, NirmalaSitharaman moved the mega event to Chennai. In fact, uncertainty over its venue had delayed the Channai event, which normally takes place in the month of February and March.
In April 2018, Sitharaman, who hails from Tamil Nadu, chose a site along the East Coast Road, near Kanchipuram. While shifting the venue, she had argued that the NDA government at the Centre was not Delhi-centric and had taken many prestigious events out of the national capital to other parts of the country. In the Chennai edition of DefExpo, over 50 countries had showcased their products, and saw participation of 702 companies.

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::International::

PM Modi addresses the session of Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia

Prime Minister ShriNarendraModi delivered a video-address during the plenary session of the 6th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) held on 3 September 2021 in Vladivostok. It may be recalled that PM was the Chief Guest for the 5th EEF in 2019, the first by an Indian Prime Minister.
Applauding President Putin’s vision for the development of the Russian Far East, PM reiterated India’s commitment as part of its “Act East Policy’ of being a reliable partner of Russia in this regard. He underlined the natural complementarities of India and Russia in the development of Russian Far East.
PM stressed on the importance of greater economic and commercial engagement between the two sides in line with the ‘Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership’. He highlighted the importance of health and pharma sectors as important areas of cooperation that have emerged during the pandemic. He also referred to other potential areas of economic cooperation including diamond, coking coal, steel, timber etc.
Recalling the visit of Chief Ministers of Indian states to EEF-2019, PM extended an invitation to Governors of the 11 regions of Russian Far East to visit India.
Despite the challenges of Covid-19 pandemic, an Indian delegation led by Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas ShriHardeep Singh Puri comprising leading Indian oil and gas companies are attending the India-Russia Business dialogue within the framework of EEF. An online meeting between Chief Minister of Gujarat Shri Vijay Rupani and Governor of Sakha-Yakutia province of Russia was held on 2 September on the sidelines of EEF. Over 50 representatives from reputed Indian companies from various sectors will also be participating in online format.

::Economy::

International Climate Summit (ICS) 2020-21 will be organized by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) in India

India is all set to host a key conference as part of the International Climate Summit (ICS) 2020-21 to build a dialogue for India's transition to clean energy. Policymakers, regulators, industry leaders, experts, and scientists from across the globe are going to be a part of the climate summit.
Union ministers BhupendraYadav and Jitendra Singh, NITI Aayog member Dr VK Saraswat and SturleHarald Pedersen, chairperson of Greenstat India, Norway are some of the eminent participants.
Speaking about the International Climate Summit 2021, DrAshish Kishore Lele, the director of the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), said that the key conference on Friday is especially significant for India and by extension, the rest of the world since it will mark the future mitigation strategies of climate change.
He stressed the need to adopt these alternative strategies, highlighting the problems that arose due to dependence on conventional fuels.
Hydrogen power, one such 'alternative' strategy for India's energy signature, has been in the headlines ever since Prime Minister NarendraModi in his Independence Day speech on August 15 announced a 'National Hydrogen Mission' for the country.
Green hydrogen, which is produced by splitting the water molecule into its hydrogen and oxygen constituents using an electrolyzer powered by renewable energy resources, is expected to be a game-changer for India in meeting its annual energy needs. The country, which currently imports 85 per cent of its oil and 53 per cent of its gas demands, has been reported to spend around ₹12 trillion annually on energy requirements.

India and US signed agreement for Air-Launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle: Defense Ministry

Ministry of Defence and US Department of Defence signed a Project Agreement (PA) for Air-Launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (ALUAV) under the Joint Working Group Air Systems in the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) on July 30, 2021.
The PA for ALUAV falls under the Research, Development, Testing and Evaluation (RDT&E) Memorandum of Agreement between Ministry of Defence and US Department of Defence, which was first signed in January 2006 and renewed in January 2015. The agreement is a significant step towards deepening defence technology collaboration between the two nations through co-development of defence equipment.
The main aim of DTTI is to bring sustained leadership focus to promote collaborative technology exchange and create opportunities for co-production and co-development of future technologies for Indian and US military forces. Under DTTI, Joint Working Groups on land, naval, air, and aircraft carrier technologies have been established for focus on mutually agreed projects in respective domains.
The PA for co-development of ALUAV has been overseen by the Joint Working Group on Air Systems and is a major accomplishment for DTTI.
The PA outlines the collaboration between Air Force Research Laboratory, Indian Air Force, and Defence Research and Development Organisation towards design, development, demonstration, testing and evaluation of systems to co-develop an ALUAV Prototype.
The Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) at DRDO and the Aerospace Systems Directorate at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), along with the Indian and US Air Forces, are the principal organisations for execution of PA.

::Science and Tech::

NASA's Mars Rover Collects Its First Rock Sample

Data received late Sept. 1 from NASA’s Perseverance rover indicate the team has achieved its goal of successfully coring a Mars rock. The initial images downlinked after the historic event show an intact sample present in the tube after coring. However, additional images taken after the arm completed sample acquisition were inconclusive due to poor sunlight conditions. Another round of images with better lighting will be taken before the sample processing continues.
Obtaining additional imagery prior to proceeding with the sealing and storing of Mars rock sample is an extra step the team opted to include based on its experience with the rover’s sampling attempt on Aug. 5. Although the Perseverance mission team is confident that the sample is in the tube, images in optimal lighting conditions will confirm its presence.
Perseverance’s Sampling and Caching System uses a rotary-percussive drill and a hollow coring bit at the end of its 7-foot-long (2-meter-long) robotic arm to extract samples slightly thicker than a pencil. Within the bit during coring is a sample tube. After completing yesterday’s coring, Perseverance maneuvered the corer, bit, and open end of the sample tube in order to be imaged by the rover’s Mastcam-Z instrument. The target for the sample collection attempt was a briefcase-size rock belonging to a ridgeline that is more than half-a-mile (900 meters) long and contains rock outcrops and boulders.

::Sports::

Tokyo Paralympics: Manish Narwal wins gold in 50m mixed pistol

India's Manish Narwal and Singhraj Adana claimed two medals for India in men's P4 mixed 50m pistol SH1. While Manish Narwal won the gold medal, Singhraj Adana claimed the silver medal. The two shooters took India's tally to 15 medals at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics.
Manish scored a total of 218.2 in the final, creating a Paralympic record in the process of winning the gold medal. His Indian teammate Singhraj Adana just fell short, scoring 216.7 in the final.
Earlier, the two Indian shooters had a good show in the qualification round to reach the final. While Manish amassed 533-7x points, Singhraj scored 536-4x points after the end of six series.