Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 10 October 2021

::National::

India joins the High Ambition Alliance for Nature and People

At a ceremony held between the French and Indian governments on 7thOctober in New Delhi, India officially joined the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, a group of more than 70 countries encouraging the adoption of the global goal to protect 30x30.
HAC members currently include a mix of countries in the global north and south; European, Latin American, Africa and Asia countries are among the members. India is the first of the BRICS bloc of major emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to join the HAC.
India’s announcement comes in the lead up to a high-level biodiversity meeting, hosted by China. The virtual meeting to take place October 11-15 will tackle key aspects of the biodiversity treaty to be finalized in 2022. The global 30x30 goal is currently a centrepiece of the treaty.
Shri Rameshwar Prasad Gupta, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India handed over the signed HAC agreement to H.E. Mr. Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India in a ceremony held today.
Expressing delight on India joining member countries of HAC, ShriRameshwar Prasad Gupta, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, said that resource mobilization will always be the cornerstone for implementation of policies and programmes for conserving biodiversity and said India would ensure all support in meeting the global biodiversity targets.

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::International::

UNESCO launches 2021 State of the Education report for India

On the occasion of World Teacher’s Day (October 5), NS United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Launched its 2021 State of the Education Report (SOER) for India “No teacher, no class”.
This publication is the annual flagship report of UNESCO New Delhi and is based on extensive research. This third edition of the State of Education report focuses on the subject of teachers, teaching and teacher education. Internet penetration in schools across India is 19 percent.
High proportion of female teachers: Chandigarh, Delhi, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu
Low proportion of female teachers: Tripura, Assam, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Bihar.
Increase in the number of teachers and improve working conditions in North Eastern States, rural areas and ‘Aspirational Districts’.
Increase in the number of physical education, music, arts, vocational education, early childhood and special education teachers.
To provide meaningful Information and Communication Technology (ICT) training to teachers.
To develop teaching governance through consultative processes based on mutual accountability.

::Economy::

Center releases ₹40,000 crore as GST compensation

Government has released ₹ 40,000 crore to states to help them meet the shortfall in goods and services tax (GST) compensation.
The funds have been released by the Finance Ministry under the back to back loan facility and with this amount, a total of ₹ 1,15,000 crore have been given to states in the current financial year as GST compensation shortfall.
This amount is apart from the normal GST compensation which is given on a bi-monthly basis to states out of the actual cess collection.
Prior to today's release of funds, on July 15, ₹ 75,000 crore had been given to states, official sources said.
During the meeting of the GST council, which was held on May 28, the government had decided to borrow ₹ 1.59 lakh crore in the current fiscal to release to states on a back-to-back basis to help them meet their GST shortfall.
The amount of ₹ 1.59 lakh crore is over and above the compensation in excess of ₹ 1 lakh crore which is to be released to states during 2021-22 and is based on cess collections.
The amount of ₹ 40,000 crore released on Thursday has been sourced from the government's borrowings in five-year securities totaling ₹ 23,500 crore and two-year securities for ₹ 16,500 crore, all of which were issued during the current financial year (2021-22). Comments
These funds will help the states to plan their public expenditure for improving the social infrastructure and finance projects.

::Science and tech::

PM Modi launches Indian Space Association, which will act as the premier body for space and satellite companies in the country

ISpA aims to contribute towards the accelerated development of India’s space industry and making the country a leading player in this segment
New Delhi, 11 October, 2021: The Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today launched the Indian Space Association (ISpA) - the premier industry association of space and satellite companies. Also present on the occasion were Shri Ashwin Vaishnav, Union Minister of Communications, Electronics & IT; Shri Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor of India; Dr Jitender Singh, Hon’ble Minister of State – Department of Space; Gen Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff of India; Shri K Sivan, Chairman, ISRO and Shri Pawan Goenka, Chairman, IN-SPACe.
Speaking on the occasion the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi said: “Today is the day the Indian space sector receives new wings. For 75 years since independence, Indian space has been dominated by a single umbrella of Indian government and government institutions. Scientists of India have made huge achievements in these decades, but the need of the hour is that there should be no restrictions on Indian talent, whether it is in the public sector or in the private sector. In a way, the country has given a new gift to the talent of India's entrepreneurs by opening up India's space sector in its 75th year of independence. Let this collective power of India’s population take the space sector forward in an organized manner. The Indian Space Association (ISpA) will play a huge role in this.”
ISpA aims to contribute to the Government of India’s vision of making India Atmanirbhar and a global leader in the space arena, which is fast emerging as the next growth frontier for mankind. The association will engage with stakeholders across the ecosystem for the formulation of an enabling policy framework that fulfils the Government’s vision. ISpA will also work towards building global linkages for the Indian space industry to bring in critical technology and investments into the country to create more high skill jobs.
ISpA is represented by leading home grown and global corporations with advanced capabilities in the space and satellite technologies. Its founding members include Bharti Airtel, Larson & Toubro, Nelco (Tata Group), OneWeb, Mapmyindia, Walchandnagar Industries and Alpha Design Technologies. Other core members include Godrej, Hughes India, Ananth Technology Limited, Azista-BST Aerospace Private Limited, BEL, Centum Electronics, Maxar India.
“The Hon’ble Prime Minister has demonstrated bold and visionary leadership in unleashing reforms across industries and ISpA shares his vision of making India a leader in space with a strong ‘Make in India’ element. With our large talent pool, growing prowess of home grown technology startups and private enterprises the country is at an inflexion point of what will be a giant leap in the space arena. At ISpA, we look forward to working with stakeholders across the value chain to bring one view of the industry to the table and unlock barriers to growth.” added Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Enterprises.

::Sport::

Top seed Pliskova, defending champion Andreescu blown away at Indian Wells

Big servers Karolina Pliskova, Bianca Andreescu and Reilly Opelka saw their most potent weapon neutralized by strong desert winds on Monday as they all crashed out of Indian Wells. The biggest upset of the day came when tournament lucky loser Beatriz Haddad Maia, ranked 115 in the world, defeated top seed Pliskova 6-3 7-5 in a match where service holds were rare as wind gusts reached 40 miles per hour.
Pliskova, who reached the Wimbledon final in July, issued 12 double faults to five aces and was broken eight times by the Brazilian in their third-round meeting. Haddad Maia will next face Anett Kontaveit after the Estonian beat defending champion Bianca Andreescu 7-6(5) 6-3 to extend her win streak to eight matches.