Current Affairs for Competitive Examinations: October 20, 2022

The current affairs section needs to be given extra attention if you are preparing for competitive examinations. A candidate should constantly study fresh information about events in the globe, country, state, and all other sectors. To maintain a level of general knowledge, all you need to know are the essentials. Reading about current events is not difficult; it is really interesting. In order to help all the candidates score well in this section, we have analysed the most recent news from The Hindu, Indian Express, the Economic Times, and so on.

Current Affairs: Economy, Society.

Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2022

As many as 41.5 crore people exited poverty in India during the 15-year period between 2005-06 and 2019-21, out of which two-thirds exited in the first 10 years, and one-third in the next five years, according to the recently published global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).

MPI Dimensions and Indicators: Refer Image

What is MPI?

• The global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is jointly produced by UNDP and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI). 
• The index complements monetary-based measures of poverty, expressing deprivations that are manifested in people’s daily lives in ways that go beyond the ability to purchase goods and services.
• The 2022 MPI features the latest estimates and analyses on multidimensional poverty, providing a closer look at the interlinked deprivations of the poor and shedding valuable insights on how to tackle poverty by addressing it in its multiple dimensions.

The Data:

• Around 415 million people in India climbed out of poverty between 2005-06 and 2019-21, with the incidence of poverty falling from 55 per cent to just over 16 per cent over this period, according to the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2022.
• Despite the significant reductions, however, the largest number of poor people in the world—228.9 million—lived in India in 2020.

Key findings of the report:

• 1.2 billion people are multidimensionally poor.
• 72 out of 81 countries with trend data covering roughly 5 billion people experienced a statistically significant reduction in absolute terms in MPI value during at least one of the periods analysed.
• 593 million (about half) are children under the age of 18.
• 579 million live in Sub-Saharan Africa, followed by South Asia (385 million).

Dimensions, indicators, deprivation cutoffs, and weights of the global Multidimensional Poverty Index.

Question: 

Which of the following does not constitute a major dimension of the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)?

A. Health

B. Education

C. Standard of living

D. Food security

Answer: D

Current Affairs: National, Environment.

Green Crackers

• Recently the Supreme Court of India has given the nod to green crackers.

What are green crackers?

• Introduced in 2018, the concept of green crackers essentially entails using alternative raw materials – designed to have a lesser impact on the environment – in the process, reducing health risks and threats to humans. 
• Unlike traditional crackers, green crackers do not contain harmful chemicals such as aluminium, barium, potassium nitrate or carbon. 
• According to some reports, green crackers emit 30% lesser pollutants than regular crackers. Moreover, these crackers also make less noise, showing a drop to 110 decibels from 160 decibels. 
• These somewhat eco-friendly crackers are available only at places that are registered with the government, and they are developed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

What are the toxic metals that traditional crackers release?

• Crackers release several toxic metals that can be harmful to health. The white colour emitted through crackers is aluminium, magnesium and titanium, while the orange colour is carbon or iron. 
• Similarly, yellow agents are sodium compounds, while blue and red are copper compounds and strontium carbonates. The green agent is barium monochloride salts or barium nitrate, or barium chlorate.

Crackers developed by CSIR fall under three categories:

STAR:

• STAR is a safe thermite cracker, which does not comprise potassium nitrate and sulphur, and emits reduced particulate matter disposal and reduced sound intensity. 

SAFAL:

• SAFAL is safe minimal aluminium which has minimum usage of aluminium and uses magnesium instead. It ensures a reduction in sound in comparison to traditional crackers.

SWAS:

• SWAS is a safe water releaser, which suppresses the dust released by releasing water vapour in the air. It does not comprise potassium nitrate, and sulphur and the particulate dust released will reduce approximately by 30 per cent.

Question: 

Which of the following is not a category of green crackers developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research?

A. STAR

B. SAFAL

C. SWAS

D. SWAT

Answer: D

Current Affairs: Awards and Recognitions.

Booker Prize-2022

Context: Awards and Recognitions

• Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka recently won the 2022 Booker Prize for fiction – “The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida.”
• Shehan Karunatilaka`s second novel is a searing, mordantly funny satire set amid the murderous mayhem of a Sri Lanka beset by civil war.
• Karunatilaka received a trophy from Queen Consort Camilla at the English language literary award’s first in-person ceremony since 2019. 
• He also gets a £50,000 ($56,810) prize.

About the book:

• Set in 1990 Sri Lanka during the country’s civil war, Karunatilaka’s story follows gay war photographer and gambler Maali Almeida, who wakes up dead.
• It is an entirely serious philosophical romp that takes the reader to ‘the world’s dark heart’ — the murderous horrors of civil war in Sri Lanka.

What is the Booker Prize?

• The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. 
• The winner of the Booker Prize receives international publicity, which usually leads to a sales boost.
•  When the prize was created, only novels written by Commonwealth, Irish, and South African (and later Zimbabwean) citizens were eligible to receive the prize; in 2014, it was widened to any English-language novel —a change that proved controversial.

Question: 

For which of the following fiction the Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka recently won the 2022 Booker Prize?

A. The Promise

B. Milkman

C. Girl, Woman, Other

D. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

Answer: D

Current Affairs: National, Infrastructure.

First India-made aluminium freight rake

• Indian Railways recently achieved another milestone as it received its first indigenously manufactured aluminium goods train rake.
• This aluminium goods train is different from any other as it is lighter than its predecessors but comes with more freight-carrying capacity.

About the train:

• The rake is 180 tonnes lighter than existing steel rakes, resulting in increased speed and lower power consumption for the same distance. 
• The lifetime carbon saving is eight to 10 tonnes, however; with the initiation of this train, the Indian Railways will be saving more than 14,500 tonnes of carbon for a single rake.  
• Manufactured in collaboration with Besco Limited Wagon Division and aluminium major Hindalco, it also has a lower carbon footprint for every 100 kg of weight reduction in wagons.

Importance:

• Aluminium is the preferred choice for metro trains worldwide for its durability and, most importantly – passenger safety, as it has improved crashworthiness or superior crash absorption capability. 
• Indian Railways have already announced their plans to make aluminium-bodied Vande Bharat train sets. 
• Hindalco is committed to bringing in this revolutionary change in India and is engaged in discussions with global partners to set up a conducive ecosystem in India.

Question: 

Which company majorly built India’s first indigenously manufactured aluminium goods train rake?

A. Integral Coach Factory

B. BHEL

C. Hindalco

D. BEML

Answer: C

Current Affairs: Days and Events.

World Health Summit 2022

• World Health Summit (WHS), an international health conference, was held recently in Berlin, Germany, from October 16–18, 2022. 
• This was the first time the World Health Organization co-hosted the global health conference.

Theme:

• The leading theme of the opening ceremony: Taking Global Health to a New Level, stressing the need for exchange between scientific disciplines and science, politics and society.

Objective:

• WHS aims to strengthen exchange, stimulate innovative solutions to health challenges, position global health as a key political issue and promote a global health conversation in the spirit of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

About WHO:

• Founded in 1948, the World Health Organization is the United Nations agency that connects nations, partners and people to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. So everyone, everywhere, can attain the highest level of health. 

Question: 

World Health Summit is annually held in which of the following countries?

A. India

B. Germany

C. USA

D. Japan

Answer: B

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