Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 01 October 2021

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 01 October 2021

::NATIONAL::

PM Modi chaired 38th Pragati meeting

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Wednesday chaired the 38th PRAGATI meeting, the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) based multi-modal platform for pro-active governance and timely implementation, involving Centre and State governments.
The official release by the Prime Minister's office informed that in the meeting, eight projects were reviewed.
"Four of these projects were from the Ministry of Railways, two from the Ministry of Power and one each from Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Ministry of Civil Aviation," read the release by PMO.
Having a cumulative cost of around Rs 50,000 crore, the projects pertain to seven states viz. Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Haryana.
In the previous 37 PRAGATI meetings, 297 projects having a total cost of Rs 14.39 lakh crore have been reviewed.

::INTERNATIONAL::

After the killing of 116 people in Guayaquil, President Guillermo Lasso declares a state of emergency in the prison system

Ecuador's president has declared a state of emergency in the prison system following a battle among gang members in a coastal lockup that killed at least 116 people and injured 80 in what authorities say was the worst prison bloodbath ever in the country.
Dozens of police and military vehicles, as well as ambulances, entered the prison eompound on Thursday. Helicopters flew over the area.
There could be more bodies or seriously injured people in the prison, said Col. Tannya Varela, the national police commander.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the crime lab in Guayaquil, hoping to collect the bodies of relatives they believed were killed in the prison. The prosecutors’ office said on Twitter that police were working to identify bodies.
Henry Coral, a police official, asked family members to help speed the identification of bodies by telling authorities about any tattoo, scar or other distinguishing feature of prisoners believed to have been killed. Some bodies were mutilated or burned, making identification harder.
“It is regrettable that the prisons are being turned into territories for power disputes by criminal gangs,” Lasso said, adding that he would act with "absolute firmness” to regain control of the Litoral prison and prevent the violence from spreading to other penitentiaries.
Images circulating on social media showed dozens of bodies in the prison’s Pavilions 9 and 10 and scenes that looked like battlefields. The fighting was with firearms, knives and bombs, officials said. Earlier, regional police commander FaustoBuenaño had said that bodies were being found in the prison’s pipelines.

::ECONOMY::

NITI Aayog launches report on best practices in performance of district hospitals

NITI Aayog today released a performance assessment report of district hospitals in India, titled Best Practices in the Performance of District Hospitals. The report is an outcome of collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and WHO India.
The National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers, a constituent board of the Quality Council of India, conducted the on-ground data validation.
The report was launched in the presence of NITI Aayog Member Dr V.K. Paul, CEO Amitabh Kant, Additional Secretary DrRakeshSarwal, MoH&FW Additional Secretary ArtiAhuja, WHO Representative to India DrRodericoOfrin, QCI Chairman AdilZainulbhai.
NITI Aayog Member Dr V.K. Paul in the Foreword of the report emphasized on the pivotal role of district hospitals ‘in creating healthier communities, providing a wide spectrum of healthcare services that caters to all individuals of the population. Despite their crucial role in providing advanced secondary care, there are unfortunately gaps, be it shortage of human resources, capacities, utilization and service uptake’. He said, ‘To make “health for all” a reality and to ensure that every citizen has access to safe and reliable health services, these gaps must be closed. The district hospital performance assessment exercise undertaken by NITI Aayog is an important step in that direction.’
CEO Shri Amitabh Kant said, ‘This report is the first-ever performance assessment of district hospitals undertaken across the country.
It marks a major shift in the healthcare delivery system towards data-driven governance and takes us even closer to communities and people availing health services. The entire objective of the exercise is to pave the way for a more informed understanding of healthcare services available in different regions.’
The assessment framework covers 10 Key Performance Indicators across the domains of Structure and Output. A total of 707 district hospitals across all States and Union Territories participated in the performance assessment.
The Health Management Information System (HMIS) data for the year 2017–18 has been used as baseline for this exercise. The framework classifies hospitals in three categories: Small Hospitals (less than or equal to 200 beds), Mid-sized Hospitals (between 201–300 beds) and Large Hospitals (more than 300 beds). The report documents some of the best practices of the top performing district hospitals in each of the hospital categories across the 10 indicators.

ER Sheikh takes over as the first Director General of the Directorate of Ordnance

The 220-year-old Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), supplying arms, ammunition and clothing to armed forces in India, stands dissolved from October 1. The successor organisation of OFB, the Ordnance Directorate (Co-ordination and Services) has got its first Director-General. A recipient of the AyudhRatna Award ER Sheikh assumed charge as first Director-General of the Ordnance Directorate. Thursday, September 30 is the last day of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) in existence.
An Indian Ordnance Factory Service (IOFS) officer of the 1984 batch, he has been a spearhead of OFB modernization. In particular, he has contributed to the establishment of the modern production line system for the manufacture of small arms ammunition at the Ordnance Factory Varangaon.
As Deputy Director General (DDG)-Propellants and Explosives, he oversaw several plant modernisation projects in explosive factories that led to enhancement in productivity, quality and safety. He also led the successful indigenous development of the Bi-Modular Charge System (BMCS) for artillery ammunition.
Sheikh, a postgraduate of IIT Kanpur, has served in various Ordnance Factories. He was General Manager of the Ordnance Factory, Itarsi earlier. He has also served as a member of various Defence Delegations to foreign countries as a representative of the OFB and the Ministry of Defence. He is also the recipient of the AyudhRatna Award, 2020, conferred on him in recognition of his exemplary services to the organisation.

::SPORTS::

Former India hockey striker SV Sunil retires

Veteran India men's hockey team striker SV Sunil on Friday announced his international retirement, bringing the curtains down on a 14-year-long career during which he was a part of the 2014 Asian Games gold-winning side.
Sunil's decision to call time came a day after drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh and defender BirendraLakra, who played starring roles in the Indian hockey team's historic bronze medal-winning Tokyo Olympics campaign, announced their international retirements on Friday.
The 32-year-old Sunil, hailing from Karnataka, was not a part of the team that competed in the Tokyo Olympics. Sunil, said it was time for him to make way for younger players and help to build a winning team for the future. The senior player appeared in 264 India matches, striking 72 goals.