Current Affairs in Short: 9 September 2021

India, ADB sign 300 million dollar loan for expanding rural connectivity in Maharashtra

•The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a 300 million dollar loan as additional financing to expand rural connectivity in Maharashtra under the ongoing Maharashtra Rural Connectivity Improvement Project.

•The 300 million dollar additional funds will aid in improving an additional 1,100 rural roads and 230 bridges for a total length of 2,900 kilometers in 34 districts.

•The ongoing project approved in August 2019 with funding worth 200 million dollars is already improving and maintaining 2,100 kms of rural roads. Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission were the signatories to the loan agreement.

•Ministry of Finance stated that the additional funding will help the overall project in improving the condition and safety of 5,000 km of rural roads and over 200 bridges connecting rural communities.

•The project will also generate approximately 3.1 million person-days of employment during the construction and maintenance periods, of which at least 25 per cent will be for women.

Cricket Australia to not host the Afghanistan men's cricket team

•Afghanistan’s men’s cricket team is set to play Test Match in Australia in November 2021 however, the latest announcement by the Taliban group on prohibiting Afghanistan’s women from playing cricket could mean a problem for the men’s international team.

•As per the International Cricket Council rules, all 12 full members must have a national women’s team, with only full members able to play Test matches. 25 woman cricketers were awarded contracts by the Afghanistan Cricket Board in November 2020.

•The Deputy Head of the Cultural Commission of the Taliban Ahmadullah Wasiq said that sport is not seen as necessary for women. Their body and face will not be covered, and Islam does not allow women to be seen like this, he added.

India-Australia 2+2 ministerial dialogue to be held tomorrow

•Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Peter Dutton will reach India on September 10, 2021, to hold a 2+2 ministerial dialogue with India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

•The Ministers will discuss issues relating to climate, economic security, critical technology, cyber, and supply chains under the Australia-India Comprehensive Strategy Partnership.

•Australian Foreign Ministry on September 8, 2021, had announced that both ministers will visit India, Indonesia, South Korea, and the United States to hold 2+2 meetings in an attempt to advance Australia’s relations with its strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific region.

COVID-19: WHO Chief urges to stop booster shots until end of 2021

•World Health Organization Chief has requested all countries with huge supplies of COVID-19 vaccines to stop giving booster shots until the end of the year 2021.

•Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called out wealthy countries and vaccine makers to prioritize administer their health workers and vulnerable populations in poorer nations with the first dose of vaccines rather than the widespread use of boosters for healthy people who have already been fully vaccinated.

•WHO Chief said that the health ministers at a meeting of the G20 this week have committed to achieving a WHO target that all countries vaccinate at least 40 per cent of their people by end of 2021.

•Approximately 80 per cent of the 5.5 billion COVID-19 vaccines doses globally went to high-income countries. While COVAX, a global programme to provide COVID-19 vaccines to poor countries is expected to fall approximately 30 per cent short of its previous goal of 2 billion shots in 2021.

Finance Ministry releases 6th monthly installment of PDRD Grant of Rs 9,871 crores to the States

•The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance on September 9, 2021, released the 6^th monthly installment of Post Devolution Revenue Deficit (PDRD) Grant of Rs 9,871 crores to the states.

•With the 6^th monthly installment, the Ministry has so far released a total amount of Rs 59,226 crores to the eligible states as Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant (PDRD) in the current financial year 2021-22.

•The PDRD is released to the states under Article 275 of the Constitution. As per the recommendations of the 15^th Finance Commission, the grants are released in monthly installments to help bridge the gap in Revenue Accounts of the states post-devolution.

•The 15^th Finance Commission recommended a total Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant of Rs 1,18,452 crores to 17 states in the FY2021-22. Of the total amount, Rs 59,226 crores (50 per cent) has been released so far.

•The Commission decided on the eligibility of the states and the amount of grants to be released based on the gap between assessment of revenue and expenditure of the state after considering the assessed devolution for the FY2021-22.