Current Affair of October 2020

National

1. October 1 is observed as the International Day of Older Persons annually all across the world. The day is observed by the United Nations and several other organizations. 2020 edition of the day marks its 30th anniversary. 2020 edition seeks to promote "Decade of Healthy Ageing" (2020-2030).

2. The family of Chittipeddi Kotaiah is going to apply for Geographical Indications Registry’s (GIR) tag for ‘Kakinada kaja’. A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on some specific products. There products corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin. The use of a geographical indication acts as a certification for the product having certain qualities or is made as per the traditional using traditional methods or the product enjoys a good reputation because of its geographical origin.

3. The National Crime Record Bureau have recently released a report titled "Crime in India", 2019. As per the report, crimes against members of the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs) reported an increase of over 7% and 26% in 2019 respectively as compared with the 2018 figure.

4. The International Day of Non-Violence is observed on October 2 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. United Nations General Assembly started the observance of the day in 2007. The day spreads the message of non-violence. This year the day is being celebrated under the Theme- Shaping Peace Together.

5. The Supreme Court (SC) of India struck down the Gujarat government’s decision to exempt industries from paying overtime wages to workers under the Factories Act, 1948. The judgement, pronounced by a bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud, has also put down the decision of fixed working hours amid the coronavirus pandemic.

6. A Survey was conducted by the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), NITI Ayog in order to assess performance of different Ministries or Departments’ on the implementation of Central Sector Schemes (CS) and Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS).

7. World Day for Farmed Animals was celebrated on October 2, 2020 by the International animals’ welfare organization, World Animal Protection along with the Asia for Animals coalition in order to bring the focus on the need to treat farm animals as sentient beings.

8. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Atal Tunnel which is the world longest high-altitude tunnel at Rohtang. It has been named after late former PM shree Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The tunnel is located above the altitude of 10,000 feet (3,000 feet).

9. NSS report- ‘Time Use Survey’, which was a first of its kind, was recently conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). The survey was conducted between January 2019 and December 2019. 1.39 lakh households comprising 4.47 lakh persons over the age of six were listed.

10. Reliance Life Sciences has developed an real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) kit. It claims to diagnose COVID-19 infection in about 2 hours. Presently, COVID-19 RT-PCR test takes up to 24 hours to give a diagnosis. The kit can detect the presence of E-gene, R-gene, RdRp gene of SARS COV2 virus with Actin as an internal control. According to the ICMR results, the kit is 98.7 % sensitive and 98.8 % specific. The diagnosis time of the kit is approximately 2 hours.

11. The World Habitat Day is observed on the first Monday of October month every year. The United Nations General Assembly had declared in 1985 the first Monday in October as World Habitat Day. The day is celebrated to recognise the basic right of all humanity to have a adequate shelter and to encourage grassroots action in order to end poverty housing. The day is being celebrated under the theme- Housing for All-A better Urban Future.

12. The central government has extended the deadline of the TREM Stage-IV emission norms. These norms for tractors were scheduled to be applicable from October 2020. Now, the government of India has extended the deadline to October 1, 2021. The ministry of road transport and highways has amended the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 on September 30, 2020 in order to accommodate the extension.

13. A team of Europe-based scientists, in their journal Nature Communications, have published that about 40% of the Amazon risks changing from rainforest to savanna. They have stated that, the forest is not getting enough rainfall to sustain its ecosystem because of greenhouse gas emissions.

14. The Gujarat State Government launched the "Digital Seva Setu Programme" for rural areas on October 6, 2020. It was launched under the Bharat Net Project of the Central government. The programme comply with the India’s Digital India Mission. The villages will be connected with the 100 MBps optical fibre network with an aim to make every village a mini Sachivalay. The programme connects the village panchayats.

15. My Ganga My Dolphin campaign was launched today on the occasion of Ganga River Dolphin Day. This campaign was launched by the National Mission for Clean Ganga, the Wildlife Institute of India and the Forest Department. The campaign has been lunched for sustainable tourism. It also links with the livelihood through Dolphin Conservation for ecotourism along the Ganga river. The campaign have been launched in the 250 km stretch of the river. The campaign will also conduct a census under the stretch.

16. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on October 6, 2020 that the Delhi Government will be doing the Bio-Decomposer spraying from October 11, 2020 in order to counter the stubble burning issue. Bio-Decomposer spraying have been prepared by the scientists at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, PUSA. It is a low-cost and an effective way to deal with the stubble burning issue.

17. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) which is an Australia science agency have studied that 14 million tonnes of harmful microplastics are present in the bottom of the world’s deep oceans. The accumulation of this chunk of plastic is the result of pervasive use of plastic.

18. The Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE) has won a prestigious UN award for its efforts to combat climate change amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The organisation is among the winners of the 2020 UN Global Climate Action Award. GHE is world’s first organisations that is using tourism and technology to bring solar energy to remote communities as recognised by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).

19. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated on October 8, 2020 a new cryogenic oxygen plant that has been commissioned by INOX Air Products (INOX AP). This is the biggest plant in the state and will help to supply oxygens in hospitals.

20. The International Day of the Girl Child is celebrated every year on October 11. This year the day was celebrated under the theme "My voice, our equal future". The day is celebrated with an objective to empower women. The day seeks to help women to get their rights in order to make them strong for the challenges they face in the world. The day is observed in order to curb the challenges that girls face.

21. The Delhi government passed a new tree transplantation policy on October 9, 2020. Under the policy, 80% of the trees that are uprooted for any construction or development project will be transplanted elsewhere. The local committees in collaboration with the RWA members and residents have been tasked with the monitoring task for the transported trees.

22. The Delhi Government Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot has announced that the Delhi Government has decided to exempt road tax on the battery-operated vehicles under its new Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy. For the purpose, a notification was issued on October 10, 2020. This decision has been taken by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi , Shri Anil Baijal, with an immediate effect.

23. Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) have published their Animal discoveries 2019 and Plant discoveries 2019 that have listed 364 new species of animals and 180 species of plants. These animals and plants were discovered during the last year.

24. On the occasion of World Migratory Bird Day celebrations, experts from Mumbai discussed the ways to protect lesser flamingos and wetland birds who are the migratory birds. They have reported that these birds are getting vulnerable as the spaces for them in India is shrinking.

25. The Delhi government passed a new tree transplantation policy on October 9, 2020. Under the policy, 80% of the trees that are uprooted for any construction or development project will be transplanted elsewhere. The local committees in collaboration with the RWA members and residents have been tasked with the monitoring task for the transported trees.

26. The eight beaches including the Shivrajpur in Gujarat, Golden Beach in Odisha, Kasarkod and padubidri in Karnataka, Goghla in Daman and Diu, Radha Nagar beach in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Kappad in Kerala and Rushikonda in Andhra Pradesh have been given the Blue Flag Certification.

27. The Delhi Government Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot has announced that the Delhi Government has decided to exempt road tax on the battery-operated vehicles under its new Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy. For the purpose, a notification was issued on October 10, 2020. This decision has been taken by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi , Shri Anil Baijal, with an immediate effect.

28. Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) have published their Animal discoveries 2019 and Plant discoveries 2019 that have listed 364 new species of animals and 180 species of plants. These animals and plants were discovered during the last year.

29. The Third edition of the Oxfam’s 2020 Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) Index report was released recently. As per the report, India just spent 4% of its budget on the health in the ongoing pandemic situation. The spending by India stands at the fourth lowest in the world. In the line, India has been ranked 129 out of 158 countries.

30. Kerala has become the first state in the country that have made the public education completely digital. Kerala achieved this milestone within two years of the launch of the initiative. Total expenditure on the initiative was Rs. 42.36 crores. The project was implemented by Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education.

31. On the inaugural session of "all.ai 2020 Virtual Summit" on October 13, 2020 the Intel India announced the launch of an applied artificial intelligence (AI) research (INAI) center in Hyderabad. The research center would be launch in collaboration with the Telangana government, International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H) and Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) which is the founding healthcare partner in the initiative.

32. The Uttarakhand Forest Department will soon start a plantation drive in Uttar Pradesh’s Bundelkhand region and parts of Rajasthan. This has been decided by the forest department in order to clear the backlog for compensatory afforestation for next two years.

33. The Union Minister for AYUSH, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik and Minister of State for Defence launched the Regional Raw Drug Repository (RRDR) for ASU&H Medicine on September 13, 2020 at Chennai. RRDRs are the important components of Centrally Sponsored Scheme called AYUSH Mission. AYUSH mission plays an important role in medicinal plants cultivation. As a step forward in medicinal plants cultivation Ministry of AYUSH initiated the establishment of National Raw Drug Repository and Regional Raw Drug Repositories, through the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB).

34. The Agnibaaz Division which is a formation of Southern Command of the Indian Army organised a joint exercise for both Indian Army and Maharashtra Police at Lullanagar Pune on October 9, 2020. The Agnibaaz division has been headquartered at Pune and is also known as the 41 Artillery Division.

35. The President of India, Ramnath Kovind, gave assent to the Gujarat Distributed Area act (Amendment) Bill 2019. This new act will amend the prohibition of transfer of immovable property and provision for protection of tenants from eviction from premises in disturbed areas act 1991. The act was first introduced in Ahmedabad in 1986 because of large scale and continuous riots in the City.

36. This list has been released by the IIFL Wealth and Hurun India. This has enlisted the cumulative wealth of India’s wealthiest self-made entrepreneurs under 40. It shows that wealth under this category has rose by 59% in 2020. The list provides for ranking of self-made entrepreneurs aged 40 and under having wealth of ₹1,000 crore. aged forty years and under from India.

37. The World Students Day is observed every year on the occasion of birth anniversary of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam on October 15. The 2020 version of the day is being celebrated under the Theme: Learning for people, prosperity and peace. The United Nations had declared his birth anniversary to be celebrated as World Students Day in 2010.

38. The 2020 State of Climate Services report was released on the occasion of International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction on October 13, 2020 by the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The 2020 State of Climate Services report comprises of 16 different case studies on successful early warning systems for hazards such as tropical cyclones, floods, droughts, hurricanes, heatwaves, forest fires, desert locusts, dust and sand storms, severe winters and glacial lake outbursts.

39. Heavy rainfall have hit the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh region. At least 30 people have lost their lives across Telangana out of which 19 deaths occurred in Hyderabad alone. The extremely heavy rainfall have caused a deluge in the region and has caused flooding in the region. The heavy and incessant rains occurred due to depression in the Bay of Bengal. Such type of rain are called as the Torrential Rain.

40. The Intellectual Property India annual report was released by the Government of India. Along with that, annual rankings the year 2018-19 was also decided by Office of Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks, Government of India. Chandigarh University Gharuan top the list among all university in India. It topped for filing the highest number of patents in a year counting 336.

41. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released the World Economic Outlook (WEO) on October 13, 2020. As per the report, India will to slip below Bangladesh in terms of per capita GDP in 2020. The latest report Highlights that Bangladesh is likely to expand by 4% in 2020. It stated that, Indian Economy is facing contractions because of coronavirus lockdown.

42. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched the "hath dhona, roke corona" campaign on October 15, 2020. This campaign was launched while emphasising upon the sanitation practices on the occasion of Global Handwashing Day. The Chief Minister stressed that common habits of personal hygiene including washing hands can protect from coronavirus infection.

43. The World Food Day is observed on October 16 every year. The theme for World Food Day 2020 is "Grow, Nourish, Sustain. Together" . This year’s World Food Day is highlighting the significance of food and agriculture in COVID-19 response. The day is observed to mark the foundation of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations. FAO was established on October 15, 1945. The day was observed as a day for action against hunger in 1979 for the first time.

44. Chief Minister (CM) of Kerala , Pinarayi Vijayan , inaugurated the operations of the first phase of the International Institute of Advanced Virology at the Life Science Park at Thonakkal on October 15, 2020. The CM while inaugurating the operations said that the robust public health care system in Kerala has helped to prevent Nipah and contain the COVID-19 pandemic to an extent. He further stated that, the the inaugurated institute would become an institution of world-class standards in health research.

45. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recently released the Global Tuberculosis Report, 2020. The report Highlights the impact of COVID-19 on Tuberculosis (TB) related deaths. It says that COVID-19 might increase the TB deaths by 0.2 to 0.4 million worldwide.

46. The Lancet medical journal has published its new report. In the report, Lancet has highlighted that India has gained in the life expectancy since 1990. Currently, India is going through the COVID-19 pandemic. Total cases stands at around 73 lakh. Out of these 8,04,528 are active cases and 64,53,780 cases have been cured. India also reported some 1,13,000 deaths as of today (October 17, 2020). However, the largest contributors of the increasing health loss were non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as COPD, diabetes, stroke, heart disease, and a group of musculoskeletal disorders over the last 30 years in India.

47. The Global hunger index was launched on October 16 2020. It has been jointly prepared by Welhunger life and Concern Worldwide. This year, India has been ranked 94th Out of 107 countries. In 2018 was India ranked 103 while in 2019 India was ranked 102.

48. Ministry of Culture (Performing Arts Bureau) implemented various schemes under its Kala Sanskriti Vikas Yojana (KSVY). Under the scheme, grants are approved for holding programs and activities involving large audience. The performances with a limited audience have been allowed, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. These performances would be held virtually.

49. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Indian government have signed an agreement for a loan of $177 million on October 19, 2020. The loan has been approved to upgrade 450 kilometers of state highways and major district roads in Maharashtra. This project will improve connectivity between rural areas and urban centres in Maharashtra.

50. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) stated on October 20, 2020 that environmental clearance granted to the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project in Telangana, having a retrospective effect, is in violation of legal requirement. The NGT have also formed a committee to assess the extent of damage that the project has caused and to identify the restoration measures.

51. The Ministry of Tourism has released the Indian Tourist Statistics. As per the report, Uttar Pradesh attracted the highest number of domestic tourists in year 2019. Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh and Gateway of India in Mumbai were the top spots of domestic tourism. Uttar Pradesh attracted the maximum number of tourists in 2019. 53.6 crore domestic tourists ( 23.1% ) visited Uttar Pradesh. The state has also stands at third position in attracting foreign tourists. The other states that fetch the higher number of tourists include Kerala, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir. Around 5 million tourist visa were applied, in 2019 alone. The highest e-tourist visa were applied from UK, US and China.

52. The Police Commemoration Day is celebrated on October 21 every year. The day is observed to honour the martyrs who sacrifice their lives in this service to the nation. This year, the day was observed to honour the police officers from across the country who have been working day and night to ensure COVID-19 norms are followed properly. They are the frontline workers who have been risking their lives in order to contain the spread of the virus. Home Minister, Chief Minister, Cabinet Ministers, Members of Parliament (MPs), MLAs, MLCs and top police personnel will be reviewing the parade and pay tributes to martyrs.

53. The residents of Assam and Mizoram have clashed twice over territory recently. The recent clash was in the backdrop of the long-standing inter-state boundary issues between the two states. The states have deployed security personnel in the areas near the Vairengte village, Mizoram and Lailapur, Assam.

54. The Tamil Nadu (TN) State government have implemented the smart blackboard scheme in more than 80,000 Government schools to provide a better teaching environment. The scheme is aimed at using the audio visual teaching material in the schools. It can also be integrated with digital classrooms and smart classroom schemes. The smart boards will create materials that can be fed into computer screens using pen drives.

55. The World Economic Forum (WEF) have recently released the third edition of the future of jobs report 2020. As per the report, the covid-19 will disrupt more than 85 million jobs by 2025. The report has been prepared by the WEF on the basis of the projections of Senior Business leaders of more than 300 Global firms.

56. World Bank Group and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recently published ‘Global Estimate of Children in Monetary Poverty : An Update’ analysis. The analysis estimated one in six children or 356 million children globally were living in extreme poverty before the COVID-19 pandemic. The situation is going to worsen significantly the analysis says.

57. The Peruvian archaeologists have discovered a 37 metre long cat drawing on the famous Nazca lines of Peru. The Nazca lines of Peru is an UNESCO Heritage site. Nazca lines are a group of Geoglyphs. These have been made on the ground using elements of landscape including the gravel, stones dirt or lumber. It was discovered in 1927 and declared the UNESCO Heritage site in 1994.

58. The Mizoram government is all set to take stringent measures against the rising covid-19 cases. The state will adopt "COVID-19 : No Tolerance Fortnight" from October 26. By this, the government aims to break the chain of local transmission in Mizoram State.

59. European Union (EU) Environment Ministers signed a deal in Luxembourg on October 23, 2020. The deal has made EU’s 2050 net-zero emissions target legally binding on the states. The EU has aimed at becoming climate-neutral by 2050 by bringing the net greenhouse gas emission to zero. This objective of the EU is the central portion of the European Green Deal. The aim also comply with the EU’s commitment to global climate action under the Paris Agreement.

60. The Zoological Survey of India in its recent study and report on Himalayan Brown Bear states that the suitable habitat for the brown bear in the biological corridors are declining. The Himalayan Brown Bear is the largest carnivore in the highlands of Himalayas. The brown bear is found in 23 protected areas including Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Jammu and Kashmir. They have been categorised as "Critically Endangered" in the UCN Red list of Threatened Species in Himalayas and Hindukush. However, for rest of the world, it has been categorised into "Least Concern" category. International trade of brown bear has been prohibited under wildlife Protection Act of 1972.

61. The World Polio Day is observed on October 24, 2020 every year. The day is observed in order to make countries to stay focused and vigilant to fight against Polio. World Polio Day was established by Rotary International. It was established in order to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk. Jonas Salk was the person who led the first team that developed the vaccine against this disease.

62. International Snow Leopard Day is observed on October 23 every year since 2013. The primary aim of the day is to raise awareness on conservation and protection of the snow leopards. Internation Snow Leopard Day was started being observed on October 23, 2013. The day was adopted after 12 countries including- India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Mongolia, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan agreed with the Bishkek Declaration on the conservation of snow leopards.

63. The central government on October 26, 2020 has decided to create a permanent body through legislation to tackle the air pollution and the stubble burning problem in Delhi and NCR states. The new body will replace the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) led by Bhure Lal. Following this, one-member committee of retired Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B Lokur was suspended.

64. New prime minister of Japan, Yoshihide Suga, has committed to his country on October 27, 2020 to reach a target of zero emissions of greenhouse gases. He also committed to achieve a carbon-neutral society by 2050 by a fundamental shift in policy on coal use.

65. The Himalayan or the Indus Suture Zone (ISZ) in the Ladakh region has been found to be tectonically active. Suture zone is the zone where the Indian and Asian Plates join each other. Until now, it was supposed to be a locked zone. This new study would have major implications on the earthquake study, prediction, understanding the seismic structure of the mountain chains and its evolution.

66. The recent research, published on October 24, 2020, highlighted about the danger of Vicious Circle and stated that the loss of billions of tonnes of ice from Earth’s frozen spaces might increase the global temperatures by 0.4 degrees Celsius. As per the report, Arctic summer sea ice levels is being declined by 10% each decade since 1970s.

67. According to a study published in the journal Cardiovascular Research on October 27, 2020 about 15 percent of deaths worldwide from COVID-19 are linked to long-term exposure to air pollution. Researchers from Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Germany, have found that the proportion of COVID-19 deaths linked to air pollution was about 19 per cent in Europe.

68. The Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, launched the Green Delhi mobile application on October 29, 2020. This app will be used by citizens to bring into government’s notice the pollution causing activities. The application can be downloaded from the google play store. The Environment Minister of Delhi, Gopal Rai , had a review meeting on October 27, 2020. The meeting held discussions among the concerned officials from different departments on the grievance redressal process related to the Green Delhi app. The meeting was attended by Revenue Department, Public Works Department, Delhi Fire Service, Nodal officers of Environment Department, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, New Delhi Municipal Council, Delhi Police, Nodal officers of Delhi Development Authority and National Highways Authority of India.

69. Prime Minister will participate in the Ekta Diwas celebrations which will be held on October 31 in Kevadia, Guajrat. Ekta Diwas or the National Unity Day is celebrated on October 31 every year. This year Ekta Diwas will be celebrated to commemorate 145th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The celebrations would be participated by the central reserve armed forces, police forces of Gujarat state, Indo Tibetan Border Police force, Central industrial security forces and National Security Guard.

International

1. Armenia and Azerbaijan have involved in fighting again and a fresh clashes have erupted on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. It is threatening to push for a war again 26 years after a ceasefire was reached. Armenia is a Christian majority country and Azerbaijan is a Muslim majority country. Both of them are a part of South Caucasia. The border dispute between them have erupted over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

2. The 19th round of Foreign Office Consultations between India and Myanmar was held on October 1, 2020 in virtual mode. Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla led the Indian delegation while the Myanmar delegation was led by Permanent Secretary, U Soe Han.

3. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will hold talks with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen in order to discuss the current post-Brexit negotiations and steps that needs to be taken forward. The fight is over a post-Brexit trade deal Bill that UK has passed. According to UK, the controversial legislation will ensure a barrier-free trade between the United Kingdom’s four constituent nations while EU is accusing the UK of breaching the "good faith" of the withdrawal agreement. This controversy has arisen when the UK and the EU are in the final round of negotiations on a post-Brexit trade deal.

4. India’s new Ambassador to Bahrain, Piyush Srivastava and Bahrain’s Minister of Finance and National Economy Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa hold meeting on October 4, 2020 and discussed bilateral cooperation between the two Nations. They discussed several ways to strengthen India-Bahrain cooperation in the financial and business sectors. Both the countries reviewed the economic partnership and ways of strenghten it in order to provide to provide more promising investment opportunities. They also had a discussion on issues of common interest and the latest global economic developments.

5. The Indian Army has build up a memorial in the honour of twenty soldiers who lost their lives in the Galwan Clash between Indian Army and Chinese Army in June 2020 in the Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldi road. The memorial contain the names of the soldiers and they have been mentioned as "Gallants of Galwan".

6. India and South Africa have asked for a waiver on certain provisions of the international agreements regulating the intellectual property rights in the World Trade Organization (WTO). This step has been taken in order to speed up efforts that prevent, treat and contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

7. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on October 6, 2020 and India – Israel agreed to continue and advance bilateral cooperation in order to fight against the coronavirus in the fields of research, field trials of diagnostic tools and vaccine development. Emphasis were given on technological cooperation and tests. Both sides agreed to hold a digital conference on innovation in the field of solar energy. This will jointly achieve inexpensive solutions that will eventually benefit the economies of both countries and the world.

8. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will meet the foreign ministers of the Australia-India-Japan-United States Quadrilateral or Quad in Tokyo today, on October 6, 2020. The meeting will be a significant turning point for the QUAD grouping. The meeting would be led by growing concerns over China’s aggression in the region.

9. Ministry of External Affairs have notified that India and Myanmar have agreed to operationalise the Sittwe port in the Rakhine state by first quarter of 2021. This decision was taken after a two day long visit of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General M M Naravane and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla to Myanmar on October 4 to 5, 2020.

10. Russia has test-fired the Hypersonic Cruise missile called TSIRKON (Zircon) successfully in the White Sea on October 7, 2020. The test fire was conducted on the occasion of the birthday of the former Russian President Vladimir Putin. The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea. It is located on the northwest coast of Russia. He sea is bordered by Karelia to the west, Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and are considered to be part of the internal waters of Russia.

11. The Government of India has approved a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) in the field of cyber-security between India and Japan. India launched the National Cyber Security Policy in 2013. India just comes among the few countries of the world to have such policy. The digital economy of India stands at 14 – 15 % of the total economy that India aims to increase up to 20% by 2024. But with the boost in digital economy, there comes the threat of data theft, cyber attacks, Malware attacks such as Ransomware. In 2016, the data related to debit cards of some 3.2 million were leaked because of lack of security in cyber space. Thus, it becomes important for India to upgrade its cyber security and infrastructure. This can be achieved through joint cooperation with other countries.

12. The World Economic Forum (WEF) has announced that it will hold its Annual Meeting in Lucerne-Burgenstock, Switzerland from May 18 to 21, 2021. The Annual Meeting in Lucerne-Burgenstock will be organised under theme "The Great Reset". It will focus on the solutions that are required to address the world’s most pressing challenges. In the meeting, global leaders would come together to formulate a common recovery path and to prepare "The Great Reset" after the COVID-19 era ends. The meeting also seeks to rebuild a cohesive and sustainable society.

13. Johnson & Johnson have temporarily stopped its Covid-19 vaccine trial. The trial was stopped in the backdrop of one of its participants became sick during the trial. Johnson & Johnson had announced the launch of its large-scale, pivotal, multi-country Phase 3 trial (ENSEMBLE) for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate on September 23, 2020. The initiation of the ENSEMBLE trial followed the positive interim results from the Company’s Phase 1 and 2 clinical study. The phase 1 and phase 2 trials had demonstrated that the safety profile and immunogenicity were supportive of further development after single dose. ENSEMBLE then enrolled up to 60,000 volunteers across more than 200 sites in the US and other continents. Apart From US, countries like Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Colombia and South Africa are involved in the trial.

14. Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Asia Pacific group has kept Pakistan in its ‘Enhanced Follow Up’ list. The organisation had downgraded Pakistan status from "regular follow-up" to "enhanced follow up". The Asia-pacific group of FATF submitted its report called "Follow up report on mutual evaluation of Pakistan". In the report, it was highlighted that the progress of Pakistan to combat the Financing of terror system and anti-money laundering made by the Financial Action Task Force has remained unchanged in 2020 as compared to that of 2019.

15. The United States at the recent India-US forum has called for the expansion of QUAD grouping. US stated that like-minded countries and groupings should come together and join hands to protect and ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific ocean. US Deputy Secretary arrived in New Delhi on October 12, 2020. The 3 day visit was planed to finalise the groundwork for the third edition of two-plus-two dialogue between India and the US. During the meet, both side had an extensive talks on bilateral, regional and key global issues. They also discussed the need of focusing the common vision of the two nations for the Indo-Pacific region. Earlier, all the foreign ministers of the Quad grouping had also met in Tokyo on October 6, 2020 and they discussed the plan to deepen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.

16. Bangladesh Cabinet approved a draft law to include death penalty as the highest punishment for rape. This will be done by amending the Prevention of Women and Children Repression Act-2000. This decision was taken after the Cabinet meeting which was Chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka on October 12, 2020.

17. The European Union have agreed to put sanctions on Russia for poisoning the opposition leader Alexei Navalny and on Belarus officials, including President Alexander Lukashenko, for the repression of protesters. Alexei Navalny was an anti-corruption investigator and a major political opponent of the Russian President Vladimir Putin. He fell ill during a domestic flight in August 2020. He was taken to Germany for his treatment which is still undergoing. During the treatment a test was conducted by the organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. They confirm that he become a victim of the novichok nerve agent.

18. The 5th meeting of India Mexico bilateral high-level group on trade, investment and cooperation was held virtually on October 13, 2020. Both the countries reviewed their commercial and bilateral trade relations. Both the sides discussed their bilateral investment treaty and audio-visual co-production.

19. Pakistan has been re-elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) . It was selected on the basis of votes of member countries. It secured 169 votes out of 193 votes of the member of UN General Assembly. Pakistan has secured the highest number of votes among the five candidates from the Asia-Pacific region. 5 candidates were seeking for four seats in elections in New York.

20. India along with six other countries will back a UK-led campaign against end-to-end encryption of messages by social media giants such as Facebook. They have claimed that this feature hinders the law enforcement against the illegal activities by blocking all access to them. Further, the system also prevents law enforcement investigating and prosecuting against online child sexual abuse, grooming and terrorist content.

21. The World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus have appreciated India’s COVID-19 contact tracing app named ‘Aarogya Setu’. The chief said that it is one of the technological tools that have successfully helped public health departments to identify clusters of virus and to expand the testing.

22. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (US-FDA) has approved the first Ebola Virus treatment drug named Inmazeb on October 14, 2020. It is a mixture of three monoclonal antibodies namely- atoltivimab, maftivimab, and odesivimab-ebgn. This is the first FDA-approved treatment for Zaire ebolavirus (Ebola virus) infection in adult and pediatric patients.

23. Russia has approved the second Covid-19 vaccine called the ‘EpiVacCorona’ after early-stage trials. This new vaccine comes has been approved two months after the Russia’s first vaccine Sputnik V. This second Russian vaccine has been developed by the Vector State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology. The vaccine was tested on100 volunteers in early-stage. It was a placebo-controlled human trials that lasted more than two months. The volunteers were aged between 18 and 60 years old.

24. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has announced that India has been re-elected as President of International Solar Alliance (ISA). Along with India, France has also been re-elected as the Co-President of the alliance in the ISA’s Third Assembly. The tenure for both the countries would be of two years.

25. India has contributed one million dollars to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees in Near East region. This will support the UNRWA’s programmes and services including the education, health care, relief and social services. India’s support to the Palestine is an integral part of the India’s foreign policy.

26. The unicameral parliament of Israel, the Knesset, approved the historic normalization deal or the peace deal called as the Abraham Accord. with the United Arab Emirates on October 15, 2020. It was initially signed in Washington on September 15, 2020.

27. Scientists at Oxford University have developed a new testing method called to be as New Rapid Antigen Test to detect the COVID-19 virus. The new test makes use of artificial intelligence in order to locate single intact virus particles. The entire process will take less than five minutes to show the end results.

28. India have decided to transfer one of its kilo-class submarines named INS Sindhuvir to the Myanmar Navy. This is a significant step as Myanmar Navy would be getting its first ever submarine. It is a class of diesel-electric attack submarines that was designed and built in the Soviet Union for the Soviet Navy. The first kilo-class submarine was brought into service in 1980 in to the Soviet Navy. Apart from that, the Soviet Union exported around 40 kilo-class submarines to countries including Russia, India, China, Poland, Algeria, Iran, Romania, and Vietnam.

29. A webinar was held on October 15, 2020 between India and Kazakhstan under the theme "Make In India For The World, India – Kazakhstan Defence Cooperation: Webinar and Expo". The webinar was organized by the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence through FICCI.

30. The BepiColombo Space Craft has crossed the Venus in its journey towards Mercury. The spacecraft was launched jointly by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and European Space Agency to explore planet Mercury. BepiColombo was launched on the Ariane 5 rocket and will arrive Mercury in 2025. This Mission is a part of the Horizon 2000+ Programme by the European Space Agency. This was the last spacecraft of the programme. The BepiColombo spacecraft consists of two satellites launched namely, Mercury Planetary Orbiter and Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter. These two satellites were launched together. They will separate once they arrive Mercury.

31. India and Chile held their first joint commission meeting on October 16, 2020. Chile is India’s gateway to Latin America and to the Pacific Alliance. Chile has established an embassy in New Delhi and India has established an embassy in Santiago. Both of these countries are members of the G20. India and Chile are also the partners in International Solar Alliance. In 2019, India-Chile commemorated the 70th anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between them.

32. The Seventh Meeting of Ministers of Justice of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Member States was hosted on October 16, 2020. It was hosted by Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Law & Justice, Communication and Electronics & Information Technology. The minister highlighted the initiatives taken by the Indian Government under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for providing affordable and easy access to justice for all.

33. The Philippine government has decided to resume oil exploration in the disputed South China Sea. This decision of Philippines was taken without consulting China. The moratorium on oil exploration was imposed in 2014. It was imposed in the light of tensions between the Philippines and China because of their overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea.

34. Bangladesh has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join the celebrations of the 50 years of the country’s independence. The country will complete its 50 years of Independence on March 26, 2021. The Independence Day of Bangladesh is observed on 26 March every year. The day commemorates the Bangladesh’s declaration of independence from Pakistan.

35. Israel and Bahrain signed an agreement at Manama on October 18, 2020 to establish diplomatic ties. The agreement called as the "joint communique on establishing peaceful and diplomatic relations" is an comprehensive peace treaty. The agreement will open up the way for these two countries to open embassies and sign more cooperation agreements.

36. Japanese Prime Minister (PM) Yoshihide Suga, agreed on October 19, 2020 with the Vietnamese counterpart to step up defence and security cooperation. This is first overseas summit of Japanese PM after taking his office. The agreement has been signed in the light of China’s increasing influence in the region.

37. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Indian government have signed an agreement for a loan of $177 million on October 19, 2020. The loan has been approved to upgrade 450 kilometers of state highways and major district roads in Maharashtra. This project will improve connectivity between rural areas and urban centres in Maharashtra.

38. The first-ever Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Start up Forum will be launched on 27th October 2020 before of the SCO trade ministers meeting on 28th October. Further, SCO or the Shanghai Pact Heads of Government meeting will be hosted by India on 30th November 2020.

39. The Development of North East Region (DoNER) minister, Dr. Jitendra Singh has invited the United Kingdom (UK) government and the private sector to explore business opportunities in North-East India. Dr. Jitendra Singh highlighted that India and UK are two democracies that share the mutually rewarding business relationships. So, both of these countries can work jointly in exploiting and exploring new opportunities in the North East region.

40. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), Michelle Bachelet, has expressed her concern on October 20, 2020 over the imposed restrictions on foreign funding for the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in India and the arrest of activists in the country.

41. The North Atlantic Treaty organisation (NATO) will setup a new Space Centre in Ramstein, Germany. The centre will serve as a co-ordination Centre for space observation. It will gather information regarding the possible threats that satellites might face. The centre will be developed as a command centre for defensive measures in future. This centre is being setup under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty organisation.

42. The India Vietnam Business Forum was organised virtually on October 20, 2020. On the occasion, both side reaffirmed the growing bilateral trade and investment ties between India and Vietnam. The Cultural and economic ties between India and Vietnam dates back to the 2nd century. While in the modern time, India supported Vietnam’s unification and independence from France. India also opposed American involvement in the Vietnam War. The diplomatic relation between both the countries started in 1972 and both the countries maintain the friendly relations since then.

43. Microsoft is joining hands with the SpaceX that is led by the billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk. This is being done to target the space customers. Partnership with SpaceX Starlink will provide high-speed and low latency satellite broadband for Microsoft’s Azure Modular Datacenter. With this partnership, the Microsoft aims to make the Azure a platform and ecosystem of choice. Microsoft wants the platform to be looked upon for the mission needs of the space community.

44. The Union Cabinet have approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the National Space Research and Development agency of Nigeria on October 21, 2020. The MoU between India and Nigeria were signed in June 2020 at Bengaluru and in August 2020 at Abuja Nigeria.

45. The Union Cabinet has approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Institute of Chartered Accounts of India (ICAI) and the Certified Practising Accountants, Papua New Guinea (CPA PNG). They would be working together in capacity building and to strengthen the Accounting, Financial and Audit Knowledge base in Papua New Guinea.

46. The Peruvian archaeologists have discovered a 37 metre long cat drawing on the famous Nazca lines of Peru. The Nazca lines of Peru is an UNESCO Heritage site. Nazca lines are a group of Geoglyphs. These have been made on the ground using elements of landscape including the gravel, stones dirt or lumber. It was discovered in 1927 and declared the UNESCO Heritage site in 1994.

47. Union Minister Jitendra Singh addressed the first ministerial meeting of G-20 anti-corruption working group on October 22, 2020. Saudi Arabia became the first country to host the first ever meeting. The G-20 countries had agreed on the Anti-Corruption plan for 2019-2021 at Buenos Aires in 2018. The G-20 members planned to look forward to develop targeted actions in promoting the international efforts to combat the corruption.

48. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) have voted to keep Pakistan under its Grey List. The decision by the FATF was taken because Pakistan failed to comply with the 27 parameters set by the FATF and has completed only 21. The Asia-Pacific Group of FATF had also submitted a report called "Follow up report on mutual evaluation of Pakistan" and suggested to put Pakistan under grey list. The decision of the FATF is based on this report only.

49. Sudan recognized the Israel on October 23, 2020. It has became the third country to recognize Israel after UAE and Bahrain. The United States (US) recently made Israel, UAE and Bahrain to sign as agreement. Under the US-led agreement, UAE and Bahrain agreed to recognise Israel as an independent state. To comply with the agreement UAE, Bahrain and Israel signed the first peace agreement called as the Abraham accord in September 2020. This is the first agreement in last 26 years.

50. The Sri Lankan Parliament recently passed the 20th Amendment of Sri Lankan constitution. The amendment rolled back the 19th constitutional amendment. The 20th amendment has been passed to over-rule the 19th amendment that has weakened the powers of the President expanded by the 18th amendment.

51. European Union (EU) Environment Ministers signed a deal in Luxembourg on October 23, 2020. The deal has made EU’s 2050 net-zero emissions target legally binding on the states. The EU has aimed at becoming climate-neutral by 2050 by bringing the net greenhouse gas emission to zero. This objective of the EU is the central portion of the European Green Deal. The aim also comply with the EU’s commitment to global climate action under the Paris Agreement.

52. The Bangladesh government has launched the ‘no mask, no service’ policy on October 26, 2020. Government has decided that no service will be provided to people who don’t wear masks. The decision was taken during a cabinet meeting Chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. It was decided that no one will be allowed to enter offices without the mask. It also notified that all offices must install notice boards saying ‘no mask, no service’ so as to control the spread of COVID 19 virus in the country.

53. Typhoon Molave made landfall in Philippines while crossing provinces on the southern part of the main Luzon island on October 25, 2020. It has brought heavy rain and strong winds along with it and has also made around 9000 people to flee their homes in the Philippines.

54. North Korean authorities have warned its citizens to remain indoors so that they avoid contact with ‘yellow dust’. This mysterious cloud of yellow dust is blowing in from China. North Korea warns that the dust might carry in Covid-19 with it. A cloud of yellow dust was blow in from China and descend on the North Korea. Following that, a nationwide ban on outdoor construction work was announced. Citizens were urged to remain indoors and to keep the windows tightly closed.

55. The United Nations have announced that 50 countries have ratified an international Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) to ban nuclear weapons. The historic text would enter into force in January 2021. India abstained itself from voting for the treaty. India states that it recognises only the Geneva based Conference on Disarmament as the powerful multilateral disarmament forum for negotiation.

56. The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) will organise a two-day hackathon on circular economy, ‘India–Australia Circular Economy Hackathon (I-ACE)’ in association with CSIRO on 7th and 8th December 2020. The idea of I-ACE was put forward during a virtual summit between the Indian and Australian prime ministers on June 4, 2020. This was decided in order to explore innovative ways to boost circular economy in India and Australia.

57. India and the United States will sign the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation on October 27, 2020 during the third round of 2+2 Ministerial dialogue. The announcement has been made after a meeting between Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his US Counterpart Mark Esper who is visiting India for the India-US 2+2 dialogue.

58. The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite is scheduled to be launched by 2022. This was scheduled after India and the US decided to share Space Situational Awareness Information with each other. This would catalyse efforts in order to create the conditions for a safe and sustainable space environment.

59. India-UAE held a webinar under the theme of "Indian Defence Industry Global Outreach for Collaborative Partnership: Webinar and Expo India – UAE Defence Cooperation" on October 27, 2020. The webinar was held in order to boost defence exports between India and UAE.

60. India announced to extend USD 1 billion line of credit for priority developmental projects in central Asian countries on October 28, 2020. India also vow to further expand cooperation with the resource-rich region including confrontation of the common challenges of terrorism and extremism.

61. The United States of America has offered its F-18 naval fighter jets for Indian Navy aircraft carriers in order to strenghten its ties with India. This announcement came after the 2+2 ministerial-level talks that happened on October 27, 2020.

62. The Union Cabinet approved the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) that was signed between India and Japan on Cooperation in the field of Information and Communication Technologies on October 29, 2020. The MoC seeks to strengthen cooperation between India and Japan in the field of communications. This will also help to boost the cooperation in the field of telecom security, submarine cable, 5G, utilization of latest wireless technologies, Disaster relief, spectrum management, block chain, standard certification of communication equipment and cooperation on multilateral platforms.

63. The "Doing Business in India Report, 2020" was released by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC). As per the report the business environment in India is improving and thus there is a greater opportunity for UK India collaboration in the business field.

64. India- Mexico held their 8th Joint Commission Meeting on 29 October 2020. The Meeting was co-chaired by Dr. S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of Republic of India (EAM) and H. E. Marcelo Ebrard, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Mexican States.

Defence

1. The Indian Coast guard Vessel Karnaklata Barua was commissioned at Kolkata on September 30, 2020 through video conferencing. The ICGS Kanaklata Barua is one among the five Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs). It has been built by Kolkata based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE).

2. The Defence Ministry have placed orders with a private firm for the supply of 10 lakh hand grenades. It is first of its kind order. Until now, these products were either imported or made by the Ordnance factories. The grenades will be replacing the vintage design grenades that are used currently.

3. The second edition of Indian Navy (IN) – Bangladesh Navy (BN) Bilateral Exercise Bongosagar will commence in Northern Bay of Bengal on 3rd October 2020. in the exercise Bongosagar, ships from both the navies will participate in surface warfare drills, seamanship evolutions and helicopter operations.

4. India successfully test-fired a new version of nuclear-capable Shaurya missile on October 3, 2020 from the coast of Odisha. The missile can strike targets at around 800 kms. This has been launched amid the ongoing tensions at India-China Border. The new version of the missile would be inducted in the strategic forces in order to complement the existing missiles in the same class.

5. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully flight-tested the Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART). The flight was successfully tested today on October 5, 2020 from the Wheeler Island from the coast of Odisha. This launch is significant to establish the anti-submarine warfare capabilities and is a significant step that comply with the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.

6. The Indian Coast Guard have launched a 98-metre offshore patrol vessel ‘Vigraha’ at a private shipyard in Kattupalli, Chennai on October 7, 2020. The vessel is the one among the series of seven vessels that were designed and built for the Coast Guard. These vessels have been built and designed by Larsen and Toubro Shipbuilding under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

7. Russia has test-fired the Hypersonic Cruise missile called TSIRKON (Zircon) successfully in the white Sea on October 7, 2020. The test fire was conducted on the occasion of the birthday of the former Russian President Vladimir Putin. Test fire was conducted from the Frigate Admiral Gorshkov Vessel in the white Sea.

8. The Indian Air Force (IAF) is celebrating its 88th anniversary on October 8, 2020. The IAF was established on October 8, 1932. The hallmark of the event was air display by various aircraft. The air display started with the sky divers of the AKASH GANGA. The Team was dropping out of an AN-32 aircraft with their colourful canopies.

9. India has successfully test-fired the Rudram – an Anti-Radiation Missile on October 9, 2020. It has been developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The missile was test fired from its primary test platform Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft off the east coast.

10. The Agnibaaz Division which is a formation of Southern Command of the Indian Army organised a joint exercise for both Indian Army and Maharashtra Police at Lullanagar Pune on October 9, 2020. The Agnibaaz division has been headquartered at Pune and is also known as the 41 Artillery Division.

11. India have decided to transfer one of its kilo-class submarines named INS Sindhuvir to the Myanmar Navy. This is a significant step as Myanmar Navy would be getting its first ever submarine. The decision was taken to take forward the India’s commitment to building capacities and self-reliance in the neighbouring countries.

12. The 8th annual joint exercise between Indian and Sri Lankan navies – SLINEX-20 will begin on October 19, 2020 off the Trincomalee coast. It is a 3 day exercise and will end on October 21, 2020. Sri Lanka Navy would be represented by SLN Ships Sayura and Gajabahu. Both the ships would be led by Rear Admiral Bandara Jayathilaka who is the Flag Officer Commanding Naval Fleet in Sri Lanka Navy.

13. The Naval version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was successfully test-fired on October 18, 2020. It was test-fired from an indigenously built stealth destroyer of the Indian Navy in the Arabian Sea. The missile was fired from INS Chennai which is a stealth destroyer. Missile hit the target with pin-point accuracy after performing "extremely complex" manoeuvres.

14. The Indian Ministry of Defense issued a release on October 19, 2020 updating about the upcoming trilateral India-U.S.-Japan Malabar exercises. The release noted that this year’s exercise would be participated by Australia. This was doe in the backdrop of India seeking to increase cooperation with other countries in the maritime security domain and increasing defence cooperation with Australia. The Malabar exercise will be organised in the Indian Ocean.

15. India successfully test fired the Stand-Off Anti-Tank Missile named as SANT on October 19, 2020. It will be inducted in the Indian Air Force. The missile has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). The missile was test fired from the Chandipur test range. The SANT missile has the capability of lock-on before launch and lock-on after launch.

16. The Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, has released the new Defence Research Development Organization (DRDO) Procurement Manual, 2020 on October 20, 2020. This has been released with an objective to encourage Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to do Research and Development.

17. The Indian Naval Ship Kavaratti has been commissioned into the Indian Navy on October 22, 2020 in Visakhapatnam. The INS Kavaratti is one among the four indigenously built anti-submarine Warfare stealth corvettes under the Kamorta class Corvettes or project 28.

18. The Indian Navy deployed its first batch of women pilots on Dornier Aircraft at Kochi on October 22, 2020. The deployment was done by the Southern Naval Command of Indian Navy. The first batch include three women pilots – Lieutenant Divya Sharma, Lieutenant Shivangi and Lieutenant Shubhangi Swaroop.

Business, Economy & Banking

1. NITI Aayog, The New and Renewable Energy Ministry, and Invest India will organise a global symposium virtually ‘India PV EDGE 2020’ on October 6. The solar deployment is a flagship green growth story of the last decade. In the line, the summit would act as an instrument to accelerate the growth and build a climate-resilient world.

2. The 42nd GST Council met on October 5, 2020 under the Chairmanship of Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman. It is a governing body of GST with 33 members. Two members are from centre and 31 members are from 28 state and 3 Union territories with legislation. Union Finance Minister is the chairperson of council. Other members include- Union Minister of States in charge of revenue or finance , ministers of states in charge of finance or taxation and other ministers as nominated by each states government. The council modify, reconcile and procure any law or regulation in the context of goods and services tax (GST).

3. Government of India have appointed economists Jayant R Varma, Shashank Bhide and Ashima Goyal as the new members of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) which was set up in 2016. The appointments were made after the decision was cleared by the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet chaired by PM Modi.

4. Prasar Bharati and Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) signed a MoU on October 6, 2020 in order to broadcast and promote new agriculture technology and innovations. IFFCO has prepared an alternative of Urea that were launched Kalol, Gujarat by Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Sadananda Gowda in November 2019. The alternative is nanotechnology based and will help farmers achieve the target of doubling their income by 2022. The ‘nano-technology’ based products include- nano nitrogen, nano zinc and nano copper.

5. Under the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme, Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary of Ministry of Housing Urban Affairs, had launched the Application Programming Interface (API) integration between the PM SVANidhi Portal and the State Bank of India (SBI) portal on October 7, 2020.

6. Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani launched the first ever Brand and Logo for Indian Cotton on Second World Cotton Day on October 7, 2020. Cotton is a soft and fluffy staple fiber. It grows in a protective case around the seeds of the cotton plants. This fiber is almost pure cellulose. The cotton plant is a shrub. It is native to tropical and subtropical regions including the America, Egypt, Africa, and India. The biggest diversity of wild cotton species is found in Mexico which us followed by Australia and Africa.

7. The Government of India (GoI) has appointed M. Rajeshwar Rao as the new Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on October 7, 2020. The post of deputy governor was vacant since March 2020 after the former Deputy Governor N R Vishwanathan resigned due to health issues.

8. The Advanced Manufacturing Hub (AMHUB) which is first of its kind in the country will be jointly set up by World Economic Forum and Guidance in Tamil Nadu. AMHUB is one among the nineteen platforms that has been designed by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Tamil Nadu’s nodal investment promotion agency called as Guidance will also be joining hands with WEF.

9. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said to the industry body for venture capital and private equity funds that finance companies can not be set up with foreign direct investment (FDI) from Mauritius. It has also banned FDI from such similar jurisdictions that do not comply with the benchmarks of the Financial Action Task Force.

10. The New Development Bank, which is also known as BRICS Bank, has approved infrastructure projects worth 741 million dollars in India. A loan of USD 500 million has been approved for the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) Project and a loan of USD 241 million has been approved for Mumbai Metro Rail II (Line 6) Project.

11. Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals India Ltd has launched an indigenous variety of calcium nitrate and boronated calcium nitrate on October 9, 2020. Calcium nitrate is also called as Norgessalpeter. It is an inorganic compound having chemical formula Ca(NO₃)₂. It is a colorless salt that absorbs moisture from the air. Calcium nitrate is a water-soluble fertilizer. Though, it is mainly used as a component in fertilizers but has other applications such as in agriculture, wastewater treatment and to increase the strength of cement concrete. Its tetrahydrate is sometimes used in regenerable cold packs.

12. A sustainable Municipal Solid Waste Processing Facility has been developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI). The residue from the facility would be rich in carbon. It can be used in agriculture as fertilizer and to make bricks for construction purpose.

13. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Institute of Himalayan bioresource Technology (CSIR-IHBT) has planted the Heeng in the Lahaul valley of Himachal Pradesh. The institute plans to cover 750 hectares under the Heeng cultivation. India consumes 40 per cent of the world’s heeng. India imports nearly 1,200 tonnes of ferula heeng that costs to nearly US $130 million every year.

14. The government has notified the Natural Gas Marketing Reforms on October 15, 2020. The guidelines have banned the natural gas and coal-bed methane (CBM) producers from buying their own produce in the newly notified gas marketing freedom guidelines.

15. India and Indonesia will be holding the fifth joint working group on coal meeting virtually on November 5, 2020. The meeting will throw light on Indian Coal policy reforms including the coal exploration, commercial coal mining, research and development.

16. The Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced that government has amended the existing norms related to the ships built in India. Under the new norms, first priority in chartering of the vessels would be given to ships built, flagged and owned by Indians. This decision align with the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.

17. Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar released the new series of Consumer Price Index for industrial workers (CPI-IW) on October 22, 2020. It was launched with 2016 as Base Year. Earlier the base year for the CPI-IW was 2001. CPI measures the changes in the price level of a basket of consumer goods and services that are bought by households. It is a numerical estimation which is calculated using the rates of a sample objects. The prices of the sample objects are collected periodically. It collects the changes in price level at the consumer level. At the producer level, changes in prices are calculated by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI).

18. IIT Kharagpur and TCS have jointly developed a novel Industry 4.0 technology. The new innovation is aimed at stimulating innovations in advanced manufacturing in order to boost capital goods sector. This technology will control the factory operations remotely. It will also provide real-time quality correction during industrial production in order to deliver quality output at low costs. Thus, it will help in achieving the standardised production quality goals, reducing batch rejections and lowering costs.

19. The Reserve Bank of India has all the lending institutions to implement the waiver of interest on interest schemes for loans up to Rs. 2 crore. The lending institutions also including non-banking financial companies. The RBI has urged the banks to implement the interest waiver for a moratorium period of six months. The lending institutions have now been mandated to grant ex-gratia payment for certain categories of borrowers by crediting the difference between simple interest and compound interest in between March 1- August 31, 2020. The centre, on October 23, had announced a scheme that granted ex-gratia payment of difference between compound interest and simple interest for six months for borrowers for specified loan accounts.

20. The SBI has published its Ecowrap report. The report highlights that the pandemic has led to 60% increase in opening up of new Jan Dhan accounts. PMJDY scheme was launched in August 2014 under the National Mission for Financial Inclusion. It provides universal access to banking facilities that provides – one basic banking account for every adult, access to credit, financial literacy, insurance and pension. Use of PMJDY is also causing the change in individual behavior across all states. As per the latest data total number of PMJDY accounts stands at 41.05 crore as of October 14, 2020.

21. Government of India has extended the deadline for making payment under the Vivad se Vishwas scheme till March 31, 2021. This deadline extension is being done for the third time in the series under the direct tax dispute settlement scheme. The last date to make declaration under the scheme has been extended to December 31 2020. This steps are being taken by the government in order to provide relief to the taxpayers.

22. The Centre took a decision to assess the institute with eminence tag on the basis of parameters used in top international ranking such as QS and Times rankings. The prestigious ‘institute of eminence’ (IoE) tag are provided to 20 higher education institutes to assess the progress.

23. Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) in collaboration with National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) have unveiled robust set of guidelines for Awarding Bodies (AB) and Assessment Agencies (AA) over a digital conference on October 28, 2020. This was issued in line with Prime Minister Modi’s vision of making India the skill capital of the world.

24. The Chhattisgarh assembly has approved the Chhattisgarh Krishi Upaj Mandi (Amendment) Bill 2020 on October 27, 2020. The government declared that the entire state will act as a market for selling agriculture produce. This decision was taken in order to negate the Centre’s farm laws which had allowed private players to directly buy produce from farmers.

25. The NITI Aayog has released the "Electricity access in India and benchmarking distribution utilities" report on October 28, 2020. The report states that, India is one of the key leaders in providing electricity access. The electricity access rate has doubled in the past 20 years. The percentage of households connected to the electricity grid has increased from 59.4% to 100%. However, India still faces the challenge of providing reliable and affordable electricity supply.

26. Indian Railways has launched an initiative called "Meri Saheli" on October 29, 2020. The initiative focuses on action of the security of women across all zones. The primary objective of the initiative is to provide safety and security to lady passengers travelling by trains for their entire journey from source station to destination station.

27. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has released the quality control norms on October 27, 2020. The norms has been released for different leather footwear including anti-riot shoes. The new norms would also contain imports and production of sub-standard products in the country. As per these norms, the products will have to comply with the specified standards and bear the standard mark under a license from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The norms says, items cannot be produced, sold or traded, imported and stocked without the BIS mark.The BIS has been authorized to certify and enforce the goods.

28. The "Doing Business in India Report, 2020" was released by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC). As per the report the business environment in India is improving and thus there is a greater opportunity for UK India collaboration in the business field.

29. NITI Aayog and Quality Council of India launched the ‘National Program and Project Management Policy Framework’ (NPMPF). The framework aims to bring radical reforms in the way infrastructure projects are executed in India. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Nitin Gadkari unveiled the Indian Infrastructure Body of Knoledge (InBoK) on the occasion.

Science & Technology

1. The French Space Agency CNES announced on September 30, 2020 that it going to participate in ISRO’s Venus Mission which has been named SHUKRAYAAN. The mission is going to be launched in 2025. ISRO have also selected The VIRAL (Venus Infrared Atmospheric Gases Linker) instrument that has been co-developed with the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos and the LATMOS atmospheres, environments and space observations laboratory attached to the French national scientific research centre CNRS.

2. Origin Space, which is a private company, in Beijing, China is all ready to send out the world’s first asteroid mining robot into space in November 2020. The robot is named as ‘asteroid mining robot’ by the space start-up in China. A Chinese Long March series rocket will launch the asteroid mining robot into space. The mission will be a milestone for the space resources industry.

3. The ministry of electronics and information technology said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a global virtual summit on Artificial Intelligence (AI) named RAISE 2020 – ‘Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020’ on October 5. Responsible AI for Social Empowerment (RAISE) 2020 is a virtual global summit on Artificial Intelligence (AI). To keep with the theme of "Responsible AI for Social Empowerment", RAISE 2020 will host an exciting line-up of leaders, policy designers, innovators and other stakeholders, who contribute on the potential of artificial intelligence in order to promote public good across domains including the health, education, mobility and agriculture.

4. The Indian Council of Medical Research in collaboration with the Hyderabad based biopharmaceutical company Biological E ltd has developed "Purified Antisera". It has been prepared by injecting inactivated SARS-CoV2 in horses which can be used as a prophylaxis and could be a potential treatment for COVID-19.

5. Reliance Life Sciences has developed an real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) kit. It claims to diagnose COVID-19 infection in about 2 hours. Presently, COVID-19 RT-PCR test takes up to 24 hours to give a diagnosis. The kit can detect the presence of E-gene, R-gene, RdRp gene of SARS COV2 virus with Actin as an internal control. According to the ICMR results, the kit is 98.7 % sensitive and 98.8 % specific. The diagnosis time of the kit is approximately 2 hours.

6. Northrop Grumman has launched their next Cygnus vehicle named as S.S. Kalpana Chawla and a Antares rocket for the NG-14 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on October 2, 2020 from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia. This capsule will deliver thousands kilograms/pounds of equipment, crew supplies, and science to the ISS.

7. Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae is commonly known as Xoo infection. It is an bacterial leaf blight disease in rice. It causes huge yield losses to rice cultivation in both temperate and tropical regions especially in Asia. It is an enzyme that converts the cellulose into glucose or a disaccharide. The cellulase protein that the group has obtained is secreted by Xoo. It has the features of a typical vaccine since it is a potent elicitor of rice immune responses. If the rice plants are pre-treated with this protein, It provides resistance to rice against subsequent Xoo infection.

8. The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) will commission the India’s largest High Performance Computing and Artificial Intelligence (HPC-AI) supercomputer, ‘PARAM Siddhi – AI’. This would put India into top countries in the field of global AI supercomputing research and innovation.

9. Heavy rainfall have hit the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh region. At least 30 people have lost their lives across Telangana out of which 19 deaths occurred in Hyderabad alone. The extremely heavy rainfall have caused a deluge in the region and has caused flooding in the region. The heavy and incessant rains occurred due to depression in the Bay of Bengal. Such type of rain are called as the Torrential Rain.

10. The Ministry of MSME has launched the artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools in order to provide effective assistance and solutions to the issues of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). These tools have been started on its Single Window System called the ‘Champions’ portal. These tools would be strengthening the portal.

11. The Leather Sector Skill Council (LSSC) has recently announced the launch of the Skill Certification Assessment for Leather Employees (SCALE) India android app in order to provide a single platform to integrate quality assurance across all of its services.

12. Scientists at Oxford University have developed a new testing method called to be as New Rapid Antigen Test to detect the COVID-19 virus. The test does not require any complex steps such as amplification that are used in RT-PCR testing. RT PCR is the Reverse transcription polymerases chain reaction. The PCR technique was invented by the American biochemist named Kary. He was presented the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1993. Under this technique, copies of a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) are created using a Polymerase enzyme. The ‘chain reaction’ is carried out to signify how the DNA fragments have been copied. A fluorescent DNA binding dye "probe" is added to the DNA that shows the presence of the virus on a fluorometer. The coronavirus is made of ribonucleic acid (RNA). So, to detect coronavirus, RNA is first converted into DNA by a technique called reverse transcription. After that, Copies of the DNA are made and amplified.

13. NITI Aayog announced the establishment of first of its kind the Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Centre (CIC) on October 19, 2020. This is being developed in order to address societal challenges through digital innovation. For developing the system, NITI Aayog is collaborating with Amazon Web Services (AWS). This also align with the Prime Minister’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat and NOTI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission.

14. The United States based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)had launched the OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft to the Asteroid Bennu in 2016. The Spacecraft has now touched the Asteroid After two years of circling. This mission is aimed at studying the Asteroid Bennu and return with at least 60 grams of the sample The spacecraft comprises three bottles of nitrogen that can make the spacecraft to touch down the asteroid thrice.

15. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have approved a low cost covid-19 test called COVIRAP. This diagnostic machine has been developed by IIT Kharagpur. The kit provides close test results similar to RT-PCR. The test gives the results in less than an hour. It does not require air conditioned laboratory. So, the testing labs can be set up even in an open field.

16. The Department of Science and Technology has announced on October 21, 2020 that the third phase of National Supercomputing Mission will commence in January 2021. The third phase of the mission will increase the computing speed to 45 petaflops.

17. India’s indigenous COVID-19 vaccine candidate, COVAXIN, has received the nod for Phase-3 clinical trials in the country on October 23, 2020. The vaccine has been developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

18. NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) has confirmed the presence of water on the sunlit surface of the Moon. This indicates that water is not only limited to cold shadowed place but could be distributed across the lunar surface.

19. The researchers from IIT Guwahati have developed a low-cost technology that will produce anti-ageing compounds. It has been developed from agricultural resources including pulses, tea, orange peels, onion, berries, sea buckthorn and parsley. This product does not use any organic solvents as are included in other products by the commercial industry. Since the product does not contain any organic solvents, it is of low cost.

20. The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite is scheduled to be launched by 2022. This was scheduled after India and the US decided to share Space Situational Awareness Information with each other. This would catalyse efforts in order to create the conditions for a safe and sustainable space environment.

21. Indian Army launched a secured messaging application platform called ‘Secure Application for the Internet’ (SAI) on October 29, 2020. The application was launched In line with PM Modi’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Mission’.

Government Schemes

1. Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot e-launched the "Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission (ASIIM) under Venture Capital Fund for SCs on September 30, 2020. The mission seeks to promote innovation and enterprise among SC students who are studying in higher educational institutions.

2. The Union Minister of Science and Technology Dr Harsh Vardhan launched the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Technologies for rural development on September 30, 2020. It is a joint initiative of IIT-Delhi, CSIR, Unnat Bharat Abhiyan and Vijnana Bharti (VIBHA). The initiative was launched on the occasion of 40th foundation day of CSIR- National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTAD).

3. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs will celebrate six years of Swachh Bharat Mission on the occasion of birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2. The Swachh Bharat mission was launched from Rajghat on October 2, 2014 in order to achieve the aim of Clean India by October 2, 2019 which was celebrated as 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

4. Shri Arjun Munda, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs will virtually launch India’s largest handicraft and organic products marketplace, Tribes India E-Marketplace (market.tribesindia.com) on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, 2020. This e-marketplace in line with the vision of the Prime Minister of making India Aatmanirbhar and self-reliant.

5. A high level meeting chaired by Vd. Rajesh Kotech Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH recently endorsed the operational integration of Ayush Grid with the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM). Ayush grid is the emerging IT backbone for AYUSH Sector. This integration will be beneficial to the public for availing many options for their health needs. The integration will also accelerate mainstreaming the Ayush disciplines of healthcare.

6. The Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh has launched the 100-days campaign. The campaign seeks to provide piped water supply to schools and Anganwadi centres. This mission was launched on the occasion of 151st birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

7. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Swiggy on October 5, 2020 in order to take the street food vendors online under the PM Svanidhi Scheme. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs will run the programme by including the 250 vendors on board from the five cities. These vendors will be provided with FSSAI registration, PAN registration, partner app usage, hygiene packing, training on technology and menu digitization. The programme will be expanded to other parts of the country after the first stage is successful.

8. The Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan launched the Ayush Standard Treatment Protocol at an event held on October 6, 2020 via video conference. The protocol comprises the self-care guidelines on preventive health measures that will help in protecting against COVID-19 pandemic.

9. The Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode will launch an e-learning hub and library as a pilot project for villagers in Mavoor. Mavoor village is one of the five villages that has been adopted by the institute under Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA). IIM Kozhikode institute has been a pioneer in spearheading social development at community levels webinar, and programmes such as the UBA. It is also a partner institute of UBA that fortify institutional capacity and give training to national needs especially in rural India.

10. The Gujarat State Government launched the "Digital Seva Setu Programme" for rural areas on October 6, 2020. It was launched under the Bharat Net Project of the Central government. The programme comply with the India’s Digital India Mission. The villages will be connected with the 100 MBps optical fibre network with an aim to make every village a mini Sachivalay. The programme connects the village panchayats. It will provide twenty pro-people services including the delivery of ration cards at door steps.

11. Under the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme, Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary of Ministry of Housing Urban Affairs, had launched the Application Programming Interface (API) integration between the PM SVANidhi Portal and the State Bank of India (SBI) portal on October 7, 2020.

12. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to launch the physical distribution of property cards under the ‘SVAMITVA’ (ownership) scheme on October 11, 2020. This will be a historic move to transform the rural India. The move will provide villagers a way to use property as a financial asset.

13. The Rashtriya Kamadhenu Aayog (RKA) has began the nation wide campaign called "Kamadhenu Deepawali Abhiyan" on October 12, 2020. The initiative would generate business opportunities for the cow based entrepreneurs and farmers by promoting use of cow-dung. This way, the initiative would help in making the Gaushalas "Atma Nirbhar".

14. The eSanjeevani telemedicine initiative by the Union Health Ministry recently recorded the completion of 5 lakh teleconsultations. The government have stated that last one lakh tele consultations have been completed just 17 days. Top 3 states with highest teleconsultations are Tamil Nadu (1,69,977) Uttar Pradesh (1,34,992) and Himachal Pradesh (39,326).

15. "Tech For Tribals" initiative was e-launched by TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs in association with Chhattisgarh MFP Federation and IIT Kanpur on September 13, 2020. The training would be a 6 weeks long programe from 13th October to 7th November 2020. Under it, Van Dhan beneficiaries across all districts of Chhattisgarh will be trained for micro-enterprise creation, management and functioning. The training module has been developed by IIT- Kanpur.

16. Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, and CGI India has signed a Statement of Intent (SOI) on October 13, 2020. The SOI was signed in order to boost the innovation across the schools. This partnership was a part of continuous support to AIM’s Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) initiative. They would be working towards creating a successful and innovative workforce.

17. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched the "hath dhona, roke corona" campaign on October 15, 2020. This campaign was launched while emphasising upon the sanitation practices on the occasion of Global Handwashing Day. The Chief Minister stressed that common habits of personal hygiene including washing hands can protect from coronavirus infection.

18. The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Food Processing Industries, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj virtually inaugurated the 14th session of the India – International Food Agri Week 2020 on October 16, 2020. The Food and Agri week is being organised from October 16 to October 22, 2020.

19. The Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has launched the AYUSHMAN SAHAKAR scheme on October 19, 2020. The scheme has been formulated by the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) which is the apex autonomous development finance institution under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

20. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari will lay down the foundation stone for India’s first multi-modal logistics park in Assam on October 20, 2020. This multi-modal logistics park have an estimated budget of ₹694 crore. This multi-modal logistic park will be developed under the Bharatmala Pariyojna. The project would provide direct connectivity through air, road, rail and waterways to the people.

21. Haryana State emerged as the best state in the Anemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) Index among all the 29 states in the country. It an initiative of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and UNICEF. The scheme has been launched in order to reduce the prevalence of Anemia across India. Anaemia Mukt Bharat strategy focuses on to benefit six target beneficiary groups, through six interventions and six institutional mechanisms. The programme is aimed at achieving the target of anaemia reduction under the POSHAN Abhiyaan.

22. The Tamil Nadu (TN) State government have implemented the smart blackboard scheme in more than 80,000 Government schools to provide a better teaching environment. The scheme is aimed at using the audio visual teaching material in the schools. It can also be integrated with digital classrooms and smart classroom schemes. The smart boards will create materials that can be fed into computer screens using pen drives.

23. Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (I/C) Shri Prahlad Singh Patel launched the "Life in Miniature" project on October 22, 2020. The project is a collaboration between the National Museum, New Delhi; Ministry of Culture and Google Arts Culture. The partnership between the trio began in 2011.

24. Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh has bagged the first position among 30 districts of the country for successfully implementing the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). It is a nationwide scheme that aims to provide all-weather road connectivity to the unconnected villages. The scheme was launched in 2000 by Late Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The PMGSY is being implemented under the Ministry of Rural Development. It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. In November 2015, it was decided that the project will be funded by both the central government (60%) and states (40%) on the recommendations of 14th Finance Commission. PMGSY connect habitations having population of more than 250 in the hilly states and above 500 in the plains.

25. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Kisan Suryoday Yojana in Gujarat on October 24, 2020. The primary aim of the scheme is to provide day time power supply for irrigation in the region. Along with Kisan Suryoday scheme, PM Modi also launched two other projects namely, a ropeway at the Girnar in Junagadh district and the UN Mehta Heart Research Institute.

26. Government eMarketplace (GeM) has been integrated with the Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP) for the creation of a Unified Procurement System. The integrated system with consolidate the entire public buying of goods and services onto a single platform.

27. Uttar Pradesh government has secured the first rank in central government’s PM Atmanirbhar Nidhi Scheme (SVANidhi Scheme) by approving the highest number of loans under the scheme. The central government launched the scheme on June 1, 2020. It was launched in order to help the street vendors to resume their livelihood activities that were impacted COVID-19 lockdown.

28. Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, Shri Arjun Munda will launch two Centers of Excellence for Tribal Welfare. It will be launched in a collaboration between Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Art of Living (AoL). This initiative will be launched in 5 districts. It will cover 30 Gram Panchayats and 150 villages of Jharkhand. The initiative would help in creating awareness among elected representatives of PRI.

29. The Andhra Pradesh government released the second installment of Rs. 1,115 crore under the Rythu Bharosa scheme. This fund was released by Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on October 28, 2020. The fund released under the scheme would benefit 50 lakh farmers across the state.

30. Union Minister for Science Technology, Earth Sciences and Health Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan, launched a Scheme called "SERB-POWER (Promoting Opportunities for Women in Exploratory Research)" on October 29, 2020. The initiative is exclusively meant for women scientists on an e-platform.

31. Prime Minister Modi inaugurated "Arogya Van" in Kevadia, Gujarat on October 30, 2020. This was launched in the after month of Ekta Diwas celebrations which is being observed on October 31, 2020. The prime minister is on a two day visit to the state and also participated in the Ekta Diwas celebration.

Awards & Honours

1. The Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Skekhawat presented the Swachh Bharat Awards, 2020 on October 2, 2020. The awards were presented under the cleanliness and drinking water categories. The key three categories of the awards were: Swachh Sundar Samudayik Shouchalaya, Gandagi Mukth Bharat and Samudayik Shouchalaya Abhiyan.

2. Two women named Emmanuelle Charpentier of France, and American Jennifer Doudna have been award with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Charpentier and Doudna were working to develop the technology of genome editing. Their genome editing technique has also been awarded with "Break through Prize in Life Sciences in 2015" and the "Wolf Prize in Medicine, 2020".

3. The Nobel Peace Prize 2020 has been awarded to the United nation’s World Food Programme (WFP). The programme has been awarded the prize for its efforts to fight the hunger specially in the war zones and conflict affected areas. The Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to award the prize to the WEP.

4. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released a commemorative coin of 100 rupees in honour of Vijaya Raje Scindia on October 12, 2020. The coin is being released on the occasion of birth centenary of Vijaya Raje Scindia. She was one among the Founding members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The special commemorated coin was minted by the Finance ministry.

Sports

1. Rafael Nadal has won the French Open, 2020 beating Novak Djokovic on October 11, 2020. With this, Rafael has won his 13th French open men’s singles title. This is also his 20th Grand Slam. Iga Swiatek won the French Open female’s single title. She marked the record of being the first player from Poland to win a Grand Slam.

2. The Japanese Former World Champion Nozomi Okuhara has won the Denmark Open title in Badminton. She got the title by beating three-time world champion Carolina Marin in women’s singles.

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References:
jagranjosh.com
gktoday.in
business-standard.com