Current Affairs 16th October 2020| Current Affairs News

 CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS

Global Handwashing Day

• Global Handwashing Day occurs on 15 October of each year.
• It is an international handwashing promotion campaign to motivate and mobilize people around the world to improve their handwashing habits.
• The theme of Global Handwashing Day 2020 is ‘Hand Hygiene for All’.

International Day of Rural Women

• International Day of Rural Women celebrated every year on 15 October.
• This day was created in 1995 by Civil society organizations at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and was declared an official UN Day in 2007 by the UN General Assembly.
• The theme for International Day of Rural Women 2020 is “Building rural women’s resilience in the wake of COVID-19.”

World Food Day

• World Food Day is an international day celebrated every year around the world on 16 October in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945.
• This year World Food Day marks the 75th Anniversary of the founding of FAO, with a view to looking towards the future we need to build together and the theme “Grow, nourish, sustain. Together. Our actions are our future.”

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL

Cabinet Decisions

• The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has approved a Special Package worth Rs. 520 crore in the UTs of J&K and Ladakh for a period of five years till FY 2023-24 and ensure funding of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) in the UTs of Jammu and Kashmir & Ladakh on a demand driven basis without linking allocation with poverty ratio during this extended period.
• Cabinet approved MoU between India and Australia for collaboration in capacity building, research and development and making impact for sustainable groundwater management.
• Implementation of the Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States (STARS) project with a total project cost of Rs 5718 crore with the financial support of World Bank amounting to US $ 500 million (approximately Rs. 3700 crore).

Dr Harsh Vardhan launches second phase of “Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojna” for underprivileged thalassemic patients

• Union health minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan, launched the second phase of “Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojna” for the underprivileged thalassemic patients, virtually from Nirman Bhawan.
• Launched in 2017, this scheme is a Coal India CSR funded Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) programme that aims to provide a one-time cure opportunity for haemoglobinopathies like thalassaemia and sickle cell disease for patients who have a matched family donor.
• The CSR initiative was targeted to provide financial assistance to a total of 200 patients by providing a package cost not exceeding 10 lakhs per HSCT.

About MoHFW

• Minister of Science and Technology, Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Minister of Earth Sciences: Dr. Harsh Vardhan
• Constituency: Chandni Chowk, New Delhi

Foreign Secretary inaugurates 1st edition of Lectures designed to introduce India to foreign diplomats posted in New Delhi

• The first edition of Lectures designed to introduce India to foreign diplomats posted in New Delhi was inaugurated by Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla.
• It has been named as Sushma Swaraj Lectures
• MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava stated, 45 foreign diplomats are attending the lectures which will give them an introduction to Indian history, polity, culture and economy.

India designated Vice-Chair of OECD Working Group on GLP

• India has been designated the Vice-Chair of Good Laboratory Practice, GLP Working Group of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), recognising the contribution of the Indian GLP programme.
• Good Laboratory Practice is a quality system, which has been evolved by OECD to ensure that safety data generated on various chemicals like industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, cosmetic products and medical devices can be relied upon by regulatory authorities.
• The Department of Science and Technology had established the National GLP Compliance Monitoring Authority (NGCMA) with the approval of the Union Cabinet on April, 2002. NGCMA is the National body which grants GLP certification to test facilities conducting safety studies on new chemicals of the mentioned categories in accordance with OECD Council norms.

About OECD:

• Headquarters: Paris, France
• Secretary-General: José Ángel Gurría

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari initiates Asia’s longest ZojiLa Tunnel works virtually

• In Ladakh Union Territory, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Mr Nitin Gadkari initiated Asia’s longest ZojiLa Tunnel works virtually, by igniting ceremonial blasts.
• The 15 years old languishing project finally took off with twin blasts at East portals of Meenamarg and Baltal.
• At a height of 3000 meters in the Peerpanjal mountain range,  construction of Zojila tunnel is a historic necessity to provide an all weather road connectivity between Ladakh and the rest of the world.
• Minister Nitin Gadkari also sets a target for the National Highway Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) and the contractor to complete the construction before 2024.
• ZojiLa is a challenging and dangerous route especially during the winters. This pass on national Highway One gets closed nearly six months in a year.The Rs. 4,430 crore Tunnel will reduce the travel time in the stretch from three and half hours to just 15 minutes.

About Ministry of Road Transport and Highways:

• Nitin Gadkari, Cabinet Minister
• Constituency: Nagpur
• General (Retd.) V. K. Singh, Minister of State

Films Division to stream documentary ‘People’s President’ on Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s birth anniversary

• The 89th Birth Anniversary of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who served as the 11th President of India is being celebrated. In its tribute, Films Division is streaming the 52-minute English documentary titled ‘People’s President’ on its website and YouTube Channel.
• Directed by Pankaj Vyas, the documentary is dedicated to Dr Kalam’s life and work including the Missile Man’s pivotal role in the success of Indian aerospace science programme.
• Watching the biopic, the viewer can experience Dr. Kalam’s strong spirit of nationalism and scientific temper, all the while inspiring generations with his simplicity, intellect and wisdom.

NTPC collaborates with cement manufacturers across country to supply fly ash

• NTPC Limited has started to collaborate with cement manufacturers across the country to supply fly ash as part of its endeavour to achieve 100 per cent utilization of the by-product produced during power generation.
• The power producer is leveraging Indian Railways’ sprawling network to transport fly ash in an economical and environment friendly manner. Power Ministry stated, NTPC Rihand is the first power plant in Uttar Pradesh to send conditioned fly ash to cement manufacturers. The plant recently transported three thousand 834 Metric Tonnes of conditioned fly ash to Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited plant at Nagaon, Assam.
• During the financial year 2019-20, almost 44.33 Million Tonnes of fly ash was utilized for various productive purposes. NTPC produces approximately 65 Million Tonnes of Ash annually, out of which 80 per cent is Fly Ash.
• Presently, about 73 per cent of total ash is being utilized for production of cement and fly ash bricks, road embankment construction, mine filling and low-lying land development.

About NTPC

• Founded: 1975
• Headquarters: New Delhi, India

India among high-burden TB nations to register 25-30 pc drop in case notifications: WHO report

• Disruptions in services caused by the Covid-19 pandemic have led to further setbacks and according to a new report, there has been a 25 to 30 per cent drop in tuberculosis (TB) case notifications across three high-burden countries – India, Indonesia and the Philippines – between January and June 2020 compared to the same period a year before.
• The Global TB report, released by the World Health Organisation, has collated data from over 200 countries that has shown significant reductions in TB case notifications. These reductions in case notifications could lead to a dramatic increase in additional TB deaths, according to WHO modelling. Their analysis of the pandemic’s impact on TB mortality indicates that a 50 per cent drop in the detection of TB cases over three months will lead to almost 4,00,000 more people dying from TB.
• Notifications of new people diagnosed with TB and relapse cases in the country increased from 2 million in 2013 to 2.2 million in 2019. This followed the introduction of a national policy of mandatory notification in 2012, and the roll out (also since 2012) of a nationwide web- and case-based reporting system (called ‘Nikshay’), which facilitates reporting of detected cases by care providers in the public and private sectors.
• Globally, approximately 1.4 million people died from TB-related illnesses in 2019. Of the estimated 10 million people who developed TB last year, some 3 million were not diagnosed with the disease, or were not officially reported to national authorities. The number of people who fell ill with TB has been declining very slowly in recent years.

About WHO:

• Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
• Heads: Tedros Adhanom, Soumya Swaminathan, Jane Ellison

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL

After Sputnik V, Russia grants approval to 2nd COVID-19 vaccine EpiVacCorona

• In a significant development, Russia announced that it has granted regulatory approval to another coronavirus COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine named EpiVacCorona comes after Russia recently granted similar approval to its first COVID-19 vaccine named Sputnik V. Notably, Sputnik V is also the first vaccine candidate in the world to attain regulatory approval.
• Developed by Siberia-based Vector Institute, EpiVacCorona completed its early-stage human trials in September. The pharmaceutical company is yet to publish the results of human trials and Phase III trial of this vaccine is yet to begin.
• Novosibirsk-based Vektor Centre has registered a second coronavirus vaccine, EpiVacCorona. Unlike with the first Russian vaccine, Sputnik V, which is an adenovirus vector-based vaccine, the new one is a promising synthetic vaccine based on peptide,” the Russian government stated.
• Sputnik V, which was developed by Gamaleya Institute in Moscow, was licensed for use in Russia in August. Sputnik V was also registered before Phase III trials just like EpiVacCorona. A human trial of Sputnik V is currently under way in Moscow for it.

About Russia

• Capital: Moscow
• President: Vladimir Putin
• Currency: Russian ruble
• Prime minister: Mikhail Mishustin

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE

Flipkart-owned PhonePe launches car, bike insurance in association with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance

• Flipkart-owned PhonePe launched car and bike insurance products on its platform in association with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.
• PhonePe users can also customise their car insurance plan based on their needs with a range of value-added offerings such as zero depreciation, 24X7 roadside assistance, and engine protection among others.
• With this launch, over 230 million registered PhonePe users can now insure their vehicles seamlessly in under 2 minutes, without the need for any documents to be uploaded before the purchase, and also view their policy documents instantly on the app

About Phonepe

• CEO: Sameer Nigam
• Headquarters location: Bengaluru

About Bajaj Allianz General Insurance

• CEO: Tapan Singhel
• Headquarters: Pune

IRDAI asks life insurers to launch ‘Saral Jeevan Bima’ scheme by Jan 1

• Regulator IRDAI asked life insurance companies to launch a standard term insurance policy ‘Saral Jeevan Bima’ by January 1, 2021 to help customers take informed decisions.
• The Saral Jeevan Bima will be a pure term life insurance product that can be purchased by people in the age group of 18 to 65 years and will have a policy term of 4 to 40 years, guidelines issued by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).
• The sum assured for the term life insurance policy will range from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh (in multiples of Rs 50,000).

About IRDAI

• Founded: 1999
• Headquarters: Hyderabad
• Chairperson: Subhash Chandra Khuntia

Axis Mutual Fund launches banking ETF

• Axis Mutual Fund has launched a new fund offer – Axis Banking ETF (Exchange Traded Fund).
• The new fund offers will be open for subscription between October 16 and 29.
• The ETF offers investors an opportunity to invest in the biggest banks. Passive funds are designed to track the performance of an index. They achieve this by replicating the portfolio of the underlying index.
• Axis Banking ETF is designed to track the performance of the 12 largest banks listed on the NSE. Only banking stocks that are allowed to trade in F&O segment are eligible to be constituent of the index. Currently, the index has 83.3 per cent exposure to private banks and 11.7 per cent to PSU banks.

About Axis Mutual Fund:

• Headquarters:Mumbai, India
• Chandresh Kumar Nigam :(MD & CEO)

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATES

Punjab to launch its own SC post-matric scholarship scheme

• The Punjab Cabinet to launch its own Scheduled Caste Post Matric Scholarship Scheme in place of the Centre’s scheme, in order to facilitate students to pursue higher education in government and private institutions.
• With this, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh announced an increase in income criteria from earlier Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 4 lakh to accommodate more Scheduled Caste (SC) students.
• The Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by the Chief Minister, approved the Dr BR Ambedkar SC Post Matric Scholarship Scheme, to be effective from 2021-22.
• The scheme will be applicable to persons belonging to the SC, who are domiciled in Punjab and have done matriculation from Punjab and Chandigarh.
• All Central, state government and private institutions in Punjab and Chandigarh will be covered under the scheme.
• The total financial implication of the proposal is estimated to be about Rs 600 crore. Of this, the tentative liability of the government institutions would be about Rs 168 crore and the remaining Rs 432 crore would be borne by the private educational institutions and the government.

About Punjab

• Capital: Chandigarh
• Governor: V. P. Singh Badnore
• Chief minister: Amarinder Singh

UP govt decides to set up women help desk in every police station of state

• In a major decision related to women security in the state, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered to establish women help desks in each and every police station of state.
• The official press release says that  generally women hesitate in registering their complaints with male cops in police station. Keeping this in mind, Women police personnel will be given the charge of these women help desks so that every woman in state can register her complain freely and fearlessly.
• Government has directed to implement this order with immediate effect. The women police personnel deputed on helpdesk will not only listen to the complaints of women but will always be ready to help them anytime. Government had earlier established pink booths at various intersections of Lucknow.
• Women Cops are also deployed at major Crossings in various big cities including state capital Lucknow. It has also made arrangements to drop working women to their homes at odd hours.

About Uttar Pradesh:

• Governor: Anandiben Patel
• Capital: Lucknow
• Chief minister: Yogi Adityanath

Delhi govt launches ‘Red Light On, Gaadi Off’ initiative

• In a bid to tackle air pollution in the national capital, Delhi government launched ‘Red Light On, Gaadi Off’ initiative.
• The initiative part of ‘Yuddh, Pradushan Ke Viruddh’ campaign promotes switching off the engine of the vehicles while waiting at the red signals.
• “Delhi has one crore registered vehicle, even if 10 lakh vehicles turn off ignition at traffic signals, around 1.5 tonnes of PM10 will go down in a year and the PM 2.5 will decrease by 0.4 tonnes,” stated Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
• Every time vehicles stop at the red signal, it has been noticed that drivers do not turn the engine off. These vehicles, even when they are at the red sign, emit pollution while idling, he added.
• “One car spends around 15 to 20 minutes at the red signal on an average and utilizes around 200 mL of fuel. But if you switch off the engine at the red signals, you can save 7000 per month,” stated Kejriwal.
• In the coming days, the Delhi government also plans to launch a massive awareness campaign regarding this.

About New Delhi

• Chief minister: Arvind Kejriwal
• Governor: Anil Baijal

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOU

J&K Govt inks MoU with Flipkart to provide platform for local artisans, craftsmen, weavers to reach customers worldwide

• In a significant step to promote the rural economy and to boost the sale of genuine products of Jammu & Kashmir, the JK Government signed an historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with online store Flipkart to provide a platform for local artisans, craftsmen, weavers to reach customers across the globe.
• He stated that partnership with the e-commerce marketplace like Flipkart will enable the local artisans, craftsmen and weavers to reach global market and also provide an appropriate opportunity for the momentous growth and development of the respective sectors.
• The Lt Governor also underscored the steps Government of J&K has taken in the recent past for improving the financial conditions of artisans and weavers like enhancement in loan to Rs 2 lacs under Artisans Credit card scheme.
• This e-marketing channel shall involve and benefit artisans and weavers both in organized and unorganized sector and for the first six months, Flipkart will not charge any fee from the artisans and weavers.

About Jammu and Kashmir:

• Capital: Srinagar (May-October),Jammu (November-April)
• Lieutenant Governor: Manoj Sinha

About Flipkart:

• Q: Bengaluru
• CEO: Kalyan Krishnamurthy

Indian Bank inks MoU with Ministry, SIDBI for street vendors

• Public sector Indian Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for payment of subsidy to street vendors under the Centre’s SVANidhi Scheme.
• The Centre introduced the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (SVANidhi Scheme) to provide loans to the vendors and hawkers, among others.
• The MoU was signed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs joint secretary (NULM) Sanjay Kumar and Indian Bank’s New Delhi field general manager Vikas Kumar, among others, in the capital, a bank statement stated.

About MoHUA:

• Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs and Civil Aviation: Hardeep Singh Puri
• Constituency: Amritsar

About Indian bank:

• Headquarters: Chennai
• CEO: Padmaja Chunduru
• Tagline :Your Own Bank, Banking That’s Twice As Good

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPS AND PORTALS

Govt Launches ARHC Portal Under PM Awas Yojana

• Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri launched ARHC portal mohua.gov.in, via a webinar.
• The initiative has been taken up to provide dignified and affordable living spaces to varied groups of urban migrants/ poor including industrial & construction workers, migrants working with market/trade associations, educational/health institutions, hospitality sector, long term tourists/ visitors, students etc.
• On the occasion, a National Report on ANGIKAAR – a campaign for change management for PMAY (U) beneficiaries through a 3 C strategy- Community Engagement, Convergence and Communication was also launched by Shri Hardeep S. Puri. The report is a recollection of various activities under the campaign. A short movie ‘ANGIKAAR 2019…a reminiscence’ that encapsulates the journey of the campaign so far, was also released.
• The goals and objectives of ANGIKAAR followed ethos of Gandhian philosophy on cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation.

Stellapps launches ‘mooPay’ for dairy farmers in Rajasthan

• Digital technology solutions provider Stellapps announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind, fully-automated direct payment platform — ‘mooPay’ — for dairy farmers in Rajasthan.
• The platform is one of the fintech solutions the company has developed for dairies and dairy farmers. mooPay acts as a payment gateway for dairies to make payments to every registered farmer, removing the risks and costs of transferring money to hundreds of thousands of farmers in hundreds of villages.
• mooPay enables dairy officials to transfer milk payments digitally to member farmers from the dairies’ existing bank account to farmers’ savings bank account. NDDB launches ‘Pashu Mitra’ call centre for dairy farmers
• The IIT-Madras incubated dairy-tech startup and World Economic Forum’s technology pioneer, Stellapps, launched mooPay in Bhilwara district of Rajasthan on October 15 .
• mooPay systems will automatically fetch milk payment data from the IoT devices deployed at every village dairy cooperative society, which capture the milk pouring of every farmer. The company has also installed display units at the centres that will show the quality, quantity and price of the milk of individual farmers and incentivise production of quality milk.

About Rajasthan:

• Governor: Kalraj Mishra
• Capital: Jaipur
• Chief minister: Ashok Gehlot

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

CCI approves acquisition of solar projects by Adani Green Energy Twenty-Three Ltd

• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the acquisition of solar energy generation assets of Adani Green Energy Ten Limited (AGE10L) by Adani Green Energy Twenty-Three Ltd (AGE23L). An official statement stated these approvals are under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002.
• AGE23L is a joint venture company, jointly controlled by Total Solar Singapore Limited and Adani Green Energy Limited. AGE23L (through its subsidiaries) is engaged in the business of solar power generation in the country.
• The assets proposed to be acquired consist of TN Urja Private Limited, Essel Urja Private Limited, PN Renewable Energy Limited, PN Clean Energy Limited, KN Indi Vijayapura Solar Energy Private Limited and KN Bijapura Solar Energy Private Limited.
• KN Muddebihal Solar Energy Private Limited, KN Sindagi Solar Energy Private Limited, Essel Bagalkot Solar Energy Private Limited and Essel Gulbarga Solar Power Private Limited are also in the list of companies to be acquired.
• Adani Green Energy Ten Limited (AGE10L) is the holding company of the companies that are being acquired, the statement added.

About Adani Green Energy:

• Founder: Gautam Adani
• Headquarters: Ahmedabad

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS

Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbai Jeenbekov resigns

• The president of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbai Jeenbekov has stepped down after nearly two weeks of mass protests following a disputed election.
• Jeenbekov is the third president to be overthrown in a popular uprising since Kyrgyzstan gained independence in 1991.
• Jeenbekov accepted Japarov as the new prime minister earlier this week.

About Kyrgyzstan

• Capital: Bishkek
• Currency: Kyrgyzstani som
• Prime Minister: Sadyr Japarov

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONORS

BoG wins Central Bank of the Year award

• The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has been honoured at the seventh Central Banking Awards.
• The Governor of the BoG, Dr Ernest Addison received the Central Bank of Year award on behalf of the bank.
• The organisers of the award ceremony Central Banking was joined by representatives of the winners of the Central Banking Awards 2020.

About Ghana

• Capital: Accra
• Currency: Ghanaian cedi

Indian-origin philanthropist Harish Kotecha wins lifetime achievement award in US

• Indian-origin philanthropist Harish Kotecha has been awarded the prestigious Sandra Neese Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his work in the US for meeting the needs of children and youth experiencing homelessness.
• The lifetime achievement award from the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY) was presented to Kotecha, who is founder and president of Hindu Charities for America (HC4A), at its 32nd annual conference on October 9, a statement stated.
• Sandra Neese Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually to honour people who have tirelessly worked to ensure that all children may have what most take for granted: safety, shelter, and a future and that young people without shelter may find the promise of tomorrow.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS AND AUTHORS

Book “Mr Prime Minister, We Shrank the Dragon” by author Pradeep Goorha

• Pradeep Goorha, is all set for the release of his second book “Mr Prime Minister, We Shrank the Dragon”.
• The book, though fiction is inspired by reality revolving around the currently developing story on India’s northern borders along with the perennially neglected Pakistan’s illegal occupation of PoK, Gilgit-Baltistan, and how these could be solved at this opportune time.
• His 1st book ‘Survival Redux’, a historical fiction published in 2016 in USA.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS

Tokyo to host international gymnastics event in November

• Tokyo will host an international gymnastics tournament on Nov. 8.
• The event is sanctioned by the International Gymnastics Federation and will feature 32 athletes from Japan, China, Russia and the United States.
• Other international sporting events scheduled to be held in Japan in the coming months, including the Judo Tokyo Grand Slam and the Tokyo Marathon, have been cancelled or postponed due to restrictions on travel.

About FIG

• President: Morinari Watanabe
• Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland

CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY

Former New Zealand all-rounder John R Reid passes away at 92

• John Richard Reid, former New Zealand great and their oldest surviving Test player, has passed away at the age of 92 in Auckland.
• Reid was the first cricketer to lead New Zealand to a Test victory, when they beat the Windies by 190 runs in Auckland in 1956. He was also the captain when New Zealand defeated South Africa in 1962 to claim their first overseas Test win.

Oscar-winning costume designer Bhanu Athaiya passes away at 91

• Costume designer Bhanu Athaiya, India’s first Oscar winner, passed away in Mumbai. She was 91.
• Bhanu Athaiya won the Best Costume Design Oscar for her work in the 1982 film Gandhi.
• In 2012, Banu Athaiya returned her Oscar to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for safe-keeping.

DAILY CA 15th OCT

• International E-waste Day- 14th oct
• World Students’ Day- 15th oct
• PM Modi to release commemorative coin on 75th anniversary of FAO
• Prolonged closure of schools may cost India $400 billion: World Bank
• Cabinet approves World Bank supported ‘STARS’ project to boost school education system
• Ministry of AYUSH launches Jan Andolan Campaign on COVID-19
• MSME Ministry introduces AI & ML for strengthening its single window system portal ‘Champions’
• Government sets up a panel of secretaries headed by Rajiv Gauba to streamline telecom spectrum allocation
• India and France re-elected as president and co-president of International Solar Alliance
• India contributes 1 million dollars to UNRWA for Palestine Refugees
• Climate change spurs doubling of disasters since 2000: UN
• Vivifi India Finance launches UPI-based credit option FlexPay
• IKEA partners Mastercard, Citi to launch Family Credit Card
• EarlySalary launches zero-touch digital card
• PepsiCo to set up greenfield potato chips production unit in UP with investment of Rs. 814 crore
• Odisha CM Naveen Virtually Launches ‘Sujal’- Drink From Tap Mission Initiative
• Water taxi service to be launched in Alappuzha
• DPCC bans diesel generators in Delhi from October 15 to curb air pollution
• Gujarat govt announces setting up of world’s biggest Zinc Smelter project in Dosawada in Tapi district
• J&K: “SAKHI” One-Stop Service Centre for women in Ramban district inaugurated
• Cello Group signs Amitabh Bachchan as brand ambassador
• NTPC CMD Gurdeep Singh’s term extended till July 2025
• Dita named ambassador for World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020
• NASA to Launch Nano Satellite Developed by Three Tamil Nadu Students into Sub-orbit
• One American, two Russians blast off to International Space Station
• New Zealand passport most powerful, US ranked 21, India 58 in Global Passport Index by Arton Capital
• India recorded the third-highest number of disaster events over the past 20 years: UN Report
• Chandigarh University bags first rank in India as stand-alone institution for filling highest number of patents in a year according to Government of India patent rankings
• Exercise Suraksha Kavach- Joint Anti Terrorist Exercise By Army and Police
• Odisha to sponsor national rugby teams till 2023
• Padma Shri awardee and renowned Kuchipudi exponent Shobha Naidu passes away at 64
• At 93, ‘Nightingale of Gujarat’ passes away due to Covid
• Renowned Malayalam poet Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri passes away

DAILY CA 16th OCT

• Global Handwashing Day- 15th oct
• International Day of Rural Women-15th oct
• World Food Day- 16th oct
• Cabinet Decisions
• Dr Harsh Vardhan launches second phase of “Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojna” for underprivileged thalassemic patients
• Govt Launches ARHC Portal Under PM Awas Yojana
• Foreign Secretary inaugurates 1st edition of Lectures designed to introduce India to foreign diplomats posted in New Delhi
• India designated Vice-Chair of OECD Working Group on GLP
• Union Minister Nitin Gadkari initiates Asia’s longest ZojiLa Tunnel works virtually
• Films Division to stream documentary ‘People’s President’ on Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s birth anniversary
• NTPC collaborates with cement manufacturers across country to supply fly ash
• India among high-burden TB nations to register 25-30 pc drop in case notifications: WHO report
• After Sputnik V, Russia grants approval to 2nd COVID-19 vaccine EpiVacCorona
• Flipkart-owned PhonePe launches car, bike insurance in association with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance
• IRDAI asks life insurers to launch ‘Saral Jeevan Bima’ scheme by Jan 1
• Axis Mutual Fund launches banking ETF
• Punjab to launch its own SC post-matric scholarship scheme
• UP govt decides to set up women help desk in every police station of state
• Delhi govt launches ‘Red Light On, Gaadi Off’ initiative
• J&K Govt inks MoU with Flipkart to provide platform for local artisans, craftsmen, weavers to reach customers worldwide
• Indian Bank inks MoU with Ministry, SIDBI for street vendors
• Stellapps launches ‘mooPay’ for dairy farmers in Rajasthan
• CCI approves acquisition of solar projects by Adani Green Energy Twenty-Three Ltd
• Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbai Jeenbekov resigns
• BoG wins Central Bank of the Year award
• Indian-origin philanthropist Harish Kotecha wins lifetime achievement award in US
• Book “Mr Prime Minister, We Shrank the Dragon” by author Pradeep Goorha
• Tokyo to host international gymnastics event in November
• Former New Zealand all-rounder John R Reid passes away at 92
• Oscar-winning costume designer Bhanu Athaiya passes away at 91