Excellence by Saikat Sir: Daily Current Affairs October 23 & 24 2022

Daily Current Affairs October 23 & 24 2022

CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

United Nations Day: 24th October

United Nations Day 2022 is observed on the 24th of October 2022.
The United Nations Conference took place in San Francisco in 1945. 50 countries came to the conference to form the United Nations Charter.
The United Nations Organisation aims to bring peace among the people to stop the War Situation.
UNO also works to reduce Poverty across the Globe.
The Permanent members of UNO are the United States, India, the United Kingdom, France, Turkey, and Canada.
United Nations Day is celebrated for the remembrance of the formation of the United Nations Organisation. United Nations Day is celebrated annually.
This year United Nations Day 2022 will be celebrated by UNO globally by conducting a Peace Conference.

World Polio Day: 24th October

World Polio Day 2022 is observed on the 24th of October 2022.
World Polio Day is first initiated and Celebrated by Rotary International for the birthday of Jonas Salk, the Medical Researcher who led the first team to develop a vaccine against polio.
He developed the Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine in 1955.
Later Albert Sabin developed Oral Polio Vaccine in 1962.
Rotary International and WHO established the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988.
At the time there were around 3,50,000 cases across the world.
Now the European Countries have completely eradicated polio and now announced themselves as Polio-free Countries.
But Still Asian Countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India still find rare cases across the country.
World Polio Day 2022 is celebrated for over a decade now by Rotary International.
This year they announced an awareness program to vaccinate babies as per the schedule.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

PM has introduced the “Mission Schools of Excellence” in Gujarat:

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi announced “Mission Schools of Excellence”
The ‘Mission Schools of Excellence is a large-scale initiative in Gandhinagar with the dual objectives of changing the curricula in Gujarat’s public schools and responding to accusations of the State government for the poor quality of education made by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The “Mission Schools of Excellence” are funded in part by the World Bank and have a budget of 10,000 crores.
Its goal was to provide new classrooms, smart classrooms, computer labs, and other enhancements to the state’s educational infrastructure.
In the first phase, improvements to school infrastructure will cost about 5,567 crores.
Along with the 5 lakh smart classrooms, the project would also construct 50,000 classrooms, 20,000 computer laboratories, and 5,000 Atal Tinkering labs in government schools.
To improve the quality of instruction in classrooms, Mr. Modi had earlier constructed a school monitoring center in Gandhinagar and asked all States to establish similar state-of-the-art facilities.

PM Modi launched the Mission LIFE movement in Kevadiya, Gujarat:

PM Modi has launched the Mission LIFE effort to protect the environment.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a strong reprimand.
Following the global inauguration of Mission LiFE at Gujarat’s Statue of Unity in the presence of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the Prime Minister addressed the gathering, claiming that lifestyle changes can help to combat climate change.
The Prime Minister emphasized while underlining India’s commitment to tackling the problem of climate change, that a circular economy and the concepts of reducing, reusing, and recycling have been established in Indian culture for thousands of years.
India is the most successful example of economic development and environmental protection.
The Prime Minister alluded to Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of trusteeship, saying that Mission LiFE encourages us to serve as environmental trustees.

Railways plans to achieve net-zero carbon emission by 2030:

The Indian Railways plans to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 and also focus on increasing network capacity.
The country’s railway network is being electrified to reduce pollution and carry on transportation in an environment-friendly way.
The Railways will attempt to reduce its carbon footprint primarily by sourcing its energy requirements from renewable energy sources.
By 2029-30, an expected requirement of installation of renewable capacity would be about 30 GW.
Indian Railways has installed 142 MW of solar rooftop capacity and 4 MW of Wind energy till August.
The railways have electrified 52,508 RKM out of the total BG network of 65,141 RKM (80.61%).
With 100% electrification, the electricity demand will go up to about 72 BUs by 2029-30 from 21 BUs in 2019-20.
Carbon emission by 2029-30 as per Business As Usual (BAU) mode is estimated to be 60 million tons which would be offset by various measures planned by Indian Railways

Windergy 2023 will be held in Chennai in October:

The fifth edition of Windergy India 2023, the most complete international trade fair and conference in India, will take place from October 4 to October 6, 2023.
The three-day trade fair and conference, Windergy India 2023, is being organized by the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association (IWTMA) and PDA Ventures Pvt Ltd.
It will offer a dynamic forum for meeting and interacting with policymakers, regulatory authorities, and international and domestic technology, solution, and services providers from the wind power industries.

About IWTMA:

The Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association (IWTMA), which was founded in 1998, is the leading trade group and the voice of the country’s wind industry.
IWTMA has taken the lead in developing the regulatory framework and engaging in proactive dialogue with investors, stakeholders, and state and federal authorities.

About PDA Ventures:

PDA Ventures Pvt Ltd has been coordinating several business-to-business trade fairs, events, roadshows, conferences, and business forums in India and abroad.
Through a specialty publishing strategy that links communities all year long, the primary business of linking industry-specific ecosystems has been enhanced.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS

Paytm Mall becomes first to go live on ONDC in Bengaluru beta test

Paytm E-commerce Private Limited (PEPL), the parent of Paytm Mall, became the first app to go live on the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
This is a major milestone in the democratization of e-commerce in
The network started beta testing for the public across 16 pin codes in
This will enable the purchase and sale of goods in the Indian market, driving transparency and digital independence for small businesses in the country
For now, people can place orders in two domains groceries and restaurants through buyer-side apps, giving users access to a wide range of local businesses.
The Bengaluru beta testing has begun with MyStore and Spice Money as buyer-side apps.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING & FINANCE

GIFT City & Fintech Association of Japan sign MoU to Strengthen Fintech Ecosystem

The Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (Gift City) has inked an agreement with the Fintech Association of Japan (FAJ) to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the fintech domain.

Aim :

To strengthen and create more value for the entities in GIFT City that will further spread awareness, knowledge, and empowerment in the fintech domain.
GIFT City and FAJ will also organize boot camps, hackathons, and incubation and acceleration programs focused on fintech areas such as payments, lending, financial planning, insurance technology, regulatory technology, wealth management, and trade processing, among others.
The entrepreneurial programs will also focus on financial inclusion, cyber security, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and human augmentation.

About GIFT City :

Managing Director and Group CEO: Mr. Tapan Ray
GIFT City is a central business district under-construction in Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad in Gandhinagar district in Gujarat, India.
The first operational smart city and International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in India is GIFT City.

NPCI Bharat Billpay partners Kotak Mahindra Bank for credit card bill payments

NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd. (NBBL), the wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has partnered with Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (KMBL) to introduce its credit cards on the Bharat BillPay ecosystem.
Kotak Mahindra Bank has become the first private bank to go live in the credit card category on the Bharat BillPay ecosystem.

Key Highlights :

The cards will be introduced in the Credit Card Biller category.
With this, Kotak credit card holders will be able to pay their credit card bills at any point in time from any given location through Bharat BillPay-enabled channels like ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and HDFC Bank, among others, and get instant confirmation on payments.
Bharat BillPay is a one-stop destination offering recurring payment services to customers across several segments including electricity, telecom, DTH, gas, education fees, water, and municipal taxes, NETC FASTag recharge, loan repayments, insurance, cable, subscription fees, mobile prepaid recharges, among other things.

About KMBL :

Founded: February 2003
Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
MD & CEO : Uday Kotak

Govt hikes Interest Rates on Small Savings Schemes for Q3 of FY23

The Finance Ministry hiked interest rates on 5 of 12 small savings schemes for Q3FY23 (October-December).
The changes have come amid a higher inflation rate and a rising interest rate cycle.
The recent retail inflation print for August came in at 7%, marking the eighth month above the upper threshold of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) target of 4 +/- 2 %, and almost three years (35 months) of staying above 4%.

Interest for small savings instruments for the Q3 (October –December) 2023 :

Scheme	Rate of interest from October 2022 to December 2022	Rate of interest from July 2022 to August 2022	Interest compounded
Savings account	4.00%	4.00%	Annually
1-year time deposit	5.50%	5.50%	Quarterly
2-years time deposit	5.70%	5.50%	Quarterly
3-years time deposit	5.80%	5.50%	Quarterly
5-years time deposit	6.70%	6.70%	Quarterly
5-years Recurring Deposit	5.80%	5.80%	Quarterly
5year Senior Citizen Saving Scheme	7.60%	7.40%	Interest paid quarterly, Quarterly
5- years Monthly Income Account Scheme	6.70%	6.60%	Interest paid monthly
5 -years NSC	6.80 %	6.80 %	Annually
PPF (Public Provident Fund)	7.10%	7.10%	Annually
KVP (Kisan Vikas Patra)	7.00 %(matures123 months)	6.90 %(matures124 months)	Annually
Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme	7.60%	7.60%	Annually

About Ministry of Finance :

Cabinet Minister : Nirmala Sitharaman
Minister of State : Bhagwat Karad, Pankaj Choudhary

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, and OYO were penalized by CCI by 392 crore rupees:

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) levied fines of Rs 392 crore against Make My Trip, Goibibo (MMT-Go), and OYO.
These companies were penalized by CCI for “unfair business practices,” as detailed in a 131-page decision.
OYO will pay a punishment of Rs 168.88 crore, and Make My Trip and Goibibo will each pay Rs 223.48 crore.
According to MMT-Go, its contracts with lodging partners required pricing parity.
These agreements forbid the hotel from offering its rooms for sale on any other website or platform for less than the price listed by the two organizations.
OYO received special treatment on the Make My Trip platform, preventing other businesses from accessing the market.
The conclusions come from a thorough study of the situation that lasted from 2019 until now.
Additionally, the CCI ordered MMT-GO to make the necessary changes to the contracts it has with hotels and hotel chains to remove or abandon the price parity and room availability requirements it had placed on these partners.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOUR

The PMAY-U Awards 2021 are won by Uttar Pradesh:

According to Union Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, the majority of housing projects funded by the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) housing scheme has been completed.
Every year, the PMAY-U Awards 2021 are planned to honor the States, Union Territories, and urban local authorities who have contributed to the program’s implementation in
In terms of the awards, Uttar Pradesh came in first, followed by Madhya Pradesh in second and Tamil Nadu in third.
Gujarat, which is awaiting the results of its elections, received five special category honors for its work in the areas of affordable rental housing complexes and “convergence with other missions.”
Following Jammu and Kashmir, which was named the “Best Performing UT” alongside Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Madhya Pradesh received three special category awards.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has honored Odisha with the coveted PMAY-U Awards 2021 for the best policy innovation in a certain area.

About PMAY-U:

The PMAY-U scheme aims to address and alleviate the lack of housing facilities in urban India for beneficiaries from the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Low-Income Groups (LIGs), and Middle Income Groups (MIGs).
On June 25, 2015, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched PMAY-U, a flagship Mission of the Government of India.

Karnataka Bank receives CII digital transformation awards:

Karnataka Bank has won the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) National Digital Transformation Awards, “DX 2022 Awards,” for best practices in digital transformation in the BFSI sector.
The prizes for “Innovative Excellence” in “KBL HR NxT – Employee Engagement,” “KBL Operations NxT – Operational Excellence,” and “KBL Customer NxT – Customer Experience” were given to senior bank executives in New Delhi.
KBL NxT was introduced in 2021 as part of KBL Vikas 2.0, with an emphasis on digitizing its many verticals such as operations, human resources, customer experience, digital marketing, and so on.

Highlights:

In 2017, KBL launched its Transformation Journey ‘KBL Vikaas’ in Mangaluru, Karnataka, in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group (India) Private Ltd, (BCG).
In 2021, KBL launched the ‘KBL NxT’ concept to become the ‘next digital bank.’
The bank prioritizes digitization in areas such as customer experience, operations, human resources, technology, cyber security, digital marketing, and partnerships, among others.
Digital transformation has begun to contribute a significant share to the bank through the KBL Vikaas program.

About The DX Award:

The DX (Digital Transformation) Award is an excellent forum for enterprises to display their efforts and successes in the digital sphere.
DX Award 2022 is the fourth edition of the CII – Tata Communications Centre for Digital Transformation DX (Digital Transformation) Awards, which are designed to showcase the impact and advantages of digital transformation.

India Expo conferred with National Tourism Award 2018-2019 for Best Standalone Convention Centre:

India Exposition Mart Limited, one of the leading venue planners and providers in India that offers technology-driven, world-class facilities and safety standards suitable for hosting international business-to-business exhibitions, conferences, congresses, product launches, and promotional events, was awarded the National Tourism Award 2018-2019 for the “Best Standalone Convention Centre” for its Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida at the National Tourism Awards 2022 that was held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi
The event saw the presence of Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar, his Excellency Vice-President of India; Shri G. Krishna Reddy, Hon’ble Minister of Tourism, Culture and Development of North Eastern Region of India, Govt. of India, Shri Ajay Bhatt, Hon’ble Minister of State for Tourism, Govt. of India and Shri Arvind Singh, IAS, Secretary (Tourism), Govt. of India along with other dignitaries.
81 awards were given highlighting the achievements of the Industry.
India Expo Mart has approximately 16 years of operating experience in the management and organization of exhibitions and trade fairs.
Many VVIP’s including the PM of India, Union Home Minister, various cabinet Ministers, and Chief Ministers of states have visited the venue for various exhibitions and conventions including the Indian Handicrafts and Gifts Fair, Elecrama, Auto Expo – The Motor Show, CPHI&P-MEC and Print Pack, COP 14, Petrotech’22, and recently World Dairy Congress’22 and many more others exhibitions have been organized at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Bureaucrat Aramane Mr. Giridhar appointed as New Defence Secretary

The Road Transport and Highways Secretary, Mr. Aramane Giridhar has been named the new defense secretary as part of a top-level bureaucratic reshuffle affected by the Centre.
He will take over as Defence Secretary after the retirement of Ajay Kumar on October 31, 2022.
Alka Upadhyaya, chairperson of the National Highways Authority of India, will be the new Road and Transport Secretary in place of Giridhar.

About Mr Aramane Giridhar :

Aramane Giridhar is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1988 batch and an officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre.
He has been approved as an Officer on Special Duty in the Department of Defence.
He has been the Additional Secretary of the Cabinet Secretariat.

Center appoints Mr. Sanjay Malhotra as new Revenue Secretary

The government has appointed a 1990 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Rajasthan cadre, Mr. Sanjay Malhotra as the new revenue secretary.
He will succeed Tarun Bajaj, who is retiring on November 30, 2022.
Currently, Mr. Malhotra, serving as secretary in the Department of Financial Services (DFS), will join the Revenue Department as an officer on special duty.

Other Appointments :

Vivek Joshi, the Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs has been appointed as the new Secretary, of the Department of Financial Services in place of Sanjay Malhotra.
Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, Additional Secretary in the Home Ministry, has been appointed as the new Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner in place of Joshi.
Nagendra Nath Sinha has been appointed as the Officer on Special Duty of the Ministry of Steel from December 1, 2022.
Nath Sinha will succeed as Secretary in the Ministry of Steel, after Mr. Sanjay Kumar Singh retires on December 31, 2022
Shailesh Kumar Singh, Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner in the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, has been appointed as the new Rural Development Secretary from December 1, 2022.
Amrit Lal Meena, Special Secretary (Logistics), Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade, has been chosen as the new Coal Secretary.
Lal Meena will take over as the Secretary after the retirement of Mr. Anil Kumar Jain on October 31, 2022.
Sudhansh Pant, a 1991 batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, has been named as Secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.

Pintola appoints Indian cricketer Suryakumar Yadav as its brand ambassador

Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) company Das Foodtech Private Limited, which owns the nut butter brand Pintola, has appointed Indian cricketer Suryakumar Yadav as a Brand ambassador to endorse the company’s exclusive range of nut butter and rice cakes across platforms.
Yadav has become the brand ambassador for the second time in a row.
Pintola is aiming to further strengthen its market share and connect with the young Indian consumer.
The segment is committed to its vision of being present in 100 million households in the next 2 years

About Pintola :

Founded: 2011
Headquarters: Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Fire-Boltt appoints Vijay Deverakonda as its new brand ambassador

Boltt Games Private Limited’s Fire-Boltt brand has appointed actor and film producer Vijay Deverakonda as its new brand ambassador.
Devarakonda will be part of the marketing campaign of the brand alongside cricketing legend Virat Kohli and actors Vicky Kaushal and Kiara Advani
He will be part of the marketing, advertisement & endorsement campaigns of Fire Boltt.
Fire Boltt has grabbed the 1st spot again in the Indian Smart Watch market with a market share of 28% from 8.9% in 2021.

Note :

Founder and CEO of fire boltt: Arnav Kishore

CURRENT AFFAIRS: ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

CCI imposes a monetary penalty of Rs. 1337.76 crores on Google

The Competition Commission of India (Commission) has imposed a penalty of 1,337.76 crores on Google for abusing its dominant position in multiple markets in the Android Mobile device ecosystem, and for violating Section 4 of the Act.
The fair trade regulator has also directed the tech giant to cease unfair business practices.
Google has been given a time of 30 days to provide the requisite financial details and supporting documents.
Smart mobile devices need an operating system (OS) to run applications (apps) and programs. Android is one such mobile operating system that was acquired by Google in 2005.
The CCI also directed Google to modify its conduct within a defined timeline.

The CCI delineated the following 5 relevant markets in the present matter:

The market for licensable OS for smart mobile devices in India
The market for an app store for Android smart mobile OS in India
The market for general web search services in India
The market for non-OS specific mobile web browsers in India
The market for online video hosting platforms (OVHP) in India.

About CCI :

Established: 14 October 2003
Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi, India
Chairman: Ashok Kumar Gupta
Secretary : P K Singh
The CCI is the chief national competition regulator in
It is a statutory body within the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

CCI approves acquisition of stake by CA Basque Investments of Yes Bank Limited

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the acquisition of a 10% stake of the total paid-up share capital and voting rights of the Yes Bank Limited (Target) by CA Basque Investments (Acquirer), under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002
CA Basque is a newly-formed special purpose vehicle (incorporated in Mauritius) and is fully owned by CA Marans Investments (Mauritius), which is ultimately controlled by the funds managed by the affiliates of The Carlyle Group Inc.
It is an investment holding entity and does not have any business activities in
The Carlyle Group Inc. is a global investment firm, which manages funds that invest globally across 3 investment disciplines:

Global private equity
Global credit
Global investment solutions

CCI clears Reliance Polyester’s acquisition of Shubhalakshmi Polyesters, Shubhlaxmi Polytex

Fair trade regulator Competition Commission cleared the acquisition of business undertakings of Shubhalakshmi Polyesters Ltd (SPL) and Shubhlaxmi Polytex Ltd (SPTex) by Reliance Polyester Ltd (RPL).
SPL and SPTex are primarily engaged in the production and supply of polyester products while RPL is engaged in the production and supply of certain petrochemical products and polyester yarns.

CCI approves the acquisition of equity securities amounting up to 10% in YES Bank by Verventa Holdings

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves the acquisition of equity securities amounting up to 10% in YES Bank Limited (Target) by Verventa Holdings Ltd. (Acquirer)
Verventa Holdings Ltd is an investment holding company.
Currently, it does not have any operations in India.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

ISRO to Launch Its Third Moon Mission, Chandrayaan-3 In June 2023

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is set to launch its third mission Chandrayaan-3 (C-3) to the Moon in June 2023 onboard the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3).
It will lift off with a more robust lunar rover on board which is crucial for future inter-planetary explorations.

About Chandrayaan-3 :

The Chandrayaan-3 mission is a follow-up of the Chandrayaan-2 of July 2019, which aimed to land a rover on the lunar South Pole.
The mission will be a repeat mission of Chandrayaan-2 and will consist of a lander and rover similar to Chandrayaan-2.
The legs to hold the body of the spacecraft while landing is designed to be more rugged and different improved sensors and algorithms have been used to identify places to land successfully.
It will not have an orbiter but its propulsion will act like a communications relay satellite.