Current Affairs in English – October 22 2022

National Events:

Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin:

PM Modi virtually participated in Griha Pravesham of 4,51,000 beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin at Satna in Madhya Pradesh on 22 October 2022.
Around 29 lakh houses have been completed in Madhya Pradesh at a cost of more than 35,000 crore rupees under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin. About 38 lakh houses have been sanctioned in Madhya Pradesh so far.

Chandrayaan – 3:

Indian Space Research Organisation ( ISRO ) plans to launch Chandrayaan – 3 , its 3rd mission to the moon , in June 2023.
It will help ISRO in its future interplanetary explorations. ISRO has also lined up the first test flight of the ‘ abort mission for Gaganyaan , the country’s 1st human spaceflight , in 2023. ISRO plans to fly Indian astronauts into Earth’s orbit by the end of 2024.

QCI:

Jaxay Shah , former Chairman of CREDAI and founder Chairman of Savvy Group , has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Quality Council of India ( QCI ) for a period of 3 years.
He will succeed Adil Zainulbhai , who served as the Chairman of QCI for eight years from 2014 to 2022.
QCI work towards assuring quality standards across all spheres of economic and social activities. Founded : 1997.

Aditya – L1:

Sankarasubramanian K has been designated as the Principal Scientist of the Aditya – L1 mission of ISRO. Sankarasubramanian is a senior solar scientist at the U R Rao Satellite Centre ( URSC ) , Bengaluru.
Aditya – L1 is the first observatory – class space – based solar mission from India. The spacecraft will be placed in a halo orbit around the first Lagrange point , L1 , of the Sun – Earth system.

Orunodoi:

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has sought a revision of the list of Orunodoi beneficiaries by excluding those who no longer need the financial grant and including others irrespective of political ideologies.
Orunodoi , launched in October 2020 , entails a monthly grant of 1,250 to each of some 20 lakh beneficiaries. It is one of 18 flagship schemes of the Assam govt currently in operation.

TOFI:

The Assam government and the US Agency for International Development ( USAID ) in October 2022 launched the ” trees outside forests in India ( TOFI ) ” programme.
It aims to bring farmers , companies , and private institutions together to expand the tree coverage outside of traditional forests in the State.
Assam is one of seven States where the US will allocate up to $ 25 million under the TOFI programme.

‘ Migration Monitoring System ‘:

India’s first ‘ Migration Monitoring System ‘ , which provides updated information on migrant pregnant women , lactating mothers and children instantly on a single system , was inaugurated in Mumbai on 21st October 2022.
It has been developed by Department of Women and Child Development , Government of Maharashtra.
This will make it easier for the beneficiaries to get the benefits of the government schemes.

International Events:

FATF:

The financial Action Task Force ( FATF ) has removed Pakistan from its grey list after four years.
Pakistan has been on the Paris – based watchdog’s grey list for deficiencies in its counter – terror financing and anti – money laundering regimes since June 2018. The decision was taken by the FATF in its plenary held in Paris on 21 October 2022.

Australia and Japan:

Australia and Japan have agreed to share sensitive intelligence and deepen defence cooperation , signing a security pact. Prime ministers Fumio Kishida and Anthony Albanese inked the accord in the Western Australian city of Perth.
Under the deal , the countries ‘ defence forces will train together in Northern Australia expand and strengthen cooperation across defence , intelligence sharing.

K.P. Ashwini:

P. Ashwini , a Dalit woman scholar from Karnataka , has been appointed Special Rapporteur for United Nations Human Rights Commission ( UNHRC ).
She is the first Indian & Asian woman to be appointed to this post. Ms Ashwini plans to address issues such as racism & casteism , now also increasingly on social media platforms. UNHRC Founded : 2006. HQ : Geneva. President : Federico Villegas.

Mercer CFS Global Pension Index 2022:

India ranked 41 out of 44 countries in the Mercer CFS Global Pension Index 2022. As per the report , India needs to boost coverage under private pension arrangements. In 2021 index , India’s rank was 40th out of 43 countries.
Mercer CFS Global Pension Index studies 44 countries that account for 65 % of the world’s population .The survey has been topped by Iceland , the Netherlands and Denmark.

Public school holiday:

Diwali will be a public school holiday in New York City from 2023 , announced the city’s mayor , Eric Adams.
For this , legislators swapped out Anniversary Day , traditionally celebrated on the first Thursday in June , for Diwali in the public school calendar.
There are around 200,000 people of the Hindu , Buddhist , Sikh and Jain faiths in New York City , who celebrate Diwali.