Current Affairs in English – October 19 2022

October 19 , 2022

National Events:

5G:

• India’s largest telecom major Reliance Jio has signed an agreement with leading European IT equipment makers Ericsson and Nokia to set up 5G communication infrastructure in India.

National conference of top police officers of states:

• A national conference of top police officers of states will be held in New Delhi on 19th Oct 2022 on the effective implementation of a uniform tourist police scheme across the country.
• Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will be the chief guest at the event. Ministry of Tourism in coordination with the Ministry of Home Affairs & Bureau of Police Research & Development is organizing this conference.

UIDAI:

• The Unique Identification Authority of India ( UIDAI ) has topped among all govt depts for resolving public grievances in the rankings report published by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances for Sept 2022.
• This is the second consecutive month UIDAI has topped the rankings. UIDAI is able to resolve around 92 % of Grievances within a week. UIDAI CEO : Saurabh Garg.

Omicron subvariant BQ.1:

• India’s first case of Omicron subvariant BQ.1 has been detected during genome sequencing in Pune , Maharashtra.
• 1 and BQ.1.1 are the two descendants of omicron’s BA. They have caused over 10 % of all active cases in the US. Omicron was first detected in November 2021.

ISA:

• India and France have been re – elected as President and Co – President of the International Solar Alliance ( ISA ).
• Union Power & Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh has been re – elected as the President of International Solar Alliance while France Minister of State for Development Chrysoula Zacharopoulou has been re – elected as Co – President. ISA’s 5th Assembly began in New Delhi on 17th Oct 2022.

PTR:

• Madhya Pradesh Wildlife Board in Oct 2022 approved a new reserve for tigers of Panna Tiger Reserve ( PTR ).
• It has been done because one – fourth of PTR will get submerged due to the linking of the Ken – Betwa rivers.
• The 2,339 square kilometres new tiger reserve , to be called Durgavati Tiger Reserve , will spread across Narisinghpur , Damoh and Sagar districts.

NHA & NABH:

• National Health Authority ( NHA ) and National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers ( NABH ) have signed an MoU to expedite the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission ( ABDM ).
• NHA and NABH will mutually develop accreditation standards and ratings for healthcare facilities to incorporate ABDM – related standards. NHA Founded : 2018. CEO : Dr R.S. Sharma.

IPPB & Mahindra Finance Ltd:

• Mahindra Finance Ltd on 18th Oct . 2022 announced a partnership with India Post Payments Bank ( IPPB ) to enhance credit access to a larger customer base.
• As a part of this alliance , IPPB will provide lead referral services to Mahindra Finance for vehicle loan categories & will also provide a cash EMI deposit facility at post offices. It will be first implemented in Maharashtra & Madhya Pradesh.

CGA:

• Civil Accounts Service officer Bharati Das took charge as the new Controller General of Accounts ( CGA ) on 18th Oct 2022. Das is the 27th officer to hold the position of CGA.
• Prior to this , Das has served as Principal Chief Controller of Accounts in the Central Board of Direct Taxes.CGA is ‘ the Principal Advisor ‘ on Accounting matters to the Union Government. First CGA : C S Swaminathan ( 1976-77 ).

Defence Expo:

• The 12th edition of the Defence Expo with the theme of ‘ Path to Pride ‘ , started on 18th Oct 2022 in Gandhinagar , Gujarat.
• Objective : to cater to domestic defence requirements & fulfilling the needs of friendly foreign countries.
• It is the first – ever edition of the event to exclusively feature Indian companies. India – Africa Defence Dialogue was also organised at the sidelines of Defence Expo.

”Ease of Living”:

• Union Minister Jitendra Singh on 18th Oct 2022 launched an integrated portal aimed at ensuring ” ease of living ” for the central government pensioners. The portal has been developed in collaboration with the State Bank of India.
• The portal has links to ‘ Bhavishya , the portal for pension payment & tracking system. ‘ Bhavishya ‘ platform was made mandatory for all central government depts since 1 Jan 2017.

State’s first government – run English Medium College:

• Tripura CM Dr Manik Saha on 18th Oct 2022 inaugurated the state’s first government – run English Medium College. The new college- Sri Aurobindo General Degree College has been set up in Kunjaban of Agartala.
• The intake capacity of this newly inaugurated college is 100. The five basic subjects of the arts stream , including compulsory Bengali and English , will be taught in the college.

Zila Sainik:

• The Lieutenant Governor ( LG ) of Delhi on 18th Oct 2022 approved the proposal of setting up 4 Zila Sainik Boards in Delhi.
• The board will provide welfare , employment & other beneficial schemes to serving / retired soldiers of the armed forces & to the families of the soldiers killed in action.
• 11 members will be appointed at each Zila Sainik Board , which will run with a budget of Rs . 4 crores.

Kati Bihu:

• In Assam , Kati Bihu was observed across the state on 18th Oct 2022. Kati or Kongali Bihu , marks a crucial phase of the year for every farming household in terms of the beginning of the harvest season & the relocation time of rice saplings.
• On this occasion , people of Assam light lamps outside their homes as well as in paddy fields in the evening praying for a better crop in the next season.

CBG:

• Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurated Asia’s largest Compressed Bio Gas ( CBG ) plant in Punjab’s Sangrur on 18th Oct 2022.
• It is spread across an area of 20 acres & has been commissioned with an FDI of approximately Rs.220 crores.
• The plant’s present production is about 6 tonnes per day. It will also help cut down the need for stubble burning.

International Events:

Nihonshu:

• The Embassy of Japan , New Delhi , has filed an application seeking GI tag for nihonshu , an alcoholic beverage. It is learnt that this is the first time a product from Japan has filed for a tag at the GI Registry in Chennai.
• Nihonshu is regarded as a special beverage made from fermenting rice. The government has recently awarded the Geographical Indication ( GI ) tag to Mithila Makhana.

World Blockchain Summit:

• The 22nd global edition of the World Blockchain Summit is taking place in Dubai from 17th to 19th October 2022.
• The Summit is an attempt to bring experts including government & investors together to initiate conversation & action on blockchain. The next Summit will be held in Bangkok in December 2022.
• Blockchain is a decentralized , distributed ledger that stores the record of ownership of digital assets.

Sir Syed Excellence International Award:

• American historian and internationally acclaimed scholar of South Asian history and Islam , Barbara Metcalf , on 17th October received the Sir Syed Excellence International Award for 2022.
• She has written extensively on the history of Muslim population of India and Pakistan. This annual award is given by the Aligarh Muslim University ( AMU ) on its founder Sir Syed Ahmad Khan’s birth anniversary.

Indus Waters Treaty:

• The World Bank has appointed Michel Lino as a neutral expert & Sean Murphy as chairman of the Court of Arbitration , regarding the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric power plants.
• World Bank has made these appointments in line with its responsibilities under the Indus Waters Treaty.
• The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960 between India and Pakistan with the help of the World Bank.

Global Youth Climate Summit:

• Youth from 70 countries will participate in a Global Youth Climate Summit to be inaugurated on 20th Oct 2022 in Khulna , Bangladesh.
• In the 3 – day summit from Oct 20-22 , participating youth will explore how they can lead the fight against climate change.
• 10 delegates at the Summit will receive a grant of $ 1,000 each to implement their climate mitigation project. Bangladesh Capital : Dhaka.

AK203:

• The production of AK203 rifles in India will be started by the end of this year, according to the director of the Russian arms production, export-import division.
• The Indo-Russian Firearms Company was established in 2019. Accordingly, it was decided to set up a Russian rifle manufacturing plant in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh.