NATIONAL NEWS

Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference and Expo 2022

• The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in collaboration with the Government of Kerala will organise the 15th Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference & Expo 2022 in Kochi, Kerala from 4-6 November 2022.

• The Conference will be jointly inaugurated by the Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri and Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan.

• Theme of the 15th Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference and Expo 2022 is ‘Azadi@75 – Sustainable AatmaNirbhar Urban Mobility’.

• The conference will focus on designing and implementing efficient, high quality and sustainable transport systems in the cities.

Municipal Bonds with Assistance from US Treasury

• Vadodara city of Gujarat became the second city in India to successfully issue its municipal bonds with the assistance of the US Treasury Department’s Office of Technical Assistance.

• The Rs 100 crore fund raised by the bond will be used for infrastructure development in Vadodara.

• Municipal Bonds also known as Muni bonds. It is a debt instrument which is issued by Urban Local Bodies in India.

• The fund is used to develop Infrastructure developments in the municipal areas.

• Earlier Pune was the first city in India to issue Municipal bonds in 2017 with the assistance of US Treasury Department’s Office of Technical Assistance, Finance Ministry in the United States of America is known as Treasury department.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Indonesia Hands Over G-20 Religious Forum Presidency

• On 03 November 2022, Indonesia handed over the Presidency of the R20 summit, the religious grouping of the Group of 20 Forum, to India which New Delhi will host in 2023.

• Indonesia, which is the host country of the 17th G- 20 summit 2022, introduced the R 20(Religion Forum) event as part of the G 20 meeting for the first time.

• The R20 Summit was inaugurated by the Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

• India will assume the Presidency of the Group of Twenty (or G20) for one year from 01 December 2022 to 30 November 2023.
• G-20 is a group of 19 countries as well as the European Union.

BANKING

India’s First Floating Financial Literacy Camp

• The Government of India owned India Post Payment Bank (IPPB) launched India’s first floating financial literacy camp around the world-famous Dal Lake of Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.

• The financial literacy camp was organised under the Niveshak Didi or female Dakiya initiative of the IPPB.

• Niveshak Didi '' or female dakiya, is a joint initiative of Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA), Ministry of Corporate Affairs with India Post Payment Bank.

• The aim of the scheme is to promote financial and investor education amongst the women.

• Trained women agents of the IPPB educate the general female population to develop adequate knowledge, skills, attitude and behaviour which are needed to manage their money better and plan for their future. This is also called as Financial Literacy.

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

List of Countries with Cheapest Manufacturing Costs

• According to a report published by the US News and World Report, India has been ranked top as the country with the cheapest manufacturing cost.
• On a scale of 100, India has scored cent percent when it comes to cheap manufacturing costs.
• According to the report India has an overall score of 37 out of 100 in the ’Open for Business' category.
• In the overall best country ranking, Switzerland has topped the list, followed by Germany, Canada, US and Sweden.
• India has been ranked 31st in the best country ranking amongst 85 countries.
• The report evaluates 85 countries on 73 attributes. The attributes are grouped into 10 sub categories like adventure, agility, entrepreneurship, open for business, social purpose and quality of life.

Performing Grade Index

• The ministry of education, department of school education and literacy released the 2020-21 performance grading index (PGI) rankings.
• Kerala, Punjab, Chandigarh and Maharashtra have bagged the top position with the highest scores in the 2020-21 performance grading index (PGI) rankings.
• Kerala, Punjab, Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh — have attained level 2 (score 901-950) in 2020-21.
• Kerala, Punjab, Chandigarh and Maharashtra have attained the highest scores of 930, 929, 929 and 928 respectively.
• Arunachal Pradesh emerged as the worst-performing, ending up with a score of 669.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Prime Minister of Israel

• Benjamin Netanyahu is to become the Prime Minister of Israel.
• Netanyahu's party, the Likud Party won 64 of the 120 seats in the final round of counting held.
• Elections have been held in Israel for the fifth time in the last three years, after which a party has returned to power with an absolute majority.
• Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party won 32 seats, his right-wing religious and nationalist bloc won a total of 64 seats in the 120-seat parliament.
• Lapid’s Yesh Atid party won 24 seats.
• Benjamin Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime minister, having been elected five times over the course of 15 years.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Lab Module of Space Station

• China launched its third and final permanent space station module named Tiangong space station.
• The name of this lab module is Mengtian.
• Mengtian is the second lab module and the last major component of China's space station.
• Mengtian will later be relocated to its permanent position and three modules—named Tianhe, the Wentian Lab Module, and Mengtian will form a basic T-shaped structure of the space station.
• It will provide space for science experiments in zero gravity.
• Mengtian weighs about 23 tons, is 17.9 metres (58.7 ft) long and has a diameter of 4.2 metres (13.8 ft).

OBITUTARY

SEWA Founder and Gandhian Elaben Bhatt

• Elaben Bhatt- noted Gandhian, leading women’s empowerment activist and founder of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) died on 02 November 2022 in Ahmedabad. She was at the age of 89.

• She has been honoured with Padma Bhushan, Ramon Magsaysay Award, Indira Gandhi Peace Prize along with many other national and international awards.

• She has been recognized globally as a women leader.

• She was the Chairperson of Sabarmati Ashram and recently resigned as the Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi-founded Gujarat Vidhyapith.

• She was also a member of the Rajya Sabha and the Planning Commission of India in the 1980s.
• She also served as an advisor to the World Bank and addressed the United Nations General Assembly.

MISCELLANEOUS

Collins Dictionary’s Word of the Year

• ‘Permacrisis’ has been chosen as the Collins Dictionary’s word of the year.
• The word means an extended period of instability and insecurity.
• According to The Guardian, Collins chose permacrisis as the word of the year as it “sums up quite succinctly how truly awful 2022 has been for so many people”.
• It is the top word in the annual compilation of the 10 new or noteworthy words from the 18-billion-word database monitored by Collins and from other sources like social media.

Longest Passenger Train by Switzerland

• Switzerland has created a world record by operating passenger train.

• A Swiss railway company broke the record for the world’s longest passenger train as part of celebrations for the 175th anniversary of railways in the country.

• The 1910 meters long train consisted of 4,550 seats spread across 100 coaches.

• It passed through the mountains landscape in the Swiss Alps.

• The UNESCO World Heritage Albula/Bernina route from Preda to Alvaneu and over the Landwasser Viaduct in less than 45 minutes.