NATIONAL NEWS

India's second National Model Vedic School

• Union Minister of Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated the country’s second Rashtriya Adarsh Veda Vidyalaya (RAVV) in Puri, Odisha.
• The RAVV or the National Model Vedic School has come up on the campus of the Central Sanskrit University with the objective of spreading knowledge of the Vedas among people.
• The Vedic School will impart education on Vedas, Vedic Mathematics, Sanskrit, Yoga, Hindu philosophy and others to the students free of cost.
• Maharishi Sandipani Rashtriya Ved Vidya Pratishthan is the first such school in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain.
• Four more such schools will come up Badrinath in Uttarakhand, Sringeri in Karnataka, Dwaraka in Gujarat and Guwahati in Assam.

First Fully Digital Literate Panchayat in India

• Pullampara from Kerala has become the first grama panchayat in India to attain full digital literacy.
• The ‘Digi Pullampara project was started on 15 August 2021.
• Digital literacy was imperative for the public to get government services as well as connect with the global knowledge network.
• The project was introduced to impart digital education to the most underprivileged sections of society in the panchayat.
• Digital India is a campaign launched by the Indian Government on 01 July 2015. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the campaign.
• The vision behind the campaign is to ensure that the Government’s services are available to people electronically.

Portal for Marriage Schemes

• Andhra Pradesh (AP) Chief Minister Shri Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the ‘YSR Kalyanamasthu’ and ‘YSR Shadi Tofa’ marriage schemes & also launched the website about these schemes.
• The objective is to provide financial assistance for a daughter’s wedding in poor families.
• The schemes would help in preventing child marriages and school dropouts as the eligibility for the schemes were 18 years for the bride and 21 years for the bridegroom.
• The beneficiaries must pass at least Class X to avail of the scheme.
• Applications can be submitted at the village and ward secretariats for availing of the scheme within 60 days of the marriage.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Riyadh International Book Fair 2022 Award

• The Saudi Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission has launched Riyadh International Book Fair Award.
• The Riyadh International Book Fair 2022 kicked off with theme of ‘Cultural Chapters’ which will last for 10 days.
• Around 1200 publishing houses representing 32 countries are participating in the exhibition.

BANKING

HDFC Life Launches ‘Insure India’ Campaign

• HDFC Life Insurance Company has launched ‘Insure India’ campaign that is aimed at educating Indians on the benefits of life insurance as a product category.

• HDFC Life along with its vast network of distribution partners has established life insurance awareness month as an exclusive property to spread awareness about the category.

• The objective of this campaign is to educate Indians about life insurance thereby motivating them to secure their future with this unique financial product that offers the dual benefits of protection and long-term savings.

• HDFC Life Insurance Company is one of the leading life insurance companies in India offering a range of individual and group insurance solutions that meet various customer needs such as Protection, Pension, Savings & Investment and Health, along with Children's and Women's Plan.

PNB Launches WhatsApp Banking Service

• State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) has introduced banking services through WhatsApp for both customers and non-customers.
• In order to activate banking facility on WhatsApp, customers need to save the official PNB's WhatsApp number 919264092640 and initiate a conversation on WhatsApp by sending a hi/hello to this number.
• Punjab National Bank would be offering non-financial services such as balance inquiry, last five transactions, stop cheque, request cheque book to its account holders through the WhatsApp banking service.
• Other informative services that would be provided to both account and non-account holders include online account opening, enquire bank deposit/loan products, digital products, NRI services, locate branch/ATM, etc.

Analytical Center of Excellence

• Karnataka Bank has opened an Analytical Center of Excellence (ACoE) at Electronic City Bengaluru, Karnataka to harness the power of data.
• The center developed in association with Ernst and Young (EY) as a project partner, will help in the accelerated incubation of Artificial Intelligence (AI)/ Machine Learning (ML) models along with their integration into business, on a scalable analytical data platform.
• ACoE will be a key differentiator in accelerating Karnataka Bank’s transformation journey to emerge as a relevant, progressive ‘Digital Bank of Future’ as envisaged as part of KBL NxT initiative of the Bank”.

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

World’s Largest Producer of Sugar

• India has emerged as the world’s largest producer and second largest exporter of sugar.
• In Sugar Season 2021-22, a record of more than five thousand lakh metric tons of sugarcane was produced in the country.
• Out of this, 35 lakh metric ton sugar was diverted to ethanol production and 359 lakh metric ton of sugar was produced by sugar mills.
• Records highest sugar exports of over 109 lakh metric tons have been registered.
• These exports earned foreign currency of about 40 thousand crore rupees.

AWARDS & PRIZES

Nobel Prize for Chemistry

• Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and K. Barry Sharpless have been awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

• They were awarded for the development of click chemistry and bio-orthogonal chemistry” at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.

• Bertozzi is based at Stanford University in California, Sharpless with Scripps Research, California and Meldal is at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

• The three have been awarded for their work in ‘click chemistry’, in which molecules snap together fast and firmly, without the need for a long, complicated process and too many unwanted byproducts.

• Their work has applications in the field of medical science, including the treatment of cancer.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

National President of IACC

• Noted lawyer Dr. Lalit Bhasin has been appointed as the national president of Indian American Chambers of Commerce (IACC).
• He is closely associated with India’s apex business organizations like CII and PHD CCI and served as chairman of its legal committees.
• He is the 54th National President of IACC, which was set up in October 1968 and is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra having 14 offices all over India, with a large membership from large, medium and small business entities.
• Before being elected as the National President of the IACC, Bhasin was the Executive Vice President of IACC.

IMPORTANT DAYS

National Wildlife Week

• India observes National Wildlife Week from 02 October to 08 October every year.
• The year 2022 marks the 68^th edition of the National Wildlife Week.
• This week aims at protecting and preserving India’s flora and fauna.
• Wildlife Week was conceptualized in 1952 with a long-term goal to safeguard the lives of the endangered and threatened species of animals.
• The Indian Government has established an Indian Board of Wildlife, which strives to spread awareness in order to preserve the wildlife.