NATIONAL NEWS

Tele-MANAS

• Tele MANAS initiative of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare was launched on 10 October 2022, on occasion of the World Mental Health Day in Bangaluru.

• The Tele-MANAS will boost access to mental healthcare across the country by providing nationwide network offering counselling, consultation with specialist and e-prescriptions.

• It aims to make mental healthcare services accessible to even the remotest and difficult-to-reach terrains in the country.
• The initiative was first announced by the Central Government during the 2022-23 Budget, while acknowledging that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the mental health crisis in India.
• Tele-MANAS initiative will be the digital arm of the National Mental Health Programme and District Mental Health Programme.
• The nodal centre for its implementation is National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience (NIMHANS).

Heli-India Summit 2022

• Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha inaugurated the 4th edition of Heli-India Summit 2022 in Srinagar on 10 October 2022.

• The theme of 4th Heli-India Summit 2022 is ‘Helicopters for last Mile Connectivity’.
• During the summit, minister announced that a civil enclave will be built in Jammu at a cost of Rs 861 crores and the Srinagar’s present terminal will be expanded three times from 20,000 square meters to 60,000 square meters at a cost of Rs 1500 crores.
• The HeliSewa portal is completely online and is being used by all operators to obtain landing permissions for helipads and is also creating a database of helipads in the country.

Mumbai Airport- Completely Switches to Renewable Energy

• The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) was first in India to entirely switch to green energy sources for its energy consumption needs, making it of India’s 100 percent sustainable airports.
• The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport was the first in India to launch hybrid technology.
• The Adani group-AAI operated Mumbai airport announced that it has switched to green energy sources fulfilling 95 per cent of its requirement from hydro and wind while the rest 5 per cent from solar power.
• It enabled an efficient and low carbon future for aviation, as part of efforts to reduce carbon footprint.
• CSMIA has prepared a roadmap to achieve ‘Net Zero Carbon Emission’ by 2029.

Sustainable Mountain Development Summit-XI

• Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Bhupender Yadav attended the inaugural session of Sustainable Mountain Development Summit-XI (SMDS-XI) being held at Leh, Ladakh from 10 October to 12 October, 2022.

• The theme for SMDS-XI is ‘Harnessing tourism for sustainable mountain development’.

• The main focus of the summit is to reduce the negative impacts of tourism while harnessing its positive contributions to building climate and socio-ecological resilience and sustainability.

NHA has Introduced QR Code Based Rapid OPD Registration

• The National Health Authority (NHA) under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission scheme has introduced QR Code-based rapid OPD registration in the hospital.
• The service allows old and new patients to simply scan a QR Code and share their demographic details such as name, age, address, gender, father name and mobile number with the hospital.
• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed that the NHA is going to undertake a pilot project under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission for faster OPD registration service.
• National Health Authority (NHA) is the apex body working for implementing India’s flagship public health insurance scheme called “Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana”.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

AIIA Signs MoU with NIAIST- Japan

• The All-India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), under the Ministry of AYUSH, and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (NIAIST), Japan have signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in New Delhi.
• The MoU is to promote Institute’s research activities both at a national and international stage.
• The MoU will enable both countries to promote research collaboration and building capacities in the field of the Indian Ayurvedic system of traditional medicines.
• All these activities will be executed in support of the Ministry of Ayush.

BANKING

IDBI Bank Partners with Vayana Network

• IDBI Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding with Vayana Network as its first fintech partner for end-to-end digitalization services.

• This partnership aims to contribute in the growth of the supply chain finance penetration in India, which is less than 1% of gross domestic product (GDP) and contributes only 5% of the outstanding banking assets.
• with the introduction of end-to-end digitalization, the bank aims to provide complete digital solutions to corporate banking and small business clients.
• This platform is expected to reduce paperwork and transaction processing time while providing a smooth customer experience throughout.

SPORTS

Goa to Host the 37 National Games

• The Indian Olympics Association has announced that the 37th National games 2023 will be hosted by Goa in October.
• This is the first time that Goa will host the National Games.
• The Goa delegation may receive the IOA flag in the closing ceremony of the 36th National Games on 12 October in Surat, Gujarat.
• The 36th National Games was initially scheduled to be held in Goa in 2016 but was postponed a few times and later shifted to Gujarat.
• The first National games was organized in India as Indian Olympics Games in 1924 in Lahore.

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

Indian Space Association (ISpA) Report

• According to a report released by the Indian Space Association (ISpA) and Ernst and Young, India's space economy is expected to reach worth $13 billion by 2025.

• The growing demand for smaller satellites is set to boost satellite manufacturing in the country. It will attract global start-ups in the sector to help incubate space tech companies.

• Satellite services and application segment would form the largest share of the space economy accounting for 36% of the space economy by 2025.
• ISpA is the apex industry association of space and satellite companies in the country.

AWARDS & PRIZES

Nobel Prize for Economics

• Three American economists Ben Bernanke, Douglas Diamond and Philip Dybvig have been conferred with the Nobel Prize in economics 2022.

• They have awarded for their pioneering work on “improving our understanding of the role of banks in the economy, particularly during financial crises.

• The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences for 2022 was announced 10 October 2022.
• It was established by Sweden's Central Bank, Sveriges Riksbank in 1968 and the first prize was given in 1969 to Ragnar Frisch of Norway and Jan Tinbergen of Netherlands.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

First European Women to Command ISS

• Italian Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, became the first European woman to Command International Space Station (ISS).
• She succeeded Russian Cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev.
• The commander is responsible for all tasks performed by the crew members onboard the space station.
• She was selected by the European Space Agency in 2009 to become Italy’s first female astronaut.
• She is the fifth woman after Frank De Winne, Alexander Gerst, Luca Parmitano and Thomas Pesquet and the first non-US woman to become commander since the role was created in 2000.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Mental Health Day

• World Mental Health Day is celebrated every year on 10 October.
• The day is celebrated across the world to raise awareness about the importance of mental health.
• According to the World Health Organisation, this day provides an opportunity for all people working on mental health issues to speak about their work.
• The theme for the year2022 is ‘Make mental health and well-being for all a global priority’.
• World Mental Health Day was first observed on 10 October 1992.
• It was an initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health, a global organization with over 150 member countries.