NATIONAL NEWS

PM Kisan Samman Sammelan 2022

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate PM Kisan Samman Sammelan 2022 on 17 October 2022 at Mela Ground, Indian Agriculture Research Institute, Pusa in New Delhi.

• the Prime Minister will release Rs 16,000 Crores under the PM-KISAN flagship scheme as 12th instalment through Direct Benefit Transfer.

• The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the Agri Start-up Conclave and Exhibition.

• He will also inaugurate 600 PM Kisan Samridhi Kendras (PM-KSKs) of the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

• On this occasion he will also launch Bharat Urea Bags, India’s biggest move in fertilizers-One Nation One Fertilizer Scheme for Farmers.

India’s First Aluminum Freight Rake

• Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw launched India’s first all-aluminium freight rail rakes at Bhubaneswar Railway Station in Odisha.

• It helps to enhance the country’s ambitious plan to modernise freight transportation and enable large carbon savings for Indian Railways.

• It has been developed indigenously in collaboration with RDSO, Hindalco and Besco Wagon.
• A single rake can reduce 14,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions during its lifetime.

Odisha CM Launches SAACAR Portal

• Odisha Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik launched a web portal ‘Single Window Application Atrocity Compensation Assistance and Relief’ (SAACAR) for end-to-end processing of atrocity cases registered in various police stations.

• The departments of Home, ST & SC Development, and Revenue and Disaster Management have developed the portal.

• The portal will facilitate faster investigation and payment of compensation in the first phase to the victims of SC-ST atrocity cases within 21 days.

• It will be able to avoid the delay caused by the existing manual system of inquiry and payment of compensation to the victims.
• The CM also released a book titled ‘Pandemic Disruptions and Odisha’s Lessons in Governance’ written by BJD MP Amar Patnaik.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

90th General Assembly of INTERPOL

• India is hosting the 90th General Assembly of the International Criminal Police Organization, INTERPOL from 18 October to 21 October in New Delhi.

• The General Assembly is INTERPOL’s supreme governing body, comprising representatives from each of 195 member countries.
• The meeting is held once in a year.
• India is one of the oldest members of Interpol and joined the organization in 1949.
• All member countries of INTERPOL have agreed to ensure and promote the widest possible assistance between all criminal police authorities in the prevention and suppression of ordinary law crimes.
• The role of INTERPOL is to enable police around the world to work together to make the world a safer place.

BANKING

Agniveer Salary Package

• The Ministry of Defence announced that the Indian Army has signed an agreement with 11 scheduled commercial banks for providing banking facilities to Agniveers.

• These Banks are State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IDFC First Bank and Bandhan Bank.

• These banks will open the salary account of the newly recruited Agniveers of the Indian Army.
• The government of India introduced “Agnipath scheme’ for Army, Air Force and Navy.
• The banks will offer soft loans to existing Agniveers to promote and enhance their entrepreneurial skills.

Prime Minister Modi Dedicates 75 Digital Banking Units

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated 75 Digital Banking Units (DBUs) in 75 districts of the country on 16 October 2022 virtually.

• Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das also participated virtually.

• DBU is a joint initiative of the Government of India, the RBI, the Indian Banks Association and the participating banks.
• A digital banking unit (DBU) is a specialised business unit of a bank that houses certain minimum digital banking products and services.
• The DBU is a step in strengthening financial inclusion in the country.
• DBUs will enable customers to have cost-effective, convenient access and enhanced digital experience of banking products and services throughout the year.

SPORTS

2022 Women’s Cricket Asia Cup

• The Indian women’s cricket team led by Harmanpreet Kaur defeated Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in the final of the 8th Women’s Asia Cup 2022.

• With this, India won for the 7th time.

• The final was played at the Sylhet International cricket stadium, Sylhet in Bangladesh on 15 October 2022.

• Bangladesh was the host of the 8th women’s Asia Cup cricket 2022, held from 01 October to 15 October 2022.
• Renuka Singh of India won the Player of the match award.

ISSF World Championship in Egypt

• Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil won the gold medal in men's 10m air rifle event at the ISSF World Championship.
• The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championships Rifle/Pistol is being held in Cairo, Egypt from 12 October to 25 October 2022.
• In the gold medal match, he defeated Italy's Danilo Dennis Sollazzo 17-15 and also booked a place at the 2024 Paris summer Olympics.
• He is only the second Indian to achieve the feat after Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra, who had won the gold in this event in 2006 in Zagreb, Croatia.

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

Global Hunger Index 2022

• India ranked 107 out of 121 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2022.

• Hunger levels in India have been placed in the ‘severe’ category with a score of 29.1.

• It is estimated that 224.3 million people in India are malnourished out of a total of 828 million people who are malnourished globally.
• GHI is a tool for comprehensively measuring and tracking hunger across nations.
• It is an annual report jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.
• It is calculated on the basis of four indicators namely Undernutrition, Child wasting, Child stunting and Child Mortality Rate.

AWARDS & PRIZES

AIPH ‘World Green City Award 2022’

• The city of Hyderabad, Telangana has been awarded as the Grand winner of the AIPH (International Association of Horticultural Producers) World Green City Awards 2022.

• It has been awarded for its initiative titled “Green Garland to the State of Telangana”.

• Hyderabad also won the award under the ‘Living Green for Economic Recovery and Inclusive Growth’ category.
• Hyderabad has been awarded for its initiatives relying on greater use of plants and nature to create better city environments and helps fulfil local aspirations for improved economic, social and environmental resilience.

IMPORTANT DAYS

International Day of Rural Women

• International Day of Rural Women is celebrated every year on 15 October.

• This day is celebrated to celebrate and make people aware of their achievements and contribution towards rural development and agriculture.

• The day focuses on gender equality and women empowerment in rural areas.

• These women include women from rural areas who contribute to the production of food and building agriculture and rural development around the world.
• The theme for the year 2022 is ‘Rural Women, key for a world free from hunger and poverty.’

World Food Day

• World Food Day is celebrated every year on 16 October.

• The day is observed to draw the attention of the world to the issue of hunger and equitable access to food amongst the poor in the world.
• This day marks the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1945.
• World Food Day was established at the 20th Session of the Conference of FAO 1979, held in Rome on the suggestion of the former Hungarian minister of agriculture and food Dr Pal Romany.
• The theme for the year 2022 is ‘Leave no one Behind’.