NATIONAL NEWS

Conference of the Ministers of Civil Aviation of States and Union Territories

• The Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia chaired the two-day Conference of the Ministers of Civil Aviation on 18 October 2022.

• The Conference of the Ministers of Civil Aviation has been organised by the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation in New Delhi.

• The objective of the conference was to promote greater collaboration and synergy between State Civil Aviation departments and Ministry of Civil Aviation to augment and develop the civil aviation sector.

• During the meeting, the Minister announced that in next four years, about Rs 95,000 crore are likely to be invested by the Government and the private sector, which includes greenfield as well as brownfield airports.

12th Defence Expo to be Held in Gujarat

• India’s flagship exhibition on Land, Naval and Homeland Security systems, Defence Expo 2022 will be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat from 18 October to 22 October 2022.
• The theme of the 12th Defence Expo is ‘Path to Pride’.
• It is organised by the Union Ministry of Defence.
• The main objective of the expo is to promote defence exports from India as well as invite foreign companies to explore defence tie-ups and business in India.
• It is the first ever edition of the event to feature Indian companies.

Nagaland Government Launches Health Insurance Scheme

• The Nagaland Chief minister Shri Neiphiu Rio launched the ‘Chief Minister’s Universal Health Insurance Scheme (CMHIS)’ at Kohima, Nagaland.
• It is to minimize financial hardships due to hospitalization expenses and prevent inaccessibility to healthcare on account of inability to afford it.
• The scheme has been categorized into CMHIS Employees and Pensioners (EP) and CMHIS (General).
• The CMHIS (General) beneficiaries will be entitled to more than 1,950 medical and surgical packages.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India-Africa Defence Dialogue

• India-Africa Defence Dialogue (IADD) being held on 18 October 2022 on the sidelines of the 12th DefExpo in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• The theme of the dialogue is ‘India-Africa: Adopting Strategy for Synergising and Strengthening Defence and Security Cooperation’.
• It aims to explore new avenues of convergence for mutual engagement including in the areas of capacity building, training, cyber security, maritime security and counter-terrorism.
• Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (MP-IDSA), India's leading think-tank for advanced research in international relations is the knowledge partner for the India-Africa Defence Dialogue.

Joint Roadmap on Hydrogen Partnership

• India and France adopted a joint roadmap on Hydrogen partnership.

• The visiting French Minister of State for Development and International partnerships Chrysoula Zacharopoulou and Union Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh adopted the “Indo-French Roadmap on the Development of Green Hydrogen" on 18 October 2022 in New Delhi.

• The roadmap aims at bringing the French and Indian hydrogen ecosystems together in order to establish a reliable and sustainable value chain for decarbonised hydrogen.

BANKING

SBI Reduces the Interest Rate on Saving Accounts Deposit

• State Bank of India (SBI) has reduced the interest rate on savings accounts by a marginal 5 basis points to 2.70 per cent effective from 15 October 2022.
• The new saving rates are applicable on balances of less than Rs 10 crore, on which the bank earlier offered 2.75 per cent per annum interest.
• However, on saving account balances of Rs 10 crore and above, SBI has increased the deposit rates to 3 per cent per annum from 2.75 percent earlier.
• The lowering of rates on savings accounts by SBI comes at a time when the peer lenders have been raising deposit rates to mobilize funds.
• 100 basis points is equal to 1%.

SPORTS

Jyoti Yaraji Creates History in Women's 100m Hurdles

• Jyoti Yaraji has become the first Indian female athlete to complete the 100m hurdles in less than 13 seconds at the National Open Athletics Championships in Bengaluru.

• Jyoti, representing the Railways created a new national record by completing the race in 12.82 seconds.

• Jyothi Yaraji was born on 28 August 1999 in Visakhapatnam (Vizag), Andhra Pradesh.

• He made his international debut on 10 May 2022 at the Cyprus International Athletics Meet in Limassol.

AWARDS & PRIZES

Booker Prize 2022

• The “Seven Moons of Maali Almeida'' by Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka has won the Booker prize 2022.

• He is the second Sri Lankan to win the literature award.

• The Booker award was presented to Shehan Karunatilaka by Camilla, the United Kingdom’s Queen Consort on 17 October 2022.

• The ‘Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is a novel about a photographer who wakes up within a week after death and asks his friends to find his photos and expose the brutality of the civil war.
• The Booker Prize which was earlier called Man Booker was established by a British multinational company Booker McConnell in 1968.
• PH Newby was the first winner of the prize in 1969 for his wok ‘Something to Answer For’.

Sir Syed Excellence Award for 2022

• American historian Professor Barbara Metcalf was awarded the Sir Syed Excellence Award 2022 by the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

• It was given on the 205th birth anniversary of its founder Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.

• Metcalf has written extensively on the history of the Muslim population of India and Pakistan.

• Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was a South Asian Muslim reformer, philosopher and educationist in nineteenth-century British India.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2022

• The American National History Museum (NHM) announced the winners of their prestigious annual Wildlife Photographer Awards in an awards ceremony in London.

• American photographer Karine Aigner bagged this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year for her remarkable image titled, ‘The big buzz’.

• Karine is just the fifth woman in the competition’s 58-year history.

• Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the NHM, London.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

The Controller General of Accounts

• Bharati Das took charge as the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on 18 October 2022.
• Das is the 27th Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Ministry of Finance and Government of India.
• Bharati Das, a 1988-batch Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) officer.
• Prior to this, Das has served as Principal Chief Controller of Accounts in the Central Board of Direct Taxes.
• Controller General of Accounts (CGA) is ‘the Principal Advisor’ on accounting matters to the Union Government.
• CGA is responsible for establishing and managing a technically sound Management Accounting System and preparation and submission of the accounts of the Union Government.

President of the BCCI

• The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has elected former Indian all-rounder Roger Binny as the 36th President of the BCCI at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) which was held in Mumbai on 18 October 2022.

• He will replace Saurav Ganguly whose three-year tenure as the board chief came to an end.

• The BCCI also decided to start the women's IPL and not to participate in the Asia cricket cup to be held in Pakistan in 2023.

• Roger Binny who represented Karnataka and India, played 27 Tests and 72 ODIs for India and was also a national selector.

Prime Minister of Sweden

• Sweden's parliament elected Ulf Kristersson, leader of the Conservative Moderate Party, as the new Prime Minister.

• His party emerged as the major winner in Sweden's 11 September general election, with a record 20.5 percent of the vote.

• He defeated Prime Minister Magdalena Andersen's Social Democrats.

OBITUTARY

Harry Potter Actor Robbie Coltrane

• Scottish actor and comedian Robbie Coltrane, best known for playing the lovable half-giant Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies Passed away. He was at the age of 72.
• Coltrane was born on 30 March 1950 in Rutherglen, Scotland.
• He gained worldwide recognition as Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter film series (2001–2011),
• In 1990, Coltrane received the Evening Standard British Film Award – Peter Sellers Award for Comedy.
• He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2006 New Year Honors for his services to drama.