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Highlights:

• As per company, Amazon future programme will enable access to quality computer science education as well as career opportunities for students from underrepresented and underserved communities.
• During the first year of its launch, Amazon aims to enable and deliver learning opportunities to about 1 lakh students from 900 government and aided schools in seven states of India.

• Amazon Future Engineer programme was launched with the aim of addressing the gap by bringing early exposure and access to computer science education to students by means of in-person, online and blended learning formats.
• Amazon is working in collaboration with its global knowledge partner Code.org which is a global non-profit organization dedicated to computer science education.
• Considering the local nuances, curriculum has been contextualized for Indian teacher and student community across government school settings. 
• It will offer students with coding fundamentals along with the future-focused tech courses such as Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing (Voice Technology) in Indian languages and Machine Learning.
• Amazon Future Engineer Programme will enable students from underserved communities in India to get, who face disproportionate barriers to education, especially in computer science, right exposure & accessibility to quality computer science education. 
• This programme will bring Computer Science curriculum closer to all students in the languages of their choice.

Highlights:

• Right Livelihood Award 2021 was conferred to Delhi-based environmental organisation “Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE)”. 
• This award is also known as “Sweden’s alternative Nobel Prize”.
• LIFE has received the award for its “grassroots approach to empower vulnerable communities in protecting their livelihoods and claiming their right for a clean environment.”

• Cameroonian women rights activist Marthe Wandou,
• Environmental activist from Russia, Vladimir Slivyak and
• Indigenous rights defender from Canada, Freda Huson.
• About Right Livelihood Award
• Right Livelihood Award was established by Ole von Uexkull who happens to be the executive director of Right Livelihood. 
• The award honours and supports people in solving global problems. 
• It comprises of a cash prize of 1 million Swedish crowns and a long-term support that highlights and expands Laureates’ work.
• LIFE received the Award for its innovative legal work of empowering communities to protect their resources following the “environmental democracy in India.” 
• According to Right Livelihood, despite a robust environmental protection law framework in India, access to justice for those planning to protect remaining forests and biodiversity in India is often limited. 
• Thus, to bridge this gap, LIFE was founded.

• LIFE was founded in 2005 by lawyers Ritwick Dutta and Rahul. 
• It has been fighting against India’s most significant environmental threats. 
• Some of the examples of environmental threats include construction of a large-scale bauxite mine in the Odisha and hydro-power project in Arunachal Pradesh. 
• LIFE helps in stopping such construction.

Highlights:

• Najla Bouden Romdhane has become the first female prime minister of Tunisia on September 29, 2021.
• She has been named as Prime Minister, two months after President Kais Saied assumed his charge, dismissed the former prime minister and suspended parliament.
• Romdhane was assigned to form a new government in the midst of growing domestic and international discontent regarding president’s power seizure.
• Romdhane is expected to have less direct power as compared to former prime ministers under the 2014 constitution. 
• This is because, President Saied announced during the emergency period that the new government will be responsible to the president.
• Romdhane in her capacity will have to inherit political and economic crisis that has gripped Tunisia during the past few years. Crisis has worsened since President Saied took “exceptional measures.”
• Recently President Saied issued presidential decrees and announced plans to form a transitional government. He also announced new electoral rules.
• Tunisia is also facing outbreak of the COVID-19 strains in most states.

• Romdhane is a professor of geology at the National School of Engineers in Tunis. 
• She was born in the year 1958 in Tunisia’s central Kairouan province. 
• Before appointed as prime minister, she was assigned to implement programmes with the World Bank, by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. 
• In 2011, she worked as the director-general in charge of quality at Ministry of Higher Education.
• Tunisia is the northernmost country of Africa. 
• It is bordered by Algeria, Libya and the Mediterranean Sea. 
• It also comprises eastern end of the Atlas Mountains and northern reaches of the Sahara Desert.

Highlights:

• Home Minister Amit Shah released the training manual of Aapda Mitra Scheme on September 29, 2021, on the occasion of 17th foundation day celebrations of “National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)”.
• While addressing the celebrations, minister noted that, India is moving towards creating a disaster management system to ensure than not a single life is lost, no matter how severe a disaster gets.
• On the occasion, he released training manual of Aapda Mitra Scheme as well as plan documents of Aapda Mitra & Common Alerting Protocol.
• Foundation Day of NDMA was celebrated under the theme- ‘Stopping Impact of Disaster Incidents in the Himalayan Region’.

• Aapda Mitra scheme will soon be launched in 350 districts of India by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
• Under this scheme, more than one lakh young volunteers from 350 districts will be trained. 
• So far, 5500 Aapda Mitra and 5500 Aapda Sakhi have been trained, who can extend help in case of disaster or natural calamity like flood in remote places.
• All these volunteers would get life insurance by the government.

• NDMA is an apex Body, that lay down policies for disaster management.
• It was established through the Disaster Management Act, which was enacted by the Government on December 25, 2005.
• NDMA has been tasked with framing policies, laying down guidelines & best-practices to coordinate with the State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs).
• It seeks to ensure a holistic and distributed approach towards disaster management.
• NDMA is headed by the Prime Minister and can have up to nine other members.
• There have been five other members, since 2020. 
• Provision to have Vice Chair-Person is also there.

Highlights:

• Lewis Hamilton has become the first ever Formula-one driver who reached to his 100 wins after finishing at first in the Russian Grand Prix on September 26, 2021.
• Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time World Champion, overtook the long-time race leader Lando Norris late on.
• Norris, was aiming for a maiden Grand Prix victory. 
• He was leading for most of the race.
• Hamilton finished over 53 seconds ahead of the second-placed Max Verstappen. 
• Max had started at back of the grid after Red Bull took a new engine.
• Hamilton also moved back to the top of driver’s championship standings ahead of Verstappen.
• Hamilton is already holding the record for most F1 wins.

• He is a British racing driver and currently competes in Formula One for Mercedes. 
• He has previously driven for McLaren from 2007 to 2012. 
• Hamilton has won the joint-record seven World Drivers’ Championship titles in Formula One. 
• He also holds the records for the most wins, podium finishes and pole positions.
• Hamilton was born and raised in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. In the year 1998, he joined the McLaren young driver programme. 
• This led to a Formula One drive in 2007 with McLaren. 
• In 2007 season, Hamilton set numerous records and finished runner-up to Kimi Raikkonen by one point. 
• In the next season, he won his maiden title in dramatic fashion and become the then-youngest Formula One World Champion in history.

Highlights:

• The SBM-U 2.0 with AMTUT 2.0 was launched by PM on 1 October at Dr Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi.
• These schemes are designed to understand the aspiration of creating all cities Garbage Free and Water Secure.
• Both of the missions signify a breakthrough to address the challenges of rapidly urbanizing India effectively.
• It will also help in attaining Sustainable Development Goals 2030 targets.
• In the past 6-7 years, Swachh Bharat, also as AMRUT Missions, have brought transformative changes within the lives of individuals.
• AMRUT 2.0 mission will help in making cities self-reliant. It'll ensure water security across the cities.
• SBM-U 2.0 mission seeks to form all cities ‘Garbage Free’. 
• It also seeks to ensure grey and black water management across the cities that aren't covered under AMRUT.

Highlights:

• International Day of Older Persons is observed on 30 September to bring awareness of the importance of digital inclusion of older persons.
• The UN General Assembly, on 14 December 1990, assigned 1 October as the International Day of Older People.
• ‘Digital Equity for All Ages’ is The international day of older persons 2021 theme, which declares the need for access and significant participation in the digital world.
• In 1982, the Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing was raised. In 1991, UNs Principles for Older Persons was affirmed, and in 2002, the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing was ratified.
• The regions that had the most significant number of older people are south-eastern and Eastern Asia. North America and Europe follow these regions.
• The Government of India has started the following schemes for older persons
• Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana
• Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme
• National Programme for Health Care of Elderly
• Varishta Mediclaim Policy
• Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana

Highlights:

• Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment organises Vayo Naman Programme on the International Day of Older Persons, in honour of senior citizens, in New Delhi on 1 October.
• Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu is the chief guest of the programme and will present the Vayosheshtra Samman awards.
• The vice-chairman will dedicate the Elderly Help Line 14567 to the state and launch the Senior Able Citizens Reemployment in Dignity (SACRED) and Senior Care Ageing Growth Engine (SAGE) Portals on this occasion.
• Dr Virendra Kumar, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister, will be present within the program.
• The Ministry celebrates International Day of Older Persons each year on 1 October.

Highlights:

• Colonel Mamady Doumbouya was sworn in as Interim President of the West African country of Guinea on 1 October.
• Colonel Doumbouya, who was the lead in overthrowing President Alpha Conde on the 5th of September was sworn in by Supreme Court Head Mamadou Sylla for a period of unspecified length.
• The new Interim President said that neither he nor any member of the junta would fill in any future elections that the military has promised to organize after a transition period.

Highlights:

• World Vegetarian Day is celebrated on October 1 each year to raise awareness on the befits of a vegetarian diet and lifestyle.
• World Vegetarian Day is celebrated to signify the thought of the environment, animal welfare, and personal health benefits.
• The week from October 1 to 7 is observed as International Vegetarian Week, which was encouraged by the International vegetarian union in 1977 with its headquarters in the U.K.
• Ancient Greek Philosopher Pythagoras was an early follower of the vegetarian diet so it was called the ‘Pythagorean Diet’ for a really long time.
• The World Vegetarian Day is established by the North American Vegetarian Society in 1977.

Highlights:

• Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu presented the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi Award for National Integration and National Contribution 2021 on 3 October.
• Awards were presented to "Shillong Chamber Choir", the Assam branch of Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust, and writer Nirod Kumar Baruah.
• This Award is one of the significant civilian awards in Assam. It carries a citation alongside a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh.
• Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi Award is among the foremost significant civilian awards of Assam, which is bestowed upon the institutions and individuals from diverse fields to honour their exemplary contributions to the nation's integration.
• Award is conferred within the name of the first chief minister of Assam, Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi.
• He was a multi-dimensional figure with outstanding accomplishments. He was also bestowed the Bharat Ratna in 1999.

Highlights:

• Najla Bouden Romdhane has been appointed because the first-ever female Prime Minister of Tunisia.
• The 63-year-old Ms Bouden has also become the first female prime minister within the whole Arab world.
• Ms Bouden will be Tunisia's tenth Prime Minister.
• Before this appointment, Najla served within the education bureau in 2011.
• She is a former director at PromESsE, a higher education reform project, and has held senior positions at Tunisia's higher education ministry.
• Originally from Kairouan, she is a French-educated geologist with a doctorate in geological engineering and a lecturer at Tunisia's National Engineering School.
• The President of Tunisia is Kais Saied, and also the Capital of Tunisia is Tunis.
• The currency of Tunisia is that the Tunisian dinar.

Highlights:

• Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann won the 2021 Nobel Prize for Physics, and Giorgio Parisi won.
• Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann, and Giorgio Parisi won the Nobel Prize for their contributions to our understanding of complex physical systems.
• Syukuro Manabe from Princeton University, USA and Klaus Hasselmann from Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany were awarded for the physical modelling of Earth's climate, quantifying variability and reliably predicting global warming".
• Giorgio Parisi from Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, was awarded for discovering the interaction of disorder and variations in physical systems from atomic to planetary scales.
• Nobel Prizes : A Fact File
• The Century-old' Nobel Prize' for science, literature and peace was founded and funded in Alfred Nobel's name, Swedish dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel, since 1901.
• The award is a gold medal and 10 million Swedish kronor, over 1.14 million dollars.

Highlights:

• Benjamin List and David W.C. MacMillan won the 2021 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
• Benjamin List and David W.C. MacMillan won the Nobel Prize for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis.
• These discoveries could help create new painkillers and allows us to understand how heat, cold and mechanical force initiate the nerve impulses.
• This might help with pharmaceutical research and making chemistry greener.
• The Nobel Prize for Chemistry was shared into equal parts for laureates.
• Catalysts are fundamental tools for chemists and researchers who long believed that there were,  just two types of catalysts available: metals and enzymes.
• Benjamin List and David MacMillan,  independent of each other, developed a third type of catalysis. 
• It is called asymmetric organocatalysis.
• Benjamin List was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1968.
• He is a Director of the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany.
• Davis Julius was born in Bellshill, UK. in 1968. He is a Professor at the Professor at Princeton University, USA.

• The Century-old' Nobel Prize' for science, literature, and peace was founded and funded in Alfred Nobel's name, Swedish dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel, since 1901.

Highlights:

• World Cotton Day is commemorated on 7 October to celebrate cotton and its StakeHolders.
• World Trade Organization launched World Cotton Day on 7 October 2019 at the Cotton-4  initiative.
• World Cotton day was initiated by Cotton 4 countries Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali.
• This day is aimed at celebrating many advantages of cotton as a natural fibre, how beneficial it is to people, trade and Consumption.
• Cotton Sustains 28.67 million growers and benefits more than 100 million families in 75 countries all over 5 continents.
• The World Cotton Day theme for 2021 is “Cotton for Good”
• India is the largest producer of cotton in the world accounting for about 26% of the world cotton production.
• A webinar was organized on 6 October 2021, by International Trade Centre (ITC) and WTO focusing on developing sustainable cotton for the clothing value chain in Africa.

Highlights:

• The 2021 Nobel Peace Prize is given to Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov.
• They are awarded for their efforts to guard freedom of expression, which could be a prerequisite for democracy and peace.
• Maria Ressa uses freedom of expression to reveal abuse of power, use of violence, and growing authoritarianism in the Philippines.
• Under increasingly challenging conditions, Dmitry Muratov has for several years fighting for the freedom of speech in Russia.
• The 2021 peace prize laureates are representative of all journalists who rise up for this in a world during which democracy and freedom of the press face increasingly tough conditions.

Highlights:

• Swechha Program launched by Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy, Andhra Chief Minister, to handle the strain around Menstruation.
• The program aims to prioritize female personal hygiene and encourage a healthy dialogue of information on Menstruation.
• Swechha is formed to ensure affordable access to health and menstrual hygiene in adolescent girls and women.
• Good quality sanitary napkins will be provided to the female students by the state government at government institutions for free.
• Ten sanitary napkins will be given each month to about 10 lakh adolescent girls studying from 7th-12th grades in government schools and intermediate colleges across the state at a financial expense of INR 32 crores.
• A total of 120 napkins annually is allotted to each female student. 
• Even during summer vacations, the students are provided with their share before they leave school.

Highlights:

• The Cabinet has approved 7 PM Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (MITRA) Parks.
• The MITRA parks will be set up costing Rs. 4445 crores in five years.
• The park was announced as a part of Union Budget 2021-22, which will help India stand at par with Global textile giants.
• These MITRA Parks were established in greenfield or brownfield sites in different states. 
• This will also help with the employment opportunities with 7 lakh direct jobs and 14 lakh indirect jobs.
• Till now, states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and 5 more have shown interest in the establishment.
• A Rs 500 crore Maximum Development Capital Support (DCS) will be provided to Greenfield PM MITRA.
• In contrast, Rs 200 Crore will be provided to Brownfield PM MITRA to develop a standard Infrastructure.
• Aside from that, Rs 300 crore of Competitiveness Incentive Support (CIS) also will be provided to those parks to determine textiles manufacturing units there.
• PM MITRA initiative is motivated by PM Modi’s 5F vision of- “farm to fibre; fibre to factory; factory to fashion; and fashion to foreign”.

Highlights:

• NASA is set to launch the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft on November 24, 2021.
• NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft will be launched in SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket
• The Mission is set to launch on November 24, 2021, from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
• NASA aims to build advanced technologies to protect the Earth from dangerous asteroid collisions.
• There had been numerous warnings from astronomers and scientists that there might be an asteroid Collision without a proper defence system.
• The DART mission is based on the idea of developing a defence system against asteroid collisions. It is in the final stages of advancement.
• Under the mission, spacecraft will be sent towards the Didymos asteroid system, approximately 109.4 kilometres away from Earth.
• Didymos system comprise of two asteroids, Didymos and Dimorphos. 
• The spacecraft will hit Dimorphos to decide if kinetic impactor technology can secure or deflect asteroids.
• Kinetic impactor technology requires flying the spacecraft directly into a small Solar System body.

• DART spacecraft comprises compressed Roll-Out Solar Arrays (ROSA) and a Didymos Reconnaissance & Asteroid Camera for Optical (DRACO) navigation.
• This suicidal spacecraft will hit the system at the speed of 24,140 Kmph.
• This spacecraft has been built and improved at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL).

Highlights:

• Abolhassan Banisadr, Iran’s first president after the 1979 revolution, died on 9 October at the age of 88 years old.
• Abolhassan Banisadr was the First President of Iran after the 1979 Revolution.
• The Politician and Economist, Baniadr, was appointed as the president on January 25 1980.
• The 1979 revolution changed the U.S. backed monarch ruled country into a republic with Islamic idealogy
• On 9 October it was reported that  Abolhassan Banisadr died in a hospital in Paris after a long illness.
• Abolhassan Banisadr was born in 1933 in Hamedan province in western Iran.
• He led events beyond his controls like the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis and the invasion of Iran by Iraq two of those uprooted his position later on.
• He published a magazine and numerous books opposing Iran's leaders.

Highlights:

• Guru Ghasidas park & Tamor Pingla Wildlife Sanctuary are approved as tiger reserves now by National Tiger Conservation Authority.
• National Tiger Conservation Authority has approved the Chhattisgarh government’s proposal to declare few parts as Tiger Reserve.
• The combined areas of the Guru Ghasidas park & Tamor Pingla Wildlife Sanctuary are a Tiger Reserve now.
• It's located within the northern part of the state, bordering Madhya Pradesh & Jharkhand.
• This can be the 4th Tiger Reserve in Chhattisgarh
• The other three are Udanti-Sitanadi, Achanakmar, Indravati.

Highlights:

• The Aryabhata Award given by the Astronautical Society of India (ASI), is presented to Secretary DDR&D and Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy
• The award is presented for his outstanding lifetime contribution to the promotion of astronautics in India.
• Dr Reddy is a pioneer within the area of R&D of advanced avionics, navigation, and missile technologies.
• Dr Reddy has contributed a lot to strategic and tactical missile systems and helped the country become self-reliant in critical defence technologies.
• He's has found mechanisms to determine robust defence development and production ecosystem.

• The ASI is engaged in disseminating technical and other information associated with astronautics by conducting technical meetings, bringing out technical publications and organising exhibitions.
• The President of the Astronautical Society of India is Dr K Sivan
• The Astronautical Society of India (ASI) was found out in 1990
• The Astronautical Society of India HQ is in New Delhi

Highlights:

• The World Day Against the execution is observed each year on 10 October.
• It's a day to promote the eradication of the death penalty and boost awareness of the conditions and circumstances that affect prisoners with death sentences.

• The day was first established by the World Coalition Against the death penalty in 2003.
• 2021 marks the 19th World Day Against the death penalty.
• The day is supported by various NGOs and world governments, including Amnesty International, the European Union and the United Nations.
• On 26 September 2007, the Council of Europe also announced 10 October as the European Day Against the Death Penalty.

Highlights:

• Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, also known as “Father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb” has passed away.
• The atomic scientist, Dr Khan was the first man to transform Pakistan into the world’s first Islamic nuclear power.
• He was known as” Father Of Pakistan’s Nuclear Bomb” in the said country.
• He was also praised for his contributions to enhancing the country’s defence capabilities.
• Dr Khan was born in 1936 in Bhopal and migrated to Pakistan during the partition.
• He died on 10 October at 7 am at Khan Research Laboratories hospital due to internal bleeding in his lungs

Highlights:

• David Card, Joshua Angrist and Guido Imbens won the 2021 Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences.
• David Card, Joshua Angrist and Guido Imbens won the Nobel Prize for their methodological contributions to the analysis of causal relationships.
• These have provided us with new insights about the labour market and shown what conclusions about cause and effect can be drawn from natural experiments.
• This might help with pharmaceutical research and making chemistry greener.
• The Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences was shared into equal parts for laureates.
• Their strategy has spread to other fields and revolutionised empirical research
• In 1968, Sweden's central Bank established the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize.
• The Prize is based on a donation received by the Nobel Foundation in 1968 from Sveriges Riksbank on the occasion of the Bank's 300th anniversary.

• The Century-old' Nobel Prize' for science, literature, and peace was founded and funded in Alfred Nobel's name, Swedish dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel, since 1901.

Highlights:

• World Mental Health Day was observed across the world on October 10, 2021 with the objective of raising awareness on mental health issues.
• The day is observed to gain support on initiatives related to mental health and well-being.
• This year, world mental health is more significant because Covid-19 has majorly impacted the mental health of people.

• During the World Health Assembly in May 2021, governments from across the world recognised the need of scaling up quality mental health services at all the levels. 
• Some of the countries have found new ways to provide mental health care to their populations.
• During the World Mental Health Day 2021 campaign, WHO will showcase the efforts made in some of the countries to inspire other countries to initiate & find new ways to provide mental health care support. 
• The campaign is being organised by the World Health Organisation under the slogan: “Mental health care for all: let’s make it a reality”.

• World Mental Health Day is an international day for global mental health awareness, education and advocacy against the social stigma. 
• The day was first observed in the year 1992 at an initiative of World Federation for Mental Health. 
• This federation is a global mental health organization comprising of members & contacts from more than 150 countries. 
• In some countries, like in Australia, this day is part of an awareness week.

Highlights:

• Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Parshottam Rupala, launched the River Ranching Programme on October 8, 2021.
• The programme was launched at Brijghat, Garh Mukteshwar, Uttar Pradesh

• Along with Uttar Pradesh, other 4 states namely, Orissa, Uttarakhand, Tripura and Chhattisgarh also participated in the launch of ‘nationwide River Ranching program’.
• 3 lakhs fingerlings were ranched at 3 sites in UP, namely, Brijghat, Tigri, Meerut, Garhmukteshwar and Bijnor.
• In Uttar Pradesh, about 500 people participated in the national level launching of River Ranching program.
• 1 lakh fingerlings were ranched at Chandi Ghat, Ganga River in Haridwar district of Uttarakhand.
• 85 lakh of fingerlings were ranched at 4 sites of Tripura namely, Gomati River in Udaipur; Khowai river in Teliamura; Dhalai river in Kamalpur and Deo River in Dashamighat. 
• About 218 participants attended the program.

• River ranching programme was introduced as special activity under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) scheme to augment and enhance fish production and productivity by expanding, intensifying, diversifying and utilizing land & water productively.
• National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad is the nodal agency under central component of the PMMSY. 
• The board has been designated by the “Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries”.
• As the human population is growing, requirement of high-quality protein & demand of fish is increasing gradually. 
• Thus, to promote sustainable use and conservation of fishery resources in an economical and environmentally responsible manner, River Ranching Programme was launched. 
• This programme will help in achieving sustainable fisheries, conserving biodiversity, assessing ecosystem services, reducing habitat degradation and maximizing social-economic benefits. 
• It will also ensure the upgradation of traditional fishery, trade & social protection of Inland communities and ecosystem sustainability.

Highlights:

• The International Day Of Girl Child is celebrated on 11 October to empower girls and raise their voices against the difficulties they face.
• The day acknowledges the importance and potentials of young girls by encouraging them to open up for more opportunities.

• It is also observed to eliminate the gender-based challenges those girls face in the world.
• This includes the fight against child marriages, poor learning opportunities, violence, and discrimination.
• The Theme for International Day Of Girl Child 2021 is ‘Digital generation. Our generation.’
• UN General Assembly adopted 11 October as International Day for the girl child in 2012, 11 October.
• The day is celebrated by sharing stories, blogs, videos of talented young girls who are tech trailblazers while collectively amplifying our call to action to expand these pathways for every girl, everywhere.
• Expand our GEF and other commitments to address the gender digital divide experienced by today’s generation of girls
• Demonstrating that we must take a robust generational gender lens to the digital divide if we have to achieve meaningful and sustainable change for a digital revolution.

Highlights:

• Three-membered Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintained an accommodative stance and kept the repo rate unchanged at 4 %, in order to revive & sustain growth and reduce the impact of Covid-19 pandemic.
• Monetary Policy Committee has also ensured that inflation remains within the target.

• Reverse repo rate was also kept as earlier at 3.35 %.
• Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and bank rate also remain unchanged at 4.25 %.
• This was the eighth consecutive time that RBI has maintained a status quo on policy rate. 
• The central bank had last revised its policy rate on May 22, 2020, in an off-policy cycle in order to boost the demand by cutting interest rates.
• According to RBI Governor, high-frequency indicators point that economic activity has gained momentum. Core inflation is still sticky. 
• In July-September, CPI inflation was lower than expected. 
• Currently, India is in a much better place as compared to the last MPC meeting. 
• Now, growth impulses are strengthening. 
• Inflation trajectory is also favourable than it was expected.
• For financial year 2021-22, CPI inflation is projected at 5.3 %.
• As per RBI, food inflation is predicted to remain muted in upcoming months, as a result of record production of food-grains.

Highlights:

• Anshu Malik has become the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the final of 2021 World Wrestling Championships.
• She created this history after outclassing junior European champion Solomiia Vynnyk.
• The 19-year-old wrestler from India and reigning Asian champion, Anshu, controlled the semi-final from the beginning. She won by technical superiority in the 57 kg category.
• Till date, only four Indian women wrestlers have won medals at the Worlds, namely Geeta Phogat in 2012, Babita Phogat in 2012, Pooja Dhanda in 2018 while Vinesh Phogat in 2019. 
• All of them have clinched bronze medal.
• Anshu has also became only the sixth Indian ever to make the Worlds gold medal match. Before her, Bishambar Singh, Sushil Kumar, Amit Dahiya, Bajrang Punia and Deepak Punia have made to the gold medal match.
• India has only one world Champion, named Sushil Kumar.

• Anshu Malik is an Indian freestyle wrestler. 
• She won gold in the 60 kg category in the Cadet Wrestling Championships. 
• She won one of the bronze medals in 57 kg category at the 2020 Asian Wrestling Championships, that was held in New Delhi, in 2020. 
• She also won the silver medal in women’s 57 kg event at 2020 Individual Wrestling World Cup, Serbia. In Asian Wrestling Championships 2021, she won Gold medal. 
• She belongs to the family of wrestlers. Coach Jagdeesh is her coach, who give her training at Chaudhary Bharat Singh Memorial Sports School in Nidani. 
• Her father Dharamvir Malik, was an international wrestler and has worked with the CISF.

Highlights:

• Prime Minister Modi On 13 October will launch the 'Pradhan Mantri Gati Shakthi' Masterplan.
• Gati Shakti scheme was announced by PM Modi on Independence Day, 2021.

• This Masterplan will bring together 16 Ministries and seven core infrastructure sectors on a single platform to Combine project planning across stakeholder ministries for avoiding duplication, plug gaps and facilitate clearances at the right time.

• Gati Shakti platform was launched to provide data immediately. 
• It will provide for greater coordination between ministries.
• Gati Shakti Scheme primary goals:
• Seamless multimodal connectivity for facilitating easy movement of goods & people,
• Improved prioritisation, optimal usage of resources, timely creation of capacities, and
• Resolution of issues like disjointed planning, standardisation & clearances.
• This Master Plan will offer a structure for the 'National Infrastructure Pipeline program'.
• The plan also intends to make Indian products more contentious by cutting logistics costs and developing supply chains.
• It also strives to give a basis for holistic infrastructure and an integrated pathway for the economy.
• It will help the local manufacturers of India in turning globally competitive, and it will create employment opportunities for the youth.
• It tries to draw investment from worldwide to improve India's infrastructure.
• It will also provide new direction & fresh momentum for overall infrastructure improvement in India.
• It is a seamless multimodal connectivity stage and will ensure a seamless transition of goods & people and improve ease of living & ease of doing business.

Highlights:

• KV Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA), has chosen to resign after completing his three-year term within the Finance Ministry of India.
• KV Subramanian took over the command of Chief Economic Adviser on 2018 7 December.
• The appointment was made almost five months after his forerunner Arvind Subramanian had stepped down.
• KV Subramanian, beginning of his career, was a part of the expert panels for the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and reserve bank of India (RBI).
• Subramanian has been well-versed with temporary Private sector jobs in top corporates that include ICICI Bank, JPMorgan Chase, and Tata Consultancy Services.

Highlights:

• National Award-winning actor Nedumudi Venu has died at the age of 73 at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram on 11 October.
• Nedumudi Venu was born on 22 May 1948 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
• Nedumudi Venu began his career as a stage artist with the plays of Kavalam Narayana Panicker.
• His first appearance was in movies with Thambu, directed by G Aravindan, in 1978.
• He is known for his roles in Malayalam and Tamil movies.
• He has acted in over 500 movies.
• He won three National Film Awards and 6 Kerala State Film Awards for his appearances.

Highlights:

• The World Arthritis Day is observed on October 12, each year in a bid to raise awareness regarding the joint diseases which causes suffering from pain and stiffness.

• According to European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR), there are various types of Arthritis and an estimated one-hundred million people are undiagnosed.
• These people try to cope with symptoms which are often overlooked.
• Many of the Arthritis patients are not very enthusiastic regarding exercising due to acute pain at the joints. But inactive life and no exercise worsen the joint diseases.  
• But they should do moderate exercises in order to ease the pain and maintain a healthy weight.
• Although arthritis is usually associated with old age. But even youngsters are prone to the joint diseases. 
• The condition of joint diseases is known as Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) among children. 
• JIA is characterized by a number of disorders like pain in joints, stiffness and swollen joints.
• JIA can be diagnosed by any physician by considering the family history of arthritis, examining the symptoms, and by conducting a physical examination. 
• In few cases, X-rays are and blood tests for anaemia, inflammation & autoimmune diseases are conducted.
• Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which body’s immune system attacks the joints mistaking them for germs. 
• This leads to inflammation of joints. 
• Causes for this condition is not known yet. 

Highlights:

• Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2021 was released by “United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)” and “Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI)”.
• This report examines the level and composition of multidimensional poverty across 109 countries covering 5.9 billion people.
• It also takes into account several deprivations that people experience in their day to day lives such as poor health, inadequate education and poor standard of living.

• As per report, 1.3 billion people are multidimensionally poor, of which around 644 million are children under age 18.
• 85 percent of them live in Sub-Saharan Africa (556 million) or South Asia (532 million).
• 67 percent of the poor live in middle-income countries.
• 1 billion poor are exposed to solid cooking fuels, inadequate sanitation and substandard housing.
• 788 million poor people live in household with at least one undernourished person.
• 568 million poor people do not have improved drinking water within a 30-minute round trip walk.
• Scheduled Tribe group in India, which accounts for 9.4 percent of the population, is poorest. 
• Out of 129 million people, 65 million are living in multidimensional poverty.
• Out of 283 million scheduled caste group people, 94 million are living in multidimensional poverty.
• In all, five out of six multidimensionally poor people live in households whose head is from a Scheduled Tribe, a Scheduled Caste or Other Backward Class (OBCs).

• The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) was launched by the UNDP and the OPHI in the year 2010. 
• MPI uses three dimensions and ten indicators including:
• Education: Years of schooling and child enrolment (1/6 weightage each)
• Health: Child mortality and nutrition (1/6 weightage each)
• Standard of living: Electricity, drinking water, flooring, sanitation, cooking fuel and assets (1/18 weightage each).

Highlights:

• According to External Affairs Minister (EAM), S Jaishankar, India has agreed on USD 200 million Line of Credit support for the developmental projects in Kyrgyzstan.
• This line of credit was agreed upon after meeting between EAM S. Jaishankar and Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Ruslan Kazakbaev in Bishkek.
• Kazakhstan is the current Chair and initiator of CICA Forum.
• Jaishankar is also expected to hold bilateral talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan, Mukhtar Tileuberdi.
• During the meeting, Jaishankar also discussed the need of early travel of Indian students and liberal visa regime between both the countries.

• Diplomatic relations between India and Kyrgyz Republic Relations have become more significant in the 21st century. Initially in 1990s, it has remained passive. 
• Both the countries seek to develop an extensive commercial and strategic partnership in Central Asia region. India recognised independence of Kazakhstan from the Soviet Union after Soviet Union got dissolved in 1992. 
• In recent years, India is working towards increasing its commerce and strategic ties with Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is significant because it occupies a major territory in Central Asia comprising of extensive oil, natural gas and mineral reserves. 
• India seeks to expand its ties in the backdrop of increasing economic & strategic influence of China.
• India is working for the development of nuclear energy industry as a clean alternative for satisfying its huge energy needs. Kazakhstan has huge uranium required for nuclear energy. 
• Thus, India is developing a strong relationship with Kazakhstan.

Highlights:

• International Energy Agency (IEA) has invited India to become its full-time member.
• This membership invitation was given in the light that, India is world’s third-largest energy consumer.
• If this proposal is accepted, it will require India to increase its strategic oil reserved to 90 days requirement.

• Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri held discussions with IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. During the discussion, IEA executive director invited India to deepen its cooperation with IEA by becoming its full member.
• India became an associate member of the IEA in March 2017. IEA is a Paris-based body that advises industrialised nations regarding the energy policies. 
• In January 2021, IEA members & India agreed to enter into a strategic partnership in order to strengthen their collaboration with respect to energy security and clean energy transition.
• According to IEA report, India is becoming increasingly influential in global energy sector.
• India’s demand for energy is set to increase rapidly in the coming decades, particularly the electricity use.
• India’s reliance on fuel imports will make the improving energy security a key priority for Indian economy.
• IEA comprises of 30 member countries and eight associate nations. Four countries are seeking for a full membership namely, Colombia, Chile, Israel and Lithuania.
• It is noted that IEA was founded in 1974 by industrialised countries under the framework of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Highlights:

• German rail operator, Deutsche Bahn and industrial group, Siemens launched the first automated & driverless train of the world on October 11, 2021.
• The self-driving train was launched in the city of Hamburg.
• This train is more punctual and energy efficient as compared to traditional trains.
• Country has planned to add four such trains to the S-Bahn rapid urban rail network of northern city.
• These trains will start carrying passengers from December on the existing rail infrastructure.
• Other cities such as Paris have driverless metros on the other hand, airports often have automated monorail trains plying terminals. 
• However, these trains run on exclusive single tracks while the Hamburg train will share tracks with other regular trains.

• This project is being developed by ‘Siemens and Deutsche Bahn’. It is being dubbed as “world first”. 
• The project is part of a 60-million-euro modernisation of rapid urban rail system of Hamburg. 
• These automated trains will offer a reliable service without laying a single kilometre of new track. 
• These trains can transport “up to 30 % more passengers”. 
• Besides improving the punctuality, these trains will save more than 30 % of energy.
• Though the train is controlled by digital technology and is fully automated. 
• But a driver will sit on the train to supervise journeys of the passengers on board.
• It is noted that Deutsche Bahn is a German railway company, having its headquarter in Berlin. 
• It is a private joint-stock company. 
• The Federal Republic of Germany is the only shareholder in the company. 
• It is the second-largest transport company in the world. 
• In the year 2015, Deutsche Bahn was the largest railway company of the world by revenue.

Highlights:

• Former chief of State Bank of India, Rajnish Kumar, has joined the Board of BharatPe as chairman.
• Rajnish Kumar will get involved in defining the short-term and long-term strategies of companies.
• He will also work closely with other Board Members and chief experience officer (CXOs) on key regulatory and business initiatives.
• BharatPe-Centrum Capital received an in-principal approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a small finance bank which will take over the Punjab Maharashtra Bank.
• As the chairman of BharatPe, Rajnish Kumar will advice and counsel the management of BharatPe regarding the matters on business performance as well as corporate governance.
• Rajnish Kumar completed his term as chairman of India’s largest lender SBI in October 2020. 
• Currently, he is working as advisor (resource raising) to the Andhra Pradesh government. 
• He also serves as an independent non-executive director at HSBC Bank, L&T infotech and Asia.
• Rajnish Kumar has also served as the managing director of National Banking Group, and managing director (Compliance & Risk) of State Bank of India. 
• The senior bank official had also headed the Capital Markets Ltd as managing director and chief executive officer of State Bank of India.

• He is an Indian banker, holding the position of Chairman of SBI. 
• He became chairman of SBI on October 7, 2017. His three-year term ended on October 6, 2020. He is the Probationary officer of 1980 batch.

Highlights:

• President of Tunisia, Kais Saied, unveiled a new government ,recently.
• The President also gave no hint when he would give up his near total control, seizing most powers in July 2021.
• He also did not give any hint to start reforms which are required for a financial rescue package to avert economic disaster.
• Under rules President Kais Saied announced in September 2021 when he swept aside many of the constitution moves and bring a new amendment that, cabinet will ultimately answer to him instead of Prime Minister Najla Bouden.
• Many of the main cabinet members, such as foreign and finance ministers, were serving President Saied in an interim capacity, already. However, new interior minister is one among his stable allies.
• Saied has thrust the democratic gains of 2011 revolution in Tunisia into doubt by seizing the executive authority and suspension of elected parliament. 
• He also provided no clear programme to restore normal constitutional order.  
• He also awarded himself the power to appoint a committee for amending the 2014 constitution and put it to a referendum.

Highlights:

• The Henley Passport Index 2021 was released recently in which India’s rank has dropped by six places as compared to 2020 index.
• Henley Passport Index lists the most travel-friendly passports of the world.
• This year India has been ranked at 90th.

• This Index was released at a time when countries are relaxing the travel rules for international visitors after two years since the beginning of Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
• Henley Passport Index ranks the passports of countries on the basis of number of destinations their holders can visit without getting visa in advance. 
• Rankings are decided by analysing the data provided by ‘International Air Transport Association (IATA)’.
• This year Japan and Singapore have topped the list as their passports holders are allowed to travel across 192 countries visa-free.
• Japan secured the top position for the third year in a row.
• South Korea and Germany were at the second position.
• Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Pakistan are among the least powerful.
• India was ranked at 84th position in 2020. But in 2021, its position has dropped to 90th position. India’s passport holders are allowed to travel to 58 countries visa-free. 
• India shares this rank with Tajikistan and Burkina Faso.
• It is noted that,the Henley Passport Index was prepared by London-based Henley and Partners, which is a global citizenship and residence advisory firm. 
• It covers 199 passports and 227 destinations.

Highlights:

• The second Thursday in October is designated as World Sight Day. 
• This year the day was observed on 14 October. 
• It is the most important day in the eye health calendar for advocacy and communication.
• This day is a global initiative to raise awareness about blindness and vision impairment.
• It was founded in the year 2000 by the Lions Club International Foundation's Sight First Campaign.
• It is observed with the goal of bringing disability and blindness to the attention of the entire world.
• In 1998, Lions Clubs International teamed with blindness presentation organizations to commemorate the first World Sight Day.
• Later, the event was incorporated into VISION 2020, a global program led by IAPB (International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness).

Highlights:

• Former higher education secretary, Amit Khare, was appointed as advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 12, 2021.
• Amit Khare got retired from IAS position in the month of September 2021.
• He is a retired IAS officer of 1985 batch from Jharkhand cadre.
• He has been appointed as advisor to Prime Minister on contractual basis.

• Appointment order of the Khare was issued after appointment committee of the cabinet gave its approval. 
• As an advisor in the Prime Minister’s Office, he will enjoy the rank and scale of the secretary to the Union government. 
• He has been appointed on contract basis, for a period of two years initially or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
• Khare had helped in shaping the new National Education Policy (NEP) while holding the position of higher education secretary. 
• He holds an MBA degree from IIM Ahmedabad. Khare took charge as higher education secretary in December 2019. 
• In between May 2018 to December 2019, he served as information and broadcasting ministry secretary. 
• He also played a major role in issuing the “Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021”. 
• He has also served as the vice-chancellor of Ranchi University and Commissioner of Jharkhand. He holds a BSc (Physics) degree from St Stephens College.
• Khare was also appointed as the deputy commissioner of West Singhbhum (Chaibasa) in between 1995-1997. During that period, he played a significant role in revealing the fodder scam in animal husbandry department in undivided Bihar.

Highlights:

• The National e Governance Division (NeGD) of the Ministry of Electronics and IT organised "AI Pe Charcha (AI Dialogue)" on October 28, 2021.
• AI Pe Charcha was organised under the theme- “AI for Date Driven Governance”.
• This session was organised with the aim of covering importance of data driven and AI-enabled governance along with best practices from across the globe.

• AI Pe Charcha is an initiative of “Ministry of Electronics & IT”. 
• It is a series of panel discussions, which involves several global and domestic leaders from Government as well as industry. 
• In the event, researchers & academicians share their views & experiences on Artificial Intelligence, breakthrough innovations, related case studies, best practices from world as well as challenges faced in the field of Artificial Intelligence.
• In the ‘AI for Data Driven Governance’ session, experts will speak about leveraging AI for Public Sector, Postal Services, Defence & Security and Future Cities. 
• They will also showcase a “presentation on important AI-driven solutions” which have played an important role amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
• As per PwC report, by 2030, AI have potential to provide a global economic value addition of up to USD 15.7 trillion. 
• After recognising this potential, government of India released “National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence (NSAI)” in 2018. 
• This strategy is a roadmap for the government for adopting artificial intelligence in a bid to increase efficiency in delivery of services. 
• India also deregulated the geospatial sector and allowed private players to bring state-of-the-art solutions in this sector and bring innovation in AI-enabled hotspot mapping & analytics. 
• This will lead to transformation in sectors like health and infrastructure. 
• It will also help in designing climate change resilient cities.

Highlights:

• The European Union (EU) attracted huge demand from investors for its first green bond on October 12, 2021.
• Huge demand was there as Brussels kicked off its efforts for becoming world’s biggest issuer of sustainable debt.
• Euro 12bn sale of 15-year debt attracted about Euro 135bn of orders.

• This was the largest green bond deal, eclipsing the UK’s 10bn pound debut in the month of September.
• The sale happened as Europe continues to battle an energy crunch, which also illustrate that there is a growing need for diverse and renewable sources of power.
• This issue of recent bond is the first of an expected  250bn pound of “European Commission green bonds”. 
• It makes about a third of the EU’s €800bn Covid-19 recovery fund.
• Proceeds through the green bond will be given to the member states who can spend it on areas such as transport, energy efficiency and nature protection. 
• This bond will help in strengthening the role of EU and euro in sustainable finance market.
• Brussels has joined several member states such as France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Poland in issuing green debt. Demand for green securities is intense because of focus of fund management industry on environmental, social and governance factors.
• The EU has joined other recent issuers with respect to attracting a price premium called as greenium. 
• Yield of 0.45 per cent represented a borrowing cost of around 0.025 of percentage point.
• It is noted that Green bond is a debt instrument through which capital is raised to fund ‘green projects’. Green projects usually include projects related to renewable energy, sustainable water management and clean transportation etc.

Highlights:

• The Aadhaar Hackathon is set to identify young innovators in the area of information technology.
• The event will start from October 28 and end on October 31, 2021.
• Hackathon will be organised for young innovators who are still at various engineering institutes and seeks to step into the real world.
• It will be the first-ever event being conducted by Aadhaar team.
• Theme : Aadhaar Hackathon 2021 has been themed on two topics:
• Enrolment and Update:This topic primarily covers some of the real-life challenges which are faced by the residents while they update their address.
• Identity and Authentication:Under this theme, the UIDAI is soliciting innovative solutions for proving the identity without sharing Aadhaar number or any demographic information. 
• It is also looking for innovative applications related to face authentication API, which is the newly launched authentication modality of the UIDAI. 
• Its objective is to popularise existing as well as new APIs for solving the needs of residents.
• To solve these challenges, UIDAI is reaching out to all engineering colleges through innovative technological solutions.
• How to register
• One can register for the hackathon by visiting “hackathon.uidai.gov.in” website.
• Prize money and other benefits
• UIDAI will also reward winners under each theme through prize money and other lucrative benefits.

• UIDAI is a statutory authority which was established under the provisions of the Aadhaar Act 2016 on July 12, 2016. 
• It was established under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). 
• It was created to issue Unique Identification numbers (UID), dubbed as “Aadhaar”, to all the residents of India.

Highlights:

• The International day for Eradication of Poverty is observed every year on October 17.
• The day is observed to recognize and acknowledge the efforts and struggles faced by people, who are pushed to live in poverty.

• It provides a chance to these people to speak out their concerns and make every people to realize that these poor people are the first one to fight poverty.
• As per World Bank report, United Nations states that, 88 to 115 million people have been pushed towards poverty. 
• Majority of the people are from South Asian and Sub-Saharan regions who were pushed towards poverty during the Covid-19 pandemic.
• The number might have increased, in the range of 143 and 163 million.
• These figures is addition to existing 1.3 billion people who were already living under poverty before the pandemic.
• Poverty was proclaimed as violation of human rights on October 17, 1987. 
• It was proclaimed by people who got assembled at the Trocadero in Paris in order to honour the victims of extreme poverty, hunger as well as violence. 
• On this day, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was also signed in the year 1948. 
• Finally on December 22, 1992, UN General Assembly adopted its resolution 47/196 and proclaimed October 17 as “International Day for the Eradication of Poverty”.
• The first commemoration of International day for Eradication of Poverty” took place in Paris, France, in the year 1987. 
• The day honoured the victims of poverty, hunger and violence.

Highlights:

• The International day for Eradication of Poverty is observed every year on October 17.
• The day is observed to recognize and acknowledge the efforts and struggles faced by people, who are pushed to live in poverty.

• It provides a chance to these people to speak out their concerns and make every people to realize that these poor people are the first one to fight poverty.
• As per World Bank report, United Nations states that, 88 to 115 million people have been pushed towards poverty. 
• Majority of the people are from South Asian and Sub-Saharan regions who were pushed towards poverty during the Covid-19 pandemic.
• The number might have increased, in the range of 143 and 163 million.
• These figures is addition to existing 1.3 billion people who were already living under poverty before the pandemic.
• Poverty was proclaimed as violation of human rights on October 17, 1987. 
• It was proclaimed by people who got assembled at the Trocadero in Paris in order to honour the victims of extreme poverty, hunger as well as violence. 
• On this day, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was also signed in the year 1948. 
• Finally on December 22, 1992, UN General Assembly adopted its resolution 47/196 and proclaimed October 17 as “International Day for the Eradication of Poverty”.
• The first commemoration of International day for Eradication of Poverty” took place in Paris, France, in the year 1987. 
• The day honoured the victims of poverty, hunger and violence.

Highlights:

• Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. have launched a new server chip on the basis of advanced 5-nanometer technology.
• This marks a milestone in light of semiconductor self-sufficiency of China.
• The newest chip was launched on the basis of micro-architecture provided by SoftBank Group Corporation, it is owned Arm Ltd.

• Alibaba, in the backdrop of its Annual Cloud Summit, highlighted that silicon will be put for using its own data centres in near future. 
• It will not be sold for commercial purposes. The annual cloud summit will be held in Hangzhou.
• Alibaba has customized the server chips is consistent with the ongoing efforts of boosting the computing capabilities with better performance and improved energy efficiency.
• Chips will be used to support current and future businesses in the Alibaba Group ecosystem.
• Alibaba has launched new server chip in the aftermath of increasing cloud services amid the covid-19 pandemic. 
• Tech giants across the world are seeking more powerful and energy efficient semiconductors for gaining edge.
• This server chip is the most advanced chip by a Chinese firm. 
• With this launch, Alibaba has joined in global rivals like Amazon & Google in gradually replacing silicon from traditional chipmakers such as Advanced micro-Devices Inc. and Intel Corp.

Highlights:

• Government think tank, NITI Aayog, launched the Geospatial Energy Map of India on October 18, 2021.
• This Geospatial Energy Map of India provides a holistic picture of all energy resources like oil & gas wells, petroleum refineries, conventional power plants, coal fields and coal blocks.

• GIS mapping of energy assets will be helpful in ensuring real-time and integrated planning of energy sector in India, considering its interdependence and large geographical distribution.
• Energy markets have huge potential in bringing efficiency gains.
• Such mapping of energy assets will be helpful for all concerned stakeholders.
• It will also help in accelerating policy-making process.
• Using this, fragmented data has been brought together and will prove to be a great research instrument.
• The Geospatial Energy Map of India has been launched by NITI Aayog in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Energy ministries of the Government of India has also provided its support in developing this platform.
• The GIS map will provide a holistic picture of all energy resources India, which in turn will help in visualising energy installations like conventional power plants, petroleum refineries, oil and gas wells, petroleum refineries, coal fields and coal blocks, renewable energy resource potential and district-wise data on renewable energy power plants through 27 thematic layers.
• Map will also identify and locate all primary and secondary sources of energy as well as their transportation/transmission networks in order to provide a comprehensive view of energy production and distribution in India.
• This platform has been launched with the aim of integrating energy data scattered across several organizations. 
• It will present consolidated data in visually appealing graphical manner.

Highlights:

• Chief Economist and Director of the Research Department of International Monetary Fund (IMF), Gita Gopinath, is set to leave her job in January 2022.
• She will return to the prestigious Harvard University, after leaving the job.
• The Indian-American economist had joined the IMF in January 2019, as the Chief Economist.
• When she joined IMF, she was working as John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and Economics at Harvard University.
• Harvard University had extended her leave of absence by one year on an exceptional basis. This allowed her to serve as Chief Economist for three years at the IMF.
• She is the first-ever woman Chief Economist of the IMF.

• Gita Gopinath was born in December 1971 to Malayalee parents. 
• She did her schooling in Kolkata. She completed her graduation from the Lady Shri Ram College of Commerce in Delhi. She had her Masters from the Delhi School of Economics and University of Washington. 
• She then completed Ph.D in economics from Princeton University in 2001. 
• She was guided by Ben Bernanke, Kenneth Rogoff, and Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas. 
• In the year 2001, she joined the University of Chicago as an Assistant Professor and moved to Harvard in 2005. I
• n the year 2010, she became a tenured Professor there. 
• She is only the third woman in Harvard to be a tenured professor at economics department. 
• She is also the first Indian following Nobel laureate Amartya Sen to hold this position at Harvard.

Highlights:

• According to the Climate tech start-up, Blue Sky Analytics report, India has been ranked at the top position on emissions related to crop burning.
• As per report, India accounted for 13 % of total global emissions in the period of 2015-2020.
• Report notes a 12.2 % contribution by India towards the cropland fire emissions in 2020 alone.
• The data highlights the new insights into recent trends in biomass fires, including emissions from crop residue and forest residue fires in India.
• For instance, data in report verifies the downward trend of crop fires between 2016 and 2019.
• As per report, GHG emissions due to cropland fires has reduced by 11.39 % in between 2016-2019.
• In between 2019-20, GHG emissions has increased by 12.8 %.
• As a result of this, India’s global contribution has become 12.2 %.
• Blue Sky Analytics is the Indian Climate tech start-up. 
• It was founded by an IIT alumnus. 
• It is a part of global coalition called “Climate TRACE”.

• Climate TRACE is a global coalition that works on the mission of accelerating climate action by providing near-real-time and independent high-resolution GHG emissions data.
• Innovative approach followed by Climate TRACE fills critical knowledge gaps for all the countries, which also rely on patchwork system of self-reporting.

• Emissions estimates provided by Blue Sky Analytics cover fires caused by human activities.
• It includes burning in forest areas to convert it into agricultural land or crop residues.
• It also covers fires caused by wildfire activity.
• It prepared report by combining multiple satellite data sources.

Highlights:

• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) announced for the launch of NPCI Tokenization system (NTS) on October 20, 2021.
• The main aim is to provide support to the tokenisation of cards as an alternate for storing card details with merchants.
• The NTS will support the tokenisation of RuPay cards in order to further enhance the safety of customers as well to provide a seamless shopping experience for the consumers.
• With the launch of NTS, acquiring banks, merchants, aggregators, and others can get themselves certified with the NPCI. 
• This in turn will help them in playing the role of Token Requestor.
• Token requestor will help in save the token reference number (Token Reference on File (TROF)) for all the saved card numbers.
• By utilizing the TROF, all the businesses can maintain their RuPay consumer base for future transactions that will be initiated by their respective RuPay consumers.
• Merchants are required to meet the Tokenisation by January 1, 2022.

• NPCI is the specialised division of Reserve Bank of India. 
• It works under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Finance. 
• It was established to operate retail payments and settlement systems in India. 
• NPCI was established in December 2008 and is registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act 2013. 
• It was established by the RBI and Indian Banks’ Association.

Highlights:

• Prestigious “Martial Arts Education Prize 2021” was conferred to the world-renowned Kung Fu Nuns of Drukpa order of Buddhism.
• Prize was given to them from the UNESCO International Centre for Martial Arts to honour their brave acts of service.
• The Prize recognises the historic “acts of service and championing of gender equality in Himalayas” by the Kung Fu Nuns.
• Through martial arts, Drukpa nuns empower young girls with defending themselves, take leadership roles across their communities and build confidence.
• It also recognises work by Kung Fu Nuns in Indian and Nepali communities, who were hit especially hard by the covid-19 pandemic. 
• Pandemic had left the marginalised groups in need of supplies and education.
• The Kung Fu Nuns belongs to the Drukpa Lineage of Indian Buddhism. 
• They started learning Kung Fu in building strength and confidence. 
• They now use those skills to serve others by means of unimaginable acts of bravery including recent 2500 km “Bicycle Yatra for Peace” from Kathmandu, Nepal to Ladakh. 
• During the Bicycle Yatra, they speak out against human trafficking as well as to their refusal to evacuate after 2015 Nepal earthquake for delivering critical aid to neglected regions.

• Kung Fu Nuns are an order of Buddhist nuns, belonging to the Drukpa Kagyu lineage. 
• It is a thousand-year-old sect and is led by the Gyalwang Drukpa. 
• Their name comes from the proficiency order in Chinese martial arts. 
• They started learning Chinese martial arts in 2008 after the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa authorised training. 
• They are best known for their social activism and humanitarian work. 
• They occupy leadership roles across their nunneries.

Highlights:

• State cabinet of Madhya Pradesh in its meeting on October 19, 2021, decided to implement Mukhya Mantri Ration Aapke Dwar scheme.
• Mukhya Mantri Ration Aapke Dwar Scheme will be implemented to benefit the poor tribal families.
• It will be implemented in tribal development blocks of state excluding those blocks which fall under districts which are undergoing bypolls.

• The scheme is going to benefit tribal families of around 7511 villages in 74 development blocks of 16 districts.
• Ration will be distributed from headquarters village as well as by transporting it through vehicle across other villages attached to the shop.
• Collector will fix the days of each month for distribution in the village.
• On an average, in a month, 220 to 440 quintals of ration will be distributed by a vehicle for 22 to 25 days.
• Around 472 vehicles will be used to distribute food transportation.
• Under the scheme, there will be an annual expenditure of Rs. 24,000 per month on one metric ton vehicle while an expenditure of Rs 31,000 per month will be on 2 metric ton vehicle. 
• Thus, there will be total of Rs 14.07 crore of expenditure.
• Under the scheme, quality of the food-grain loaded in the vehicle will also be tested. 
• All arrangements including electronic weighing machine, speaker, mic, POS for weighing material will be made to keep machine and food safe.

Highlights:

• National Police Commemoration Day is observed every year on October 21, in India. 
• This day is dedicated to the sacrifices of ten policemen, who died in Chinese firing in the year 1959.
• On October 21, 1959, Chinese troops threw grenades and opened fire at twenty Indian soldiers in Ladakh. 
• Out of them, ten brave police personnel attained martyrdom while seven others sustained injuries in that incident. 
• A month later, on November 28, 1959, dead bodies of the martyred policemen were handed over to India by the Chinese troops. 
• Their cremation was held at the Hot springs in North Eastern Ladakh, with full Police honours. 
• Since then, October 21 is observed as “Police Commemoration Day”.
• National level Police Commemoration Day Parade is held at the Police Memorial, Chanakyapuri, since the year 2012.
• The day has become more significant in the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic. 
• Ever since the COVID-19 outbreak in India in 2020, Indian police officers have been on the frontline along with healthcare officials. 
• Several police officers lost their life while discharging their duties.

• National Police Museum was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on October 15, 2018. 
• It is handled by the central armed police forces (CAPFs) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB). 
• Museum depicts the history, uniform & gear of central as well as state police forces in India.

Highlights:

• The Caribbean Island called Barbados, in a bid to become a republic, has elected its first ever president.
• This is a key step in preparations for becoming a republic.
• This move will also remove Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II as head of state of Barbados.
• Sandra Mason, who is the current governor-general of the island, will sworn in as president on November 30, 2021.
• November 30 marks the 55th anniversary of independence of Barbados from Britain.
• Sandra Mason had announced the break with Britain in September 2020 and said that, time has come to fully leave the colonial past behind.
• Barbados was claimed by the British in the year 1625. 
• It has been referred as “Little England” sometimes, because of its loyalty to British customs.
• Barbados is an island country, located in Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, it is the most easterly part of the Caribbean Islands. 
• The island country is relatively prosperous and a popular tourist destination. 

Highlights:

• The International Day of Diplomats is celebrated on 24 October every year.
• The day aims to commemorate the contributions made by diplomats in shaping the world.
• It also aims to bridge the gap in perception and reality of diplomats' lives among the general public.
• The first International Day of Diplomats was celebrated in Brasília on 24 October 2017.
• The day was proposed by Indian poet-diplomat Abhay K.
• The day saw participation from Bangladesh, France, Ghana, Israel, Italy, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey.

• Diplomats of some countries have their days to celebrate their National Day of Diplomats, while many countries do not have a day of diplomats.
• Russian diplomats celebrate 10 February as Russian Diplomats Day, while Indian diplomats celebrate 9 October as the Indian Foreign Service Day.
• Brazil celebrates 20 April as Brazil's Diplomats Day.
• The 2nd International Day of Diplomats was celebrated in Brasilia and other capitals with the support of diplomats from several countries on 24 October 2018.
• The 3rd International Day of Diplomats was honoured by the Ambassadors of the United States, European Union, African Union, India, South Korea, Algeria, Turkey, the Charge de Affairs of Russia, Egypt and diplomats of the Vatican, Switzerland among other countries in Antananarivo, Madagascar.

Highlights:

• International Widows Day is observed on June 23 every year to draw attention towards the voices of widows and highlight their problems. 
• It is a United Nations (UN) ratified day of action to address the poverty and injustice faced by millions of widows and their dependents in several countries of the world.

• In 2005, Loomba Foundation initiated the International Widow’s Day. 
• According to Loomba, ladies in a variety of nations experience complication after their husband dies. 
• They are not appeared at with the aid of NGO’s, governments and also societies curse them. 
• Finally, on 23 June 2010, it was officially known in the United Nations General Assembly.

Highlights:

• The International Olympic Day is designated on June 23 each and every year. 
• The day is celebrated to motivate greater human beings to participate in the Olympic Games and unfold recognition about the event and promote the Olympic Movement.
• Based on the three pillars (move, learn and discover), the National Olympic Committees are deploying sports, cultural and educational things to do to inspire participation regardless of age, gender, social background, or carrying ability.
• Theme 2021: Stay healthy, remain strong, continue to be active with the #OlympicDay exercise on 23 June.

• The International Olympic Committee (IOC) authorized to have a look at Olympic Day in January 1948 to commemorate the advent of the International Olympic Committee on 23 June 1894. 
• The introduction of the contemporary Olympic Games is stimulated by using the historic Olympic Games held in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. 
• The first Olympic Day was observed in 1948.

Highlights:

• Sahdev Yadav, former Secretary-General of IWLF, was elected as the President of the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF).
• The election also saw the appointment of S.H. Anande Gowda and Naresh Sharma because of the new Secretary-General & Treasurer of IWLF.
• Also, 10 new Vice Presidents, 4 Joint Secretaries & 7 executive committee members were also elected.
• The election was conducted by official Narinder Paul Kaushik, Delhi District Court.
• Rakesh Gupta, joint secretary of, Indian Olympic Association was present as the IOA observer.
• Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu had won India's first-ever Olympic medal during the Tokyo Games when she claimed a silver within the 49kg category.

Highlights:

• India has achieved the 71st position within the Global Food Security (GFS) Index 2021 from among a listing of 113 countries.
• The GFS Index is meant and constructed by London-based Economist Impact and is sponsored by Corteva Agriscience.
• The general score of India is 57.2 points on the GFS Index 2021.
• According to the report, India held 71st position with an overall score of 57.2 points on the GFS Index 2021 of 113 countries
• Over the past 10 years, India’s incremental gains in overall food security score were lagging behind that of Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
• The GFS Index measures the factors affecting food insecurity around the world based on 4 main factors and 58 unique food security indicators.
• I. Affordability
• II. Availability
• III. Quality and safetySahdev Yadav Appointed As New President Of IWF

Highlights:

• Sri Lanka has received the first consignment of non-harmful Nano Nitrogen liquid fertiliser from India on October 20, 2021.
• Of all, India sent 3.1 million litres of high quality non-harmful Nano Nitrogen liquid fertiliser.
• The fertilizer will help Sri Lanka in the cultivation of maize and paddy.
• Sri Lanka imported the Nano Nitrogen liquid fertiliser, after Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa decided to stop chemical fertilizer imports.
• President took this decision in May 2021 which sparked anger and widespread protests in farmland districts of the Island country.

• Nano Nitrogen Liquid Fertilizer was developed by Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), with the objective of addressing imbalanced and excessive use of conventional Urea.
• It has been developed indigenously, for the first time in the world.
• It was developed at Nano Biotechnology Research Centre (NBRC) of IFFCO at Kalol, Gujarat by means of a proprietary patented technology.

• It is a source of nitrogen and a major essential nutrient that are required for proper growth and development of plants. 
• Nitrogen is a key constituent of amino acids, genetic materials, enzymes, energy transfer compounds and photosynthetic pigments in a plant. 
• Usually, in a healthy plant, nitrogen content is present in the range of 1.5 to 4%. 
• Application of Nano Urea (Liquid) at critical crop growth stages of the plant fulfils its nitrogen requirement and increases its productivity and quality as compared to conventional urea.

Highlights:

• New Zealand defeated India to win the 1st ICC World Test Championship. 
• New Zealand chased down the goal of 139 to win the first-ever World Test Championship final with eight wickets in hand.
• The final day of the in shape used to be performed on June 23, 2021. 
• The fit saw 6 days play in region of the normal 5 days due to the rain factor.
• Kyle Jamieson (NZ) chosen as the Player of the match, while Kane Williamson (NZ) is the Player of the series.
• The first test championship started in 2019 with the finals being played in 2021.
• The pinnacle three teams, as a result, are: First: New Zealand; Second- India; Third- Australia.
• The remaining healthy was once played at Ageas Bowl Stadium (Rose Bowl Stadium) in Southampton, England.
• The subsequent Test Championship will be held between 2021-2023.

Highlights:

• DBT has issued a Special Call under the Biotech KISAN Programme to improve agricultural productivity in the North East region.

• It is a farmer-centric scheme for farmers developed by and with farmers under the Ministry of Science and Technology's Department of Biotechnology.
• It is a pan-India programme that promotes entrepreneurship and innovation in farmers while also empowering women farmers.
• It identifies and promotes local farm leaders of both male and female.
• In addition to facilitating knowledge transfer, this type of leadership also helps to develop science-based agriculture.
• The goal is to understand the farmers' water, soil, seed, and market problems and provide simple solutions to them.
• The programme connects available science and technology to the farm by first understanding the local farmer's problems and then providing scientific solutions to those problems.
• The Biotech-KISAN hubs are expected to provide the technology needed to generate agriculture and bio-resource-related jobs and better livelihoods for small and marginal farmers by ensuring biotechnological benefits.

Highlights:

• The United Nations’ World Development Information Day is held on 24 October every year.
• The Day aims to draw the attention of world public opinion to development problems and the need to strengthen international cooperation to solve them for overall growth and development.
• The UN General Assembly established the World Development Information Day in 1972 to coincide with the United Nations Day.
• The General Assembly in 1972 established World Development Information Day to draw the attention of the world's development problems and the need to reinforce international cooperation to solve them.
• The Assembly decided that the date for the Day should coincide with United Nations Day, 24 October.
• It was also the date of the adoption of the International Development Strategy for the Second United Nations Development Decade.

Highlights:

• World Polio Day is celebrated on 24 October to raise awareness for polio vaccination and eradication of Polio.
• The Day was established by Rotary International to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk,
• He led the first team to develop a vaccine against poliomyelitis.
• The 2021 theme for World Polio Day is “Delivering on a Promise.”
• Polio is a crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease.
• There is no cure, but there are safe and effective vaccines. Polio can be prevented through immunization.
• The Polio vaccine, given multiple times, almost always protects a child for life. 
• Therefore, the strategy to eradicate Polio is based on preventing infection by immunizing every child until transmission stops and the world is polio-free.
• Polio is caused by an RNA virus, where 85% of the infections are paralytic. 
• Poliovirus is most commonly spread in areas where there is poor sanitation.
• The use of the poliovirus vaccine and subsequent widespread use of the oral poliovirus, developed by Albert Sabin, led to the establishment of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988. 
• As of 2013, GPEI had reduced Polio worldwide by 99%.

Highlights:

• The Global Threat Assessment Report was released by We Protect Global Alliance.
• Child sexual abuse is a chronically underfunded issue and midst of COVID-19 pandemic, cases of child sexual exploitation and abuse online have increased.
• In the last two years, child sexual exploitation and online abuse reporting have reached their highest level.
• According to The Internet Watch Foundation, there is an increase of 77% in child ‘self-generated’ sexual material between 2019 to 2020.
• As per the report, currently, 37% of children use tools to detect online grooming.
• Online grooming is where someone befriends a child online and builds their trust to exploit them and cause them harm.

• Prioritise prevention activities against abuse online
• Create safe online environments for children
• Stakeholders, who have a crucial role in protecting the children, should improve the response.

Highlights:

• October 22 has been observed as International Stuttering Awareness Day.
• The first International Stuttering Awareness Day was celebrated in 1998.
• The day is meant to raise public awareness of the millions of people with stuttering or stammering speech disorders.

• The International Stuttering Awareness Day, ISAD, was headed by Michael Sugarman, Oakland, California.
• ISAD acknowledges the growing collaboration between SLPs and consumers, who are learning from each other and working together to share, give support, and educate one another and the general public on the impact that stuttering has on individuals’ lives.
• Since its beginning, online Conferences, organized by Judy Kuster, have been an essential part of International Stuttering Awareness Day.
• Stuttering is a speech disorder characterized by the repetition of sounds, syllables, or words; prolongation of sounds; and interruptions in speech known as blocks.
• An individual who stutters precisely knows what they would like to say but has trouble producing a regular flow of speech.

Highlights:

• Nagaland will host the National Cross Country Championship on January 15 2022, for the first time.
• The 2022 South Asian Federation Cross Country Championships will be held on January 15, 2022, in Kohima, Nagaland.
• Besides, the 56th National Cross Country Championships will also be clubbed with the South Asian Federation Cross Country Championships.
• This will be the first-ever national athletics event hosted by Nagaland.
• Top athletes from the eight South Asian countries will take part in the day-long international sports event.
• The championship will involve running on different types of terrain, including sprint over dirt, jogging downhill and mounting uphill.
• Chief Minister of Nagaland is Neiphiu Rio and Governor of Nagaland is Jagdish Mukhi.
•  Natural resources and resilience.

Highlights:

• The 52nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is going to held in Goa from November 20 to November 28, 2021.
• The Hungarian filmmaker Istvan Szabo and Hollywood icon Martin Scorsese will be honoured with “Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award”.
• Istvan Szabo is the most notable Hungarian filmmakers. 
• He has been known outside the Hungarian-speaking world since 1960s.
• He achieved his greatest international success with movie called Mephisto (1981). 
• For this, he was awarded with an Oscar in the best foreign language film category.

• He is one of the greatest and most influential directors in film history. 
• He established filmmaking history in nine films made with Robert De Niro, such as biographical sports drama Raging Bull (1980) and psychological thriller Taxi Driver (1976). 
• He has also been known for his collaborations with actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Scorsese directed Leonardo in five films namely, Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006), Shutter Island (2010) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013).

• 52nd International film Festival of India is scheduled to organise from November 20 to November 28, 2021 in Goa. 
• It will be held in hybrid form like its 51st edition. 
• In the year 2021, to mark the birth centenary of Satyajit Rai, Directorate of Film Festivals will pay tribute to him by means of a ‘Special Retrospective’. 
• An award named “Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Cinema, will be given on the occasion to recognise auteur’s legacy. 

• He was an Indian film director, documentary filmmaker, scriptwriter, essayist, author, illustrator, lyricist, magazine editor, calligrapher, and music composer. 
• He is considered as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.

Highlights:

• India’s first IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) calf of Banni breed of buffaloes was born at a farmer’s house in Gir Somnath district of Gujarat on October 23, 2021.
• Banni breed of buffalo is found primarily in the Kutch region of Gujarat.
• IVC process was carried out in a bid to enhance the number of genetically superior buffaloes for increasing the milk production.
• Banni buffalo, belonging to a dairy farmer, from Dhanej village gave birth to IVF male calf.
• Embryos of Banni donors were implanted in 18 recipient buffaloes using the IVF technology.
• Banni breed had achieved six pregnancies, out of which one calf was born, at the farmer’s firm. More will be born in few days.
• This process was carried out by JKBovagenix of NGO JK Trust which is a social initiative of Raymond Group.

• Banni buffalo are also known as “Kutchi” or “Kundi”. 
• This breed of buffalo is found primarily in Kutch district of Gujarat.
• The word ‘Banni’ is specific to not only the buffaloes but pasture grass species as well, that are native to this region.
• This breed of buffaloes is preserved by a local community of Kutch called the ‘Maldharis’.

Highlights:

• India has handed over a 34.9 km long cross-border rail link to the Nepal government that connects Jayanagar in Bihar to Kurtha in Nepal.
• The ceremony took place on October 22, 2021, with the Indian ambassador to Nepal Vinay M. Kwatra and Nepal minister for physical Infrastructure & transport Renu Kumari Yadav.
• The Jaynagar - Kurta section of the rail link is the part of 68.7 km Jaynagar - Bijalpura - Bardidas rail link.
• It was built under the grant assistance programme of the Indian government.
• A total of 34.9 km narrow gauge has been completed, and the project was completed at the cost of Rs 619 crore.
• It has five stations in the section, namely, Jayanagar, Khajuri, Inarwa, Baidehi and Kurtha near Janakpur in Nepal.
• The highest fare will likely be Rs 70 for the general class and Rs 300 for AC for the entire journey.
• The train will run at 115 km per hour, and the distance will be covered in 23 minutes.
• This operationalised cross-border rail link is likely to enhance trade and commerce activities and also enhance people to people linkage between both countries.

Highlights:

• The central government has planned to set up a committee for National Employment Policy (NEP), which seeks to create a roadmap for improving job opportunities in India.
• The committee will comprise of representatives from Ministry of labour and other ministries.
• It will also include prominent people from industry.
• It will be a high-powered committee, of which views and recommendations will be taken.

• The NEP seeks to create a sector-wise strategy to improve the potential of job creation by pulling investments towards employment-intensive sectors, attracting new industries by creating an enabling environment and by policy interventions. 
• It will be created based on data from five all-India labour surveys and E-Shram portal for facilitating evidence-based policymaking to generate employment. 
• Following the consultations, it will be sent for cabinet approval.

• Labour Ministry had launched the E-Shram portal on August 26, 2021. 
• The platform registers an estimated 380 million informal & unorganised workers like construction workers, street vendors, domestic workers, gig & platform workers, agricultural & migrant workers, and other unorganised workers. 
• This portal will facilitate the implementation of policies for unorganised sector. 
• Portal will help in monitoring and supervising government policies as well as ensure that benefits reach the targeted group.

Highlights:

• The Parambikulam Tiger Conservation Foundation has seized the Earth Guardian Award gave away by the NatWest Group.
• The eight award winners were awarded by the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora by secretary-general Ivonne Higuero through a virtual ceremony.
• Parambikulam Tiger Reserve also includes the recent Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, which is spread across 391 square kilometres.
• It is a protected area in the Palakkad district of Kerala and was established in 1973.
• The sanctuary is in the Sungam range of hills in between Anaimalai Hills and Nelliyampathy Hills.
• Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary was declared a part of Parambikulam Tiger Reserve in 2010.

Highlights:

• He was honoured for his contribution as an actor, producer and screenwriter.
• He received the prestigious award from Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu for his marvellous contribution to Indian cinema.

• Instituted in 1969, the award is the highest recognition for an artist in Indian cinema.
• The award was chosen by a jury consisting of five members: Asha Bhonsle, director Subhash Ghai, Mohanlal, Shankar Mahadevan and actor Biswajeet Chatterjee.
• The Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2019 should've been proclaimed last year but was postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, as were the National Film Awards for 2019.

Highlights:

• India has ranked 106th in the FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) Rankings 2021.
• The Indian team position was raised to one spot after the SAFF - South Asian Football Federation Championship 2021 of team India led by Sunil Chhetri.
• India has achieved the 106th position after beating Nepal in the summit clash.

• Under the FIFA Rankings, Belgium is at 1st position. Brazil holds 2nd position, France holds 3rd position.
• We find some of the most significant raisers on FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) Rankings 2021 edition.
• Morocco (29th, 4), Russia (33rd, 4), Egypt (44th, 4), Saudi Arabia (49th, 7) and South Africa (66th, 7) all made paces on the back of two wins from two this month in Qatar 2022 qualifying.
• Two nations in the second half of the table proved even better, with New Zealand (111, 10) and Indonesia (165, 10) the joint-biggest movers this month, ahead of the Central African Republic (115, 9) and Cambodia (170, 8).

Highlights:

• Former Chief Scientist at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Dr Rajiv Nigam, has been selected for the 2022 Joseph A. Cushman Award.
• Dr Nigam, the first Indian to be chosen for the prestigious award, was elected for Excellence in Foraminiferal Research.
• He has been chosen for his outstanding lifetime contributions to foraminifera, also known as microfossil research.
• Dr Nigam will receive the award at the Cushman Reception during the 2022 Geological Society of America meeting in Denver, Colorado, USA, from 9-12 October 2022.
• Joseph A. Cushman Award was established by USA based Cushman foundation for foraminiferal research in 1979.

• Joseph A. Cushman Award was established in 1979 by USA based Cushman foundation for foraminiferal research.
• It was established to honour researchers who have made outstanding contributions in the field of foraminiferology.
• Since then, 41 Scientists from different countries worldwide have been presented with this international award.
• Dr Rajiv Nigam is the first Indian Citizen who was selected for this lifetime achievement award based on his outstanding research work on foraminifera (microfossil).

Highlights:

• The 1st Training Squadron is on a 4-day visit to Sri Lanka from 24 - 28 Oct as part of their Overseas Deployment for the 100th and 101st Integrated Officers Training Course.
• The deployment is aimed to broaden the horizons of young officers and officer-trainees by exposing them to the socio-political and maritime facets of different countries in the Indian Ocean Region.

• The deployment will also expose the trainees onboard towards the conduct of IN warships in various evolutions at sea, port familiarisation and above all, foster the bridges of friendship with foreign nations.
• The ships are part of Southern Naval Command (SNC), which is the Training Command of the Indian Navy.  
• The 1st Training Squadron based at Kochi provides the ‘first sea legs’ to the Executive Officers of the Indian Navy on completion of their ab-initio training at the Indian Naval Academy.
• The Squadron comprises seven indigenously built ships, namely, Indian Naval Ships Tir, Sujata, Magar, Shardul, Coast Guard Ship Vikram and two Sail Training Ships INS Sudarshini and INS Tarangini.
• The Squadron is currently helmed by Captain Aftab Ahmed Khan, Senior officer, Training Squadron and Commanding Officer, INS Tir.
• During the four-day deployment, IN ships Magar and Shardul alongwith trainees of 101 IOTC will visit the Colombo harbour, while IN ships Sujata, Sudarshini, Tarangini, and CGS Vikram will visit Trincomalee with the trainees of 100th IOTC.
• Various training activities are planned to be conducted between the Navies of the two countries to enhance the interoperability of the two forces.

Highlights:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually attend the 16th East Asia Summit held on 27 October.

• The East Asia Summit is the premier Leaders-led conference in the Indo-Pacific.
• Since its beginning in 2005, it has played a vital role in East Asia's strategic and geopolitical evolution.
• Apart from the 10 ASEAN Member states, East Asia Summit comprises India, China, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Russia.
• Being a founding member of the East Asia Summit, India is obliged to strengthen the East Asia Summit and make it more efficient for dealing with modern challenges.
• It is also an indispensable platform for promoting practical cooperation in the Indo-Pacific by developing upon the meeting between ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and Indo-Pacific Ocean's Initiative (IPOI).
• At the 16th East Asia Summit, Leaders will discuss regional and international interest and concern matters, including maritime security, terrorism, and Covid-19 cooperation.
• Leaders are also expected to accept declarations on mental health and economic recovery through Tourism and Green Recovery, which India co-sponsored.

Highlights:

• The National e Governance Division (NeGD) of the Ministry of Electronics and IT organised “AI Pe Charcha (AI Dialogue)” on October 28, 2021.
• AI Pe Charcha was organised under the theme- “AI for Date Driven Governance”.
• This session was organised with the aim of covering importance of data driven and AI-enabled governance along with best practices from across the globe.

• AI Pe Charcha is an initiative of “Ministry of Electronics & IT”. 
• It is a series of panel discussions, which involves several global and domestic leaders from Government as well as industry. 
• In the event, researchers & academicians share their views & experiences on Artificial Intelligence, breakthrough innovations, related case studies, best practices from world as well as challenges faced in the field of Artificial Intelligence.
• In the ‘AI for Data Driven Governance’ session, experts will speak about leveraging AI for Public Sector, Postal Services, Defence & Security and Future Cities. 
• They will also showcase a “presentation on important AI-driven solutions” which have played an important role amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
• As per PwC report, by 2030, AI have potential to provide a global economic value addition of up to USD 15.7 trillion. 
• After recognising this potential, government of India released “National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence (NSAI)” in 2018. 
• This strategy is a roadmap for the government for adopting artificial intelligence in a bid to increase efficiency in delivery of services. 
• India also deregulated the geospatial sector and allowed private players to bring state-of-the-art solutions in this sector and bring innovation in AI-enabled hotspot mapping & analytics. 
• This will lead to transformation in sectors like health and infrastructure. It will also help in designing climate change resilient cities.

Highlights:

• The World Day for Audiovisual Heritage is observed on October 27, every year.
• Audio-visual Heritage Day is observed with the aim of raising general awareness among people related to the need of taking urgent measures.
• The day also acknowledges the significance of audio-visual documents.

• It also brings the priceless heritage of these documents to notice, telling the stories of lives & cultures from across the world.
• The day also sensitize people across the world for conserving and safeguarding valuable audio-visual resources for future generations.
• The world, particularly the younger generation, is going digital in every significant aspect of life.
• Thus, this is significant as it reminds that even though we are moving forward, it is important to carry heritage so that it does not get lost.
• It encourages the preservation of work of professionals against the range of political, technical, social, financial, and other factors that threatens the safeguards of audio-visual heritage.
• The theme highlights that, audio-visual sources provide a window in the form of documentary heritage objects, to the world.
• This day was adopted by the 21st General Conference  of the recommendations, in the year 1980, in a bid to safeguard and preserve the moving images.
• The day was declared by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural organization) on October 27, 2005.

Highlights:

• The Ministry of Civil Aviation launched “Krishi Udan 2.0 scheme” on October 27, 2021.
• Under “Krishi Udan 2.0 scheme”, cargo-related infrastructure will be built in airports of hilly, tribal, and north-east regions.
• Such infrastructure will help in assisting farmers to transport agriculture products.
• Central government had launched Krishi Udan scheme in September 2020. 
• Under the scheme, airport charges like parking charges & terminal navigational landing charges were waived off. 
• Charges were waived off if the agricultural cargo is more than 50 % of the total chargeable weight carried.

• Under Krishi Udan 2.0, central government has planned for granting full waiver of airport charges at select airports. 
• Waiver would be given even if agricultural cargo is lower than 50 % of total chargeable weight carried. Centre will also facilitate the development of hub and spoke model across India. 
• Government will also create cargo terminals at the airports in phase-wise manner. 
• Moreover, government will encourage states to reduce sales tax to one per cent on aviation turbine fuel, which is used in freighter aircraft and passenger aircraft for transporting cargo.
• Under the Cargo scheme, cargo terminals will be established at the airports in Agartala, Dibrugarh, Srinagar, Hubbali, Dimapur, Jorhat, Imphal, Silchar, Lilabari, Lucknow, Tirupati, Tezpur, Tirupati and Tuticorin by 2022.
• In between 2022-23, cargo terminals will be established at airports in Ahmedabad, Jharsuguda, Bhavnagar, Mysore, Kozhikode, Rajkot, Puducherry, and Vijayawada.
• The scheme has been launched with the aim of channelising the immense potential of Indian agriculture with logistical help of civil aviation in a bid to achieve the goal of doubling farmers’ income. 
• It will also help in alleviating wastage of farm produce and increase its value.
• e-Kushal platform would be developed under Krishi Udan 2.0 scheme for facilitating information dissemination to stakeholders with respect to transportation of agriculture produce.

Highlights:

• Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises launched the “SAMBHAV National Level Awareness Programme, 2021” in new Delhi on October 27, 2021.
• With the launch of programme, Union Minister of MSME Narayan Rane called for engagement of youth in promoting entrepreneurship, which in turn will lead to the economic development of India.
• As per Minister new products and services developed by budding entrepreneurs can give cascading effect for stimulating the related businesses or sectors.
• SAMBHAV National Level Awareness Programme: A Fact File
• The mass outreach program called “SAMBHAV National Level Awareness Programme” will run for one-month under the Ministry of MSME. 
• Under the initiative, students from different colleges or ITIs from across the India will be encouraged to take entrepreneurship. 
• Around 130 field offices of the Ministry will help in encouraging the students. 
• During the campaign, college students will be made aware of the several schemes that the Ministry of MSME is implementing through Audio or Video film presentations. 
• These programmes will be conducted across 1,300 colleges in India, in which around 1,50,000 students will participate.

• MSME is the apex executive body that formulate and administer the rules, regulations and laws related to micro, small and medium enterprises in India. 
• Narayan Rane is the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. 
• Ministry of Small-Scale Industries and Agro & Rural Industries was established in October 1999. 
• But it got split into the Ministry of Small-Scale Industries and Ministry of Agro & Rural Industries in the year 2001.

Highlights:

• The International Animation day is celebrated on the 28th october aiming to honor the art of animation.
• International Animation Day is observed every year on the 28th of October to celebrate the art of animation.
• This day also recognizes the artists, scientists and technicians behind animation.
• This year marks the 20th International Animation Day as it was founded in 2002 by the International Animated Film Association (ASIFA), an International Animated Film Association and a member of UNESCO.
• President of ASIFA is Sayoko Kinoshita and ASIFA Founder is John Halas.
• ASIFA was founded in 1960, in Annecy, France.
• ASIFA created the International Animation Day (IAD) in 2002, honouring the birth of animation.
• This is recognized as the first public performance of projected moving images, Emile Reynaud’s Theatre Optique in Paris, on the 28th of October 1892.