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Current affairs 18-24 October 2020

  • The country’s largest Central Police force, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has collaborated with IIT Delhi, Defence Research and Development Organisation, and Joint Advanced Technology Centre (JATC) to augment its Research and Development capabilities.
  • The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, won a landslide victory in the country’s general election, to be elected as the PM for the second consecutive three-year term.
  • The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the extension of the tenure of Home Secretary, Ajay Kumar Bhalla till August 22, 2021.
  • India successfully test-fired the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, from the Indian Navy’s indigenously-built stealth destroyer INS Chennai with the weapon hitting a pre-designated target in the Arabian Sea.
  • The 8th edition of the annual Indian Navy (IN) – Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) bilateral maritime exercise SLINEX-20 starts at Trincomalee, Sri Lanka from 19 to 21 October 2020.
  • India has successfully conducted the night trial of its nuclear-capable Prithvi-2 missile from Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near Balasore, off Odisha coast.
  • A 23-year-old, Mumbai based girl, Aishwarya Sridhar became the first Indian woman to win the 2020 Wildlife Photographer of the Year award. It is the 56th year of the prestigious award.
  • The 7th meeting of Ministers of (Law and) Justice of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Member States was virtually hosted by Indian Minister of Law & Justice, Communication and Electronics & Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad.
  • India ranked 94 among 107 nations in the Global Hunger Index 2020. With a score of 27.2, India has been placed in the “serious” category in the GHI scale. Although there is an improvement in a score as compared to 38.9 in 2000, 37.5 in 2006, and 29.3 in 2012 but still it represent a serious level of hunger.
  • The IIT-Madras incubated dairy-tech startup, “Stellapps” has launched a first-of-its-kind, fully-automated direct payment platform, ‘mooPay’, for dairy farmers in Rajasthan.
  • Kati Bihu is one of the sets of three Bihu festivals (agricultural festivals) was celebrated in the state of Assam. The Kati Bihu is also known as Kangali Bihu, the festival of the poor (the word “Kongal” means “poor”) is celebrated in mid-October when the crops are at growing stage and the granaries of the farmers are depleting. The Kati Bihu is celebrated with the lamp called ‘Saki’ which is lit on the tips of bamboo poles in the fields.
  • Uttar Pradesh (UP) Governor, Anandiben Patel has launched “Safe City Project” – a women’s safety campaign in Lucknow, UP.
  • For the first time, since the inception of the framework agreement of ISA, the Solar Awards were presented during the third Assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to the countries of the region as well as institutions working for solar.
  • Visvesvaraya award: Japan for the Asia Pacific region and the Netherlands for Europe and Others region.
  • Kalpana Chawla awards: Dr Bhim Singh from IIT Delhi (India) and Dr Aaesha Alnuaimi from Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (United Arab Emirates).
  • Diwakar award: Arpan Institute (Haryana) and Arushi Society.
  • India has been ranked at 4th position, with a score of 39.7 out of 100, in the Asia Power Index 2020, released by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute.
  • In Badminton, former World Champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan clinched the Denmark Open 2020 title beating three-time world champion Carolina Marin in women’s singles.
  • In the men’s singles final, world number seven Anders Antonsen of Denmark defeated his compatriot Rasmus Gemke.
  • Singapore became the World’s First Country to attach Facial verification in the National Identification Database. The function is called “SingPass Face Verification”.
  • Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik has launched the electricity consumer service portal ”Mo Bidyut” and a mobile app through video conference.
  • India successfully flight-tested its indigenously developed Stand-off Anti-tank (SANT) missile from Integrated Test Range (ITR) off Odisha coast.
  • India has invited Australia to participate in its trilateral naval exercise “Malabar-2020” which is scheduled to be held in November 2020, in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.
  • Union Agriculture Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar has launched “AYUSHMAN SAHAKAR”. The scheme is a unique way to assist cooperatives to play an important role in the creation of healthcare infrastructure in the country.
  • Nokia has been selected by NASA to build the first cellular network on the moon.
  • India has acquired the second rank in terms of the number of migrants going to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and acquiring the citizenship of those countries.
  • In Shooting, the world number one Elavenil Valarivan of India won the gold medal in women’s event of the 2020 Sheikh Russel International Air Rifle Championship.
  • Railway Protection Force (RPF), Visakhapatnam has started implementing ‘Meri Saheli’ initiative in AP Express (Visakhapatnam to New Delhi), in order to provide proactive security to women passengers.
  • Asan Conservation Reserve has become Uttarakhand’s first Ramsar site, making it a ‘Wetland of International Importance’, announced the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
  • Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the top destination for attracting the highest number of domestic tourists visiting the state in 2019 as per the Indian Tourism Statistics (ITS) 2020, released by the Ministry of Tourism. About 53.6 crore domestic tourists visited Uttar Pradesh in 2019, which is 23.1% of the total travellers. Tamil Nadu (21.3%) came second followed by Andhra Pradesh (10.2%). In terms of Foreign tourists, Tamil Nadu has topped the list with nearly 68 lakh foreigners visiting the state in 2019. Maharashtra (over 55 lakh) is at the second position in this list while Uttar Pradesh (over 47 lakh) has secured the third position in attracting foreign tourists visiting in 2019.
  • In India, the National Police Commemoration Day is observed on 21st October every year. The day is marked to remember and honour the brave policemen who have laid down their lives in the line of duty. On 21 October 1959, twenty Indian soldiers were attacked by Chinese troops in Ladakh’s Hot Spring area, in which, ten Indian policemen lost their lives and seven were imprisoned.
  • The Election Commission of India has set up a 2-member committee to examine the issue of revising the expenditure limit for candidates for Lok Sabha and assembly polls.
  • The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has launched ‘YSR Bima’, a scheme to provide financial assistance through insurance cover to the beneficiary in case of death or accident of their families members.
  • The state government of Tamil Nadu has launched the Smart Black Board scheme in 80,000 government schools of the state. The initiative aims to ensure a better teaching environment as well as lead towards Digital India and Atmanirbhar Bharat.
  • Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Trivendra Singh Rawat has inaugurated Integrated Model Agricultural Village scheme (Ekikrit Adarsh Krishi Gram Yojana) in the state in partnership with NABARD.
  • The Chief of Army Staff, General MM Naravane has commissioned the ‘INS Kavaratti’, the last of four indigenously-built anti-submarine warfare (ASW) stealth corvettes, into the Indian Navy in Visakhapatnam.
  • Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) successfully carried out the final trial of the third generation, anti-tank guided missile ‘NAG’, from the Pokhran field firing ranges in Rajasthan.
  • India has assumed the Chairmanship of the Governing Body of International Labour Organization (ILO), after a gap of 35 years.
  • Andorra has joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to become its 190th member.
  • Union Ministry of Rural Development has declared the list of top-performing 30 districts in the country for implementing the PMGSY programme. Himachal Pradesh’s, Mandi district has bagged top position among 30 districts of the country in the successful implementation of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). Himachal Pradesh has also secured the second position at the national level for construction of roads under PMGSY.
  • 24th October has been celebrated as United Nations Day since 1948.
  • World Snow Leopard Day is observed globally on 23rd October. The main purpose of this day is to show the importance of snow leopard conservation and raise awareness about this incredible animal.

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