October, 2020

@GKTodayQuizBot on Telegram
GKTODAY
Current Affairs [PDF] - October 1-31, 2020
Last Updated: November 11, 2020
नननननननन नननन
1
Contents
October 1, 2020
1. Why Kotaiah family demanding GI tag for ‘Kakinada kaja’?
2. “International Day of Older Persons” is observed on October 1.
3. What is ISRO Venus Mission for 2025?
4. Indian Coast Guard Vessel ICGS “Karnaklata Barua” commissioned in Kolkata
5. NCRB report 2020 – Crimes against SCs and STs saw a rise of 7 % and 26% in 2019
6. E-launch of ASIIM- “Ambedkar Social Innovation & Incubation Mission”
7. World’s First Asteroid Mining Robot will be Launched by China
8. Science and Technology Ministry launched CSIR Technologies for Rural Development
9. ‘Swachhata ke 6 saal, Bemisaal’ : MoHUA to celebrate Six Years of Swachh Bharat Mission
10. Shri Arjun Munda to Launch Largest Market of Tribal Products ‘Tribes India e-Marketplace’
October 2, 2020
11. International Day of Non-Violence on October 2.
12. How Defence Ministry’s procurement of 10 lakh hand grenades from private sector is significant?
13. SC: Overtime Wages should not be denied to labourers during Pandemic.
14. Why are Azerbaijan and Armenia fighting?
15. India-Myanmar reviewed their Bilateral Relations
16. Ayush Grid to be integrated with National Digital Health Mission
17. Data Governance Quality Index: Department of Fertilizers ranked 2nd amongst the 16 Economic Ministries
18. PM Modi to inaugurate Global Summit on AI- “RAISE 2020”
19. Is “Purified Antisera” a potential treatment for COVID-19?
October 3, 2020
20. Highlights of the NSS report- “Time use in India 2019”
21. Reliance Develops R-Green kit- can give COVID results in 2 hours
22. Swachh Bharat Awards- 2020
23. 100-Day Campaign – Launched to Provide Piped Water in Schools.
24. PM inaugurates Atal tunnel- World’s longest High-Altitude Tunnel
25. India-Bangladesh begin Bongosagar and CORPAT Naval Exercises
26. Northrop Grumman Launched SS Kalpana Chawla Cygnus
27. India successfully test-fires new version of Shaurya Missile
28. World Day For Farmed Animals Celebrated on October 2
29. Borris Johnson to hold talk with Von Der Leyen on Brexit
October 5, 2020
30. First Monday of October (October 5)- World Habitat Day
31. India – Bahrain discussed on Bilateral Cooperation in Financial Sector
32. PV-EDGE 2020- To be Oragnised by NITI Ayog, Renewable Ministry and Invest India.
33. Indian Army Builds Memorial for soldiers martyred in Galwan Clash
34. Provision of Postal Ballot for Elderly and People with Disabilities Issued
35. India and S. Africa move to WTO on COVID-19 Prevention.
36. What is Xoo infection?
37. DRDO successfully flight tested the Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo(SMART)
October 6, 2020
38. India-Israel Agreed for Advance Bilateral Cooperation to fight Coronavirus
39. Foreign Ministers of QUAD countries to meet in Tokyo
40. MoHUA unites with Swiggy To Take Street Food Vendors online
41. New Emission Norms of Tractors: Deadline extended till October 2021
42. Highlights of Recommendations made by 42nd GST Council Meet
43. Why Amazon is at risk of changing from Forest to Savanna?
44. C-DAC will commission ‘PARAM Siddhi – AI’ – India’s fastest HPC-AI Supercomputer
45. India- Myanmar agreed to operationalize Sittwe Port.
46. Dr. Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Ayush Standard Treatment Protocol’
2
47. IIM Kozhikode to Launch e-Learning Hub for Villagers
48. GoI appointed three Monetary Policy Committee Members
October 7, 2020
49. ISLRTC and NCERT sign MoU to convert educational materials into Indian Sign Language
50. IFFCO and Prasar Bharati sign MoU to promote new Agriculture Innovations
51. Ganga River Dolphin Day- My Ganga My Dolphin Campaign launched on the occasion.
52. Gujarat Government Launched the Digital Seva Setu Programme.
53. How Bio-Decomposer Spray will Counter the Stubble Burning in Delhi?
54. API Integration between PM SVANidhi and SBI Portal Launched
55. Vigraha- An Offshore Patrol Vessel of Indian Coast Guard launched
56. Study estimates 14 million tonnes of microplastics on sea floor
October 8, 2020
57. Smriti Irani launched first ever Brand & Logo for Indian Cotton
58. Russia test fired the Hypersonic Cruise Missile – TSIRKON
59. PM Modi launched the “Jan Andolan campaign” for COVID-19 Appropriate Behaviour
60. Rajeshwar Rao- New Deputy Governor of RBI
61. India- Japan : Cabinet approves Memorandum of cooperation on cyber-security
62. Air Force Day: IAF celebrated its 88th Anniversary.
63. India’s first advanced manufacturing hub (AMHUB) to be set up in Tamil Nadu.
64. Why Finance companies can not be set up with FDI from Mauritius now?
65. INOX Oxygen Plant inaugurated in Uttar Pradesh
October 9, 2020
66. BRICS Bank approved funds for Delhi-Meerut rapid rail and Mumbai metro
67. WEF Annual Meeting 2021 will take place in Lucerne-Burgenstock
68. The 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry- for Genome Editing method
69. Gyan Circle Ventures – Inaugurated by Union Education Minister
70. Highlights of the RBI Monetary Policy Committee meet
71. GSFC launched indigenous Calcium Nitrate and boronated Calcium Nitrate
72. The World Food Programme awarded with Nobel Peace Prize 2020
73. India successfully test-fires Rudram- an Anti-Radiation Missile
74. SVAMITVA Scheme: PM to Distribute Property Cards for Rural Landowners
October 12, 2020

75. Rafael Nadal wins his 13th French Open men’s singles title
76. What is TRP? – Parliamentary panel on IT to look in to TRP manipulation.
77. ZSI and BSI released Animal and Plant Discoveries 2019
78. Govt job interviews abolished in 23 states and 8 UTs
79. Shrinking Spaces for Lesser Flamingos
80. Delhi Government passed the Tree Transplantation Policy
81. Health Ministry to roll out FELUDA Paper strip tests for Corona Virus
82. Eight Beaches in India awarded Blue Flag Certification.
83. October 11: International Girl Child Day
84. RBI to move Next Generation Treasury Application (NGTA) to manage Forex and Gold Reserves
85. Oxfam Report: India’s health budget is the fourth lowest in the world
86. Delhi Government Exempted Battery-Operated Vehicles From Road Tax
87. PM Released Rs 100 Special Commemorative Coin to honour Vijaya Raje Scindia
October 13, 2020

88. What measures did Finance Minister announce to Boost the Demand in country?
89. Kerala became the First Digital State in Public Education
90. Rashtriya Kamadhenu Aayog started “Kamadhenu Deepawali Abhiyan”
91. Johnson & Johnson Paused COVID Vaccine Trial after unexplained illness of participant
92. FATF’s Asia Pacific Group keeps Pakistan on ‘Enhanced Follow-up List’
93. October 13- International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction
94. India-US Forum: US calls for expansion of QUAD
95. Bangladesh cabinet approves capital punishment for rape
3
96. Intel and Telangana Government to Launch Applied Artificial Intelligence Research Center
97. Why EU is putting sanctions on Russia and Belarus?
98. E- Sanjeevani Initiative recorded 5 lakh teleconsultations
99. Uttarakhand to Start Plantation Drive in Other States to Clear Compensatory Afforestation Backlog
October 14, 2020

100. Highlights of 5th India-Mexico High level Group on Trade, investment and cooperation
101. “Tech for Tribals” Initiative Launched by TRIFED, IIT Kanpur and Chhattisgarh MFP Federation
102. IIFL Wealth Hurun India 40 & Under Self-Made Rich List 2020
103. Subsidy on the transportation of fruits and vegetables through Kisan Rail Trains Extended by 50%
104. Atal Innovation Mission partners with CGI to promote innovation among school students
105. Regional Raw Drug Repository for AYUSH Systems launched at Chennai
106. Suraksha Kavach- Joint Anti Terrorist Exercise By Army and Police
107. Amendments to the “Gujarat Disturbed Area Act” get the President’s Assent.
108. Rs 75 Commemorative coin to be released in India to mark the 75th Anniversary of FAO
109. Pakistan re-elected to UN Human Rights Council
110. India joined the UK-led campaign against encrypted social media messages
111. WHO Chief appreciated India’s Aarogya Setu App
October 15, 2020

112. WMO released 2020 State of Climate Services Report
113. Intellectual Property India annual report released by Government of India
114. What is Torrential Rain? – that hit the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
115. Cabinet Approved the STARS Project.
116. US-FDA Approved the First Treatment for Ebola Virus
117. Russia Approves 2nd COVID-19 Vaccine EpiVacCorona
118. World Students Day being observed on October 15.
119. Dr. Harsh Vardhan launched second phase of “Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojana”
120. Ministry Of MSME Introduces AI & ML Tools to Strengthen Champions Portal
121. India to slip below Bangladesh in Per Capita GDP in 2020
122. India and France get re-elected in ISA
123. India contributes 1 million dollars to UNRWA for Palestine Refugees
October 16, 2020

124. UP CM launches ‘hath dhona, roke corona’ on Global Handwashing Day.
125. October 16: World Food Day
126. DG Shipping notified as National Authority for Recycling of Ships
127. Inter-ministerial Meet held with FSSAI- to achieve ‘Vision 2050’ of Eat Right India movement
128. SCALE India Android App launched by LSSC
129. Govt lifts the ban on export of alcohol-based hand sanitizers.
130. Kerala CM inaugurated operations of International Institute of Advanced Virology
131. Israeli Parliament Approves Historic Peace Deal With UAE
132. Oxford University Develops New Rapid Antigen Test.
133. Kilo Class Submarine INS Sindhuvir- India will deliver it to Myanmar
134. Gov Tech – Thon 2020
October 17, 2020

135. India – Kazakhstan Defence Cooperation Expo
136. Culture Ministry issues guidelines for holding cultural events under ‘Kala Sanskriti Vikas Yojana’ (KSVY)
137. 14th session Food and Agri Week 2020
138. BepiColombo Spacecraft crossed Venus.
139. Highlight of Global Tuberculosis Report, 2020
140. India aims to achieve Trans Fat Free status by 2022.
141. Lancet Study: Life expectancy in India increased from 59.6 % to 70.8 %
142. India and Chile hold first joint commission meeting.
143. Global Hunger Index 2020: India ranked 94th.
144. Mission Shakti- Launched by UP Government.
145. Highlights of Ministers of Justice Summit of SCO
146. October 17: International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
4
October 19, 2020

147. Indian and Sri Lankan navies to begin exercise SLINEX today.
148. Philippines to restart oil and gas exploration in South China Sea.
149. Naval version of BrahMos missile test-fired from INS Chennai
150. 50 years of Bangladesh’s Independence: Bangladesh invited PM Modi to join celebrations.
151. Israel and Bahrain sign agreement at Manama to establish diplomatic ties.
152. Prime Minster to Inaugurate India Energy Forum by CERAWeek
153. Sustainable Municipal Sold Waste Processing Facility developed by CSIR-CMERI
154. Highlights of Japan-Vietnam agreement.
155. Nozomi Okuhara won Women’s Singles title at Denmark Open
156. Agriculture Minister launches AYUSHMAN SAHAKAR scheme
157. CSIR-IHBT introduced Heeng Cultivation in Indian Himalayan Region
October 20, 2020

158. Australian Navy to participate in Malabar 2020 Exercise
159. ADB approved $177 million loan for Maharashtra Road Improvements.
160. First-ever SCO Startup Forum to be launched on 27th October.
161. India’s first ever multi-modal logistics park – to be set up in Assam.
162. India successfully test fired SANT Missile.
163. NITI Aayog to establish Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Centre.
164. Highlights of Indian Tourist Statistics.
165. India invites UK to explore business opportunities in North East
166. Elections Amid Pandemic: Government hiked the Election Expenditure Limit
167. Environmental Clearance to Kaleshwaram irrigation project is in violation of law: NGT
October 21, 2020

168. New DRDO Procurement Manual 2020 released by Defence Minister
169. UNHCHR chief asked India to review FCRA Regulations.
170. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully touches Asteroid to samples.
171. Covid-19: Health Minister Launches Website ‘CUReD’.
172. Gas Marketing Freedom Guidelines- Government bans sale of gas & CBM
173. Significance of the New Space Centre of NATO.
174. India-Indonesia ‘5th Joint Working Group on Coal’ Meeting
175. Assam-Mizoram Boundary Issue.
176. October 21: Police Commemoration Day
177. India- Vietnam Business Forum held virtually on October 20
178. Haryana tops Anemia Mukt Bharat Index.
179. Microsoft – SpaceX join hands to connect Azure Platform to Satellites
October 22, 2020

180. India launched its first-ever khadi Fabric Footwear
181. Cabinet approves MoU between India-Nigeria on Space Cooperation
182. Cabinet approves MoU between ICAI and CPA.
183. Adoption of Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act gets cabinet approval.
184. 2000 year old Giant Cat Drawing discovered in Peru
185. INS Kavaratti- commissioned into Indian Navy
186. ‘COVIRAP’- A Low Cost test developed by IIT Kharagpur gets ICMR Nod.
187. Tamil Nadu Government implements Smart Black Board Scheme.
188. EC sets up a committee to review the Expenditure Limit.
189. Third phase of National Supercomputing Mission to commence in January 2021
190. ‘e-Dharti Geo portal’ launched to integrate maps and lease plans.
191. The Future of Jobs Report, 2020- Released by WEF.
192. One in six children lives in extreme poverty- says UNICEF and World Bank.
October 23, 2020

193. “Life in Miniature” Project Launched.
194. Ships built in India to get Priority in Chartering.
195. Indian Navy deploys its first Batch of Women Pilots.
5
196. Labour Minister released new series of CPI for industrial workers
197. Mizoram sets to adopt “Covid-19: No tolerance Fortnight”
198. CBSE introduces ‘Facial Recognition System’ to access digital documents.
199. New Visa Norms: Govt allows all OCI and PIO card holders to visit India.
200. Regional Raw Drug Repository of National Medicinal Plants Board Inaugurated at AIIA
201. Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh bags top position for implementing PMGSY.
202. Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin gets nod for Thrid phase clinical trial.
203. Union Minister Jitendra Singh Addresses First Ministerial Meeting of G-20 Anti-Corruption Working Group.
October 24, 2020

204. PM launched the “Kisan Suryoday Yojana” in Gujarat.
205. Pakistan to remain in “Grey List” of FATF: Reason and implications.
206. Sudan becomes third Arab State to normalise relations with Israel.
207. MoCA and DGCA Allowed NTPC To Use Drones For Research & Inspection.
208. Government eMarketplace integrated with the Central Public Procurement Portal.
209. Sri Lanka passed the 20th Amendment of Sri Lankan Constitution
210. EU Environmental Ministers made 2050 Net Zero Emissions Target legally binding.
211. Himalayan Brown Bear: Massive habitat decline predicted by 2050
October 26, 2020

212. UP secured first rank in disbursing loans under PM Swanidhi Scheme.
213. Bangladesh government launched ‘no mask, no service’ policy
214. National Conference on Vigilance and Anti Corruption to be inaugurated on Oct 27
215. Molave Intensifies Into Typhoon: Highlights & Impacts.
216. International Snow Leopard Day- Observed on October 23.
217. Why North Korea is concerned about Mysterious cloud of Yellow dust ?
218. New Industry 4.0 solution developed by IIT Kharagpur and TCS jointly.
219. UN Treaty of Banning Nuclear Weapons to enter into force.
220. Centre to bring new law to tackle Stubble-Burning led Pollution.
221. World Polio Day was observed on October 24.
October 27, 2020

222. Japan targets to achieve Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050.
223. Himalayan or Indus Suture Zone- Found to be tectonically active.
224. Tribal Affairs Minister to launch Two Centers of Excellence for Tribal Welfare
225. India–Australia Circular Economy Hackathon (I-ACE) launched by AIM
226. NASA’s SOFIA Discovers Water on Sunlit Surface of Moon.
227. What is India-US BECA Agreement?
228. RBI asks lending institutions to implement waiver of interest on interest schemes.
229. SBI Ecowrap Report: PMJDY used more frequent in areas prone to crime.
October 28, 2020

230. IIT-Guwahati developed Low Cost Technology anti-ageing Compound
231. How Ice loss will add 0.4 degree Celsius to global temperatures?
232. India Post and United States Postal Services sign agreement for Electronic Exchange of Data.
233. Payment Date for Vivad se Vishwas scheme extended.
234. DST-IIEST Solar PV Hub inaugurated by Union Education Minister.
235. How Air Pollution impacted the COVID-19 Deaths Worldwide?
236. IFSCA authority Board approved Two New Regulations.
237. Institutes with ‘eminence’ tag to be assessed on parameters of international rankings.
238. NISAR Satellite To Be Launched By 2022.
October 29, 2020

239. Global Himalayan Expedition wins UN award for efforts to fight climate change.
240. MSDE and NCVET issues guidelines for Awarding Bodies and Assessment Agencies
241. Chhattisgarh passes amendment bill to counter center’s farm bills.
242. Highlights of “Electricity Access in India and Benchmarking Distribution Utilities” report.
243. India – UAE Agree promote Defence Co-Operation Through Joint Production And Mutual Trade.
244. Piyush Goyal chaired the SCO Foreign Trade and Economic Ministers Meeting.
6
245. Ekta Diwas: Prime Minister to participate celebration
246. India offered USD 1 bn credit line to central Asian countries for priority projects.
247. US Offered F-18 Fighter Jets For Indian Navy’s Aircraft Carriers.
248. Rythu Bharosa scheme: Andhra CM distributed Rs 1,115 crore to 50.47 lakh farmers.
October 30, 2020

249. Indian Army develops Secure Messaging Application- ‘SAI’
250. Telangana launches Dharani portal for land and property registration
251. Cabinet approves MoC between India-Japan in ICT.
252. Highlights of the Operation Meri Saheli.
253. What is SERB – POWER initiative?
254. Green Delhi App- launched to redress pollution complaints in Delhi.
255. Quality control norms for leather footwear released.
256. Doing Business in India Report, 2020 released by UKIBC.
October 31, 2020

257. Highlights of the 8th India-Mexico Joint Commission Meeting.
258. NITI Aayog and QCI Launched National Program and Project Management Policy Framework.
259. What is Euthanasia? – New Zealanders voted in favour of legalising euthanasia.
260. Indian Navy fires anti-ship missile from guided missile corvette INS Kora.
261. PM Modi inaugurates “Arogya Van’ at Kevadia, Gujarat.
262. Centre has decided to import potatoes to control price rise.
263. Indian Air Force test fired air launched version of BrahMos missile.
264. Highlights of Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2020 for Rural India.
7
October 1, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
1. Why Kotaiah family demanding GI tag for ‘Kakinada kaja’?
The family of Chittipeddi Kotaiah is going to apply for Geographical Indications Registry’s
(GIR) tag for ‘Kakinada kaja’.
1. Kakinada Kaja
 It a unique sweet of Andhra Pradesh.
 The sweet is being made and promoted by Kotaiah family since 1891 in Kakinada town, East
Godavari district.
2. Background
 The Kotaiah family had migrated from Chinna Parimi village of Guntur district in 1891.
 The family have been engaged in production of the sugary delicacy, using four ingredients
including maida, besan, ghee and sugar.
 The family is having a tradition of 129 years in the production of sweet.
 So they have now determined to apply for the GI tag.
 The Kotaiah family owns four stores in the State. Out it them three are in Kakinada and one in
Rajamahendravaram. Thus, the production is geographically limited to only to East Godavari
district.
3. Challenges
 Family have witnessed various sections of people have attempted to use the brand image
and demand for it by the support of family’s chefs.
 However, they have failed since people from across the State prefer the kaja from their shop.
 Lack of awareness and flourishing trade are the main reasons because of which family’s
ancestors did not obtain the GI Tag for the sweet.
4. Geographical Indication
A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on some specific products. There
products corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin. The use of a
geographical indication acts as a certification for the product having certain qualities or
is made as per the traditional using traditional methods or the product enjoys a good
reputation because of its geographical origin.
2. “International Day of Older Persons” is observed on October 1.
October 1 is observed as the International Day of Older Persons annually all across the
world. The day is observed by the United Nations and several other organizations. 2020
edition of the day marks its 30th anniversary. 2020 edition seeks to promote “Decade of
Healthy Ageing” (2020-2030).
1. Key Facts
8
 The day highlights the role of health care professionals with respect to health of older
persons.
 2020 edition is also being marked as “Year of the Nurse and Midwife”.
 On the 30th anniversary of the day, the United Nations is going to discuss five strategic
objectives of Global Strategy and Action Plan on Ageing and Health .
2. Background
The United Nations designated October 1 as the International Day of Older Persons in
1990. For the betterment of older persons, Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing
was adopted in 1982. United Nations Principles for Older Persons was adopted in 1991.
In 2002, Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing was also adopted.
3. Data across the world

 Life expectancy across the world have rose from 46 years to 68 years between 1950 and
2010,
 As of 2019, there were some 703 million people over the age of 65.
 South-East Asia and Eastern Asia have highest number of older people followed by North
America and Europe.
 It is estimated that the number of older people will be doubled reaching to 1.5 billion in next
three decade. Among all, Eastern and South Eastern Asia will account for most of the number.
4. Approach under “Decade of Healthy Ageing”

The United Nations has set a multi-pronged approach under the “Decade of Healthy
Ageing” amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It incudes:
3. What is ISRO Venus Mission for 2025?
The French Space Agency CNES announced on September 30, 2020 that it going to
participate in ISRO’s Venus Mission which has been named SHUKRAYAAN. The mission is
going to be launched in 2025.
1. Key Facts
 ISRO intends to send an orbiter mission to Venus in order to study the atmosphere of Venus.
 The atmosphere is primarily made up to of carbon dioxide.
 The Shukrayaan mission will study the dense and hot atmosphere of Venus.
 It will also study the planet’s surface using a probe.
 French payload will be flown on an Indian exploration mission for the first time.
 ISRO have also selected The VIRAL (Venus Infrared Atmospheric Gases Linker) instrument
that has been co-developed with the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos and the
LATMOS atmospheres, environments and space observations laboratory attached to the
French national scientific research centre CNRS.
2. Shukrayaan-1
 The satellite configuration and payloads on Shukrayaan-1 have not been finalised yet.
 But the science objectives feeding to the design of the spacecraft are
9
3. Ongoing Venus Mission
42 Venus missions have been sent to Venus from planet Earth as of now. Japan’s
Akatsuki which is also known as the Venus Climate Orbiter and Planet-C, is currently
moving around Venus. It has been tasked to study the atmosphere of Venus.
4. Indian Coast Guard Vessel ICGS “Karnaklata Barua” commissioned in

Kolkata
The Indian Coast guard Vessel Karnaklata Barua was commissioned at Kolkata on
September 30, 2020 through video conferencing.
1. Key Facts
 The ICGS Kanaklata Barua is one among the five Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs)
 It has been built by Kolkata based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE).
 The vessel was delivered in June, 2020.
 This is the 105th vessel delivered by the defence PSU shipyard.
 These ships can achieve speeds exceeding 34 knots with an endurance of 1,500 nautical
miles or more.
 These are also fitted with 40/60 Gun as the main armament.
 The vessel is 49-metre-long and is designed to carry one high-speed rigid inflatable boat (RIB)
and one Gemini boat that will help in swift boarding, search and rescue operations.
2. Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE)

The GRSE is a Defence Public Sector Undertaking (PSU).
3. Indian Coast Guard

Indian Coast Guard is a Maritime Law Enforcement Agency, armed force, search and
rescue agency that protects maritime interests of the country. It was established by
coast Guard Act, 1978 in 1978. Ministry of Defence is the parent ministry of the Indian
coast guard. The important missions of Indian Coast Guard includes,
4. Coast Guard Stations in India

Currently, there are 42 Coast Guard Stations in India divided under five broad regional
Headquarters. The Indian Coast Guard operates five Coast Guard Air Stations and ten
Coast Guard Air Enclaves. The five regional headquarters include,
5. NCRB report 2020 – Crimes against SCs and STs saw a rise of 7 % and
26% in 2019
The National Crime Record Bureau have recently released a report titled “Crime in
India”, 2019. As per the report, crimes against members of the Scheduled Castes (SCs)
and the Scheduled Tribes (STs) reported an increase of over 7% and 26% in 2019
respectively as compared with the 2018 figure.
1. Key Facts
2. Other Key Findings of the report

10
 Uttar Pradesh has reported highest number of crime cases against women, around 14.7% as
well as SCs.
 Uttar Pradesh is followed by Rajasthan and Maharashtra.
 Uttar Pradesh also reported the highest number of crimes against girl children under POCSO
act followed by Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh.
 Uttar Pradesh also recorded highest number of dowry cases followed by Bihar.
 Uttar Pradesh also has the highest number of acid attacks followed by West Bengal.
 Assam has reported highest rate of crimes against women.
 Rajasthan reported the highest rate of crimes against SCs.
 The crime rate (number of crimes registered per lakh women ) against women has increased
to 62.4% in 2019 as compared to 58.8% in 2018.
3. National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB)

NCRB was set up in 1986 which function as a repository of information in crimes. It was
set up on the recommendations of National Police commission in 1977 and the Task
Force in 1985. “Empowering Indian Police with Information Technology” is the motto of
NCRB.
6. E-launch of ASIIM- “Ambedkar Social Innovation & Incubation Mission”
Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot e-
launched the “Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission (ASIIM) under Venture
Capital Fund for SCs on September 30, 2020. The mission seeks to promote innovation
and enterprise among SC students who are studying in higher educational institutions.
1. Venture Capital Fund for SCs (VCF-SC)

 It was launched in 2014-15 to develop entrepreneurship amongst the SC/Divyang youth and
to enable them to become job-givers
 The Primary Objective of this fund is to provide concessional finance to the SC entrepreneurs.
 Presently, 117 companies promoted by SC entrepreneurs have been sanctioned financial
assistance in order to set up business ventures, under the fund.
 Under the “Ambedkar Social Innovation Incubation Mission (ASIIM)”initiative, 1,000 SC youth
would also be identified with some start-up ideas in 4 years.
 Students would be identified through Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) in higher
educational institutions.
 Students would be funded Rs. 30 lakhs in 3 years as equity funding in order for the to convert
their start-up ideas into commercial ventures.
 Successful ventures will be qualified for venture funding of up to Rs. 5 Crore from the VCF-SC.
2. Objectives
Some of the objectives of the fund include:
3. ASIIM initiative
The ASIIM initiative would be implemented by the Venture Capital Fund for SCs which
was set up in 2016. Under this initiative VCF-SC will target SC students / young
entrepreneurs working in Technology Business Incubators (TBIs). The budget of ASIIM
initiative has been set at Rs 19320lakhs for four years.
11
7. World’s First Asteroid Mining Robot will be Launched by China
Origin Space, which is a private company, in Beijing, China is all ready to send out the
world’s first asteroid mining robot into space in November 2020. The robot is named as
‘asteroid mining robot’ by the space start-up in China. A Chinese Long March series
rocket will launch the asteroid mining robot into space. The mission will be a milestone
for the space resources industry.
1. NEO-1
It is a small, around 30 kilograms, satellite that intends to enter a 500-kilometer-altitude
sun-synchronous orbit. It will be launched as a secondary payload by a Chinese Long
March series rocket. This small spacecraft with limited propulsion may take a long time
to reach the moon as compared to the India’s second lunar mission- Chandrayaan-2. It
used a circuitous route to go from geosynchronous transfer orbit to the lunar orbit.
2. Objective
 The robot will not be engaging in any mining work but It will only be testing the technologies.
 The primary objective of the mission is to assess the capabilities of asteroid mining robot.
 It will also be testing out how well it can identify and extract the valuable resources.
 It also aims to verify and demonstrate multiple functions including stimulated small celestial
body capture, spacecraft orbital manoeuvre and intelligent spacecraft identification.
3. Concerns
Solar experts always warned that the solar system needs to be left alone.They say that
the space must be protected from an race of mining efforts. Experts say that such races
could leave humanity in a resource catastrophe in centuries. In the similar move, NASA
had earlier announced that it will be buying ‘moon rocks’ from private companies in the
future. It is also a cause of concern for space experts.
4. Other Mission of China

The private space start-up from China has also been working on ‘Yuanwang-1’,
nicknamed as ‘Little Hubble’. It will be launched by 2021 or early 2022. The mission will
involve a lunar landing but rest of the course is still under consideration.
8. Science and Technology Ministry launched CSIR Technologies for

Rural Development
The Union Minister of Science and Technology Dr Harsh Vardhan launched the Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research Technologies for rural development on September 30,
2020.
1. Key Points
 It is a joint initiative of IIT-Delhi, CSIR, Unnat Bharat Abhiyan and Vijnana Bharti (VIBHA).
 The initiative was launched on the occasion of 40th foundation day of CSIR- National Institute
of Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTAD)
 On the occasion, the Minister launched the under stated technologies:
Improved Beehive quality and hygiene extraction of honey which was developed by CSIR
12
Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology.
Manufacturing Ginger paste which was developed by the Central Food Technological
Research Institute, Mysore.
Dehumified drier for food and agri products and agricultural waste -that includes fruit peels,
sugarcane bagasse, wheat bran- based biodegradable plates, cutleries and cups. It was
developed by the National Institute for Inter disciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST),
Thiruvanathapuram.
 Improved Beehive quality and hygiene extraction of honey which was developed by CSIR
Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology.
 Manufacturing Ginger paste which was developed by the Central Food Technological
Research Institute, Mysore.
 Dehumified drier for food and agri products and agricultural waste -that includes fruit peels,
sugarcane bagasse, wheat bran- based biodegradable plates, cutleries and cups. It was
developed by the National Institute for Inter disciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST),
Thiruvanathapuram.
2. Unnat Bharat Abhiyan

Unnat Bharat Abhyan programme was launched by the Ministry of Education. It aims to
link the higher education institutions with at least five villages in the countries. Thus,
villages can contribute to social and economic betterment of the communities in the
village. The programme has been launched with an objective to engage students and
faculties of higher education institutions to identify problems that rural areas face and to
find sustainable solutions for it. The Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 1.0 was launched in 2018.
Currently, Government of India is implementing Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0. The
programme have now 45 regional coordinating institutions and 2,614 participating
institutions. As per a report, around 13,760 villages have been adopted under the
programme till date.
9. ‘Swachhata ke 6 saal, Bemisaal’ : MoHUA to celebrate Six Years of

Swachh Bharat Mission
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs will celebrate six years of Swachh Bharat
Mission on the occasion of birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2. The
Swachh Bharat mission was launched from Rajghat on October 2, 2014 in order to
achieve the aim of Clean India by October 2, 2019 which was celebrated as 150th birth
anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
1. Key Facts
 This year, the day marks the 151st birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
 The day will mark the launch of:
A GIS portal– The portal will showcase innovative practices to implement Sewage Waste
Management
Document on response of Indian cities towards COVID-19 will also be released. It will focus
on sanitation.
13
 A GIS portal– The portal will showcase innovative practices to implement Sewage Waste
Management
 Document on response of Indian cities towards COVID-19 will also be released. It will focus
on sanitation.
2. Swachh Bharat Mission- Achievements

The Swachh Bharat mission was launched in 2014 and in six years following
achievements have been attached to it:
3. City Ratings
 The rating was provided as per the guidelines of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
 5-star cities: Indore, Ambikapur, Navi Mumbai, Surat, Rajkot and Mysore have been rated as
5-star cities for their best performance.
 3-star Cities: Around 86 cities were rated as 3-star cities.
 1-star cities: 64 cities were rated as 1-star cities.
10. Shri Arjun Munda to Launch Largest Market of Tribal Products ‘Tribes
India e-Marketplace’
Shri Arjun Munda, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs will virtually launch India’s largest
handicraft and organic products marketplace, Tribes India E-Marketplace
(market.tribesindia.com) on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, 2020. This e-
marketplace in line with the vision of the Prime Minister of making India Aatmanirbhar
and self-reliant.
1. Key Facts
 This is an initiative of The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India
(TRIFED) under Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
 It will showcase the produce and handicrafts of tribal enterprises from across the country.
 It will also help them market their produce or products directly on the website.
 On the occasion, Shri Munda will also flag off several other TRIFED initiatives that aims to
support the tribal brethren. These include :
2. Tribes India e-Marketplace

It is an initiative through which TRIFED aims to include 5 lakh tribal producers for
sourcing various handicraft, handloom, natural food products across the country The
suppliers under the initiative includes individual tribal artisans, tribal Self Help Groups
and Organisations or Agencies or NGOs working with tribals. The platform provides the
tribal suppliers an Omni-channel facility which allow to sell their goods through their own
retailers and distributors, through their e-Market place account as well as TRIFED’s
network of Outlets and eCommerce partners.
14
3. Significance
The E-Marketplace will help in bringing large number of Tribal and Artisans at a place to
give them benefits of online trade. It will facilitate B2B trade connecting tribal, who are
dependent on Minor Forest Produces and Medicinal plants, to the large buyers or
manufacturers. This will ensure livelihoods for the tribal populations.
4. Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED)

It was established in 1987. It is a national-level apex organization that functions under
the administrative control of Ministry of Tribal Affairs. It has its Head Office in New Delhi.
Apart from that, it has a network of 13 Regional Offices. The primary objective of TRIFED
is socio-economic development of tribal people in the country. TRIFED is a facilitator and
service provider for tribes which helps to sell their product such as metal craft, tribal
textiles, pottery, tribal paintings and pottery by providing marketplace.
October 2, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
11. International Day of Non-Violence on October 2.
The International Day of Non-Violence is observed on October 2 to commemorate the

birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. United Nations General Assembly started the
observance of the day in 2007. The day spreads the message of non-violence. This year
the day is being celebrated under the Theme- Shaping Peace Together.
1. Background
 The proposal to observe an International Day of Non-Violence was put forward in January
2004 by an Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi. Following this, Satyagraha Conference
resolution was passed in New Delhi in January 2007 in order for the United Nations to adopt
the idea of the day.
 The United Nations General Assembly voted to establish 2 October as the International Day of
Non-Violence on 15th June 2007.
2. Gandhi Jayanti
Gandhi Jayanti mark the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. It is celebrated annually
on 2 October. The UN General Assembly on 15 June 2007 adopted a resolution that
declared 2 October will also be celebrated as the International Day of Non-Violence.
15
3. Mahatma Gandhiji
Gandhiji was an Indian Lawyer who lead the independence campaign in India and
employed the non-violence resistance among people towards freedom of India. Gandhi’s
freedom struggle in India started with the remarkable Champaran Satyagrah in 1917
which was a farmer’s uprising. He launched the Non-cooperation Movement in 1920
which was aimed at obtaining self governance. This was started in the backdrop of
Rowlatt Act of 1919 and Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. Another remarkable even was Salt
March started in 1930 against British Salt monopoly. The march spanned over 384 km
from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi. Lastly, The Quit-India Movement was launched in 1942
by Mahatma Gandhiji at the Bombay Session of All-India Congress Committee that
ultimately lead to the independence of India.
12. How Defence Ministry’s procurement of 10 lakh hand grenades from

private sector is significant?
The Defence Ministry have placed orders with a private firm for the supply of 10 lakh
hand grenades. It is first of its kind order. Until now, these products were either imported
or made by the Ordnance factories. The grenades will be replacing the vintage design
grenades that are used currently.
1. Key Facts
The contract has been placed with Economic Explosive Limited company which will
supply the modern hand grenades in two years. The Defence Research Development
Organization (DRDO) had transferred the technology of grenade manufacturing to the
company back in 2016 to proceed further. The purchase has been made at Rs 400 crores
which is less as compared to the manufacturing cost of OFB. Indian Defence System is
placing orders with a domestic manufacturer for the first time.
2. Loopholes in the Indian Defence System

Indian defence system is going through the challenges of poor and long-term planning,
lesser technology transfers despite many mega deals and irregular procurements. CAG
report recently found irregularities in the defence purchases and thus, there happens
shortening of the deployment period. Further, there are gaps in army in infantry
weapons, artillery, light helicopters and nigh fighters. The Indian Air Force does not have
enough mid-air refuelers, fighter jets and drones. They are also short of minesweepers,
multi role helicopters.
3. Significance
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute report says that, India is the fifth
largest defence spender in the world after US, China, Russia and Saudi Arabia. In the
line, India is the second largest importer of arms in the world. Russia, Israel, France and
US are the biggest exporters of equipment’s to India. But when it comes to exports,
India has been ranked at 23rd in the list. Thus, India needs to boost its domestic
manufacturing. This current order of grenades is a step forward of it. The domestic
procurement will help India to achieve its goal of self-reliance in defence sector.
16
13. SC: Overtime Wages should not be denied to labourers during

Pandemic.
The Supreme Court (SC) of India struck down the Gujarat government’s decision to
exempt industries from paying overtime wages to workers under the Factories Act,
1948. The judgement, pronounced by a bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud, has
also put down the decision of fixed working hours amid the coronavirus pandemic.
1. What was the issue?

 On April 27, The Gujarat government had issued a notification that provided relaxation to the
industries by exempting them from certain conditions that were mandated under the section
5 of the Factories Act, 1948.
 The notification stated that workers in Gujarat can be made to work for 12 hours a day with
30-minute break after every six hours.
 The notification also had no provision of paying extra wages for overtime work. It was
providing normal wages even for overtime work.
 Following this, the Gujarat Mazdoor Sabha which is a registered trade union filed a plea in the
Supreme Court against this decision of the Gujarat government.
2. Supreme court’s judgement

The SC court cited that “right to life” of workers is not bound by conditions. So, their
claims on overtime wages and a decent working conditions must not be denied because
of the Covid-19 and resultant disruptions in economic activities because of lockdown. SC
bench held that workers have faced social and economic challenges amid the lockdown.
So, laws cannot be used to deny their right to life and their just claims against forced
labour. The supreme court held that section 5 can not be invoked to relieve the
economic slowdown caused by covid-19 pandemic.
3. Section 5 of the factories act 1948

The Section 5 gives power to the government to exempt industries from the purview of
the act in case of public emergency. It defines public emergency as a Grave emergency
that is a threat to internal security of the country by external aggression or internal
disturbances.
14. Why are Azerbaijan and Armenia fighting?
Armenia and Azerbaijan have involved in fighting again and a fresh clashes have erupted
on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. It is threatening to push for a war again 26 years
after a ceasefire was reached. Armenia is a Christian majority country and Azerbaijan is
a Muslim majority country. Both of them are a part of South Caucasia. The border
dispute between them have erupted over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
17
1. Background
The conflict traces back to the pre-Soviet era. Then the region was at the tri-junction of
the Ottoman, Russian and Persian empires. After Azerbaijan and Armenia became Soviet
Republics in 1921, Russia gave Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan but offered its
autonomy to the region. After Soviet power started receding separatist stated demand
for dissolving the autonomous status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Following this, In 1988, the
national assembly voted to dissolve the autonomous status and join Armenia.
2. Present Scenario
The region is still treated as a part of Azerbaijan by the international community.
Azerbaijan also wants to take it back. The tension got erupted again after a four day war
in 2016 and it is still tensed.
3. Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh is an Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan. It has been out of
Azerbaijan’s control since 1994 after a war. The region has a 95% ethnically Armenian
population and but is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Both sides have
deployed a heavy military along a demilitarized zone .
4. Concerns
The largely mountainous and forested Nagorno-Karabakh is home to 150,000 people. If
a large scale war will break out, civilian population might get displaced. Further, the
energy-rich Azerbaijan has built several gas and oil pipelines across Turkey and Europe
that passes through the disputed region. If there is open war, these pipelines might be
targeted which will impact the energy security. Military escalation would also attract
regional powers like Turkey and Russia into the conflict.
5. Turkey’s stand
Turkey has historically supported Azerbaijan but had a troublesome relationship with
Armenia. During the war of 1990, Turkey had closed its border with Armenia. Currently,
it has no diplomatic relations with Armenia.
6. Russia’s stand
Russia enjoys good ties with both Azerbaijan and Armenia. It supplies weapons to both
and sees Caucasus and Central Asian region as its backyard. However, Armenia is more
dependent on Russia than Azerbaijan. Russia is also having a military base in Armenia.
So, Russia is trying to strike a balance between the two countries.
15. India-Myanmar reviewed their Bilateral Relations
The 19th round of Foreign Office Consultations between India and Myanmar was held on
October 1, 2020 in virtual mode. Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla led the
Indian delegation while the Myanmar delegation was led by Permanent Secretary, U Soe
Han.
1. Highlights
 During the consultations, countries reviewed the entire gamut of relations.
18
 They reviewed their border cooperation and the restoration work on earthquake damaged
pagodas in Bagan.
 Both sides discussed cooperation in regional and multilateral forums.
 They expressed satisfaction that despite the COVID pandemic, meetings in areas including
power, energy have been held virtually. This reflects the depth of the bilateral engagement,
they said.
 They also discussed to operationalize the Sittwe port by 2021.
 The next Joint Trade Committee Ministerial Meeting will be held on October 20 which would
further strengthen the bilateral trade and investment relations.
2. Importance of Myanmar to India

Myanmar geographically stands at the crossroads of India-Southeast relations. So,
Myanmar is geographically important to India. It is the only Southeast Asian country that
shares a land border with north-eastern India having a border of 1,624 kilometres. It also
share a 725-km maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal.It is the only country that fits at
the intersection of India’s “Neighborhood First” policy and its “Look East” policy.
Buddhism, Business, Bollywood, Bharatnatyam, and Burma teak are the five Bs that
frame India-Myanmar relations.
3. Indian Projects In Myanmar

The Government of India is highly involved in several projects in Myanmar. These
includes:
16. Ayush Grid to be integrated with National Digital Health Mission
A high level meeting chaired by Vd. Rajesh Kotech Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH recently
endorsed the operational integration of Ayush Grid with the National Digital Health
Mission (NDHM). Ayush grid is the emerging IT backbone for AYUSH Sector. This
integration will be beneficial to the public for availing many options for their health
needs. The integration will also accelerate mainstreaming the Ayush disciplines of
healthcare.
1. Highlights
 Secretary of AYUSH have reviewed the current status of IT initiatives undertaken under the
Ayush Grid project.
 The secretary observed that in the last two years Ayush Grid project have succeeded in
bridging the digital gap in the Ayush Sector. It have also been succeeded in implementing
various critical healthcare IT projects.
2. Ayush Grid Project

This project was initiated by the Ministry of AYUSH in 2018 to create a comprehensive IT
backbone for the this sector.
3. Significance
 Digitalization of the Ayush Sector will lead to its transformation in fields of health care
delivery at all levels including the research, education, various health programmes and drug
regulations.
 This would also benefit for all stakeholders of Ayush including citizens of the country and
19
 It will thus help to achieve various national and global goals in healthcare.
4. Implemented initiatives
Ayush Grid project have developed and supported following initiatives related to
managing the health crisis:
5. Other Initiatives
Ayush Next is being launched which is an ambitious project to support Ayush education
This has been developed and it will go online soon.
6. Conclusion
The components of Ayush Grid initiative covers all the verticals of the Ayush Sector
including the Health Services, Education, Central Sector and Centrally Sponsored
Schemes, Ayush Research, Drug Licencing portal, Training Programmes, Citizen Centric
Services and Media Outreach. Ayush Grid is developing through its constituent projects
steadily. The ministry expects that this will emerge as a comprehensive IT backbone
which would be serving 8 lakh Ayush physicians and 50 crore citizens within three years.
17. Data Governance Quality Index: Department of Fertilizers ranked

2nd amongst the 16 Economic Ministries
A Survey was conducted by the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO),
NITI Ayog in order to assess performance of different Ministries or Departments’ on the
implementation of Central Sector Schemes (CS) and Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS).
1. Key Highlights
 Department of Fertilizers under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has been ranked 2nd
amongst the 16 Economic Ministries or Departments and
 It has also been ranked 3rd out of the 65 Ministries or Departments.
 The total score of the department was 4.11 on a scale of 5 in the Data Governance Quality
Index (DGQI),
 The DMEO, Niti Aayog has undertaken DGQI exercise “Self-assessment based review of data
preparedness levels” to produce a DGQI score card.
2. About The Survey

 Survey was initiated with an objective to assess data preparedness of Ministries or
Departments on a standardized framework.
 The survey was also meant to drive healthy competition among them and promote a
cooperative peer learning from best practices.
 For the survey, an online questionnaire was prepared under six major themes of DGQI:
3. Significance
It will help to improve the implementation framework of government policies, schemes
and programmes to achieve the desired goals.
20
4. Development Monitoring And Evaluation Office (DMEO)
This office was constituted in September 2015 by merging the Program Evaluation Office
(PEO) and the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO). It is an office under NITI Aayog.
DMEO’s vision is to improve the sustainable outcomes and impacts of the government. It
is aimed at enabling the high-quality monitoring and evaluation of government
programs in order to improve effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and equity of the
service delivery, outcomes and impacts.
18. PM Modi to inaugurate Global Summit on AI- “RAISE 2020”
The ministry of electronics and information technology said that Prime Minister Narendra
Modi will inaugurate a global virtual summit on Artificial Intelligence (AI) named RAISE
2020 – ‘Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020’ on October 5.
1. Highlights
 The summit is scheduled to be held from October 5 to 9, 2020.
 It is being organised by the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) and
NITI Aayog
 The inauguration will take place in the presence of minister of electronics & IT,
communications and law & justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad, eminent global AI expert Professor
Raj Reddy, , IBM CEO Arvind Krishna and Reliance Industries Ltd chairman Mukesh Ambani.
 Professor Raj Reddy will also hold a session on October 6, 2020 about developing voice-
enabled AI that removes linguistic barriers.
 Former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai, and Brad Smith, president & legal head, Microsoft Global
will also participate in the session.
2. RAISE 2020
Responsible AI for Social Empowerment (RAISE) 2020 is a virtual global summit on
Artificial Intelligence (AI). To keep with the theme of “Responsible AI for Social
Empowerment”, RAISE 2020 will host an exciting line-up of leaders, policy designers,
innovators and other stakeholders, who contribute on the potential of artificial
intelligence in order to promote public good across domains including the health,
education, mobility and agriculture.
19. Is “Purified Antisera” a potential treatment for COVID-19?
The Indian Council of Medical Research in collaboration with the Hyderabad based
biopharmaceutical company Biological E ltd has developed “Purified Antisera”. It has
been prepared by injecting inactivated SARS-CoV2 in horses which can be used as a
prophylaxis and could be a potential treatment for COVID-19.
1. Key Facts
 The new therapy is similar to the existing plasma therapy. But the only difference is in the
new therapy plasma is obtained from animals.
 In this new therapy, antisera serum which is a blood-based serum has been prepared by
injecting inactivated SARS-CoV2 in horses.
21
 It was found that the serum recovered from the viral infection and it has antibodies called
Equine Antisera which can be used against the corona virus.
 The Equine Antiserum was segregated by ICMR led National Institute of Virology, Pune which
was invited by ICMR in June 2020.
2. Background
Such antibodies have also been obtained earlier from animals and have been used to
cure several viral infections including the Hepatitis B, rabies, tetanus, diphtheria and
botulism.
3. Antiserum
It is a blood serum that builds “passive immunity” through blood donation as it is done
in case of Plasma Therapy. These are blood serum which are high in antibodies against
specific antigens and can be injected in humans to help boost the immune system to
fight against specific infections.
4. Passive Immunity
It is immunity that is induced with the help of ready-made antibodies in the humans. It
also occurs naturally, when the antibodies from mother is transferred to the baby
through placenta. It is induced in persons when they cannot generate their own
antibodies.
October 3, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
20. Highlights of the NSS report- “Time use in India 2019”
NSS report- ‘Time Use Survey’, which was a first of its kind, was recently conducted by
the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
1. Highlights
 The survey was conducted between January 2019 and December 2019.
 1.39 lakh households comprising 4.47 lakh persons over the age of six were listed.
2. About the report

 The primary objective of the survey is to measure the participation of men and women in
paid and unpaid activities.
 It provides information on time spent in unpaid caregiving activities, volunteer work, unpaid
domestic service-producing activities of the household members.
 Survey also highlights the information on time spent on learning, socializing, leisure activities
and self-care activities by the households.
3. Key Findings
 38.2 % of the population participates in “employment and other related activities. They
spend 429 minutes or 7 hours and 9 minutes each day.
22
 Gender disparity: Only 18.4% women participate in employment activities when compared
with 57.3 % men.
 Men spend on an average 459 minutes or 7 hours and 39 minutes while women spend only
333 minutes or 5 hours and 33 minutes.
 Unpaid domestic work– women’s participation in unpaid domestic services such as cooking,
cleaning, household management, for household members is 81.2% each day as compare to
26.1 % for men. Women spend 299 minutes that is almost 5 hours on unpaid domestic
services which is thrice as much as men 97 minutes or 1 hour 37 minutes.
 Care-giving activities– Only 14 per cent of men participate in unpaid care giving services for
household members by spending 76 minutes a day on an average. While share of women is
double at 27.6 % and they also spend more than 120 minutes in such care-giving.
 As per the survey, Indians do not like to be unpaid volunteers or trainees or to take part in
community or organization-based unpaid volunteering. Only, 2.4 % of the respondents
volunteer for such work
 Participation in socializing and communication through chatting, conversing and community
participation in gatherings and religious participation is high at 91.3 % spending around 143
minutes each day on an average.
 Participation in culture, leisure, mass-media and sports practices through reading, and
watching television is high at 86.9 % spending 165 minutes per day on an average.
21. Reliance Develops R-Green kit- can give COVID results in 2 hours
Reliance Life Sciences has developed an real-time reverse transcription-polymerase

chain reaction (RT-PCR) kit. It claims to diagnose COVID-19 infection in about 2 hours.
Presently, COVID-19 RT-PCR test takes up to 24 hours to give a diagnosis.
1. Key Facts
 The kit has been developed by Computational biologists at Reliance Life Sciences a subsidiary
of Reliance Industries Ltd.
 This kit is indigenous development of the R&D scientists working at the firm.
 They analysed more than 100 genomes of SARS-CoV-2 sequenced in India in order to design
RT-PCR primers for developing quantitative-Real Time PCR kit.
 The kit has been technically validated by ICMR for satisfactory performance. It does not
approve or disapprove the kit design as well as it does not certify user-friendliness.
2. R-Green Kit
The kit can detect the presence of E-gene, R-gene, RdRp gene of SARS COV2 virus with
Actin as an internal control. According to the ICMR results, the kit is 98.7 % sensitive and
98.8 % specific. The diagnosis time of the kit is approximately 2 hours.
3. Study by Reliance Life Sciences

 The study says, the death rate for COVID-19 pandemic may significantly reduce by the end of
2020.
 As per them, mutation occurrence of structural and non-structural proteins of SARS-CoV-2
form more than 7,000 genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 virus from 49 countries.
 There is an inverse correlation between the mutation rates of two proteins NSP6 and Surface
glycoprotein (S) with the death rate.
 They predicted that mutations of these two proteins will grow constantly and the death rate
would drop below 0.5% by end of 2020 in cluster I countries.
23
 They said, mutation rate of NSP6 and S proteins are lower than cluster I and cluster III
countries.
 Therefore, in cluster II country the death rate of COVID-19 pandemic will weaken later than
cluster I and III countries.
 Note:
22. Swachh Bharat Awards- 2020
The Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Skekhawat presented the Swachh Bharat
Awards, 2020 on October 2, 2020. The awards were presented under the cleanliness and
drinking water categories.
1. Key facts
 The key three categories of the awards were: Swachh Sundar Samudayik Shouchalaya,
Gandagi Mukth Bharat and Samudayik Shouchalaya Abhiyan. The winners under the
subsequent categories were:
 Samudayik Shouchalaya Category
2. Swachh Sundar Samudayik Shauchalaya

This initiative involve clean beautiful toilet contest. Under the initiative, toilets are
decorated in order to pass show their significance.
3. Gandagi Mukt Bharat Abhiyan

This national level campaign aims to clean all cities, urban and rural areas. This initiative
spreads awareness among people on proper sanitation, hygiene, clean roads and
streets.
4. Swachh Bharat Mission

Swachh Bharat Mission was launched in 2014. Presently, Government of India is
implementing Swachh Bharat Mission Phase II. Phase II of the mission focuses on open
defecation free plus (ODF+). Phase II is being implemented between 2020-21 and 2024-
25. Total funds allocated to this phase is Rs 1,40,881 crores. The ODF+ primarily focus
on greywater management, plastic waste management, faecal sludge management and
biodegradable solid waste management. This phase also generate employment by
involving infrastructure programmes for compost pits, waste stabilisation ponds, soak
pits, material recovery facilities.
23. 100-Day Campaign – Launched to Provide Piped Water in Schools.
The Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh has launched the 100-days campaign.
The campaign seeks to provide piped water supply to schools and Anganwadi centres.
This mission was launched on the occasion of 151st birth anniversary of Mahatma
Gandhi.
1. Key Facts
24
 Under the campaign, the States and Union Territories will ensure that Gram Sabha are
convened at the earliest in order to pass the resolution to provide safe water in schools and
Anganwadi centres.
 These facilities will be operated by Gram Panchayats.
 Earlier, PM Modi released “Margdarshika” -which are operational guidelines for Jal Jeevan
Mission, for Gram Panchayats and Paani Samitis to implement Jal Jeevan Mission.
2. Provisions of the Guideline

The margdarshika comprises following guidelines:
3. Paani Samiti
The Pani Samiti is a statutory committee under the nodal head Gram Panchayat. The
committee take cares of the community participation, ownership and contribution with
respect to water supply systems.
4. Jal Jeevan Mission

The mission is aimed at providing tap connections to every household by 2024. It was
launched in the backdrop that 81.67% of households in India do not receive tap water
supply. The scheme is being implemented at National, State, District and Gram
Panchayat levels.
24. PM inaugurates Atal tunnel- World’s longest High-Altitude Tunnel
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Atal Tunnel which is the world longest
high-altitude tunnel at Rohtang. It has been named after late former PM shree Atal Bihari
Vajpeyee. The tunnel is located above the altitude of 10,000 feet (3,000 feet).
1. Atal Tunnel
The tunnel have the length of 9.02 km. The tunnel is of 8 metres wide and the overhead
clearance is of 5.525 metres. It was built at a cost of Rs 3,300 crores. The Steel Authority
of India (SAIL) has supplied 9,000 tonnes of steel required to build the tunnel. This
includes 6,500 Thermo-Mechanically Treated (TMT) bars, 1000 tonnes of steel plates
and 1,500 tonnes of structural bars.
2. Location
The tunnel is located in the Pir Panjal range of Himalaya under the Rohtang pass.
3. Capacity
The tunnel can carry 1500 trucks and 3000 cars per day with a maximum speed of 80
km/hr.
4. Features of the Tunnel

 The tunnel includes an emergency escape tunnel with emergency exit at every 500 metres.
 It has installed telephones at every 150 metres, and fire hydrant at every 60 metres.
25
5. Significance
The tunnel would be proved beneficial for the defence troops stationed in Ladakh and for
the residents of Lahaul and Spiti Valley who remain cut off from the rest of the part
during winters. Further, it reduces the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 km. The
journey between Manali and Lahaul- Spiti Valley usually takes five hours but now it has
been reduced to 10 minutes.
25. India-Bangladesh begin Bongosagar and CORPAT Naval Exercises
The second edition of Indian Navy (IN) – Bangladesh Navy (BN) Bilateral Exercise
Bongosagar will commence in Northern Bay of Bengal on 03 October 2020. in the
exercise Bongosagar, ships from both the navies will participate in surface warfare drills,
seamanship evolutions and helicopter operations.
1. Exercise Bongosagar
 First edition of the exercise was held in 2019.
 It is aimed at developing inter-operability and joint operational skills by conducting a wide
range of maritime exercises and operations.
2. IN – BN Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT)

 First edition of CORPAT began in 2018.
 3rd edition of IN – BN Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) will be held in Northern Bay of Bengal
beginning from 4 to 5 October 2020.
 In this, IN and BN units will undertake joint patrolling along the International Maritime
Boundary Line (IMBL).
 Significance– Conduct of CORPATs has strengthened the understanding between both the
navies and has came up with measures to stop conduct of unlawful activities.
3. Participating Ships
 Indian side: Following ships are taking part:
4. India- Bangladesh Relation

India and Bangladesh have a close and long-standing relationship that covers a wide
range of activities and interactions. The relation has been strengthened because of
regular interactions. The people of India and Bangladesh also share a close cultural
bonds. They also have shared vision of democratic society and a rules-based order. In
the line, the Exercise Bongosagar and IN – BN CORPAT reflects the priority that Indian
Navy gives to Bangladesh Navy as part of Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
SAGAR (Security And Growth for All in the Region) Vision.
26. Northrop Grumman Launched SS Kalpana Chawla Cygnus
Northrop Grumman has launched their next Cygnus vehicle named as S.S. Kalpana
Chawla and a Antares rocket for the NG-14 mission to the International Space Station
(ISS) on October 2, 2020 from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia.
26
This capsule will deliver thousands kilograms/pounds of equipment, crew supplies, and
science to the ISS.
1. The S.S. Kalpana Chawla Cygnus

 The Capsule is made up of :
A Pressurized Cargo Module- built by Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, and
A Service Module- which consists of two solar arrays, navigation equipment, and propulsion
elements which have been built by Northrop Grumman in Dulles, Virginia.
 A Pressurized Cargo Module- built by Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, and
 A Service Module- which consists of two solar arrays, navigation equipment, and propulsion
elements which have been built by Northrop Grumman in Dulles, Virginia.
 This has been named in the honor of Dr. Kalpana Chawla who was the first Indian-born
woman to travel to space.
 The spacecraft carried with itself a new space toilet called the Universal Waste Management
System. It is 65% smaller and 40% lighter than the current toilet being used at ISS.
 The capsule also carried a radish-growing experiment in order to learn about survival and
feasibility of growing plants in space.
 It also carried a cancer treatment technique requisites to test cancer drugs in micro gravity
conditions.
2. Kalpana Chawla
She was born on 17 March 1962 in Karnal district of Haryana. She earned a Bachelors of
Engineering in aeronautical engineering from Punjab Engineering College and moved to
the United States in 1982. She flew as a primary robotic arm operator and also as a
mission specialist in 1997 . She died while she was on a space mission in the Columbia
spacecraft. The spacecraft got disintegrated while returning to Earth after a hot plasma
entered the wing of the aircraft. Some of the important honors provided to her has been
listed below:
27. India successfully test-fires new version of Shaurya Missile
India successfully test-fired a new version of nuclear-capable Shaurya missile on October

3, 2020 from the coast of Odisha. The missile can strike targets at around 800 kms. This
has been launched amid the ongoing tensions at India-China Border.
1. Highlights
 The new version of the missile would be inducted in the strategic forces in order to
complement the existing missiles in the same class.
 The missile would be lighter and easier to operate in comparison with the existing missile.
 The missile moves at hypersonic speeds while reaching to the last phase.
27
2. The Shaurya Missile
It is a canister launched hypersonic surface-to-surface tactical missile. The missile had
been developed by the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
and the Indian Armed Forces uses it. Range of the missile is 700 to 1,900 km and it can
carry a conventional or nuclear warhead payload of 200kg to 1 ton. Shaurya is stored in
a composite canister this it is easier to store, handle and transport.
3. Features
 Shaurya missiles can remain hidden underground from enemy surveillance or satellites till
they are fired from storage-cum-launch canisters.
 High-speed, two-stage Shaurya is less vulnerable to existing anti-missile defence systems.
 It is complex system having a high-performance navigation and guidance systems, efficient
propulsion systems and canisterised launch.
 Easy deployment because of “single vehicle solution.
28. World Day For Farmed Animals Celebrated on October 2
World Day for Farmed Animals was celebrated on October 2, 2020 by the International
animals’ welfare organization, World Animal Protection along with the Asia for Animals
coalition in order to bring the focus on the need to treat farm animals as sentient beings.
1. Key Facts
 Various organizations from India, Thailand, South Korea, Nepal, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan,
China, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and New Zealand participated in this event.
 Asia for Animals (AfA) Coalition is composed of 23 well-known and respected animal welfare
organizations that have a shared focus on improving the welfare of animals in Asia.
2. Why this day is observed?

The day is celebrated to raise awareness among people that intensive animal farming
and poor treatment of farm animals can lead to a pandemic-level threat to humans. It
could also depletes the health of the animals. It is to be noted that diseases such as
swine flu, bird flu, and Nipah virus all have emerged from farmed animals only. These
viruses lead to human pandemics which usually arises when a strain of the avian
influenza virus/bird-flu is transmitted from wild aquatic birds to farmed chickens.
3. World Day for Farmed Animals

The day is celebrated on the birth anniversary Mahatma Gandhi who was a animal lover.
The day is being organised by the Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM) since 1983.
4. World Day for Farmed Animals Asia

It is an organisation focusing on the importance and urgency of Farm Animal Welfare in
Asia. It also draw attention on how animal welfare is interlinked with other global issues
affecting animals, people, & our planet.
28
29. Borris Johnson to hold talk with Von Der Leyen on Brexit
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will hold talks with the president of the European
Commission, Ursula von der Leyen in order to discuss the current post-Brexit
negotiations and steps that needs to taken forward.
1. Highlights
 The decision of call was taken after the EU commission announced steps to initiate an
infringement procedure against the UK.
 The infringement step was taken in after London’s plans to pass a controversial bill that
override the parts of the bilateral Brexit agreement.
2. What is the issue?

The fight is over a post-Brexit trade deal Bill that UK has passed. According to UK, the
controversial legislation will ensure a barrier-free trade between the United Kingdom’s
four constituent nations while EU is accusing the UK of breaching the “good faith” of the
withdrawal agreement. This controversy has arisen when the UK and the EU are in the
final round of negotiations on a post-Brexit trade deal.
3. Brexit
Brexit is the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) after
a referendum in June 2016. In the referendum, 52% voted in favor of leaving the EU and
48% voted to remain a member. This referendum was then led by Theresa May. The UK
Parliament finally ratified the withdrawal agreement on January 31, 2020 and the UK left
the EU. The UK still remains a subject to EU law, EU customs union and single market
during the transition period which is undergoing. But it is no longer part of the EU’s
political bodies or institutions.
October 5, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
30. First Monday of October (October 5)- World Habitat Day
The World Habitat Day is observed on the first Monday of October month every year.
The United Nations General Assembly had declared in 1985 the first Monday in October
as World Habitat Day. The day is celebrated to recognise the basic right of all humanity
to have a adequate shelter and to encourage grassroots action in order to end poverty
housing. The day is being celebrated under the theme- Housing for All-A better Urban
Future
1. Key Facts
 The day was first celebrated in 1986 at Nairobi under the theme “Shelter is My Right”.
 World Habitat Day is celebrated in countries including India, China, Poland, Mexico, Uganda,
Angola and the United States.
29
 Several activities are organised on the occasion in order to examine and investigate the
problems of rapid urbanization and its impact on the environment and human poverty.
 A new theme is selected every year for this day celebration as decided by the United Nations
based on ongoing issues on the topic of habitat.
2. Significance
Around 1.8 billion people lives in the slum and around 3 billion people lack basic hand
washing facilities. They face the problems of homelessness and inadequate housing in
the cities. So the day finds its significance in order for the people to know about their
rights.
3. United Nations Human Settlements Programme

The programme is aimed at making cities socially and environmentally sustainable. It
focuses on making efficient cities, well-planned and governed human settlements. It
seeks to provide universal access to basic services including sanitation, water and
energy. It also provided the world’s most prestigious human settlements award “Habitat
Scroll of Honour” which was launched in 1989.
31. India – Bahrain discussed on Bilateral Cooperation in Financial Sector
India’s new Ambassador to Bahrain, Piyush Srivastava and Bahrain’s Minister of Finance
and National Economy Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa hold meeting on October 4,
2020 and discussed bilateral cooperation between the two Nations. They discussed
several ways to strengthen India-Bahrain cooperation in the financial and business
sectors. Both the countries reviewed the economic partnership and ways of strenghten it
in order to provide to provide more promising investment opportunities. They also had a
discussion on issues of common interest and the latest global economic developments.
1. India- Bahrain Relation

India is a close ally of Bahrain. The share political, socio-economic, military and cultural
ties between them. Bahrain along with its GCC partners are amongst the world’s most
prominent supporters of India’s candidacy for a permanent seat on the UN Security
Council.
2. Background
Relations between India and Bahrain goes back to 5000 years ago. Origins of the relation
lies to the period of Dilmun Civilization in Bahrain and era of Indus valley civilization in
India. It is believed that Ancient Bahraini traders have carried out trade of Bahraini
pearls with Indian spices from India. Further, many of Bahrain’s most prominent figures
share close ties with India. For instance, poet Ebrahim Al-Arrayedh was grew up in
Bombay.
3. Recent Developments
 December 2007- Bahrain India Society was launched in Manama in order to promote ties
between the two countries. It was headed by the former Minister of Labour Abdulnabi Al-
Shoala. Society is aimed at taking advantage of the development in civil society
 2014- Bahrain’s ruler Sheikh Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa visited India. The two countries then
signed a number of MOUs including a US$450 million of bilateral trade and investment. India
30
provided its support for Bahrain’s bid for a non-permanent seat in the Security council for
2026-27.
 Recently, in August 2019, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Bahrain. This was the
first an Indian Prime Minister visited the country. 3 MoUs on space, culture, the International
Solar Alliance and the RuPay card were signed in the meeting. PM of India also inaugurated a
US$ 4.2 million project to redevelop the Shreenathji temple complex in Manama. Further,
Bahrain issued pardons to 250 Indian citizens imprisoned there.
4. Honours
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was awarded with the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al
Khalifa awarded Modi with the Bahrain’s third highest civilian award- Member 1st Class
of the King Hamad Order of the Renaissance.
32. PV-EDGE 2020- To be Oragnised by NITI Ayog, Renewable Ministry

and Invest India.
NITI Aayog, The New and Renewable Energy Ministry, and Invest India will organise a
global symposium virtually ‘India PV EDGE 2020’ on October 6.
1. Highlights
 The summit is being organised in order to catalyse cutting-edge solar cell manufacturing in
India.
 There will be sessions including the plenary session, sessions on ‘Wafers and Cells, Session
on ‘Modules and Production Equipment’ and a session on ‘Supply Chain.
2. Significance
The solar deployment is a flagship green growth story of the last decade. In the line, the
summit would act as an instrument to accelerate the growth and build a climate-resilient
world.
3. India’s Solar Capacity

As of August 31, 2020 India’s installed solar capacity was 35,739 MW. The Indian
government had initially targeted for 20 GW capacity by 2022. But, it was achieved four
years ahead of schedule. This target was revised in 2015 and raised to 100 GW of solar
capacity that also include 40 GW from rooftop solar by 2022. For achieving the target,
India has established 42 solar parks. India has now become the third-largest solar
capacity country in the world. It has again revised the target to 450 GW of renewable
capacity by 2030 that comprises solar energy of 300 GW.
4. International Solar Alliance (ISA)

India also proposed and set up the International Solar Alliance (ISA) with its headquarter
at Gurugram, Haryana. India is a founder member. Apart from that. India has also put
forward the “One Sun One World one Grid” concept and “World Solar Bank” in order to
harness the solar power globally.
31
33. Indian Army Builds Memorial for soldiers martyred in Galwan Clash
The Indian Army has build up a memorial in the honour of twenty soldiers who lost their
lives in the Galwan Clash between Indian Army and Chinese Army in June 2020 in the
Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldi road. The memorial contain the names of the soldiers and they
have been mentioned as “Gallants of Galwan”.
1. Background of the Clash

The stand-off between the Indian Army and Chinese Army dates back to 1962 when both
the armies got engaged in a war. The War led to the loss of Aksai chin region to China.
After that, both the armies usually get in to minor clashes along the Line of Actual
Control. In the series, A violent clash emerged in June 2020 in the Galwan valley. Indian
side lost 20 Indian soldiers while the Chinese side suffered a casualty of around 35
soldiers. The India Army completed the mission under the “Operation Snow Leopard”.
2. Operation Snow Leopard

Under Operation Snow Leopard teams are deployed on high altitude mountains. The
soldiers deployed there are the warfare specialists who are kept prepared. They are
tasked to occupy heights and secure the supply lines in a counter to Chinese aggression.
3. Why China is aggressive in the region?

China Follows “The Policy of Nibble and Negotiate”. Under this policy, China opposes
India’s development along the Line of Actual Control. Currently, India has been
undertaking various infrastructure projects and roads in the Ladakh region. But, China
opposes the development because these roadways will help Indian Defence force to
transport soldiers, ammunition, food supplies, and other needs easily. This would further
strengthen the surveillance the region from Indian side along the border.
34. Provision of Postal Ballot for Elderly and People with Disabilities
Issued
The Election Commission has come out with a set of new instructions that seeks to make
the procedure to opt for postal ballot for people aged above 80 years of age and people
with disabilities. For the postal ballot, form (Form- 12) would be delivered at the
residence by the booth level officer (BLO) under his polling station.
1. Key Facts
 Postal ballot polling option has been given green signal for the upcoming Bihar elections
 ”If the person opts for postal ballot, then the BLO will collect the filled-in form 12-D from the
house of the elector.
 The form would be collected within five days of the notification and deposit it with the
returning officer (RO).
 For the polls to be held in a transparent manner, the returning officer would deploy polling
teams to deliver and collect the postal ballot on a pre-informed dates and then deposit it with
the RO.
 This postal ballot facility is different from the one that is extended to service voters. In this
case, those who want to use the facility have to fill up a form.
 This decision has been taken in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.
32
2. Background
The Law Ministry recently amended the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961. This extended
the facility of postal ballots to people who are unable to cast their vote because of their
service conditions. Features of these amendments includes:
3. Who is a Booth Level Officer (BLO)

BLO is a Government or Semi Government or PSU or a Local body Official, who is
familiar with the local electors. BLO resides in the same polling area. He is a
representative of Election Commission of India at the polling station area level. He or
She plays a role of maintaining an error-free and updated electoral roll by collecting the
actual field information of the polling area. He or she is appointed under Section 13B(2)
of Representation of People Act 1950 by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO).
4. Who is a Retuning Officer (RO)?

The returning officer is responsible for the conduct of elections as per the
Representation of the People Act, 1951. It is the statutory authority to conduct the
polling and counting process. He decide the validity of ballot paper. The decision taken
by RO in regard to ballot paper can not be over ruled by the election commission. An
assistant returning officers (ARO) is also provided to assist the returning officer in the
performance of his functions. RO and ARO are selected for each assembly and
parliamentary constituency.
35. India and S. Africa move to WTO on COVID-19 Prevention.
India and South Africa have asked for a waiver on certain provisions of the international
agreements regulating the intellectual property rights in the World Trade Organization
(WTO). This step has been taken in order to speed up efforts that prevent, treat and
contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
1. What was the issue?

 Both the countries have highlighted that there were several reports about intellectual
property rights that were obstructing timely provisioning of affordable medical products to
COVID-19 patients.
 Another concern for both the countries were insufficient or no manufacturing capacity
requirements and a lengthy process of the import and export of the pharmaceutical products.
 Many countries including the developing countries faced institutional and legal difficulties
while using the flexibilities available in the TRIPS Agreement.
 There was another concern that other intellectual property rights may also pose a barrier
beyond the patents with limited options to overcome those barriers.
 Further, medical products companies including the medicine and vaccine manufacturers of
both the countries want to get profit by keeping the monopoly rights through intellectual
protection in the pandemic.
2. What is the Solution?

 WTO needs to ensure that intellectual property rights do not create barriers to timely access
to affordable medical products.
 WTO should also ensure the scaling up of research, development, manufacturing and supply
of medical products in order to combat the COVID-19.
33
 TRIPS Obligations should be waived off to ensure availability and affordability of medical
products.
3. TRIPS Agreement
The Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is an international
agreement between the member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) which
is administered by WTO itself. The agreement sets a minimum standards for the
regulation of different forms of intellectual property (IP). These are applied to all
nationals of the WTO member nations. This agreement was negotiated at the end of
the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
4. General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

GATT is a legal agreement between countries in order to promote international trade by
reducing or eliminating trade barriers including the tariffs or quotas. It was constituted
after the failure of governments to create the International Trade Organization (ITO). The
WTO is a successor to the GATT.
36. What is Xoo infection?
Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae is commonly known as Xoo infection. It is an bacterial

leaf blight disease in rice. It causes huge yield losses to rice cultivation in both
temperate and tropical regions especially in Asia.
1. Symptoms
Some of the symptoms that appear on the leaves of young plants include:
2. What is Xoo?
Xoo is a bacterium that causes a serious bacterial leaf blight disease in rice plant.
3. Recent developments
 A recipient of the DST-Inspire Faculty Fellowship has discovered the mechanism by which Xoo
interacts with rice plant and causes disease.
 The team is currently developing new disease control strategies which can be used as
vaccines. The vaccine will activate the rice immune system and provide resistance from
subsequent infections by pathogens to the rice plants.
 The group has zeroed in on some molecules that they derived from the Xoo bacterium and
from infected rice cell walls. They hope that these molecules would help them to develop
vaccines.
 The group is working on a cellulase protein secreted by Xoo.
4. Cellulase Protein
It is an enzyme that converts the cellulose into glucose or a disaccharide. The cellulase
protein that the group has obtained is secreted by Xoo. It has the features of a typical
vaccine since it is a potent elicitor of rice immune responses. If the rice plants are pre-
treated with this protein, It provides resistance to rice against subsequent Xoo infection.
34
5. Conclusion
Rice is the most widely grown crop in the worldwide and it plays an important role in
food security. So, developing mechanisms of plant-pathogen interaction of rice and Xoo
will be helping to develop rice plants that are more resistant to disease which is caused
by Xoo.
37. DRDOsuccessfully flight tested theSupersonic Missile Assisted

Release of Torpedo(SMART)
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully flight-
tested the Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART). The flight was
successfully tested today on October 5, 2020 from the Wheeler Island from the coast of
Odisha. This launch is significant to establish the anti-submarine warfare capabilities and
is a significant step that comply with the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.
1. About SMART
Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo is a lightweight Anti-Submarine Torpedo
System. It has been launched for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations for far
beyond torpedo range. It is the fastest Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) missile in the
world. It has been developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation
(DRDO) laboratories including RCI Hyderabad, DRDL, NSTL Vishakhapatnam, ADRDE
Agra. The Missile has a range of 650km.
2. Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW)

An anti-submarine warfare missile is a standoff anti-submarine weapon which is a
variant of anti-ship missile. It is an anti-submarine systems which uses a jet or rocket
engine in order to deliver an explosive warhead aiming directly at a submarine, a depth
charge and a torpedo which is carried from a launch ship.
October 6, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
38. India-Israel Agreed for Advance Bilateral Cooperation to fight

Coronavirus
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on
October 6, 2020 and India – Israel agreed to continue and advance bilateral cooperation
in order to fight against the coronavirus in the fields of research, field trials of diagnostic
tools and vaccine development.. Emphasis were given on technological cooperation and
tests. Both sides agreed to hold a digital conference on innovation in the field of solar
energy. This will jointly achieve inexpensive solutions that will eventually benefit the
economies of both countries and the world.
35
1. Highlights
 They agreed on the importance of close cooperation in the field of research, field trials of
diagnostic tools and vaccine development to benefit the people of the two countries and
greater good of humanity.
 They also agreed to continue regular consultations in order to share assessments on
emerging regional and global challenges and opportunities.
2. India- Israel relation

Background
39. Foreign Ministers of QUAD countries to meet in Tokyo
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will meet the foreign ministers of the Australia-
India-Japan-United States Quadrilateral or Quad in Tokyo today, on October 6, 2020. The
meeting will be a significant turning point for the QUAD grouping. The meeting would be
led by growing concerns over China’s aggression in the region.
1. Highlights
 Cooperation on 5G connectivity, cybersecurity, a supply chain initiative for manufacturing,
maritime cooperation and infrastructure and connectivity and distribution plans for the
COVID-19 vaccine will be discussed.
 The meeting will begin with a “regional assessment” that includes developments in the
South and East China Sea, six-month stand-off at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Hong Kong
and Taiwan. There are the regions where China has been highly aggressive.
 They will also discuss the issue of including Australia in the next edition of the Malabar naval
exercises.
 Japan will push a plan for a trilateral “Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI)” with India and
Australia in order to reduce dependence on Chinese manufacturing. This step is being taken
in the backdrop of India’s refusal to be a part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership (RCEP) which is ASEAN-led.
 India will discuss how Quad countries can help in building “East-West” connectivity from India
to ASEAN countries so as to counter the “North-South connectivity” from China.
 India is also going to discuss on joint funding for infrastructure and connectivity projects in
the Indo-Pacific region.
 They might discuss a U.S. plan for a “Blue Dot Network” to rate infrastructure projects for
funding.
2. India-Japan
Apart from that, India will hold bilateral meetings with Japan, Australian and U.S.
separately during this two day Tokyo meeting in which bilateral defence cooperation will
be a common theme. Japan has also made a special arrangements to host the meeting
as the new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is willing to show his commitment to the Quad
process.
3. China’s Stand
China is criticizing the meeting by tagging it as an “exclusive clique” and “an anti-China
front line”. China also said the grouping is a “mini-NATO” which is being led by the “cold
war mentality”.
36
40. MoHUA unites with Swiggy To Take Street Food Vendors online
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with
Swiggy on October 5, 2020 in order to take the street food vendors online under the PM
Svanidhi Scheme.
1. Key Facts
 The programme was launched in five cities including Chennai, Ahmedabad, Indore, Delhi and
Varanasi.
 On the first day, around 250 vendors were taken on-board from the five cities.
 The initiative would benefit more than 50 lakh street vendors in future.
 Ministry also launched an updated and modified version of PM SVANidhi Dashboard.
2. Procedure
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs will run the programme by including the 250
vendors on board from the five cities. These vendors will be provided with FSSAI
registration, PAN registration, partner app usage, hygiene packing, training on
technology and menu digitization. The programme will be expanded to other parts of the
country after the first stage is successful.
3. How is it Significant?
This initiative would be beneficial for the street vendors to take forward their livelihood
in the current situation of COVID-19 pandemic, where physical distancing is the norm.
4. PM Svanidhi Yojana
The scheme was launched as a part of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan in order to bring
microcredit facility to street vendors at door steps. The street vendors can avail a
working capital loan of up to Rs 10,000 under the scheme. There is also a provision of
extended loan credit amount in the case the vendor repays the instalment on time. The
loan credit amount can be extended to Rs 20,000. The loan is provided without any
collateral. The scheme is valid till March 2022. As of now, around 20 lakh loan
applications have been received under the scheme of which 7.5 lakh amount have been
sanctioned and 2.4 lakhs were rejected.
5. Benefits
The scheme will integrate the street vendors into formal financial system. The loans
provided under the scheme will help to boost the activities of vendors who whose
livelihood was impacted during the lock down amid COVID-19 pandemic.
41. New Emission Norms of Tractors: Deadline extended till October

2021
The central government has extended the deadline of the TREM Stage-IV emission
norms. These norms for tractors were scheduled to be applicable from October 2020.
Now, the government of India has extended the deadline to October 1, 2021.
37
1. Key Facts
 The ministry of road transport and highways has amended the Central Motor Vehicles Rules,
1989 on September 30, 2020 in order to accommodate the extension.
 The request for extension was made by the ministry of agriculture, tractor manufacturers and
agriculture associations.
 The amendment also provides a separate emission norms for the agricultural machinery
including the power tillers, tractors, harvesters and construction vehicles.
 These norms has also changed the nomenclature of the emission norms of tractors and other
equipment from Bharat State (CEM/TREM) IV and Bharat State (CEV/TREM)-V to TREM Stage
IV and TREM Stage V.
 TREM stands for Transport Emergency and CEV stands for Construction Equipment Vehicle.
2. Background
The first standard for agricultural tractor that is Bharat (TREM) Stage I was implemented
in 1999. The Bharat (TREM) Stage III A was adopted later to harmonise agricultural
tractors and construction machinery under engine category. The Bharat Stage
(CEV/Trem) IV was adopted in 2018 for emission standards for engines to be used in
construction and agricultural equipment.
3. Bharat (CEV/TREM) Stage IV

The BS IV standards are aligned with European Union Stage IV standards. Under the
norms,
42. Highlights of Recommendations made by 42nd GST Council Meet
The 42nd GST Council met on October 5, 2020 under the Chairmanship of Union Finance
& Corporate Affairs Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman.
1. Recommendations
The GST Council made the following recommendations:
2. Criticism
3. GST council
It is a governing body of GST with 33 members. Two members are from centre and 31
members are from 28 state and 3 Union territories with legislation. Union Finance
Minister is the chairperson of council. Other members include- Union Minister of States in
charge of revenue or finance , ministers of states in charge of finance or taxation and
other ministers as nominated by each states government. The council modify, reconcile
and procure any law or regulation in the context of goods and services tax (GST).
43. Why Amazon is at risk of changing from Forest to Savanna?
A team of Europe-based scientists, in their journal Nature Communications, have

published that about 40% of the Amazon risks changing from rainforest to savanna. They
have stated that, the forest is not getting enough rainfall to sustain its ecosystem
because of greenhouse gas emissions.
38
1. Highlights
 The team used the latest atmospheric data to study how tropical forests might respond to
changing rainfall levels.
 They studied the effect of continued emissions from burning fossil fuels till the end of the
century from now.
 They found that rainfall in the Amazon is so low and up to 40% of it risks changing into a
savanna-like environment that will comprise of far fewer trees and far less biodiversity.
2. Background
Forests are usually very sensitive to changes affecting the rainfall for extended periods.
The trees may also die off if there is no rain for long. This can severely effect nature
with the loss of tropical habitats and climate. This is because, shrinking forests loses
their ability to absorb man-made emissions. This also increases the risk of such fires that
amazon went through in recent past.
3. Vicious cycle
The rainforests usually create their own rainfall through water vapour thus sustain tree
levels and extends their reach. But when precipitation level falls, the forests begin to
disappear. As forests begin to disappear, there is less rainfall downwind. This causes
drying of the forests thus leads to more fire and forest loss.
4. Causes
5. Concerns
World’s rainforests would struggle to grow back once they are lost and they will change
into a wider savanna-like mix of woodland and grassland.
44. C-DAC will commission ‘PARAM Siddhi – AI’ – India’s fastest HPC-AI
Supercomputer
The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) will commission the India’s
largest High Performance Computing and Artificial Intelligence (HPC-AI) supercomputer,
‘PARAM Siddhi – AI’. This would put India into top countries in the field of global AI
supercomputing research and innovation.
1. Highlights
 The supercomputer will have 210 AI Petaflops
 It will be based on the NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD.
 The supporting infrastructure for the supercomputer will be established under NSM at C-DAC,
with support from Niti Aayog, Ministry of Electronics and IT, Department of Science and
Technology and the central government.
 The computer will use NVIDIA Next Generation technology, C-DAC software stack and Cloud
platform.
2. Significance
 The super computer will develop ecosystem for research and innovation in science and
engineering.
39
 With expertise in AI and augmenting the AI and Language Computing Mission Mode Program
of C-DAC, it will boost experiments and outcomes in Health Care, Education, Energy, Cyber
Security, Space, Automotive and Agriculture in India.
 It will also enhance the partnerships with the Academia, Start-ups, Industry and MSMEs.
3. Super Computers of India

 The first super computer was “Param Shivay” built under the National Supercomputing
Mission by C-DAC.
 IIT-Kharagpur was the first institute to establish supercomputing facility under the National
Supercomputing Mission.
 Other Indian super computers with global ranking based on their speed is listed below:
4. Fastest super computer

Fugaku super computer from Japan with its speed 415 petaFlops is the world fastest
supercomputer.
5. National Supercomputing Mission

The Mission was implemented by C-DAC with an aim of developing the national research
and development institutions across the country. It mission is moving forward by
installing vast supercomputing grid across the country that also include more than 70
high-performance computing facilities.
45. India- Myanmar agreed to operationalize Sittwe Port.
Ministry of External Affairs have notified that India and Myanmar have agreed to
operationalise the Sittwe port in the Rakhine state by first quarter of 2021. This decision
was taken after a two day long visit of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General M M Naravane
and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla to Myanmar on October 4 to 5, 2020.
1. Agreements
 Both sides agreed to strengthen their connectivity projects, capacity building, power and
energy partnership.
 They agreed to deepen economic and trade ties.
 The would work to facilitate people to people and cultural exchanges.
 Further, they would work to broad-base their defense exchanges across all the three services.
 Both sides agreed to deepen cooperation to overcome the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic.
 They discussed the progress of Trilateral Highway and the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit
Transport Project.
2. India’s assistance
 3000 vials of Remdesivir was presented to the State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. It
symbolises India’s commitment to assist Myanmar to fight against the ongoing pandemic.
 India announced a grant of USD 2 million for the construction of the border haat bridge at
Byanyu/Sarsichauk in Chin State. This will boost the economic connectivity between Mizoram
and Myanmar.
3. Cultural deal
 Both sides discussed the translation of Indian epics in Burmese language to enhance the
cultural ties.
40
 They also discussed about the plan to install a bust of Lokmanya Tilak in Mandalay so as to
commemorate his 100th death anniversary. This is being done in the light that- Lokmanya
tilak wrote Gita Rahasya, which is a commentary on the Bhagvadgita, in Mandalay jail of
Myanmar.
46. Dr. Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Ayush Standard Treatment Protocol’
The Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan launched the Ayush Standard Treatment
Protocol at an event held on October 6, 2020 via video conference. The protocol
comprises the self-care guidelines on preventive health measures that will help in
protecting against COVID-19 pandemic.
1. Highlights
 The health minister also greet the up-gradation of the protocols by the AYUSH Ministry.
 This upgradation has been done in sync with Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
(CSIR) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
 The Union Health Minister stated while launching the protocol that the modern systems of
medicine have their own strengths because, they have made medicines and operations
available which in turn have helped in making people’s lives better.
 He also cited that Ayurveda is an ancient science of our country and the oldest knowledge
base. As per a believe, its origin lies in the Atharva Veda.
 He also announced that that preparations for Naturopathy and Yoga are underway.
2. Conclusion
To conclude, the health minister added that the knowledge needs to be presented to the
world and rejuvenated using scientific methods besides highlighting the significance of
the Ayurveda. He said, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, he received inquiries for
more kadhas and herbs that helps in boosting immunity. This shows the importance of
Ayurveda even present age.
47. IIM Kozhikode to Launch e-Learning Hub for Villagers
The Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode will launch an e-learning hub and library
as a pilot project for villagers in Mavoor. Mavoor village is one of the five villages that
has been adopted by the institute under Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA).
1. Highlights
 IIM Kozhikode institute has been a pioneer in spearheading social development at community
levels webinar, and programmes such as the UBA. It is also a partner institute of UBA that
fortify institutional capacity and give training to national needs especially in rural India.
 The programme aims to create a virtuous cycle between society and academic system by
providing knowledge and practices for the emerging professions.
 The virtual session was organised by the UBA Cell of IIM Kozhikode. More than 450
participants were introduced and briefed on the various aspects of NEP 2020.
 IIM Kozhikode has adopted five villages namely Mavoor, Kuttikkattoor, Narikkuni, Puthur and
Puthuppadi of Kozhikode under the UBA initiative.
41
2. Unnat Bharat Abhiyaan (UBA)
It is a flagship programme by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The
programme is aimed at linking the Higher Education Institutions with a set of at least 5
villages. This has to be done so that institutions can contribute to the economic and
social development of the village communities using their knowledge base. Under the
initiative, all Higher Learning Institutes have been involved for participation in
development activities, particularly in rural areas. It is also aimed at creating a virtuous
cycle between the society and university by providing knowledge base to the society. As
of March 2020, around 13070 villages have been adopted by some 2475 Institutes.
3. Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0

It is the upgraded version of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan. The scheme is extended to all
educational institutes. Under the updated version, Participating institutes are selected
on the basis of certain criteria.
48. GoI appointed three Monetary Policy Committee Members
Government of India have appointed economists Jayant R Varma, Shashank Bhide and
Ashima Goyal as the new members of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) which was set
up in 2016. The appointments were made after the decision was cleared by the
Appointment Committee of the Cabinet chaired by PM Modi.
1. Monetary Policy Committee

The MPC prepare the monetary policies for the country using the monetary policy tools
that include bank rate, repo rate, reverse repo rate and cash reserve ratio. The
Committee was constituted under Section 54ZB of the reserve Bank of India (RBI) act,
1934.
2. Selection procedure
The members of the MPC are appointed by the government of India (GoI). They are
selected by a search-cum-selection committee. This committee comprises of RBI
Governor, three experts in the field of economics either finance or banking and the
economic affairs secretary.
3. Composition
The committee consists of six members. Out of these, three are nominated by GoI that
must not be a Government official. The other three member of the committee are
appointed by the RBI itself. The RBI Governor acts as the ex-officio chairperson of the
committee while the Executive Governor of the bank acts as the Deputy Governor.
4. Term of office
The members are appointed for a period of four years and they are not eligible of
reappointment.
5. Functions of the Committee

As per the recommendations made by Chakravarty Committee, the main functions of
committee include:
42
October 7, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
49. ISLRTC and NCERT sign MoU to convert educational materials into
Indian Sign Language
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on October 6, 2020 between Indian

Sign Language Research and Training Center (ISLRTC) and NCERT in order to make
education materials accessible for Deaf children. The education materials would be
available in their preferred format of communication .
1. Significance
NCERT textbooks in Indian Sign Language will make educational resources available to
Hearing Impaired children in Indian Sign Language. The MoU will convert the educational
print materials, teachers’ handbook, supplementary materials and NCERT Textbooks into
digital sign language. MoU also fulfil the needs of Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act,
2016 and New Education Policy, 2020. The MoU ensures educational standardisation of
Indian Sign Language as per the mandate of New Education Policy, 2020. Thus, it will
enhance the literary skills of 18.9% of the deaf Indian population.
2. What GoI is doing in this regard?

The Government of India (GoI) has taken several measures to empower and help the
deaf people. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment launched the second
edition of Indian Sign Language Dictionary recently. It was developed by the Indian Sign
Language Research and Training Centre. It is present in digital as well as print
format.The dictionary include 6000 words under categories including the legal, technical,
academic, medical and every day terms.
3. International efforts
 International Day of Sign Languages– The day is celebrated on September 23 annually to
commemorate the foundation of the World Federation of the Deaf.
 World Federation of Deaf– It is an NGO that works as an important body for the National
associations of deaf people. The federation organises The World Congress every four years.
The organisation is aimed at improving the status of national sign languages, improving
access of information and services and promoting the establishment of deaf organisations. In
the line, The National Association of the Deaf, India is associated with the World Federation of
Deaf.
43
50. IFFCO and Prasar Bharati sign MoU to promote new Agriculture
Innovations
Prasar Bharati and Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) signed a MoU
on October 6, 2020 in order to broadcast and promote new agriculture technology and
innovations.
1. Key Facts
 As per the MoU, DD Kisan will broadcast innovative techniques that is being adopted in
agriculture field in an easy language.
 It will run a 30 minutes program series to benefit the farmers.
 The MoU tries to explain the new innovation and techniques to the farmers in order to make
them atmanirbhar.
 IFFCO’s innovations will be shared with farmers in approximate 25 episodes.
2. IFFCO’s Innovation
IFFCO has prepared an alternative of Urea that were launched Kalol, Gujarat by Union
Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Sadananda Gowda in November 2019. The alternative
is nanotechnology based and will help farmers achieve the target of doubling their
income by 2022. The ‘nano-technology’ based products include- nano nitrogen, nano
zinc and nano copper.
3. Significance
 These products are environment-friendly.
 It will reduce usage of conventional chemical fertilisers including urea by 50%.
 It will raise the crop output by 15-30 % by effectively delivering the required nutrients to the
plants.
 It also improves the soil health and
 It cuts emission of greenhouse gases.
4. Benefits
10 gm of nano-zinc would be enough for a hectare of land and can bring down the
requirement of NPK fertilizer by 50%. Nano-copper provides nutrition and protection to
the plant. It can boosts the plants immunity against the harmful pathogens. It also helps
to increase the activity of plant growth hormone thus, improves the overall plant growth
and development.
51. Ganga River Dolphin Day- My Ganga My Dolphin Campaign launched

on the occasion.
My Ganga My Dolphin campaign was launched today on the occasion of Ganga River
Dolphin Day. This campaign was launched by the National Mission for Clean Ganga, the
Wildlife Institute of India and the Forest Department.
44
1. My Ganga My Dolphin
The campaign has been lunched for sustainable tourism. It also links with the livelihood
through Dolphin Conservation for ecotourism along the Ganga river. The campaign have
been launched in the 250 km stretch of the river. The campaign will also conduct a
census under the stretch.
2. Dolphin Safari
Dolphin-based ecotourism programme – Dolphin Safari was started at six sites in the
states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. Trained volunteers, being called as
Ganga Praharis, will take the tourists on boat for the Dolphin safari.
3. Ganga River Dolphin Day

The Ganga River Dolphin Day is observed on October 5 every year since 2010. The day
is celebrated because on October 5 Dolphins were declared as National Aquatic Animal.
4. Project Dolphin
Project Dolphin was announced in 2020 by the Prime Minister in his independent speech
and was approved by National Ganga Council. The project is being implemented by the
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. It was launched with an aim to
conserve and protect dolphins in the marine and riverine ecosystems. The 10-year
project focuses on both sea and river dolphins.
5. Threats
Construction of dams are the biggest threats and disturbance to these animals as it
hinders their migration.
6. How Dolphins are protected?

 The Gangetic Dolphins are protected under the First Schedule of Indian Wildlife (Protection)
Act, 1972.
 They have been declared “Endangered” under International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN) red list.
 They are categorized under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES).
 They are Appendix II animal under the Conservation on Migratory Species.
7. Dolphin Count
As per the Dolphin Census, there are about 2,500 – 3,000 Gangetic Dolphins in India.
8. Dolphin Sanctuary
The Vikramshila Ganges Dolphin Sanctuary had been established in Bihar under the
Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
52. Gujarat Government Launched the Digital Seva Setu Programme.
The Gujarat State Government launched the “Digital Seva Setu Programme” for rural
areas on October 6, 2020. It was launched under the Bharat Net Project of the Central
government.
45
1. Highlights
The programme comply with the India’s Digital India Mission. The villages will be
connected with the 100 MBps optical fibre network with an aim to make every village a
mini Sachivalay. The programme connects the village panchayats. It will provide twenty
pro-people services including the delivery of ration cards at door steps.
2. Significance
 The programme will enable people to receive public welfare services at the Panchayat level.
 Gram panchayats will be connected to the state data centre at Gandhinagar, under the
programme. Thus, it will integrate the data.
 The citizens will be charged Rs 20 to avail the benefits of the programme.
 The programme will transform the 18,000 villages of Gujarat into modern and global villages.
 In the first phase, 2000 village panchayats will be covered. Rest of the villages will be
covered by 2021.
3. Seva Setu Programme

The Seva Setu Programme was launched in 2016. It is an initiative of the Gujarat
Government in order to ensure timely redressal of their needs at citizen’s door step. The
seva setu camp is organised under the supervision of sub divisional officer on cluster
basis comprising of the eight to ten villages. So far, around two crore people have been
benefitted from the programme.
53. How Bio-Decomposer Spray will Counter the Stubble Burning in

Delhi?
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on October 6, 2020 that the Delhi
Government will be doing the Bio-Decomposer spraying from October 11, 2020 in order
to counter the stubble burning issue. Bio-Decomposer spraying have been prepared by
the scientists at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, PUSA. It is a low-cost and an
effective way to deal with the stubble burning issue.

The stubble burning from neighbouring states including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab
contribute to 44% of Delhi Pollution. The farmers choose to burn the crop residue as they
get very short time to prepare their field to sow the next winter crop known as Rabi crop
after harvesting the monsoon crops known as kharif crops. Thereafter the retreating
monsoon carries the smoke from the states of Punjab and Haryana to Delhi which gets
stuck in the region. Thus, the winds deposit the smoke in Delhi leading to the problem of
smog during winter.
2. How Bio-Decomposer Spraying will help?

A bio-decomposer capsule have been discovered by the scientists. These capsules will
be sprayed on crop residue which will turn the residue into manure. The process
increases the soil fertility and reduces the use of fertilizers. Delhi government have
estimated that around Rs 20 lakhs will be required to manage 700 hectares of stubble
using this method. The estimate is inclusive of cost of preparation, transportation and
spraying.
46
3. Other option
The National Centre of Organic Farming also developed the waste decomposers earlier.
The waste decomposers are used for quick composting of organic waste. It consists of
micro organisms that are extracted from cow dung. The waste decomposers were also
validated by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICMR). As per the study, 30
grams of waste decomposer can decompose 1000 metric tonnes of waste within 30
days. Further, the decomposer is cost effective. 30 grams of it costs just Rs 20.
54. API Integration between PM SVANidhi and SBI Portal Launched
Under the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme, Shri
Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary of Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, had launched
the Application Programming Interface (API) integration between the PM SVANidhi Portal
and the State Bank of India (SBI) portal on October 7, 2020.
1. Highlights
 The API integration will facilitate seamless flow of data between the PM SVANidhi Portal and
SBI’s eMudra Portal
 The integration will secure the payment environment and expedite the loan sanctioning and
disbursement process.
 This is going to benefit the street vendors seeking working capital loan under the Scheme.
 Ministry will further explore similar integration with other banks.
2. PM SVANidhi Scheme
The Ministry launched the scheme and is being implemented since June 01, 2020. The
scheme was launched to provide affordable working capital loan to street vendors. The
capital loans were provided to resume their livelihoods that was adversely affected amid
Covid-19 lockdown. This scheme have a target to benefit over 50 lakh Street Vendors.
The vendors include those who had been vending on or before 24 March, 2020 in urban
areas and surrounding peri-urban or rural areas. The vendors can take a working capital
loan of up to Rs. 10,000, under the scheme. They required to repay the loan in monthly
instalments within one year. If the loan is timely or early repaid, an interest subsidy @
7% per annum will be credited to the bank accounts of beneficiaries through Direct
Benefit Transfer quarterly. The scheme has no provision of penalty on early repayment
of loan. It also promotes digital transactions through cash-back incentives up to an
amount of Rs. 1,200 per annum. So far, 20.50 lakh loan applications have been
received, 7.85 lakh loans have been sanctioned and over 2.40 lakh loans disbursed
under the scheme.
55. Vigraha- An Offshore Patrol Vessel of Indian Coast Guard launched
The Indian Coast Guard have launched a 98-metre offshore patrol vessel ‘Vigraha’ at a
private shipyard in Kattupalli, Chennai on October 7, 2020. The vessel is the one among
the series of seven vessels that were designed and built for the Coast Guard. These
47
vessels have been built and designed by Larsen and Toubro Shipbuilding under the
‘Make in India’ initiative.
1. About Vigraha or Yard-45007

 The vessel is 98-m long ship.
 It has a displacement of 2100 tons.
 It is capable of achieving a top speed of 26 knots.
 The vessel has an endurance of 5000 nautical miles.
 The vessel can stay at sea for 20 days without replenishment.
 Vigraha will be inducted into Indian Coast Guard in March 2021 after extensive trials and
testing of the on-board equipment and machinery.
 Expected life span of the vessel is more than 25 years.
 The vessel be manned by 102 crew including the 14 officers, 88 subordinate officers and
enrolled personnel.
 The vessel would serve the East Region, from Vishakapatnam after induction. It would be
operated under the leadership of IG S.Paramesh.
2. Significance
The ship comprises of advanced navigation and communication equipment. It also
contain sensors and machinery that are capable of operating in tropical climates. The
vessel has been designed to carry integral Twin Engine Helicopter. Thus, it will enhance
its operational, search, surveillance and rescue capability. The vessel has also been
armed with a 30mm 2A42 Naval Gun and two 12.7mm guns. The vessel can be utilised
for day and night surveillance, anti-terror and anti-smuggling operations in the Exclusive
Economic Zone. In all, the vessel would enhance the coastal security.
3. Indian Coast Guard

The Indian Coast Guard was established in 1977. Then, the coast guard comprises with
two vessels and five boats. It has made swift progress since then. It is the fourth largest
coast guard in the world and it stands larger than many navies. It has also established
bilateral and multilateral agreements with countries including Sri Lanka, Mauritius,
Bangladesh, Seychelles and Maldives to secure the coastal countries and exclusive
economic zone.
56. Study estimates 14 million tonnes of microplastics on sea floor
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) which is an

Australia science agency have studied that 14 million tonnes of harmful microplastics
are present in the bottom of the world’s deep oceans. The accumulation of this chunk of
plastic is the result of pervasive use of plastic.
1. Findings
 The agency analysed the 380 km of deep ocean from the coast of South Australia.
 They found that, amount of plastic particles on the seafloor was double the amount of plastic
pollution on the surface of the sea globally.
48
2. What are microplastics?
Microplastics are small pieces of plastics having size of 5mm. Some of them are
equivalent to the size of a rice grain. They include small pieces of degraded plastic,
synthetic fibres and plastic beads that are used in cosmetic items , toothpaste and even
in laundry powder soaps. Microplastics are the result of larger plastic debris degrading
into smaller pieces.
3. How do microplastics transported to Ocean bed?

They are transported to the ocean bed by Deep sea currents. Further, plastics can sink
down after they are attacked by Algae.
4. Why microplastics are threat to marine life?

The microplastics are harmful for marine life because marine life is dependent on the
ocean currents for their survival. Ocean currents carry the oxygenated water and
nutrients to see floor Hotspots on which marine ecosystem survives. If the microplastics
increase in the ocean water the currents will carry these tiny substances along with
nutrients and silt. The microorganisms will end up ingesting these microplastics and thus
the marine hotspot begins to deteriorate.
5. Concerns
Every year, millions tonnes of plastic goes into oceans. Irrespective of the fact that
efforts are being made to reduce the use of plastics, volume of plastics in the marine
environment is increasing day by day.
6. Plastic ban
The Netherlands became the first nation to ban plastic microbeads in cosmetics and
personal care products in 2014. later, in 2015, United States banned its use. But other
countries continue to use them. India have also targeted to completely ban single use
plastic by 2022.
October 8, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
57. Smriti Irani launched first ever Brand & Logo for Indian Cotton
Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani launched the first ever Brand and Logo for Indian Cotton
on Second World Cotton Day on October 7, 2020.
1. Key Facts
 India’s premium cotton would now be known as ‘Kasturi Cotton’ in world cotton trade.
 Kasturi Cotton brand will represent Whiteness, Softness, Brightness, lustre, Purity,
Uniqueness and Indianness.
49
2. Cotton
Cotton is a soft and fluffy staple fiber. It grows in a protective case around the seeds of
the cotton plants. This fiber is almost pure cellulose. The cotton plant is a shrub. It is
native to tropical and subtropical regions including the America, Egypt, Africa, and India.
The biggest diversity of wild cotton species is found in Mexico which us followed by
Australia and Africa.
3. Importance of cotton
Cotton is one of the important commercial crops of India. It provides livelihood to about
six million cotton farmers.
4. India’s position
 India is the second largest cotton producer in the world.
 India is also the largest consumer of cotton in the world.
5. Cotton production
India produces six million tonnes of cotton every year. It shares about 23% of the world
cotton. Further, India produces about 51% of the total organic cotton production of the
world. Total cotton production around the world are about 25 million tonnes or 110
million bales annually. It accounts for 2.5% of the world’s arable land.
6. Cotton Corporation of India (CCI)

CCI is a Government of India agency which is engaged in activities related to trade,
procurement, and export of cotton. This public sector agency is responsible for
equitable distribution of cotton among the different constituents of the industry and aid
imports of cotton. It was established on 31 July 1970 under the Companies Act 1956.
However, the CCI is governed by Textile Policy 1985 which is issued by the Ministry of
Textiles. This year, CCI have made ever highest Minimum Support Price (MSP) operation
of cotton. CCI has also opened 430 procurement centres in all cotton growing states.
Payments are being made digitally to farmers’ account within 72 hours.
58. Russia test fired the Hypersonic Cruise Missile – TSIRKON
Russia has test-fired the Hypersonic Cruise missile called TSIRKON (Zircon) successfully
in the white Sea on October 7, 2020. The test fire was conducted on the occasion of the
birthday of the former Russian President Vladimir Putin.
1. Key Facts
 Test fire was conducted from the Frigate Admiral Gorshkov Vessel in the white Sea.
 The Missile have a capacity to hit the destined target at a distance of 450 km in Just 4 and
half minutes.
 It can reache tjhr hypersonic speeds of more than Mach 8.
 This is the second test fire of the Missile. Earlier test fire was conducted in January 2020 for
the first time.
 The Missile was launched from white sea to hit the target located in Barents Sea.
50
2. Barents Sea
The barents sea is located in the Northern coasts of Norway and Russia. It is a Shallow
shelf sea having an average depth of 230. Norwegian sea in the west and Kola
Peninsula to the south are the border state. surrounding There are three main types of
water in the barents sea. Water in the sea is the result of North Atlantic drift, cold Arctic
water from the north and coastal waters.
3. White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea. It is located on the northwest coast
of Russia. He sea is bordered by Karelia to the west, Kola Peninsula to the north, and the
Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and are
considered to be part of the internal waters of Russia.
59. PM Modi launched the “Jan Andolan campaign” for COVID-19

Appropriate Behaviour
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched a campaign called Jan Andolan for COVID-19
Appropriate Behaviour on October 8, 2020. The campaign was launched through a tweet
by him using a hashtag #Unite2FightCorona.
1. Key Facts
The campaign has been launched with a key message for people to stay united to fight
Corona. The campaign reminds people to wear a mask, to wash hands, to follow social
distancing and to practice ‘Do Gaz Ki Doori’ to fight the situation. The campaign has
been launched in the wake of upcoming festivals , winter season and opening up of the
economy.
2. How the campaign will tackle the situation?

The campaign aims to bring a Jan Andolan and encourage people’s participation through
activities like wall painting, displaying hoardings and installing electronic display boards
in government premises. It also ask the national and local influencers on social media to
spread awareness among people. It aims for region specific targeted communication
through easily understandable messages so that it reaches to every citizen of the
country.
3. Covid-19 cases
India is the second most Covie-19 affected country in the world after US. However, first
phase of Covid-19 wave in India is receding day by day. India’s recovery rate has been
increased to around 85% which stands highest in the world.
4. How India tackled the situation?

In the initial wave of Covid-19, it was declared as notified disaster under the disaster
management. This helped the State to utilise the funds under state disaster response
funds. Further, India joined the COVAX initiative in order to provide equitable access of
vaccines to all the countries. To recover from the economic losses India also launched
the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana and Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. These
schemes were aimed at improving the livelihood of the people amid the lockdown.
51
60. Rajeshwar Rao- New Deputy Governor of RBI
The Government of India (GoI) has appointed M. Rajeshwar Rao as the new Deputy
Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on October 7, 2020. The post of deputy
governor was vacant since March 2020 after the former Deputy Governor N R
Vishwanathan resigned due to health issues.
1. Deputy Governor of RBI

The deputy governor is tasked with the duty of managing the internal debts, financial
market operations, international departments and secretarial departments at the apex
bank. He is a major part of the RBI Board.
2. How Deputy Governor is appointed?

 The name of the Deputy Governor is recommended by the Financial Sector Regulatory
Appointment Search Committee.
 The committee includes RBI Governor, cabinet secretary and financial service secretary.
 The final call is taken by the Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet by accepting and
approving the name.
3. RBI Board
The RBI Board is set as per the RBI Act, 1934 by the Government of India. The board
comprises of four deputy governors. The deputy governor acts as the ex-officio chairman
of the board. However, the maximum strength of the board has been fixed at 21 that
includes the Governor of RBI and Deputy governors. The board is an advisory body. The
Governor of the RBI is not bound by the advices of the board.
4. Function of the RBI board

The board supervises the banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies and the financial
institutions. But, as per the RBI Act, 1934 RBI board can make regulations only with prior
approval from the GOI.
61. India- Japan : Cabinet approves Memorandum of cooperation on

cyber-security
The Government of India has approved a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) in the field
of cyber-security between India and Japan.
1. Key Facts
 The MoC will boost the cooperation in areas including the capacity building in cyberspace.
 It also include cooperation on protection of critical infrastructure and cooperation in emerging
technologies.
 The MoC have also the provision of sharing information on cyber security threats and
malicious cyber activities.
52
2. Why India signed this MoC?
India launched the National Cyber Security Policy in 2013. India just comes among the
few countries of the world to have such policy. The digital economy of India stands at 14
– 15 % of the total economy that India aims to increase up to 20% by 2024. But with the
boost in digital economy, there comes the threat of data theft, cyber attacks, Malware
attacks such as Ransomware. In 2016, the data related to debit cards of some 3.2
million were leaked because of lack of security in cyber space. Thus, it becomes
important for India to upgrade its cyber security and infrastructure. This can be achieved
through joint cooperation with other countries.
3. Cyber security in India

India has 36 different central bodies that governs the cyber security in India. Different
ministries have their own strategies to tackle the threats. The states have also
established their own computer emergency response team (CERT). While in countries
like Singapore, UK and US there is an integrated organisation to deal with the
cybersecurity. In that line, India is formulating National Cyber security strategy 2020
that will be implemented for 5 years.
62. Air Force Day: IAF celebrated its 88th Anniversary.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is celebrating its 88th anniversary on October 8, 2020. The IAF
was established on October 8, 1932.
1. Key Facts
 The hallmark of the event was air display by various aircraft.
 The air display started with the sky divers of the AKASH GANGA. The Team was dropping out
of an AN-32 aircraft with their colourful canopies.
 The flypast also included the vintage aircraft, modern transport aircraft and frontline fighter
aircraft.
 This year newly-inducted Rafale fighter aircraft were the main focus of the Air Force Day
parade that were inducted September 10.
 The ceremony ended with a binding aerobatic display.
2. Indian Air Force (IAF)

It is the air wing of the Indian Armed Forces. The Indian Air Force is ranked at fourth
position with respect to the complement of personnel and aircraft assets. The primary
mission of the IAF is to secure the Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare in the
case of aerial conflicts. It was established on 8 October 1932 as a part of British Empire.
British Empire honored the India’s air service during World War II by prefixing Royal.
Thus it was called as the Royal Indian Air Force before independence. After India
transitioned to a Republic country in 1950, prefix Royal was removed.
3. Commander of IAF
The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the IAF. The operational command
of the IAF is led by the Chief of Air Staff who is an air chief marshal with a four star.
53
63. India’s first advanced manufacturing hub (AMHUB) to be set up in
Tamil Nadu.
The Advanced Manufacturing Hub (AMHUB) which is first of its kind in the country will be
jointly set up by World Economic Forum and Guidance in Tamil Nadu.
1. What is AMHUB?
AMHUB is one among the nineteen platforms that has been designed by the World
Economic Forum (WEF). Tamil Nadu’s nodal investment promotion agency called as
Guidance will also be joining hands with WEF. This manufacturing hub focuses on
2. Significance
The Hub would help the state Tamil Nadu in sectors of solar energy, electronics, electric
mobility and textiles. It would also boost the production sector by identifying regional
opportunities brought by Fourth Industrial Revolution in the state. The Fourth Industrial
Revolution opportunities include Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Cloud
Computing, etc.
3. India’s Manufacturing sector

India is the fourth largest automobile industry in the world. It is also one among the top
three aluminium producing countries of the world. India is moving ahead and become a
exporter of the small car manufacturing sector. Japan is one of the important investors in
the Indian Automobile industry.
64. Why Finance companies can not be set up with FDI from Mauritius
now?
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said to the industry body for venture capital and
private equity funds that finance companies can not be set up with foreign direct
investment (FDI) from Mauritius. It has also banned FDI from such similar jurisdictions
that do not comply with the benchmarks of the Financial Action Task Force.
1. Key Facts
 Such FDI restrictions are not meant for Indian manufacturing or any other non-financial
services companies.
 Further, the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) from Mauritius and other jurisdictions can
register with the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in order to trade on Indian stock
exchanges.
 However, rules have been tighten for finance companies as they are permitted to leverage
several times their equity with public funds.
2. Why this step has been taken?

The RBI has taken this decision because of two main reasons-
3. Other Steps taken by India
54
65. INOX Oxygen Plant inaugurated in Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated on October 8, 2020 a new
cryogenic oxygen plant that has been commissioned by INOX Air Products (INOX AP).
This is the biggest plant in the state and will help to supply oxygens in hospitals.
1. Key Facts
 This is the ultra-high purity air separation plant.
 It has a capacity of 150 tonnes per days (TPD).
 The plant has increased the state’s liquid oxygen manufacturing capacity from 115 metric
tonnes to 265 metric tonnes per day.
 It has been inaugurated in Ghaziabad”s Modinagar.
 The plant will produce liquid oxygen, liquid nitrogen and liquid argon.
2. Significance
This facility would help the state to fight the coronavirus better. The plant will complete
the demand and need of medical oxygen. It will also boost the state’s industrial growth
by supplying the industrial gases. This plant also signifies state’s commitment to bring in
investment.
3. Background
This plant is a part of a memorandum of understanding that were signed between INOX
Air Products (INOX AP) and the UP government during the ”Investors Summit 2018”. The
foundation stone for the project was laid on July 29, 2018 by the Prime Minister Narendra
Modi.
October 9, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
66. BRICS Bank approved funds for Delhi-Meerut rapid rail and Mumbai
metro
The New Development Bank, which is also known as BRICS Bank, has approved
infrastructure projects worth 741 million dollars in India. A loan of USD 500 million has
been approved for the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS)
Project and a loan of USD 241 million has been approved for Mumbai Metro Rail II (Line
6) Project.
1. About Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS)

 The loan for Delhi NCR region would be used by Government of India for on-lending to the
National Capital Region Transport Corporation Limited (NCRTC).
 The lending would be utilised for construction of a rapid rail corridor connecting the National
Capital Territory of Delhi with the cities of Ghaziabad and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.
 The RRTS have a total length of 82.15 km with 25 stations.
 It has a design speed of 180 km per hour and maximum operating speed of 160 km per hour.
 It will reduce the journey time from Delhi to Meerut to 60 minutes.
55
2. About Mumbai Metro Rail II (Line 6) Project
 The loan for Mumbai Metro will be used by the Government of India for on-lending to the
Government of the State of Maharashtra.
 Loan will be utilised for a metro rail Line 6.
 The metro line has a length of about 14.47 km in Mumbai.
 Line 6 will provide rail-based connectivity between the western and eastern suburbs in an
integrated manner.
 Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority will implement the project.
 The NDB is also supporting the implementation of metro lines in Mumbai of length 58 km
(Line 2 and Line 7) by financing of the Mumbai Metro Rail Project that was approved in
November, 2018.
3. About New Development Bank

The NDB was established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It primary aim
is to mobilise the resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in
BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and other emerging
economies and developing countries. It complements the efforts made by multilateral
and regional financial institutions for global growth and development. The NDB was
formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank. The NDB is headquartered in
Shanghai, China. The first regional office of the NDB was established in Johannesburg,
South Africa. The NDB was founded on July 15, 2014. First President of the bank was K.
V. Kamath.
67. WEF Annual Meeting 2021 will take place in Lucerne-Burgenstock
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has announced that it will hold its Annual Meeting in
Lucerne-Burgenstock, Switzerland from May 18 to 21, 2021.
1. Highlights
 The Annual Meeting 2021 will be preceded by high-level “Davos Dialogues”
 The Davos Dialogues will be digitally convened by the World Economic Forum around 25
January.
 Global leaders will share their views on the state of the world in 2021.
 The WEF have planned to held Annual Meeting 2022 in Davos.
2. Annual Meeting 2021

The Annual Meeting in Lucerne-Burgenstock will be organised under theme “The Great
Reset”. It will focus on the solutions that are required to address the world’s most
pressing challenges. In the meeting, global leaders would come together to formulate a
common recovery path and to prepare “The Great Reset” after the COVID-19 era ends.
The meeting also seeks to rebuild a cohesive and sustainable society.
56
3. World Economic Forum (WEF)
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is based in Geneva, Switzerland. It is an non
governmental organisation (NGO) that was founded in 1971. The primary mission of the
forum is committed to improve the state of the world by connecting business, political,
and academic leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas. The
WEF hosts annual meeting in the last week of January in Davos. It also organises six to
eight regional meetings each year across India, Africa, East Asia and Latin America.
Apart from that, it holds two other annual meetings in China and the United Arab
Emirates.
68. The 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry- for Genome Editing method
Two women named Emmanuelle Charpentier of France, and American Jennifer Doudna
have been award with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Charpentier and Doudna were
working to develop the technology of genome editing.
1. Key Facts
 Their genome editing technique has also been awarded with “Breakthrough Prize in Life
Sciences in 2015” and the “Wolf Prize in Medicine, 2020”.
 Apart from them, another person named Virginijus Siksnys has also been recognised as a co-
inventor in the genome editing technology.
 The trio also got the 2018 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience.
2. Genome Editing Technology

The Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) is a technology
for genome editing. It makes a natural defence mechanism in bacteria in order to get
protection from virus attacks. Cas9 or the ‘genetic scissor’ protein is used to remove the
problematic sequence in the DNA strand that is identified through programmed RNA.
But, with this method, problematic sequence might regrow because of auto-repair
properties of DNA strand. So, under the CRISPR technology, genetic codes are supplied
while the DNA Strand is repairing itself.
3. Application
4. Concerns
The CRISPR technology is not 100 percent accurate so it can alter the genome. Further,
there is no any regulatory permission or oversight to regulate the technology. Thus, the
technology can be misused. In that regard, Jennifer Doudna has been campaigning for
the development of internationally rules and guidelines for the use of CRISPR
technology.
69. Gyan Circle Ventures – Inaugurated by Union Education Minister
The Union Minister for Education Ramesh Pokhriyal has inaugurated the Gyan Circle
Ventures on October 8, 2020. It is a MeitY funded Technology Business Incubator (TBI)
developed by the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Andhra Pradesh.
57
1. Gyan Circle Ventures
Gyan Circle Ventures has been approved by the Ministry of Information Technology
(MeitY). It functions as a Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE
2.0) incubation center. These incubator would hold the institutions’ entrepreneurial spirit
by utilizing its intellectual capital. It would also encourage the young minds to engage in
using emerging technologies including the Artificial Intelligence (AI), Block-chain, Cyber
Physical Systems (CPS), Cyber Security, Internet of Things (IoT) and Robotics.
2. Significance
 These, ‘Gyan Circle ventures’ have the potential to infuse entrepreneurship in young minds.
 It would also encourage them to become successful innovators.
 The Gyan Circle Ventures would also serve as a hub for innovation and startups by providing
support in the form of investments, infrastructure and mentoring.
3. Technology Business Incubator (TBI)

The TBI will have an Advisory Committee. It would comprise of leading industrialists,
entrepreneurs and technical experts. The TBI would enable incubates to hold expert
mentors and networks from academia as well as the industry. The incubator would serve
as a catalyst for advancing the society-conscious entrepreneurship and would encourage
job creation.
4. Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE 2.0)

TIDE 2.0 scheme was launched to promote the tech entrepreneurship by providing the
financial and technical support to incubators who are engaged in supporting startups.
These startups are primarily engaged in using technologies such as IoT, AI, Block-chain,
Robotics etc. This Scheme would be implemented by empowering 51 incubators and
handholding around 2000 tech start-ups in a period of 5 years. The financial support for
startups will be provided to Facilitate IPR filings.
5. MeitY Startup Hub (MSH)

The MSH would be setup under TIDE 2.0. It will ensure linkage in the TIDE centres,
theme based incubation centres and Centre of Excellences on emerging technologies.
70. Highlights of the RBI Monetary Policy Committee meet
The Monetary Policy Committee held its meeting from October 7, 2020 to October 9,
2020. The monetary policy committee was recently formed and its members were
recently appointed by the Government of India. Economists Jayant R Varma, Shashank
Bhide and Ashima Goyal were made the part of the monetary policy committee.
1. Key Highlights
 The committee has kept the repo unchanged at 4%.
 The committee has decided to keep Reverse Repo Rate at 3.5% as earlier.
 The MPC had met in August 2020 during which repo rate and reverse repo rate were
maintained at 4% and 3.3% respectively.
 They decided to conduct Open Market Operations (OMO) of worth Rs 20,000 crores.
 Ways and Means Advance Limits of the Centre has been kept at Rs 1.25 lakh crores.
 RBI announced on-tap TLTRO on Rs 1 trillion money oat 4% till March 2021.
58
 GDP for the fiscal year 2021 have been predicted at 9.5% with chances of strong rebound.
2. Open Market Operation (OMO)

The Central Bank provides liquidity to the banks in the form of currency through this
operation. The central bank either buy or sell government bonds in the open market. The
OMO is used as primary means of implementing the monetary policy. Primary aim of
OMO is to supply liquidity to the commercial banks and absorbing surplus liquidity from
commercial banks sometimes. This is done to manipulate the short-term interest rate
and to supply base money in an economy. India is facing severe economic slowdown
amid the corona lockdown. Thus, RBI is conducting the OMO in order to inject more
currency into the economy.
3. Ways and Means Advance Limits

These are short-term loan facilities allowing the states and centre to borrow funds from
RBI. This is done in order to help the state and central governments to balance the
mismatch between expenditure and receipts. The interest rate imposed under the
process is the repo rate.
4. Targeted Long Term Repo Operations (TLTRO)

It is tool allowing banks to borrow funds for one or two year. The funds are borrowed at
the Repo Rate.
71. GSFC launched indigenous Calcium Nitrate and boronated Calcium

Nitrate
Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals India Ltd has launched an indigenous variety of
calcium nitrate and boronated calcium nitrate on October 9, 2020.
1. Highlights
 For the first time in India, Calcium Nitrate and boronated Calcium Nitrate is being
manufactured locally.
 Earlier, India used to import it from other countries.
 These two products were launched in the retail market from Solan, Himachal Pradesh and
Bhavnagar, Gujarat.
 These launches are the decisive step towards “AatmaNirbhar Bharat and AatmaNirbhar
Krishi”
 Indigenous variety of calcium nitrate and boronated calcium nitrate will provide a quality
product at a cheaper rate to the farmer community.
2. Calcium Nitrate
Calcium nitrate is also called as Norgessalpeter. It is an inorganic compound having
chemical formula Ca(NO3)2. It is a colorless salt that absorbs moisture from the air.
Calcium nitrate is a water-soluble fertilizer. Though, it is mainly used as a component in
fertilizers but has other applications such as in agriculture, wastewater treatment and to
increase the strength of cement concrete. Its tetrahydrate is sometimes used in
regenerable cold packs.
59
3. Boronated Calcium Nitrate
Boronated Calcium Nitrate means Calcium Nitrate with Boron. Both the nutrients are
important for fruits and vegetables. The compound is important for the growth, physical
strength, fruit set and flowering fertilization of the plants. These are highly water soluble
and are ideal for both soil and foliar applications. It improves the overall soil health.
72. The World Food Programme awarded with Nobel Peace Prize 2020
The Nobel Peace Prize 2020 has been awarded to the United nation’s World Food
Programme (WFP). The programme has been awarded the prize for its efforts to fight the
hunger specially in the war zones and conflict affected areas. The Norwegian Nobel
Committee decided to award the prize to the WEP.
1. World Food Programme

The World Food Programme which was started by the United nations in 1963. It is the
world’s largest humanitarian organisation. The programme is aimed at addressing the
issue of hunger and provide food security. The programme has assisted around 100
million people in 88 countries in 2019. The assistance has been provide to people who
are victims of acute food insecurity and hunger. The world food program is in line with
the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals to Eradicating hunger. The primary
focus areas of world food programme include climate action disaster risk reduction,
Nutrition, gender equality, social protection and sustainable livelihoods.
2. Important Initiatives by WFP

 The organisation started providing nutrition enriched and ready to use therapeutic foods to
around 75 countries in 2013. This was done to tackle malnourishment.
 Building blocks program, 2017- To provide money for food assistance. It mainly assisted
Syrian refugees in Jordan.
 Purchase for progress (P4P) project 2018- The programme aims to assist small land holding
farmers by providing them opportunities to access agricultural market. The programme
mainly focus in African countries.
 Take home ration programs and school feeding programs have been launched in 71
countries.
 In 2020, organisation have been feeding more than 12 million Yemenis. 80% of the
beneficiaries are from areas affected by Houthi rebels.
3. WFP in India
The world food programme is implementing the Country Strategy Plan for India (2019-
23) in India. The plan enables the vulnerable section to meet the minimum nutrition and
food requirements in the country. It is aimed at reducing high risk of malnutrition in
adolescent girls, women and children and seeks to improve their nutrition status by
2025.
60
73. India successfully test-fires Rudram- an Anti-Radiation Missile
India has successfully test-fired the Rudram – an Anti-Radiation Missile on October 9,

2020. It has been developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation
(DRDO). The missile was test fired from its primary test platform Sukhoi-30 fighter
aircraft off the east coast.
1. About Rudram Missile

 The missile will provide air superiority and capability for the Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter
aircraft.
 It has been designed for suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD).
 Missile can be launched from varying altitudes.
 It has the capability to destroy enemy surveillance radars, tracking and communication
systems.
 The missile is first-of-its-kind air-to-ground missile developed by DRDO for the IAF arsenal.
Similar missile named BrahMos is there but it was jointly developed by India and Russia.
 It can easily be integrated and launched with Mirage 2000, Jaguar, HAL Tejas and HAL Tejas
Mark 2.
 This new-generation anti-radiation missile (NGARM) have a strike range of around 100 to 150
km.
 Weight of the single-stage missile is 140 kg .
 It has been powered by a dual-pulsed solid rocket motor.
 The missile will create a surveillance gap in the enemy territory.
2. India’s missile scenario

India has conducted four missile tests recently in the midst of ongoing tensions at the
Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. India has also deployed Nirbhay missiles at the
LAC. Approval for the induction and deployment of Shaurya strategic missile has also
been given which is a 700-km range surface-to-surface missile. India also tested the
Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) recently.
74. SVAMITVA Scheme: PM to Distribute Property Cards for Rural

Landowners
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to launch the physical distribution of property
cards under the ‘SVAMITVA’ (ownership) scheme on October 11, 2020. This will be a
historic move to transform the rural India.
1. Key Facts
 The move will provide villagers a way to use property as a financial asset.
 The villagers could use their property for taking loans and other financial benefits.
61
2. Beneficiaries
This launch will enable one lakh property holders to download their property cards using
SMS link. SMS link would be sent on their mobile phones. Then, they would be given
physical property cards by the respective state governments. These beneficiaries comes
from 763 villages across six states. Out of these, 346 comes from Uttar Pradesh, 221
from Haryana, 100 from Maharashtra, 44 from Madhya Pradesh, 50 from Uttarakhand
and 2 from Karnataka.
3. Maharashtra’s system
The beneficiaries from all states will receive the physical copies of their property cards
within a day except for Maharashtra. In Maharashtra there is a system of recovering a
nominal cost of property cards. So it will provide property card within a month after
applying for it.
4. SVAMITVA scheme
The scheme was launched by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. It was launched on the
occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day on April 24 2020. The scheme is aimed at
providing the ‘record of rights’ to the village household owners in rural areas and issue
property cards. The scheme is being implemented across the country for a period of four
years that is from 2020-2024 in a phased manner. It targets to cover 6.62 lakh villages.
October 12, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
75. Rafael Nadal wins his 13th French Open men’s singles title
Rafael Nadal has won the French Open, 2020 beating Novak Djokovic on October 11,
2020. With this, Rafael has won his 13th French open men’s singles title. This is also his
20th Grand Slam .
1. French Open, 2020

Iga Swiatek won the French Open female’s single title. She marked the record of being
the first player from Poland to win a Grand Slam.
2. Grand Slam
The Grand Slam Tournaments are also known as the Majors. Grand Slam tournaments
are organised by the International Tennis Federation. Association of Tennis Professionals
and Women Tennis Association have no roles in Grand Slam. They are the four most
important annual tennis events that include the US Open, French Open, Australian Open
and Wimbledon.
3. Iga Swiatek
She is from Poland and is ranked at 48 by the Women Tennis Association. She is also the
third highest ranked teenager from across the world.
62
4. Rafael Nadal
He is a Spanish Tennis player and is ranked at 2 by the Association of Tennis
Professionals (ATP). As of now, he has won 2 Olympic medals, 21 ATP Tour 500 titles, 35
ATP Tour Masters 1000 titles. He has also won 13 French Open, 1 Australian open, 2
Wimbledon and 4 US open. He is the only one player with the most clay court titles
because of which he is called as “The King of Clay” in Tennis.
5. Novak Djokovic
He is a Serbian player. He has been ranked at number 1 by the Association of Tennis
Professionals. He has achieved17 Grand Slams, 14 ATP Tour 500 titles, 36 ATP Tour
Masters 1000 Titles. He is the second player to be at number one spot for over 289
weeks.
76. What is TRP? – Parliamentary panel on IT to look in to TRP

manipulation.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology which is chaired by

the Congress MP Shashi Tharoor will look into the TRP issue and take it into parliament
as per the sources. The panel is taking up the issue seriously and it will be discussed in
detail.
1. Background
Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh recently in a press conference said that
police are probing a scam on manipulation of Television Rating Points (TRPs) by checking
the devices used by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India to decide the
rating.
2. Television Rating Points (TRPS)

TRPs provide the data regarding the number of people, their socio-economic categories,
the channels they watch and the number of times or hours or days or even a weeks they
have watched a particular channel. For the analysis, India follows the international
standard of one minute. The data obtained from the device is made public every week.
For the data not the entire country is surveyed. But, it is based on what 45,000
households are watching.
3. TRP calculation
For the TRPs, BARC installs BAR-O-meters in some 45,000 households. These households
are classified into 12 categories under the New Consumer Classification System (NCCS)
which was adopted by BARC in 2015. The households are classified on the basis of main
wage earner and the ownership of consumer durables from a list of 11 items including
electricity connection and car. The consumers need to press their viewer ID button to
register themselves while watching a show. It thus capture the duration for which the
channel was watched. And accordingly, ranking and rating is decided.
63
4. BARC
It is an industry body. It was created in 2010. But the I&B Ministry notified the Policy
Guidelines on January 10, 2014 and registered the BARC in July 2015. It is owned by
advertisers, ad agencies, and broadcasting companies jointly. The body is represented
by The Indian Society of Advertisers, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation and the
Advertising Agencies Association of India.
77. ZSI and BSI released Animal and Plant Discoveries 2019
Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) have published
their Animal discoveries 2019 and Plant discoveries 2019 that have listed 364 new
species of animals and 180 species of plants. These animals and plants were discovered
during the last year.
1. Highlights
 Number of New animal species discovered in past decade : 2444
 Number of New plant species discovered in past decade : 3500
 Number of total plant species found in India : 50,012.
 The plant species accounts for 12% of all plant species of the world.
2. Animal Discoveries 2019

The animal discoveries is being ptublished by the ZSI since 2007. The recently published
report that is Animal Discoveries 2019 have listed 368 faunal species as new to science.
The report has also listed 116 species as being spotted for the first time. Some of the
animal species discovered last year include:
3. Plant Discoveries 2019

The plant discoveries report by BSI is being published since 2007. This year the report
have listed 180 new plant species and 73 species spotted for the first time in the year
2019.
4. Zoological Survey of India (ZSI)

It was founded on 1 July 1916. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change,
Government of India founded the body and is the nodal head. The ZSI is a premier Indian
organisation for zoological research and studies. It promotes survey, exploration and
research of the fauna (Animals) in India.
5. Botanical Survey of India (BSI)

It was founded on February 13, 1890. It is a botanical garden located in Kolkata, West
Bengal. The body was founded by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change’s
organization. The body is involved to do survey, research and conservation of plant
resources, flora (Plants) and the endangered species of India.
64
78. Govt job interviews abolished in 23 states and 8 UTs
Union minister Jitendra Singh recently announced that government have abolished the
interview for recruitment in government jobs in 23 states and 8 union territories.
1. Background
In 2015 Prime Minister had announced while delivering the speech from Red Fort in New
Delhi on August 15. He suggested to abolish the interview system and asked for the
abolition of interview. He emphasised to make the job selection on the basis of written
test totally. He cited the reason that when an interview call is received by a candidate,
his entire family get disturbed with apprehension and anxiety.
2. Need of abolishing the system?

There had been complaints, grievances and allegations about marks being manipulated
for favoured candidates in interviews. Written test would bring about the level playing
field.
3. Highlights
 This is being done in continuation to the plan of abolition of interview for Group-B (non-
gazetted) and Group-C posts in the Central government.
 This plan is in mission mode since 2016.
 The entire process is being done by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
79. Shrinking Spaces for Lesser Flamingos
On the occasion of World Migratory Bird Day celebrations, experts from Mumbai
discussed the ways to protect lesser flamingos and wetland birds who are the migratory
birds. They have reported that these birds are getting vulnerable as the spaces for them
in India is shrinking.
1. What are the concerns?
2. About Flamingo
The scientific name for the flamingo is Phoeniconaias minora. These are the species from
sub-Saharan Africa and north-western India. Smallest piece of flamingo are called as the
lesser flamingo. However, they are just named small. They are a tall and large bird by
most of the standards. The lesser flamingo is the most numerous species that feeds
on Spirulina algae. The migratory birds have been reported extensively in the wetlands
around Mumbai. The IUCN status for the bird is “Near Threatened”
3. How to protect them?

The issue of protecting the biodiversity needs to be taken to the forefront. Citizens needs
to be aware and they should participate actively to protect the biodiversity and
wetlands. The government should also plan development so that lesser damage occur to
the environment.
65
4. Spirulina algae
They grow in alkaline lakes. They are blue-green in colour and they contain
the photosynthetic pigments. This pigment provides the birds their pink colour.
5. World Migratory Bird Day

The day is celebrated twice a year. It is celebrated on second Saturdays of May and
October. In 2020, the day fell on May 9 and October 10. Theme for both the day in 2020
is : Birds Connect Our World.
80. Delhi Government passed the Tree Transplantation Policy
The Delhi government passed a new tree transplantation policy on October 9, 2020.
Under the policy, 80% of the trees that are uprooted for any construction or
development project will be transplanted elsewhere.
1. Highlights
 State will make the conditional payment to the transplantation agency.
 The agency would only be paid if 80% of the transplanted trees survive.
 The Delhi government is also going to set up a panel of national-level transplantation
agencies.
 These agencies would work to relocate the trees.
 A dedicated tree plantation cell would also be formed by the Delhi Government.
2. Monitoring Plan
The local committees in collaboration with the RWA members and residents have been
tasked with the monitoring task for the transported trees.
3. Background
Background of the transportation drive is in light with the People’s call for a huge
movement, ‘Yuddh, Pradushan Ke Viruddh’, against the air pollution levels. Under the
movement, people of Delhi would undertake the implementation of including EV and
policies to overcome the stubble burning problem in the city. Tree transplantation is one
of the key policies of the movement.
81. Health Ministry to roll out FELUDA Paper strip tests for Corona Virus
The Union Health Ministry have announced during the fifth edition of “Sunday Samvaad”
on October 11, 2020 that India is will roll out its Feluda Paper Strip test for Corona Virus
in few weeks.
1. Sunday Samvaad
 Sunday Samvaad is an interactive session which is held by the minister on social media
platforms.
 The minister announced that under the Centre’s Vaccines strategy, prioritisation of groups of
COVID-19 vaccines is based on two key considerations:
The Risk of Exposure to infection and Occupational Hazard and

66
 The Risk of Exposure to infection and Occupational Hazard and


The Risk of developing severe disease and increased mortality.
 The Risk of developing severe disease and increased mortality.

 The minister also highlighted that Indian Councils of Medical research (ICMR) is in phase of
studying the burden of re-infected cases (fresh infection in the recovered patients) in the
country.
2. What is FELUDA Test?

FELUDA Test (FNCAS9 editor linked uniform detection test) was recently approved by the
Drug Controller General of India (DGCI). The test has been indigenously developed by
the CSIR-IDIB. It is based on the CRISPR gene editing technology. The test can produce
the results within two hours. The test uses CRISPR Casp protein to detect virus. The test
kit costs less than Rs 600. The kit has been developed under the Make in India initiative.
3. COVID-19 tests in India

The other tests that are being used to detect the virus include RT PCR, Rapid Antigen
Detection Test, ELISA Antibody Test and the Saliva Direct Test.
82. Eight Beaches in India awarded Blue Flag Certification.
The eight beaches including the Shivrajpur in Gujarat, Golden Beach in Odisha,
Kasarkod and padubidri in Karnataka, Goghla in Daman and Diu, Radha Nagar beach in
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Kappad in Kerala and Rushikonda in Andhra Pradesh have
been given the Blue Flag Certification.
1. Background
Earlier on September 19, 2020 eight Indian beaches were recommended for the Blue
Flag International Eco label on the occasion of International coastal clean-up day.
2. Key Facts
This is the first time the beaches have been given the blue flag International ecolabel.
The beaches were selected and recommended by an independent National Jury
consisting of eminent scientists and environmentalists
3. Blue Flag Certification

The Blue Flag certification is globally recognised. It has been accorded by a Denmark
based International agency known as the Foundation for Environment Education. The
blue flag certification or tag is provided to those beaches that are providing clean and
hygienic bath facilities to the tourist or the beach goers. The certification or tag is also
given to the beaches that provide safe and healthy environment and promote
sustainable development in and around the beach area.
67
4. Beach Environment and Aesthetics Management Services (BEAMS)
The BEAMS programme was launched by the Union Ministry of environment on the
occasion of International Coastal Clean-Up day. The BEAMS is an eco-label programme. It
is operated under the integrated coastal zone management project in India. The BEAMS
was launched in order to remove debris and promote sustainable development in the
coastal regions. It primarily focus on four categories:
83. October 11: International Girl Child Day
The International Day of the Girl Child is celebrated every year on October 11. This year
the day was celebrated under the theme “My voice, our equal future”.
1. Significance of the day

The day is celebrated with an objective to empower women. The day seeks to help
women to get their rights in order to make them strong for the challenges they face in
the world. The day is observed in order to curb the challenges that girls face.
2. Challenges faced by Girls

 Early marriages: 12 million girls are married before age 18 each year.
 Sexual violence: One in five girls experience sexual violence globally.
 HIV infection: According to World Health Organisation (WHO) 80% of new HIV infections are
among adolescent girls.
 Other challenges include infanticide and gender inequality.
3. Background
The Beijing Declaration was the first conference that call out for girl’s right. The Beijing
Declaration was adopted on the occasion of World Conference on Women that took place
in Beijing in 1995. Later, on December 19, 2011 United Nations General Assembly
adopted a resolution 66/170 and declared October 11 as the International Day of the Girl
Child. In the line, the first International Day of the Girl Child was observed in 2012 with
the theme “Ending Child Marriage”.
84. RBI to move Next Generation Treasury Application (NGTA) to manage

Forex and Gold Reserves
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to move towards the Next Generation
Treasury Application (NGTA). This decision has been taken by the RBI for managing the
country’s foreign exchange and gold reserves. The NGTA application will help improve
the functioning of the central bank.
68
1. About NGTA
The NGTA will be a web-based application. For this system, RBI has invited the bids. It
will provide scalability and flexibility to introduce new products. It will also provide
securities to the functioning. The system will also supporting multi-currency transactions
and settlements such as Fixed Income (FI), Forex, Money Market (MM) and Gold. NGTA
will automatically collect all the relevant details of a security or contract from a trading
platform. It will support all the globally accepted conventions based on day count,
holiday logic, interest computation, shut period-dividend, Cash flows, ex-dividend and
odd coupon.
2. Objectives
The primary objectives of the proposed system are as follows:
3. Who Can Bid for the system?

The document released by RBI has stated that the prime bidder for the system should be
a registered Indian entity under the respective Acts in India. The bidder should have
minimum annual turnover of at least Rs 475 crore for the years from 2017-2019.
4. India’s reserves status

India’s foreign exchange reserves is up at USD 545.638 billion as of October 2, 2020. The
gold reserves are up to USD 36.486 billion for the same period.
85. Oxfam Report: India’s health budget is the fourth lowest in the world
The Third edition of the Oxfam’s 2020 Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) Index
report was released recently. As per the report, India just spent 4% of its budget on the
health in the ongoing pandemic situation. The spending by India stands at the fourth
lowest in the world. In the line, India has been ranked 129 out of 158 countries.
1. Key Finding of the report

 Only 26 of the 158 countries were spending the recommended 15% of their budgets on
health.
 One in three of the workforce were not been providing labour protection such as sick pay in
103 countries .
 As per the report, only 53 countries had social protection systems against unemployment and
sickness.
 These 53 countries have covered only 22% of the global workforce.
 India, Nepal and Sri Lanka comes under the bottom 10 in Government spending on public
services.
 The South Asian countries in are not taking much the needed efforts to fight inequality, the
report have highlighted.
2. CRI index
The CRI ranks 158 governments across the world. IT ranks the government on the basis
of government’s commitment to reduce inequality among the people and nation. The
index also tracks the government’s spending on public services. It study and analyses
the actions taken by governments in the areas including education, health and social
protection.
69
3. CRI Index On India
As per the report, In India only half of its population have access to health services. It
states, more than 70% of health spending is being met by people themselves. This is the
highest levels spending by the public itself in the world.
4. Oxfam
It is a integrated organisation comprising of 20 independent charitable organisations. It
mainly focuses to alleviate global poverty. The organisation was founded in 1942. The
Oxfam International is the parent organisation that led the oxfam.
86. Delhi Government Exempted Battery-Operated Vehicles From Road

Tax
The Delhi Government Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot has announced that the Delhi
Government has decided to exempt road tax on the battery-operated vehicles under its
new Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy. For the purpose, a notification was issued on October
10, 2020. This decision has been taken by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi , Shri Anil
Baijal, with an immediate effect.
1. Highlights
 Along with the exemption, right incentives and supporting infrastructure will also be provided.
 This is being done to ensure that Delhi leads the country in the context of rapid transition
from regular vehicle to Electric Vehicles.
2. Benefits
The decision is a step forward to ensure pollution-free Delhi. This incentive-based policy
will encourage the adoption of electric vehicles on a large scale. This decision is in line
with the Delhi Government’s dream of making Delhi- The EV Capital of India.
3. Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy 2020

The Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal had announced the Delhi Electric Vehicle
Policy, 2020 in August 2020. The policy is aimed at increasing the adoption and use of
electric vehicles in the city. For boosting the purchases, the government is also providing
the purchasing incentives. Under the policy, an assistance of Rs. 1.5 lakh will be given
on car purchases, Rs. 30,000 will be given for the 2-wheelers purchase and Rs. 30,000
would be given for e-rickshaws and auto-rickshaws purchase. The government has
aimed to register around 5 lakh electric vehicles in Delhi by 2024.
87. PM Released Rs 100 Special Commemorative Coin to honour Vijaya

Raje Scindia
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released a commemorative coin of 100 rupees in
honour of Vijaya Raje Scindia on October 12, 2020. The coin is being released on the
occasion of birth centenary of Vijaya Raje Scindia. She was one among the Founding
members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The special commemorated coin was
minted by the Finance ministry
70
1. Who was Vijaya Raje Scindia?
Vijaya raje Scinida was one of the founding member of BJP. She was also known as
Rajmata of Gwalior. She had been elected to Lok Sabha 7 times and to Rajya Sabha 2
times in her lifetime. She was ranked amongst the highest Royal figures in the pre-
Independent era. She was the consortt of last ruler of Gwalior named Jiwaji Rao
Scindia. She was also made an active member of Jana Sangh. In the initial phase of her
political career, she contested the elections on Congress ticket in Madhya Pradesh. Later
she quit Congress and founded the BJP along with other associates.
2. How coins are minted in India?

The coins in India are minted in accordance with the Coinage Act 2011. The coins are
minted by the Ministry of Finance. While, other currency notes from 2 Rupees to 10000
Rupees are printed and regulated by RBI and the RBI Act, 1934. As per the Coinage act,
the metallic value of coin can not be more than the face value of the coins in order to
avoid sell of the metal used in the coin.
October 13, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
88. What measures did Finance Minister announce to Boost the Demand
in country?
The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman had announced measures to boost the demand
in the country on October 12, 2020. The measures include the schemes namely, the
Special Festival Advance Scheme and LTC Cash Voucher Scheme. For booting the
demand, Government of India has allocated Rs 73,000 crores. It will simulate the
consumer spending and thus boost the demand in the country.
1. Special Festival Advance Scheme

The scheme has been announced to provide one-time festive advances of Rs 10,000 to
the central government employee. The central government employees will be provided
with the pre-loaded Rupay cards under the scheme. The money from the Rupay Card
can be withdrawn at ATMs. The employees need to repay the money in 10 instalments.
The scheme would boost the consumer demand to Rs 8,000.
2. LTC Cash Voucher Scheme

Under this scheme, Government of India will provide tax concessions for LTC tickets that
are available for state governments and private sectors. The government employees
would have to opt for scheme in order to receive the encashment.
3. Other measures
Apart from the two schemes, the Finance Minister also announced the under stated
measures to boost the demand:
71
4. Capital Expenditure
The money spent on acquisition of land, machinery, buildings and equipment are called
as Capital Expenditure. Capital Expenditure leads to the development of highways,
dams, airports, railway lines, etc by boosting government investments towards the
project.
89. Kerala became the First Digital State in Public Education
Kerala has become the first state in the country that have made the public education
completely digital. Kerala achieved this milestone within two years of the launch of the
initiative. Total expenditure on the initiative was Rs 42.36 crores. The project was
implemented by Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education.
1. Key Facts
 Under the initiative, 374274 digital services were distributed in 16027 schools in Kerala.
 It also set up high-tech labs in some 11275 schools at primary and secondary levels.
 More than 12,678 schools in Kerala have access to high speed broad band connection.
 The initiative have set up more than 45000 high-tech class rooms across 4752 schools under
the project.
 The initiative has also provided Information and Communication Training to some 183440
teachers.
 These high-tech classrooms were established under the Public Education Rejuvenation
Mission.
 Class rooms were provided with projectors, television, webcams, laptops, DSLR cameras and
other digital equipment.
2. Annual Status of Education Report

As per the report, Kerala, with literacy rate of 93.91%, has the highest literacy rate in the
country. Other key findings of the report are:
90. Rashtriya Kamadhenu Aayog started “Kamadhenu Deepawali

Abhiyan”
The Rashtriya Kamadhenu Aayog (RKA) has began the nation wide campaign called
“Kamadhenu Deepawali Abhiyan” on October 12, 2020.
1. Kamadhenu Deepawali Abhiyan

 This initiative is being implemented by the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and
Dairying.
 The primary aim of the campaign is to promote extensive use of cow dung during the Diwali
season.
 Under the scheme, RKA would be promoting the cow dung based diyas, dhoop, Agarbatti,
swastika, wall-pieces as well as idols of goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha.
 The campaign have targeted to reach to the 11 crore families and ignite 33 crore diyas made
of cow dung.
 Apart from that, the initiative would be igniting 3 lakh diyas in Ayodhya and 1 lakh diyas in
Varanasi.
72
 The campaign was inspired from the “Gaumya Ganesha Campaign”that encouraged the
usage of user friendly materials while making Ganesh idols.
2. Significance
The initiative would generate business opportunities for the cow based entrepreneurs
and farmers by promoting use of cow-dung. This way, the initiative would help in making
the Gaushalas “Atma Nirbhar”.
3. Rashtriya Kamadhenu Aayog (RKA)

The RKA was established in 2019 under the Rashtriya Gokul Mission with an budget of Rs
750 crores. The RKA works to protect and conserve the development of cows and their
progeny. The ayog works in collaboration with the animal sciences, veterinary sciences
and agriculture universities engaged in breeding and rearing cow.
4. Functions of RKA
5. Rashtriya Gokul Mission

Rashtriya Gokul mission was launched to set up Gokul Grams which are Integrated
Cattle Development Centres. The initiative have targeted to set up 21 gokul grams
across the country. Four gokul grams has been set up in Varanasi, Phora, Patiala and
Mathura as of June 2019.
6. Objectives of Rashtriya Gokul Mission
91. Johnson & Johnson Paused COVID Vaccine Trial after unexplained
illness of participant
Johnson & Johnson have temporarily stopped its Covid-19 vaccine trial. The trial was
stopped in the backdrop of one of its participants became sick during the trial.
1. Highlights
 Giving further doses to all Covid-19 vaccine candidate clinical trials has been stopped.
 Phase 3 ENSEMBLE trial has also been stopped temporarily.
 One of the trial participant fell ill, reason for which is still unknown.
 After this has been paused, the online enrolment system has also been closed for the
60,000-patient clinical trial.
2. Background
Johnson & Johnson had announced the launch of its large-scale, pivotal, multi-country
Phase 3 trial (ENSEMBLE) for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate on September 23, 2020.
The initiation of the ENSEMBLE trial followed the positive interim results from the
Company’s Phase 1 and 2 clinical study. The phase 1 and phase 2 trials had
demonstrated that the safety profile and immunogenicity were supportive of further
development after single dose. ENSEMBLE then enrolled up to 60,000 volunteers across
more than 200 sites in the US and other continents. Apart From US, countries like
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Colombia and South Africa are involved in the trial.
73
3. PHASE 3 ENSEMBLE STUDY
This study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. The phase 3
has been designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a single vaccine dose versus
the placebo in up to 60,000 adults. The candidates’ age is ranging from 18 years old to
60 year old. ENSEMBLE has been initiated in collaboration with the Biomedical Advanced
Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and Response at the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS).
92. FATF’s Asia Pacific Group keeps Pakistan on ‘Enhanced Follow-up

List’
Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Asia Pacific group has kept Pakistan in its ‘Enhanced
Follow Up’ list. The organisation had downgraded Pakistan status from “regular follow-
up” to “enhanced follow up”. The Asia-pacific group of FATF submitted its report called
“Follow up report on mutual evaluation of Pakistan”. In the report, it was highlighted that
the progress of Pakistan to combat the Financing of terror system and anti-money
laundering made by the Financial Action Task Force has remained unchanged in 2020 as
compared to that of 2019.
1. Highlights
 Enhanced follow up status means the country need to provide monthly reports of its
compliance to the Financial Action Task Force.
 As per the report, Pakistan complied with only two of the 40 recommendations of Financial
Action Task Force.
2. Mutual Evaluation Report (MER)

 The MER also highlighted the gaps in the process of developing and identifying threats,
vulnerabilities and risks.
 This report came after Pakistan published a National Risk Assessment (NRA) 2017, on Money
Laundering and Terrorism Financing.
 The MER highlighted that 2017 NRA had not been circulated to private sector stakeholders
and they were are not yet subjected to the comprehensive Anti-money Laundering and
Terrorist Financing measures.
3. Pakistan’s Stand
After the reports were published, Pakistan highlighted its “significant progress” to
implement the FATF’s plan of action. Officials said that Pakistan is unlikely to be placed
in the FATF’s black list. They cited tgat the country is getting support from China,
Malaysia and Turkey to veto upon such move.
4. Pakistan’s actions against terrorism

Pakistan was put under the FATF grey list in 2019. After that, Pakistan passed three bills
to combat the terrorism and money laundering:
74
93. October 13- International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction
The United Nations observe the International Day for Disaster Reduction on October 13
annually. This dai is also called as the World Calamity Control Day. The day is observed
to spread awareness about how people and communities across the world are reducing
their exposure to disasters. This year the day is being observed under the Theme:
Disaster Risk Governance. In India, Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management
Authority (HPSDMA) would be celebrating the day like every year. HPSDMA would carry
forward the 10th edition awareness campaign on disaster risk reduction called
‘Samarth’.
1. Background
The United Nations had started observing the day in 1989. After that, The United Nations
also adopted the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in 2015.
2. Sendai Framework
Under the framework, seven strategic targets and 38 indicators had been set in order to
audit the progress of reducing disaster losses. The year wise seven strategic targets
include:
3. India’s Plan
India had framed National Disaster Management Plan on the basis of Sendai Framework.
It also constituted the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
4. National Disaster Management Plan

The plan were framed with an aim to make India disaster resilient. It contains an
integrated framework to prevent, mitigate, respond and recover from disasters.
Guidelines were made for 18 broad activities some of which include- Evacuation of
people and animals, early warning systems, Search and rescue of animals and people,
medical care , food and essential supplies etc.
94. India-US Forum: US calls for expansion of QUAD
The United States at the recent India-US forum has called for the expansion of QUAD
grouping. US stated that like-minded countries and groupings should come together and
join hands to protect and ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific ocean.
1. Highlights
 The call was made by US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun at the India-US forum in
New Delhi.
 US side highlighted that the Quad grouping have potential to deepen and strengthen the
cooperation with the ASEAN bloc in Southeast Asia.
 This would help to ensure freedom of seas and security of the seas in accordance with the
United Nations Conventions on Law of Sea.
 US side further said that Quad nations can also work with ASEAN bloc in areas of governance,
environmental protection, health and transparent data sharing.
75
2. Background
US Deputy Secretary arrived in New Delhi on October 12, 2020. The 3 day visit was
planed to finalise the groundwork for the third edition of two-plus-two dialogue between
India and the US. During the meet, both side had an extensive talks on bilateral, regional
and key global issues. They also discussed the need of focusing the common vision of
the two nations for the Indo-Pacific region. Earlier, all the foreign ministers of the Quad
grouping had also met in Tokyo on October 6, 2020 and they discussed the plan to
deepen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.
3. Expanding QUAD
Quad is a partnership forum that is driven by the shared interests. Any nation seeking
free and open Indo-Pacific and who wants to take measures to ensure the openness can
join the hands and admitted to the grouping.
4. QUAD Grouping
The QUAD grouping comprises of four nations namely US, India, Australia and Japan. The
grouping was established in 2007 after a dialogue between the then Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, US Vice President Dick
Cheney, and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The four members since then try to
revive the grouping in the backdrop of tensions in the Indo-Pacific region because of
China’s expansion policy.
95. Bangladesh cabinet approves capital punishment for rape
Bangladesh Cabinet approved a draft law to include death penalty as the highest
punishment for rape. This will be done by amending the Prevention of Women and
Children Repression Act-2000. This decision was taken after the Cabinet meeting which
was Chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka on October 12, 2020.
1. Highlights
 The Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs of Bangladesh is Anisul Haq.
 The minister highlighted that the ordinance will be issued after the President approves it.
 Currently, the highest punishment for rape in Bangladesh is life imprisonment. However,
capital punishment is allowed if the rape victim dies.
 The decision to amend the punishment was taken after a series protests triggered in the
aftermath of sexual assaults.
2. Rapes in Bangladesh
In between January and August 2020, around 890 rapes have occurred. It also include
gang rapes. Out of these, around 40 victims have died.
3. Capital Punishment
The punishment is also called as death penalty. It involves the execution of an offender
sentenced to death after the court of law convicts a criminal offense.
76
96. Intel and Telangana Government to Launch Applied Artificial
Intelligence Research Center
On the inaugural session of “all.ai 2020 Virtual Summit” on October 13, 2020 the Intel
India announced the launch of an applied artificial intelligence (AI) research (INAI) center
in Hyderabad. The research center would be launch in collaboration with the Telangana
government, International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H) and
Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) which is the founding healthcare partner in the
initiative.
1. What is INAI?
It is an initiative in order to apply Artificial intelligence (AI) to population scale problems
in the Indian context. It mainly focus on identifying and solving the challenges in the
healthcare and smart mobility segments. The challenges will be dealt through a strong
ecosystem collaboration.
2. Working Mechanism
The center (INAI) will work as a catalyst that will accelerate India’s leadership in AI. It will
be done by boosting innovation and entrepreneurship, by creating national assets such
as datasets, by computing infrastructure, tools and frameworks. The center would work
with an aim to attract global talents in the field of high-impact research for social sector
development. This center would be bringing multiple institutions together to work on
solutions having societal-scale impact.
3. Significance
India is focused towards its transformation in the field of AI. So, adoption of technology-
led innovations finds its importance to solve the country’s societal challenges in the
areas of healthcare and smart mobility. There is a need to work together in order to
support development of technology and its application in an ethical and inclusive
manner. In that context, INAI will bring together the broader computing strengths and
academic expertise of IIIT-H, the public health expertise of PHFI and the technology
leadership and architecture strength of Intel, together. It will also pull other technology
players to provide targeted outcomes in technology, innovation, entrepreneurship,
international collaboration and the job creation.
4. Smart Mobility Domain

INAI will boost the research in road safety. AI would be used to reduce road accidents
and fatalities in the country.
5. Public Health
In this field, the INAI would enable solutions to extend health coverage for every
individual. It will also advance research for prediction of non-communicable diseases in
an efficient and better manner.
77
6. all.ai 2020 Virtual Summit
The all.ai 2020 Virtual Summit is being held from October 12 to 16, 2020. It has been
launched by Intel India in collaboration with the industry, academia and government. It
seeks to provide an strengthened AI in order to solve problems at population scale. It is
mainly focusing on India’s massive potential to develop AI solutions.
7. AI For Youth Symposium

The all.ai 2020 Virtual Summit also include “AI For Youth Virtual Symposium”. The
symposium would enable around 10,000 youth to learn AI readiness skills and witness AI
social impact projects.
97. Why EU is putting sanctions on Russia and Belarus?
The European Union have agreed to put sanctions on Russia for poisoning the opposition
leader Alexei Navalny and on Belarus officials, including President Alexander
Lukashenko, for the repression of protesters.
1. Sanctions on Russia
Alexei Navalny was an anti-corruption investigator and a major political opponent of the
Russian President Vladimir Putin. He fell ill during a domestic flight in August 2020. He
was taken to Germany for his treatment which is still undergoing. During the treatment a
test was conducted by the organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. They
confirm that he become a victim of the novichok nerve agent.
2. Novichok nerve agents

In Russian language, Novichok means New comer. New comer is a group of advanced
nerve agents. These groups were developed by the Soviet Union in 1970 and 1980. They
have the potential to escape protection of international inspectors. While, the Nerve
Agents are also known as the Nerve Gases. These are organic Chemicals which can
damage the mechanism by which nerve cells transfer messages to different organs. This
chemical blocks the enzyme acetyl Cholinesterase.
3. Sanctions on Belarus
Belarus has been imposed with the sanction of travel Ban against Lukashenko. He is the
leader who have been ruling Belarus since 1994. EU have put sanctions against him
after he Locked Up most of the opposition candidates and chased the main Contender
Svetlanda Tikhanovskaya to Lithuania.
98. E- Sanjeevani Initiative recorded 5 lakh teleconsultations
The eSanjeevani telemedicine initiative by the Union Health Ministry recently recorded
the completion of 5 lakh teleconsultations. The government have stated that last one
lakh tele consultations have been completed just 17 days. Top 3 states with highest
teleconsultations are Tamil Nadu (1,69,977) Uttar Pradesh (1,34,992) and Himachal
Pradesh (39,326).
78
1. Highlights
 The number of teleconsultations on eSanjeevani has been recorded as 8,000 consultations
per day.
 Currently, 26 states are using two versions of eSanjeevani’s telemedicine namely,
eSanjeevani OPD for patient to Doctor consultation and eSanjeevani AB-HWC for doctor to
doctor consultation.
2. eSanjeevani OPD
The initiative was rolled out on April 13, 2020. It was launched during the lockdown amid
the Corona pandemic when the OPDs were closed across India. The platform already
running among the race of being world’s largest telemedicine platform. eSanjeevani OPD
have the benefit of accessing services directly from homes in the current situation where
social distancing is the norm. The tele-OPD has been accepted evenly by both the
patients and the doctors. Around 100 telemedicine practitioners have already completed
around 1,000 teleconsultations. As per the government report, 20% of the patients have
used eSanjeevani services for consultation more than once.
3. eSanjeevani AB-HWC
This telemedicine service was launched by the union health ministry. The service was
launched in November 2019, under the Ayushman Bharat Health Wellness Centre (AB-
HWC). The ministry have a plan to launch and implement the service at 1,50,000 Health
and Wellness centres in collaboration with the medical colleges functioning under the
Union Government. Presently, eSanjeevani AB-HWC is functional at 4,000 Health and
Wellness Centres.
99. Uttarakhand to Start Plantation Drive in Other States to Clear

Compensatory Afforestation Backlog
The Uttarakhand Forest Department will soon start a plantation drive in Uttar Pradesh’s
Bundelkhand region and parts of Rajasthan. This has been decided by the forest
department in order to clear the backlog for compensatory afforestation for next two
years.
1. Highlights
 Compensatory afforestation is done in the backdrop of transfer of forest land for non-forestry
purposes.
 Non-forestry purposes include the development of dams, mining and the construction of
industries or roads.
 Under the compensatory plantation, 1100 plants have to be planted spreading over an area
of one hectare.
 As per a report of the Uttarakhand Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and
Planning Authority (CAMPA) steering committee, the state government has done afforestation
on the 24,908 hectare land as of now.
 The target stands as plantation drive across 33,944 hectare.
2. Challenges
Uttarakhand is facing a shortage of suitable land for the plantation drive for remaining
5,535 hectares.
79
3. Why other states have been chosen?
To mitigate the challenge of shortage of land, the Uttarakhand CAMPA steering
committee put forward the proposal for a plantation drive in other states. However, for
implementing the proposal, the Uttarakhand government will require bring about a
report on availability or unavailability of the land within the state. The District authorities
of Uttarakhand have also been asked to create land bank for compensatory
afforestation.
4. About CAMPA
The National Compensatory Afforestation Fund and the Compensatory Afforestation
Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) was established in 2001 after an
order by Supreme court. Later, in 2006, adhoc CAMPA was established to manage the
Compensatory afforestation fund.
5. CAMPA Act
The CAMPA act was initiated in order to compensate the loss of forest area’. The act also
maintains the sustainability of the forests. The act provides for the establishment of a
National Compensatory Afforestation Fund which is funded under the Public Account of
India and a State Compensatory Afforestation Fund which is funded under the Public
Account of each state. Both of these funds receive payments for compensatory
afforestation, net present value of forest and other project specific payments. The
National Fund receives 10% of these funds while the State Funds receives 90% of the
fund.
October 14, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
100. Highlights of 5th India-Mexico High level Group on Trade,

investment and cooperation
The 5th meeting of India Mexico bilateral high-level group on trade, investment and
cooperation was held virtually on October 13, 2020. Both the countries reviewed their
commercial and bilateral trade relations.
1. Highlights
 Both the sides discussed their bilateral investment treaty and audio-visual co-production.
 Market access for Agricultural Products, cooperation framework for phytosanitary and
sanitary products, and technical barriers to trade were also discussed.
 They also discussed about the cooperation in intellectual property rights.
 They discussed the ways to promote tourism and people to people contact between both the
countries.
2. Agreements
The countries signed two Memorandum of understanding (MoU) during the fifth meeting
of bilateral high level group meeting. MoU include:
80
3. India and Mexico
The bilateral relation between India and Mexico dates back to 1500. Then the relations
and trade were carried out by the Spanish who used to trade through the Manila-
Acapulco Galleon. Mexico was the first Latin American nation that recognised the
independence of India from the United Kingdom in 1947. thereafter, both the countries
established their diplomatic relation on August 1, 1950. Currently, both the countries are
the members of G20 and United Nations. Their trade stands at 10 billion USD. More than
174 Indian companies operates in Mexico. India exports gems, jewellery, Textiles,
software and leather to Mexico and imports machinery, fertilizers, petroleum and
Chemicals from Mexico.
101. “Tech for Tribals” Initiative Launched by TRIFED, IIT Kanpur and
Chhattisgarh MFP Federation
“Tech For Tribals” initiative was e-launched by TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs in
association with Chhattisgarh MFP Federation and IIT Kanpur on September 13, 2020.
1. Tech for Tribals

 TRIFED commenced the ‘Tech for Tribals’ programme in collaboration with Ministry of Small
and Medium Enterprises (MSME) under the ESDP.
 The initiative is aimed at the holistic development of tribals.
 It focuses on entrepreneurship development, soft skills, IT, and business development.
 It will operate through Self Help Groups (SHGs) operating under the Van Dhan Vikas Kendras
(VDVKs).
2. Training Module
The training would be a 6 weeks long programe from 13th October to 7th November
2020. Under it, Van Dhan beneficiaries across all districts of Chhattisgarh will be trained
for micro-enterprise creation, management and functioning. The training module has
been developed by IIT- Kanpur.
3. Objectives
The primary objective of the programme is to tap the traditional knowledge and skills of
tribals. It also seeks to add branding, packaging and marketing skills to optimize their
income. It will be done through market led enterprise model by setting up of Van Dhan
Kendras (VDVKs). TRIFED has sanctioned 1243 Van Dhan Kendras in 21 States and 1 UT
so far that involves around 3.68 lakh tribal gatherers.
4. Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana

The scheme was launched by Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED. The primary objective
of the scheme is to help increase tribal income by Value Addition. It is a Market Linked
Tribal Entrepreneurship Development Program. It forms the clusters of tribal SHGs and
strengthen them into Tribal Producer Companies. Under the scheme, Van Dhan Vikas
Kendra has also been established for providing capacity building training and skill
upgradation. The Van Dhan Vikas Kendras are a significant milestone for financial
development of tribals.
81
102. IIFL Wealth Hurun India 40 & Under Self-Made Rich List 2020
This list has been released by the IIFL Wealth and Hurun India. This has enlisted the
cumulative wealth of India’s wealthiest self-made entrepreneurs under 40. It shows that
wealth under this category has rose by 59% in 2020.
1. Highlights
 The list provides for ranking of self-made entrepreneurs aged 40 and under having wealth of
₹1,000 crore. aged forty years and under from India.
 11 of the 12 startups have been covered in the list have been the startups with wealth over
$1 billion.
2. Key Findings
 Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath aged 40 and Nikhil Kamath aged 34 have topped the list with a
wealth of ₹24,000 crores.
 Divyank Turakhia aged 38 comes the next with registered net worth of ₹14,000 crore.
 Amod Malviya aged 39 along with their co-founders Sujeet Kumar aged 40 and Vaibhav Gupta
aged 40 fetched the third position.
 Devita Saraf aged 39 who is the founder of Vu Technologies is the only woman who find place
in the list.
 The report says, Bengaluru is the most preferred city for Business HQ for these young wealth
creators with 9 individuals find place in the list. Bengaluru is followed by Gurugram and New
Delhi with 2 individuals found the place in the list.
3. About Kamaths
They co-founded the online trading platform Zerodha. The platform became the India’s
largest stockbroker in terms of number of clients.
103. Subsidy on the transportation of fruits and vegetables through

Kisan Rail Trains Extended by 50%
The Ministry of Food Processing Industries have decided to extend the subsidy by 50%
on the transportation of fruits and vegetables by the Kisan Rail Trains.
1. Highlights
 The Ministry will provide Rs 10 crores in the beginning in order to operate the scheme.
 The money would be deposited with the Southern Central Railway.
 Railways would also be providing a utilization Certificate to the Ministry of Food Processing
Industries after the allocated funds has been utilized.
 The ministry would be providing additional funds to the Railways, in return.
 The subsidy would be extended with an immediate effect.
82
2. Kisan Rail Scheme
The announcement for the launch of Kisan Rail Train was first presented by the Union
Budget of 2020. The first Kisan Rail Train was flagged on August 8, 2020 by the Union
Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar. It was launched
from Deolali, Nashik to Danapur, Bihar. This train service between Maharashtra and
Bihar seeks to procure fresh vegetables, fruits, flowers other perishable products from
the adjoining regions.
104. Atal Innovation Mission partners with CGI to promote innovation

among school students
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, and CGI India has signed a Statement of Intent
(SOI) on October 13, 2020. The SOI was signed in order to boost the innovation across
the schools. This partnership was a part of continuous support to AIM’s Atal Tinkering
Lab (ATL) initiative. They would be working towards creating a successful and innovative
workforce.
1. Highlights
Under the SOI, CGI will be adopting 100 schools. It will also set up ATLs across
Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai in order to promote and train students. CGI
volunteers will be coaching and mentoring students at the ATLs. They would be working
to enhance technical literacy and to provide immersive learning experiences among
students using STEM tools. CGI would also be conducting training workshops for teachers
at select schools on topics including design thinking, robotics, computational thinking
and coding.
2. Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)

AIM is the flagship programme launched by the Government of India. The programme
promotes a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship across India. Currently, the ATLs
under AIM programme are accessed by some 2.5 million school students in India.
3. Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) initiative

ATL is a dedicated innovation workspace that has been set-up at schools. Under the
initiative, students get access to do-it-yourself (DIY) kits. They also learn to tinker and
create innovative solutions using the modern technologies.
105. Regional Raw Drug Repository for AYUSH Systems launched at

Chennai
The Union Minister for AYUSH, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik and Minister of State for Defence
launched the Regional Raw Drug Repository (RRDR) for ASU&H Medicine on September
13, 2020 at Chennai.
83
1. Regional Raw Drug Repository (RRDR)
RRDRs are the important components of Centrally Sponsored Scheme called AYUSH
Mission. AYUSH mission plays an important role in medicinal plants cultivation. As a step
forward in medicinal plants cultivation Ministry of AYUSH initiated the establishment of
National Raw Drug Repository and Regional Raw Drug Repositories, through the National
Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB). The RRDR would play a significant role in collection,
documentation, and authentication of raw drugs collected from the agro-climatic region
in the southern plateau. The RRDR will act as collection centers of raw drugs available
and used in southern region as well as an accredited library for authentication of raw
drugs. It will establish a standard protocols and keys for authentication of raw drug.
2. Medicinal Plants
Medicinal Plants are the major resource base of India’s traditional health care system.
Their importance has grown substantially in the covid-19 pandemic situation because of
its disease preventive properties.
3. Challenges with the Medicinal Plant

The outreach and acceptability medicinal plant under the AYUSH system are dependent
on uninterrupted availability of quality plants based raw material. Though the raw drugs
are commonly available, but there is a lack of scientific documentation. Thus, there lies
the difficulty of research on these medicines. However, difficulty in research, reduces the
chances of commercial exploitation of such medicinal plants.
106. Suraksha Kavach- Joint Anti Terrorist Exercise By Army and Police
The Agnibaaz Division which is a formation of Southern Command of the Indian Army
organised a joint exercise for both Indian Army and Maharashtra Police at Lullanagar
Pune on October 9, 2020. The Agnibaaz division has been headquartered at Pune and is
also known as the 41 Artillery Division.
1. Highlights
 The primary aim of the exercise was to harmonise the drills and procedures of Indian Army
and Police.
 This was done for activating the anti-terrorist Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) in order to
counter any terrorist actions in Pune.
2. Participants
The exercise involves the participation of Quick Reaction Teams, Dog Squads, Bomb
Disposal Teams of Army, Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and Quick Reaction Team of
Maharashtra Police.
84
3. About The Exercise
The simulated exercise environment was built up regarding the presence of terrorist in
family accommodations at Lullanagar. Based on the set up, Quick Reaction Teams of
Army established the outer cordon initially. Traffic control on nearby roads was carried
by Maharashtra traffic police and Corps of Military Police Army together. Then, the Joint
action was carried by Army’s Counter Terrorism Task Force (CTTF) and Quick Reaction
Team of Maharashtra Police to neutralize terrorists through room intervention drill,
search of room for any unidentified items or explosives by Dog squads and diffusion by
Bomb Disposal Units.
107. Amendments to the “Gujarat Disturbed Area Act” get the

President’s Assent.
The President of India, Ramnath kovind, gave assent to the Gujarat Distributed Area act
(Amendment) Bill 2019. This new act will amend the prohibition of transfer of immovable
property and provision for protection of tenants from eviction from premises in disturbed
areas act 1991. The act was first introduced in Ahmedabad in 1986 because of large
scale and continuous riots in the City.
1. Salient features of the amendment

 The primary objective of the act is to look for the elements that causes demographic
imbalances in the region.
 It also seeks to stop polarisation.
 It will prohibit sale of property from one religious community to another religious community
particulary in the disturbed areas.
 These amendment prohibits the transfer of immovable property in disturbed areas and
protect the tenants from vacating the property.
 An offender of the act would have to pay a fine of one lakh rupees or 10% of value of the
property.
 There is also a provision of imprisoned for 3 to 5 years for acquiring properties to illegal
means in disturbed areas.
2. Need of the amendment

Several complaints were received by the government officials on violation of the
provisions of the act. Offenders were taking advantages of the loopholes. Earlier the
district collector had to look for the seller selling the property personally. But it was
highlighted that various anti-social elements were buying and selling properties
forcefully. Thus the act is being amended to correct the loopholes.
3. Disturbed areas
An area can be declared as a disturbed area by the district collector. It is decided based
on the history of communal riots in that area. In the disturbed areas, transfer of assets
cannot be done without approval of the district collector. The disturbed area act of
Gujarat is applicable to areas such as Vadodara, Surat, Godhra, Ahmedabad,
Himmatnagar, Bharuch and kapadvanj, currently.
85
108. Rs 75 Commemorative coin to be released in India to mark the 75th
Anniversary of FAO
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will release a commemorative coin of Rs 75

denomination in order to mark the long-standing relation of India with Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) on the occasion of 75th Anniversary of FAO on October
16, 2020. He would also be dedicating recently developed 17 biofortified varieties of 8
crops.
1. Highlights
 The event will mark the highest priority given by the government to agriculture and nutrition.
 It also resolves to completely eliminate hunger, undernourishment and malnutrition.
 It will be attended by Anganwadis, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, Organic and Horticulture Missions
across the country.
2. India- FAO association

The Food and Agriculture Organization is an specialized organization of the United
Nations. It leads the global efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food
security. It was founded in October 1945. India’s association with the FAO has been
historic. FAO has played a crucial role in making the vulnerable classes and masses
economically and nutritionally stronger. Indian Civil Service Officer Dr. Binay Ranjan Sen
had been the Director General of FAO during 1956-1967. Also, FAO has endorsed several
proposals of India such as proposals for the International Year of Pulses in 2016 and the
International Year of Millets 2023.
3. POSHAN Abhiyan to combat malnutrition

India has rolled out POSHAN Abhiyaan that targets over 100 million people. It is aimed at
reducing the stunting, undernutrition, anaemia, and low birth weight.
4. Malnutrition
It is a global problem that have affected two billion people. They suffers from
micronutrient deficiency. Further, 45% of deaths among children are associated with the
malnutrition. Combating malnutrition is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of
the United Nations.
5. Combating Malnutrition
Government of India have aligned with the international priority and has been prioritising
the nutritionally rich varieties of crops that also contains adequate level of
micronutrients such as iron, zinc, calcium, and protein etc. The National Agricultural
Research System under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has also
developed 53 such varieties in last five years.
6. India’s nutri-thali
The recently developed 16 biofortified varieties of 8 crops that will be dedicated to the
nation by the Prime Minister will have up to 3 times increase in nutritional value. These
varieties, along with other food ingredients, will be transforming the normal Indian thali
into nutri-thali. The production of bio-fortified crop varieties will also be linked with the
mid-day meal, Anganwadi etc. programmes in order to reduce malnutrition and make
India Kuposhan Mukta.
86
109. Pakistan re-elected to UN Human Rights Council
Pakistan has been re-elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) . It
was selected on the basis of votes of member countries. It secured 169 votes out of 193
votes of the member of UN General Assembly.
1. Highlights
Pakistan has secured the highest number of votes among the five candidates from the
Asia-Pacific region. 5 candidates were seeking for four seats in elections in New York.
2. Pakistan’s membership
Pakistan has served the UNHRC since January 2018. Now, the country will continue for
another three-year term commencing from January 1, 2021. Pakistan has been elected
5th time since 2006.
3. United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)

UNHRC is a United Nations body which was established on 15th March 2006 and
replaced the UN Commission on Human Rights. Its primary mission is to promote and
protect human rights around the world. It has 47 members who are elected for three-
year terms on a regional group basis. The organisation is headquartered in Geneva,
Switzerland. It investigates the allegations of breach of human rights in United Nations
member states. The body also addresses the important human rights issues including
the women’s rights, LGBT rights, freedom of association and assembly, freedom of
expression, freedom of belief and religion, and the rights of racial and ethnic minorities.
110. India joined the UK-led campaign against encrypted social media
messages
India along with six other countries will back a UK-led campaign against end-to-
end encryption of messages by social media giants such as Facebook. They have
claimed that this feature hinders the law enforcement against the illegal activities by
blocking all access to them. Further, the system also prevents law enforcement
investigating and prosecuting against online child sexual abuse, grooming and terrorist
content.
1. Highlights
 The UK and India will be joined by the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
 A joint international statement was released that addressed all tech companies in order to
ensure that they do not blind themselves for illegal activity on their platforms such as child
abuse images.
 The call also marks an expansion of the “Five Eyes” group of nations by including India and
Japan.
87
2. Facebook’s response
Facebook said that end-to-end encryption is necessary to protect people’s most private
information, in return. Facebook backed itself by stating that people prefer end-to-end
encrypted messaging on various apps because it keeps their messages safe from
hackers, criminals, and foreign interference.
3. Five Eyes group of nations

The Five Eyes (FVEY) is an intelligence alliance. The origin of the FVEY date back to the
post–World War II period. During that time, the FVET developed the ECHELON
surveillance system in order to monitor the communications of the former Soviet Union
and the Eastern Bloc. Now this system is used to monitor private communications
worldwide. FVEY comprises of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom and
the United States. All these countries are party to the multilateral UKUSA Agreement
which is a treaty for joint cooperation in signals intelligence.
4. ECHELON
It is a surveillance program operated by the United States with the help of four signatory
states of the UKUSA Security Agreement namely, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and
the United Kingdom. It was created in 1960s to monitor the military and diplomatic
communications of the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
111. WHO Chief appreciated India’s Aarogya Setu App
The World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus have
appreciated India’s COVID-19 contact tracing app named ‘Aarogya Setu’. The chief said
that it is one of the technological tools that have successfully helped public health
departments to identify clusters of virus and to expand the testing.
1. Highlights
The WHO Chief emphasised that the covid-19 pandemic can be overcome quickly only if
countries will use the right tools for identifying the impact of the virus. He said that there
is a need to implement the tried and tested tools such as contact tracing and self-
isolation in order to break the chain of the COVID-19 transmission.
2. Background
World Health Organization has been evaluating the effectiveness of digital applications
launched in several countries including the United Kingdom and Germany to combat the
Covid-19 pandemic. The chift said that contract tracing with United Kingdom’s NHS
COVID-19 app and Germany’s Corona Warn app and similar apps in other countries have
helped the healthcare systems in tracing the infected persons
88
3. WHO chief on Arogya Setu app
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus gave the example of indigenously developed ‘Aarogya
Setu’ app. He appreciated the fact that the app has been downloaded in India by 150
million users is proving to be a successful technology that has helped in tracking the
infected persons. He further stated that the app has helped city public departments to
identify the areas where the clusters can be anticipated. This helped to do the COVID-19
testing in a targeted way.
4. WHO chief on India’s efforts

WHO Chief had also appreciated India’s efforts in combating the spread of COVID-19 in
Dharavi Slum of Mumbai.
5. Arogya Setu app

The Aarogya Setu app was in April 2020. The app alerts the users when they come in
close contact with the COVID-19 infected person.
October 15, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
112. WMO released 2020 State of Climate Services Report
The 2020 State of Climate Services report was released on the occasion of International
Day for Disaster Risk Reduction on October 13, 2020 by the UN World Meteorological
Organization (WMO).
1. Highlights
The 2020 State of Climate Services report comprises of 16 different case studies on
successful early warning systems for hazards such as tropical cyclones, floods, droughts,
hurricanes, heatwaves, forest fires, desert locusts, dust and sand storms, severe winters
and glacial lake outbursts.
2. Key findings
3. Recommendations
The report have identified where and how governments can invest for effective early
warning systems. The system strengthen countries’ resilience to multiple weather,
climate and water-related hazards. It also suggested for the need to switch to impact-
based forecasting that will be an evolution from “what the weather will be” to “what the
weather will do”. This would help people and businesses to act early on the basis of
warnings.
89
4. World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
It is a specialised agency of the United Nations. It is responsible for promoting
international cooperation on atmospheric science, hydrology, climatology, and
geophysics. The organisation was established under the International Meteorological
Organization founded in 1873. World Meteorological Convention of 1947 formally
established the World Meteorological Organization. The Convention was enforced on 23
March 1950, and thereafter, WMO began its operations under the united nation (UN).
The WMO comprises of 193 countries and territories. It has been headquartered in
Geneva, Switzerland.
113. Intellectual Property India annual report released by Government of

India
The Intellectual Property India annual report was released by the Government of India.
Along with that, annual rankings the year 2018-19 was also decided by Office of
Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks, Government of India.
1. Findings
2. State’s performance
Punjab has managed into rankings of the Top 10 States of India in the field of Research
& Innovation for the first time. Haryana with 507 application comes at second position
while Himachal Pradesh with 193 applications stands at third position.
114. What is Torrential Rain? – that hit the Telangana and Andhra
Pradesh.
Heavy rainfall have hit the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh region. At least 30 people
have lost their lives across Telangana out of which 19 deaths occurred in Hyderabad
alone. The extremely heavy rainfall have caused a deluge in the region and has caused
flooding in the region. The heavy and incessant rains occurred due to depression in the
Bay of Bengal. Such type of rain are called as the Torrential Rain.
1. Torrential Rain
Heavy downpour of rain are called as Torrential rain. According to the National Weather
Service (NWS), torrential rain are the rain that accumulates at the rate of three-tenths of
an inch or more per hour. Though, the classification of the rain is not standardized in the
world. But, generally Rain is classified as heavy when falling rate of rain is greater than
or equal to 7.6mm of water per hour.
2. Why Torrential Rain occur?

 The primary cause of torrential rain is moisture, that moves along the weather fronts. The
moisture content is high in following cases:
90
3. How Torrential Rains are formed?
Firstly, the air saturates with the water vapour and clouds are formed. The clouds then
get suspended in the air and are visible from the Earth’s surface. In the next step, air
cools down to dew point through the radiational cooling, evaporative cooling, conductive
cooling and adiabatic cooling. These cool air rises up through convection or physical
barriers such as a hill. Heavy condensation forces the water vapour to form the dark
nimbus clouds that results into the Torrential Rainfall.
115. Cabinet Approved the STARS Project.
The Union Cabinet approved the World Bank-supported Strengthening Teaching-

Learning and Results for States (STARS) project on October 14, 2020 under the
New Education Policy (NEP). The project will be implemented as a centrally sponsored
scheme under the Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education.
1. The STARS project

STARS project is being started on the basis of partnership between India and the World
Bank which was established in 1994. The project is being implemented to strengthen the
education system of school and to provide education to all. The World Bank has
provided assistance of around 500 million for this project. The total cost of the project is
Rs 5,718 crore. The project will be implemented under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan.
2. Coverage
The STARS project be benefiting the six states including Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan,
Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. It would be covering around 52% of
children from government schools belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes,
and other minority communities.
3. Benefits
The project seeks to improve learning assessment systems and to strengthen the
classroom instruction. It will further facilitate school-work transition to improve the labor
market outcomes. The project would be helping students to prepare for future job by
tackling the learning outcome challenges. It will also be ensuring that no child is stay
suspended from their right to education. The project will also be helping the states in
developing, implementing, evaluating & improving interventions to strengthen the
governance and decentralise the management system.
116. US-FDA Approved the First Treatment for Ebola Virus
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (US-FDA) has approved the first Ebola Virus
treatment drug named Inmazeb on October 14, 2020. It is a mixture of three monoclonal
antibodies namely- atoltivimab, maftivimab, and odesivimab-ebgn. This is the first FDA-
approved treatment for Zaire ebolavirus (Ebola virus) infection in adult and pediatric
patients.
1. About Inmazeb
91
 Inmazeb targets the glycoprotein on the surface of Ebola virus.
 Glycoprotein is attached to the cell receptor. It fuses the viral and host cell membranes and
thus allow the virus to enter the cell.
 The three antibodies that was used in Inmazeb can bind the glycoprotein and block
attachment and entry of the virus.
 Inmazeb was tested in 382 adult and pediatric patients with confirmed Zaire ebolavirus
infection.
 Testing was done in one clinical trial or the PALM trial. It was a part of an expanded access
program conducted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2018-2019 during an
Ebola virus outbreak.
 Inmazeb have received an Orphan Drug designation. This designation provides incentives to
assist and encourage drug development for rare diseases.
2. Zaire ebolavirus
The virus is commonly known as Ebola virus. It is among one of four Ebolavirus species
that cause a fatal human disease. This virus is transmitted through direct contact with
blood, body fluids and tissues of infected people or wild animals. It can also spread
through the surfaces and materials including the bedding and clothing that have been
contaminated with these fluids.
3. Symptoms during the treatment

Some of the symptoms visualised during the treatment with Inmazeb included- fever,
tachycardia (fast heart rate), chills, tachypnea (fast breathing) and vomiting. These
symptoms are also the common symptoms of Ebola virus infection. Hypersensitivity can
also occur in patients taking Inmazeb.
4. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (US-FDA)

The FDA is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It seeks
to protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of
human. It also provides security to veterinary drugs, vaccines, other biological products
for human use and medical devices. It is responsible for the safety and security of
nation’s food supply, cosmetics and dietary supplements. The FDA had approved the
Ervebo in 2019 which is the first vaccine for the prevention of Ebola virus disease.
117. Russia Approves 2nd COVID-19 Vaccine EpiVacCorona
Russia has approved the second Covid-19 vaccine called the ‘EpiVacCorona’ after early-
stage trials. This new vaccine comes has been approved two months after the Russia’s
first vaccine Sputnik V.
1. Highlights
 Russia have became the first country to give regulatory approval to a Covid-19 vaccine in
August after it launched the Sputnik V.
 The third Russian vaccine against Covid-19 which is being developed by the Chumakov
Centre would also be approved soon after the trials are successful.
92
2. EpiVacCorona
This second Russian vaccine has been developed by the Vector State Research Centre of
Virology and Biotechnology. The vaccine was tested on100 volunteers in early-stage. It
was a placebo-controlled human trials that lasted more than two months. The volunteers
were aged between 18 and 60 years old.
3. Sputnik V vaccine
This was the first Covid-19 vaccine of the world that Russia launched on August 2020.
Russia named it after its satellite called Sputnik which was the first satellite of the world.
This vaccine uses ‘human adenoviral vector’ technology. Thus, the vaccine causes
illnesses including fevers, coughs and sore throats, pink eye, diarrhoea and bladder
infections. Basically, Vaccines that uses the adenoviral vector are known to cause such
illnesses. The vaccine will act like a Trojan Horse that will carry the instructions for the
cells in the human body in order to produce the spiky protein or outer layer of virus
causing Covid-19 disease, SARS-CoV-2. This will thus help the body to recognise the
spike protein as a foreign substance and build an immune response against it.
118. World Students Day being observed on October 15.
The World Students Day is observed every year on the occasion of birth anniversary of
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam on October 15. The 2020 version of the day is being celebrated
under the Theme: Learning for people, prosperity and peace. The United Nations had
declared his birth anniversary to be celebrated as World Students Day in 2010.
1. About Dr APJ Abdul Kalam

Dr Kalam had served as the 11th President of India. He was affectionately called as the
“People’s President”. He is also called as the “Missile Man of India”. He was an
aerospace scientist and also a teacher.
2. His Contributions to Space Programmes

Dr Kalam was a part of the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR)
Committee under Vikram Sarabhai. This committee has decided to set up Thumba
Equatorial Rocket Launching Station. He visited NASA’s space research centre between
1963-1964. His efforts made India to develope its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. He also
directed Project Valiant and Project Devil. His role can not be neglected in developing
Prithvi and Agni missiles. The Pokhran II nuclear tests were conducted during 1992-1993
when he was the Secretary of Defence Research and Development Organization
(DRDO).Mr. Kalam along with Dr Soma Raju had developed a low-cost stent called the
“Kalam Raju Stent” in 1998 while in 2012, both had designed a tablet called the “Kalam
Raju Tablet”.
93
119. Dr. Harsh Vardhan launched second phase of “Thalassemia Bal
Sewa Yojana”
The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan has launched the
second phase of “Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojana” on October 14, 2020. The scheme has
been launched for the underprivileged Thalassemic patients.
1. Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojana

This scheme was launched in 2017. It is a Coal India CSR funded Hematopoietic Stem
Cell Transplantation (HSCT) program. The programme is aimed at providing a one-time
cure opportunity for Haemoglobinopathies like Thalassaemia and Sickle Cell Disease for
patients who have a matched family donor. This initiative of CSR has targeted to provide
financial assistance to 200 patients by providing a package cost of Rs. 10 lakhs per
HSCT.
2. Thalassemia cases
Data on Haemoglobinopathies show there are 2.9-4.6% cases of β-Thalassemia while
there are 40% for sickle cell anaemia mostly among the tribal population. Haemoglobin
variants like HBE in eastern India is as common as 3-50% and thus, it calls for more
attention to these diseases.
3. Thalassemia
Thalassemia is an blood disorder that causes to have less hemoglobin than normal in the
body. Thus, it reduces the ability of the red blood cell to carry oxygen. Thalassemia can
also cause anemia. Common symptoms of Thalassemia include Fatigue, Weakness, Pale
or yellowish skin, Facial bone deformities, Slow growth, Abdominal swelling and Dark
urine.
120. Ministry Of MSME Introduces AI & ML Tools to Strengthen

Champions Portal
The Ministry of MSME has launched the artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning
(ML) tools in order to provide effective assistance and solutions to the issues of micro,
small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). These tools have been started on its Single
Window System called the ‘Champions’ portal. These tools would be strengthening the
portal.
1. Champions Portal
This portal was launched in June 2020 by the prime minister. This is a multi-modal
system which has a portal at the virtual level and technology-equipped physical control
rooms. The control rooms have been set up at around 69 locations of the country. The
system is one of the front runner platforms for the MSMEs in a very short span of time.
94
2. Significance
These tools and the portal was launched during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to turn
the disaster into an opportunity with futuristic interventions. These tools would be
helping these MSMEs to manufacture essential and enabling products like sensors,
motors, computer displays and other animation technologies. For grievance redressal
the ministry was dependent on the complaints and data coming through the Champions
portal. Now with these tools, the ministry can now know the pulse of the entire MSME
sector even without going to the portal.
121. India to slip below Bangladesh in Per Capita GDP in 2020
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released the World Economic Outlook (WEO)
on October 13, 2020. As per the report, India will to slip below Bangladesh in terms of
per capita GDP in 2020. The latest report Highlights that Bangladesh is likely to expand
by 4% in 2020. It stated that, Indian Economy is facing contractions because of
coronavirus lockdown.
1. Key Findings of report

 The report has stated that India’s economy will contract by 10.3% in 2020. The growth rate of
India will be the slowest among BRICS nation. It is India’s lowest growth in four years.
 This has revised the growth projections of the world by 0.8% as compared to June 2020. It
states that, after 2021 the Global growth would be at 3.5 %.
 In 2020, consumer prices in India will grow at 4.9 % while 3.7% in 2021.
 The current account balance of India has been projected to grow by 0.3 % in 2020 and will be
up to 0.9 % in 2021.
 India would be the third poorest nation in South Asia as per the report along with Pakistan
and Nepal. Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka have been placed above India.
 The report highlights that India’s economy has been hardest-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in
South Asia after Sri Lanka.
 Sri Lanka’s per capita GDP has been projected to contract by 4% in 2020.
2. Situation in 2021
The report for 2021 forecasts that there will be a sharp economic recovery in the Indian
economy. India’s GDP will grow by 8.8 % in 2021. Thus, it will push India ahead of
Bangladesh’s per capita GDP of 5.4% in 2021.
3. World’s projection
The latest report of IMF have projected a deep recession in 2020. It has projeced the
global growth to be -4.4 %. There is an upward revision of 0.8% in the latest projection.
4. Recommendations
The report have recommended that there is a need of Global fiscal support of 12 trillion
USD which can be infused through asset purchases, liquidity injections and the rate cuts
by the central bank. It has also suggested the Nations to collaborate on treatments and
tests of COVID-19 vaccines. It also suggests, the policies framed by the government
should focus on limiting the economic damage and add workers to transit towards
growing sectors.
95
122. India and France get re-elected in ISA
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has announced that India has been re-
elected as President of International Solar Alliance (ISA). Along with India, France has
also been re-elected as the Co-President of the alliance in the ISA’s Third Assembly. The
tenure for both the countries would be of two years.
1. Highlights
 The Third Assembly of ISA was attended by 34 ISA Member Ministers, 53 member countries
besides the 5 signatory and prospective member countries.
 The Third Assembly further approved the initiatives of the ISA Secretariat to institutionalise
the International Solar Alliance’s engagement with the public and private corporate sector.
They will also collaborate for the Sustainable Climate Action (CSCA).
 At the assembly, 10 public sector organisations from India presented cheques of USD 1
million.
 The solar awards were distributed for the first time to the countries where institutions and
regions are working for solar power.
2. New Vice-Presidents of ISA

At the assembly, four new Vice-Presidents were also selected to reprent four regions:
3. The President of ISA Assembly

From India side, RK Singh will represent the ISA. At the assembly address, he
acknowledged that solar energy grown up extensively in the last five years and is the
fastest-growing energy source globally. He said that, solar energy has been contributing
2.8% of the global electricity.
4. The Co-President of ISA Assembly

Barbara Pompili, The Minister for Ecological Transition of France, represented the France
at the assembly. She highlighted the essential role that ISA has played in order to help
redirecting the funding towards renewable energy. She further said, France’s
involvement in the solar project by pointing out that France has committed 1.5 billion
euros of financing for solar projects in ISA member states until 2022.
123. India contributes 1 million dollars to UNRWA for Palestine Refugees
India has contributed one million dollars to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency
(UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees in Near East region. This will support the UNRWA’s
programmes and services including the education, health care, relief and social services.
India’s support to the Palestine is an integral part of the India’s foreign policy.
1. India-Palestine Relation
96
2. Background
Indo-Palestinian relations is largely based on the independence struggle against British
rule. India had recognised the Palestine’s statehood for the first time on 18 November
1988. However, the relations between both the countries formally established in 1974.
After the full diplomatic relation was established in March 1980, India and Israel have
increased cooperation in military and intelligence ventures. In the line, Narendra Modi
became the first Prime Minister of India to visit Palestine in 2018.
3. India’s support to Palestine

 India supported Palestinian self-determination in the aftermath of the partition of British India
after India got Independence.
 India have also provided $10 million relief to Palestine’s annual budget once.
 US$300,000 was provided for the construction of two addition floor in the Al-Azhar University
and human resource development programme.
 India had also offered 51 specialised security training slots to Palestinians during 1997-98
with an estimated expenditure of ₹ 55 lakhs.
 India offers 8 scholarships under ICCR Schemes to Palestinian students for higher studies in
India and several slots for training courses under the ITEC Programme.
 In 1998-99, 50 training slots were provided to Palestinian personnel for specialised training
courses where 58 Palestinian officers completed their training.
4. Palestinian refugees
The first ever refugee group arrived to India from Iraq in March 2006. They were
provided free access to governmental hospitals. Out of 165 Palestinian refugees from
Iraq 137 found clearance to resettle in Sweden.
October 16, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
124. UP CM launches ‘hath dhona, roke corona’ on Global

HandwashingDay.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched the “hath dhona, roke corona”
campaign on October 15, 2020. This campaign was launched while emphasising upon
the sanitation practices on the occasion of Global Handwashing Day.
1. Highlights
 The Chief Minister stressed that common habits of personal hygiene including washing hands
can protect from coronavirus infection.
 Personal hygiene also help people to lead a healthy and disease-free life.
 Through this programme, all people can connect and can make personal hygiene a part of
their daily routine.
 It would also help to break the chain of corona infection.
97
2. About the event
To mark the day special handwashing programs were organised in all the districts of
Uttar Pradesh. Girl students of Delhi University also showcased various kinds of
handwashing demonstrations at Taj Mahal in Agra. The students are part of hygiene
pioneer Sulabh International’s sanitation club.
3. Sulabh sanitation movement

It was founded by Bindeshwar Pathak during 1970s. Since then, the movement has
spread the awareness regarding the importance of handwashing with soap as the best
way to reduce disease transmission.
4. Global Handwashing Day

The day is observed on October 15 every year. The day is observed with an objective to
raise awareness and highlight the importance of handwashing. The day emphasise that
handwashing is as an effective means of disease prevention. The theme of the Global
Handwashing Day 2020 is ‘Hand Hygiene for All’. This theme primarily urging people to
achieve universal hand hygiene.
125. October 16: World Food Day
The World Food Day is observed on October 16 every year. The theme for World Food
Day 2020 is “Grow, Nourish, Sustain. Together” . This year’s World Food Day is
highlighting the significance of food and agriculture in COVID-19 response.
1. Background
The day is observed to mark the foundation of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
of the United Nations. FAO was established on October 15, 1945. The day was observed
as a day for action against hunger in 1979 for the first time.
2. Origin
The day was established by FAO’s Member Countries at the 20th General Conference of
FAO in November 1979. Former Hungarian Minister of Agriculture and Food Dr. Pal
Romany had played an active role at the 20th Session of the FAO Conference. The day
since then is being observed every year in more than 150 countries to raise awareness
on poverty and hunger.
3. Significance
 The Day emphasise on the need for global solidarity in order to help all populations to recover
from the crisis.
 It also focus to make food systems more resilient and robust to all people and specially to the
vulnerable section.
 The day also highlights the importance of creating a food system that can withstand with the
increasing volatility and climate shocks.
 It seeks to create a food system that can deliver affordable and sustainable healthy diets for
all and thus provide a decent livelihoods for food system workers.
98
4. How people can contribute?
FAO have urged people to celebrate the people who produce, plant, harvest, fish or
transport our food. FAO also called people to thank these #FoodHeroes. These food
heroes continue to provide food to their communities, help to grow, nourish and sustain
our world in any circumstances.
126. DG Shipping notified as National Authority for Recycling of Ships
The government has notified the Director General of Shipping (DG Shipping) as National
Authority for Recycling of Ships under section 3 of the Recycling of Ships Act, 2019 on
October 15, 2020.
1. DG Shipping
 It works for the ship recycling industry of India.
 The office of the national authority for recycling will be set up in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
Gujarat is Asia’s largest ship breaking and ship recycling industry.
 DG Shipping will be India’s representative in International Maritime Organization (IMO).
 It is also enforcing all the conventions of IMO.
2. Functions of DG shipping
DG Shipping has been authorised to administer, supervise and monitor all activities
relating to ship recycling. It will look after the sustainable development of the ship
recycling industry. Other functions of the body includes:
3. Ship Recycling Act, 2019

This act was came into force on December 13, 2019. This act was bring in order to
provide the regulation to the recycling of ships by setting certain international
standards. It also seeks to lay down the statutory mechanism for enforcement of such
standards. Before that, Government of India agreed to the Hong Kong International
Convention for Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009 on November
28, 2019.
4. Provisions of the act

 The Recycling of Ships Act, 2019 restricts and prohibits the use or installation of hazardous
materials and it has to be apply to all the ships whether the ship would be recycled or not.
 However, these restriction on use of hazardous materials will not be applied to warships and
non-commercial ships operated by Government.
 Ships will be surveyed and certified on the inventory of hazardous materials used in ships.
 Under the legislation, ship recycling facilities are required to be authorized and only
authorized ship recycling facilities would be recycling the ships.
 Act states that ships must be recycled in accordance with a ship-specific recycling plan.
5. Ship Recycling in India

India has aimed to double its contribution to GDP from ship recycling to over USD 2
billion after the ship recycling Act was enacted in December 2019. It has also aimed to
take direct jobs from recycling sector to 90,000.
99
6. Current scenario
Presently, India is recycling 70 lakh gross tonnage of ships per annum. While India’s
neighbours such as Bangladesh is contributing 68 lakh gross tonnage, Pakistan’s
contribution is 37 lakh gross tonnage and China contributes 34 lakh gross tonnage of
recycling.
127. Inter-ministerial Meet held with FSSAI- to achieve ‘Vision 2050’ of

Eat Right India movement
Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan, presided over an inter-
ministerial meet with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and senior
officials of other ministries on October 15, 2020. The meet was held in order to build a
‘Whole of Government’ approach to achieve the ‘Vision 2050’ of the Eat Right India
Movement.
1. Background
 The economic cost of food borne diseases in India has been estimated to be $15 billion.
 Data shows that, 21% of the children are Wasted, 36% of the children are underweighted
while 38% of the children are Stunted in India.
 50% of women and children also suffer from anaemia.
 Cases of obesity has doubled in the in between 2005-2015. It has increased from 9.3% to
18.6% among males and from 12.6% to 20.7% among females.
 Deaths because of non communicable diseases has also risen.
 Thus the health ministry is brining together the other ministry’s to form a common platform
in order to determine common goals and synergize their actions accordingly. This would also
help to move from Food Security to Nutrition Security.
2. Eat Right India Movement

The movement was launched by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
(FSSAI) to improve public health and combat the negative nutritional trends to fight
lifestyle diseases on 10th July, 2018. It is aimed at cutting down the salt, sugar and oil
consumption by 30% in three years. It further aims to engage and enable citizens to
improve their health and well-being by right food.
128. SCALE India Android App launched by LSSC
The Leather Sector Skill Council (LSSC) has recently announced the launch of the Skill
Certification Assessment for Leather Employees (SCALE) India android app in order to
provide a single platform to integrate quality assurance across all of its services.
1. SCALE India Android App

 The platform look after the need of all the stakeholders of the skilling and employment
ecosystem at one place. It includes the candidate or trainee, employer, employee, trainer and
assessor, and trainer.
100
 The services of the system can be accessed through the web and android application. It
works virtually on any smart handheld device, laptop, desktop, smartphones, tablets or
phablets.
 The app will provide end to end quality assurance across training, assessment, and
certification services.
 It will also engage the employers with other stakeholders smoothly.
 The app will also be providing a marketplace for human capital for the leather industry.
 App will enable access to micro-learning modules in order to bridge the identified skill gaps.
 The app will also help trainers get complete access to all the learning and training resources
for effective delivery of standardised training.
2. Leather Sector Skill Council (LSSC)

It is a non-profit organisation that meet the demand for skilled workforce in the leather
industry in India. It was set up in 2012 after getting approval by National Skill
Development Corporation (NSDC). It cater to the training and employment needs of sub-
sectors in the leather industry including the Finished Leather, Footwear, Garments,
Leather Goods and Accessories etc.
129. Govt lifts the ban on export of alcohol-based hand sanitizers.
The Government has lifted all restrictions on export of alcohol-based hand sanitizers with
an immediate effect. The notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade
(DGFT) said that the export of alcohol-based hand sanitizers in any container with
dispenser pumps is now free for export in any form or packaging.
1. Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT)

DGFT is an agency of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of the Government of India.
The agency is responsible for administering laws regarding foreign trade and foreign
investment in India. The organization has its offices called as the Regional Authority (RA)
and Zonal Office. Regional Offices of Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai are Zonal
Offices headed by Additional Director General of Foreign Trade. The other Regional
Offices are headed by Joint Director General, Deputy Director General and Assistant
Director-General.
2. Director General
 The Director-General acts as an Ex-Officio Additional Secretary to the Government of India.
 The Director-General advise the central Government to formulate the Foreign Trade Policy.
 Director-General also formulates Hand Book of Procedures of Foreign Trade Policy and ITC
(HS) Classifications for the Import and Export Items.
 Currently, Sh. Amit Yadav who is an IAS, is serving as Director General of the organisation.
3. Appointment of DGFT
Any person can be appointed as the Directorate General of Foreign Trade by central
government. Usually, a member of the Indian Administrative Service with 30 or more
years experience is appointed to the post of the Director-General of Foreign Trade. The
office works under the administrative control of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry
of the Government of India.
101
130. Kerala CM inaugurated operations of International Institute of

Advanced Virology
Chief Minister (CM) of Kerala , Pinarayi Vijayan , inaugurated the operations of the first
phase of the International Institute of Advanced Virology at the Life Science Park at
Thonakkal on October 15, 2020. The CM while inaugurating the operations said that the
robust public health care system in Kerala has helped to prevent Nipah and contain the
COVID-19 pandemic to an extent. He further stated that, the the inaugurated institute
would become an institution of world-class standards in health research.
1. Significance of the advanced institute

 There is a need of institutions like the Institute of Advanced Virology in order to effectively
prevent the health problems, life style diseases and new epidemics that Kerala faces.
 The institute will do the research on various viruses, viral infections and review its clinical
aspects.
2. Background
Kerala had decided to set up a virology research centre in 2017 after following the
suggestions of world-renowned scientists Prof M V Pillai and Dr Saragndharan. First
phase of the building was inaugurated in February 2019.
3. About the institute

The institute operates under the Department of Science and Technology. But it will be
upgraded to an autonomous institution once it is fully operational. Eight scientific
divisions have been set up in the institute based on various virology research topics. The
government has decided to set up state-of-the-art facilities for the institute in the area of
80,000 square feet.
131. Israeli Parliament Approves Historic Peace Deal With UAE
The unicameral parliament of Israel, the Knesset, approved the historic normalization
deal or the peace deal called as the Abraham Accord. with the United Arab Emirates on
October 15, 2020. It was initially signed in Washington on September 15, 2020.
1. Highlights
 80 parliamentarians voted in favour of the deal while 13 opposed it.
 The legislation will now be finally be approved by government.
 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for peace with Lebanon which is Israel’s
neighbor in the north.
 The two countries had recently launched US-led negotiations to end a long-time dispute over
their maritime border.
 The UAE and Bahrain have become the first Gulf countries to agree upon formulation of
official relations with Israel.
 Earlier, two Arab countries namely Egypt and Jordan had signed peace agreements with
Israel. Egypt signed peace deal with Israel in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.
102
2. Israel-UAE peace deal
Under the deal, the UAE will establish diplomatic relations with Israel. While in return
President Binyamin Netanyahu have committed to give up plan to annex the West Bank.
West bank is the main disputed territory that Palestine wants. Israel and the UAE would
also be finalising the bilateral ties covering the areas of investment, tourism, the
establishment of direct flights, energy, security, telecommunications, healthcare,
technology, cultural exchange, environmental issues, and the establishment of
embassies. They would also work towards closer people-to-people relations. This peace
deal is significant because Israel does not have diplomatic relations with any other Gulf
Arab states except Egypt and Jordan.
132. Oxford University Develops New Rapid Antigen Test.
Scientists at Oxford University have developed a new testing method called to be as

New Rapid Antigen Test to detect the COVID-19 virus
1. Highlights
 The new test makes use of artificial intelligence in order to locate single intact virus particles.
 The entire process will take less than five minutes to show the end results.
 The test does not require any complex steps such as amplification that are used in RT-PCR
testing.
 The testing method would also be effective for screening the other viral diseases.
2. RT PCR
RT PCR is the Reverse transcription polymerases chain reaction. The PCR technique was
invented by the American biochemist named Kary. He was presented the Nobel Prize for
Chemistry in 1993. Under this technique, copies of a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) are
created using a Polymerase enzyme. The ‘chain reaction’ is carried out to signify how
the DNA fragments have been copied. A fluorescent DNA binding dye “probe” is added
to the DNA that shows the presence of the virus on a fluorometer. The coronavirus is
made of ribonucleic acid (RNA). So, to detect coronavirus, RNA is first converted into
DNA by a technique called reverse transcription. After that, Copies of the DNA are made
and amplified.
3. Rapid Antigen Detection Test

The test is based on the swapped nasal samples. The testing is done to detect the
antigen (Foreign substances that induce immune response of the body) that are found
in the COVID-19 virus.
133. Kilo Class Submarine INS Sindhuvir- India will deliver it to Myanmar
India have decided to transfer one of its kilo-class submarines named INS Sindhuvir to
the Myanmar Navy. This is a significant step as Myanmar Navy would be getting its first
ever submarine.
1. Highlights
103
 The decision was taken to take forward the India’s commitment to building capacities and
self-reliance in the neighbouring countries.
 The decision also comply with India’s vision of Security and Growth for All in the Region
(SAGAR) policy.
 The transfer of the Indian Naval Ship was taken in the aftermath of visit of Army Chief
General MM Naravane and Foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla to Myanmar during first
week of October 2020.
 India had also agreed to supply artillery guns, bullet-proof jackets, tanks and other such
equipment to Myanmar’s military.
 INS Sindhuvir is equipped with a wide range of weapons and sensors. These advanced
weapons enables it to participate in various exercises.
2. kilo-class submarine
It is a class of diesel-electric attack submarines that was designed and built in the Soviet
Union for the Soviet Navy. The first kilo-class submarine was brought into service in
1980 in to the Soviet Navy. Apart from that, the Soviet Union exported around 40 kilo-
class submarines to countries including Russia, India, China, Poland, Algeria, India, Iran,
Russia, Romania, and Vietnam.
3. India’s Kilo-class submarines

India have 10 Kilo-class submarines called as Sindhughosh class. These submarines have
displacement of 3,000 tonnes and top speed of 18 knots. The submarines can dive up to
the depth of 300 meters. Single submarine can operate for 45 days with crew of 53.
134. Gov Tech – Thon 2020
National Informatics Centre (NIC), IEEE Computer Society and Oracle will organise Gov
Tech- Thon 2020 commencing from October 30, 2020 to November 1, 2020. This would
be launched under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
1. Gov Tech-Thon 2020

It is a pan India 36 hours virtual Hackathon. It is open to students, working
professionals, faculty, start-ups, freelance technologists, and other IT service firms of
India. During the summit, participants will receive mentorship and advice from technical
experts from NIC, IEEE and Oracle. Senior domain experts from the Ministries of
Agriculture, Education and Transport Departments, Government of India would also be
guiding the students. Participants would be given access to the latest tools from Oracle,
Oracle Autonomous Database, built-in and easy-to-use cloud security. This will help them
to develop prototypes that are practical and scalable.
2. National Informatics Centre (NIC)

It was established in 1976 as an attached office under MeitY. NIC provides ICT and e-
Governance support to the Government. It is playing a key role in delivering the services
under the digital India initiative.
104
October 17, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
135. India – Kazakhstan Defence Cooperation Expo
A webinar was held on October 15, 2020 between India and Kazakhstan under the theme
“Make In India For The World, India – Kazakhstan Defence Cooperation: Webinar and
Expo”. The webinar was organized by the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of
Defence through FICCI.
1. Highlights
 The webinar is the part of the series of webinars which are being organised with friendly
foreign countries to boost defence exports.
 These webinars are being held in order to achieve defence export target of $5 billion in the
next five years.
 The webinar was attended by 350 participants and 39 virtual exhibition stalls including the 7
stalls from Kazakh companies.
 Both side had a conversation about need to leverage opportunities for co-development, co-
production and to meet their requirements.
2. India-Kazakhstan Relation
The Diplomatic relations between both the countries have increased significantly in the
21st century. Both side seeks to develop an extensive commercial and strategic
partnership in the region of Central Asia.
3. Background
India had recognised the independence of Kazakhstan from the Soviet Union in 1992,
despite the fact that India was one of the closest friendly allies of Soviets during Cold
war.
4. Significance of Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is the second largest nation of the former Soviet republics. It occupies a
major territory in Central Asia that comprise of extensive oil, natural gas and mineral
reserves. So India is exploring the relation with Kazakhstan. Further, there is a rising
concern over the growth of the economic and strategic influence of the China. So, India
seeks to expand the relation with the country.
5. Trade
Trade between India and Kazakhstan stands at $78,910,000 as of 2003. To boost the
trade and commerce, both nations established the Indo-Kazakh Joint Business Council.
India however, failed to acquire equity in the Kurmangazy oil field but the Oil and Natural
Gas Corporation (ONGC) of India is set to acquire a stake in the Satpayev field. India has
offered Kazakhstan $1,000,000,000 as loans while Kazakhstan granted tax concessions
to Indian companies to boost the trade further.
105
6. Export and Import
Product exported to Kazakhstan by India include pharmaceuticals, medical products,
Telephone apparatus, Tea, Raw tobacco and construction machinery. While, the product
imported by India include petroleum oils, oils from bituminous minerals, asbestos,
radioactive chemical elements and titanium. Kazakhstan is also the largest supplier of
uranium to India that will help India to develop its civilian nuclear energy.
136. Culture Ministry issues guidelines for holding cultural events under
‘Kala Sanskriti Vikas Yojana’ (KSVY)
Ministry of Culture (Performing Arts Bureau) implemented various schemes under its
Kala Sanskriti Vikas Yojana (KSVY). Under the scheme, grants are approved for holding
programs and activities involving large audience. The performances with a limited
audience have been allowed, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. These
performances would be held virtually.
1. Kala Sanskriti Vikas Yojana

Under the Kala Sanskriti Yojana, all the major schemes of the ministry of Culture were
consolidated. The schemes include various other organisaton and schemes missions,
autonomous organizations, schemes and grantee institutions of the Culture ministry.
2. Missions
Four missions to the scheme include- Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission (GHS), National
Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA), National Mission on Libraries (NML) and
National Mission on Manuscripts (NMM).
3. Autonomous Organizations
The autonomous organizations under the ministry include National School of Drama, Lalit
Kala Akademi, Sahitya Akademi, Centre for Cultural Resources & Training, Sangeet
Natak Akademi, National Gallery of Modern Art, Indira Gandhi National Centre of Arts and
Zonal Cultural Centers.
4. Schemes
Important schemes of Ministry of culture include Grants for buildings and studios,
Certificate of excellence scheme for Museum professionals, Museum Grant Scheme,
National Memorial, Performing Arts Grant Scheme, Scholarships, Cultural Heritage Youth
Leadership Programme, Digitization of Museum Collection, Financial Assistance to
Cultural Organization with National Presence, Rajbhasha award scheme etc.
137. 14th session Food and Agri Week 2020
The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar,
Food Processing Industries, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj virtually inaugurated
the 14th session of the India – International Food & Agri Week 2020 on October 16,
2020. The Food and Agri week is being organised from October 16 to October 22, 2020.
106
1. Highlights
Indian food processing sector is 32% of India’s food market. So, the focus of this agro
and food tech is to make use of technology in the field of food and agriculture sector.
This would also help in increasing the income of farmers by 2022.
2. Potential of food and agriculture sector

India’s agriculture and rural economy is very robust. Proper marketing and latest
technology can lead to greater development of the agriculture sector. GDP growth rate
in Agriculture is 3.4%. The agriculture sector has also contributed to India’s economic
growth even during Covid-19 times.
3. “Anna Devo Bhava” Campaign

This awareness campaign has been started by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries
(MoFPI) to mark the Food and Agri Week. Such campaign are required to raise the
awareness about the value of food and to reduce food wastage.
4. Other Schemes by MoFPI
5. 1. PM Formalisation of Micro food Enterprises(PMFME) scheme

This scheme has been launched under the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan by the MoFPI.
It has an outlay of Rs 20,000 crores. The scheme will be supporting the 2 lakh micro food
processing units with credit linked subsidy. It would also focus on supporting the Self
Help Groups (SHGs), Food processing units (FPOs) and cottage industry.
6. 2. PM Kisan Sampada Scheme

This scheme was also started by the MoFPI for providing the modern infrastructure with
efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlets. Minor Forest Produce
(MFP) scheme is an important element of PMKSY. The primary objective of the MFP is to
link agricultural production to the market by bringing together the farmers, processors
and retailers. 37 MFPs have been approved till now out of which 20 are operating.
7. 3. Operation greens scheme

The scheme was also expanded by the Ministry from TOP to TOTAL. Ministry will be
providing the 50% subsidy for transportation of eligible crops from surplus production
cluster to consumption centre. The subsidy will be provided for six months.
138. BepiColombo Spacecraft crossed Venus.
The BepiColombo Space Craft has crossed the Venus in its journey towards Mercury. The
spacecraft was launched jointly by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and European
Space Agency to explore planet Mercury.
107
1. BepiColombo
BepiColombo was launched on the Ariane 5 rocket and will arrive Mercury in 2025. This
Mission is a part of the Horizon 2000+ Programme by the European Space Agency. This
was the last spacecraft of the programme. The BepiColombo spacecraft consists of two
satellites launched namely, Mercury Planetary Orbiter and Mercury Magnetospheric
Orbiter. These two satellites were launched together. They will separate once they arrive
Mercury.
2. Objective of the mission

This spacecraft mission has been launched to explore and study the mercury. The
spacecraft would be studying the characterisation of magnetosphere and the external
and surface magnetic field of the mercury. It will study the solid and liquid cores of
mercury and perform magnetic and gravitational field mappings there. The mission also
seeks to verify existence of water in the polar craters. These craters lies in the
permanent shadow zone from the sun’s rays. The verification of water would be carried
by using the Gamma ray and neutron spectrometers. These tools have been provided by
Russia. The mission will also verify Relativity Theory of Einstein
3. Background
The BepiColombo spacecraft have been named after the scientist Giuseppe
BepiColombo. The spacecraft was first used in 1974 on the Mariner 10 mission. This
technique is now used by planetary space crafts frequently.
139. Highlight of Global Tuberculosis Report, 2020
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recently released the Global Tuberculosis
Report, 2020. The report Highlights the impact of COVID-19 on Tuberculosis (TB) related
deaths. It says that COVID-19 might increase the TB deaths by 0.2 to 0.4 million
worldwide.
1. Key Findings
 As per the report, India registered a decline in Tuberculosis cases by 85% in April 2020 after
the lockdown was imposed. However, the number of TB deaths could be between 2,00,000
and 4,00,000.
 Philippines, Indonesia and South Africa accounted to 44% of global TB cases in the world.
 India, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Russia accounts for
two-thirds of global TB cases.
 Largest burden of drug-resistant TB were reported in India, China and Russia.
 TB cases reduced by 9% while TB deaths increased by 14% between 2015 and 2019.
 As per the report, around 14 million people were treated between 2018 and 2019 for TB.
Report says, treatment is moving ahead of the five-year target, set by WHO, of reaching 40
million between 2018 and 2022. But, the COVID-19 is the biggest hurdle to achieve these
targets currently.
108
2. Why TB deaths have increased?
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the medical staffs have been reallocated to look after the
corona patients. Because of the, TB patients are not being given proper care. Other
reasons could be – restriction in movement of people, procurement and transportation of
TB medicines have been reduced and the loss of wages. This has made difficult for
people to access the health centres and proper treatment.
3. TB Cases in India
India accounts to 26% of total global TB cases which stands at the highest burden in the
world.
140. India aims to achieve Trans Fat Free status by 2022.
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh said on October 16, 2020 that the aim of the government
is to make India Trans Fat free by 2022. It is in line with the Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s vision of a New India on 75 years of independence. If this is achieved, India would
be a year ahead of target as set by World Health Organization (WHO).
1. Highlights
 This was highlighted during the event on World Food Day organized by Food Safety and
Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
 The world’s focus on food, nutrition, health, immunity and sustainability has been renewed
amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
 This year, India focuses on elimination of Trans Fats from the food supply chain.
2. Initiatives to Improve Health

 Eat Right India movement and Fit India Movement were launched by the minitry. These two
movements along with Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Jal Jeevan Mission and will improve the
health of Indians beside healing the environment.
3. Trans Fat
It is a food toxin that are present in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (PHVOs). For
Instance, vanaspati, shortening, margarine etc are such vegetables oil. It can also be
found in baked and fried foods. Industrial trans fats are produced by adding hydrogen to
liquid vegetable oils in order to make them more solid and to increase shelf life of foods.
4. Why trans fat is a concern?

It is the worst type of fats having severe health risks. Trans fat leads to the rise in non-
communicable diseases in India. Trans fat is also a risk factor for cardiovascular
diseases (CVD). About 5,40,000 people die globally of cardiovascular diseases every
year. In India also around 60,000 people die of CVD. Trans fat is one of the contributor to
increase the risk of CVD
109
141. Lancet Study: Life expectancy in India increased from 59.6 % to
70.8 %
The Lancet medical journal has published its new report. In the report, Lancet has
highlighted that India has gained in the life expectancy since 1990.
1. Key Findings of the report

 Life expectancy in India has increased from 59.6 years in 1990 to 70.8 years in 2019.
 Though, there exits inequalities between several states.
 In Kerala, life expectancy increased to 77.3 years while on the in Uttar Pradesh it was
reported as 66.9 years.
 Lancet highlighted the 286 causes of fatalities and 369 diseases in 200 countries.
2. Why India’s health loss has increased?

Currently, India is going through the COVID-19 pandemic. Total cases stands at around
73 lakh. Out of these 8,04,528 are active cases and 64,53,780 cases have been cured.
India also reported some 1,13,000 deaths as of today (October 17, 2020). However, the
largest contributors of the increasing health loss were non-communicable diseases
(NCDs) such as COPD, diabetes, stroke, heart disease, and a group of musculoskeletal
disorders over the last 30 years in India.
3. Factors leading to death

 Maternal mortality is coming down in India.
 Cardiovascular diseases used to be 5th largest contributor to death but now it is the largest
contributor.
 Rates of cancer are increasing,
 Air pollution is another contributor that lead to 1.67 million deaths as of 2019.
 As per 2019 report, other factors of death were high blood pressure leading to 1.47 million
deaths, tobacco leading to 1.23 million deaths, poor diet leading to 1.18 million deaths and
high blood sugar leading to 1.12 million deaths in India.
142. India and Chile hold first joint commission meeting.
India and Chile held their first joint commission meeting on October 16, 2020.
1. Highlights
 Both the countries agreed to add new momentum to their relations.
 They agreed to work in the fields of trade and commerce, agriculture, health and social
security, defence and space.
 The meeting was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Chilean counterpart
Andres Allamand Zavala.
 This Joint Commission was a significant development for India and Chile relations as it was
the first institutionalised dialogue between the two countries at the level of Foreign Ministers.
 Chile decided to designate India as a priority country in its foreign policy.
 Further, Chile will open its Consulate General in Mumbai.
110
2. India-Chile Relation
Chile is India’s gateway to Latin America and to the Pacific Alliance. Chile has
established an embassy in New Delhi and India has established an embassy in Santiago.
Both of these countries are members of the G20. India and Chile are also the partners in
International Solar Alliance. In 2019, India- Chile commemorated the 70th anniversary of
the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between them.
3. Trade
Chile started the trade with India in 1956 and became the first country in South America
to sign a trade agreement with India. Later, in 2005, a Framework Agreement was
signed in order to promote Economic Cooperation between them. The agreement was on
the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between the two that was finalised in November
2005. The PTA came into force in 2007. India’s bilateral trade with Chile stands at $2.6
billion. Thus, Chile is the fifth largest trading partner of India in the Latin American
region.
4. People-to-people ties
Around 1000 Indian community resides Chile. They are engaged in small business and
trade. On an average, 1000 people from Chile visit India annually for tourism.
143. Global Hunger Index 2020: India ranked 94th.
The Global hunger index was launched on October 16 2020. It has been jointly prepared
by Welhunger life and Concern Worldwide. This year, India has been ranked 94th Out of
107 countries. In 2018 was India ranked 103 while in 2019 India was ranked 102.
1. Key findings of the report

 The report ranked the countries on the basis of four indicators – undernourishment, child
wasting, child stunting and child mortality.
 The report has put India under “serious category” and has given the score of 27.2.
 The child stunting rate, for age group 0-5 years, in India was reported as 37.4 %.
 Wasting in child was reported as 17.3 %. Undernourishment rate of India is 14%. As per the
report, child mortality rate is 3.7 %.
 Nepal has been ranked 73rd, Bangladesh has been ranked 75th while Pakistan has been
ranked 88th this year.
2. Cause and Concerns

The report highlights that the countries including India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan
had faced concentrated stunting among children during 1991-2014. The primary reasons
for stunting are household poverty, poor dietary diversity and low levels of maternal
education. Further, the report states that, with this trajectory world will not be able to
achieve zero hunger by 2030 which is one of the major sustainable development goals
by United Nations.
3. Definitions
 “Wasting” means the child is having low weight as per the height.
 “Undernourishment” is the share of population with insufficient caloric intake.
 “Stunting” means the child is having low height for their weight.
111
144. Mission Shakti- Launched by UP Government.
Uttar Pradesh government launched a 6-month long women empowerment programme

‘Mission Shakti’ on October 17, 2020. The initiative was launched in order to raise
awareness and tackle crime against women in the state.
1. Highlights
 Governor Anandiben Patel launched the campaign in Lucknow while chief minister Yogi
Adityanath started it in Balrampur.
 Six month campaign has two phases- Mission Shakti’ and ‘Operation Shakti.
2. Mission Shakti
This is the phase one of the campaign. It feature awareness campaigns related to
women’s safety. Under this, awareness campaign such as gender-based sensitisation,
training, corporate activity, interviews, voice messages, programmes in Durga Puja and
other cultural pandals will be organised. This weeklong campaign will be launched every
month to raise awareness among masses and sensitise the people on the subject.
Women nodal officers will be appointed by government in all the districts under the
campaign. They will execute and monitor the campaign. They will also raise awareness
about the help lines numbers such as 1090, 181, 1076, 108 and 102.
3. Operation Shakti
This is the second phase of the campaign. Under this, the police will prepare a register of
persons have served the jail terms for crimes against women and now have come out.
145. Highlights of Ministers of Justice Summit of SCO
The Seventh Meeting of Ministers of Justice of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

(SCO) Member States was hosted on October 16, 2020. It was hosted by Shri Ravi
Shankar Prasad, Minister of Law & Justice, Communication and Electronics & Information
Technology.
1. Highlights
 The minister highlighted the initiatives taken by the Indian Government under the leadership
of Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for providing affordable and easy access to justice
for all.
 As part of activities of Justice Ministers’ Forum, the Minister urged SCO Member States to
promote exchange of ideas, best practices and experiences in identified areas .
 SCO Member States also discussed the importance of promoting alternative dispute
resolution mechanism.
2. Initiatives that India took
3. Features of Joint Statement
112
146. October 17: International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is observed on October 17 every
year by the united nations. This year, the day is being observed under the Theme
“Acting together to achieve social and environmental justice for all”. In 2019, the day
was observed under the theme “Acting together to empower children, their families,
and communities to end poverty”.
1. Background
The history of International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP) dates back to 1987.
The day started being observed after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was
signed at the Trocadero in Paris in 1948. This was signed to honour the victims of
extreme poverty, violence, and hunger. Thereafter, on 22 December, 1992, 47/196
resolution was adopted by the General Assembly. This resolution declared October 17
as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. The day got inspiration from The
Call to Action by Father Joseph Wresinski. Joseph Wrensinski was born to immigrant
parents in a poor neighbour of France. He grew under the chronic poverty. He urged the
UN to declare the IDEP. He also founded the International Movement ATD Fourth World.
2. Definition of Poverty
World Bank defines poverty as the earning less than $1.90 per day.
3. Sustainable Development Goals ‘one’

The sustainable development goal was adopted in 2015 by the United Nations. Poverty
is a “2030 Agenda” for Sustainable Development Goal. The goal one of the Sustainable
Development Goal is- to eradicate poverty in all its forms and everywhere.
October 19, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
147. Indian and Sri Lankan navies to begin exercise SLINEX today.
The 8th annual joint exercise between Indian and Sri Lankan navies – SLINEX-20 will
begin on October 19, 2020 off the Trincomalee coast. It is a 3 day exercise and will end
on October 21, 2020.
1. Highlights
 Sri Lanka Navy would be represented by SLN Ships Sayura and Gajabahu. Both the ships
would be led by Rear Admiral Bandara Jayathilaka who is the Flag Officer Commanding Naval
Fleet in Sri Lanka Navy.
 Indian navy would be represented by indigenously built ASW corvettes Kamorta and Kiltan
under the command of Rear Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern
Fleet.
 Indian Navy Advanced Light Helicopter and Chetak helicopter have also been embarked
onboard IN ships.
 From Indian side, Dornier Maritime Patrol Aircraft will also participate.
113
 The exercise comply with India’s Security and Growth for all in the Region (SAGAR) Policy and
Neighbourhood first policy.
2. SLINEX
Sri Lanka India Naval Exercise is abbreviated SLINEX. It is a series of naval exercises
between the Indian Navy and the Sri Lanka Navy. The exercise began in 2005. The 2020
edition of exercise is aimed at enhancing inter-operability, improving mutual
understanding and exchanging best practices and procedures for multi-faceted maritime
operations between both the navies.
3. India- Sri Lanka Military cooperation’s

India- Sri Lanka military cooperation have a long history. The military-to-military
cooperation in the recent years have strengthen in the recent years. India and Sri Lanka
conducts joint Military called ‘Mitra Shakti’ and Naval exercise called SLINEX regularly to
share the best practices. India also provides defence training to Sri Lankan forces
frequently. Both the countries had signed a trilateral maritime security cooperation
agreement, that also include Maldives, in order to improve surveillance, anti-piracy
operations and to reduce maritime pollution in the Indian Ocean Region.
4. Mitra Shakti
This is a joint military training exercise between India and Sri Lanka which is held
regularly to counter insurgency and terrorism operations as per the United Nations
mandate. The 7th edition of the exercise was held in 2019.
148. Philippines to restart oil and gas exploration in South China Sea.
The Philippine government has decided to resume oil exploration in the disputed South
China Sea. This decision of Philippines was taken without consulting China.
1. Highlights
 The President of Philippine, Rodrigo Duterte, approved the lifting of a six-year moratorium on
oil exploration in the Palawan Island.
 The area where exploration would resume lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic
zone under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
 The petroleum-related activities will resume in three offshore areas.
2. Background
The moratorium on oil exploration was imposed in 2014. It was imposed in the light of
tensions between the Philippines and China because of their overlapping territorial
claims in the South China Sea.
3. China’s stand
China expressed that it hope the two countries would cooperate for joint exploration in
future. Both the countries had reached the consensus on the joint development of oil
and gas resources in the South China Sea and had also established a cooperation
mechanism.
114
4. South China Sea
It is a marginal sea in the Western Pacific Ocean. The sea is enclosed in the north by the
shores of South China, in west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in east by the islands of
Taiwan and northwestern Philippines while in south by Borneo, eastern Sumatra and the
Bangka Belitung Islands. It connects to the East China Sea through the Taiwan Strait,
connects to the Philippine Sea through the Luzon Strait while to the Sulu Sea through the
straits around Palawan. It also connects the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Malacca.
Java Sea connects to it through the Karimata and Bangka Strait.
5. Significance
The region have huge economic and geostrategic importance. It gives passes to the
One-third of the world’s maritime shipping through it. Thus, the region encompasses
over US $3 trillion trade each year. The region have a huge reserves of oil and natural
gas beneath its seabed. It also comprises lucrative fisheries that ensures the food
security in Southeast Asia for many.
6. South China sea Dispute

Many countries have made territorial claims over the South China Sea and so the dispute
in the region is regarded as the Asia’s most dangerous point of conflict. China and
Taiwan claims the entire region as their own by demarcating their claims within the nine-
dotted line. Other claims include:
149. Naval version of BrahMos missile test-fired from INS Chennai
The Naval version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was successfully test-fired
on October 18, 2020. It was test-fired from an indigenously built stealth destroyer of the
Indian Navy in the Arabian Sea.
1. Highlights
 The missile was fired from INS Chennai which is a stealth destroyer.
 Missile hit the target with pin-point accuracy after performing “extremely complex”
manoeuvres.
2. Significance
BrahMos is a prime strike weapon that will ensure the warship’s invincibility. It engages
the naval surface targets at long ranges.
3. BrahMos Aerospace
It was developed as a joint venture of the Defence Research Development Organization
(DRDO) and NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM) of Russia. The missile has been named after
the rivers Brahmaputra and Moskva. The DRDO and NOPM together produces various
other supersonic cruise missile which can be launched from any of the platform including
the submarines, ships, aircraft, or land platforms.
115
150. 50 years of Bangladesh’s Independence: Bangladesh invited PM
Modi to join celebrations.
Bangladesh has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join the celebrations of the 50
years of the country’s independence. The country will complete its 50 years of
Independence on March 26, 2021.
1. Independence day of Bangladesh

The Independence Day of Bangladesh is observed on 26 March every year. The day
commemorates the Bangladesh’s declaration of independence from Pakistan. The leader
of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had declared its independence from Pakistan on 26
March 1971.
2. Background
Bangladesh got its independence from Pakistan after the Bangladesh Liberation War.
The war is also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence or the Liberation War. It
was a revolution and armed conflict that was spread and sparked by the Bengali
nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan (Current Bangladesh)
during 1971 Bangladesh genocide. The war began on 25 March 1971 and ended on 16
December 1971 after West Pakistan (Current Pakistan) surrendered. The Bangladeshi
Declaration of Independence was proclaimed by members of Mukti Bhahini from
Chittagong.
3. India’s Role
India had also joined the war on 3 December 1971 in the aftermath of Pakistan’s launch
of air strikes on North India. Since, India and Bangladesh had achieved air supremacy in
the eastern theatre and allied forces of Bangladesh and India were advanced, Pakistan
surrendered to Dacca on 16 December 1971.
4. Consequence
The war changed the geopolitical landscape in South Asia. Bangladesh emerged as the
seventh-most populous country in the world. Majority of member states in the United
Nations recognised Bangladesh as a sovereign nation in 1972.
151. Israel and Bahrain sign agreement at Manama to establish

diplomatic ties.
Israel and Bahrain signed an agreement at Manama on October 18, 2020 to establish
diplomatic ties.
1. Highlights
 The deal was signed in the presence of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House
envoy Avi Berkowitz along with Bahrain’s foreign minister and Israel’s national security
adviser.
 Israeli and Bahraini officials also held talks and signed eight memorandums of understanding
(MOU) in the field of visas, trade, agriculture, civil aviation, finance, investments and direct
flights.
116
 The agreement was signed in the aftermath of UAE’s agreement to normalise its ties with
Israel.
 Israel will also be setting up its embassy in Manama soon.
2. Significance
The agreement called as the “joint communique on establishing peaceful and diplomatic
relations” is an comprehensive peace treaty. The agreement will open up the way for
these two countries to open embassies and sign more cooperation agreements.
3. The Bahrain–Israel normalization agreement

The agreement is also known as the Abraham Accords. The agreement includes the
Declaration of Peace, Cooperation, and Constructive Diplomatic and Friendly Relations
Bahrain and Israel. The agreement was announced by President Donald Trump on
September 11, 2020 and signed formally on September 15. The agreement made
Bahrain the fourth Arab state to recognize Israel.
152. Prime Minster to Inaugurate India Energy Forum by CERAWeek
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate the India Energy Forum by CERAWeek
that will be held between October 26, 2020 to October 28, 2020. The forum is in its
fourth year and is hosted by IHS Markit.
1. Highlights
 The event will be inviting international group of speakers and delegates.
 Community of a thousand delegates from India will also be joining.
 Other participants include- regional energy companies, energy-related industries, institutions
and governments.
 The energy ministers, senior industry executives and leading national and international
energy experts would be the prime speakers at the event.
2. Key topics of the event

The speakers would be throwing lights on the topics including –
3. Significance of the forum

India Energy Forum by CERAWeek will be providing unique opportunity for the energy
industry across the world. It will provide an opportunity to hear directly from political
leaders, policymakers and industry leaders. The forum would be talking about what lies
ahead in the world of energy globally and in India.
4. IHS Markit
IHS Markit established its first center in India in 2005. Presently, it has more than 3,600
employees. It covers four states namely, Delhi- National Capital Region (NCR),
Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai. India is represented as the largest employee base
outside the United States and the United Kingdom. It works in the sectors including
energy and natural resources, automotive, financial markets, maritime and trade , and
engineering and product design. HIS provides critical information, analytics and solutions
for the major industries and markets that drive economies worldwide. It has been
headquartered in London and has committed to sustainable and profitable growth.
117
153. Sustainable Municipal Sold Waste Processing Facility developed by

CSIR-CMERI
A sustainable Municipal Solid Waste Processing Facility has been developed by the
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – Central Mechanical Engineering
Research Institute (CMERI).
1. Solid Waste Processing Facility

 The facility will help to achieve decentralized decimation of solid waste.
 It will also help in creating value added products.
 The system has adopted the Bio-Digestion process as it creates minimum pollution.
 The special features of the facility includes segregating wastes such as masks, diapers,
sanitary napkins, etc.
 It also comprises disinfection capabilities that can break COVID-19 chain through Ultra Violet
C radiation and by adopting hot-air convection methods.
 The facility runs entirely on solar energy.
 Facility uses the plasma arc for solid waste disposal that converts wastes into plasma state.
2. Application
The residue from the facility would be rich in carbon. It can be used in agriculture as
fertilizer and to make bricks for construction purpose.
3. Objective
The primary objective of the system is to remove the burden of the segregation
responsibilities by adopting advanced segregation techniques. The CSIR-CMERI seeks to
establish a Decentralised Waste Management Technology that will help in reducing the
carbon dioxide emissions and fuel usage. It will also help in achieving Zero-landfill and
Zero waste besides, creating jobs.
154. Highlights of Japan-Vietnam agreement.
Japanese Prime Minister (PM) Yoshihide Suga, agreed on October 19, 2020 with the
Vietnamese counterpart to step up defence and security cooperation. This is first
overseas summit of Japanese PM after taking his office. The agreement has been signed
in the light of China’s increasing influence in the region.
1. Highlights
 The agreement will allow Japan to export defence equipment and technology to Vietnam.
 Japan has been signing such agreement in recent years to boost ties with Southeast Asia to
sustain its own defence industry.
 Through this agreement, both sides seeks to ensure “free and open Indo-Pacific” vision for
multilateral economic and security cooperation.
 This will counter China’s growing influence in the region and protect sea lanes in disputed
South China Sea region.
2. Japan – Vietnam Agreement
118
 Both sides signed more agreements to cooperate in economic fields and on anti-terrorism
measures.
 They agreed to ease entry bans and allow short-term business visits.
 They would also be reopening flights between Vietnam and Japan.
 Japan promised to provide support for Vietnamese workers in Japan affected by the COVID-19
pandemic.
3. Japan-Vietnam Economic ties

Japan is Vietnam’s one of the top trading partners. They trade between both of them is
of USD 28.6 billion. Japan is also Vietnam’s largest overseas aid donor. It has provided
USD 23 billion as of 2019. Vietnamese accounts for more than half of the foreign workers
as Japan has accepted them utilise them in place of its declining and aging population.
4. Other steps taken by Japan

Japan also has defence equipment transfer deals with the US, Britain and Malaysia.
Vietnam is a 12th partner to have such a deal. Earlier, in August 2020, Japan exported a
radar surveillance system to the Philippines. Japan had partially lifted ban on military
equipment and technology transfer in 2014 to boost Japan’s defence capability.
155. Nozomi Okuhara won Women’s Singles title at Denmark Open
The Japanese Former World Champion Nozomi Okuhara has won the Denmark Open title
in Badminton. She got the title by beating three-time world champion Carolina Marin in
women’s singles.
1. Highlights
 She took 56 minutes to get the Olympic gold medallist Spaniard in two games 21-19, 21-17.
 The Denmark open was played at Odense.
 World champion PV Sindhu of India did not take part in the game this year.
2. Men’s singles final

 World number seven Anders Antonsen from Denmark defeated Rasmus Gemke by 18-21, 21-
19, 21-12 and won the Men’s single.
 With this win, Antonsen moves up to second in the world rankings.
 Gemke is ranked at number three.
3. Mixed Doubles final

In this category, fourth seeds Mark Lamsfuss and Isabel Herttrich became the first
German mixed doubles players to win a Super Series event. They wom by defeating
Chris and Gabby Adcock of England in the final by 18-21, 21-11, 21-14.
4. Japan women’s doubles final

 Top seeds Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota downed second seeds Mayu Matsumoto and
Wakana Nagahara by 21-10, 16-21, 21-18.
 Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge from England defeated Russian pair Valdimir Ivanov and
Ivan Sozonov by 20-22, 21-17, 21-18. They became the first England pair to clinch the title of
men’s doubles in the Denmark Open for 45 years.
119
5. The Denmark Open
It is formerly known as Danish Open. It is an annual badminton tournament that is held
in Denmark. The tournament is organized by Danmarks Badminton Forbund. The
Denmark Open was part of the BWF Super Series Premier in between 2011 to 2017. The
tournament was started in 1935. the tournament seeks to draw the top players from
around the World.
156. Agriculture Minister launches AYUSHMAN SAHAKAR scheme
The Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has launched the AYUSHMAN
SAHAKAR scheme on October 19, 2020. The scheme has been formulated by the
National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) which is the apex autonomous
development finance institution under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
1. AYUSHMAN SAHAKAR scheme

The scheme is an unique way that will assist cooperatives to play an important role in
creation of healthcare infrastructure in the country. Under the scheme, the NCDC would
extend term loans to prospective cooperatives by 10,000 crore in coming years. The
scheme would be providing a working capital and margin money to meet operational
requirements of the health facilities. It also provides interest subvention of one percent
to cooperatives where women are in majority.
2. Coverage
NCDC’s scheme has aligned itself with the National Health Policy, 2017. It covers the
health systems in all dimensions including the investments in health, encouragement of
medical pluralism, organization of healthcare services, affordable health care to farmers,
access to technologies, development of human resources etc. The scheme comprises
the comprehensive approach-hospitals, healthcare, health insurance, nursing education,
medical and paramedical education. It also includes health systems such as AYUSH.
Ayushman Sahakar scheme fund would be assisting the cooperative hospitals to take up
medical and Ayush education.
3. Objectives
NCDC fund will be given in order to boost the healthcare services that are being
operated by the cooperatives in the country. This scheme has been launched with an
aims to bring transformation in the health services primarily in the rural areas.
4. Why this scheme?

The need for creating such facilities was felt amid the ongoing covid-19 pandemic.
NCDC’s scheme will be strengthening the farmers welfare activities by the Central
Government.
120
157. CSIR-IHBT introduced Heeng Cultivation in Indian Himalayan Region
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Institute of Himalayan bioresource

Technology (CSIR-IHBT) has planted the Heeng in the Lahaul valley of Himachal Pradesh.
The institute plans to cover 750 hectares under the Heeng cultivation.
1. Highlights
 The IHBT had partnered with Department of Agriculture of Himachal Pradesh in order to boost
heeng production in the region.
 The National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources carried six categories of Heeng from Iran.
 The institute also standardized the protocol to produce the heeng as per Indian conditions.
2. Heeng consumption in India

India consumes 40 per cent of the world’s heeng. India imports nearly 1,200 tonnes of
ferula heeng that costs to nearly US $130 million every year.
3. Heeng Cultivation
Heeng is not cultivated in India. So far, it was imported from countries like Afghanistan,
Iran and Uzbekistan. Historically, heeng has been cultivated in cold desert regions of
Afghanistan and Iran.
4. Challenges in exporting heeng

There have been instances of war and strife which has prevented Iran and Afghanistan
to exporting heeng.
5. Heeng
It is also known as asafoetida and is the dried latex. Heeng is native to Iran and
Afghanistan. The resin like gum which comes out from the dried sap of roots and stem is
used as heeng spice. The spice is greyish white in colour when fresh while turns to dark
amber when it is dried up.
6. Medicinal use of Heeng

 Heeng is believed to cure ranging from kidney stones to bronchitis in India.
 In Afghanistan, heeng is used to cure whooping cough and ulcers.
 In Egypt, heeng is considered a diuretic.
October 20, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
158. Australian Navy to participate in Malabar 2020 Exercise
The Indian Ministry of Defense issued a release on October 19, 2020 updating about the
upcoming trilateral India-U.S.-Japan Malabar exercises. The release noted that this year’s
exercise would be participated by Australia. This was doe in the backdrop of India
seeking to increase cooperation with other countries in the maritime security domain
121
and increasing defence cooperation with Australia. The Malabar exercise will be
organised in the Indian Ocean.
1. Highlights
 This would be the first exercise to include all four Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or “Quad,”
nations since 2017.
 The Royal Australian Navy last participated in Malabar in September 2007.
 This 2007 Exercise also included a small Singaporean contingent and coincided with the
original convening of the Quad. But, this grouping was disbanded after Chinese opposed to it.
 Australia, in 2017, requested for a observer status but it was denied as inclusion of Australia
would give message that QUAD grouping is aimed at China.
2. Significance
Australia’s return to the exercise will show the states’ seriousness for the Quad. This also
becomes significant in the light of tensions between China and the Quad states. This also
signifies that Quad states collectively support free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. This
would also enhance safety and security in the maritime domain.
3. Malabar Exercise
It is an annual trilateral naval exercise between India, Japan, and USA. The exercise is
held alternately in the Indian and the Pacific Oceans. The Malabar exercise was started
bilaterally between India and US navy in 1992. Later in 2015, it was formally
trilateralized by including Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. The decision to add Japan
taken seven years after India and Japan signed a 2008 joint declaration on security
cooperation.
159. ADB approved $177 million loan for Maharashtra Road

Improvements.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Indian government have signed an
agreement for a loan of $177 million on October 19, 2020. The loan has been approved
to upgrade 450 kilometers of state highways and major district roads in Maharashtra.
Features and Significance of Project

 This project will improve connectivity between rural areas and urban centres in Maharashtra.
 It would enable the rural communities to access markets, employment opportunities and
services in a better manner.
 This would Improve the mobility and thus expand the development and livelihood
opportunities outside the major urban centres to second-tier cities and towns. In turn, this
would be reducing the income disparities.
 The project would also strengthen the road safety measures by developing road safety audit
framework. The framework will also be protecting the vulnerable groups including the elderly,
women, and children. This has included on the basis of international best practice.
 The project will update road maintenance system on the basis of 5-year performance-based
maintenance contracts.
122
160. First-ever SCO Startup Forum to be launched on 27th October.
The first-ever Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Start up Forum will be launched
on 27th October 2020 before of the SCO trade ministers meeting on 28th October.
Further, SCO or the Shanghai Pact Heads of Government meeting will be hosted by India
on 30th November 2020.
1. Highlights
 The forum will lay the foundation for multilateral cooperation and engagement among the
SCO Member States.
 It will help to develop their startup ecosystems collectively.
 It will also identify areas of cooperation by launching multiple entrepreneurial activities such
as:
2. India’s Start-up Ecosystem

India is the third-largest start up ecosystem in the world. It has around 35,000 start ups.
25% of these are core technology start ups that are operating in areas of AI, Robotics,
IoT, Digital Health, Cloud Computing, Financial & Education Technology. The ‘Start up
India’ has launched 10 bilateral bridges which has helped many technology-based start
ups to expand their businesses to global markets.
3. About SCO
It is an inter governmental organization. SCO was founded on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai,
China. It currently has eight Member States namely- China, India, Russia, Pakistan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It comprises of Four Observer States
that seeks full membership namely- Afghanistan, Belarus, Mongolia and Iran. The
organization comprises Six Dialogue Partners namely- Armenia, Nepal, Sri Lanka,
Azerbaijan, Cambodia and Turkey.
161. India’s first ever multi-modal logistics park – to be set up in Assam.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari will lay down the foundation stone for India’s first multi-
modal logistics park in Assam on October 20, 2020. This multi-modal logistics park have
an estimated budget of ₹694 crore.
1. Highlights
This multi-modal logistic park will be developed under the Bharatmala Pariyojna. The
project would provide direct connectivity through air, road, rail and waterways to the
people.
2. Bharatmala Pariyojana
The Bharatmala Pariyojana was announced by the union minister of Road Transport and
Highways of India, Mr.Nitin Gadkari in 2017. The project was launched in order to
improve connectivity in the country by 2022. The budget for the scheme is managed by
the cess collected on petrol and diesel and the tax collected at toll booths. It also gets
budgetary support by the Government. The main components of the pariyojna are-
3. Features and Aims of Bharatmala Pariyojana

123
4. Challenges
As per the report, the project is running far behind the set target of completion of project
by 2022 because of the increased land cost. Increased land cost has increased the
estimated budget for the project. So, getting more funds for the project is another
challenge. Therefore, the Central Government is looking for more investments from the
funds collected by the market and other private and international investment. To meet
the estimate, the government also intends to auction the completed highway projects.
They are also looking for foreign debts and bond markets.
162. India successfully test fired SANT Missile.
India successfully test fired the Stand-Off Anti-Tank Missile named as SANT on October
19, 2020. It will be inducted in the Indian Air Force. The missile has been developed by
the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). The missile was test fired
from the Chandipur test range. The SANT missile has the capability of lock-on before
launch and lock-on after launch.
1. SANT Missile
The missile is a variant of Nag missile and an upgraded version of the HELINA. HELINA is
yet another variant of the NAG missile. The missile was first test fired in November 2018
from Pokhran. This upgraded version comprise of a nose-mounted active radar homing
seeker that has an extended range of 15 to 20 km.
2. Other missiles
India in the recent months have conducted many test fires including- RUDRAM anti-
radiation missile, New version of shaurya missile, LASER guided anti-tank missile,
Brahmos missile with an indigenous booster, Prithvi II missile, RUSTOM II, TORPEDO
SMART, ABHYAS, Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle, Naval Version of
BRAHMOS etc.
3. Significance of the frequent test-fires

India has been frequently test firing the missiles in the Indian Ocean Region. India is
doing so to counter Chinese plan of influencing and acquiring the Indian Ocean Region
and Chinese String of pearl’s theory. By this, India is trying to send signals to China that
it is fully prepared and capable of securing its maritime and land boundaries. In that line,
India is also getting the international support for “free and open Indo-Pacific”. India has
been joined by USA, Australia, Japan, France, Vietnam and Germany to secure the
region.
163. NITI Aayog to establish Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation

Centre.
NITI Aayog announced the establishment of first of its kind the Frontier Technologies
Cloud Innovation Centre (CIC) on October 19, 2020. This is being developed in order to
address societal challenges through digital innovation. For developing the system, NITI
124
Aayog is collaborating with Amazon Web Services (AWS). This also align with the Prime
Minister’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat and NOTI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission.
Cloud Innovation Centre (CIC)

This CIC is a part of the AWS CIC Global Programme. It provides an opportunity to the
government agencies, non-profits and educational institutions in order to come together
on pressing challenges, to test new ideas, to apply design thinking, and to access the
technology expertise of AWS. The Frontier technologies CIC will enable the budding
innovators and start-ups to help in piloting the state-of-the-art, cloud-centric digital
innovations by using the emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Internet Of
Things, robotics and blockchain.
164. Highlights of Indian Tourist Statistics.
The Ministry of Tourism has released the Indian Tourist Statistics. As per the report,
Uttar Pradesh attracted the highest number of domestic tourists in year 2019.
1. Highlights
 As per the report, foreign tourist arrival in India increased by 2.2 % in 2019.
 Total number of foreign visitors to India counts to 28.9 million alone in 2019.
 Top five source countries include Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, United States, United Kingdom, and
Canada.
 Total foreign exchange figure touched 29 billion USD in 2019 in tourism alone.
 The report mention that the peak tourism season are the first and fourth quarters of the
calendar.
 Of the total foreign tourists, 58.6% were males and 41.4% were females.
 As per the report, top destinations of Indian tourists in 2019 were- Thailand Singapore,
Malaysia, Dubai, United States, Sri Lanka, Australia, Japan, Bhutan, Maldives.
2. Domestic Tourism
Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh and Gateway of India in Mumbai were the top spots of
domestic tourism. Uttar Pradesh attracted the maximum number of tourists in 2019.
53.6 crore domestic tourists ( 23.1% ) visited Uttar Pradesh. The state has also stands
at third position in attracting foreign tourists. The other states that fetch the higher
number of tourists include Kerala, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir. Around 5 million
tourist visa were applied, in 2019 alone. The highest e-tourist visa were applied from UK,
US and China.
3. Why tourism grew in 2019?

Several visa norms were eased. Schemes like UDAN Scheme and other developmental
projects such as development of hotels, roads, highways, a number of circuits including
the Ramayana circuit, Mahabharat circuit, Braj circuit, Shaktipeeth circuit, Jain Circuit,
Adhyatmik circuit, and Buddhist circuit etc attracted more tourism by making
the travelling easier and accessible. Further, Tourist e visa fee were reduced from 80
USD to 40 USD. The government also reduced the GST on hotel to 18%.
125
165. India invites UK to explore business opportunities in North East
The Development of North East Region (DoNER) minister, Dr. Jitendra Singh has invited
the United Kingdom (UK) government and the private sector to explore business
opportunities in North-East India.
1. Highlights
Dr. Jitendra Singh highlighted that India and UK are two democracies that share the
mutually rewarding business relationships. So, both of these countries can work jointly
in exploiting and exploring new opportunities in the North East region.
2. India-UK Collaboration
The minister had a talk on new avenues in scientific research, trade, economy and other
diverse areas that can be a win-win opportunity for both the countries and will be
beneficial of the region as well. The British Council proposed a collaboration in the
education sector for teaching mathematics and science in all the 8 states of North East
India. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed between North East Council
and the British council to take the collaboration further. British council highlighted that
Britain is a pioneer of Agri-Tech thus can explore setting up cold chains in the North East
region as they did in Haryana for the food processing.
3. Why UK’s interest is growing in North East Region?

North East region is having a huge biodiversity. British officials highlighted and
appreciated the vegetables, handicrafts, fruits, and spices that are grown in the North
East states. They are interested in branding and selling them to international market.
166. Elections Amid Pandemic: Government hiked the Election

Expenditure Limit
The central government have increased the election campaign expenditure limit of the
candidates by 10%. This norm will be applicable on all future elections. The
announcement was made on October 19, 2020 ahead of Bihar Assembly Elections 2020.
1. Highlights
 The Union Ministry of Law and Justice notified the amendment to the Conduct of Elections
Rules, 1961. The campaign expenditure limit has been specified under Rule 90 of the
Conduct of Election Rules.
 The Ministry have cited thee difficulty being amid the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason for
the hike.
 Election campaign expenditure limit was increased last time before the 2014 lok Sabha
Election.
 Bihar Assembly Elections 2020 will be the first to benefit from this amendment.
 Expenditure limit for the state polls have been increased to Rs 30.8 lakh from Rs 28 lakh.
126
2. Background
The election commision had issued guidelines for election campaigning amid a
pandemic. The guidelines had capped the size of the campaign squad to three people for
door-to-door visits. Further, It only allowed five cars in roadshow instead of 10 as usually
used. Further, the parties cited that the pandemic will increase the spending on masks,
PPE kits, soap, sanitizers, and thermal screening during campaigning. Thus, the parties
had requested for increasing the expenditure. All the parties had also requested that
more expenditure will be required for ‘digital campaign’ as it is costlier than the normal
campaign.
167. Environmental Clearance to Kaleshwaram irrigation project is in

violation of law: NGT
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) stated on October 20, 2020 that environmental
clearance granted to the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project in Telangana, having a
retrospective effect, is in violation of legal requirement. The NGT have also formed a
committee to assess the extent of damage that the project has caused and to identify
the restoration measures. The panel have directed the Ministry of Environment and
Forests (MoEF) to constitute a seven-member expert committee to suggest relief and
rehabilitation measures.
1. Background
This decision of the tribunal came in the backdrop of a plea filed by Telangana-based
Mohammad Hayath Udin. He had alleged that the construction of the project was started
without environmental and other statutory clearances. The plea had seek a ban on any
non-forest activities including felling of trees, blasting and tunnelling activities in the
forest areas. Since these activities are in violation of the Forest Conservation Act.
2. Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project

It is a multipurpose irrigation project of the Telangana government. The project is being
constructed on the meeting point of River Godavari and River Pranahita. The project was
earlier called as the pranahita chevella project and named as Kaleshwaram project in
2014. The project will provide irrigation and drinking water to backward areas of
Telangana. It will further help to restore the groundwater level by shifting the usage of
ground water from irrigation towards usage of surface water for irrigation.
October 21, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
168. New DRDO Procurement Manual 2020 released by Defence Minister
The Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, has released the new Defence Research
Development Organization (DRDO) Procurement Manual, 2020 on October 20, 2020.
127
This has been released with an objective to encourage Micro Small and Medium
Enterprises (MSME) to do Research and Development.
1. Defence Procurement Manual 2020

The manual would facilitate the faster execution of Research and Development in the
defence sector. Under the manual, the threshold limit for advance payment has been
increased. However, the performance security and bid security up to Rs 10 lakhs has
been exempted. The manual has been introduced in order to conceal the price discovery
of market forces.
2. Significance
The manual would simplify the processes of procurement and facilitate the indigenous
defence industry. It will be ensuring the increased participation in design and
development activities. The manual would also increase the participation of private
industries and start ups in the defence sector which are in sync with the MSME
enterprises.
3. Who approves it?

The defence procurement manual is approved by the supreme commander of the Indian
Defence Forces who is the President of India. The Ministry of Defence submit the
manual to the President for his approval.
4. Background
India is one among the top three importers of defence equipment’s in the world. To
reduce the dependency on foreign companies, the GoI has been introducing several
measures. In that line, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limit was also increased from
49% to 74% under automatic route. Further, a negative list of weapons was created and
these weapons will not be allowed to be imported. To attain the aatma nirbharta in
defence, India required the new manual. The Government of India is also focusing on
increasing its defence production to 25 billion USD by 2025 .
169. UNHCHR chief asked India to review FCRA Regulations.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), Michelle Bachelet, has
expressed her concern on October 20, 2020 over the imposed restrictions on foreign
funding for the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in India and the arrest of
activists in the country.
1. Highlights
 She has requested the Indian Government to “safeguard the rights of human rights defenders
and NGOs.
 She urged the government that their ability to carry out their crucial work that the NGOs does
should not be restricted on behalf of groups they represent.

 First issue – Recently in September 2020, the Union Home Ministry notified the new FCRA
rules for foreign funding. Under the new rule,
128
3. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR)
The UNHCHR is commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights (OHCHR) or the UN Human Rights Office. It is an office under the United Nations.
It works to promote and protect the human rights guaranteed under international law. It
also comply with the law being mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
of 1948. It was established by the UN General Assembly on 20 December 1993 after the
World Conference on Human Rights, 1993. The office look after the implementation of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). India is a party to this
convention that provides for the freedom to form associations and receive funds for
these associations.
170. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully touches Asteroid to

samples.
The United States based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)had
launched the OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft to the Asteroid Bennu in 2016. The Spacecraft has
now touched the Asteroid After two years of circling. This mission is aimed at studying
the Asteroid Bennu and return with at least 60 grams of the sample The spacecraft
comprises three bottles of nitrogen that can make the spacecraft to touch down the
asteroid thrice.
1. Asteroid Bennu
The asteroid Bennu is a hazardous object that has a 1 in 2700 chance of hitting the Earth
in the year 2175 and 2199. It has a mean diameter of 492 meters and has a roughly
round shape. The asteroid is under observation by the various observatories of the
Earth. The Asteroid Bennu, if hits the Earth, has a huge potential yo cause widespread
death and cause huge destruction all over the Earth. It might lead to human-extinction.
2. How Asteroid can Impact the life on Earth?

An asteroid have the potential to create large amounts of dust that can block out the
Sunlight from reaching the Earth’s surface. This will thus wipe out most of the life on
Earth. However, for creating such huge destructions Asteroid need to survive the release
of its own Kinetic energy.
3. OSIRIS-REx probe
The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer
(OSIRIS-Rex) spacecraft has been launched by NASA on the Atlas V rocket. The mission
was launched in 2016 to study the Bennu asteroid and it reached Bennu in 2018. It has
an aim to return to Earth with its cargo in 2023 carrying 60 grams of samples from the
Asteroid.
171. Covid-19: Health Minister Launches Website ‘CUReD’.
Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan launched an online portal on October 20, 2020.
The portal will provide a comprehensive information about the numerous COVID-19
129
clinical trials that the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) is engaged in
collaboration with the Industry, ministries and other government departments. The
website has been named as ‘CSIR Ushered Repurposed Drugs or ‘CUReD’.
1. CSIR Ushered Repurposed Drugs or ‘CUReD’.

The website provides the information about the drugs, diagnostics and devices. It also
includes the current stage of the trials, partnering institutions and their role in the trials.
2. Role of CSIR in fighting the Pandemic

CSIR’s have been putting all its efforts and have been at the forefront of the fight against
COVID-19. The organisation is giving preference to clinical trials, has been generating
data for their regulatory approval and is supporting the launch drugs and diagnostics in
the market. CSIR is also exploring various combinations of clinical trials of anti-virals.
Further, CSIR is working with the AYUSH Ministry to conduct clinical trials of AYUSH
drugs. It has undertaken safety and efficacy trials of AYUSH prophylactics and
therapeutics on the basis of individual plant-based compounds.
172. Gas Marketing Freedom Guidelines- Government bans sale of gas &
CBM
The government has notified the Natural Gas Marketing Reforms on October 15, 2020.
The guidelines have banned the natural gas and coal-bed methane (CBM) producers
from buying their own produce in the newly notified gas marketing freedom guidelines.
1. Highlights
 The notification was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
 The Natural Gas Marketing Reforms provides the freedom to discover the market price of gas
to the producers. The producers can discover the market through a standard e-bidding
process.
 It also gives producers the liberty to market or sell the gas produced to anyone including
affiliates.
 The guidelines say that the producer or any member of its gas field consortium cannot bid
and buy the fuel
 However, the Sale to affiliates will be allowed if it affiliates to participate in the open
competitive process. Though, the contractor or its constituents will not be eligible to
participate in the bidding process.
 Under the new guidelines, Seller and buyer will not be the same entity.
 The new guideline provides the contractor to sell the natural gas through e-bidding. The
bidding will be conducted by a panel maintained by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons
(DGH).
130
2. Background
The Reliance Industries had bid and bought all the gas it was producing from its
Sohagpur East and West CBM blocks in Madhya Pradesh in 2017. The company then
used the gas at its petrochemical plants in Patalganga, Maharashtra; Nagothane,
Maharashtra; Vadodara, Gujarat and Jamnagar, Gujarat. Reliance also outbid the gas
utility GAIL India Ltd for gas from Sohagpur till March 2021. So, the GAIL criticized the
move and highlighted the fact that Reliance had a 14% tax advantage in the bid since
stock transfer within the company is not subject to VAT.
173. Significance of the New Space Centre of NATO.
The North Atlantic Treaty organisation (NATO) will setup a new Space Centre in
Ramstein, Germany. The centre will serve as a co-ordination Centre for space
observation. It will gather information regarding the possible threats that satellites might
face. The centre will be developed as a command centre for defensive measures in
future. This centre is being setup under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty
organisation.
1. Significance of the move

This is a countermeasure against the aggressive policies of China and Russia. NATO
countries are developing anti-satellite systems in order to disable the blind satellites that
create dangerous debris in the orbit.
2. Article 5 of NATO
Article 5 empowers the NATO to take collective defence action. It provides certain
criteria under which NATO take defensive measures. The article has been invoked
several times by NATO in situations including the Syrian crisis, Russia-Ukraine crisis and
26/11 attack on US. Article 5 states that an armed attack against one or more of the
NATO countries in North America or Europe is considered as an attack on all the member
countries.
3. Ground stations by NATO

NATO currently controls more than 24 satellite ground stations. One of its ground station
named Kester satellite ground station is located in Belgium and it is considered as centre
of the space communication among NATO countries. There are other 4 stations that re
considered as Central hub. Out of total satellites orbiting the Earth, half are operated by
the NATO countries. This is why, NATO countries are concerned about safeguarding their
space resources.
131
4. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
NATO is also called as the North Atlantic Alliance. It is an intergovernmental military
alliance. It comprises of 30 North American and European countries. It implements the
North Atlantic Treaty that was signed on 4 April 1949. The organisation constitutes a
system of collective defence under which the independent member states agree for
mutual defence against the attack by any external party. It is headquartered in Evere,
Brussels, Belgium while the Headquarters of Allied Command Operations is in Mons,
Belgium. Originally, NATO has 12 members which has now been increased to 30. North
Macedonia is the most recent member that joined the grouping on 27 March 2020.
174. India-Indonesia ‘5th Joint Working Group on Coal’ Meeting
India and Indonesia will be holding the fifth joint working group on coal meeting virtually
on November 5, 2020. The meeting will throw light on Indian Coal policy reforms
including the coal exploration, commercial coal mining, research and development.
1. Key Facts
 Both the countries will discuss to bring Industries from both sides on a common platform to
discuss the issues affecting the coal production.
 They would also be discussing the opportunities of regulatory framework on the coal
production.
 They will explore the areas of business opportunities in coal sector.
 They will also discuss the potential of the India- Indonesia business cooperation on coal in the
post covid-19 era.
2. Coal production in Indonesia

Indonesia is one among the major coal producer on the world. Indonesia exported 450
8.8 million tons of coal in 2019 alone. One good quality of the Indonesian coal is that it
has less Sulphur content and produces less Ash. Thus, emits less pollutants.
3. India – Indonesia coal cooperation

India is looking for the opportunities to import more coal from Indonesia. Indonesian
coal prices are declining due to COVID-19 in the world market. So, India plans to replace
coal import destination with the Indonesia. India will replace some other country with
Indonesia so that its overall coal imports does not increase. Indonesia is currently the
top supplier of coal to India in Southeast Asia Region.
4. Coal Import
South Africa is the largest supplier of coal to India. India imports 3 million tonnes of coal
from South Africa monthly. It is followed by Australia. Coal imports of India has
increased by 12.6 % in 2019. India has imported 128.7 million tonnes of coal as of
September 2020. Out of these, 50.4 million tons of coal were imported from Indonesia.
132
175. Assam-Mizoram Boundary Issue.
The residents of Assam and Mizoram have clashed twice over territory recently. The
recent clash was in the backdrop of the long-standing inter-state boundary issues
between the two states. The states have deployed security personnel in the areas near
the Vairengte village, Mizoram and Lailapur, Assam.
1. Highlights
 Vairengte in Kolasib district is the northern fringe of Mizoram. National Highway 306 (formerly
54) passes through the area that connects Mizoram to Assam.
 Mizoram shares a 164.6-km border with Assam out of which most of the areas are disputed
between two states.
 Dialogues are being held since 1995 to resolve the issue but have not yielded results.
2. Recent Issue
The recent dispute is over the land claimed by Assam. That land is being cultivated by
residents of Mizoram since long time. Assam claimed that the land comes within
the Singla Forest Reserve which is under the jurisdiction of Assam government. On the
other hand, Mizoram claims the land comes under the inner-line reserve forest notified in
1875. Mizoram also blamed illegal migrants are coming from Bangladesh on the Assam
side. However, the agreement between the governments of Assam and Mizoram states
that both sides have to maintain status quo in no man’s land in the border area.
3. Background
The background of the dispute lies in the notification of 1875 and Notification of 1933 .
The 1857 notification had differentiated Lushai Hills from the plains of Cachar while
1933 notification demarcates a boundary between Lushai Hills and Manipur. Mizoram
claims the boundary should be demarcated on the basis of the 1875 notification that has
been derived from the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) Act, 1873. On the other
hand, The Assam government followed the 1933 notification.
176. October 21: Police Commemoration Day
The Police Commemoration Day is celebrated on October 21 every year. The day is
observed to honour the martyrs who sacrifice their lives in this service to the nation.
This year, the day was observed to honour the police officers from across the country
who have been working day and night to ensure COVID-19 norms are followed properly.
They are the frontline workers who have been risking their lives in order to contain the
spread of the virus. Home Minister, Chief Minister, Cabinet Ministers, Members of
Parliament (MPs), MLAs, MLCs and top police personnel will be reviewing the parade and
pay tributes to martyrs.
133
History
The history this Day dates back to October 21, 1959. In the year 1959 Chinese forces
attacked and trap a patrol party of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). In the battle,
10 jawans lost their lives while fighting for the country at the Indo-Tibetan border. The
Day is celebrated every year to pay homage to those 10 police officials. This day also
intends to pay tribute to martyred police personnel who lost their lives to ensure the
safety of others. The Police Commemoration Day Parade is being held at the National
level at the Police Memorial, Chanakyapuri since 2012.
177. India- Vietnam Business Forum held virtually on October 20
The India Vietnam Business Forum was organised virtually on October 20, 2020. On the
occasion, both side reaffirmed the growing bilateral trade and investment ties between
India and Vietnam.
1. Highlights
 Trade between India and Vietnam has grown steadily. The trade between both the countries
stands at 12.34 billion dollars in 2019-20.
 India exports bovine meat, fishery products, corn, steel, pharmaceuticals, cotton, machinery
to Vietnam.
 While, India imports mobile phones, electrical machinery and equipment, computers,
electronic hardware, natural rubber, chemicals, and coffee from Vietnam.
 However, the bilateral trade turnover is still not comply with the levels of economic
development. So, more needs to be done intensify the trade relations in order to achieve its
full potential.
2. India and Vietnam

The Cultural and economic ties between India and Vietnam dates back to the
2nd century. While in the modern time, India supported Vietnam’s unification and
independence from France. India also opposed American involvement in the Vietnam
War. The diplomatic relation between both the countries started in 1972 and both the
countries maintain the friendly relations since then.
3. Economic ties
India and Vietnam established their extensive economic ties including oil exploration,
agriculture and manufacturing in the year 1972. Both sides agreed to establish a
Strategic Partnership in 2007. Fir India, Vietnam is proving to be an important state in for
its Act East policy. India comes among the top ten trading partners of Vietnam. Both the
sides have identified some of the potential areas that include garments, textiles, leather,
footwear, pharmaceuticals, agro-commodities, and engineering to boost the economic
ties.
134
4. Challenges
Vietnam finds it difficult to maintain the balance between its relation with China and
India simultaneously. China gets alarmed over the Vietnam’s closeness with India.
Further, Vietnam does not want itself to be seen as part of QUAD. India’s trade with
Vietnam is just $5 billion while Vietnam’s trade with China is $65 billion as of 2015. This
is another challenge of the relation.
5. Way forward
There is a huge scope for both the countries in the various sectors. Both sides work for
their potential. In this regard, India took a step in 2016. In 2016, Prime Minister of India
visited Vietnam for the first time in 15 years giving out the message that India does not
hesitate to expand in China’s periphery. Vietnam is significant for India and
strengthening ties would lead further boost the SAGAR (Security and Growth all in the
region) doctrine of India. Further, both the countries can benefit each other in the field of
Blue Economy and ocean security.
178. Haryana tops Anemia Mukt Bharat Index.
Haryana State emerged as the best state in the Anemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) Index among
all the 29 states in the country.
1. Highlights
 Haryana was ranked at the top with an AMB Index of 46.7.
 The state has also achieved 93% of immunization in year 2019-2020 for the first time.
 Haryana is one of 11 states in the country that have achieved National Health Policy targets
well before 2020.
 The institutional deliveries in the states have also increased to 93.7 % as a result of 24-hours
delivery facilities.
2. Anemia Mukt Bharat

It an initiative of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and UNICEF. The scheme has
been launched in order to reduce the prevalence of Anemia across India. Anaemia Mukt
Bharat strategy focuses on to benefit six target beneficiary groups, through six
interventions and six institutional mechanisms. The programme is aimed at achieving
the target of anaemia reduction under the POSHAN Abhiyaan.
3. Provisions of the scheme
179. Microsoft – SpaceX join hands to connect Azure Platform to

Satellites
Microsoft is joining hands with the SpaceX that is led by the billionaire entrepreneur Elon
Musk. This is being done to target the space customers.
1. Highlights
135
 Partnership with SpaceX Starlink will provide high-speed and low latency satellite broadband
for Microsoft’s Azure Modular Datacenter.
 With this partnership, the Microsoft aims to make the Azure a platform and ecosystem of
choice. Microsoft wants the platform to be looked upon for the mission needs of the space
community.
2. About the Project

Fir the project, Microsoft has brought together a team of space industry veterans in
order to work alongside its product engineers and scientists. They will be building the
cloud capabilities that will suit the needs of space exploration. Their innovation areas
include space missions, to discover insights from satellite data and to fuel innovation
both on the ground as well as in orbit. After the spcae missions coupled with the Azure’s
high-performance computing, machine learning and data analytics abilities the satellites
will then open new opportunities for both public and private sector organisations.
3. Significance of SpaceX
SpaceX is known for its reusable rockets and astronaut capsules. SpaceX is doing up the
satellite production for Starlink. SpaceX recently won a $149 million contract to build
missile-tracking satellites for the Pentagon. It is the first government contract for SpaceX
to build satellites.
October 22, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
180. India launched its first-ever khadi Fabric Footwear
Union Minister for MSME, Nitin Gadkari, launched the first-ever high quality Khadi Fabric
Footwear of India on October 21, 2020. The footwear has been designed by Khadi and
Village Industries Commission (KVIC).
1. Highlights
 The footwears are made up of Khadi fabric such as Silk, Cotton and Wool.
 Footwears would bear the paintings from across India, including the Madhubani painting. This
unique initiative will help to promote the various art forms of India along with the khadi
fabric.
 An online sale of khadi footwear through KVIC’s e-portal was also launched by the minister.
 The Khadi footwear price have been ranged from ₹1100 to ₹3300 per pair.
2. Significance of Khadi footwears

 Khadi footwears are cost-effective and of international quality. Use of fine fabric such as
Patola Silk, Cotton, Banarasi Silk, Denim will attract the youngsters.
 With the development and marketing of these products in foreign markets, Khadi India would
be able to capture a market of worth rs 5000 crore.
 To make these products unique and trendy, Khadi products including Patola Silk of Gujarat,
Madhubani-printed Silk of Bihar, Banarasi Silk, Khadi Denim, Cotton fabric, Tussar Silk, Matka
– Katia Silk, Tweed Wool and Khadi Poly Vastra were used.
136
 The minister also have urged KVIC to develop alternatives for leather accessories such as
handbags, purses, wallet in handcrafted Khadi fabric. These items also has a huge potential
in international markets.
3. Khadi Industry in India

As per a report, around 460000 people are employed in khadi industries as of 2017.The
sale and Production of khadi products also rose by 33 % and 31.6% respectively in 2017.
This was the result of launch of multi-spindle charkas. In the year 2019 also, the overall
khadi sales in India rose by 28%. India have earned the revenues of ₹3,215 crore
through khadi products. The KVIC have planned to enhance the revenue to ₹5000 crore
by 2020.
181. Cabinet approves MoU between India-Nigeria on Space Cooperation
The Union Cabinet have approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between
the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the National Space Research and
Development agency of Nigeria on October 21, 2020.
1. Key Facts
 The MoU between India and Nigeria were signed in June 2020 at Bengaluru and in August
2020 at Abuja Nigeria.
 The MoU were signed in order to enable cooperation between the countries in the areas
including satellite communication, satellite based navigation, Remote Sensing of the earth,
space systems and ground systems, practical applications of space Technology.
 The agreements also included sharing the techniques and geospatial tools.
 A joint working group were to set up by drawing members from the national space research
and development agency of Nigeria and the ISRO under the signed agreement.
 The funds for conducting the programmes would be provided by the signatories in
accordance with the laws and regulations of their respective legislation.
2. Significance
The MoU would provide opportunities to explore new research activities. It would also
help to explore various applications in the field of Remote sensing of the earth satellite,
Communication satellites, Navigation satellite, Space science and Exploration of outer
space.
137
3. India Nigeria Relation
The bilateral relation between India and Nigeria have strengthen in recent years. Nigeria
have rich resources of oil and India has recently replaced the United States as its largest
crude oil Importer. In the line, 20- 25 % of India’s domestic oil demand is fulfilled by
Nigeria. Many Indian Oil Companies have been involved in oil drilling operations in
Nigeria and they are planning to setup refineries in Nigeria. Nigeria has become the
largest Oil exporter to India in Africa. India imports around 400 mm barrels of oil from
Nigeria per day. Further, the bilateral trade between India and Nigeria stands at 10
billion USD per annum. India provided a donation of 50 million USD of essential
medicines to Nigeria in order to fight covid-19 in July 2020. India and Nigeria, In
September 2020, also agreed to deepen the cooperation tackle the issue of piracy,
terrorism and insurgency. They also agreed to strengthen cooperation in mutual legal
assistance, extradition Treaty and transfer of war prisoners.
182. Cabinet approves MoU between ICAI and CPA.
The Union Cabinet has approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the
Institute of Chartered Accounts of India (ICAI) and the Certified Practising Accountants,
Papua New Guinea (CPA PNG). They would be working together in capacity building and
to strengthen the Accounting, Financial and Audit Knowledge base in Papua New Guinea.
1. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and Certified Practising
Accountants Papua New Guinea (CPA PNG) have signed MoU to work together in the
following sectors:
2. Significance of MoU
The Indian Chartered Accountants (CA) fraternity will help the local business community
and stakeholders on the Financial matters. It would also consolidate the trust and help to
build positive image for Indian Chartered Accountants in Papua New Guinea.
3. Institute of Chartered Accounts of India (ICAI)

It is a statutory body. ICAI has been established under “The Chartered Accountants Act,
1949”. It regulate the profession of Chartered Accountants in India.
4. Certified Practising Accountants Papua New Guinea (CPA PNG)

It is an Accounting Professional Body that has been established under the Accountants
Act, 1996. It promote the interests of the accountancy profession in Papua New Guinea.
183. Adoption of Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act gets cabinet
approval.
The Union Cabinet have approved the adoption of Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj
act on October 21, 2020.
1. Key Facts
138
 The adoption of Panchayati Raj act will establish the three tier of Grass root level democracy
in Jammu and Kashmir.
 This is the first time in 73 years after independence that the Grass root level democracy will
be implemented in Jammu and Kashmir region. The three-tier system was not in practice in
the union territory earlier.
2. Background
Recently, Article 370 was done away with in the region. With this, the people of Jammu
and Kashmir have now the right to elect their local representatives as it is done in rest
part of the country. The Government of India has been implementing several reforms
and schemes to bring in normalcy in the union territory. The adoption of panchayati raj
is one such step.
3. Panchayati Raj system

It is a rural local self-government that was constitutionalised by the 73rd constitutional
amendment act of 1992. The three levels of Panchayati Raj system include:
184. 2000 year old Giant Cat Drawing discovered in Peru
The Peruvian archaeologists have discovered a 37 metre long cat drawing on the famous
Nazca lines of Peru. The Nazca lines of Peru is an UNESCO Heritage site.
1. Highlights
 The Nazca lines consists of several gigantic geoglyph dating back to more than 2000 years.
 The recently discovered cat Geoglyph is older than 2000 years.
 The cat drawing was 37 metres long.
 It dates back to the Paracas Era of 500 BC to 200 AD.
 The Geoglyphs in the region are still there and being discovered because of the dry climate in
the region.
 The region have also uncovered figures of Pelican, monkey, hummingbirds, andean Condor,
spiders, Trapezoids, Triangles and spirals.
2. Nazca lines
Nazca lines are a group of Geoglyphs. These have been made on the ground using
elements of landscape including the gravel, stones dirt or lumber. It was discovered in
1927 and declared the UNESCO Heritage site in 1994.
3. Nazca plate
Nazca plate have been named after the Nazca region. Movement of the plate causes
volcanic eruptions in the South American region. The plate is one of the fastest moving
tectonic plates on the earth. It is moving at a rate of 3.7 cm per year. The Nazca plate
subducts the South American tectonic plate and the subduction of Nazca plate itself
have made the Andes mountain range a volcanic range.
139
4. Paracas Culture
The Geoglyphs in Peru belongs to the Paracas culture. The culture dates back to the
period between 800 BCE and 100 BCE. The culture is famous for its extensive knowledge
of water management and irrigation system. The people of Paracas era used to
mummified the dead body that remains intact for long time mainly because of dry
climate of the region as a result of Peruvian Ocean Current or the Humboldt Current.
This current flows along the Western coast of South America.
185. INS Kavaratti- commissioned into Indian Navy
The Indian Naval Ship Kavaratti has been commissioned into the Indian Navy on October
22, 2020 in Visakhapatnam. The INS Kavaratti is one among the four indigenously built
anti-submarine Warfare stealth corvettes under the Kamorta class Corvettes or project
28.
1. Highlights
The ship was designed by the Directorate of Naval Design(DND) and has been built by
Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata. INS Kavaratti has a state-of-the-art
weapons. It also comprises a sensor suite which is capable of “detecting and
prosecuting” submarines. The ship has a credible self-defence capability and a good
endurance for the long-range deployments. The ship has been built by using up to 90
%indigenous content.
2. Project 28
It was approved in 2003. Under the project, the first ship that was constructed is INS
Kamorta whose construction began in 2005 under the project. Under this project, four
corvettes were commissioned into the Indian Navy. The four corvettes include- INS
Kamorta that was commissioned in 2014, INS Kadmatt commissioned in 2016, INS Kiltan
in 2017 and the INS Kavaratti is being commissioned in 2020. All these four Indian Navy
ships are named after the islands and archipelago of Lakshadweep.
186. ‘COVIRAP’- A Low Cost test developed by IIT Kharagpur gets ICMR
Nod.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have approved a low cost covid-19 test
called COVIRAP. This diagnostic machine has been developed by IIT Kharagpur. The kit
provides close test results similar to RT-PCR. The test gives the results in less than an
hour. It does not require air conditioned laboratory. So, the testing labs can be set up
even in an open field.
140
1. COVIRAP kit
This testing kit consists of three mixtures to confirm the presence of virus in the body.
In the method, first the sample is inserted into the kit. Then it is mixed with master
mixers and heated to a certain temperature. The sample can be heated for second time
as well to get the results. This is the unique feature of this test. The heated samples are
put on a strip that produces some lines. These strips are then inserted into a cartridge
from where an application uses the camera revealing if the patient is covid-19 positive
or negative. The test results are displayed on a screen.
2. Salient Features
This test is up to 93% sensitive and up to 98% specific. The kit costs around Rs. 5000.
The cost per test using the kit is around 500 to 600 rupees. The test kit is entirely
indigenous, none of its components were imported.
187. Tamil Nadu Government implements Smart Black Board Scheme.
The Tamil Nadu (TN) State government have implemented the smart blackboard scheme
in more than 80,000 Government schools to provide a better teaching environment.
1. Highlights
 Central Education Ministry’s Smart Class Room scheme is also being implemented in 7500
schools in Tamil Nadu.
 The government has also decided to reduce be syllabus by 40% for the 2020-2021 session in
the light of Covid-19.
 In the state, more than 7500 teaching and 2400 non-teaching posts lying vacant. The
government is also taking up necessary measures to fill the vacancies.
 The central government has also launched a similar scheme called as Operation Digital Board
Scheme.
2. Smart Blackboard Scheme

The scheme is aimed at using the audio visual teaching material in the schools. It can
also be integrated with digital classrooms and smart classroom schemes. The smart
boards will create materials that can be fed into computer screens using pen drives.
3. Operation Digital Board

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (Now Ministry of Education) had launched
Operation Digital Board (ODB) in order to boost quality education in the country. The
scheme aims to have digital and interactive boards. The initiative was launched on the
line of Operation Blackboard.
4. Operation Blackboard
It was started in 1987. The scheme was aimed at supplying the minimum crucial
facilities in all primary schools of the country.
141
5. Other Initiatives
Initiatives like e-Pathshala, DIKSHA, National Repository of Open Educational Resources
(NROER), SWAYAM and SWAYAM-Prabha DTH Channels , National Programme on
Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), e-PG Pathshala etc. are also providing adequate
high quality content that can be taken to every classroom to facilitating blended learning
to children from their homes.
6. India Report on Digital Education 2020

The Ministry of Education launched this report stating about the innovative methods
being adopted by the Ministry to ensure inclusive and accessible education to children at
home. As per the report, following initiatives were launched to improve digital education
in India:
188. EC sets up a committee to review the Expenditure Limit.
The Election Commission have constituted a two-membered committee on October 21,

2020 to review the expenditure limit of the candidates contesting in Lok Sabha and
Assembly Election. The committee has been set up under the former director general
investigation, Harish Kumar and the election commission Secretary General, Umesh
Sinha.
1. Background
The committee has been set up to review the Government of India’s decision to increase
the expenditure limit by 10% in accordance with the suggestion of the election
commission. The election commission has recommended to enhance the expenditure
limit for bigger States such as a Gujarat, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana. The
decision was taken after parties requested to do so in the wake of difficulties they are
facing while campaigning amid the covid-19 pandemic.
2. What this committee will review?

The committee will review and submit the report within 4 months on the following
things:
3. Conduct of election rules 1961

The expenditure limit of candidates has been specified under rule 90 of the conduct of
election rules 1961. As per the rule, if a candidate spends more than the prescribed
limit, it is considered as a corrupt practice.
189. Third phase of National Supercomputing Mission to commence in

January 2021
The Department of Science and Technology has announced on October 21, 2020 that
the third phase of National Supercomputing Mission will commence in January 2021. The
third phase of the mission will increase the computing speed to 45 petaflops.
142
1. Background
The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and the National
Supercomputing Mission signed agreement on October 12, 2020 with the leading
institutes of India. Under the agreement, manufacturing units and assembly units of
super computers will be established in the Premier Institutes of the country. The
agreement comply with the Aatmanirbhar Bharat abhiyaan.
2. National Supercomputing Mission

C-DAC is implementing this mission with an aim to empower the national academic
Institutions and the research and development in the country. This will help in installing
the supercomputing systems in those institutions. Under the mission, supercomputing
grid is being established with 70 high performance computing facility. The mission is
being implemented in phased manner. All the three phases seeks to provide high-speed
high-performance computing facilities in more than 75 institutions of India.
3. Phase 1 of the mission

Under this phase , supercomputing speed of 6.6 petaflops was achieved.

Under phase 2, 8 more Institutions are being equipped with supercomputing facilities by
April 2021. Phase 2 of the mission aims to attain a speed of 10 petaflops.

It will began in January 2021 and will attain the supercomputing speed of 45 petaflops.
6. Supercomputers in India
Param Shivay was the first supercomputer to be assembled indigenously under the
National supercomputing mission. The supercomputer was installed in IIT Bhubaneswar.
Param Shakti and Param Brahma were other supercomputers under the mission and
were installed at IIT Kharagpur and IISER Pune respectively.
190. ‘e-Dharti Geo portal’ launched to integrate maps and lease plans.
Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has launched the ‘e-Dharti
Geo Portal’. The portal will integrate the legacy drawings including the maps and lease
plans in the management information system. The portal will make the maps and lease
plans geographic information system (GIS)-enabled.
1. Highlights
The land and development office (L&DO) is currently dealing with around 60,000
commercial, residential, industrial and institutional properties. It provides a property
certificate incorporating details and the outline map of the property. These details can
now be accessed online on the portal.
2. Property Card or Certificate

 The property holder would be provided a certificate.
 The certificate would include the property details such as land type, property type, date of
allotment, property status, plot area, property address etc.
143
 The certificates can be attainted by paying a fee of ₹1,000
 It can be accessed by the public by visiting the L&DO website.
 The move benefit the general public specially the elderly, besides it will help in avoiding
unnecessary litigations.
 The certificate would contain the basic details of property and a map showing the location of
the property.
191. The Future of Jobs Report, 2020- Released by WEF.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) have recently released the third edition of the future
of jobs report 2020. As per the report, the covid-19 will disrupt more than 85 million jobs
by 2025. The report has been prepared by the WEF on the basis of the projections of
Senior Business leaders of more than 300 Global firms.
1. Key Findings
The key findings of the report includes:
2. Way Forward
The report recommends that the government should secure the life of the displaced
workers by providing them access to the social safety nets. Further, the government
should take necessary measures to improve their education and skills. Government
should also offer incentives for businesses in order to invest in future jobs. For the
private sector, the report recommends, that they should organise training programmes
and skill development programmes in order to enable the workforce to match with the
technology.
192. One in six children lives in extreme poverty- says UNICEF and World
Bank.
World Bank Group and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recently published ‘Global Estimate
of Children in Monetary Poverty : An Update’ analysis. The analysis estimated one in six
children or 356 million children globally were living in extreme poverty before the
COVID-19 pandemic. The situation is going to worsen significantly the analysis says.
1. Highlights
 Sub-Saharan Africa having a limited social safety nets and it accounts for two-thirds of
children living in households struggling to survive.
 South Asia accounts for nearly one-fifth of the children who struggle to survive.
 As per the analysis, the number of children living in extreme poverty decreased between
2013-2017 by 29 million.
 The report highlights that nearly 20 % of the youngest children, below age 5, live in
extremely poor households in the developing world.
 40 % of the extreme Child poverty are prevalent in fragile and conflict-affected countries
compared to nearly 15% in other countries.
144
2. Concerns
Extreme poverty deprives millions of children of the opportunity to reach their potential
in terms of physical and cognitive development. It also threatens their ability to get good
jobs in adulthood.
3. Way Forward
Governments urgently need a children’s recovery plan to prevent children and families
from reaching extreme levels of poverty. World Bank and UNICEF data also suggest to
expand social protection programmes specially the cash transfers for a long term human
capital investment. Governments need to scale up and adjust their social protection
systems and programmes including the innovations for financial sustainability and
strengthening legal and institutional frameworks. They need to take measures to protect
human capital, expand child and family benefits for the long term and invest in family-
friendly policies such as paid parental leave.
October 23, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
193. “Life in Miniature” Project Launched.
Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (I/C) Shri Prahlad Singh Patel launched
the “Life in Miniature” project on October 22, 2020. The project is a collaboration
between the National Museum, New Delhi; Ministry of Culture and Google Arts & Culture.
The partnership between the trio began in 2011
‘Life in Miniature’ Project

 The project uses various technologies such as machine learning, augmented reality and
digitization with high-definition robotic cameras.
 It showcases special works of art in a magical new way.
 The launch of the project is also significant because of the application of Machine Learning-
based algorithms.
 This app has been launched to bring the corpus of paintings online, in order to make users to
explore these miniature marvels guided by Artificial Intelligence.
 Under this project, people from across the world would be able to view online hundred of
miniature paintings from the National Museum on Google Arts and Culture.
 People can view and experience the first Augmented reality-powered art gallery on the
Google Arts & Culture app.
 The artworks will be showcased along five universal themes including the human
relationship with nature, love, celebration, faith and power.
194. Ships built in India to get Priority in Chartering.
The Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced that government has amended the
existing norms related to the ships built in India. Under the new norms, first priority in
145
chartering of the vessels would be given to ships built, flagged and owned by Indians.
This decision align with the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.
1. Highlights
 The decision promotes the ‘Make in India’ initiatives through self- reliance.
 It will provide a strategic boost to domestic shipbuilding industries and
 It will also generate employment.
 It will provide strategic boost to domestic Ship building industries and also contribute for
long-term economic growth of India.
2. What are the new norms?

 Under the new norms, presence of charter for a vessel would be taken through a tender
process.
 The Right of First Refusal (RoFR) will be applicable in following manner:
3. Long-term subsidy for shipbuilding activities

Ministry of Shipping has also made provision for long-term subsidy for shipbuilding
activities. This has been provided under shipbuilding financial assistance policy (2016-
2026). In this regard, Ministry has disbursed ₹61.05 crore. It will help the Government to
incentivise the shipbuilding by providing additional market access and business support
to ships built in India.
4. Significance of new norms

The new norms will give a boost to the domestic shipbuilding and shipping industries. It
will also encourage the domestic shipping industry so as to support the domestic
shipping industry.
195. Indian Navy deploys its first Batch of Women Pilots.
The Indian Navy deployed its first batch of women pilots on Dornier Aircraft at Kochi on
October 22, 2020. The deployment was done by the Southern Naval Command of Indian
Navy.
1. Highlights
 The first batch include three women pilots – Lieutenant Divya Sharma, Lieutenant Shivangi
and Lieutenant Shubhangi Swaroop.
 The three women pilot were trained with both the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy before the
Dornier Operational Flying Training (DOFT) course. Under the DOFT course, lieutenants are
graduated as “fully operational maritime pilots”.
146
2. Women in Defence
Women were inducted in to the Defence services in 1992 for the first time. Initially, they
were allowed to serve as Short Service Commission Officers. They were allowed to serve
only for 6 years that was later increased to 14 years. During 1888, Women were allowed
to serve as nurses. Currently, 35000 women are serving in the Indian Defence Forces.
However, till 2015, they were restricted from being deployed in combat role. In 2015
women were inducted into Air Force for the first time. Now, Indian Air Force allow women
for support roles and trainer roles. Recently, In September 2020, women officers joined
as observers in the Helicopter stream of Indian Navy and were awarded wings after they
graduated as “Observers” in INS Garuda, Kochi which are now being deployed.
196. Labour Minister released new series of CPI for industrial workers
Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar released the new series of Consumer Price Index for
industrial workers (CPI-IW) on October 22, 2020. It was launched with 2016 as Base Year.
Earlier the base year for the CPI-IW was 2001.
1. About New CPI-IW

 The new series has been launched to reflect the change in consumption pattern.
 The new indicators gives more weightage to health, education, recreation and other
miscellaneous expenditures.
 It has reduced the weight of food and beverages from 46.2% to 39%.
 The number of items in new basket has increased from 392 to 463.
 It has no impact on the dearness allowance (DA).
 The series has been revised earlier as:
2. What is Consumer Price Index (CPI) ?

CPI measures the changes in the price level of a basket of consumer goods and services
that are bought by households. It is a numerical estimation which is calculated using the
rates of a sample objects. The prices of the sample objects are collected periodically. It
collects the changes in price level at the consumer level. At the producer level, changes
in prices are calculated by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI). The CPI is of following types:
197. Mizoram sets to adopt “Covid-19: No tolerance Fortnight”
The Mizoram government is all set to take stringent measures against the rising covid-19
cases. The state will adopt “COVID-19 : No Tolerance Fortnight” from October 26. By
this, the government aims to break the chain of local transmission in Mizoram State.
1. Highlights
 COVID-19 situation in Mizoram is increasing at a faster rate because of local transmission
 So this, “zero tolerance” drive have been adopted for 14 days in the state.
 This local transmission chain can be broken if people and adminitration follow the unlock
guidelines, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), and the Mizoram Containment and
Prevention of Covid-19 Ordinance, 2020 strictly.
147
 The State Executive Committee of Mizoram State Disaster Management Authority will be
preparing new guidelines for the “COVID-19 No Tolerance Fortnight”.
2. Covid-19 Situation in India

Total recorded covid-19 cases in currently stands at 7.7 lakh which is just behind the
US’s 8.4 lakh cases. However, India has been observing a marginal improvement in past
few days. In last 24 hours, the number of positive cases and fatalities were reduced
significantly. Total covid cases in Mizoram are 2,310 as of now and is rising significantly.
However, no deaths have been recorded in Mizoram as of now.
198. CBSE introduces ‘Facial Recognition System’ to access digital

documents.
Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has introduced the ‘Facial Recognition
System’ to access the digital documents. This system has been launched for classes
10th and 12th.The system has been launched amid the Covid-19 situation in order to
make things easier for students.
1. About Facial Recognition System

It is a computer based application which will allow the user to download scorecard,
passing certificate, migration certificate and other important documents for students of
class 10th and 12th. The application is based on the facial recognition method. The app
scans the student’s face and match it with the images in the board’s repository. It
recognises the facial features of an individual giving up to 99% correct results.
2. How the system works?

The system matches the facial features of the students with the image stored in the
database. After that, the required documents are sent to the student’s registered E-mail
Id. In order to get their documents students are required to fill the application on
“Parniaam Manjusha” and Digi Locker at website “digilocker.gov.in”. Mobile version of
the system is also there so students can also access their documents on their mobile
easily.
3. Challenges
Though the system will help the students and they will not face much difficulty in getting
enrolled with any other institutions by accessing their documents easily. However, there
will be challenge of wrong details and mismatch of data that are being uploaded on the
system. It can trouble the users later.
199. New Visa Norms: Govt allows all OCI and PIO card holders to visit
India.
The government has decided to permit all Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) and Person of
Indian Origin (PIO) card holders and all other foreign nationals to visit India for any
purpose.
148
1. Highlights
 Travellers would not be allowed on Tourist Visa to enter by air or water routes through
authorized airports and seaport immigration check posts.
 This also include the flights operated under Vande Bharat Mission, Air Transport Bubble
arrangements or by any non-scheduled commercial flights allowed by the Ministry of Civil
Aviation.
 All such travelers will have to strictly stick to the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare regarding quarantine and other measures.
 Government of India has also decided to restore all the existing visas except electronic visa,
Tourist Visa and Medical Visa, with an immediate effect.
 However, Foreign nationals who wants to visit India for medical treatment can apply for a
Medical Visa.
 The decision will allow foreign nationals to come to India for business, conferences,
employment, studies, research and medical purposes.
2. Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI)

This is an immigration status that permits a foreign citizen of Indian origin to live and
work in India indefinitely. This system was introduced after there was demand for dual
citizenship by the Indian diaspora. OCI was introduced by The Citizenship (Amendment)
Act, 2005 in August 2005 and launched during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention in
2005. However, OCI is not actual citizenship of India according to Indian law as it has
many limitations. OCI card holders are not allowed to vote, to hold constitutional offices
and to buy agricultural properties. Any person can apply for this card with a valid
passport, except that of Pakistan or Bangladesh. Though exceptionally, In May 2019 the
Home Ministry permitted Bangladesh citizens to apply for the OCI registration.
3. Persons of Indian Origin Card (PIO)

It is form of identification which is issued to a Person of Indian Origin who holds passport
of any country except Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Iran, Pakistan
and Sri Lanka. This system was withdrawn by the Government of India on 9 January 2015
and has been merged with the Overseas Citizen of India card scheme.
200. Regional Raw Drug Repository of National Medicinal Plants Board

Inaugurated at AIIA
The Minister of State (I/C) for AYUSH, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik, inaugurated the Regional
Raw Drug Repository (RRDR) on October 23, 2020 at the All India Institute of Ayurveda,
New Delhi. through a virtual function.
1. Highlights
 The RRDR is the second repository in the series of repositories that has been proposed by
National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), Ministry of AYUSH.
 The repository would be dedicated to the Trans-Ganga Plain Region covering four states –
Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Punjab. This is because, this region has huge potential for
medicinal raw materials.
149
2. What is the need of repository?
The demand for the natural healing and herbal products has increased across the world.
The demand has been further enhanced amid the COVID situation. Many herbs like
Asvagandha, Giloi, Mulethi, Tulsi, Kalmegh etc have become people’s priority. Thus, to
ensure supply of quality raw material to the AYUSH industry as well as consumers amid
the increasing demand, establishment of the Raw Drug Repositories becomes essential.
3. Current scenario
NMPB is involved in the process of developing policies for the speedy development and
sustainable availability of authentic raw material of medicinal plants for the AYUSH
industries. In this direction, 8 RRDR and 1 NRDR have been proposed by Ministry of
AYUSH. Out of these, 3 RRDR are ready.
201. Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh bags top position for

implementing PMGSY.
Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh has bagged the first position among 30 districts of
the country for successfully implementing the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
(PMGSY).
1. Highlights
 Union Ministry of Rural Development declared the list of top performing 30 districts in the
country.
 Mandi district has received top position for constructing roads of maximum length in 2020-21.
 Along with Mandi, 6 more districts of Himachal Pradesh have found place among top 30 best
performing districts. 6 districts include – Una, Chamba, Kangra, Shimla, Sirmour, Hamirpur
and Solan.
 Among the states, Himachal Pradesh has secured second position for construction of roads
under PMGSY.
 Himachal Pradesh have improved its performance under the scheme by constructing 1104
Kilometres roads this year.
2. The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)

It is a nationwide scheme that aims to provide all-weather road connectivity to the
unconnected villages. The scheme was launched in 2000 by Late Shri Atal Bihari
Vajpayee. The PMGSY is being implemented under the Ministry of Rural Development. It
is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. In November 2015, it was decided that the project will
be funded by both the central government (60%) and states (40%) on the
recommendations of 14th Finance Commission. PMGSY connect habitations having
population of more than 250 in the hilly states and above 500 in the plains.
202. Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin gets nod for Thrid phase clinical trial.
India’s indigenous COVID-19 vaccine candidate, COVAXIN, has received the nod for
Phase-3 clinical trials in the country on October 23, 2020. The vaccine has been
150
developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research
(ICMR) .
1. Key Facts
 The vaccine was given approval by the Subject Expert Committee which functions under the
drug regulator Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).
 In the Third Phase of trials, the potential vaccine candidate will be tested on over 28
thousand people aged 18 years and above.
 The tests will be conducted across 10 states and 19 sites including Delhi, Mumbai, Patna and
Lucknow.
2. Background
The vaccine has been generating robust immune responses in primates who have been
exposed to COVID-19 infections. The vaccine was tested in 12 hospitals on volunteers
between ages 18 and 55 years in phase one and two of the trials. The trials were
conducted in states including Delhi, Hyderabad, Kancheepuram, Rohtak, Goa, Patna and
Bhubaneshwar.
3. About COVAXIN
The COVAXIN vaccine was derived from a strain of the virus which was isolated by the
National Institute of virology in Pune. In the process, firstly, an inactivated vaccine is
developed that comprise of dead virus. After that, the vaccine is injected into the human
body. He vaccine does not harm the body rather induces the immune system. The
immune system then create antibodies against the virus. In this way, human body
becomes immune to the infection without being infected. It was recently decided that
COVAXIN will use Alhydroxiquim-II in order to boost immune response. This was decided
to enhance the action of inducing antibody responses to vaccine antigens.
4. Other Vaccines in India

Three vaccines are currently under trial in India namely- COVAXIN, ZyCoV-D vacines by
Zydus Cadila and the Oxford University Vaccine. The ZyCoV-D vaccine is also in Phase -2
of human clinical trials.
203. Union Minister Jitendra Singh Addresses First Ministerial Meeting of

G-20 Anti-Corruption Working Group.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh addressed the first ministerial meeting of G-20 anti-
corruption working group on October 22, 2020. Saudi Arabia became the first country to
host the first ever meeting.
1. Anti-Corruption Working Group of G-20

 The was established in June 2010 at the G20 summit ,Toronto.
 The objective of the group is to make suggestions on boosting international efforts in order to
combat corruption.
 The group works with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Bank, Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
151
2. Anti-Corruption Plans by G-20 countries
The G-20 countries had agreed on the Anti-Corruption plan for 2019-2021 at Buenos
Aires in 2018. The G-20 members planned to look forward to develop targeted actions in
promoting the international efforts to combat the corruption.
3. G20 Countries
It is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 19
countries and the European Union (EU). The grouping was founded in 1999. The
grouping is aimed at discussing the policy to promote the international financial stability.
The G-20 Presidency is hold by the member countries every year on rotational basis.
Saudi Arabia is holding the presidency in 2020. It is a common platform to discuss and
frame solutions so there is no permanent secretariat for G20.
October 24, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
204. PM launched the “Kisan Suryoday Yojana” in Gujarat.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Kisan Suryoday Yojana in Gujarat on October
24, 2020. The primary aim of the scheme is to provide day time power supply for
irrigation in the region.
1. Highlights
Along with Kisan Suryoday scheme, PM Modi also launched two other projects namely, a
ropeway at the Girnar in Junagadh district and the UN Mehta Heart Research Institute.
2. Kisan Suryoday Yojana

 The farmers will be provided with power supply between 5 AM and 9 PM, under the scheme.
 State Government of Gujarat has allocated Rs 3,500 crores for implementing the scheme.
 The funds will be utilised to install around 234 transmission lines of length 3490 kms by 2023.
Each transmission line will carry power supply of 66 KW.
 An additional 220 KV substations will also be installed under the scheme.
3. Girnar Ropeway
The ropeway is located in Mount Girnar in Junagadh district of Gujarat. The construction
began in September 2018 and is one among the longest ropeway of Asia. This project
was first proposed in 1983. However, the project was delayed because of following
reasons:
4. Girnar region
It is one of the major pilgrim site in India. Amber Temple, Dattatreya Temple and several
other Hindu temples and Jain temples are important pilgrimage sites.
5. UN Mehta Heart Research Institute

The Institute has been provided with the additional 850 beds facility and other special
provisions have been introduced to treat children with heart problems.
152
205. Pakistan to remain in “Grey List” of FATF: Reason and implications.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) have voted to keep Pakistan under its Grey List.
The decision by the FATF was taken because Pakistan failed to comply with the 27
parameters set by the FATF and has completed only 21.
1. Background
The Asia-Pacific Group of FATF had also submitted a report called “Follow up report on
mutual evaluation of Pakistan” and suggested to put Pakistan under grey list. The
decision of the FATF is based on this report only.
2. Follow up report on mutual evaluation of Pakistan

The report has highlighted that the progress of Pakistan to combat the Financing terror
system and anti-money laundering made by the Financial Action Task Force had not
made any progress as compared to that of 2019. The Asia Pacific group of the
organisation, in 2019, had downgraded Pakistan status from “regular follow-up” to
“enhanced follow up” that means the country had to provide monthly reports of its
compliance to the Financial Action Task Force recommendations.
3. How it will affect Pakistan?

Pakistan will face problems In getting the financial aid from International organisations
including the Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, and the World
Bank.
4. Steps taken by Pakistan

Pakistan recently passed three crucial legislation after it was downgraded under the
FATF list in 2019:
206. Sudan becomes third Arab State to normalise relations with Israel.
Sudan recognized the Israel on October 23, 2020. It has became the third country to
recognize Israel after UAE and Bahrain.
1. Background
The United States (US) recently made Israel, UAE and Bahrain to sign as agreement.
Under the US-led agreement, UAE and Bahrain agreed to recognise Israel as an
independent state. To comply with the agreement UAE, Bahrain and Israel signed the
first peace agreement called as the Abraham accord in September 2020. This is the first
agreement in last 26 years.
2. Key Facts
 Egypt was the first country to recognise Israel.
 After Egypt, Jordan recognised Israel by establishing peace deal with Israel.
 UAE signed a peace deal with Israel recently after 26 years becoming the third country to do
so.
 Bahrain became the fourth country to sign a peace deal with Israel.
153
3. History of Israel
Establishment of Israel was first proclaimed by the head of Jewish agency David Ben
Gurion on May 14, 1948. Following that, US President Harry Truman recognised Israel on
the same day. Earlier, the Balfour declaration of 1917 had favored the establishment of
a Separate Jewish Nation. However, after the United Nations was formed, a resolution
was passed that divided the Palestinian mandate into Jewish state and Arab estate.
4. Significance of Israel
Israel is considered as the most advanced economy in Western Asia. The country has
been ranked on 16th position in the Global competitiveness report by World Economic
Forum. In the Ease of Doing Business Index, it has been ranked on 54th position. Israel
has second largest number of start up companies in the world. The external debts of the
country stands at the lowest position among the other developed countries. The country
has limited resources even though it has become self-sufficient by following advanced
agricultural practices.
207. MoCA and DGCA Allowed NTPC To Use Drones For Research &
Inspection.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has
given permission to the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to use drones to do
research and inspection. This decision was taken on October 24, 2020.
1. Highlights
 After this, NTPC would be able to carry out the research and inspection at its three power
plants located in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
 The NTPC has been granted the conditional exemption to deploy Remotely Piloted Aircraft
System (RPAS).
 The conditional exemption will be valid till December 31, 2020 or until the the Digital Sky
Platform is fully operationalized.
 The RPAS aircraft will be used for carrying out research and inspection activities.
 The three plants selected for the purpose are:
2. Benefits
NTPC will now be able to use the drones for the purpose of terrain mapping, stockpile
volumetric analysis, aerial inspections and other applications at three sites. This would
help NTPC to gather excellent data with high accuracy at the lowest cost.
208. Government eMarketplace integrated with the Central Public

Procurement Portal.
Government eMarketplace (GeM) has been integrated with the Central Public
Procurement Portal (CPPP) for the creation of a Unified Procurement System. The
integrated system with consolidate the entire public buying of goods and services onto a
single platform.
154
1. Highlights
 On the platform, a function of ‘custom bid’ has also been created.
 The custom bid will allow a buyer to bid on GeM even though the category of product or
service that the person needs is not available on the GeM portal.
 Further, the Integration of GeM with Indian Railway Electronic Procurement System and the
Defence Public Procurement Portal is underway.
2. Significance of the Unified Procurement System (UPS)

 The integrated system will improve the buying and selling experience and processes for
ministries, departments and other agencies involved in the system.
 The portal would make all the government buyers including railways, defence and public
sector undertakings to publish their high value tenders for an estimated order value
exceeding Rs 50 lakh.
 It will provide a single user experience to buyers and sellers.
 The system aims to consolidate the scattered vendor bases on publishing portals onto GeM.
 It would also lead to a better price discovery and dissemination of best practices in
government or public procurement.
 The portal comprises of advanced features including:
Powerful search engine by using Natural Language Processing

Advanced analytics using artificial intelligence that include machine learning
Revamped brand and product approval process and
Fast creation of categories for goods and services by analysing the tender.
 Powerful search engine by using Natural Language Processing

 Advanced analytics using artificial intelligence that include machine learning
 Revamped brand and product approval process and
 Fast creation of categories for goods and services by analysing the tender.
3. Government eMarketplace (GeM)

It is an online platform, by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, for public
procurement in India. The GeM initiative was launched on August 9, 2016. The primary
objective of the platform was to create an open and transparent procurement platform
for government buyers. It is managed by Special Purpose Vehicle and is 100%
Government-owned non-profit company.The portal provides a wide range of products
such as office stationery and Automobiles. Theportal lists the services including logistics,
transportation, waste management, web casting and analytics. 6,04,468 sellers and
service providers are registered with the portal so far.
209. Sri Lanka passed the 20th Amendment of Sri Lankan Constitution
The Sri Lankan Parliament recently passed the 20th Amendment of Sri Lankan
constitution. The amendment rolled back the 19th constitutional amendment.
155
1. Background
The 20th amendment has been passed to over-rule the 19th amendment that has
weakened the powers of the President expanded by the 18th amendment. Those powers
were:
2. 20th amendment of the Sri Lankan Constitution

The amendment has expanded the powers of Sri Lankan President. It has increased the
immunity of the President further. Under it, the President will get the power to dissolve
the parliament after two years and six months when elected. The amendment has
further empower the President to appoint any person in the Government offices such as
public services, election officials, human rights, police, corruption investigation
commissions, bribery etc even without getting consent from members of the parliament
However, the amendment has weakened the powers of the Prime Minister.
210. EU Environmental Ministers made 2050 Net Zero Emissions Target

legally binding.
European Union (EU) Environment Ministers signed a deal in Luxembourg on October 23,
2020. The deal has made EU’s 2050 net-zero emissions target legally binding on the
states.
1. Highlights
 The new deal will require billions of investments annually.
 It will also form the basis for Europe’s plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
 It also aims to aid the bloc to achieve its target of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
 The decision on 2030 emissions-cutting target will be discussed in December.
 The 2050 net-zero emission target involves the whole EU. It provides that if one country
makes higher emissions other will have to cut the emissions.
2. EU’s 2050 net-zero emissions target

The EU has aimed at becoming climate-neutral by 2050 by bringing the net greenhouse
gas emission to zero. This objective of the EU is the central portion of the European
Green Deal. The aim also comply with the EU’s commitment to global climate action
under the Paris Agreement.
3. Why Net-Zero emission is important?

The transition to a climate-neutral society or Net-Zero emission is an urgent challenge.
However, it also provides an opportunity to build a better and sustainable future for all.
4. How will it be achieved?

In order to achieve the net-zero emission targets, efforts from all parts of society and
economic sectors viz. power sector, industry, mobility, buildings, agriculture and forestry
becomes essential and crucial. The EU can achieve the target in following manner:
156
5. Background
EU commision had set the net-zero emission target in November 2018. It covers nearly
all EU policies. It comply with the Paris Agreement objective to keep the global
temperature below 2°C and to pursue steps in order to keep it to 1.5°C. Under the
European Green Deal, the EU Commission proposed the first European Climate Law on 4
March 2020. This law enshrined the 2050 climate-neutrality target into it. The European
Parliament also endorsed the net-zero greenhouse gas emissions objective in March
2019. It also endorsed the resolution on the European Green Deal in January 2020.
6. Way Forward
EU Member States need to develop long-term strategies to achieve the greenhouse gas
emissions reductions in order to meet their commitments as per the Paris Agreement
and EU objectives.
211. Himalayan Brown Bear: Massive habitat decline predicted by 2050
The Zoological Survey of India in its recent study and report on Himalayan Brown Bear
states that the suitable habitat for the brown bear in the biological corridors are
declining.
1. Highlights
 The study states that the habitat of Himalayan Brown Bear will decline from 73.38% to
72.87% by 2050.
 Belts, where the brown bears are inhabited, are getting warmer than the other zones of
Himalayas.
 This decline will impact 13 protected areas. Out of these 13 protected areas, eight will
become completely uninhabitable by 2050.
 The Himalayan Brown Bear was considered for study as it is the top carnivore in the
Himalayan region.
2. About brown bear

The Himalayan Brown Bear is the largest carnivore in the highlands of Himalayas. The
brown bear is found in 23 protected areas including Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and
Jammu and Kashmir. They have been categorised as “Critically Endangered” in the UCN
Red list of Threatened Species in Himalayas and Hindukush. However, for rest of the
world, it has been categorised into “Least Concern” category. International trade of
brown bear has been prohibited under wildlife Protection Act of 1972.
October 26, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
157
212. UP secured first rank in disbursing loans under PM Swanidhi
Scheme.
Uttar Pradesh government has secured the first rank in central government’s PM
Atmanirbhar Nidhi Scheme (SVANidhi Scheme) by approving the highest number of loans
under the scheme.
1. Highlights
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi will distribute loans to around 3 lakh beneficiaries.
 Uttar Pradesh has ranked first in all the categories including Applications, Sanctions and
Disbursements of the loans.
 6,22,167 applications were received under the scheme out of which sanctions were given to
3,46,150 applicants. Loans were disbursed to 2,26,728 beneficiaries.
 Seven cities from Uttar Pradesh have find place in the list of top 10 cities of the country.
 Varanasi, Lucknow and Aligarh are the top three cities in the list and the cities of Allahabad,
Gorakhpur, Ghaziabad and Kanpur have also secured positions.
2. SVANidhi Scheme
The central government launched the scheme on June 1, 2020. It was launched in order
to help the street vendors to resume their livelihood activities that were impacted
COVID-19 lockdown. The scheme is aimed at providing working capital loan up to Rs.
10,000 at a subsidized rate of interest. It is also aimed at providing benefits to street
vendors or hawkers in urban, pre-urban and rural areas.
213. Bangladesh government launched ‘no mask, no service’ policy
The Bangladesh government has launched the ‘no mask, no service’ policy on October
26, 2020. Government has decided that no service will be provided to people who don’t
wear masks.
1. Highlights
The decision was taken during a cabinet meeting Chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina. It was decided that no one will be allowed to enter offices without the mask. It
also notified that all offices must install notice boards saying ‘no mask, no service’ so as
to control the spread of COVID 19 virus in the country.
2. COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh

COVID-19 case in Bangladesh was first reported on March 8, 2020 by the epidemiology
institute, IEDCR of Bangladesh. Since then the number of affected people has been
increasing consistently. Currently, it is the second most affected country in South Asia,
after India.
3. How Government is responding?

After the first death was reported in March, the government of Bangladesh announced a
general holiday (Lockdown) in March itself which is being as per the need. Government
has also imposed social distancing norms and various travelling restrictions in order to
contain the spread of disease. With the strict imposition of these norms, the trend f
flattening covid-19 cases curve is being observed in the country since June 2020.
158
4. Vaccine in Bangladesh
China invited Bangladesh in June to get priority access to COVID-19 vaccine after it is
developed. Along with that, Bangladesh also started developing the coronavirus
vaccine. Sinovac Biotech vaccine was given approval by the Bangladesh Medical
Research Council to begin a third-phase trial in July 2020.
214. National Conference on Vigilance and Anti Corruption to be

inaugurated on Oct 27
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the National Conference on Vigilance and
Anti-Corruption on October 27, 2020. The theme for the conference is ‘Vigilant India,
Prosperous India’.
1. Background
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) organises this National Conference along with
the ‘Vigilance Awareness Week’. The conference is observed every year from 27th
October to 2nd November in India.
2. Highlights
The Conference will bring policy makers and practitioners on a common platform. It will
enable them to combat the corruption through systemic improvements and preventive
vigilance measures. The three day conference will be discussing the following issues:
3. Motive
The primary motive of the conference is to create awareness among citizens. It seeks to
make citizen aware of India’s commitment to promote integrity in public life through
their participation.
215. Molave Intensifies Into Typhoon: Highlights & Impacts.
Typhoon Molave made landfall in Philippines while crossing provinces on the southern
part of the main Luzon island on October 25, 2020. It has brought heavy rain and strong
winds along with it and has also made around 9000 people to flee their homes in the
Philippines.
1. Highlights
The disaster monitoring agency highlighted the reports of damaged roads and bridges.
Flooding and landslide incidents were also observed in some areas. However, there are
no casualties so far. The typhoon is moving westward with the speed of 130 kilometres
per hour (80 mph). It has intensified into a typhoon and has made landfall over San
Miguel Island in Albay province, Malinao municipality and in Albay. 5,518 people have
been evacuated to safer places. 3,421 people took shelter in areas outside danger
zones.
159
2. About Molave
The name Molave has been used to name tropical cyclone in the northwestern Pacific
Ocean. This name was given by the Philippines. It means “funnel” in Philippine, Spanish
and Tagalog. Its earlier name was Typhoon Imbudo till 2003. In 2004, the typhoon made
extensive damage over Philippines and China following which the name was changed to
Molave. The name Molave has been used to name three tropical cyclones in the
northwestern Pacific Ocean-Typhoon Molave (2009) , Tropical Storm Molave (2015) and
Typhoon Molave (2020). The typhoon Molave follows Tropical Storm Saudel, that hit the
region last week causing widespread flooding in Quezon province.
3. Luzon Island
It is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. It has been ranked 15th
largest island in the world by land area. The island is located in the northern portion of
the archipelago. The island is the economic and political center of Philippines. The
capital city Manila lies on this island. The island is also the home to Quezon City. Quezon
city is the most populous city of the country. The island is the fourth most populous
island in the world.
216. International Snow Leopard Day- Observed on October 23.
International Snow Leopard Day is observed on October 23 every year since 2013. The
primary aim of the day is to raise awareness on conservation and protection of the snow
leopards.
1. Background
International Snow Leopard Day was started being observed on October 23, 2013. The
day was adopted after 12 countries including- India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Mongolia,
Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan
agreed with the Bishkek Declaration on the conservation of snow leopards. Apart from
that, the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Programme (GSLEP) was also
launched in order to address high-mountain development issues that focuses on
conservation of the snow leopard.
2. About Snow Leopard

The Snow Leopard is also known as the Ghost of the mountains. The leopard acts as an
indicator of the health of the mountain ecosystem. It is the top predator in the food web.
Snow Leopard lives in an extremely cold climate of steep mountains at high altitudes of
Central and Southern Asia. In India, they are the inhabited in the higher Himalayan and
trans-Himalayan regions in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim,
and Arunachal Pradesh.
3. Key Facts
 Hemis region of Ladakh is known as the Snow Leopard capital of the world.
 Hemis National Park is the biggest national park of India which has significant presence of
Snow Leopard.
160
4. Threat
The number of snow leopard is declining because of- reduction in prey populations,
illegal poaching, illegal trade of wildlife parts and increased human population infiltration
into their habitat.
5. Protection
The Snow Leopard is categorized as Vulnerable under the IUCN Red List. The species are
protected under the Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES) and Appendix I convention on Migratory Species (CMS).
217. Why North Korea is concerned about Mysterious cloud of Yellow

dust ?
North Korean authorities have warned its citizens to remain indoors so that they avoid
contact with ‘yellow dust’. This mysterious cloud of yellow dust is blowing in from China.
North Korea warns that the dust might carry in Covid-19 with it.
1. Highlights
A cloud of yellow dust was blow in from China and descend on the North Korea.
Following that, a nationwide ban on outdoor construction work was announced. Citizens
were urged to remain indoors and to keep the windows tightly closed.
2. Why North Korea is concerned?

North Korea fears that the yellow dust might make Virus to enter the country. This
concern was based on the research from around the world that has shown that Covid-19
can be “transmitted through air”.
3. Yellow dust
Yellow dust is sand blowing from deserts in China and Mongolia. These sands are carried
to the North and South Korea through the high speed surface winds during specific
periods every year. These particles mixes with other toxic substances like industrial
pollutants and thus, this Yellow Dust is known to cause respiratory ailments also.
4. Can the dust transmit Covid-19 ?

The US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) has reported that the COVID-19 virus can
remain airborne for hours. It also said that it is highly unlikely for the Covid-19 infection
to spread through air in outdoors. However, there is no evidence of efficient spread to
people coming in the environment where an infectious person was there. People mostly
contract with the disease by staying close to infected person who coughs, sneezes or
talks. This way, virus spreads through droplets.
161
218. New Industry 4.0 solution developed by IIT Kharagpur and TCS
jointly.
IIT Kharagpur and TCS have jointly developed a novel Industry 4.0 technology. The new
innovation is aimed at stimulating innovations in advanced manufacturing in order to
boost capital goods sector.
1. Highlights
 The innovation was undertaken at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur’s centre
of excellence with support from the Department of Heavy Industry, Government of India.
 The development of technology was also provided support by Tata Consultancy Services
(TCS).
2. Benefits of new technology

This technology will control the factory operations remotely. It will also provide real-time
quality correction during industrial production in order to deliver quality output at low
costs. Thus, it will help in achieving the standardised production quality goals, reducing
batch rejections and lowering costs.
3. How the system works?

The solution will first acquire real-time information about the welding process by multiple
sensors. Later, it will enable online control of weld quality through cloud-based
communication.
4. Background
The genesis of this development lies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The fourth
industrial revolution throw light on how technologies like artificial intelligence (AI),
autonomous vehicles and internet of things (IOT) are merging with the physical life of
humans.
5. Fourth Industrial Revolution

The Fourth Industrial Revolution bridges the gap between the digital, physical and
biological worlds. Engineers, designers, and architects have been combining the
computational design, additive manufacturing, materials engineering and synthetic
biology establish the symbiosis between microorganisms, our bodies, the products we
use and buildings where we live. For instance, developments like Voice-activated
assistants, facial ID recognition and digital health-care sensors have eased life up to a
large extent.
219. UN Treaty of Banning Nuclear Weapons to enter into force.
The United Nations have announced that 50 countries have ratified an international
Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) to ban nuclear weapons. The
historic text would enter into force in January 2021.
1. Highlights
 Honduras has became the 50th country to ratify the treaty.
162
 The countries like Russia, United States, Britain, France and China who are the major nuclear
powers, however opposed the treaty.
 NATO allies of the United States also opposed the treaty.
 Netherlands was the only NATO country that voted in favour of the treaty.
 Japan is the only country that have suffered from nuclear attack but still boycott the
conference.
2. How India reacted?

India abstained itself from voting for the treaty. India states that it recognises only the
Geneva based Conference on Disarmament as the powerful multilateral disarmament
forum for negotiation.
3. Why major powers are opposing the treaty?

The major nuclear power say that the treaty does not have any provision on
disarmament and verification. These countries claim that the new treaty is dangerous for
the old Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). They also say that the treaty is divisive to
international communities.
4. Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW)

This is the first multilateral treaty that is binding on instrument of nuclear disarmament.
It strictly urges the countries to prohibit the use of nuclear weapons and condemns the
use of nuclear weapon as well. The earlier treaties inlcuding the Non-Proliferation Treaty
imposes partial prohibitions only.
5. Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

The treaty is commonly known as Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT. It is an international
treaty that seeks to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology.
The treaty promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. This treaty was
negotiated by the 18 Nation Committee on Disarmament which is a United Nations-
sponsored organization in Geneva, Switzerland. The treaty entered into force in 1970.
220. Centre to bring new law to tackle Stubble-Burning led Pollution.
The central government on October 26, 2020 has decided to create a permanent body
through legislation to tackle the air pollution and the stubble burning problem in Delhi
and NCR states. The new body will replace the Environment Pollution (Prevention and
Control) Authority (EPCA) led by Bhure Lal. Following this, one-member committee of
retired Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B Lokur was suspended.
1. Background
The Apex court had formed justice Madan B Lokur committee to look after the steps to
tackle stubble burning on October 16, 2020. Stubble burning is the primary source of the
pollution in Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh during winters. This committee was to
get assistance of chief secretaries of all states to look after the situation.
163
2. Supreme Court Order
The SC in its October 16 order stated for the deployment of National Cadet Corps,
National Service Scheme and Bharat Scouts and Guides to assist the monitoring of
stubble burning in the agricultural fields of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi-
NCR.
3. Why pollution is a major concern this year?

This year the pollution is a major concers because of Covid-19 Situation. The experts
says that increasing pollution could lead to a spike in the Covid-19 infections. A report by
National Centre for Disease Control held recently that the Covid-19 infection in the New
Delhi may rise up to 12,000 to 15,000 daily in winter. A study by Harvard University also
show that an increase of only one microgram per cubic metre in Particulate Matter 2.5
(PM 2.5) can lead to an increase of Covid-19 death rate by 8%.
221. World Polio Day was observed on October 24.
The World Polio Day is observed on October 24, 2020 every year. The day is observed in
order to make countries to stay focused and vigilant to fight against Polio.
1. Background
World Polio Day was established by Rotary International. It was established in order to
commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk. Jonas Salk was the person who led the first team
that developed the vaccine against this disease.
2. Polio Cases
WHO data shows that the cases of wild poliovirus have decreased by over 99.9% since
1980. This was possible because of vaccination efforts that are made around the world.
Further, In the last three decades, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has been
monitoring the disease situation globally. The GPEI is led by national governments and
the WHO. As per the CDC there were more than 440 cases of poliovirus around the world
as of October as compared with 378 cases in 2018 and 71 cases in 2019 globally.
3. Countries with recent Polio outbreaks

The most recent polio outbreaks were recorded in the Philippines, Ghana, Malaysia,
China, Cameroon, Myanmar, Indonesia and Iran in 2019. These cases were mostly
vaccine-derived which means, a rare strain of the virus was genetically mutated from
the strain in the vaccine. As per the Centre of Disease Control (CDC), Afghanistan and
Pakistan are the two countries where there is stronghold of the wild poliovirus. The
number of reported wild poliovirus cases in Pakistan has significantly increased in 2020.
However, on August 25, the African Region was declaired wild poliovirus free.
October 27, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
164
222. Japan targets to achieve Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050.
New prime minister of Japan, Yoshihide Suga, has committed to his country on October
27, 2020 to reach a target of zero emissions of greenhouse gases. He also committed to
achieve a carbon-neutral society by 2050 by a fundamental shift in policy on coal use.
1. Highlights
 The PM said that- Responding to climate change is no longer a constraint on economic
growth.
 He urged that people need to change their thinking that taking assertive measures against
climate change would lead to changes in industrial structure and economy that will bring
about great growth
 He also promised investment in research and development, deregulation and green
investment.
2. Japan and Carbon emission

Japan is the world’s third-largest economy and the fifth-largest emitter of carbon dioxide.
So, the international environment groups criticized Japan intensely for continuing to
build and finance coal-fired power plants nationally as well as internationally. Japan had
earlier committed only to reduce emissions 80 percent by 2050. Now, however, it is
following European Union that vowed to become carbon neutral by 2050.
3. Background
Japan had sourced more than 41 percent of its electrical power supplies from coal and oil
in 2017, where natural gas accounts for almost 40 percent while renewable energy
made up about 16 percent. Share of nuclear power stands at 3 percent.
4. Japan’s current plan

Under Japan’s current Basic Energy Plan, it has aimed to increase the share of
renewables to 22 to 24 percent by 2030 and share of nuclear power to between 20 and
22 percent.
223. Himalayan or Indus Suture Zone- Found to be tectonically active.
The Himalayan or the Indus Suture Zone (ISZ) in the Ladakh region has been found to be
tectonically active. Suture zone is the zone where the Indian and Asian Plates join each
other. Until now, it was supposed to be a locked zone.
1. Highlights
 This new study would have major implications on the earthquake study, prediction,
understanding the seismic structure of the mountain chains and its evolution.
 This study was conducted by a group of scientists from Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology
(WIHG) in Dehradun.
 Study was published recently in the journal ‘Technophysics’.
165
2. What has been observed?
It has been observed that sedimentary beds are tilted and thrust broken. There is a
remote fault zone in the suture zone which is tectonically active. The rivers at this zone
are associated with uplifted terraces. The bedrock further shows brittle deformation at a
shallower depths. This region of the Indus Suture Zone (ISZ) was last active some 78000
— 58000 years back. However the recent Earthquake of 2010 near the village Upshi that
occurred due to a thrust rupture. The study also says that the Suture Zone of the
Himalayas has been active in the recent years of the earth history. This is thus one of
the major reason for the frequent earthquakes in the northern India recently. Himalayas
comprise of three thrusts- Main Central Thrust, Main Frontal Thrust and Main Boundary
Thrust. The study says, Main Frontal Thrusts are locked and the overall deformation is
occurring in the Main Frontal Thrust.
3. Thrusts
Thrusts are the faults that are gentle curved or fractures in the rocks of the Earth’s crust.
4. Suture Zone
When two fault zones join together, it forms the Suture zone. It is usually found in
mountain ranges. The Himalayan Suture Zone is also called the Indus Suture Zone or
Indus Yarlung Tsangpo Suture Zone. It is the zone of collision between Indian Plate and
Ladakh Batholith.
224. Tribal Affairs Minister to launch Two Centers of Excellence for Tribal
Welfare
Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, Shri Arjun Munda will launch two Centers of
Excellence for Tribal Welfare. It will be launched in a collaboration between Ministry of
Tribal Affairs and Art of Living (AoL).
1. First initiative- ‘Strengthening PRIs’

This initiative will be launched in 5 districts. It will cover 30 Gram Panchayats and 150
villages of Jharkhand. The initiative would help in creating awareness among elected
representatives of PRI.
2. Purpose
 The initiative would raise awareness about various Tribal Acts and Rules and different welfare
schemes available for these tribals.
 It will help tribals in getting access to these schemes.
 It would create the youth volunteers among the tribal youths.
 The volunteers would be given personality development training.
 The initiative would also instill the sense of social responsibility among the youth.
 The initiative seeks to create the tribal leaders who will work for their community in spreading
this awareness.
166
3. Second Initiative – Training to Tribal Farmers
The initiative seeks to train 10000 tribal farmers in Aurangabad District of Maharashtra.
The farmers would be provided training on sustainable natural farming. The training
would be based on Go-Adharith farming techniques. Training would help farmers in
getting the Organic certification. Further, marketing opportunities will be made available
to them in order to make them Atmanirbhar Tribal Farmers.
225. India–Australia Circular Economy Hackathon (I-ACE) launched by

AIM
The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) will organise a two-day hackathon on circular
economy, ‘India–Australia Circular Economy Hackathon (I-ACE)’ in association with
CSIRO on 7th and 8th December 2020.
1. Background
The idea of I-ACE was put forward during a virtual summit between the Indian and
Australian prime ministers on June 4, 2020. This was decided in order to explore
innovative ways to boost circular economy in India and Australia.
2. About I-ACE
I-ACE will focus on to identify and to develop innovative technological solutions by
bright-minded students, start-ups and MSMEs of India and Australia. Shortlisted students
and start-ups MSMEs will be invited for the hackathon. where two winners will be
announced comprising one student and one start-up MSME per theme from each
country. The hackathon will be organized under four theme:
3. Purpose
The primary purpose of the hackathon to address the circular economy challenge. It will
create possible solutions for eliminating waste and reusing waste. This will make the
economy less resource intensive and will ensure that the economic growth is
ecologically compatible.
4. India-Australia
India and Australia have a strong and productive bilateral partnership. Both the countries
are collaborating across a broad range of areas which have yielded significant results.
India and Australia in future can align research and developmental efforts in order to
achieve more. The circular economy model will provide more jobs and higher economic
growth in the long run. It will further reduce cost and drive innovation. It will also drive
significant environmental benefits.
226. NASA’s SOFIA Discovers Water on Sunlit Surface of Moon.
NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) has confirmed the
presence of water on the sunlit surface of the Moon. This indicates that water is not only
limited to cold shadowed place but could be distributed across the lunar surface.
167
1. Highlights
 SOFIA has detected water molecules (H2O) in Clavius Crater.
 Earlier observations of the Moon’s surface detected some form of hydrogen, however, they
were unable to distinguish between water and its close chemical relative called hydroxyl
(OH).
 Sahara desert has 100 times more water than what SOFIA has detected in the lunar soil.
2. Background
The genesis of SOFIA’s results lies in the presence of water on the moon that was
observed by Apollo astronauts in 1969.
3. About SOFIA
SOFIA is a modified Boeing 747SP aircraft. It allows astronomers to study the solar
system and beyond. The study by SOFIA is different from what is studied by the ground-
based telescopes. SOFIA has thus offer new means of looking at the Moon. SOFIA Flies at
an altitudes of 45,000 feet. It is also known as Boeing 747SP jetliner having a 106-inch
diameter telescope. It reaches above 99% of the water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere in
order to get a clear view of the infrared universe. The jetliner uses Faint Object infraRed
CAmera for the SOFIA Telescope (FORCAST) by which SOFIA picked up the specific
wavelength of 6.1 microns.
4. Clavius Crater
It is one among the largest craters that is visible from Earth. It is located in the Moon’s
southern hemisphere. It lies to the south of the prominent ray crater Tycho. The crater
has been named for the Jesuit priest Christopher Clavius who is a 16th-century German
mathematician and astronomer.
227. What is India-US BECA Agreement?
India and the United States will sign the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for
Geo-Spatial Cooperation on October 27, 2020 during the third round of 2+2 Ministerial
dialogue.
1. Highlights
 The BECA agreement will provide India access to extremely accurate geo-spatial data.
 The spatial data will have several military applications which will help in improving the
accuracy of the missile systems of India.
 The announcement has been made after a meeting between Union Defence Minister Rajnath
Singh and his US Counterpart Mark Esper who is visiting India for the India-US 2+2 dialogue.
168
2. BECA agreement
BECA is the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for geo-spatial cooperation. It is
basically a communication agreement that has been proposed between the National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency of the US Department of Defence and the Indian Union
Ministry of Defence. With this agreement, India and the US will be able to exchange
important military information such as advanced satellite and topographic data including
maps, geophysical data, geodetic data, geomagnetic data, gravity data and nautical and
aeronautical charts. The agreement also include the provision of sharing classified
information with proper safeguards. It will further ensure that it is not shared with any
third party.
3. Background
BECA is the last agreement of the four foundational agreements that was signed
between India and the US in order to strengthen defence ties. These agreements covers
areas such as security and military information, logistics exchange and communications
and compatibility and security. BECA aims to enhance the geospatial cooperation
between India and the US. Other three agreements include-
228. RBI asks lending institutions to implement waiver of interest on

interest schemes.
The Reserve Bank of India has asked all the lending institutions to implement the waiver
of interest on interest schemes for loans up to Rs 2 crore. The lending institutions also
including non-banking financial companies.
1. Highlights
The RBI has urged the banks to implement the interest waiver for a moratorium period of
six months. The lending institutions have now been mandated to grant ex-gratia
payment for certain categories of borrowers by crediting the difference between simple
interest and compound interest in between March 1- August 31, 2020. The centre, on
October 23, had announced a scheme that granted ex-gratia payment of difference
between compound interest and simple interest for six months for borrowers for
specified loan accounts.
2. Background
The Reserve Bank of India had announced a moratorium on repayment of loan for six
months in effect from March 1, 2020. The moratorium was provided in order to help
businesses and individuals to overcome the financial problems that they faced during
the COVID-19 lockdown because of disruption in normal business activities . Later, the
Supreme Court had asked the Centre to implement the interest waiver scheme on loans
up to Rs 2 crore under the RBI moratorium scheme on October 14, 2020.
3. RBI Notification
The Reserve Bank in its notification has urged all the lending institutions that they
should be guided by the scheme’s provisions and take necessary action within the
timeline.
169
4. Interest Waiver Scheme
Under this scheme, the lending institutions have been advised to grant the difference
between compound interest and simple interest to the eligible borrowers in their
respective accounts for the prescribed period. The difference will be granted to all the
borrower who have either fully or partially availed the moratorium announced by the RBI
on March 27, 2020. The scheme covers the education loans, MSME loans, credit card
dues, housing loans, consumer durable loans, auto loans and consumption loans.
However, the lending institutions can claim reimbursement from the centre after they
credit the amount.
229. SBI Ecowrap Report: PMJDY used more frequent in areas prone to
crime.
The SBI has published its Ecowrap report. The report highlights that the pandemic has
led to 60% increase in opening up of new Jan Dhan accounts.
1. Highlights
 The report highlights that the usage of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts
has increased.
 It has increased in the regions that are more prone to theft.
 As per the reports, empirical research has shown that PMJDY accounts work as a primary
source for labour remittances.
 The PMJDY account has increased lending, increased spending on healthcare , smoothing
consumption.
 Further, the usage of this account is more frequent in crime prone areas.
 States like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Haryana witnessed a decline in the usage of
PMJDY account which has a positive impact on theft.
 States like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat and Karnataka have also witnessed a
favorable impact.
2. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)

PMJDY scheme was launched in August 2014 under the National Mission for Financial
Inclusion. It provides universal access to banking facilities that provides – one basic
banking account for every adult, access to credit, financial literacy, insurance and
pension. Use of PMJDY is also causing the change in individual behavior across all states.
As per the latest data total number of PMJDY accounts stands at 41.05 crore as of
October 14, 2020.
October 28, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
170
230. IIT-Guwahati developed Low Cost Technology anti-ageing
Compound
The researchers from IIT Guwahati have developed a low-cost technology that will
produce anti-ageing compounds. It has been developed from agricultural resources
including pulses, tea, orange peels, onion, berries, sea buckthorn and parsley. This
product does not use any organic solvents as are included in other products by the
commercial industry. Since the product does not contain any organic solvents, it is of low
cost
1. How this has been made?

The product was made using the size-based pressure driven membrane separation
process. Under the process, the extracts of the plants or fruits are first passed through
fabricated membranes that are capable of separating selected flavonoids. After that the
moisture holding part is fridge dried in order to get a powdered product.
2. How cosmetics are regulated in India?
231. How Ice loss will add 0.4 degree Celsius to global temperatures?
The recent research, published on October 24, 2020, highlighted about the danger of
Vicious Circle and stated that the loss of billions of tonnes of ice from Earth’s frozen
spaces might increase the global temperatures by 0.4 degrees Celsius.
1. Highlights
 As per the report, Arctic summer sea ice levels is being declined by 10% each decade since
1970s.
 Mountain glaciers have melted roughly 250 billion tonnes of ice annually in the recent years.
 Ice loss from the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets is accelerating.
 Antarctica and Greenland have enough frozen water that can boost oceans’ height by 60
meters.
2. How Ice Loss will contribute to Global Temperature?

Scientists from the Germany’s Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) have
found that the melting of Arctic ice, mountain glaciers and the polar ice caps will raise
temperatures by 0.4C at the current levels of the atmospheric CO2. The primary reason
of the increase in the temperature because of ice loss is because of Ice – albedo effect.
In the Ice- albedo effect, change in the area of ice caps, glaciers, and sea ice hampers
the albedo and surface temperature of a planet. Since, Ice is reflective in nature, some
of the solar energy is reflected back. However, if the warm temperatures decrease the
ice cover and the area is replaced by water or land the albedo will decrease. This in turn
increases the amount of absorbed solar energy and thus, causes more warming. Further,
receded ice increases the water vapour in the atmosphere. This increasing the
greenhouse effects and thus, the global temperature rises.
171
232. India Post and United States Postal Services sign agreement for
Electronic Exchange of Data.
India Post and US Postal Service (USPS) have signed an agreement on October 27, 2020
for electronic exchange of data related to postal shipments. The primary objective of the
agreement is to facilitate ease of exports through postal channels.
1. Significance of the agreement

 With this agreement, respective bodies will transmit and receive electronic data of
international postal items being shipped even before their arrival.
 This advanced information would help the customs to clear the postal items before the
shipment reaches the port.
 This will also improve the performance of postal services.
2. India-USA postal exchange

As per the data of India Post, in 2019, around 30% of small packets and letters
transmitted to USA. India post also transmitted 20% of outbound EMS to US. Further,
60% parcels received to India were originated from the USA.
3. History of India post

The Department of Posts (DoP) trades as India Post. It is a government-operated postal
system in India. It is a subsidiary of the Ministry of Communications. The Indian post is
the most widely distributed postal system in the world. The postal services in India was
established by Warren Hastings in 1688 under the name “Company Mail”. In 1854, it was
modified into a service by Lord Dalhousie. Dalhousie passed the India Post Office Act
1854 which introduced the regular post offices in India.
4. How India Post has helped during Covid-19?

The significance of India post increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. It took several
measures in order to deliver essentials items, financial assistance and medicines on time
at the door step. It also distributed food and ration under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat
Abhiyan.
233. Payment Date for Vivad se Vishwas scheme extended.
Government of India has extended the deadline for making payment under the Vivad se
Vishwas scheme till March 31, 2021. This deadline extension is being done for the third
time in the series under the direct tax dispute settlement scheme. The last date to make
declaration under the scheme has been extended to December 31 2020. This steps are
being taken by the government in order to provide relief to the taxpayers.
1. Vivad se Vishwas scheme

The scheme was introduced by the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the union
budget 2020-21. The scheme has been aimed to settle down the pending direct tax
cases. Some of the features of the scheme are stated under:
172
2. Direct tax Vivad se Vishwas Act 2020
The act was enacted on March 17 2020. The primary purpose of the Act was to settle
direct tax disputes in several appellate forums. Under the act, the designated authority
is not allowed to levy penalty or interest after the dispute is resolved. It also provides
that, no other appellate forum can make decisions related to the dispute after the case
is resolved. In case of the violation of the Income Tax Act, 1961 or in case false
information is provided then the dispute can be revived.
234. DST-IIEST Solar PV Hub inaugurated by Union Education Minister.
The Union Education Minister, Shri Ramesh pokhriyal nishank, inaugurated the DST-IIEST
Solar PV Hub on October 27, 2020. The hub was inaugurated at Shibpur in Howrah
District of West Bengal .
1. DST-IIEST Solar PV Hub

The concept of establishing the Solar PV hub was first put forward in 2018. The hub is
aimed at establishing the world-class research facility. It will act as a central node to
disseminate the knowledge in the field of solar energy, fabrication, solar photovoltaics,
research and development, solar PV module, testing of solar cells and Solar PV
systems. It will provide a great economic boost in the eastern and North Eastern regions
of India. The establishment of the hub is in line with the make in India initiative since it
align to the national and local Industries, startup, Research Institute. This will help in
smooth transition from the fossil fuel energy to the solar energy. The funds to establish
the hub has been allocated by the Department of Science and Technology in
coordination with the centre of excellence for green energy and sensor system located
at the IIEST.
2. Significance
Establishment of the Solar hub will greatly help to transfer the indigenous Technologies,
testing of solar cells, training for fabrication and Solar PV module to the eastern and
north eastern regions of India.
3. Solar capacity of northeast India

The solar power stations in the North Eastern region is operated by the North Eastern
electric power corporation limited (NEEPCO). The station was established in 1976 and is
owned by National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Limited. North Eastern states
have higher potential of renewable energy as per the report. The report states that, 65
percent of Nagaland state demand of power can be fulfilled by renewable energy. This
fulfilment stands at 64% in Sikkim and 82% in Arunachal Pradesh.
4. Solar projects in northeast region
173
235. How Air Pollution impacted the COVID-19 Deaths Worldwide?
According to a study published in the journal Cardiovascular Research on October 27,

2020 about 15 percent of deaths worldwide from COVID-19 are linked to long-term
exposure to air pollution.
1. Highlights
 Researchers from Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Germany, have found that the
proportion of COVID-19 deaths linked to air pollution was about 19 per cent in Europe.
 The death toll was 17 per cent in North America and 27 per cent in East Asia.
 The study is the first of its kind that has estimated the proportion of deaths from the
coronavirus that could be attributed to the effects of air pollution across the world.
2. How these deaths could be avoided?

The team highlighted that these proportions of COVID-19 deaths could be avoided if the
population are exposed to lower counterfactual air pollution levels. The pollution must
not be fueled by fossil fuel and other anthropogenic caused by humans emissions.
3. How the study was conducted?

The researchers used the epidemiological data from US and Chinese studies of air
pollution and COVID-19. They also included the data of the SARS outbreak in 2003. Italy
also provided some additional data. These data were combined this with satellite data
that showed the global exposure to polluting fine particles called the particulate matter
(PM2.5) information on atmospheric conditions and ground-based pollution monitoring
networks. Then the researchers created a model to calculate the fraction of coronavirus
deaths.
4. Pollution-led Covid-19 death

 29 percent of pollution-led coronavirus deaths reported in the Czech Republic.
 27 percent in China,
 26 percent in Germany,
 22 percent in Switzerland and
 21 percent deaths in Belgium.
 In UK there are 44,000 coronavirus deaths and about 14 percent death was caused by
pollution.
 In US out of 220,000 COVID deaths, 18 percent deaths attributable to air pollution.
236. IFSCA authority Board approved Two New Regulations.
The International Financial Services Centre Authorities (IFSCA) approved two new
regulations during the board meeting held on October 27, 2020. The two regulations
were- The International Financial Services Centre authorities Bullion exchange
regulations, 2020 and the International financial services Centre authorities Global
inhouse centres regulation, 2020. These two regulations paves the way to set up an
entire ecosystem for bullion trading including the bullion exchange, depository, clearing
house, and vaults in the Gift City of Gujarat. Gift city is the India’s sole international
financial services centre (IFSC).
174
1. International Financial Services Centres Authorities (Bullion Exchange)
regulations, 2020
Government of India has notified the bullion depository receipt and bullion spot delivery
contract as financial products on the basis of the recommendation of the International
Financial Services Centre authorities. These have been notified under the International
Financial Services centre at authority act, 2019. The IFSCA has been tasked to operate
the new bullion exchange. This is for the first time that a single authority would regulate
both the derivative contract and the bullion spot. The bullion regulation would integrate
the following salient aspects to facilitate the transparency and traceability in the bullion
market:
2. International Financial Services Centre Authority (Global in-house Centre)

circulation 2020
Government of India has notified the Global inhouse centres as financial services on the
recommendations of IFSCA. These centres will be providing the services related to
financial products. Salient aspects of the regulation include:
237. Institutes with ‘eminence’ tag to be assessed on parameters of

international rankings.
The Centre took a decision to assess the institute with eminence tag on the basis of
parameters used in top international ranking such as QS and Times rankings. The
prestigious ‘institute of eminence’ (IoE) tag are provided to 20 higher education
institutes to assess the progress.
1. Highlights
 The decision was taken on the basis of recommendation by a panel comprising of IIT
directors.
 The panel was tasked to recommend ways to improve perception and international rankings
of the institutes with the tags.
2. How the international ranking is decided?

The universities are raked on the basis of the parameters including academic and
employer reputation, research citations per faculty, faculty-student ratio, international
faculty and international student ratios.
3. Institute of eminence (IoE) tag

20 institutes of higher education have been given IoE tag for the past two years. The
institute include 10 private and 10 public sectors institute. By providing this tag, the
government has offered additional monetary assistance to public institutions while
greater autonomy has been provided to private sector in setting and running the
campuses. In 2019 Banaras Hindu University, IITs in Delhi, Bombay, Madras and
Kharagpur, Indian Institute of Science, Delhi University, Hyderabad University and
Jadavpur University were provided this tag.
175
238. NISAR Satellite To Be Launched By 2022.
The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite is scheduled to be launched

by 2022. This was scheduled after India and the US decided to share Space Situational
Awareness Information with each other. This would catalyse efforts in order to create the
conditions for a safe and sustainable space environment.
1. Highlights
 India-US also expressed the intent to continue the India-US Space Dialogue.
 They also decided to carry the discussions on areas of potential space defense cooperation.
 The joint statement was issued after the 2+2 strategic dialogue between Defence Minister
Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and their US counterparts.
 Both side applauded the ongoing collaboration between the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
2. 2+2 Dialogue on Space coordination

 The ministers from both the countries agreed to share the Space Situational Awareness
information.
 This would catalyse efforts in order to create the conditions for a safe, stable, and sustainable
space environment.
 A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed for Technical Cooperation in Earth
Observation and Earth Sciences between the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the US National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
 The MoU will be used for developing a better understanding of the regional and global
weather origins in the Indian Ocean. It would also advance the common research goals in
meteorology, oceanography and management of marine resources.
3. Background
The space agencies of both the countries had signed an agreement in 2014 in order to
conduct the joint NISAR mission. The mission was to launched in order to co-develop and
launch a dual-frequency synthetic aperture radar on the Earth observation satellite.
4. About NISAR
The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission is a joint project of NASA and
ISRO. It has been started to co-develop and launch a dual-frequency synthetic aperture
radar on the Earth observation satellite. It will be the first radar imaging satellite that
uses the dual frequencies. The satellite would be launched from India on a
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle on a Sun-synchronous orbit.
5. Uses of NISAR
The satellite would be used for remote sensing, to observe and understand natural
processes on Earth. The satellite would use advanced radar imaging for mapping the
elevation of Earth’s land and ice masses 4 to 6 times a month. It has been designed to
observe and measure complex natural processes including ecosystem disturbances, ice-
sheet collapse and natural hazards like earthquakes, Landslides, tsunamis and volcanoes
on the Earth.
176
October 29, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
239. Global Himalayan Expedition wins UN award for efforts to fight

climate change.
The Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE) has won a prestigious UN award for its efforts to
combat climate change amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The organisation is among the
winners of the 2020 UN Global Climate Action Award.
1. Highlights
GHE is world’s first organisations that is using tourism and technology to bring solar
energy to remote communities as recognised by the World Travel and Tourism Council
(WTTC) and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).
2. Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE)

GHE is an Indian organisation that open up the tourism and technology in order to help
remote communities to access solar energy. It conducts Impact Expeditions that help the
remote Himalayan villages. The organisation uses the portion of the expedition fee to
fund the capital cost of the hardware, transportation, installation and training of village-
scale solar micro-grids. The micro-grid infrastructure is owned and operated by the
community.
3. Coverage by GHE
GHE has so far solar electrified some 131 villages in the three regions of India. The
project is directly impacting the lives of more than 60,000 villagers. It has further
enabled the livelihood through homestay tourism. Thus, has generated over USD
1,14,000 in income for the villages. It shows there is an increase by 45 percent in the
annual household income.
4. UN Global Climate Action Award

The awards are guided by the power for change drive at UN Climate Change. It is a
major goal that mobilize the wishes and action as government work to achieve the
Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
5. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

UNFCCC is an international environmental pact that addresses the climate change. It has
been arranged and signed by 154 states at the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (UNCED). UNFCCC is informally known as the Earth
Summit. The summit happened in Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to 14, 1992. UNFCCC came
into force on March 21, 1994. It has been headquartered in Bonn.
240. MSDE and NCVET issues guidelines for Awarding Bodies and
Assessment Agencies
Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) in collaboration with National

Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) have unveiled robust set of
177
guidelines for Awarding Bodies (AB) and Assessment Agencies (AA) over a digital
conference on October 28, 2020. This was issued in line with Prime Minister Modi’s vision
of making India the skill capital of the world.
1. Highlights
 The guidelines and operation manuals have been developed to recognise and regulate these
two entities- AB and AA.
 The guidelines have been aimed at improved incomes, establishing quality, and standardizing
the processes under Skill India Mission.
2. Purpose
India have a diverse skilling ecosystem which is supported by key stakeholders, and
organizations. So, there was a need of such vibrant policy framework that encourages
the improvements and key transformations in the skilling network. Therefore the need of
the hour is to have a dynamic robust strategy framework that encourages improvements
at a vast level. The guidelines address the needs of many stakeholders and good
governance. The prepared guidelines take into account the existing systems while
incorporating the progressive changes required to empower every candidate who
desires to be skilled.
3. National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET)

The body was notified by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE)
on December 5, 2018. The body acts as an overarching skills regulator that regulates
the functioning of entities engaged in vocational education and training. It also
establishes the minimum standards for the functioning of such entities. The body is
responsible for quality assurance and to formalize the qualifications. India’s diverse
skilling ecosystem caters to multiple levels of skilling in various sectors.
4. Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE)

It was formed on November 9, 2014 by the Government of India. The ministry focus on
to enhance employability of skills. MSDE undertakes the significant initiatives and
reforms to formalize the policy, framework and standards. It also launch new programs
and schemes, create new infrastructure and upgrade the existing institutions. The
ministry is aimed at bridging the gap between demand and supply of skilled manpower
in order to build new skills and innovation. More than 3 crore people have been trained
under Skill India so far.
241. Chhattisgarh passes amendment bill to counter center’s farm bills.
The Chhattisgarh assembly has approved the Chhattisgarh Krishi Upaj Mandi
(Amendment) Bill 2020 on October 27, 2020. The government declared that the entire
state will act as a market for selling agriculture produce. This decision was taken in order
to negate the Centre’s farm laws which had allowed private players to directly buy
produce from farmers.
1. Highlights
178
 The bill is aimed at protecting farmers of the state from fluctuating market prices and
payment risks.
 Amendments were made in the Mandi Act so that farmers get better prices against their
produce.
 Amendment bill also include the provision to safeguard the interests of the farmers.
 The bill however, does not violate any Central laws.
2. Objective of the bill

The state of Chhattisgarh comprises 80 percent small and marginal farmers. These
marginal and small farmers neither have the capacity to store food grains nor have the
capacity to bargain prices in the market. Thus, it is necessary to establish ‘Deemed
Mandi (Market)’ and electronic trading platform. This will enable them to get the right
price for their produce without being impacted by market fluctuations.
3. Provisions of the bill
4. Background
The three Farm Bills including – The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion
and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of
Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and Essential Commodities (Amendment)
Bill, 2020 was given President’s assent. These bills, which have now become acts, seeks
to bring amendments in some of the key aspects of the farm economy including trade in
price assurance, agricultural commodities, farm services including contracts and stock
limits for essential commodities. The acts also imposes several restrictions of private
stock holding of agricultural produce or to create trading areas free of middlemen and to
take the market to the farmer. However, the acts are being criticized and being
protested as farmers believe that the free market philosophy supported by these acts
might hamper and abolish the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system and make farmers
vulnerable to market forces.
242. Highlights of “Electricity Access in India and Benchmarking

Distribution Utilities” report.
The NITI Aayog has released the “Electricity access in India and benchmarking
distribution utilities” report on October 28, 2020.
1. Key Findings
 The report is based on the survey conducted across 10 states representing 65% of Indian
rural population.
 As per the report, 92% of customers received electricity infrastructure within 50 metres of
their premises.
 It highlights that, 87% of the customers had access to grid-based electricity.
 13% population are those who either used non grid sources or did not use electricity.
 As per the report, majority of the customers that uses non grid sources are from the
agricultural sector.
 Report states that, around 4% of households in India lags the grid-based electricity sources.
 The number of hours for which electricity is suppled has also improved over time. On an
average, India is getting 17 hours of electricity per day.
179
 The performance of the Uttar Pradesh was far below the other utilities.
 Out of total surveyed populations, around 66% were satisfied.
 The report laud that the improvement in electricity access in the country is the result of the
schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana and Deen Dayal Upadhyay gram
Jyoti Yojana.
2. Challenge
The report states that, India is one of the key leaders in providing electricity access. The
electricity access rate has doubled in the past 20 years. The percentage of households
connected to the electricity grid has increased from 59.4% to 100%. However, India still
faces the challenge of providing reliable and affordable electricity supply.
3. Way forward
The report asks that, India need to focus on sustainability of electricity access. It has
also suggested to create an action plan to resolve the barriers.
243. India – UAE Agree promote Defence Co-Operation Through Joint

Production And Mutual Trade.
India-UAE held a webinar under the theme of “Indian Defence Industry Global Outreach
for Collaborative Partnership: Webinar and Expo India – UAE Defence Cooperation” on
October 27, 2020. The webinar was held in order to boost defence exports between India
and UAE.
1. Highlights
 The webinar was organized under the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of
Defence, MoD, through the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers, SIDM.
 Webinar was part of the series of webinars being organized with friendly foreign countries to
boost defence exports and to achieve defence export target of $5 Billion in five years.
 Ambassadors and senior MoD officials from both the countries participated in the webinar.
 The officials had a discussion about the deep- rooted relations between the two countries.
 Both sides agreed to strengthen the cooperation in defence further through joint production
and mutual trade.
 The countries are emphasizing on openness and inter-linkages in order to make companies a
part of the global supply chains. In this way, foreign companies could have a role in Indian
defence manufacturing ecosystem as well.
2. India-UAE relation
UAE is India’s third largest foreign trading partner. The bilateral trade between both the
countries stands at around 53 billion USD. India is also UAE’s largest trading partner. For
India, UAE is the second largest export destination of Goods and Services. Over 3
millions foreign diaspora in UAE are Indians which is the largest population of Indian
expatriates across the world. Further, UAE is an important crude oil suppliers to India.
180
3. Why UAE is important to India?
UAE is located at Strait of Hormuz which is world’s most important oil artery. Thus UAE
becomes strategically important for India’s energy security. Indians living in UAE
contribute to Indian economy through large remittances. Further, UAE has one of the
largest Sovereign Fund in the World and it seeks to invest fund in the National
Infrastructure and Investment fund (NIIF) of India. India also need UAE to contain
Terrorism and Radicalization because UAE is influential nation in Middle East and Muslim
World. Also, after US imposed sanctions on Iran, India needs countries like UAE to import
crude oil.
244. Piyush Goyal chaired the SCO Foreign Trade and Economic
Ministers Meeting.
The Union Commerce and Industries Minister Shri Piyush Goyal chaired the 19th
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign trade and economic ministers meet.
1. Highlights
The Minister addressed the meeting stating that the countries have to strengthen and
open up their Economic Strength in order to enhance trade and investment in the region
so that recovery speed from the covid-19 pandemic is enhanced. The enhanced
cooperation would help in global economic growth as the SCO countries account for 1/7
the of global trade in goods and 1/8th of global trade in commercial services.
2. Adopted Documents
The members of the SCO adopted four documents during the meeting. The documents
include- initiatives on multilateral trading system, intellectual property rights, response
to covid-19 and MSME. It has understated provisions:
3. Significance of SCO to India

The Shanghai cooperation organisation transport ministers meeting was also held on
October 28, 2020. India was represented by the Union Minister of Road Transport and
highways. The connectivity with the Shanghai cooperation organisation countries is
significant to India. India is sincerely involving in connectivity projects such as
Bangladesh-Bhutan-India- Nepal (BBIN) project, India Myanmar Thailand Highway,
Chabahar port, International north south transport corridor and Asghabat Agreement.
245. Ekta Diwas: Prime Minister to participate celebration
Prime Minister will participate in the Ekta Diwas celebrations which will be held on
October 31 in Kevadia, Guajrat.
181
1. About Ekta Diwas
Ekta Diwas or the National Unity Day is celebrated on October 31 every year. This year
Ekta Diwas will be celebrated to commemorate 145th birth anniversary of Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel. The celebrations would be participated by the central reserve armed
forces, police forces of Gujarat state, Indo Tibetan Border Police force, Central industrial
security forces and National Security Guard.
2. Ekta Diwas Celebration

On the occasion, a cultural show of tribal heritage will be organised. The Indian Air Force
will perform a fly past. Prime minister Shri Narendra Modi will also administer the
Rashtriya Ekta pledge during the event. He will also be addressing the 428 civil servants
who are currently undergoing 95th foundation course at Lal Bahadur Shastri National
Academy of Administration, Mussorie. The officers will join the function through video
conference as a culmination of Aarambh 2020. On this occasion, Prime Minister will also
launch the seaplane service which connects the Statue of Unity in kevadiya and
Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad.
246. India offered USD 1 bn credit line to central Asian countries for
priority projects.
India announced to extend USD 1 billion line of credit for priority developmental projects
in central Asian countries on October 28, 2020. India also vow to further expand
cooperation with the resource-rich region including confrontation of the common
challenges of terrorism and extremism.
1. Highlights
 The announcement of the financial assistance was made during the second meeting of the
India-Central Asia Dialogue.
 It also discussed key issues and ways to expand cooperation between the two sides.
 The virtual meeting was chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his counterparts
from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
 The ministers talked about the importance of connectivity for increasing trade, commerce,
people-to-people contacts between India and the Central Asian countries.
2. Ministers on Afghanistan Issue

The ministers called for the Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled peace
process. They showed their interest in strengthening cooperation for the development
and economic reconstruction of Afghanistan through infrastructure, energy, transit and
transport projects. They emphasized to preserve the socio-economic development and
political gains that has been made by Afghanistan in the last 19 years.
3. Joint Statement
The joint statement from the ministers strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms.
They also manifest and reaffirmed the determination of their countries to tackle the
terrorism by destroying terrorist safe-havens, infrastructure, networks and funding
channels. They emphasised on the need for every country in order to ensure that their
respective territory is not used to launch terrorist attacks against other countries.
182
4. Common Problem
There lies the common perspectives on opportunities and challenges. All the central
Asian Countries face a common challenges of terrorism, drug trafficking, extremism and
other such issues. These common issues make these countries a natural partner in their
developmental journey.
5. India’s Stand
India consider Central Asian countries as India’s ‘extended neighborhood’. India and
these countries share a common geography that facilitated continuous exchange of
people, ideas and goods.
6. Central Asian Countries response

The ministers of the Central Asian countries welcomed the provision of financial
assistance. These countries would utilize the priority developmental projects in fields
including the connectivity, IT, energy, education, healthcare and agriculture.
247. US Offered F-18 Fighter Jets For Indian Navy’s Aircraft Carriers.
The United States of America has offered its F-18 naval fighter jets for Indian Navy
aircraft carriers in order to strenghten its ties with India. This announcement came after
the 2+2 ministerial-level talks that happened on October 27, 2020.
1. Highlights
The Indian Navy had also expressed its interest to procure 57 combat jets. The combat
jets would be operated from its aircraft carriers called INS Vikramaditya and the
indigenous aircraft carrier which is under construction. Apart from the F-18 fighter jets,
US has also offered its unmanned aircraft called Sea Guardian to the Indian Navy. The
Indian Navy has also been assessing the F-18 and Rafale’s naval variants. Indian Navy is
looking for other options because its current fighter jets are likely to be replaced by the
end of this decade. The procurement would be a part of Indian Navy’s measure to boost
its present and future requirements for its carrier-based operations.
2. F-18 Fighter Jets

The F-18 fighter jet is a twin-engine, supersonic, all-weather, carrier-capable, multirole
combat jet. It has been designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft. It has been
designed by McDonnell Douglas and Northrop. The jet is also used by the air forces of
several other nations. The jet is highly versatile aircraft due to its avionics, cockpit
displays and excellent aerodynamic characteristics. It can carry a wide variety of
weapons. It can perform fighter escort, fleet air defense, suppression of enemy air
defenses and aerial reconnaissance. In the recent development, the F-18 was offered to
Indian Air Force for its requirement of 126 multirole medium combat aircraft. The F-18
fighter can be operated from the Indian Aircraft carriers.
183
3. India-US 2+2 Dialogue
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark Esper held
talks with their counterparts EAM S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on
October 27, 2020. Both the countries signed the Basic Exchange and Cooperation
Agreement (BECA). The agreement allows India to access precision data, maps,
topographical images, nautical and aeronautical data and other classified satellite data
on a real-time basis from US military satellites. These satellites would help in providing
better accuracy of stand-off weapons such as cruise, ballistic missiles and drones.
248. Rythu Bharosa scheme: Andhra CM distributed Rs 1,115 crore to

50.47 lakh farmers.
The Andhra Pradesh government released the second installment of Rs 1,115 crore
under the Rythu Bharosa scheme. This fund was released by Chief Minister of Andhra
Pradesh YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on October 28, 2020. The fund released under the
scheme would benefit 50 lakh farmers across the state.
1. Highlights
 Under the second phase of the scheme, Rs 4,000 would directly be credited into the bank
accounts of each of the 50.47 lakh farmers.
 In the first phase of the scheme, around Rs 1,115 crore has been directly credited to around
50.47 lakh farmers. This also include Rs 11,500 each to the state’s ROFR patta holders.
 The first installment of Rs 6,173 crore was disbursed in May.
 In the first phase, as many as 49.69 lakh farmers were benefited.
 The government gave Rs 7,500 to each farmer during the first phase of the scheme.
 Apart from the second installment, the YSR government has also released input subsidies
worth Rs 136 crore to 1.6 lakh farmers as compensation or crop loss because of heavy rains
recently.
2. Rythu Bharosa scheme.

It is a welfare scheme for farmers. Under this scheme, the government provides financial
assistance of Rs 13,500 to the farmers every year. Rs 13,500 aid also include Rs 6,000
per year as a component of the Centre’s PM Kisan scheme. The state government has
been providing Rs 13,500 to all tenant farmers and those cultivating forest and assigned
lands. The government deposits the aid in farmer’s account in three installments. The
first installment of Rs 7,500 is credited to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries in May
2020. The second installment of Rs 4000 is deposited in the accounts of the beneficiaries
now while, the third and last installment of Rs 2,000 will be given to the farmers in
January 2021.
October 30, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
184
249. Indian Army develops Secure Messaging Application- ‘SAI’
Indian Army launched a secured messaging application platform called ‘Secure

Application for the Internet’ (SAI) on October 29, 2020. The application was launched In
line with PM Modi’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Mission’.
1. Secure Application for the Internet (SAI)

The mobile application for Android is similar to WhatsApp and Telegram. This will
support end-to-end secure voice, text and video calling services. SAI has been developed
by CERT-in empanelled auditor and Army Cyber Group. SAI will be used by pan Army and
it will ensure secure communication among the Indian Army personnel.
2. Background
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat App Innovation
Challenge’ on July 4, 2020. It facilitated the techies and start-up community to create
world-class ‘Made in India’ Apps. The challenge ran in two tracks including promotion of
existing apps and the development of new apps. The primary aim of the challenge
was to give better visibility and clarity to existing Indian Apps in order to achieve their
goals.
3. What was the need of new mobile application?

Indian Army was facing the issue of security breaches in using the commercial mobile
applications many of which were Chinese Applications. Personal and national security
informations were getting leaked through the applications like Truecaller, Facebook,
Instagram. Inthat regard, the Indian Army had already imposed a ban on using the 89
applications by its personnel.
4. Application development
SAI application was developed by Colonel Shankar of the Indian Army. The application
provides communication links and will also help in infrastructure management. It will
monitor land encroachment and manage cantonment roads. Presently, the monitoring
of Army land and infrastructure development and planning works are carried out
manually which was time consuming and inefficient. The security application for
internet was examined by the army cyber group and Computer Emergency Response
Team (CERT).
250. Telangana launches Dharani portal for land and property

registration
Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao launched first of its kind Dharani Portal at

Muduchintalapalli village in Medchal-Malkajgiri. The portal will be used to store land
records and for property registrations digitally. Thus, the need for a human interface
and eliminating the scope for graft will be abolished. The application would prove to be a
revolutionary system in the Revenue and Registration departments.
185
1. Highlights
Property registrations would now be done without a human interface. Thus, it eliminates
any scope for corruption. For now, the portal has been launched to register only the
agricultural lands. It will also be launched for the non-agricultural lands registration later
this month. TS was the first State in the country to use IT in its Revenue Department.
Already, 1.45 crore acres belonging to around 59 lakh farmers, which were free of
disputes, have been uploaded on the portal.
2. Objective
The portal would make the Telangana state free of land disputes. The ultimate objective
of the government is to give conclusive land titles to the people.
251. Cabinet approves MoC between India-Japan in ICT.
The Union Cabinet approved the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) that was signed
between India and Japan on Cooperation in the field of Information and Communication
Technologies on October 29, 2020.
1. Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC)

The MoC seeks to strengthen cooperation between India and Japan in the field of
communications. This will also help to boost the cooperation in the field of telecom
security, submarine cable, 5G, utilization of latest wireless technologies, Disaster relief,
spectrum management, block chain, standard certification of communication equipment
and cooperation on multilateral platforms. It will further help India to increase its
opportunities to get into Global Standardization Process. It will also promote Indian
human capacity in the field of ICT thus, comply with the objectives of Atma Nirbhar
Bharat Abhiyan.
2. India-Japan recent Cooperation
252. Highlights of the Operation Meri Saheli.
Indian Railways has launched an initiative called “Meri Saheli” on October 29, 2020. The
initiative focuses on action of the security of women across all zones. The primary
objective of the initiative is to provide safety and security to lady passengers travelling
by trains for their entire journey from source station to destination station.
1. Highlights
 This is an initiative of RPF.
 Under the initiative, strategy is to interact with lady passengers especially those travelling
alone.
 A team of young lady RPF personnel would be interacting with the lady passenger at the
source station.
 The lady passengers would be briefed about all precautions to be taken during the journey
and they would be suggested to dial 182 in case they face or see any problem in the coach.
186
 The RPF team will collect only the seat numbers of the ladies and would convey them to
stoppages en-route.
 The platform duty RPF personnel at the stopping stations en-route will keep unobtrusive
watch over the concerned coaches and berths. They would also interact with the lady
passenger if need arises.
 RPF/RPSF escort onboard will also covers all the coaches and identified berths during its duty
period.
 Lastly, the RPF teams at the destination would collect the feedback from the identified lady
passengers. Feedback will then be analysed and corrective action would be taken if needed.
 If any distress call comes from a train covered under “Meri Saheli” initiative, it would be
monitored at the level of senior officers.
2. Background
“Meri Saheli” initiative was started in September 2020 as a pilot project in South Eastern
Railway. After it was encouraged with the response from lady passengers, it was
extended to all zones and KRCL on October 17, 2020.
253. What is SERB – POWER initiative?
Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare, Dr
Harsh Vardhan, launched a Scheme called “SERB-POWER (Promoting Opportunities for
Women in Exploratory Research)” on October 29, 2020. The initiative is exclusively
meant for women scientists on an e-platform.
1. Highlights
 The scheme has been launched by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB).
 It has been launched to mitigate gender disparity in science and engineering research with
in the S&T programs.
 a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India,
has been contemplating to institute a scheme.
2. SERB – POWER Scheme

The scheme has two components- SERB-POWER Fellowship and SERB- POWER Research
Grants.
3. SERB-POWER Fellowship
The scheme targets the women researchers in age group of 35-55 years. The scheme
provides for a fellowship of Rs 15,000/- per month part from regular income, Research
grant of Rs 10 lakh annually and Overhead of Rs 90,000 on annual basis. The duration of
the fellowship would be of Three years.
4. SERB – POWER Research Grants

These POWER Grants seeks to empower women researchers by funding them under two
categories. Under Level I category, scale of funding is up to 60 lakhs for three years
while under Level II category, scale of funding is up to 30 lakhs for three years. The
POWER Grant will be regulated through Science and Engineering Research Board-Core
Research Grant (SERB-CRG) guidelines.
187
5. Search-cum-Selection Committee
The committee was constituted to help in identifying the POWER Fellowship. Programme
Advisory Committee (PAC) mechanism will be used to select the POWER Research
Grants. It has been proposed to institute 25 POWER Fellowships annually.
254. Green Delhi App- launched to redress pollution complaints in Delhi.
The Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, launched the Green Delhi mobile application
on October 29, 2020. This app will be used by citizens to bring into government’s notice
the pollution causing activities. The application can be downloaded from the google play
store.
1. Highlights
The Environment Minister of Delhi, Gopal Rai , had a review meeting on October 27,
2020. The meeting held discussions among the concerned officials from different
departments on the grievance redressal process related to the Green Delhi app. The
meeting was attended by Revenue Department, Public Works Department, Delhi Fire
Service, Nodal officers of Environment Department, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, New
Delhi Municipal Council, Delhi Police, Nodal officers of Delhi Development Authority and
National Highways Authority of India.
2. Green Delhi App

The primary aim of the launch of the app is to keep a check on rising air pollution in
Delhi. It also seeks to bring pollution-causing activities to the state government’s notice.
The app can be used by people to inform the government on the complaints related to
burning waste, industrial pollution and dust in Delhi.
3. Features of the App

The app comprises the photo and video complaint. Citizens can click photos or make
videos of pollution causing activities and upload them on the application. The application
will then identify the location depending upon the pictures and videos. After that, the
app will automatically transfer the complaint to the concerned department for time-
bound redressal. Strict timelines has been made by the Delhi government for each type
of complaint received on the application. The concerned departments would also be
connected with the app thus all the complaints would directly be received by them.
After the complaint has been resolved by the department, they are required to post a
picture of it.
4. Air Quality in Delhi

The air quality of Delhi has started deteriorating since the start of the month October
with the rise of pollutants in the atmosphere. The Air Quality Index data by the Central
Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has categorised the air in poor category.
188
255. Quality control norms for leather footwear released.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has released the
quality control norms on October 27, 2020. The norms has been released for different
leather footwear including anti-riot shoes,
1. New norms
The new norms would also contain imports and production of sub-standard products in
the country. As per these norms, the products will have to comply with the specified
standards and bear the standard mark under a license from the Bureau of Indian
Standards (BIS). The norms says, items cannot be produced, sold or traded, imported
and stocked without the BIS mark. The BIS has been authorized to certify and enforce
the goods.
2. Applicability of norms
The new norms would not be applicable for the Footwear made from leather and other
materials (Quality Control) Order, 2020. Further, it would not be applicable for the
articles that have to be exported.
3. Highlights
The DPIIT department has also issued quality control norms for other goods such as
certain steel items, cables and pressure cooker. Products that are included in the norms
include leather safety boots and shoes, sports footwear, canvas shoes rubber sole and
derby shoes. Quality control norm has also been released for footwear made from all-
rubber and polymeric material and its components. These goods contains industrial and
protective rubber knee and ankle boots, rubber hawai chappal, PVC sandal, rubber
microcellular sheets.
4. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)

It is a national Standards Body of India works under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs,
Food & Public Distribution of Government of India. It was established by the Bureau of
Indian Standards Act, 1986. The BIS came into effect on December 23, 1986.The Minister
in charge of the Ministry or Department is ex-officio President of the BIS.
256. Doing Business in India Report, 2020 released by UKIBC.
The “Doing Business in India Report, 2020” was released by the UK India Business
Council (UKIBC). As per the report the business environment in India is improving and
thus there is a greater opportunity for UK India collaboration in the business field.
1. Key findings
 As per the report, the businesses in UK have found the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Mission as an
opportunity to do more business in India.
 This is the sixth edition of report being published since 2015.
 The report has been prepared on the basis of an in-depth survey of 106 UK firms belonging to
services, manufacturing And Higher Education sector that are operating in India.
 The report highlights that 66% of the surveyed organisations believed that the ease of doing
business in India is increasing. The environment has changed mainly because of progressive
189
reforms and improvements in the business environment of India. The changes were observed
in the availability of support, skilled labour, service providers and supply chain.
 India’s score of doing business has improved to 22.9 in 2020 from 2.74 in 2019.
2. State wise Analysis

Maharashtra has emerged as the state with maximum incremental improvement for the
third consecutive year. Maharashtra is followed by Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat and Tamil
Nadu.
3. Concerns
Report highlights that the frequent obstacles in doing business with India is its legal and
regulatory boundaries, GST issues, high import tariffs, foreign exchange regulations,
and lack of alignment with international standards.
4. Way forward
The council suggests following measures to improve business between India and UK:
October 31, 2020
_____________________________________________________________________________
257. Highlights of the 8th India-Mexico Joint Commission Meeting.
India- Mexico held their 8th Joint Commission Meeting on 29 October 2020. The Meeting
was co-chaired by Dr. S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of Republic of India (EAM)
and H. E. Marcelo Ebrard, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Mexican States.
1. Highlights
 Both the countries reviewed their bilateral cooperation in areas including agriculture,
investment, trade, education, and health.
 The countries agreed to strengthen their partnership with respect to economic strengths,
growing regional and global profile.
 They discussed and agreed to add new areas of cooperation in the fields of Trade and
Commerce, Agriculture, Energy, Space, Health, Science & Technology, Culture & Education .
 The countries also highlighted the importance of the Joint Commission mechanism to deepen
political dialogue and to review bilateral and multilateral co-operation.
 They agreed to utilize their upcoming term in the UN Security Council to strengthen
multilateralism and to make it more representative and effective.
 They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest, including
the post COVID economic recovery plans.
 Lastly, they agreed to coordinate closely on the multilateral platform on the basis of their
views on global and regional issues.
190
2. Background
The fifth meeting of the group was held recently in early October 2020. The countries
discussed about Framework on Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures, Bilateral
Investment Treaty, cooperation in Intellectual Property Rights, Market Access for
Agricultural Products and ways to improve tourism. Memorandum of Understanding were
also signed in the field of Computer Software & Telecommunications, Electronics &
Information Technologies and Foreign Trade, Investment & Technology.
3. India-Mexico relation
India and Mexico enjoys ‘Privileged Partnership’ since 2007. Later, in 2015, both the
countries agreed to work on ‘Strategic Partnership’. After that, the countries have signed
bilateral agreements on Extradition, Space Cooperation, Investment Promotion and
Protection and Administrative assistance in customs matters. Mexico is currently the
largest trading partner of India while India is the ninth most important trading partner of
Mexico. The bilateral trade between them was 10 billion USD in 2018. India exports
gems, textiles, leather, jewellery and chemicals to Mexico while India imports machinery,
petroleum, fertilizers and chemicals from Mexico.
258. NITI Aayog and QCI Launched National Program and Project
Management Policy Framework.
NITI Aayog and Quality Council of India launched the ‘National Program and Project
Management Policy Framework’ (NPMPF). The framework aims to bring radical reforms in
the way infrastructure projects are executed in India.
1. Highlights
 Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
Nitin Gadkari unveiled the Indian Infrastructure Body of Knowledge (InBoK) on the occasion.
 “NPMPF” will help to realise the Prime Minister’s vision of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
 The framework would ensure the quality infrastructure by reduce costs and waste material.
The framework do not compromise on the environment and ecology. It further ensure time-
bound and result-oriented delivery of projects.
 The framework also ensure the accountability, monitoring, transparency, corruption-free
system and a fast-track decision-making process.
2. Aim of the framework

The framework is aimed at formulating the radical reforms with an action plan of:
3. How the initiative would be taken forward?

Under the initiative, a capability development program will be launched to create
awareness on the program and project management. This way, the initiative would also
ensure that it maintains its momentum and makes an impact on projects being planned
and implemented currently.
191
259. What is Euthanasia? – New Zealanders voted in favour of legalising
euthanasia.
New Zealanders have voted in favor of illegalizing the euthanasia for people with a
terminal illness. The decision was taken in the aftermath of campaigners who were
saying that people who are suffering extreme pain should be given a choice of how and
when they want to bring their life to an end.
1. Highlights
The decision of legalizing the euthanasia appeared as a referendum question alongside a
second referendum question of legalizing cannabis on October 17, 2020 general election
ballot paper. The referendum question of legalizing cannabis did not succeed.
2. What is Euthanasia?
Euthanasia is the practice of ending a life to relieve pain and suffering intentionally.
Different countries defines euthanasia differently. In Britain, euthanasia is defined as an
intervention undertaken with the intention of ending life, to relieve intractable
suffering”. While in Netherlands and Belgium, euthanasia is described as “termination of
life by a doctor at the request of a patient”. In Dutch law ‘euthanasia’ term is not
included but there is a concept called “assisted suicide and termination of life on
request”.
3. Categories of Euthanasia
Euthanasia is categorized into voluntary, non-voluntary and involuntary.
4. Euthanasia in India
Passive euthanasia is legal in India under strict guidelines since March 2018. In India,
Patients’ consent is required through a living will. The patient must be either terminally
ill or in a vegetative state. The supreme court of India legalized the passive euthanasia
on 9 March 2018 as a part of the verdict in light of Aruna Shanbaug who had been in a
Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) until her death in 2015.
5. Supreme Court Judgement

The judgement was passed on the plea filed by Pinki Virani in the Supreme Court in
December 2009. The Supreme Court passed two irreversible conditions to permit
Passive Euthanasia Law :
260. Indian Navy fires anti-ship missile from guided missile corvette INS
Kora.
Indian Navy test fired the Anti-Ship Missile (AShM) from INS Kora in Bay of Bengal on
October 30, 2020. The missile was test-fired in the Bay of Bengal and it hit the target
ship at maximum range with the precise accuracy.
192
1. INS Kora
It was commissioned to Indian Navy in 1998. The corvette was designed by the Indian
Navy under Project 25A. It is equipped with Kh-35 anti-ship missiles. There are three
warships of Kora-class- INS Kulish, INS Kirch and INS Karmuk.
2. Anti-ship missile (AShM)

It is a guided missile and has been designed for use against ships and large boats. Most
of the anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety. While some of them use a
combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. The very first anti-ship
missiles were developed and built by Nazi Germany. Those missiles were used for radio
command guidance. Anti-ship missiles can be launched from variety of weapon systems
such as surface warships, submarines, bombers, patrol planes, fighter planes,
helicopters, land vehicles, shore batteries, and conceivably. Some of the important Anti-
Ship Missiles of India include:
3. Recent test fires by India

The Defence Forces of India has been conducting missiles tests frequently from land, air
and water. Recently, on October 23, 2020, the Indian Navy test fired a missile from INS
Prabal which was similar to the launch from INS Kora. Some other missile test fires
include:
261. PM Modi inaugurates “Arogya Van’ at Kevadia, Gujarat.
Prime Minister Modi inaugurated “Arogya Van” in Kevadia, Gujarat on October 30, 2020.
This was launched in the aftermath of Ekta Diwas celebrations which is being observed
on October 31, 2020. The prime minister is on a two day visit to the state and also
participated in the Ekta Diwas celebration.
1. Highlights
The Prime Minister also inaugurated the Sardar Patel Zoological Park which is popularly
known as the “Jungle Safari” in Kevadia. Apart from that, he also inaugurated “Ekta Mall”
which is a nutrition park for children in Kevadia.
2. Arogya Van
The van is spread over 17 acres and has more than 380 selected species. It comprise of
an aroma garden, a lotus pond, yoga and meditation garden. It also have a digital
information centre, indoor plant selection and a cafeteria that serves Ayurvedic foods.
Apart from that, the van comprise of hundreds of medicinal plants. The van also provide
the information of usage and importance of the medicinal plants.
193
3. Significance
The Arogya Van will help India to preserve its traditional plant species and its
applications. The diet of India was full of green leafy vegetables, fruits, pulses, grains,
milk and eggs, traditionally Herbs were naturally added to support human livings and to
enhance the taste of the food as well. But the increasing importance of western food
culture system (Junk foods) in the country has created nutritional imbalances among
children. As a result, India is at the verge of losing several traditional plant species. In
order to conserve the traditional plants, the van becomes significant.
262. Centre has decided to import potatoes to control price rise.
The central government has allowed the import of 10 lakh tonnes of potatoes on October
29, 2020 in order to control the rising prices. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade
(DGFT) notified about this decision.
1. Highlights
 The Union Minister of Consumer Affairs Piyush Goyal further informed that the centre is
taking several steps to moderate the rising potato prices.
 India will now import fresh and chilled potatoes from Bhutan without license. The norm of
importing potatoes license will be valid up to January 31, 2021. Earlier, the imports of
potatoes were restricted.
 Import duty on potato has also been reduced by the centre to 10% from 30%.
 The procedure for import of potatoes has also been eased till January 31, 2021 by the DGFT.
This has been done by cancelling the need to send hard copies of application through mail or
post.
 When the applicants are accepted, they will require to ensure that the import consignments
reach the Indian ports on or before January 31, 2021. There will be no request for an
extension of time.
 Apart from that, centre has also decided to import 25,000 tonnes of onions before Diwali in
addition to the 7,000 tonnes of onions that NAFED has already procured through private
importers.
2. National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED)

It is an apex organization of marketing cooperatives for agricultural produce. NAFED was
founded on October 2, 1958 in order to promote the trade of agricultural produce and
forest resources in India. It has been registered under Multi State Co-operative Societies
Act. It is one of the largest procurement and marketing agencies for agricultural
products. It has been headquartered in New Delhi. It has four regional offices at Delhi,
Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata and 28 zonal offices. NAFED is the nodal agency that
implement price stabilization measures under the Operation Greens.
263. Indian Air Force test fired air launched version of BrahMos missile.
The Indian Air Force, on October 30, 2020, has successfully test fired an air-launched
version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. The cruise missile was test-fired from
194
the Sukhoi fighter aircraft in the Bay of Bengal. The missile successfully hit a sinking ship
with pin-point accuracy.
1. Highlights
The Sukhoi fighter jet that belongs to Tigersharks squadron took off from a frontline air
base in Punjab. The missile was refueled in the mid-air before the missile was air
launched. It was fired after Su-30 MKI aircraft covered a long distance and travelled for
over three hours before it was test fired. The missile has been test fired in the midst of
India-China border standoff along LAC in eastern Ladakh.
2. Significance of BrahMos Missile

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has integrated with the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile for
over 40 Sukhoi fighter jets. It has been done with an aim to bolster the overall combat
capability of the force. The missile will provide IAF the capability to strike from large
stand-off ranges at any target in the sea or on the land with pinpoint accuracy. The
missile will work at any time of the day in all weather conditions.
3. Background
The air-launched version of the BrahMos missile was successfully test-fired in May 2019
from a Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft. The missiles are being produced by BrahMos Aerospace
under an India-Russian joint venture. These missiles can be launched from different
platforms such as land, aircraft, submarines and ships. India has inducted a number of
the original BrahMos missiles. These missiles have been deployed at strategic locations
along India’s border with China in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh.
264. Highlights of Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2020 for

Rural India.
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) for Rural India was recently released by
the autonomous research and assessment unit Pratham Education Foundation. This
year, the survey was conducted over phone calls. The survey was carried out in 26
states and 4 Union Territories. It surveyed around 52,227 households and 59,251
children in the age group of 5-16 years. It also surveyed 8963 teachers and principals.
1. Key Findings
 Around 47.4 percent of surveyed children had access to smartphones in West Bengal.
 In Jammu Kashmir 77.1 percent of the children has access to smartphones.
 Punjab had 88 percent, Himachal had 90 percent while Haryana had 82.3 percent children
had access smartphones. Kerala topped the list with 94.3 percent.
 The survey highlighted that around 20 percent of children in rural areas had no access to
textbooks.
 In Andhra Pradesh, less than 35 percent of children had access to textbooks.
 Eastern India performed well as over 98 percent children had access to textbooks in states
like West Bengal, Nagaland, and Assam.
 As per the survey, around one in three rural children had not involved in learning activity at
all.
195
 3 percent of rural children aged 6-10 years had not yet enrolled in school this year, the report
highlighted.
2. World Bank’s Report

As per the report by World Bank, prolonged closure of schools amid the Covid-19
pandemic in India will result into loss of over $400 billion in the future earnings.
196

October, 2020

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

October, 2020

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

October, 2020

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

@GKTodayQuizBot on Telegram

Current Affairs [PDF] - October 1-31, 2020

Last Updated: November 11, 2020

October 12, 2020

October 13, 2020

October 14, 2020

October 15, 2020

October 16, 2020

October 17, 2020

October 19, 2020

October 20, 2020

October 21, 2020

October 22, 2020

October 23, 2020

October 24, 2020

October 26, 2020

October 27, 2020

October 28, 2020

October 29, 2020

October 30, 2020

October 31, 2020

1. Why Kotaiah family demanding GI tag for ‘Kakinada kaja’?

2. “International Day of Older Persons” is observed on October 1.

3. Data across the world

4. Approach under “Decade of Healthy Ageing”

3. What is ISRO Venus Mission for 2025?

4. Indian Coast Guard Vessel ICGS “Karnaklata Barua” commissioned in

2. Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE)

3. Indian Coast Guard

4. Coast Guard Stations in India

2. Other Key Findings of the report

3. National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB)

6. E-launch of ASIIM- “Ambedkar Social Innovation & Incubation Mission”

1. Venture Capital Fund for SCs (VCF-SC)

4. Other Mission of China

8. Science and Technology Ministry launched CSIR Technologies for

2. Unnat Bharat Abhiyan

9. ‘Swachhata ke 6 saal, Bemisaal’ : MoHUA to celebrate Six Years of

2. Swachh Bharat Mission- Achievements

2. Tribes India e-Marketplace

4. Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED)

11. International Day of Non-Violence on October 2.

The International Day of Non-Violence is observed on October 2 to commemorate the

12. How Defence Ministry’s procurement of 10 lakh hand grenades from

2. Loopholes in the Indian Defence System

13. SC: Overtime Wages should not be denied to labourers during

1. What was the issue?

2. Supreme court’s judgement

3. Section 5 of the factories act 1948

14. Why are Azerbaijan and Armenia fighting?

15. India-Myanmar reviewed their Bilateral Relations

2. Importance of Myanmar to India

3. Indian Projects In Myanmar

16. Ayush Grid to be integrated with National Digital Health Mission

2. Ayush Grid Project

17. Data Governance Quality Index: Department of Fertilizers ranked

2. About The Survey

18. PM Modi to inaugurate Global Summit on AI- “RAISE 2020”

19. Is “Purified Antisera” a potential treatment for COVID-19?