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CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS
World Mental Health Day
- World Mental Health Day, observed on 10th October every year
- World Mental Health Day is organized by the World Federation for Mental Health
- This year’s Day is supported by WHO, the International Association for Suicide Prevention, and United for Global Mental Health
- This year, World Mental Health Day is focusing on suicide prevention. Keeping this in mind, the WHO has launched an intervention-based campaign — ‘40 seconds of action’.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL
Cabinet Approvals
- Approval was given for the relaxation of the mandatory requirement of Aadhaar seeded data as a pre-condition for release of funds to the beneficiaries under the PradhanMantriKisanSammanNidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme till 30th November, 2019.
- The scheme provides income support of Rs 6,000 per year to landholding families, subject to certain exclusions in three 4-monthly installments of Rs 2,000 each directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode. First installment was from December 2018-March 2019, second installment from April-July 2019 and third installment from August- November 2019.
- MoUs signed between India and Foreign Broadcasters in the field of radio and television
- It will help public broadcasters in exploring new visions; New Strategies to address the demands of new technologies and stiff competition; Media liberalization and globalization. It will lead to equity and inclusiveness among viewer/listeners of Doordarshan (DD) and All India Radio (AIR). It will also help in exchanges of technical know-how, expertise and training of manpower.
- Approval was given for the apprise of the progress under the National Health Mission (NHM) and its decisions of the Empowered Programme Committee (EPC) and Mission Steering Group (MSG) of the NHM.
- On the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC), an approval was given to release an additional installment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners with effect from 01.07.2019 representing an increase of 5% over the existing rate of 12% of the Basic pay/Pension to 17%, to compensate for price rise.
- The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both DA and DR would be Rs. 15909.35 crore per annum and Rs. 10606.20 crore in the financial year 2019-20 (for a period of 08 months from July 2019 to February 2020) which will benefit about 49.93 lakh Central Government employees and 65.26 lakh, pensioners.
- Approval was given for the inclusion of5,300 Displaced Persons (DP) families of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K)- 1947 who initially opted to move outside the state of J&K but later on returned and settled in the state of J&K, in the Rehabilitation Package approved by the Cabinet on 30.11.2016 for Displaced Families PoJK and Chhamb under the Prime Minister’s (PM) Development Package 2015 for J&K.
Government launches Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship Programme with IIM Bangalore
- Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) signed a contract with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore for introducing a two-year fellowship programme Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) programme to boost skill development at the district level
- Designed under Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) the fellowship aims to address the challenge of non-availability of personnel for implementation of various programmes at national, state and district levels.
- The MGNF programme has an in-built component of on-ground practical experience with the district administration.
- Launched on a pilot basis in 75 districts across Gujarat, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, eligible fellows for the programme have to be in 21-30 years age-group, have a graduation degree from a recognized university and be citizens of India. Proficiency in official language of state of fieldwork will be mandatory.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship |
| Union Minister | MahendraNathPandey |
| Constituency | Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh |
Jaishankar inaugurates tele-education, tele-medicine projects for African countries
- External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar inaugurated tele-education and tele-medicine project for African countries in New Delhi.
- The EAM inaugurated e-VidyaBharti and e-ArogyaBharti (tele-education and tele-medicine project) for African countries on the occasion of the 55th Anniversary of India’s flagship capacity building programme – Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC).
- The project(s) will enable African students to access premier Indian education through the comforts of their homes and offer Indian medical expertise to African doctors and patients alike
| Ministry of External Affairs |
| Union Minister | S Jaishankar |
| Constituency | RajyaSabha (Gujarat) |
Dr Harsh Vardhan launches initiative ‘SurakshitMatritvaAashwasan’ in New Delhi
- Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan along with several State Health Ministers launched SurakshitMatritvaAashwasan (SUMAN), initiative during the 13th Conference of Central Council of Health and Family Welfare(CCHFW) in New Delhi
- The initiative aims at assuring dignified, respectful and quality health care at no cost and zero tolerance for denial of services for every woman and newborn visiting the public health facility in order to end all preventable maternal and newborn deaths.
- After inaugurating the 13th CCHFW, Dr Vardhan urged the participating Health Ministers from states to increase healthcare spending to a minimum 8 per cent of their state budget so as to meet the goals of healthcare spending of National Health Policy 2017- 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2025.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Ministry of Health and Family Welfare |
| Union Minister | Harsh Vardhan |
| Constituency | ChandniChowk, Delhi |
38th India Carpet Expo in Varanasi
- The Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) is organizing the 38thIndia Carpet Expo (15thin Varanasi) in Sampurnanand Sanskrit University Ground
- The Export was organized with an aim to promote the cultural heritage and weaving skills of Indian hand-made carpets and other floor coverings for the visiting overseas carpet buyers.
- India carpet expo is aplatform for international carpet buyers, buying houses, buying agents, architects and Indian carpet manufacturers andexporters to meet and establish business relationship.
- The Expo is organized twice a year in Varanasi and Delhi.
- The Carpet Export Promotion Council has 2700 members from all over the country
- The major carpet producing centres in India are in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, North East Region of India, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Uttar Pradesh Capital | Lucknow |
| Uttar Pradesh CM | Yogi Adithiyanath |
| Uttar Pradesh Governor | Anandiben Patel |
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING AND FINANCE
Fintech start-up Shubh Loans gets NBFC licence from RBI
- Fintech start-up Shubh Loans has received a licence from the Reserve Bank of India to set up a non-banking financial company.
- The company said the licence has been received through the subsidiary — Ekagrata — of its parent company Datasigns Technologies.
- Shubh Loans has already raised series A2 funding of Rs.34 crore ($4.8 million) from Omidyar Network India.
- Shubh Loans, which is fast changing the way loans are disbursed and making credit accessibility easier, is set to implement NBFC compliant frameworks and governance processes
RBI mandates internal ombudsman by large non-bank digital wallets
- The RBI has mandated the creation of an internal ombudsman by non-bank issuers of prepaid payments wallets.
- Only issuers with more than 10 million (1 crore) prepaid payments instruments outstanding will be covered by this directive.
- Thus major digital wallet providers such Amazon Pay, Mobikwik or PhonePe are likely to fall under this ambit.
- Some major issuers such as Paytm which has a payments bank license will be covered by the banking ombudsman instead.
- The RBI’s objective is create swift and cost-effective mechanism for grievance redressal and create an additional tier for resolving complaints. The Central Bank is set to issue detailed instructions in this regard on 15th October 2019.
- The new internal ombudsman proposed by the RBI is likely to help providers and customers resolve complaints internal.
| USEFUL INFO |
| RBI Headquarters | Mumbai |
| RBI Governor | Shaktikant Das |
| RBI Deputy Governor | BP Kanungo, N S Vishwanathan, and Mahesh Kumar Jain |
Expanding and Deepening of Digital Payments Ecosystem
- RBI has been decided that all State/ UT Level Bankers Committees (SLBCs/ UTLBCs) shall identify one district in their respective States/ UTs on a pilot basis in consultation with banks and stakeholders.
- The identified district shall be allotted to a bank having significant footprint which will endeavour to make the district 100% digitally enabled within one year, in order to enable every individual in the district to make/ receive payments digitally in a safe, secure, quick, affordable and convenient manner.
- This would, inter alia, include providing the necessary infrastructure and literacy to handle such transactions.
- SLBCs/ UTLBCs shall endeavour to ensure that to the extent possible, districts identified are converged with the ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ programme of the Government of India.
- The allotment of the identified district to a bank should be done, as far as possible, through mutual consultation and voluntary acceptance by the bank.
Reliance Nippon Life AMC Renamed As Nippon India Mutual Fund
- Japan’s Nippon Life Insurance Co. has renamed its joint venture with Reliance Capital Ltd. after buying out the latter’s stake in the business.
- It now plans to recapture the market share the mutual fund house had lost in the past few years, Nippon India Mutual Fund’s Chief Executive Officer is SundeepSikka.
- This Asset Management Company (AMC) has been acquired by Japan’s largest life insurance company Nippon Life Insurance by acquiring 75 percent stake in the company, allowing Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Capital to exit from the mutual funds business.
- In Reliance Mutual Fund, both Reliance Capital and Nippon Life held 42.88 percent stake each, while the rest was with public shareholders.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE
Goa replaces traditional 100 dial with new 112
- The Goa government has launched ”112” as the new integrated emergency number for police, fire and medical emergencies replacing the traditional dial number ”100”.
- In the first phase, the dial ”112” service will cover only police department.
- Fire and medical services would be brought under the new dial number in the second phase. The service has been launched with the help of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs
| USEFUL INFO |
| Goa Capital | Panaji |
| Goa CM | PramodSawant |
| Goa Governor | MridulaSinha |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION
Antonio Costa re-elected as the PM of Portugal
- Antonio Costahas been re-elected as the Prime Minister of Portugal after winning the general elections.
- Antonio Costa, the Socialist leader and incumbent prime minister, got the most votes in Portugal’s general election, leaving it poised to continue leading the government for another four years.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Portugal Capital | Lisbon |
| Portugal Currency | Euro |
| Portugal Prime minister | Antonio Costa |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS
Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to 3 scientists for development of lithium-ion batteries
- The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been jointly awarded to John B Goodenough of the US, Britain’s M Stanley Whittingham and Japan’s Akira Yoshino for the development of lithium-ion batteries.
- The lithium-ion batteries have reshaped energy storage and transformed cars, mobile phones and many other devices in an increasingly portable and electronic world. The award was announced by Göran K Hansson, Secretary General of The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
- Lithium-ion batteries are used in everything from mobile phones to laptops and electric vehicles.
Salford University honours AshaBhosle with doctorate degree
- Ace singer AshaBhosle was conferred with an honorary doctorate on Monday by the University of Salford in Greater Manchester, England.
- Fondly called ‘Asha Tai’, the songstress has won several other prestigious awards including the Guinness Book of World Records as the most recorded artist in music history, in 2011.
- Bhosle has been a recipient of the DadasahebPhalke Award in 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2008.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : MOU
BSE joins hands with Ficci to enhance MSME and start-up environment
- To enhance MSME and startup environment, leading stock exchange BSE in association with Ficci organised a brainstorming session to identify gaps in the existing policies and make suggestions for robust policies.
- Besides, the session was organised to promote UdyamSaathi and UdyamSakhi initiatives to foster the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector.
- The MSMEs were invited to present their summary of ideas and suggestions as well as discuss their main issues of concern to the ministry.
- Around 40 stakeholders, including 20 MSMEs, participated at the event
CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE
India formally gets the first Rafale fighter jet
- The first India specific Rafale multi-role combat aircraft was symbolically handed over to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at a ceremony in Bordeaux, France.
- 36 such combat jets have been acquired by the Indian Air Force which will be delivered by April-May 2022.
- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also called on French President Emmanuel Macron and held strategic delegation level discussions with France’s Armed Forces minister Florence Parly.
- Rafale is a twin-jet fighter aircraft that operates from both an aircraft carrier and airbase. Dassault describes it as a fully versatile aircraft for all combat aviation missions. It delivers air superiority and air defence, close air support, in-depth strikes, reconnaissance, anti-ship strikes and nuclear deterrence.
- India had ordered 36 Rafale fighter jets from France in a deal worth Rs 59,000 crore in September 2016. The first batch of four Rafale jets will fly to their home base in India by May 2020. All 36 jets are expected to arrive in India by September 2022. The IAF has been readying infrastructure and training pilots.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS
Germany’s Bastian Schweinsteiger announces retirement from football
- Germany’s World Cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger has announced his retirement from football.
- Schweinsteiger spent most of his career at Bayern Munich and was able to win eight Bundesliga titles, seven German Cups and Champions league in 2013
- The 35-year-old played over 300 matches for Bayern, managing to score 45 goals from 2002-2015.
- While playing for Germany, he played over 121 matches and registered 24 goals. He was also a part of the team’s World Cup-winning squad.