India-ASEAN Start-Up Festival

PM Narendra Modi has proposed an India-ASEAN start-up festival on 28 October.

Highlights:

This announcement was made at the “18th India-ASEAN Summit,” a virtual conference of ASEAN leaders.

On the occasion, the Prime Minister also urged for an early revision of the ASEAN-India (FTA) in goods, which India has been requesting for Indian companies to obtain better market access in the ASEAN area.

For India to solve the problem of non-tariff obstacles that Indian firms experience, ASEAN support for a revision of the FTA is critical.

The India-ASEAN start-up festival has been announced as part of India and ASEAN’s friendship year celebrations in 2022.

World Vegan Day Is Celebrated On 1 November

Every year on November 1st, the world celebrates World Vegan Day.

Highlights:

This day is observed to raise awareness of the advantages of veganism for humans, non-human animals, and the Environment.

Vegan Day is a chance to raise awareness about the advantages of a vegan diet and veganism in general.

Louise Wallis, then-Chair of The Vegan Society in the United Kingdom, launched the day in 1994 to honor the 50th anniversary of the organization’s inception and the coining of the terms “vegan” and “veganism.”

Donations to national parties plunged 41.49% in 2020-21 against previous year: ADR

The donations that recognised national parties received during financial year 2020-21 decreased by over 420 crore, a sharp fall of 41.49% from the previous fiscal.

Donations to the BJPdecreased from 785.77 crore during FY 2019-20 to 477.54 crore during FY 2020-21 a fall of 39.23%. The party’s donations had increased by 5.88% during FY 2019-20 in comparison to FY 2018-19, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said in a statement.

Thedonations received by Congressplunged from 139.016 crore during FY 2019-20 to 74.524 crore during FY 2020-21 — a reduction of 46.39%.

Its donations had decreased by 6.44% between FY 2018-19 and FY 2019-20, the statement said.

A total of over 246 crore was donated to the national parties from Delhi, followed by 71.68 crore from Maharashtra and over 47 crore from Gujarat.

The corporate and the business sector made 1,398 donations to the national parties amounting to 480.655 crore over 80% of the total donations while 2,258 individual donors contributed 111.65 crore or 18.804% of the total to these parties during FY 2020-21.

Naari adalat to be set up in a phased manner

The Ministry of Women and Child Development will implement naari adalat (womens courts) led by womens collectives in the country in a phased manner as an alternate grievance redressal mechanism to resolve petty disputes at the gram panchayat level.

The scheme is part of the Ministry guidelines for the Mission Shakti umbrella scheme. The umbrella scheme comprises of sub-schemes for womens safety and Empowerment.

In the beginning, the scheme will be launched in some States and Union Territories, preferably in aspirational districts where elected women representatives head gram panchayat, according to the guidelines.

In the first year, there will be an awareness drive regarding legal, constitutional rights and entitlements. In the second year, a formal set up of women collectives with seven to 11 members will be provided in order to address socio- economic and cultural issues faced by women.

Proposed online gaming policy to catalyze innovation, protect gamers rights

The proposed framework for online gaming in India will catalyse innovation while protecting gamers rights, privacy and safety, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said.

Mr. Chandrasekhar termed online gamers important stakeholders and said that their views will be taken into consideration when the government comes up with a final framework for online games.

The government has set up an inter-ministerial panel to work on regulations for the online gaming and identify a nodal ministry to look after the sector.

IIT-Kanpur to establish network of air-quality sensors to measure pollution in rural India

To bolster measurement of Air Pollution in rural India, the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur, is embarking on a $2.5 million project (19 crore) to install nearly 1,400 sensors in rural blocks of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The three-year pilot project is expected to pave the way for a national Network of air quality sensors in rural India.

Air pollution in India is largely framed as an urban blight though causes of pollution, such as burning, and reliance on diesel gensets for electricity are worsening air quality in villages too.

In 2019, the government launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) to achieve 20-30% reduction in particulate matter (PM) air pollution by 2024 with 2017 as the Base Year for comparison. This however is primarily aimed at 122 cities that have been categorised as Indias most polluted cities.

Under NCAP, 375.44 crore was provided to 114 cities from 2018-19 to 2020-21 and 290 crore was allocated to 82 cities for the financial year 2021-2022. The programme has an allocation of 700 crore envisaged for 2021-26. However interim analysis by independent bodies have found that theres been minimal reduction so far in PM trends under NCAP and that pollution-reduction targets remain elusive.

NASAs Lucy Mission- Key Facts

Spacecraft will be launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida on October 16, 2021.

This spacecraft would obtain new insights into the formation of Solar System 4.5 billion years ago.

The spacecraft has been named as Lucy. It was named after an ancient fossil which provided insights into the evolution of human species.

Mission Lucy will be launched with the objective of investigating the group of rocky bodies that are circling the Sun in two swarms- one preceding Jupiter and the other trailing behind it.

Mission Lucy will go for a 12-year journey after receiving boosts from Earths gravity. 12-year journey will be completed across eight different asteroids including one in Main Belt between Mars & Jupiter and seven Trojans. Spacecraft will fly by its target objects within 400 kilometres of their surfaces. It will use onboard instruments and large antenna to investigate the geology of target objects. It will be the first solar-powered spacecraft at a distance of 400 kms. Total cost of the mission is $981 million.

This programme will provide an opportunity to content creators, on its platform and Instagram, to learn, earn and grow their communities.

While addressing the 2021 edition of Creator Day India, Instagram Head Adam Mosseri noted that India is one of the fastest growing markets for photo sharing and short video platform.

India has become the best place for creators to grow and make a living. So, Facebook has planned to do this by developing a range of creative tools in order to democratise expression. For instance, Reels is a great example of democratised creativity. On an Average, more than 6 millionReelsare produced in India per day.

Social Media platform is also introducing monetisation tools in order to help creators earn through content.

Poetry Festival will be organised at Jain College auditorium to mark Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti.

Event will also feature a book exhibition.

It is National Academy of Letters in India. This organisation is dedicated towards promotion of literature in different languages. It was founded on March 12, 1954. Its headquarter is located in Rabindra Bhavan, Mandi House in Delhi. The organisation held national & regional workshops & seminars and provides research & travel grants to the authors. It also publishes books & journals as well as the Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature.

Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) has moved out the public sector lenderIndian Overseas Bank(IOB) from Prompt Corrective Action(PCA) framework after its financial and credit profile improved.

This decision provides lender more freedom to lend, especially to corporations and grow the Network.

IOB was placed under PCA in October 2015 because of high Net-Performing Assets (NPAs) and negative Return on Assets (RoA).

It was stopped from increasing risk-weighted assets.

Under the PCA framework, RBIimposes several business restrictions onbankswith weak financial metrics. The nature and degree of curbs are decided on the basis of threshold and depends on the financial profile of individual bank.

Union Cabinet has approved the continuation of PM POSHAN scheme in Schools, which is a Centrally Sponsored National Scheme.

PM POSHAN scheme would run for five more years. It will run from 2021-2022 to 2025-26.

Scheme has been approved with a financial outlay of 54,062 crore rupees from the Central Government.

State Government and Union Territories administrations have sanctioned an outlay of 31,733 crore rupees.

In this phase, scheme will cover around 11.80 crore children studying across 11.20 lakh schools.

Central Government will further bear an additional cost of 45,000 crore rupees to provide food grains to these children.

Total budget of the scheme is 1,30,795 crore rupees.

PM POSHAN is a revamped version of Mid-Day Meal Scheme, which stands for PM Poshan Shakti Nirman. With the new nomenclature, Centre has initiated a major political push towards child Nutrition. This scheme will cover around 24 lakh students, who are receiving pre-primary Education at government schools and government-aided schools, from the year 2022.

Right Livelihood Award 2021 was conferred to Delhi-based environmental organisation Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE). This award is also known as Swedens alternative Nobel Prize.

LIFE has received the award for its grassroots approach to empower vulnerable communities in protecting their livelihoods and claiming their right for a clean environment.

Other awardees include:

Cameroonian Women rights activist Marthe Wandou,

Environmental activist from Russia, Vladimir Slivyak and

Indigenous rights defender from Canada, Freda Huson.

Right Livelihood Award was established by Ole von Uexkull who happens to be the executive director of Right Livelihood. The award honours and supports people in solving global problems. It comprises of a cash prize of 1 million Swedish crowns and a long-term support that highlights and expands Laureates work.

New Initiative by Election Commission

The Commission launched a new initiative on August 26, 2021 in order to reach out to new voters through sending them a customized letter alongside a voter identification card.

Highlights:

Initiative was launched by Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.

Under the new initiative, a package would be sent to new voters which will encompass voter information for new voters alongside with a congratulatory letter except a pledge for moral voting.

Avani Lekhara won medal in womens 10m Air Rifle Standing (SH1) event

She is a 19-year-old Lekhara and created a record at Paralympics by equalling the world record of Ukraines Iryna Shchetnik.

Iryna Shchetnik had a record score of 249.6 in 2018.

Avani became the first Indian woman to win first gold medal at Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

India has won 19 medals so far across all 11 editions of Tokyo Paralympics Games since 1960. It comprises of 5 gold, 8 silver, and 6 bronze.

Survey on India Dimension – INDIAsize

The Ministry of Textile and National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) launched an India dimension survey, to do away with the size confusion. It has been titled as INDIAsize. The survey used to be formally launched on August 26, 2021.

Highlights:

This initiative was once launched with the intention of introducing a new standardised dimension chart in ready-to-wear garb zones in India.

This project used to be introduced in February 2019. However, it was delayed because of covid-19 pandemic.
New sizing chart will include a measurement identification number. It will be created by mapping, categorising and defining the physique measurement and type.

Ease 4.0 by Finance Ministry

FM unveiled the 4th version of Public Sector Bank (PSB) Reforms Agenda EASE 4.0.

Highlights:

PSB reforms agenda EASE (Enhanced Access and Service Excellence) was launched primarily based on the pointers made by PSB Whole Time Directors (WTDs) and senior executives in PSB Manthan in November 2017.

It encapsulates a synergistic method to make certain prudent and smooth lending, better purchaser service, simplified and superior credit, and robust Governance and HR practices.

The Reforms Agenda is pursued thru a unique Reforms Index that enabled objective evaluation of Growth on all key areas in PSBs viz., governance, prudential lending, hazard management, technology- and data-driven Banking, and outcome-centric HR as properly as more advantageous in the wider financial ecosystem.

EASE 1.0 was launched for FY 2019 and the 2d version for FY 2020.

The fourth edition EASE four objectives similar to the agenda of customer-centric digital transformation and deeply embed digital and statistics into PSBs approaches of working.