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INDIAN AFFAIRS
Overview of first National Nutrition Survey conducted between February 2016 and October 2018
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with the assistance of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) conducted the first National Nutrition Survey. It was conducted between February 2016 and October 2018 to measure malnutrition, including micronutrient deficiencies through biochemical measures such as blood and urine samples, anthropometric data as well as details of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol and kidney function in children and adolescents.
- Tamil Nadu and Goa had the highest number of adolescents (aged 10-19) who were either obese or overweight.
- Goa had the most obese adolescents…………………….Click here to Read more
NeGD&MeitY signed MoU with Bhopals’s NLIU in New Delhi on implementation of cyber law programmes
On September 30, 2019 the National eGovernance Division (NeGD), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) & The National Law Institute University (NLIU), Bhopal together have signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) in New Delhi for implementation of ‘Online Capacity Building Programme on Cyber Law, Crime Investigation and Digital Forensics through NeGD Learning Management System (LMS)’.
Key points
i. Programme goal: The goal of this programme is to enable Police Officers, State Cyber Cells, Law Enforcement Agencies(LEA), Prosecutors and Judicial Officers to acquire adequate skills in dealing with Cyber Forensics cases as per the Indian Cyber Law, as there has been an increased rate of cybercrimes in recent years posing major challenge for the LEA.
ii. Programme& Collaboration: The programme is an initiative providing 9-month online PG(Post Graduate) Diploma Courses in Cyber law, Crime Investigation & Digital Forensics to officials through Learning Management System (LMS) by NeGD, under the Digital India Programme in collaboration with NLIU Bhopal. On successful completion of the course, candidates will be awarded the PG Diploma Certificate…………………….Click here to Read more
Trade apprentices to get minimum monthly stipend based on qualification ranging from Rs 5000 to 9000
On October 1, 2019 during the State Ministers’ Conference on Skill Development in New Delhi, the Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) Mahendra Nath Pandey announced the Govt’s notification that minimum stipend payable to trade apprentices according to the Apprenticeship (Amendment) Rules, 2019 will be ranging from Rs 5000-9000 per month based on qualification.
Key points
i. Apprentice engagement eligibility: By the Apprenticeship (Amendment) Rules, 2019, hiring limit of apprentices have been raised to 15% of the total strength of an establishment and employees having minimum of 4 workers are eligible to engage apprentices while it was minimum of 6 workers before the present amendment. Size-limit of an establishment with a mandatory obligation to engage apprentices on an optional basis has been lowered from 40 to 30.
ii. The Apprenticeship (Amendment) Rules, 2019 envisages the changes made in the Apprenticeship Rules (1992) that looks into increasing skilled manpower in the country, and raise monetary compensation of apprentices.
iii. Shri Pandey also stressed the need to create state level to village level KaushalMitra for skill development purposes. With this, the number of apprenticeships are expected to rise to 2.6 lakh as compared to 60,000 at present.
About MSDE:
♦ Founded: 9 November 2014.
♦ Headquarters- New Delhi.
♦ Minister of State(MoS)- Shri Raj Kumar Singh(constituency- Arrah, Bihar)
♦ Other ministries of Raj Kumar Singh(RK Singh)-MoS (independent charge) of the ministry of power,MoS (independent charge) of the ministry of new and renewable energy.
♦ MahendraNath Pandey constituency- Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh
Ten-day Mysuru Dasara festival inaugurated in Karnataka
On September 29, 2019 Kannada novelist Dr. S L Bhyrappa inaugurated the ten-day MysuruDasara festival in presence of Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and other dignitaries. This festival will comprise of cultural programmes, sports events inaugurated by Indian Badminton player PV Sindhu, wrestling competitions and would culminate(conclude) with a grand elephant procession on Vijayadashmi.
Key points
i. This year, the birth centenary celebration of the erstwhile ruler of Mysore JayachamarajaWadiyar is included in the Dasara festival.
ii. Ranu Mondal, who rose to stardom for her singing capabilities after her singing video at the Kolkata Railway Station went viral, will be honoured on the occasion.
About Karnataka:
♦ Capital- Bengaluru
♦ Governor- VajubhaiVala.
BANKING & FINANCE
Interest rates of PPF, NSC, SSY and other small savings scheme remain unchanged for Q3 FY 19-20
The Union Ministry of Finance in a circular dated September 30, 2019 notified that the interest rates of post office small savings schemes, including that of Public Provident Fund (PPF), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY), National Savings Certificate (NSC) and Senior Citizen Savings Scheme remain unchanged for the third quarter (Q3) October to December of the current financial year 2019-20.
i. Reasons for no change: Increase in the budget’s fiscal deficit (3.3% of GDP-Gross Domestic Product) and reduction in the corporate tax rates.
ii. The formula to arrive at the interest rates of the small savings scheme was given by the Shyamala Gopinath Committee which recommended that the interest rates of different schemes should be 25-100 bps higher than the yields of the government bonds of similar maturity………………………Click here to Read more
Public sector banks (PSBs) will have uniform timings across all states
With all Public Sector Banks (PSBs) having banking hours at their convenience, the integrated working hours have been introduced by the Indian Department of Financial Services. The banks will commence service at 10 am on the basis of the new timing starting , 1 October 2019. Lunch breaks are allowed in the afternoon, between 2.00 and 2.30.
i. However, Mizoram, Nagaland and Madhya Pradesh have the most common timing change. It is reported that banks in Mizoram and Nagaland operate between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm and in Madhya Pradesh, bank timings are 10:30 am to 4:30 pm.
ii. The timings for Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Sikkim and Andaman and Nicobar are yet to be fixed…………………Click here to Read more
India’s CAD limited at 2% of GDP for the first quarter of 2019-20: RBI
As per the data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to $ 14.3 billion or 2% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the first quarter(April – June) of 2019-20 due to lower crude oil prices, higher income from invisible businesses such as services.
Key points:
i. Reduction: The CAD had fallen from $ 15.8 billion (2.3 % of GDP) in the first quarter of 2018-19. However, the gap was bigger than the preceding quarter (March quarter) which was $ 4.6 billion (0.7 % of GDP) as well.
ii.Reason: The main reason for the reduction in CAD on an annual basis is higher receipts from invisible items (Foreign exchange, financial assets, labor and property, and income from current transfers through services). It was $ 31.9 billion during the period, compared to $ 29.9 billion in the same quarter a year ago.
iii. Net foreign direct investment: It was $ 13.9 billion in the first quarter, up from $ 9.6 billion in the same quarter of FY 2018-19. Foreign portfolio investors invested $ 4.8 billion on a net basis during the quarter. It saw an outflow of $ 8.1 billion on a net basis in the first quarter of 2018-19.
iv. Net services receipt: The income from the service sector increased by 7.3 percent on an annual basis. The growth in the service sector is mainly attributed to the increase in income from travel, financial services, telecom, computer and information services.
About CAD:
♦ It is a trade measurement of a country’s trade where the value of the goods and services it imports exceeds the value of the products it exports. The current account includes net income, such as interest and dividends, and transfers, such as foreign aid, although these components make up only a small percentage of the total current account.
♦ The current account represents a country’s foreign transactions and, like the capital account, is a component of a country’s Balance of Payments (BOP).
Axis Bank launches digital Fixed Deposit product called ‘Express FD’
On September 30, 2019, Axis Bank,the third-largest of the private-sector banks in India has launched digital fixed-deposit (FD) product named ‘Express FD’,which can be opened in three minutes through the digital route without opening a savings account by investing a minimum Rs 5,000 up to Rs 90,000, for a tenure of 6 to 12 months .
Key points:
i. The new Express FD account offers attractive interest rates, zero issuance fees and no penalty on premature withdrawal (up to 25% of the amount).
ii. With the use of net-banking, debit card or via UPI (Unified Payments Interface)- an instant real-time payment system, a customer can deposit the fund in Express FD account.
About Axis Bank:
♦ Founded: 1993
♦ Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
♦ MD & CEO : Amitabh Chaudhry
♦ Tagline: Badhti Ka naam Zindagi.
UPI transactions registers a new high of 955 million in September 2019 : NPCI
As per the recently released data by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Unified Payments Interface (UPI) based transactions recorded a new high of 955.02 million during September 2019 worth Rs 1.61 trillion as against 918.35 million in August 2019 with Rs 1.54 trillion worth.
Key points:
i. Such UPI based transactions increasing 2.3 times or 135% on a year-on-year (y-o-y)basis.
ii. At present, 141 banks are live on UPI as against 21 banks at the time of its launch( 11th April 2016).
iii. Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) transactions registered a growth of 1.7% to reach 17.18 million in September 2019 with worth ₹59.24 billion as compared to 61.32 billion in August 2019.
About UPI:
♦ It is been developed for all retail payments in the country. It has been launched by RBI (Reserve Bank of India) & backed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to make the transfer of money easy and simple. It is a standard set of APIs (Application programming interface). UPI allows us to pay directly from bank account to different merchants without putting details of card details, net banking, IFSC (Indian Financial System Code ) code, wallet password etc.
♦ Apps with UPI feature: Apps including PhonePe (allows users to transact using the UPI interface), Paytm(offers customers the facility to transact and transfer funds in an easier manner), BHIM app ((Bharat Interface for Money, developed by the NCPI to transfer either through VPA(virtual payment address), QR (Quick Response ) code or bank account number and IFSC Code) provides UPI Feature.
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI):
Founded in 2008, NPCI is the umbrella organisation for all retail payments system in India. It is being promoted the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra MD & CEO: Dilip Asbe
Star health insurance join hands with Paytm to sell comprehensive health insurance solutions
On September 30, 2019, Indian life insurance provider, Star Health Insurance has joined hands with Paytm, an Indian e-commerce payment system to offer comprehensive life insurance products.
Key points:
i. As per this partnership, Paytm will distribute Star Health Insurance products to its customers. The product portfolio comprises Health Insurance, Overseas Mediclaim Policy and Personal Accident propositions.
ii. Through this partnership, Star health insurance will deepen the penetration of its product offers and enable more policy holders to access their risk solutions.
About Paytm :
♦ Founded : 2010
♦ Headquarters : Noida, Uttar Pradesh
♦ CEO and MD: Pravin Jadhav
About Star health insurance:
♦ Founded :2006
♦ Headquarters : Chennai,Tamil Nadu
♦ Chairman cum Managing Director:Mr. V. Jagannathan
CBDT signs 300th APA by signing 3 APAs pertaining to United Kingdom
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) signed the 300th Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) in September 2019 by signing 3 APAs pertaining to United Kingdom (UK)- 2 Unilateral and 1 Bilateral APA. It is considered as a significant landmark of India’s APA Programme which is in the seventh year now.
Key Points:
i. In the ongoing fiscal, the total number of APAs entered into has gone up to 29 with 27 Unilateral and 2 Bilateral APAs.
ii. The APAs signed in September 2019 are related to various sectors of the economy like retail, garments, and consumer foods.
About APA:
It is an ahead-of-time agreement between a taxpayer and a tax authority on an appropriate transfer pricing methodology (TPM) for a set of transactions at issue over a fixed period of time. Bi or multilateral APAs include agreements between the taxpayer and one or more foreign tax administrations under the authority of the mutual agreement procedure (MAP) specified in income tax treaties. Unilateral APA includes only the taxpayer and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
WTO cuts global trade growth forecast to 1.2% for 2019 from 2.6%
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) in its report reduced the global trade growth forecast to 1.2% for 2019 from 2.6% growth forecast made in April 2019 due to trade tensions and sluggish global economy. It is the weakest level in a decade. The global trade growth forecast for 2020 was reduced to 2.7% from 3%.
Key Points:
i. In August 2019, India’s exports dropped by 6.05% to USD 26.13 billion and Imports declined by 13.45% to USD 39.58 billion. The trade deficit stood at USD 13.45 billion.
ii. Among the 30 key sectors, 22 showed negative growth in August 2019.
About WTO:
♦ Formation: 1 January 1995
♦ Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
♦ Membership: 164 members
♦ Director General: Roberto Azevêdo
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
Writer Caroline criado perez wins Royal society science book prize 2019
A British feminist, activist and journalist, Caroline Criado Perez has won the Royal Society Science Book Prize 2019 (sponsored by Insight Investment) for her 2nd book ‘Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men’ at an awards ceremony at the Royal Society, London, United Kingdom (UK). She also received a cheque amounting £25,000.
Key points:
i. She became the 32nd winner and the fifth woman to be awarded the Royal Society Science Books Prize & her book was chosen from a shortlist of 6 to win the award. Caroline’s 1st book ‘Do It Like a Woman’ published in the year 2015.
ii. Caroline was selected by a panel of expert judges headed by Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt FRS, Principal and Professorial Research Fellow in Computer Science at Jesus College, University of Oxford.
iii. About the book: It exposes the gender data gap which results to discrimination against women in daily life . It documents the gender biased data from different sectors & irregularities in data collection that leads to shaping a man’s world. It has been Published by chatto & windus (London).
iv. Previous winners: Some of the previous winners of the prize include Stephen Hawking, Jared Diamond, Stephen Jay Gould and Brian Greene and Sarah-Jayne Blakemore.
About the prize:
It was instituted in 1988, the Royal Society Science Book Prize is given to popular science writing across the world for non-specialist readers.
India’s Kallie Puri was awarded “India’s Most Powerful Women in Media” award at the famed Confluence Excellence Awards at the British Parliament in United Kingdom
On September 27, 2019 Indian magazine India today’s Vice Chairperson(VC) Kallie Puri was honoured with 2019 “India’s Most Powerful Women in Media” award at famed Confluence Excellence Awards at the British Parliament in London, United Kingdom.
Key points
i. The Confluence Excellence Awards recognizes individuals for their innovative leadership and the success they have achieved through revolutionizing their field in which they work.
ii. Recently in September 2019, she was also honored with Two ‘Outstanding Media & Entertainment Award’ at the annual 21st Century Icon Awards in London.
About United Kingdom:
♦ Capital- London.
♦ Currency- Pound Sterling.
♦ Prime minister- Boris Johnson.
Pune headquartered Bajaj Finance overtook SBI in market capitalization
On October 1, 2019 Bajaj Finance Ltd based at Pune, Maharashtra, has surpassed India’s largest bank, the State Bank of India (SBI) for the first time, in terms of market capitalization. The market capital of Bajaj Finance stood at Rs 2.32 lakh crore while it was Rs 2.28 lakh crore for SBI.
About SBI:
♦ Chairman-Rajnish Kumar.
♦ Headquarters- Mumbai.
♦ It is the largest bank in India.
APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS
Air Marshal SK Ghotia appointed as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of South Western Air Command
On October 1, 2019, Air Marshal Surendra Kumar Ghotia took over as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-C) of South Western Air Command. He handed over the Command of Headquarters Training Command of Indian Air Force(IAF) in Bengaluru where he took over the command recently in May 2019. He succeeded Air Marshal Harjit Singh Arora, who recently appointed as the new vice chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Key points
i. Sk Ghotia was presented with guard of honour before handing over his appointment. A formal sendoff was organised by all the personnel of Training Command.An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, SK Ghotia was commissioned in the fighter stream of IAF in 1981.
ii. Prior to assuming the present appointment, he served as Senior Air Staff Officer of Training Command. He also served as Director of Intelligence at Air Headquarters, Principal Director Training (Flying) at, Air Attache at the Embassy of India, Paris, AOC- COBRA Group and Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Intelligence). He was awarded Vishisht Seva Medal in 2007 and Commendations by Chief of Air Staff in 1998 and by Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief(AOC-C), Western Air Command in 1994.
IIS Officer Kuldeep Singh Dhatwalia appointed as Principal Spokesperson of the government
On September 30, 2019 Indian Information Service (IIS) officer Kuldeep Singh Dhatwalia was appointed as the Principal Spokesperson of the government of India succeeding Sitanshu Kar. He has been appointed as the new principal Director General (DG) of the Press Information Bureau (PIB), the publicity wing of the central government.
AIR DG Ira Joshi, given additional charge of the principal DG of the Directorate of Publications Division
IIS officer, Ira Joshi, who currently serves as DG of the All India Radio (AIR), has been given additional charge of the principal DG of the Directorate of Publications Division under Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
PIB’s Outreach and Communication DG Satyendra Prakash to hold additional charge of Press Registrar of RNI
Satyendra Prakash, DG of the Outreach and Communication of the PIB, is to hold additional charge of the Press Registrar of RNI (Registrar of Newspapers for India).
Key points
The 1984-batch IIS officer Mr. Dhatwalia, served as the DG of training and research in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B), besides will also continue as DG of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) he holds currently. During his service he also served as spokesperson in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) and DG (Northeast) of the PIB.
Paytm’s senior Vice President Nitin Misra resigns
Senior Vice President of Paytm Mr Nitin Misra has submitted his resignation for the post. Mr Amit Nayyar, president of the company will take over his responsibility. Having experience over 52 months in the firm, he was the consumer lending vertical head. Recently, another Paytm Senior Vice President Deepak Abbot had also resigned from Paytm.
About Paytm:
♦ Founded: 2010
♦ Headquarters: Noida, Uttar Pradesh
♦ Founder: Vijay Shekhar Sharma
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
China unveiled DF-41 the most powerful intercontinental-range ballistic missile on the planet
On the 70th National Day of China which was observed on October 1, 2019, it launched DF-41 (Dongfeng-41) the most powerful intercontinental-range ballistic missile on the planet during the National Day parade at Chang’an Avenue in Beijing. It made its first appearance along with a clutch of new military hardware.
Key Points:
i. DF-41 has a range of up to 9,320 miles (15,000 kilometres), capable of carrying 10 independently targeted nuclear warheads and flying at 25 times the speed of sound, could theoretically, hit the United States in 30 minutes.
ii. Along with the launch, it also displayed traditional air drones, underwater vehicles, new stealthy DR-8 drones, more than 160 aircrafts and 580 pieces of equipment, alongside 59 formations and a military band in the parade.
iii. China has the world’s largest standing army and the world’s third-largest air force.
About China:
♦ Capital: Beijing
♦ Currency: Renminbi
DGTR launches online filing system ‘ARTIS’
The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), under the aegis of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, launched an online system Applications for Remedies in Trade for Indian Industry and other Stakeholders (ARTIS) for filing anti-dumping applications by the domestic industry for speedy resolution of dumping issues.
Key Points:
i. It has invited the applications to file the process to be followed by Domestic Industry for anti-dumping investigations under Section 9A of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 as amended and the Customs Tariff (Identification, Assessment and Collection of Anti-Dumping Duty on Dumped Articles and for Determination of Injury) Rules, 1995.
ii.The modules for other types of applications will be launched shortly.
iii. The various duties like anti-dumping duty, safeguard duty, and countervailing duty are the trade remedy measures, provided under an agreement of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to its member countries.
About DGTR:
DGTR is an apex national authority for administering all trade remedial measures including anti-dumping, countervailing duties and safeguard measures. It brought Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied duties (DGAD), Directorate General of Safeguards (DGS) and Safeguards (QR) functions into its fold by merging them into one single national entity.
Chandigarh University students develop India’s most secure and portable OS elementary puzzles
A group of 3 computer science engineering students of Chandigarh University comprising of Adarsh Chauhan, Anmol Puri and Puspraj Jaswal developed India’s most secure and portable Operating System (OS) elementary puzzles by working on the Kernel of the OS. It is Linux-based GUI (Graphical Operating System) which offers compatibility and data security to its users.
Key Points:
i. The first beta version of OS Elementary Puzzles was formed in 2 years.
ii. Elementary Puzzles comes with more advanced memory management, built-in compatibility feature which allows it to be run on any 32 bit or 64 bit microsystem and offers the highest level of encryption-based security to the user data.
iii. It is an easy-to-switch interface without any installations due to utilities like GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) & KDE (K Desktop Environment).
About GNOME:
It is a graphical user interface (GUI) and set of computer desktop applications for users of the Linux computer operating system.
About KDE:
It is a desktop environment for Linux based operating system which provides Linux users a graphical interface to choose their own customized desktop environment.
SPORTS
Aryna Sabalenka won the women’s singles title in the 6th edition of WTA Wuhan Open 2019 in China
On September 28, 2019, Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka won women’s singles title in the 6th edition of 2019 WTA Wuhan Open (WTA-Women’s Tennis Association) by defeating America’s Alison Riske, at the Optics Valley International Tennis Center in Wuhan, China. The prize money of the tournamnet was $2,828,000. By this win, Aryna became the first player to claim back-to-back titles in Wuhan and also joins Czech player Petra Kvitova as the only two-time Wuhan Open champion.
Women’s doubles:
China’s Duan Yingying and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova won the women’s doubles title by defeating Belgium’s Elise Mertens and ArynaSabalenka in the final. Duan Yingying became the first Chinese winner of the Wuhan Open.
Key points
The Wuhan open title win by Aryna is the fourth WTA win in her career.
About WTA:
♦ Headquarters- St. Petersburg, Florida, United States(US).
♦ Founded- June 1973.
♦ President-Micky Lawler.
♦ Chairman- Steve Simon.
OBITUARY
Jessye Norman, Grammy Award-Winning Opera Singer passed away at the age of 74
On September 30, 2019, American opera singer Jessye Norman, who had won 4 Grammy Awards in her singing career, passed away at the age of 74 in New York, United States(US) due to multiple organ failure.
Key points
i. Born on September 15, 1945 in Georgia, Jessye won many awards including the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor in 1997, Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for “Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle” in 1998, Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for “Wagner: Lohengrin” in 1998, Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for “Wagner: Die Walkuere”in 1989, Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006, National Medal of Arts in 2009 and France’s Legion d’Honneur.
BOOKS & AUTHORS
Book by India’s Ambassador to the Netherlands, Venu Rajamony titled ‘India and the Netherlands – Past, Present and Future” released
On September 30, 2019 India’s Ambassador to the Netherlands,Venu Rajamony, authored a book titled “India and the Netherlands – Past, Present and Future”. The book portrays the history of bilateral relations between India and the Netherlands and was released at the prestigious Rijks museum (National Museum) in Amsterdam, Netherlands during a seminar on the Indo-Dutch bilateral relations. The first copy of the book was received by Dutch King Willem-Alexander in presence of all high officials. The book has been published by Bombay Ink.
Key points
i. The seminar was jointly organised by the Embassy of India and the Royal Asian Art Society in the Netherlands. The event took place at the prestigious Rijksmuseum (National Museum) in Amsterdam.
IMPORTANT DAYS
World Vegetarian day observed on October 1, 2019
On October 1, 2019, World Vegetarian Day was celebrated all over the world to promote the joy, compassion and life-enhancing possibilities of vegetarianism.
Key points:
i. In 1977, the day was originated by the North American Vegetarian Society (NAVS) and endorsed by the International Vegetarian Union in 1978.
ii. The day initiates the month of October as Vegetarian Awareness Month, which has been known variously as Reverence for Life month, Month of Vegetarian Food, and more. It ends with November 1, World Vegan Day, as the end of that month of celebration.
International coffee day observed on October 1, 2019
Celebrated annually, International Coffee Day was observed on October 1, 2019, to recognize and celebrate the efforts of all those people who are linked with coffee business.
Key points:
i. The first official date was 1 October 2015, as agreed by the International Coffee Organization (ICO) and it was launched in Milan, Italy.
About ICO:
It was established in 1963 in London, UK (United Kingdom) with the primary objective to tackle the challenges facing the world coffee sector through international cooperation. The member Governments of ICO represent 98% of world coffee production and 67% of world consumption.
Executive Director: José Dauster Sette
International Day of Older Persons observed on October 1, 2019
International Day of Older Persons by the United Nations(UN) is observed annually on the 1st of October under the resolution (A/RES/45/106), adopted on 14 December 1990, at the UN General Assembly. The theme for the year 2019 is “The Journey to Age Equality“. The day is seen as an opportunity to highlight the important contributions that older people make to society and also to raise awareness of the opportunities and challenges of ageing in today’s world.
Key points
i.It is expected that between 2017 and 2030, the number of persons aged 60 years and above are projected to grow by 46% (from 962 million to 1.4 billion) globally outnumbering the youth, as well as children under the age of 10.
ii.The increase in the number of older people will be the greatest and the most rapid in the developing world, where Asia will be the region with the largest number of older persons, and Africa facing largest proportionate growth.
STATE NEWS
Srikant Baldi took over as Chief Secretary of Himachal Pradesh
An IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer of the 1985 batch, Srikant Baldi has been appointed as the Chief Secretary of Himachal Pradesh. He succeeds B K Agarwal , who joined his new posting as Secretary to Lokpal in the rank of Secretary to the government of India (GoI).
Key points:
i. Baldi currently serving as Additional Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister (CM) Jai Ram Thakur. He will also continue to hold the charge of housing, tourism and civil aviation department in addition to his own duties.
About Himachal Pradesh:
♦ Capital: Shimla
♦ Governor: Bandaru Dattatreya
♦ National Parks: Great Himalayan National Park ,Pin Valley National Park , Inderkilla National Park ,Khirganga National Park ,Simbalbara National Park.
♦ Lakes: Kareri Lake, Prashar Lake, Chandertal Lake.
Rajiva Sinha took over as the new chief secretary of West Bengal
On September 30, 2019 Rajiva Sinha took over as the new Chief Secretary of West Bengal succeeding incumbent Malay Kumar De. Rajiva Sinha who previously served as the additional chief secretary to the health and family welfare department of the state, also served in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
Key points
i. Sinha, a 1985 batch Indian Administrative Service(IAS) officer was named by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the post.
About West Bengal:
♦ Capital- Kolkata.
♦ Governor- Jagdeep Dhankhar.
♦ Airport- Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport.
