DAILY GK 19,20 OCT

 DAILY GK 19,20 OCT

1.         PM KISAN SAMMAN SAMMELAN 2022

·           The Prime Minister (PM) of India Narendra Modi inaugurated PM KisanSammanSammelan 2022 at Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in New Delhi, Delhi.

·           The PM released 12^th instalment amount of Rs. 16,000 crore under the Pradhan MantriKisanSamman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).

·           So far, eligible farmer families have received benefits worth more than Rs. 2 lakh crore under PM-KISAN.

·           The PM also inaugurated 600 PradanMantriKisanSamruddhiKendras (PM-KSK) under the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers (MoC&F).

·           This scheme will convert the retail fertilizer shops in India into PM-KSK in a phased manner.

·           The PM also launched Pradhan MantriBhartiya Jan UrvarakPariyojana – One Nation One Fertilizer scheme by MoC&F to brand all subsidized fertilizers as One nation, one fertilizer under the name PradhanmantriBhartiyaJanuvarakPariyojna, and will have a common bag design.

·           The PM launched ‘Indian Edge’, an e-magazine on fertilizer.

 

2.         GOVERNMENT FORMS BENCHES AT 3 DRTS TO RESOLVE CASES ABOVE RS 100 CRORE

·           The government has formed exclusive benches to resolve cases above Rs 100 crore at Debts RecoveryTribunals (DRTs) in Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi, agreeing to a long-standing demand by banks to get more focus on high-value cases.

·           According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, DRTs had Rs 2.25 lakh crore of debt pending under litigation in March 2021

 

3.         BOOKER PRIZE 2022 

·           Sri Lankan author ShehanKarunatilaka has been honoured with the Booker Prize 2022 for his 2nd novel titled “The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida”. 

·           The novel is about the murder of a war photographer, Maali Almeida, during the civil war of Sri Lanka.

·           He becomes the 2nd Sri Lankan author to win the Booker Prize, after Michael Ondaatje who won for ‘The English Patient’ in 1992.

·           South African Damon Galgut has won the 2021 Booker Prize.

·           In 2022, the original 1969 Booker prize trophy was reinstated in memory of its creator, the children’s author and illustrator Jan Pieńkowski, who died in February.

·           The Booker Prize, annually awarded by the Booker Prize Foundation is a world’s leading literary award for a single work of fiction. The award was founded in 1969.

 

4.         66TH BALLON D’OR2022 WINNERS

·           Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema, a professional French footballer, has won the Men’s Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball Award) 2022 and becomes the 5th Frenchman to win the prize.

·           Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas, a Spanish professional footballer, has won the Women’s Ballon d’Or award or Ballon d’Or Féminin Award for the 2nd time.

·           The Ballon d’Or is annually presented by the the French magazine ‘France Football’, since 1956.  

5.         50TH CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA

·           Justice DhananjayaYeshwantChandrachud, a Judge on the Supreme Court of India, has been appointed as the 50th Chief Justice of India (CJI) with effect from 9th November 2022.

·           He will succeed the current CJI Justice UdayUmesh Lalit (49th CJI) who retires on 8th November 2022 (at the age of 65), after a brief tenure of 74 days.

·           D Y Chandrachud will have a tenure of 2 years as CJI and is due to retire on 10th November 2024.

·           The Chief justice of India is appointed by the President of India under clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India.

·           D Y Chandrachud is the son of the longest-serving Justice YV Chandrachud (1978-1985) the 16th Chief Justice of India.

·           He served as the Additional Solicitor General of India from 1998 to 2000.

·           He also served as the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court.

 

6.         ROGER BINNY ELECTED AS THE 36TH PRESIDENT OF BCCI

·           Former Indian cricketer and a member in 1983 World Cup winning team Roger Binny was named as the 36th president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

·           He is the first World Cup champion to be appointed as the BCCI President.

 

7.         SWEDEN NEW PRIME MINISTER

·           The Parliament of Sweden(Riksdag) has elected Ulf Kristersson, leader of the conservative Moderate Party, as the new Prime Minister(PM) of Sweden.

·           He has replaced Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson, who was the first female PM of Sweden.

·           SwedenCurrency – Swedish Krona,Capital – Stockholm

 

8.         CCEA APPROVES INCREASE IN MSP FOR 6 RABI CROPS

·           The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Prime Minister (PM) of India Narendra Modi, has approved the increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for all mandated (6) Rabi for the 2022-23 crop year (July-June) and the 2023-24 marketing season.

·           The absolute highest increase in MSP for lentil (Masur) is at Rs 500/- per quintal followed by rapeseed and mustard at Rs 400/-  per quintal.

·           Minimum Support Prices (MSP) is the rate at which the government buys grain from farmers.

·           Currently, the government fixes MSPs for 23 crops grown in both Kharif and rabi seasons.

·           Sowing of rabi (winter) crops begins in October, immediately after the harvest of kharif (summer) crops.

·           Wheat and mustard are major rabi crops.

 

9.         ASIA’S LARGEST COMPRESSED BIOGAS PLANT INAUGURATED IN SANGRUR, PUNJAB

·           It has been commissioned with an FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) of Rs 220 crores by Verbio AG, one of Germany’s leading Bio-energy companies.

·           This plant has been set up under the Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative.

·           SATAT initiative was launched by Government of India in October 2018 for production of CBG from various waste/ biomass sources in India.

·           It aims to empower the rural economy by supporting farmers, increase India’s domestic energy production and self-sufficiency and also reduce the air pollution.

·           Apart from the above plant, 38 CBG / Biogas Plants have been commissioned under the SATAT initiative.

 

10.      RAILWAYS TO SHUT DOWN COFMOW ON 1ST DECEMBER

·           The Ministry of Railways (MoR) will shut down the Central Organisation for Modernisation of Workshops (COFMOW) from 1st December 2022, a year after the government of India (GoI) asked the sector to rationalise and reduce its undertakings.

·           From 1st December 2022, matters of COFMOW will be handled by the traction and rolling stock division of the railway board.

 

11.      GLOBAL PENSION INDEX 2022

·           According to the 2022 Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index (MCGPI), India ranks 41^st out of the 44 countries, as compared to 40^th position out of 43 countries in 2021.

·           Iceland topped the list.

·           The second and third positions are held by the Netherlands and Denmark respectively.

·           Portugal is the new entrant in the latest global ranking

 

12.      OOKLA’SSPEEDTEST GLOBAL INDEX

·           According to Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index (September 2022 edition), India dropped a rank in both ‘median mobile network speeds’ and ‘fixed broadband speeds’, despite marginally higher download speeds in September 2022 compared to August 2022.

·           India’s rank in global median mobile download speeds fell from 117 to 118

·           India’s rank in global median fixed broadband speeds fell from 78 to 79

·           China dominates the Speedtest Global Index, with Shanghai being the fastest city for mobile networks and Beijing leading with 238.86 Mbps for fixed broadband.

 

13.      FAO, UNEP, WHO & WOAH JOINTLY LAUNCHED ONE HEALTH JOINT PLAN OF ACTION 

·           The new One health joint plan of action (‎2022‒2026)‎: working together for the health of humans, animals, plants and the environment, was jointly launched by the  FAO,UNEP,WHO and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).

·           The new plan of action was launched to address the health threats to humans, animals, plants and environment.

·           The One health joint plan of action (‎2022‒2026) provides set of activies which aims to strengthen collaboration, communication, capacity building and coordination.

·           The concept of one health summarises the idea that human health and animal health are interdependent and bound to the health of the ecosystems in which they exist

 

14.      MALLIKARJUN KHARGE WINS CONGRESS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

·           MapannaMallikarjunKharge (80 years old) won the Congress Presidential Election with 7,897 votes of a total of 9,385 votes against Shashi Tharoor with 1,072 votes and become the 1st non-Gandhi President of the Indian National Congress(INC) in 24 years.

·           MallikarjunKharge is elected as the 98th President of the Indian National Congress (INC).

 

15.      INDUS WATER TREATY: WORLD BANK APPOINTS NEUTRAL EXPERT

·           The World Bank (WB) has appointed a chairman of the Court of Arbitration (CoA) and a neutral expert as mandated in 2 separate processes requested by India and Pakistan in relation to the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric power plants.

·           Sean Murphy has been appointed as Chairman of the CoA and Michel Lino as the Neutral Expert.

·           WBPresident – David Robert Malpass