Current Affairs Quiz 20th October 2022 : Daily GK Update

Exp. Kati Bihu observed across Assam

The people of Assam have observed auspicious harvest festival of Kati Bihu.

It is marked annually on the first day of the Kati month in the Assamese calendar and usually falls during mid-October.

This year, it is on Tuesday, October 18. The festival, also known as Kongali Bihu, marks a crucial phase of the year for every farmer’s family in Assam – the fresh start of the harvest season and the relocation time of rice saplings.

Generally, people light lamps outside their homes and create pathways with bamboo to welcome their ancestors. People also worship the Goddess Lakshmi and Tulsi plant for a good harvest.

About Assam

• Capital –Dispur

Chief Minister –Himanta Biswa Sarma

Governor – Prof Jagdish Mukhi

Popular Festivals of Assam

• Baikho festival Assam
• Bohag Bihu or Rongali Bihu Festival
• Magh Bihu
• Baikho festival
• Dehing Patkai
• Pragjyoti International Dance Festival
• Baishagu festival
• Dwizling Festival
• Parag Festival
• Ambubachi Mela

Exp. Delhi LG VK Saxena approved four Zila Sainik Boards

Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena has approved the proposal of setting up 4 Zila Sainik Boards in Delhi.

The proposal was sent by the Delhi government in May this year and is aimed at the welfare of about 77,000 Ex-Servicemen (ESM), widows of ESM, and their families.

The Sainik Board will be set up in South West, East, North West and Central district of Delhi.

11 members will be appointed at each Zila Sainik Board, which will run with a budget of Rs. 4 crores. The Central government will bear 60% of the budget while the rest will be borne by the Delhi government.

The board will provide welfare, employment & other beneficial schemes to serving/retired soldiers of the armed forces & to the families of the soldiers killed in action.

Zila Sainik Board will also be responsible for monitoring the welfare of retired soldiers’ families and assisting them in representing their cases with local administration or defense authorities, resolving employment and other issues, assisting in resolving pension issues and land disputes, and providing assistance in family care, medical, and court-related matters.

Exp. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla addressed National Conference on Tourist Police Scheme

Speaker of Lok Sabha Om Birla has addressed the National Conference on Tourist Police Scheme in New Delhi.

The report on ‘Tourist Police Scheme’ prepared by BPR&D was deliberated upon and BPR&D also shared the finding and recommendations of the report.

Referring to increasing digitization in the tourism sector in information era, tourists ordinarily get every information related to their travel through mobile.

In this regard, developing a mobile application which provides all relevant information related to the tourists to their destinations in multiple languages

And also to ensure safe and comfortable travel, this app should provide updated and complete information about hotels, taxis, guides, etc., among other facilities, and facilitate police assistance whenever needed.

Exp. Tripura CM inaugurated state’s first Government English Medium College

Tripura chief minister Manik Saha has inaugurated the first English medium general degree college of the state in the city with 100 intake capacity.

The five basic subjects of the arts stream, including compulsory Bengali and English, are being taught this academic session that began last month.

The Tripura government has built the general degree college at the cost of over Rs 1 crore as committed in the budget this year.

About Tripura

• Capital – Agartala
• Chief Minister – Manik Sarkar
• Governor – Satyadeo Narain Arya
• Tribes – Tripura/Tripuri, Riang, Jamatia

Exp. Wildlife board approved new tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh Wildlife Board has approved a new reserve for tigers of Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR).

It has been done because one-fourth of PTR will get submerged due to the linking of the Ken-Betwa Rivers.

The 2,339 square kilometres new tiger reserve, to be called Durgavati Tiger Reserve, will spread across Narisinghpur, Damoh and Sagar districts.

On September, the Uttar Pradesh cabinet approved the notification of the state’s fourth tiger reserve in the Ranipur Wildlife Sanctuary (RWS) in the Chitrakoot district.

About Madhya Pradesh

• Capital –Bhopal

Chief Minister – Shivraj Singh Chauhan

Governor – Mangubhai C. Patel

Exp. 22nd World Blockchain Summit concludes in Dubai

The 22nd global edition of the World Blockchain Summit has concluded in Dubai’s Atlantis, UAE.

Objective – To bring experts including government and investors together to initiate conversation and action on the blockchain.

The next Summit will be held in Bangkok from December 8 to 9, 2022. Earlier, Dubai hosted the Summit in March 2022 and October 2021.

The platform provides space to discuss and deliberate the future of the industry and ways it can transform businesses and government functions.

There will also be product showcase, blockonnect, investor connect, and expert sessions as part of the Summit.

About Blockchain Technology –

Blockchain holds the potential to trigger revolution across multiple industries, including Trade and Finance. Blockchain refers to a system in which a record of transactions made in bitcoin or another crypto currency are maintained across several computers that are linked in a peer-to-peer network.

As a database, a blockchain stores information electronically in digital format. A blockchain structures its data into chunks (blocks) that are strung together.

Exp. Global Youth Climate Summit begins in Bangladesh

Youth from 70 countries is participate in a Global Youth Climate Summit inaugurates in Khulna, Bangladesh.

In the 3-day summit, participating youth will explore how they can lead the fight against climate change.

CEO of the Global Youth Leadership Centre (GYLC) Ejaj Ahmad is organised the program.

GYLC is being launched as a global organisation to mobilise youth especially from the Global South to tackle the climate crisis.

The mission of GYLC is to expand youth’s knowledge about climate science, equip them with leadership skills to take individual and collective action, and enable them to launch businesses that contribute to climate mitigation or adaptation.

10 delegates at the Summit will receive a grant of $1,000 each to implement their climate mitigation project.

About Bangladesh

• Capital– Dhaka
• Currency– Taka
• President– Mohammad Abdul Hamid
• Prime Minister– Sheikh Hasina

Exp. Mahindra Finance partnered with India Post Payments Bank to boost credit access for customers

Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services has partnered with India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to further enhance credit access to a larger customer base.

As a part of this alliance, India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) will provide Lead referral services to MMFSL for Passenger Vehicles, 3-Wheeler, Tractor and Commercial Vehicle Loan categories and provide cash EMI deposit facility to existing MMFSL Customers at Post Offices.

As a pilot, this scheme would first go live in IPPB branches in the states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. It is expected to spread across other states over the next 4-6 months.

With this IPPB will also be able to expand its financial product portfolio within the payments bank licensing framework.

About India Post Payments Bank (IPPB)

Founded – 1 September 2018

Headquarters – New Delhi

MD & CEO – J Venkatramu

Tagline – Aapka Bank, Aapke Dwaar

Recent MoUs

• CASHe partnered with IRCTC to launch ‘travel now pay later’ facility
• RBL Bank partnered with BookMyShow to launch ‘Play’ credit card
• IDBI Bank partnered with Vayana Network on supply chain finance
• DBS partnered with sandbox to launch ‘DBS BetterWorld’
• HDFC Bank signed an MoU with Institute of Economic Growth to conduct independent research
• HDFC ERGO to build online insurance platform on Google Cloud

Exp. PM Modi launched ‘Mission Schools of Excellence’ in Gujarat

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched Mission Schools of Excellence at Trimandir, Gujarat.

He also inaugurated projects worth ₹4,260 crores.

The Mission is conceived with a total outlay of ₹10,000 crore and will help strengthen education infrastructure in Gujarat by setting up new classrooms, smart classrooms, computer labs and overall upgradation of the schools in the state.

About Gujarat

Capital- Gandhinagar

Chief Minister- Bhupendra Rajnikant Patel

Governor- Acharya Devvrat

Exp. PM Modi unveiled indigenous HTT-40 aircraft at DefExpo

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the 12th DefExpo 2022 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

At the Indian Pavilion, he unveiled HTT-40, the indigenous trainer aircraft designed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

The HTT-40 would be used for basic flight training, aerobatics, instrument flying, and close formation flights.

It has unique features like running change-over of pilots, hot-refueling, and short-turnaround time.

This is the first defence expo that only features Made in India equipment and has only Indian companies participating.

The expo has more than 1,300 exhibitors which includes the Indian Defence Industry, some joint ventures associated with Indian Defence Industry, MSMEs and more than 100 start-ups.

Exp. Pradeep Kharola appointed as CMD of India Trade Promotion Organization

Former Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director of the India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO).

Kharola, a Karnataka cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the 1985 batch, retired as civil aviation secretary in September last year.

In March 2022, he was also appointed as the chairman of the National Recruitment Agency (NRA).

ITPO is the nodal agency of the Govt of India for promoting the country’s external trade.

About India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO)

Headquarters- New Delhi

Founded- 1 April 1977

MD & CEO – Pradeep Singh Kharola

Owner- Government of India (100%)

Recent Appointment 

• Controller General of Accounts (CGA)- Bharati Das
• New Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court – Justice Pankaj Mithal
• New Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court  – Justice PB Varale
• New Chief Justice of the Justice J&K and Ladakh High Court –  Justice AM Magrey
• Chairman of Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) – A Balasubramanian
• Vice President of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) – Dr. Anil Kumar

Exp. Javelin thrower DP Manu won Gold medal at National Open Athletics Championships

Indian javelin thrower, DP Manu has won a Gold medal in the men’s javelin with the throw of 81.23m at the National Open Athletics Championships in Bengaluru.

Former national champion Rohit Yadav won the Silver medal with a best effort of 79.80 metre and Kishore Kumar Jena took the bronze with a best of 78.05 metre.

No other athlete could cross the 80 m mark in the final.

Manu, who represents Services won gold at the National Games 2022 with a throw of 80.32m.

Exp. Indian junior women’s team won 10m air pistol gold medal at ISSF

India’s junior women’s 10m air pistol team has won Gold medal at the ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Championship 2022 in Cairo, Egypt.

The team comprising Esha Singh, Shikha Narwal and Varsha Singh.

The Indian women team beat China’s Zhao Nan, Wang Siyu and Shen Yiyao by a 16-6.

This was sixth gold medal of India at the ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Championship 2022.

Presently, China top the list with 32 medals, which include 17 golds, while, India placed second with 15 medals.

About Egypt

Capital- Cairo

Currency- Egyptian pound

Continent – Africa, Asia

President – Abdel Fattah El-Sisi

Exp. 19 October 2022 – Global Dignity Day

Global Dignity Day is observed every year on the 3rd Wednesday of October.

Global Dignity Day is an initiative to educate and inspire young people and help them to understand their self-worth and goals.

It was established in 2008 and continues to grow in popularity.

Exp. 20 October – World Osteoporosis Day

World Osteoporosis Day is celebrated every year on 20 October across the world.

Objective – To create awareness about the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Osteoporosis.

Theme 2022 – Step Up For Bone Health

Osteoporosis is a condition in which bones become weak and brittle.

This day was first observed in 1996 by the National Osteoporosis Society of the UK.

Exp. 20 October 2022 – World Statistics Day

World Statistics Day is celebrated every five years on October 20.

Objective – To acknowledge the significance of statistics in our lives. Be it law, healthcare, finance, science, education, and spending habits, statistics make us aware of facts and reveal important information in the language of numbers.

Theme 2022- Data for Sustainable Development

The day was designated in 2010 by the United Nations Statistical Commission to put light on the importance of statistics and the significance of academic research on the development of business and civil society.

In India, recognizing the notable contributions made by Professor (late) Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in the fields of statistics and economic planning, the Government of India has designated 29th June every year, coinciding with his birth anniversary, as “Statistics Day”.

Objective – To create public awareness, especially in the younger generation by drawing inspiration from Professor Mahalanobis about the role and importance of statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation.