World Habitat Day 2022
- The United Nations observes the first Monday of October as World Habitat Day. This year, World Habitat Day will be observed on October 3.
- The day calls to reflect on our towns, cities, and the basic right of all to have adequate shelter. It serves as a reminder that we can shape the future of the place we live in.
- This year’s theme is “Mind the Gap. Leave No One and Place Behind”. The focus is on the growing inequalities and challenges in cities and human settlements.
- The UN calls triple Cs: Coronavirus (COVID-19), Climate, and Crisis. These triple Cs have hampered the progress made against poverty. The UN calls tackling urban poverty and inequality an “urgent global priority”. They have called for local actions toward Sustainable Development Goals.
CBI launched Operation ‘GARUDA’ to dismantle drug networks
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has launched a multi-phase ‘Operation Garuda’. Operation Garuda will help to disrupt, degrade, and dismantle networks with international linkages through the rapid exchange of criminal intelligence on drug trafficking and coordinated law enforcement action across international jurisdictions through Interpol.
- Operation Garuda is a Global Operation that was initiated in close coordination with Interpol and Narcotics Control Bureau.
- Operation Garuda was initiated to combat the smuggling of illicit drugs and psychotropic substances, with a special focus on the Indian Ocean Region.
- The CBI and the NCB have been closely coordinating with all the states and UTs police agencies for information exchange, analysis, and development of Operational Information.
- Across multiple states of India several arrests, searches, and seizures were carried out under Operation Garuda.
- In this operation apart from CBI and NCB, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, and Manipur also participated in Operation Garuda.
- During this special operation, 6600 suspects were checked, 127 new cases were registered, and 175 persons including six absconder’s offenders were arrested.
Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation Celebrates Swachh Bharat Diwas
Department of Drinking water and sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti celebrated Swachh Bharat Diwas (SBD) on 2nd October 2022. The Swachh Bharat Diwas is celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The Swachh Bharat Diwas is inspired by one of the quotes of the father of the nation, “Cleanliness is next to godliness”.
- Swachh Bharat Mission draws its strength from the people who made it into a Jan Andolan ensuring Sampoorna Swachhta or complete sanitation.
- The Swachh Bharat Diwas was a day-long event which was organized by the Department at Vigyan Bhawan.
- Smt Droupadi Murmu was the Chief Guest of the event along with the Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Sh. Girija Singh, Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Sh. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Sh. Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State for Jal Shakti and Food Processing Industry, and Sh. Bishweswar Tudu, Minister of State for Jal Shakti and Tribal Affairs.
- The DDWA implemented two flagship central government programs, the Swacch Bharat Mission and the Jal Jeevan Mission.
- During the event, the President of India was presented with the Swacch Survekshan Grameen 2022 report by Union Kal Shakti Minister.
- The department also launched two campaigns, one was Retrofit to Twin Pit Abhiyan and the other one is Swacch Jal se Suraksha.
Pegatron start iPhone manufacturing in Chennai and becomes 3rd in India
Mahindra World City in Chennai, Taiwan’s Pegatron became the third Apple supplier to establish a production facility in India. It will put about Rs 1,100 crore into the facility, which might lead to the creation of 14,000 employees. The other two Apple suppliers with facilities in India are the Taiwanese companies Foxconn and Wistron.
Sunil Barthwal take charges as Secretary in Department of Commerce
Senior IAS officer, Sunil Barthwal assumed charge as the commerce secretary. Barthwal, a 1989-batch officer of the Bihar cadre, previously served as the labour and employment secretary. He replaced Subrahmanyam, a 1987-batch IAS officer of the Chhattisgarh cadre, who was appointed as chairman and managing director, of the India Trade Promotion Organisation on a contract basis for a period of two years following his superannuation.
ISRO scientist Anil Kumar elected Vice President of IAF
Senior Indian Space Research Organization scientist Anil Kumar has been appointed as the Vice-President of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). Dr. Anil Kumar is currently serving as the Associate Director, of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking, and Command Network (ISTRAC).
New debit, credit card rules kick in with Tokenisation
The rules and regulations for online payments for debit and credit cards have been changed. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) card-on-file (CoF) tokenization norms came into effect on 1st October 2022. RBI’s CoF tokenization aims to improve the payment experience of cardholders.
- Tokenisation has replaced sensitive card information including card number, and card expiry with cryptographically-generated random strings.
- Once the card is Tokenised, the generated card token can be used for processing payments as a substitute for card details.
- The Tokenised card eliminates the risk of loss of sensitive card information.
Sujoy Lal Thaosen, Anish Dayal Singh named as New DGs of CRPF, ITBP
Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officers Sujoy Lal Thaosen and Anish Dayal Singh have been appointed as the new director generals of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) respectively.
Thaosen’s scheduled retirement is in November this year, while Singh will superannuate in December 2024. The order for their appointment was issued by the Personnel Ministry after sanction from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by the prime minister.
Optimus robot’s prototype unveiled by Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, unveiled a model of the humanoid “Optimus” robot, which uses some of the same Artificial Intelligence (AI) software and sensors as the Autopilot driving assistance system in Tesla vehicles. At Tesla AI Day 2022, which was held to show off how far the company’s research into autonomous robots and vehicles had progressed, Optimus was unveiled.
Writer-academic Madhav Hada to be awarded 32nd Bihari Puraskar
Writer Dr Madhav Hada will be awarded the 32nd Bihari Puraskar for his 2015 literary criticism book ‘Pachrang Chola Pahar Sakhi Ri’, the KK Birla Foundation announced. A literary critic and academic, Hada has written extensively on literature, media, culture and history.
Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra topped destinations for foreign tourists 2021
Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu had the highest numbers of foreign tourist visits, with 1.26 million and 1.23 million, respectively in 2021. The over 280-page report titled ‘India Tourism Statistics 2022’ was released by Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on World Tourism Day at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.
Svante Pääbo awarded Nobel Prize in medicine
The Nobel Prizes 2022 for medicine or physiology was awarded to Swedish geneticist Svante Pääbo. Svante Pääbo was given the award “for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution,” the Nobel Prize committee. Considered the most prestigious prize in the scientific world, it is awarded by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and is worth 10 million Swedish crowns ($900,357).
Lalit Bhasin elected new President of Indo-American Chambers of Commerce
- lawyer Lalit Bhasin has been appointed as the national president of Indian American Chambers of Commerce (IACC).
- Bhasin, before being elected to the post, was the executive vice president of IACC.
- Bhasin is the 54th national president of IACC, which was set up in October 1968 and is headquartered in Mumbai, having 14 offices all over India, with a large membership from large, medium and small business entities.
ONDC Consumer beta testing begin in 16 Bengaluru pin codes
In Bengaluru, the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a technology similar to UPI that promises to democratise access to the internet for small enterprises, went live with its beta test. Consumers will be able to sample the new platform during the beta test, which will also allow for the gathering of insightful feedback.
Indian Mars Orbiter Mission: Mangalyaan Craft Completes 8 Years in Orbit
Mangalyaan, the Indian Mars Orbiter Craft runs out of fuel and battery after completing 8 years.
Mangalyaan used five major instruments to study geology and morphology. These five instruments included Mars Color Camera (MCC), Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS), Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM), Mars Exospheric Neutral Competition Analyser (MENCA), and Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP).
Light combat helicopter (LCH) introduced in IAF base at Jodhpur
At a ceremony conducted at Air Force Station, Jodhpur in Rajasthan, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh officially admitted the locally produced Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) into the Indian Air Force (IAF). LCH would join the 143 Helicopter Unit after being inducted. Prachanda is the name given to Light Combat Helicopters (LCH).