Current Affairs – 17 October 2022

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2022

• International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is observed every year on October 17 globally.
• It is a day to raise awareness about the global issue of poverty and how it is a violation of human rights and of human dignity.
• The day also honours the courage of people living in poverty and their everyday struggles.
• This year’s theme is “Dignity For All in Practice”.

India Stands 3rd in the World in Fish Production

• Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Dr. L Murugan has recently said that India stands third in the world in terms of fish production.
• India is the 3rd largest fish producing and 2nd largest aquaculture nation in the world after China.
• India is the second major producer of fish through aquaculture in the world.
• India is the 4^th largest exporter of fish in the world as it contributes 7.7% to the global fish production.
• Fish constituted about 10% of total exports from India and almost 20% of agriculture exports in 2017-18.
• The fisheries and aquaculture production contribute around 1% to India’s GDP and over 5% to the agricultural GDP.
• Around 28 million people are employed in the fisheries sector in India.
• The sector has immense potential to more than double the fisher’s and fish farmers’ incomes, as envisioned by the government.

Three-day Kuchipudi dance festival to begin in Vijayawada

• The third World Kuchipudi Natyotsavam was organized for three days in Vijayawada.
• The World Kuchipudi Natyotsavam starts on 14th October 2022.
• The Kuchipudi dance festival is being organized in commemoration of the 93rd birth anniversary of world-renowned Kuchipudi dance artist Vempati China Satyam.

Japan to Scrap Remarriage Restrictions on Pregnant Women

Japanese cabinet ministers on Oct 14 approved the scrapping of a law that stipulates women pregnant at the time of a divorce must wait 100 days before marrying again. The law, in place for more than a century, does not apply to men and was originally intended as a way to aid the identification of the father who is financially responsible for a newborn baby.

GoI approved 1st suspension bridge across Krishna river

• The central government has approved the construction of an iconic cable stayed-cum-suspension bridge across the Krishna river connecting Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and passing through the Nallamala forest range.
• The decision was announced by the union minister for road transport and national highways Nitin Gadkari.
• The three-km-long bridge will reduce the distance between Hyderabad and Tirupati by 80 km, the union minister said the hybrid structural arrangement in the bridge would give a structural advantage to it and make it economical as well as aesthetically pleasing.
• The bridge begins at Somasila at Kollapur in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district and Atmakur in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district.
• At present, the people from Telangana are forced to travel for a long distance via Kurnool to reach pilgrim centres like Mahanandi, Ahobilam, Tirupati.

NATO announced its annual nuclear exercise “Steadfast Noon”

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), also called the North Atlantic Alliance announced had started its annual nuclear exercise code-named “Steadfast Noon”. The week-long exercise is taking place over Southern Europe and involves aircraft and personnel from 14 NATO countries.

Tamil Nadu is the only State to achieve Jal Jeevan Mission target for 2022

• Tamil Nadu has emerged as the only state in India which has achieved the target for 2022 Q1 and Q2 for Jal Jeevan Mission, with 69.57 lakh households provided with tap connections.
• Out of 1.25 crore households in Tamil Nadu, 69.57 lakh households have received tap water connections in Tamil Nadu.
• The percentage of households with tap water connection is higher than the national average.
• The target set by the Union government for Q1 and Q2 for 2022 was 12.1 lakh tap connections and registering 134% of that.
• The target set for 2022-2023 in Tamil Nadu is 28.48 lakh connections.

Goa to host 9th World Ayurveda Congress & Arogya Expo

• The 9th World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) and Arogya Expo, will be held in Panaji, Goa from 8th to 11th December 2022.
• The 9th World Ayurveda Congress aims to transformationally push Ayurveda to bring it into global focus.
• The theme for the 9th World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) this year is ‘Ayurveda For One Health’.
• According to the prelude of WAC, Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister Ayush, Dr. Pramod Sawant Goa Chief Minister, and Shripad Yesso Naik, Union Minister of State for tourism will attend a curtain raiser event at Hotel Vivanta by Taj.
• The event will also be felicitated by Vishwajit P Rane, Goa Minister of Health, Govind Gaude, Goa Minister of Arts and Culture, and Vaidya Rajesh Korecha, Secretary, Union Minister of Ayush.
• The event is going to be a four-day event that is supported by both central and state governments.

India to Host SCO National Coordinators Meet

• India is set to host the Shanghai Coordinators Organization national coordinator meeting in Delhi.
• The SCO National Coordinators meeting will take place from the 17th to the 18th of October 2022.
• New Delhi took over the presidency of the nine-member grouping earlier this year at the Samarkand SCO summit.
• India will hold SCO Foreign, defense, and national security advisors and summit-level meetings of the grouping next year.
• India also hosted anti-terror SCO drills in Haryana earlier this month.
• The grouping was formed in 2001 and includes nine countries as its members, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, and the four central Asian countries, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Krygyzstan, and Kazakhstan.

Indian Army signs MoU with 11 banks for Agniveer salary accounts

• Indian Army signed MoU with 11 banks for providing banking facilities to Agniveers on enrolment.
• The banks are State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IDFC First Bank, and Bandhan Bank.
• The features and benefits offered under the Agniveer salary package are similar to the defense salary package.
• The banks have offered soft loans to exiting Agniveers to promote and enhance their entrepreneurial skills.
• From January 2025, the first batch of Agniveers will join training centers under the Agnipath Scheme.

Aayan Khan, the youngest player in men’s T20 World Cup 2022

UAE’s Aayan Khan, the 16-year-old all-rounder, is the youngest player to feature in the men’s T20 World Cup. He was picked in the UAE XI for the team’s first match of the T20 World Cup against the Netherlands at the Simonds Stadium in Geelong.