DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS –

OCTOBER 21, 2022

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Table of Contents
NATIONAL NEWS ..................................................................................................................................... 2
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING .................................................................................................... 4
REPORTS AND INDICES ............................................................................................................................. 4
BANKING AND ECONOMY ........................................................................................................................ 5
APPOINTMENTS ....................................................................................................................................... 5

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NATIONAL NEWS
1. Union Minister Jitendar Singh has launched an integrated portal - www.ipension.nic.in - for
ensuring “ease of living” for the central government pensioners.
• The portal has been developed in collaboration with the State Bank of India.
• Bhavishya 9.0 version was also launched. Bhavishya, the portal for pension payment and
tracking system, is being integrated with pension seva portal of SBI to provide all
information and services at one place with single login.
• ‘Bhavishya’ platform was made mandatory for all central government departments since
January 1, 2017.
• The Anubhav portal was launched by Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare in
2015 to provide an opportunity for retiring government employee to share their experience
of working in the government and give suggestions for improvement in governance.

2. Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurated Asia's largest
Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) plant in Lehragaga, in Punjab's Sangrur.
• The plant has been commissioned with a foreign direct investment of approximately Rs.
220 crores by Verbio AG, one of Germany's leading bio-energy companies.

3. Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has started the distribution of PMJAY-MA Yojana
Ayushman cards in Gujarat.
• ‘Mukhyamantri Amrutam (MA)’ scheme was launched in 2012 to shield poor citizens
from the huge costs of medical treatment and illness.
• In the year 2014, ‘MA’ Yojana was extended to cover families with an annual income limit of
Rs. 4 lakhs. The scheme was further extended to several other groups as well and later
renamed as Mukhyamantri Amrutam Vatsalya (MAV) Yojana.
• With the launch of the AB-PMJAY, Gujarat integrated MA / MAV Yojana with the AB-PM-
JAY scheme in 2019 with the name PMJAY-MA Yojana and the beneficiaries under
MA/MAV and AB-PMJAY became eligible for co-branded PMJAY-MA cards.

Other launches -
• The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone and dedicated projects worth around Rs. 5860
crores in Rajkot, Gujarat.

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• The Prime Minister also inaugurated the India Urban Housing Conclave 2022 in Rajkot.
• Over 1100 houses were constructed under the Light House Project.
• Other projects being dedicated by the Prime Minister include a water supply project: Morbi-
Bulk pipeline project from Brahmani-2 Dam to Narmada Canal Pumping Station, a regional
Science Centre, flyover bridges and other projects related to road connectivity.

4. The 14th edition of the World Spice Congress will be organized by the Spices Board of
India, under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in Mumbai,
Maharashtra from February 16 to 18, 2023.
• Theme - “Vision 2030: SPICES (Sustainability – Productivity – Innovation – Collaboration –
Excellence and Safety)”

5. India and France have re-elected as President and Co-President of the International Solar
Alliance (ISA) at the fifth general assembly of the body in New Delhi.
• India will host a High-Level Conference on New Technologies for Clean Energy
Transition on 19 October 2022 at Hotel Ashok, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.
• The ISA Assembly approved the Solar Facility, a payment guarantee mechanism which is
expected to stimulate investments into solar through two financial components: Solar
Payment Guarantee Fund and Solar Insurance Fund.
• This facility will crowdsource investments from various donors across the globe and
proposed projects in Africa will be able to purchase payment guarantees or partial
insurance premium from these funds.
• The ISA Assembly also approved the SolarX Grand Challenge, which is planned to focus
on innovation and start-ups, particularly decentralized solar energy applications that
contribute to livelihoods, such as agriculture, health, and small-scale industrial applications.

6. Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar has created an
accelerator fund of Rs 500 crore for Agri-Startups.
• It was launched at the Agri Startup Conference in New Delhi.
• A network will be set up under the Agriculture Ministry to help and support the Agri
Startups and, for overall planning a steering committee will be set up under the
Chairmanship of the agriculture minister.

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• An executive committee will be set up under Secretary, Agriculture and Secretary,

Department of Agriculture Research and Education to take decisions on issues related to
Agri Startups.
• A separate division will be created in the Ministry for such startups under the
chairmanship of Joint Secretary.

7. A total of 307 antiquities will be returned to India by USA.

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
1. National Health Authority (NHA) and National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and
Healthcare Providers (NABH) have signed an MOU to expedite the implementation of
Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).
• Purpose - to collaborate in the areas of capacity building, dissemination of information,
promotion of QCI (NABH) accreditation and ABDM standards, technical support, and
stakeholder advocacy

2. NTPC Limited has signed an MOU with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Limited, Japan and its
subsidiary Mitsubishi Power India Private Limited.
• Purpose - to demonstrate the feasibility for hydrogen co-firing blended with natural gas in
MHI 701D gas turbines installed at NTPC Auraiya gas power plant in Uttar Pradesh
• The total installed capacity of the Auraiya gas power plant is 663 MW with four gas turbines
operating in combined cycle mode.

3. Navratna defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd has signed an MOU with US-based Triton
Electric Vehicle for manufacturing Hydrogen fuel cells with technology transfer from the
latter to meet the requirements of the Indian market and mutually agreed export markets.

REPORTS AND INDICES

1. The Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations Environment Programme, World
Organisation for Animal Health, and the World Health Organization (WHO) have released
the One Health Joint Plan of Action (2022-2026).
• Concept of One Health – Human, Animal, and Environment health is interconnected

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2. The Global Pension Index survey (MCGPI) has been released by Mercer, CFA Institute,
and Monash Centre for Financial Studies.
• Total – 44 (~ 65% of the world’s population)
• Top - Iceland, followed by Netherlands, and Thailand
• India’s rank - 41st (score 44.4)
o India’s score parameter-wise – adequacy (37.6), sustainability (40.7), and integrity
(60.4)
• Bottom - Thailand
• Parameters - adequacy, sustainability, and integrity
• Portugal was added for the first time in this index.

3. World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Adani Group and Centre for Fourth
Industrial Revolution-India, has released a report titled “Using Technology to Improve a
Billion Livelihoods” report.
• As per this report, drones can help in the modernization of agriculture and can increase the
GDP by 1-1.5%, along with the generation of at least 5 lakh new jobs.
• The digital tech-based agriculture's value/worth can increase to $65 billion by 2025.

BANKING AND ECONOMY

1. Ericsson and Nokia will sign a multi-year supply contract with Reliance Jio’s 5G network for
supplying 5G network equipment to the country’s largest carrier.

2. Fintech firm Cygnet has received in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) to operate as a non-banking financial company (NBFC) account aggregator.

3. Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has partnered with the CASHe
to offer a Travel Now Pay Later (TNPL) payment option on its travel app, IRCTC Rail
Connect.

APPOINTMENTS
1. Mallikarjun Kharge has been elected as the new president of the Congress party.
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2. Senior ICAS officer Bharati Das has been appointed as the new Controller General of
Accounts.
• Das is the 27th CGA, the principal advisor on accounting matters to the Union government.

3. The appointments committee of the cabinet has appointed Sanjay Malhotra as Revenue
Secretary.

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