Daily Current Affairs and GK | 2 and 3 October 2022

Topic: Indian Economy

1. India's current account deficit widens to 2.8% in Q1 of FY 2023.

• In Q1 of FY 2023, India's current account deficit has increased to USD 23.9 billion (2.8% of GDP).
• The trade deficit has increased from USD 54.5 billion in the previous quarter to USD 68.6 billion.
• The current account deficit has mainly increased on account of a higher trade deficit.
• As per the RBI, net service receipts have increased and services exports have also grown by 35.4 percent.
• Private transfer receipt has shown an increase of 22.6 percent as compared to the previous year.
• As per the RBI data, net foreign direct investment has increased from USD 11.6 billion to USD 13.6 billion.
• Net outgo on the income account has increased to USD 9.3 billion from USD 7.5 billion.
• Net external commercial borrowings to the country recorded an outflow of $3 billion in Q1 of 2022-23.
• Current Account Deficit (CAD):
  • It is defined as the difference between the value of exports of goods and services and the value of imports of goods and services.
  • It is based on income from trade in goods, trade in services, and transfer payments (remittances, grants and gifts received by a country or its residents).

Topic: National News

2. Central Government extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh for another six months.

• The central government has extended AFSPA act for six months in 12 districts of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh from 1 October.
• It has been also extended in some parts of five districts of the two northeastern states.
• After review of the law and order situation, nine districts and 16 police stations in four districts of Nagaland were declared as “disturbed areas”.
• AFSPA has been extended in Dimapur, Niuland, Chumoukedima, Mon, Kiphire, Noklak, Phek, Peren and Zunheboto districts in Nagaland.
• AFSPA was revoked from seven of the 16 districts in Nagaland and 23 districts in Assam.
• AFSPA act gives power to armed forces and the Central Armed Police Forces to kill anyone acting in contravention of law, arrest anyone and search any premises without a warrant.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

3. Ministry of Education launched Yuva 2.0 - Pradhan Mantri Yojana to mentor young writers.

• YUVA 2.0 (Young, Upcoming and Versatile Authors) scheme has been launched on 2^nd October.
• It is an author mentorship program to train young and budding authors below the age of 30 to promote reading, writing, and book culture in the country.
• Keeping in view the significant impact of the first edition of YUVA, the Ministry of Education launched the YUVA 2.0 scheme.
• The first edition saw massive participation of young writers in 22 different Indian languages including English.
• For this, the National Book Trust under the Ministry of Education, as the implementing agency, will ensure a phased execution of the scheme.
• The books prepared under this scheme will be published by National Book Trust, India, and translated into other Indian languages, promoting ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat'.
• The ministry said the All-India Competition is being held from 2nd October to 30th November 2022.
• A total of 75 authors will be selected through an all-India competition to be organized through www.mygov.in.
• Eminent writers and mentors will train young winner authors from March 1 to August 31, 2023.

Topic: Sports

4. Antim Panghal won the gold medal in wrestling at the 2022 National Games.

• Under-20 World wrestling champion won the gold in women's 53kg category on October 3.
• In August, Antim Panghal of Haryana has become the first Indian to win the U20 women's wrestling world championship, defeating Priyanshi Prajapati of Madhya Pradesh.
• Hina Khalifa of Gujarat and Swati Sanjay of Maharashtra won the bronze in the women's 53kg category.
• Meanwhile, at the Sama Indoor Sports Complex in Vadodara, Olympian gymnast Pranati Nayak won two gold medals.
• The National Games 2022 will conclude on October 12.

Topic: Government Scheme and Initiatives

5. Election Commission launched a Matadata Junction on October 3.

• Election Commission launched Matadata Junction, a year-long voter awareness program on All India Radio.
• The program was inaugurated by Chief Election Commissioner of India Rajiv Kumar at Akashvani Rang Bhawan, New Delhi.
• Every Friday, a 52-episode program with a 15-minute duration each will be broadcast on the AIR's Primary channel, FM Rainbow, and Vividh Bharati stations.
• The Matadata Junction program will be broadcast nationwide in 23 different languages.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

6. India took part in the third G20 Sherpa meeting in Indonesia.

• Amitabh Kant, the G20 Sherpa for India, led an official delegation to the third G20 Sherpa meeting.
• The meeting took place in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, from September 26 to 29.
• The first Sherpa meeting under the Indonesian Presidency took place in December 2021, followed by the second in July 2022.
• Mr. Amitabh Kant reaffirmed India's commitment and active support to the Indonesian Presidency's efforts to finalize meaningful outcomes for the upcoming G20 Bali Summit in November 2022.
• He also emphasized the need for G20 to bring enhanced global focus on and strengthen international cooperation and efforts in key priority areas such as sustainable growth, climate change, tech-enabled development and women’s empowerment.

Topic: Defence

7. The first indigenously developed LCH inducted into Indian Air Force by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at Jodhpur in Rajasthan on October 3, 2022.

• Light combat helicopter (LCH) is a dedicated combat helicopter designed and developed indigenously in India.
• It has been manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
• As per HAL, the LCH is the only attack helicopter in the world that can land and take off at an altitude of 5,000 metres (16,400 ft) with a considerable load of weapons and fuel.
• The helicopter has around-the-clock, all-weather combat capability.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Sports

8. Rohan Bopanna and Matwe Middelkoop won Men's Doubles title at ATP 250 Tel Aviv Watergen Open, Tennis.

• India's Rohan Bopanna and his Dutch partner Matwe Middelkoop won over the Mexican-Argentine pair of Santiago Gonzalez and Andres Molteni in the final.
• It was Bopanna's third ATP title of the season and 22nd overall.
• Bopanna has won two titles this season with compatriot Ramkumar Ramathan in Adelaide and Pune.
• In addition, it was the first ATP Tour title for Bopanna and Middelkoop as a team.
• Former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic won the Tel Aviv Watergen Open men’s singles title after defeating Marin Cilic in the final.
• It was his third title of the season and 89th overall.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

9. Adani Green commissioned the world’s largest wind-solar plant with a capacity of 600 MW.

• The hybrid plant comprises a 600 MW solar and 150 MW wind plant.
• This Hybrid power plant will help in the optimal utilisation of the transmission network.
• The total operational generation capacity of AGEL has now reached 6.7 GW.
• This plant has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) at Rs 2.69/ unit.
• In May 2022, AGEL installed India’s first hybrid power plant with a capacity of 390 MW at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.
• Note:
  • India's largest floating solar power plant is at Ramagundam in Telangana.
  • As of November 2021, Bhadla Solar Park was the largest solar power park in the world.
  • Muppandal windfarm in Tamil Nadu with a total capacity of 1500 MW is the largest wind power plant in India.

Topic: National News

10. Government is planning to set up 100 labs for 5G technology across India.

• The government will use 12 of them for training students and conducting experiments. These 12 labs will be used as telecom incubators.
• At an event, HFCL announced the launch of 5G Lab-as-a-Service for rolling out 5G solutions and services.
• It will help in providing an automated test environment for the private sector, academia and government for product innovations.
• The 5G Lab will help to create pre-integrated and pre-validated 5G solutions for Low Mobility Large Cell.
• Earlier, Orange Jordan had inaugurated the Orange 5G Lab at Orange Digital Village in Abdali.
• Bharti Airtel is India’s first company to launch 5G services. The service will be available in eight cities.

Topic: Important Days

11. International Day of Older Persons and International Coffee Day: 1 October

• Every year 1 October is observed as the International Day of Older Persons and International Coffee Day around the world.
• United Nations General Assembly declared 1 October as International Day of Older Persons in 1990 through a resolution.
• ‘Resilience of Older Persons in a Changing World’ is the theme of the International Day of Older Persons 2022.
• The population of elderly over the age of 60 is expected to double by 2050.
• The members of the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) adopted 1 October as International Coffee Day in 2014.
• This year, 8^th International Coffee Day has been celebrated. It is observed to raise awareness for coffee growers and promote fair trade in coffee.

Topic: International News

12. Russia's President Putin announced annexation of 4 Ukraine regions.

• After the referendum, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the formal annexation of the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.
• The four regions were partially seized by Russian forces during the seven-month conflict with Ukraine.
• Putin also called Ukraine for talks to end the seven-months conflict.
• The heads of the four regions of Ukraine will sign the treaties with Russia at an event in St. George’s Hall.
• The separatist Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine have been backed by Russian forces.
• The southern Kherson region and part of the Zaporizhzhia were captured by Russia after the conflict started between Russia and Ukraine.
• The Head of the European Commission said that annexation is illegal and occupied land would remain part of Ukraine.
• The occupation of Russian rule over 15% of Ukraine is the largest annexation in Europe since World War 2.

Topic: Environment and Ecology

13. ICAR scientists found new species in Mettur dam.

• ICAR scientists discovered new species named Pangasius icaria (P. icaria) in the river Cauvery near Mettur Dam.
• Pangasius Icaria belongs to the Pangasius genus. The Pangasius genus is usually found in the Gangetic plains.
• In India as well as South Asia only one species of Pangasius is found.
• Scientists analysed fish morphologically and conducted skeleton radiography.
• This species will be studied for its market value and aquaculture potential.
• In 2017, another species of Pangasius was discovered in the Krishna River.

Topic: State News/ Gujarat

14. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the world’s first CNG terminal at Bhavnagar in Gujarat.

• The idea for the project was proposed during the January 2019 Vibrant Gujarat summit.
• For the development of the CNG terminal, Padmanabh Mafatlal Group and Boskalis signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB).
• After GMB approves the Detailed Project Report, the construction will commence in the first quarter of 2023.
• CNG terminal at Bhavnagar will become operational by 2026 with a capacity of 0.3 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA).
• The CNG terminal will be part of the existing Bhavnagar port. A liquid cargo terminal will also be developed by the private consortium.
• The Bhavnagar port is near to the Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR).
• Under the BOOT (Build, Own, Operate and Transfer) policy, the consortium will invest Rs 4,000 crore for developing north side of the Bhavnagar port.