Daily Current Affairs and GK | 22 October 2022

Topic: National News

1. India's first 'Migration Monitoring System' has been inaugurated in Mumbai on 21 October 2022.

• It provides updated information on migrant pregnant women, lactating mothers and children instantly at one place.
• The system was launched by Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Mangalprabhat Lodha.
• It was developed by Department of Women and Child Development.
• Minister Mr. Lodha said that the Department has created a website-based Migration Tracking System (MTS) to track the movements of seasonal migrant beneficiaries through individual unique identification numbers.
• The system is available on the website and MahaMTS App is available in Google Play Store.

Topic: Sports

2. Western Air Command, Indian Air Force (IAF) won the Air Force Lawn Tennis Championship 2022-23.

• The final match of the Championship was played between Western Air Command and Training Command.
• The final of the open singles was played between Corporal Pradeep of Training Command and Sergeant Manolin of Western Air Command. Corporal Pradeep became the winner.
• Air Marshal Vibhas Pande, Air Officer Commanding in Chief of Headquarters Maintenance Command was the Chief Guest during the closing ceremony of the Championship on 21 October 2022.
• Air Force Lawn Tennis Championship 2022-23 was held at Head Quarter MC, Vayusena Nagar, Nagpur.
• Air Marshal Vibhas Pande, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, HQ MC inaugurated the Championship on 17 October 2022.
• A total of eight teams comprising of 48 players from the seven Commands of Indian Air Force took part in the championship.
• The Championship was held in two events namely, Team Championship and Open Singles.

Topic: International News

3. Pakistan removed from 'grey list' by Financial Action Task Force (FATF) after four years.

• The FATF took this decision at its plenary meeting held in Paris on 21 October.
• Pakistan's imports, exports, and remittances have all been impacted because of this inglorious grey listing, which has also restricted Pakistan's access to foreign funding.
• Pakistan was on the grey list of FATF since June 2018 due to deficiencies in its anti-terrorism financing and anti-money laundering regime.
• FATF said that Islamabad will keep working with the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering to improve its system for its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing system.
• Financial Action Task Force (FATF):
  • It is an intergovernmental organization.
  • It was established in 1989 to combat money laundering, terror financing, and other related threats for the integrity of the international financial system.
  • Currently, it has 39 members, including two regional organizations - the European Commission and Gulf Cooperation Council.
  • India is a member of the FATF consultations and its Asia Pacific Group.

(Source: News on Air)

Topic: Important Days

4. International Stuttering Awareness Day 2022: 22 October

• Every year on 22 October, International Stuttering Awareness Day is observed.
• Every year, stuttering communities and associations around the world celebrate International Stuttering Awareness Day.
• It is observed to raise awareness of stuttering, which affects one percent of the world's population.
• The theme of the International Stuttering Awareness Day 2022 is “Being seen, being heard: Representation and normalisation of stuttering in the mainstream.
• In 1998, October 22 was adopted as International Stuttering Awareness Day.
• Stuttering is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds.
• About 80 percent of children, who begin to stutter in early childhood, get out of the condition as they grow. It is four times more common in males than in females.

Topic: State News/Delhi

5. Diye Jalao, Patake Nahi campaign has been launched in Delhi.

• It has been launched in Delhi to increase awareness among the people.
• In Delhi, storage, sale and use of all types of firecrackers have been banned till 1st January 2023.
• Bursting crackers is a major cause for air and noise pollution on the occasion of Diwali.

Topic: Awards and Prizes 

6. Hyderabadi Haleem has won the ‘most popular GI' award in the food category.

• It has won the competition with 17 food items with a GI status, including the Rasogulla, Bikaneri Bhujiya and Ratlami Sev.
• In 2010, the Hyderabadi Haleem was first accorded Geographical Indication (GI) status.
• The GI status expired in December 2019 but was renewed. The renewed GI status is valid for 10 years.
• The award was presented by Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal in New Delhi recently.
• Hyderabadi Haleem was chosen through a voting system conducted by the Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry).

Topic: State News/Uttarakhand

7. PM Modi laid foundation stone for developmental projects worth over Rs 3,400 crore in Uttarakhand.  

• PM Modi inaugurated connectivity projects worth 3,400 crores in Mana village of Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.
• He laid the foundation stone of two ropeway projects, Gaurikund to Kedarnath and Govindghat to Hemkund Sahib.
• The length of ropeway in Kedarnath will be around 9.7 km. It will connect Gaurikund to Kedarnath.
• It will reduce travel time between Gaurikund and Kedarnath from 6-7 hours at present, to only about 30 minutes.
• Hemkund ropeway will connect Govindghat to Hemkund Sahib. Its length will be around 12.4 km.
• It will reduce travel time from more than a day to only about 45 minutes.  
• This ropeway will also connect Ghangaria. Ghangaria is the gateway to Valley of Flowers National Park.
• The ropeways will be developed at a cumulative cost of around Rs 2,430 crore.  
• He also laid foundation stone of road widening projects worth around Rs 1000 crore.
• The two road widening projects include Mana to Mana Pass (NH07) and Joshimath to Malari (NH107B).
• PM Modi also performed Pooja at Shri Kedarnath Temple and Badrinath temple.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

8. Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a fine of over 1,337 crore rupees on Google.

• Google has been found guilty of abusing its strong position in multilateral markets.
• The commission has directed Google to modify its conduct within a defined timeline.
• In its order, the commission has said that Google has maintained its strong position in the online search market by obstructing the market access of competitive search apps.
• Google has made mandatory pre-installation of the entire Google Mobile Suite (GMS) under Mobile Application Distribution Agreement (MADA), with no option to uninstall the same.
• According to CCI, this is an unfair condition on the device manufacturers and thereby contravenes competition law.
• In April 2019, the CCI ordered a detailed inquiry into the matter following complaints from consumers of Android-based smartphones in the country.
• Android is an open-source, mobile operating system installed by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) of smartphones and tablets.
• Google was accused of engaging in wrongful business practices in two agreements, — the Mobile Application Distribution Agreement (MADA) and the Anti Fragmentation Agreement (AFA), which were between the OEMs and Google.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

9. PM Modi to launch 'Rozgar Mela' mega recruitment drive on 22 October to give ten lakh jobs.

• The recruitment drive will provide jobs to around 10 lakh people. 75,000 new appointees will also receive their appointments on this day.
• The drive will be launched through video conferencing.
• The new selected people will join 38 Ministries of Government at Group A, B and C levels.
• The 'Rozgar Mela' mega recruitment drive is a step toward providing job opportunities to youth and ensuring the welfare of citizens.
• All Ministries and Departments are working in a mission mode to fill up existing vacancies against sanctioned posts.
• The recruitment will be done through many recruiting agencies, including UPSC, SSC, and Railway Recruitment Board.

Topic: National News

10. Face authentication technology-based system to be developed by government for submission of Digital Life Certificates.

• It will help in the submission of digital life certificates by Pensioners and Family Pensioners from any Android-based smart phone.
• The identity of a person will be established through the Face Authentication technique.
• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, in association with the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Portal and the Unique Identification Authority of India, has developed this technology.
• Submission of Digital Life Certificates through face authentication technique will reduce Pensioners’ dependency on external bio-metric devices.
• It has made the process more accessible and affordable and ensured “Ease of Living” for pensioners.
• The government has also launched a major drive under the Special Drive for Settlement of Pending Cases (SCDPM 2.0) wherein pensioners aged 80 years and above can submit their life certificates from 1st October every year to avoid the rush of banks.
• Government is implementing special Campaign 2.0 for Disposal of Pending Matters (SCDPM) from 2nd October, 2022 to 31st October, 2022.
• Digital Life Certificate is a biometric enabled digital service for pensioners.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Awards and Prizes

11. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh presented the Raksha Mantri Awards for Excellence in defence & aerospace sector for 2021-22.

• The Union Defense Minister presented these awards at an event organized as part of the 12th DefExpo in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• A total of 22 awards were given under different categories, viz., Indigenization/Import substitution, Innovation/ Technological Breakthrough and Exports.
• Of these awards, 13 were won by private industries and the remaining by the DPSUs/PSUs.
• These awards were given to enterprises of various sizes, including large, medium, small, and start-up enterprises.
• The award is given to encourage and reward all-round excellence in various dimensions of organizational performance.
• Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said that the aerospace and defence sector is an industry of about 80,000 crore rupees. The contribution of the private sector has increased to 17,000 crores.
• Shri Rajnath Singh mentions the “Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti”. It was launched to promote the creation of intellectual property in the defence sector.

Topic: National Appointments

12. Pradeep Singh Kharola has been appointed as CMD of India Trade Promotion Organization.

• Pradeep Singh Kharola, former Civil Aviation Secretary, has been appointed as Chairman and Managing Director of the India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO).
• Pradeep Singh Kharola is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Karnataka. He has been appointed for two years.
• He was appointed as the chairman of the National Recruitment Agency (NRA) in March 2022.
• India Trade Promotion Organisation:
  • It is a trade promotion enterprise of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
  • Its main aim is to promote, encourage and coordinate various activities and programmes for increasing exports from India.
  • It is registered under section 25 of the Company Act, 1956.