President signed Ordinance to Constitute Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR & ISRO Adjoining areas

• President Ram Nath Kovind promulgated the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance, 2020 'for Air Quality Management in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) and adjoining areas.
• The ordinance proposes the setting up of a permanent commission which will work for better coordination, research, identification and resolution of problems surrounding air quality index and other connected issue
• The commission will be headquartered at Delhi.
• The commission will supersede all other bodies and authorities on the aspect of air quality management and will have "exclusive jurisdiction" in the domain of air quality.
• The Ordinance proposes for setting-up of at least three subcommittees
• Sub-Committee on Monitoring and Identification
• Sub-Committee on Safeguarding and Enforcement
• Sub-Committee on Research and Development
• The ordinance stipulates an eighteen-member commission to be chaired by government officials of the rank of Secretary or Chief Secretary, and will include Secretary Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and Five Other Secretary / Chief Secretary level officers as ex-officio members.
• The commission will consist of representatives from the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, technical experts from Central Pollution Control Board and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

President signed Ordinance to Constitute Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR & Adjoining areas

Supreme Court's One-Man Committee:

• On October 16, 2020, Supreme Court (SC) formulated a one-man committee under retired Judge Madan Bhimarao Lokur to monitor and prevent stubble burning in Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
• On October 26, 2020, SC suspended the One-man Committee after the Government of India informed SC about Ordinance to form Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR & Adjoining areas.

About Delhi

• Chief Minister - Arvind Kejriwal
• Governor - Anil Baijal

PM Modi inaugurated 4th edition of 2020 India Energy Forum by CERAWeek

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 3 day 4th edition of India Energy Forum by CERAWeek (Cambridge Energy Research Associates).
• CERAWeek is a global platform to understand best-practices, discuss reforms, and inform strategies for accelerating investments into Indian Oil and Gas value chain.
• The Theme of 2020 edition is "India's Energy Future in a world of Change".
• It is hosted by IHS Markit, a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions. This is the fifth such event organized by NITI Aayog and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
• The Prime Minister stated that India is well on track to increase the installed renewable energy capacity to 175 GW (GigaWatts) by 2022, it has been extended to 450 GW by 2030.
• India to grow oil refining capacity to 450 million tonnes by 2025 from current 250 million tonnes. India is the third largest and the fastest growing aviation market in terms of domestic aviation and Indian carriers are projected to increase their fleet size from 600 to 1200 by 2024.
• During the event, Shri Shri Dharmendra Pradhan had launched the book "The New Map" by Dr. Yergin.

PM Modi inaugurated 4th Edition of 2020 India Energy Forum by CERAWeek

• India Energy Forum
• It is an Indian Organization which represents the energy sector as a whole.
• It was established in October 2001 and has its headquarters at New Delhi and most of the major public and private sector organizations in Power, Oil and Gas, Coal and Renewable Energy have become its members.
• CERAWeek
• CERAWeek by IHS Markit has become the world's premier energy event, it was established in 1983 at Cambridge.

ESSCI appointed PVG Menon as its CEO

• Electronics Sector Skill Council of India (ESSCI) appointed PVG Menon as its CEO. PVG Menon will be responsible to oversee the operations of ESSCI and will work with is governing council on strategic issues related to the growth of the electronic systems design and manufacturing (ESDM) industry in India
• Prior to this appointment he was the president and CEO of VANN Consulting.

About ESSCI

• ESSCI works with industry, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to provide skilling and re-skilling services to the industry
• Head Office - New Delhi, India
• Chairman - Ajai Chowdhry

Microsoft India + NSDC to empower over 1 lakh underserved young women in India with Digital skills

• Microsoft India Private Limited, a subsidiary of American software company Microsoft Corporation, has collaborated with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to skill over 1 lakh underserved women in India with digital skills over the next 10 months.
• This initiative is an extension of the partnership of Microsoft India and NSDC to provide digital skills to over 1 lakh Indian youth.
• Under the partnership, eSkill India, the digital skilling initiative of NSDC will support to build the reach of the initiative through its skilling ecosystem, that include sector skill councils, training partners, and training centers.
• As part of the collaboration over 70 hours of course content will be provided in free of cost, covering topics like digital literacy, boosting employability, nano entrepreneurship and communication skills.
• On completion of the course, an e-certificate will be awarded jointly by Microsoft and NSDC.
• Further, 20,000 young women from regions with minimal female labor force participation will be selected by NSDC
• Microsoft India + NSDC to empower over 1 lakh underserved young women in India with Digital skills
• About Microsoft India Private Limited
• HQ - Hyderabad, President- Anant Maheshwari
• About National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)
• MD & CEO - Manish Kumar, HQ - New Delhi

Nitin Gadkari: Feni Bridge connecting India & Bangladesh to be completed by Dec 2020

• Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways announced that the 1.8 kilometer Feni Bridge,The Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC)
• bridge over the river Feni which connects Sabrum in Tripura, India and Ramgarh in Chittagong, Bangladesh will be completed by December 2020.
• About Feni Bridge
• The Feni Bridge is being constructed by the National Highways Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL), a Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways(MORTH) at a cost of Rs 129 crore.
• An integrated check post is proposed to be established near Sabrum in Tripura.
• Benefits
• The Bridge will facilitate transportation of goods from Chattogram and Kolkata ports.
• It will also improve the connectivity to the international borders with Bangladesh.
• This will reduce the distance with the nearest port from 2200 km - Haldia to 70 km - Chittagong.

Nitin Gadkari: Feni Bridge connecting India & Bangladesh to be completed by Dec 2020

• Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and Premier of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina jointly laid the foundation stone of the Feni Bridge in June 2015.
• The construction of the bridge began in 2017.
• Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (DONER) described Tripura as the gateway of "Act-East Policy" of the Government and stated that train service connecting Tripura and Bangladesh will commence soon.

NABARD sanctioned Rs 8504.30 lakh under RIDF scheme Goa during 2020-21

• National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned loans worth Rs 8504.30 Lakh under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) to the Government of Goa for the latter's various Social Infrastructure Projects.
• About NABARD
• Chairman - Govinda Rajulu Chintala
• HQ - Mumbai

Axis Bank to Acquire Up to 19.002% instead of 17.002% in Max Life Insurance.

• Axis Bank Ltd along with its subsidiaries namely, Axis Capital Ltd and Axis Securities Ltd (together Axis Entities) has agreed to enter into revised agreements with Max Financial Services Ltd to acquire up to 19.002% of the equity share capital of Max Life Insurance Co Ltd.
• Earlier the Axis bank was to acquire 17.002% in Max Life Insurance.

About Axis Bank Ltd

• HQ - Mumbai
• MD & CEO - Amitabh Chaudhry
• Tagline - Badhti Ka naam Zindagi
• About Max Life Insurance Company Ltd
• HQ New Delhi
• MD & CEO - Prashant Tripathy

World Thrift Day → October 31, 2020

• World Thrift Day is observed annually on October 31 since 1925 to promote savings and financial security of individuals and the nation as a whole.
• This day also raises awareness among the people to save their money in a bank rather than keeping it at home.
• It should be noted that in India this day is celebrated on October 30 as the death of late PM Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984 coincides with global observance.
• The first International Thrift Congress which was held in Milan, Italy in 1924 where it was declared October 31 as the World Thrift day.

Union Territory of Ladakh celebrating its first raising day; J&K marks first anniversary of Becoming UT → October 31, 2020

• Union Territory of Ladakh celebrated its First Raising Day on October 31, 2020.
• It was on 31st October 2019 that Ladakh became a Union Territory.
• Ladakh is celebrating the Union Territory Foundation Day with a theme of One year of Development, Prosperity and Empowerment.
• October 31, also marks one year since Jammu and Kashmir acquired the Union Territory status.