PM inaugurated 'Atal Tunnel' - World's Longest Highway Tunnel in Himachal Pradesh

• PM Modi inaugurated 'Atal Tunnel' - World's Longest Highway Tunnel in Manali, Himachal Pradesh. The 9.02 Kilometre Long Tunnel has been constructed by Border Roads Organization(BRO) at a cost of INR 3, 300 crores. It connects Manali and Lahaul-Spiti Valley.
• The Tunnel is built in the Pir Panjal Range of Himalayas at an altitude of 3000 Meters (10,000 Feet) from the Mean Sea Level(MSL).
• Before this tunnel came into existence, Lahaul-Spiti valley was cut off for 6 months due to heavy snowfall.
• It reduces the road distance between Manali and Leh by 46 kilometers and time by about 4 to 5 hours, the distance between Manali and Keylong(Himachal) will be reduced by 3-4 hours.
• The South Portal (SP) of the Atal Tunnel is located a distance of 25 kilometers from Manali and the North Portal (NP) is located near village Teling, Sissu, in Lahaul Valley.
• The construction contract of Tunnel was awarded to Strabag-Afcons, and it is a joint venture between India-based Afcons Infrastructure and Austria's Strabag.
• Highest Motorway Tunnel in the world: The Atal Tunnel, running across the 13,050-ft high Rohtang pass, on the Manali-Leh axis is the highest motorable highway tunnel in the world.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee launched 'Pathashree Abhijan' scheme for Road Repair

• West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced a road repair scheme titled Pathashree Abhijan under which more than 7,000 stretches of roads comprising 12,000 km across the state will be repaired
• The State Govt. has allocated Rs 500 crore for the scheme and the repairing work would be finished by December-January, 2021.

About West Bengal

• Capital - Kolkata
• CM - Mamata Banerjee
• Governor - Jagdeep Dhankar

MoD inked a contract worth Rs 409 crore with EEL for supply of multi-mode Hand Grenades to Indian Army

• The Acquisition Wing of Ministry of Defense (MOD) signed a contract with private company Economic Explosive Ltd (EEL) for supply of 1000000 Multi Mode Hand Grenades to the Indian Army at an approximate cost of Rs 409 Crores.
• Notably, these grenades will replace the hand grenade design of World War II vintage.
• These grenades have been designed by Chandigarh based Terminal Ballistic Research Laboratories (TBRL) of Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and are being produced by EEL, Nagpur, With distinctive design, they can be used in both Offensive and Defensive Modes.

About EEL

• EEL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Solar Industries. Nuwal.
• Satyanarayan HQ - Nagpur

ISRO to launch Venus mission "Shukrayaan-1" in 2025 with France's CNRS Participation

• ISRO is all set to launch its first Venus mission "Shukrayaan-1" in 2025 with participation of French
• space agency CNES (National Center for Space Studies)
• In this regard, ISRO has selected the VIRAL (Venus Infrared Atmospheric Gases Linker) instrument co-developed with the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos and the LATMOS (Atmospheres, Milieux, Observations Spatiales Laborator) attached to the CNRS.
• This will be the first time a French payload will be flown on an Indian exploration mission.
• The Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) is also participating in this mission.

ISRO to launch Venus mission "Shukrayaan-1" in 2025 with France's CNRS Participation

• Other Indo-French Collaborations on Space
• In August 2019, CNES and ISRO committed to develop the first space-based system in the world capable of tracking ships continuously by building satellites carrying telecommunications and radar and optical remote-sensing instruments. The satellites will monitor ships in the Indian Ocean CNES and ISRO are operating a number of climate-monitoring satellites together. The upcoming is TRISHNA (Thermal infraRed Imaging Satellite for High resolution Natural Resource Assessment), which will provide continuous thermal monitoring at high resolution.

About ISRO

• HQ Bengaluru, Chief - Dr. K. Sivan
• About France
• - Capital - Paris
• Currencies - Euro, CFP franc
• President-Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frederic Macron

Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh Selected for Gandhi Award of MGNF

• Eby J Jose, Chairman of Mahatma Gandhi National Foundation (MGNF) announced that Sanjay Singh, Member of Parliament (MP) of Rajya Sabha and the leader of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been chosen as the recipient of the "2020 Gandhi Award" .
• He was recognized with the award for being instrumental in the diplomatic intervention of India to remove the image of Mahatma Gandhi on the beer bottles of Malka brewery, a Israeli private company.
• Sanjay Singh was chosen for the award by the committee chaired by K Narayana Kurup, former Madras High Court acting chief justice and convened by Jayashankar Menon, Senior Journalist and Literary luminary.
• About the award: The Gandhi Award, instituted by the Mahatma Gandhi National Foundation comprises a sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 25001.

RBI has approved a 3-member Interim Committee of Directors → Headed by G. Subramania lyer

• RBI has approved a 3 member interim committee of Directors (COD) to exercise the powers of MD & CEO of Dhanlaxmi Bank Ltd till a new MD & CEO takes charge.

1. Subramania lyer will be the Chairman of the COD. G. Rajagopalan Nair and P. K. Vijayakumar will serve as its members.

• RBI has directed that the interim arrangement should nat continue beyond four months, within which the bank must complete the proceedings of appointing a new MD and CEO.
• RBI Director DK Kashyap, General Manager of RBI Bangalore Regional Office as an Additional Director on Dhanlaxmi Bank Board till September 27, 2022. RBI now has 2 members on Dhanlaxmi Bank's Board, including G. Jagan Mohan.
• Generally RBI does not appoint its nominee on the boards of private banks, only if there are exceptional circumstances to avoid any conflict of interest.

About Dhanlaxmi Bank Ltd

• HQ Thrissur, Kerala
• MD & CEO - Sunil Gurbaxani
• Tagline - Tann Mann Dhan

World Day for Farmed Animals 2020 → October 2

• World Day for Farmed Animals is annually celebrated on 2nd October to enhance the needs to treat the farm animals as sentient beings and the importance of farm animal welfare.
• The International Animal Welfare Organization, World Animal Protection in association with Asia for Animals (AfA) coalition celebrates this day.
• AfA coalition is made of 23 well known animal welfare organizations which are focused on improving the welfare of animals in Asia.

About World Animal Protection

• Interim Chair International Board - Nesta Hatendi
• HQ - London, UK

International Day of Non-Violence 2020 → October 2

• UN's International Day of Non-Violence is observed annually on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the Indian independence movement and pioneer of the philosophy and strategy of non-violence. The day is observed to spread the message of non violence, including through education and public awareness.
• In India, to mark the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi Jayanti is celebrated. 2020 marks the 151st birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
• Shirin Ebadi, Iranian Nobel laureate, put forward the proposal to celebrate the day in January 2004
• After this, the Satyagraha Conference resolution was passed in New Delhi in January 2007 to adopt
• the idea of   celebrating the day.
• October 2 marks the birthday of Late Lal Bahadur Shastri, the second Prime Minister of India.

International Day of Non-Violence 2020 → 2 October

• 2020 events
• A webinar called '6 Sala, Bemisal' of Swachhata was organized
• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MOHUA) organized a webinar titled 'Swachh Ke 6 Saale, Bemisal' to celebrate the 6th anniversary of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban(SBM-U).
• The webinar was chaired by Minister of State (1 / C) Hardeep Singh Puri. MOHUA with Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary, MoHUA and Kamran Rizvi, Additional Secretary, MoUUA.
• MOHUA also released a document on 'COVID-19: A Sanitation Perspective' response to Indian cities, compiled by National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and 'Frontline Stories of Resilience: India's Sanitation Champions' compiled a collection of inspiring stories from sanitation workers A toolkit for the protection of sanitation workers prepared by the Fecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM) Alliance and by the Center for Urban Management (UMC).

Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2020 → 1st - 31st October

• The Breast Cancer Awareness Month is annually observed across the globe in the month of October from 1st October to 31st October to create awareness and focus the attention on the early detection and treatment of breast cancer as well as the palliative care of this disease.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) 's National Cancer Control Program (NCCP) is aimed to reduce the rate of cancer cases and death and to improve the quality of the life of cancer patients.

World Vegetarian Day → October 1, 2020

• World Vegetarian Day is celebrated annually on October 1.
• It is observed to promote Joy, Compassion and life-enhancing possibilities of Vegetarianism.
• It is also the First Day of Vegetarian Awareness Month (October).
• About International Vegetarian Union (IVU)
• Chair of International Vegetarian Union (IVU) - Marly Winckler Established in Dresden, Germany