Zurich International + UP Government> For Jewar Airport

• UP and the Zurich Airport International AG (ZAIA) signed a 40-year concession agreement which grants license to Zurich Airport for designing, building and operating the Noida International Airport (NIA) (also known as Jewar Airport) at Jewar, outskirts of Delhi.
• The airport is located 70 kms from Delhi, 40 kms from Noida and 130 kms from Agra.
• The international airport is scheduled to open in 2024 with a passenger capacity of 1.2 crore passengers per year.

Jagananna Vidya Kanuka Scheme to provide Free Kits to Govt School Students

• . To combat child labor and help poor parents choose the education for their children, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has launched Rs 650 crore Jagananna Vidya Kanuka scheme at Punadipadu ZP High School Krishna District. Under the scheme free kits will be provided to 42.32 lakh government school students from Class 1 to 10.
• About Jagananna Vidya Kanuka
• The Vidya Kanuka kits comprise the following namely, 3 pairs of uniform cloth, 1 pair of shoes, 2 pairs of socks, a belt, textbooks and notebooks and a school bag.
• The stitching charges of the uniform will be directly credited to the mothers' account.

Uttarakhand CM → Mukhya Mantri Saur Swarojgar Yojana

• Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat launched the Mukhya Mantri Saur Swarojgar Yojana
• The scheme is aimed at promoting self-employment of the youth and promoting the production of Green Energy.
• . The targeted beneficiaries include youths and migrant workers, who returned home after leaving jobs in various parts of the country due to pandemic.
• Under the scheme, 10,000 youths and migrants will get self-employment in the Green Energy Sector.
• The targeted beneficiaries will be allocated Solar Plants of 25 Kilowatts (KW) each.
• The plants will generate 38,000 units of electricity per annum which will be bought by Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited for 25 years.

Uttarakhand CM → Mukhya Mantri Saur Swarojgar Yojana

• Co-operative banks & private banks will grant loans at an interest rate of 8% per year for 15 years to set up solar plants on private land or on land taken on lease.
• The CM also launched a forest and wildlife helpline number 1926 for protection of forests and reducing human-wildlife conflict.
• > Uttarakhand CM inaugurated the State Disaster Response Force's (SDRF) latest Quick Deployment Antenna (QDA) technology.
• QDA is a satellite based communication technology which establishes communication in places where network coverage is low or has zero coverage.
• It will be able to send and receive video or voice calls, and is capable of data transfer which are vital during Emergency Situations.
• Uttarakhand is the first state to use QDA technology for disaster management

Union Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot inaugurated International Conference on Mental Health

• Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Thaawarchand Gehlot virtually inaugurated the "International Conference on Mental Health- Looking Beyond COVID-19".
• The conference was organized by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPWD), Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment in association with University of Melbourne, Australia.
• Professor Craig Jeffrey, Director of Australia-India Institute co-chaired the conference.
• The Initiatives are:
• Setting up of National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation at Sehore, Madhya Pradesh.
• KIRAN Mental Health Rehabilitation Helpline.

Coastal Security Exercise Sagar Kavach concluded

• A two days long half yearly Coastal Security Exercise "Sagar Kavach" along the coastal areas of Kerala, Karnataka and Lakshadweep to check Coastal Security Mechanism and validate Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). It assesses the preparedness of security agencies to deal with an asymmetric threat from sea.
• The exercise was closely monitored from Joint Operations Center, Kochi (Kerala) and reviewed by Southern Naval Command Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) Vice Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla.
• A total of 20 ships of the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard (ICG) as well as 50 patrol crafts manned by various security agencies took part in the exercise which includes Coastal Police, Coastal District Administration, Cochin Port, Fisheries Department, Customs, Marine Enforcement Wing (MEW), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Light House Department and fishermen community.
• Coastal Security Exercise Sagar Kavach looked
• About Indian Navy
• Commander-in-chief - President Kovind
• Chief of the Naval Staff - Admiral Karambir Singh
• HQ - New Delhi
• Navy Day 4h December

Govt of india appointed 3 Monetary Policy Committee Members

• Composition - The committee consists of six members. Out of these, three are nominated by Govt of india that must not be a Government official. The other three member of the committee are appointed by the RBI itself. The RBI Governor acts as the ex-officio chairperson of the committee while the Executive Governor of the bank acts as the Deputy Governor.
• Term of office - The members are appointed for a period of four years and they are not eligible of reappointment.
• Functions of the Committee - As per the recommendations made by Chakravarty Committee, the main functions of committee include:
• To set the monetary policy norms related to the economic growth, social justice, price stability, equity and encouraging growth for the new financial enterprises
• It tries to keep the inflation rates under control when the Government tries to accelerate the GDP growth rate.
• The committee also decided the policy interest rate, bank rate, repo rate, Reverse Repo Rate etc.

Govt of india appointed 3 Monetary Policy Committee Members

• The composition of the current and first monetary policy committee is as follows:
• Governor of the Reserve Bank of India - Chairperson, ex officio - Shaktikanta Das
•  Deputy Governor of the Bank in charge of monetary policy - Michael Debabrata Patra
• Executive Director of the Bank in charge of monetary policy - Dr Mridul k Saggar
• Ashima Goyal is a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Economic Advisory Council. Ms Goyal is a professor at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research in Mumbai and was a visiting fellow at Yale University.
• Shashanka Bhide is a senior advisor at the National Council for Applied Economic Research, a New Delhi-based think-tank, whose work has involved research into agriculture, poverty analysis and macroeconomics.
• Jayanth Varma is a finance and accounting professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He was formerly on the board of the country's capital markets' regulator.
• Members referred from 4 to 6 above, will hold office for a period of four years from the date of appointment while the other three members are official. All the central government nominees are not eligible to be re-appointed

4th Bi-Monthly RBI Monetary Policy Committee meet

• The Monetary Policy Committee held its meeting from October 7, 2020 to October 9, 2020.
• The monetary policy committee was recently formed and its members were recently appointed by the Government of India. Economists Jayant R Varma, Shashank Bhide and Ashima Goyal were made the part of the monetary policy committee.
• Main outcomes of the meet
• The committee has kept the Repo Rate unchanged at 4%.
• The committee has decided to keep Reverse Repo Rate at 3.35% as earlier.
• Ways and Means Advance Limits of the center has been kept at Rs 1.25 lakh crores.
• RBI announced on-tap TLTRO on Rs 1 trillion money at 4% till March 2021. GDP for the fiscal year 2021 has been predicted at 9.5% with chances of strong rebound.
• Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan passed away at 74
• Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Minister Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (elected from the Hajipur constituency of Bihar) passed away
• He was the leader of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and a stalwart of socialist movements and known as the foremost Dalit leader of Bihar.
• Ram Vilas Paswan was elected to Bihar Legislative Assembly in 1969 as a member of Samyukta Socialist Party.
• He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1977 with the highest margin as a member of Janata Party and he held the Guinness record for winning his constituency, Hajipur, with the highest margin for many years.
• Later he formed the LJP in 2000.
• He was elected 8 times to Lok Sabha between 1977 to 2014 and he also served as a member of Rajya Sabha from 2010 to 2014.
• He was elected to Rajya Sabha in 2019 and continued as the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

World Post Day → October 9

• World Post Day is observed on 9th October every year.
• The purpose of World Post Day is to create awareness of the role of the postal sector in people and businesses' everyday lives and its contribution to the social and economic development of countries.
• World Post Day is celebrated each year on 9 October, the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874 in the Swiss Capital, Bern.
• It was declared World Post Day by the UPU Congress held in Tokyo, Japan in 1969. Since then,
• countries across the world participate annually in the celebration.
• Posts in many countries use the event to introduce or promote new postal products and services.
• About UPU
• DG - Bishar Hussein
• HQ-Bern, Switzerland

National Postal Week> October 9-15, 2020

• National Postal Week will be observed in India from October 9-15, 2020. During the National Postal Week awareness is observed to generate awareness about the role and activities of India Post among public and media at National level.
• Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication, Government of India is observing the National Postal Week.
• National Postal Week celebrations by Maharashtra Postal Circle: Maharashtra Postal Circle has released a 7-day schedule for celebrating the National Postal Week in Maharashtra
• World Post Day - 9th October, 2020 - Post Forum meeting inside Post Office Premises. A workshop on soft skills, public interaction and general courtesy will be organized.
• Banking Day - 10th October, 2020 - To promote saving schemes offered by Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) and products offered by India Post Payments bank (IPPB) such as Aadhar Enabled Payment System (AEPS), mobile ATM (Automated Teller Machine)
• Postal Life Insurance Day (PLI) - 12th October, 2020 - Head Post Offices will conduct drives to clear
• the condition of insurance claims
• World Philately Day - 13th October, 2020 - A meeting with Philatelists (Stamp Collectors) will be organized.
• Business Development Day - 14th October, 2020 - India post interacts with major customers to promote business and receive feedback
• Mails Day - 15th October 2020 - Know Your Postman Campaign to be conducted   Oldest Post Box Holders to be honored.

India has successfully test fired first Anti-Radiation Missile 'Rudram' from Sukhoi-30 Fighter Aircraft

• India successfully test-fired its first indigenous anti-radiation missile Rudram 1, a New Generation Anti-Radiation Missile (NGARM) integrated on Su-30MKI fighter aircraft of Indian Air Force.
• Developed by Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), this air-to-surface missile was tested at the interim test range Balasore, off the coast of Odisha in the Bay of Bengal.
• It has been designed for suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD).
• The missile will provide air superiority, tactical capability for the IAF fighter aircraft.
• Tech specs
• Range: It depends upon the height at which the fighter jet is flying. It can be launched from a height ranging from 500 meters to 15 km.
• Target Range: It can hit radiation emitting targets within a range of 250 km.

National Startup Awards 2020

• Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal (Maharashtra Constituency) released the results of the First Edition of National Startup Awards 2020 in a virtual ceremony.
• The First Ever National Startup Awards has been conceived by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
• Aim - The award rewards startups & ecosystems which are building innovative products, solutions and scalable enterprises with high potential of employment generation & wealth creation. The award takes into consideration the contribution of a product or solution to social good.
• The First edition of awards invited applications from across 12 sectors and 35 sub-categories.
• The 12 sectors are Agriculture, Education, Enterprise Technology, Energy, Finance, Food, Health, Industry 4.0, Space, Security, Tourism and Urban Services.

National Startup Awards 2020

Rewards

• The winning startups will get a cash prize of INR 5 Lakh each and an opportunity to present their solutions / products to public authorities and corporates for pilot projects and work orders.
• The Key building blocks of a robust startup ecosystem, one exceptional incubator and one accelerator each will get a cash prize of INR 15 Lakh.
• Main winners
• Kerala based Genrobotic Innovations Private Limited's manhole-cleaning robot Bandicoot won the award in "Campus-initiated startups category
• Delhi based Intello Labs private Limited's digitized food quality assessment across supply chain from farm to table won the award in 'Agriculture sector.
• Bengaluru based Niramai Health Analytix Private Limited which offered a solution for early detection of breast cancer won the award in the 'Health' sector.

Govt of india appointed 3 Monetary Policy Committee Members

• Gol appointed economists Jayant R Varma, Shashank Bhide and Ashima Goyal as the new members of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) which was set up in 2016.
• The MPC prepare the monetary policies for the country using the monetary policy tools that include bank rate, repo rate, reverse repo rate and cash reserve ratio.
• The Committee was constituted under section 54 ZB of the reserve bank of India (RBI) Act, 1934