Hing Cultivation started in India for the First Time

• Hing (Ferula assa-foetida) is commonly known as Asafoetida cultivation has been started in India for the first time.
• The first plantation of Heeng was done in Lahaul and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh.
• Heeng is a widely used spice in Indian Cuisine and is usually imported from Afghanistan, Iran and Uzbekistan.
• Council of Scientific & Industrial Research Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (CSIR-IHBT) introduced six accessions of heeng from Iran through National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR).

"Kati Bihu" Festival → Assam

• . Kati Bihu is one of the set of three Bihu festivals (agricultural festivals) was celebrated in the state of Assam
• The Kati Bihu is also known as Kangali Bihu, the festival of the poor (the word "Kongal" means "poor") is celebrated in mid-October when the crops are at growing stage and the granaries of the farmers are depleting The Kati Bihu is celebrated with the lamp called 'Saki' which is lit on the tips of bamboo poles in the fields which represents a guide to spirits and earthen lamps are lit in the garden, under the Tulsi plants and in the granaries
• Other Bihu Festivals - Bohag or Rongali Bihu is celebrated during the mid-April as the Assamese new year. During the Bohag Bihu the fields are prepared for the paddy cultivation.
• Magh or Bhogali Bihu is celebrated during the mid-January as a spring festival to mark a successful harvest and full granaries.

About Assam

• Capital - Dispur
• CM Sarbananda Sonowal
• Governor - Jagdish Mukhi

Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju attended Y20 Summit virtually

• The first-ever virtual G20 (Group of Twenty) Youth 20 (Y20) Summit was virtually hosted from Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia for exchanging ideas and dialogues for the empowerment of youth post COVID where Indian side was represented by Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS).
• The theme of the summit was "Government - Youth dialogue on post-COVID-19 opportunities".
• The year 2020 marks the 10th anniversary of Y20 as the official G20 youth engagement group.

About Youth20 (Y20) Summit

• Y20 is a forum for developing cooperation with the future generation, and provides a platform for young people to have their voices heard on issues relevant to the G20 agenda.

About G-20 or Group of Twenty

• Composition - 19 countries and the European Union (EU) The 19 countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy Japan, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, and the US.
• 2020 Presidency - Saudi Arabia
• 2020 theme - Realizing Opportunities of the 21st Century For All
• Chairman Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (2020)

Stellapps launched 'mooPay'

• Stellapps, an IIT Madras incubated dairy-tech startup and World Economic Forum (WEF)'s technology pioneer launched 'mooPay' in Bhilwara district of Rajasthan.
• The first-of-its-kind fully automated direct payment platform is for dairy farmers in Rajasthan. This platform is one of the Fintech solutions developed by Stellapps for dairy and dairy farmers.
• mooPay also enables delivery of cattle loans, livestock insurance and innovative fintech solutions like sachet loans and milk receivable financing.
• Moopay removes the risk and costs of transferring money as it acts as a payment gateway for dairies to make payments to every registered farmer.
• The company has also set up customer service points at the centres, where farmers can show their Aadhaar card and withdraw the money from their accounts. This makes the transaction easier for the farmers.

About Stellapps

• CEO Ranjith Mukundan
• HQ - Bangalore

FSSAI's New Food Safety Compliance System (FOSCOS) → Will become Operational country wide from November 2020

• The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) the food regulator announced that the Food Safety Compliance System (FOSCOS) of FSSAI will become operational across India from 1st November 2020.
• The FoSCoS will replace the Food Licensing and Registration System (FLRS).
• The system was launched in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Gujarat, Goa, Odisha, Manipur, Delhi, Chandigarh and Ladakh on first June 2020.
• FOSCOS is developed to provide a one point stop for all the processes of the Food Business Operators (FBO) with the department for any regulatory compliance transaction.

About FSSAI

• CEO - Arun Singhal
• HQ - New Delhi

Naval version of BrahMos missile test-fired from INS Chennai

• . The Naval version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was successfully test-fired from an indigenously built stealth destroyer of the Indian Navy in the Arabian Sea.
• The missile was fired from INS Chennai which is a stealth destroyer.

 BrahMos Aerospace

• It was developed as a joint venture of the Defense Research Development Organization (DRDO) and NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM) of Russia.
• The missile has been named after the rivers Brahmaputra and Moskva,

50 years of Bangladesh's Independence → Bangladesh invited PM Modi to join celebrations

• Bangladesh has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join the celebrations of the 50 years of the country's independence.
• . The country will complete its 50 years of independence on March 26, 2021.
• The Independence Day of Bangladesh is observed on 26 March every year. The day commemorates the Bangladesh's declaration of independence from Pakistan. The leader of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had declared its independence from Pakistan on 26 March 1971.
• India had also joined the war on 3 December 1971

About Bangaldesh

• Capital - Dhaka, PM - Sheikh Hasina, Currency - Taka

Jacinda Ardern-second term as the Prime Minister of New Zealand

• Jacinda Ardern leader of the Labor Party won the 2nd term as the Prime Minister of New Zealand
• Jacinda Ardern became the Prime Minister at the age of 37 in 2017 and became the 3rd female leader and one of the youngest leaders in the world.
• She became the 2nd world leader to give birth while holding the office, after Benazir Bhutto.

About New Zealand

• Capital - Wellington
• PM - Jacinda Ardern
• Currency - New Zealand dollar

India + Sri Lanka → Navies conducted Maritime Exercise SLINEX-20 off Trincomalee

• India's policy of 'Neighborhood First' and vision of security and growth for all in the region (SAGAR) is boosting interactions with neighboring countries including Sri Lanka with which Indian Navy (IN) initiated 8th Edition of annual Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) bilateral maritime exercise SLINEX-20 from October 19-21 October 2020 off Trincomalee in Sri Lanka.
• The Indian side is represented by indigenously built ASW (anti- Submarine Warfare corvettes) Kamorta and Kiltan

About Sri Lanka

• Capitals - Colombo, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
• Currency - Sri Lankan rupee
• PM - Mahinda Rajapaksa, President - Gotabaya Rajapaksha

About Indian Navy

• Chief of the Naval Staff - Admiral Karambir Singh
• Navy Day - 4th Dec

An Indian spends 3.5% of daily income for a plate of food- Ranked 28th & South Sudan topped as per UN's WFP Report

• In accordance with the "The Cost of a Plate of Food-2020" released by United Nations World Food Program (UN-WFP), on an average Indian spends 3.5% of his / her daily income for a plate of food as compared to 0.6% by an Individual from New York, USA.
• The report has ranked 36 countries where India stood at 28th position.
• The most expensive plate of food is of South Sudan where people on average would have to spend 186% of their daily salary on basic ingredients.
• UN-WFP is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

About United Nations World Food Program (UN-WFP)

• Executive Director - David Muldrow Beasley
• HQ - Rome, Italy

Singapore → first Country to attach Facial Verification in National Identification Database

• Singapore became the World's First Country to attach Facial Verification in the National Identification Database.
• The function is called "SingPass Face Verification".
• Using "SingPass Face Verification" a number of government services can be accessed online.
• It is being rolled out to the city-state's SingPass digital identity scheme.
• The SingPass digital identity scheme provides access to 400 online services which includes tax declarations, and public housing applications.

About Singapore

• Capital - Singapore City
• President - Halimah Yacob
• PM - Lee Hsien Loong
• Currency - Singapore dollar

BoB + Mahindra & Mahindra → Inked MoU for Tractor Finance Business

• Bank of Baroda (BOB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) for tractor finance business.
• This aims to enhance the agriculture business and support farmers to avail loans to buy tractors.

About Bank of Baroda

• Chairman - Hasmukh Adhia> MD & CEO - Sanjiv Chadha
• HQ Vadodara
• Tagline - India's International Bank

Fino Payments Bank to add another 300 points to BPCL outlets in Tamil Nadu

• Fino Payments Bank announced plans to add an additional 300 points to the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) outlet, which is in its current 1075 in Tamil Nadu.
• . The aim is to help truck drivers obtain recharge cards by paying equivalent cash. Fino Point employees support truck drivers and the general public to do banking.
• Transactions with Micro ATM and Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) devices.

DANISA Denmark Open 2020 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Tournament

• DANISA Denmark Open 2020 took place from October 13-18, 2020 in Odense, Denmark. Denmark Open is an annual Badminton Tournament held in Denmark, organized by Denmark's Badminton forbund.
• Badminton World Federation (BWF) categorized it as a BWF World Tour Super 750 event in 2018.
• It is the only world tour event in Badminton which took place in 2020.
• Chou Tien Chen (Chinese Taipei) defeated India's Kidambi Srikanth in the Quarterfinals of Denmark Open 2020.
• Winners of DANISA Denmark Open 2020 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Tournament.

Sheikh Russel International Air-Rifle Championship 2020

• The Sheikh Russel International Air Rifle Championship 2020 was held virtually.
• Indian Shooters Elavenil Valarivan won the Gold Medal in the Women's event, while Shahu Tushar Mane won the Silver Medal in the Men's event.
• The championship was organized by Bangladesh Shooting Sport Federation (BSSF).

Men's Events

• Naoya Okada (Japan)Gold medal
• Shahu Tushar Mane (India)Silver medal
• Baki Abdullah Hel (Bangladesh)Bronze medal

Indian Shooters Elavenil, Shahu Mane won Gold and Silver Medals respectively in Sheikh Russel International Air-Rifle Championship 2020

• Women's Event
• Elavenil Valarivan (India)-Gold medal
• Shiori Hirata (Japan)-Silver medal
• Vidya Toyyiba (Indonesia)-Bronze medal

Jnanpith & Padma Shri Awardee and Malayalam Poet 'Mahakavi' Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri passed away at 94

• 'Mahakavi' (great poet) Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri, renowned Malayalam Poet passed away at a private hospital in Thrissur, Kerala.
• He is the last Malayalam poet to be called as 'Mahakavi'.
• He introduced "meaningful modernism" in Malayalam poetry several decades ago.
• He is a recipient of Jnanpith Award (2019), India's highest literary honor and Padma Shri (2017).

New Zealand's Former Captain & Oldest surviving Test Cricketer John R. Reid passed away

• John R Reid, former captain of New Zealand's cricket team and the oldest surviving Test Cricketer passed away in Auckland, New Zealand.
• He made his test debut in 1949 and played around 58 tests. He retired in 1965 with a record for most Tests, most as captain, most runs, most catches and most wickets for New Zealand.
• John R Reid was honored with the tag of an officer of the order of the British Empire for his service to cricket in 1962. He was also made a companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2014.

World Trauma Day 2020 → October 17

• World Trauma Day is observed annually on October 17 to create awareness about the increasing rate of accidents and injuries that cause death and disability globally. The day also highlights the need to prevent trauma.
• The day was created to decrease the number of accidents in India and other countries around the world.
• The day was first observed in 2011 in New Delhi, with the Trauma Society of South Africa joining the year after.
• As per the National Crime Bureau Record (NCRB), in 2019 nearly 1.5 lakh
• people died due to
• road accidents in India. The record also states that India records the highest number of road accident fatalities in the world, at 25.3 per 10,000 people.
• One million people die every year in India and 20 million are hospitalized due to injuries.

International Chefs Day 2020 → October 20

• International Chefs Day is annually celebrated on October 20 to celebrate the profession of chefs and educate people about healthy food globally.
• The day also highlights the duty of chefs to pass their knowledge and culinary skills to the next generation of chefs.
• 2020 International Chefs Day campaign theme - 'Healthy Food for the Future!
• Culinary Association in India
• Indian Federation of Culinary Associations (IFCA), Tamil Nadu is a nodal
• body of culinary professionals in India.

3rd World Statistics Day 2020 → October 20

• Third World Statistics Day was observed on 20th October. It is observed to emphasize the importance of data authenticity and credibility. The World Statistics day is observed every five years.
• The theme of Third World Statistics Day is - "Connecting the world with Data we can trust".
• The Day will be celebrated across the world under the collaborative endeavor and guidance of the United Nations Statistics Commission.

National Statistics Day in India

• In India the National Statistics Day is observed on 29th June of every year to celebrate the Birth Anniversary of Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis.
• He is the founder of Indian National Statistical System.
• About United Nations Statistical Commission
• Chairman - Shigeru Kawasaki
• HQ - New York

World Osteoporosis Day 2020 → October 20

• . The World Osteoporosis Day (WOD) is annually observed across the globe on 20th October to raise awareness on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of Osteoporosis.
• The year-long campaign of WOD 2020 will feature "That's Osteoporosis" as the headline, and highlight the visuals that impact the emotions and the stories of the Osteoporosis patients.
• As a part of the WOD 2020 events the Department of Orthopedics of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Nagpur organized a national webinar on "Fragility Fractures".
• About International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF)
• President - Cyrus Cooper HQ - Nyon, Switzerland