Central Govt. → Made High-level Committee headed by PM Modi to Commemorate 400th Birth Anniversary of Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur

• Central government set up a high-level 70-member committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to commemorate the 400th birth anniversary of Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur.
• The mandate of the committee includes approval of policies, plans, programmes and supervision and guiding the commemoration, besides deciding broad dates for detailed programmes of celebration.
• Members of the committee - Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman, Hardeep Singh Puri, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, chief ministers of Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan

IIT Jodhpur + NHAI → Signed MoU to share their expertise skills for betterment of highway Infrastructure

• IIT Jodhpur and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to share expertise for the betterment of highway infrastructure.
• The Signing of the MoU was held at IIT Jodhpur Campus in the presence of Santanu Chaudhury, Director of IIT Jodhpur, and Ajay Bishnoi, General Manager (Technical) and Project Director, NHAI, Project Implementation Unit (PIU) Jodhpur.
• The two institutions will work in domains which include transportation engineering, structural engineering, geotechnical engineering

About NHAI

• Chairman - Sukhbir Singh Sandhu
• HQ - New Delhi

About Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur (IITJ)

• Chairman - R. Chidambaram
• Location - Jodhpur, Rajasthan

Karnataka will implement Bhagyalakshmi scheme through Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana of the postal department instead of LIC

• Karnataka Cabinet presided by Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, approved to implement a redesigned Bhagyalakshmi scheme under the Sukanya Samriddhi Account scheme of India Post, instead of the LIC of India from 2020-21.
• The decision was made as the interest rate offered by the LIC was less. Under the scheme, India post provides an interest rate of 7.6% on deposits.
• Annually, the public can make a minimum investment of Rs 250 and maximum of Rs. 1.5 lakh.

About Bhagyalakshmi scheme

• It was launched during 2006-07 to improve the sex ratio by providing incentives to BPL (Below Poverty Line) families with girl children.
• As per the revised scheme, an amount of Rs 19,300 for the first child and Rs 18,350 for the second child will be deposited with the partner financial institution. Earlier the amount was Rs 10,000.
• When the girl attains the age of 18, the first beneficiary in the family will get Rs 1,00,097 / - and the second beneficiary will get Rs 1,00,052 / - as maturity amount. Children up to 2 years of age are eligible to enroll under the scheme upon producing a birth certificate. The benefits are restricted to 2 girl children in a BPL family.

1st Virtual India - International Food & Agri Week

• To double the income of farmers by 2022, the first ever virtual "CII Agro & Food Tech: India - International Food & Agri Week" was organized which was virtually inaugurated by Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW) during the 14th edition of the Agro and Food Tech.
• It was organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with the MOAFW, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying (FAHD) and Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI).
• The focus of this week was the use of technology in the field of food and agriculture sector to increase the income of farmers.
• MOFPI also started an awareness campaign named "Anna Devo Bhava" to mark this occasion.
• About CII
• President - Uday Kotak, HQ- New Delhi

Govt to bring new law to tackle Stubble-Burning led Pollution

• The central government has decided to create a permanent body through legislation to tackle the air pollution and the stubble burning problem in Delhi and NCR states.
• The new body will replace the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) led by Bhure Lal. Following this, one-member committee of retired Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B Lokur was suspended.
• Supreme Court had formed Justice Madan B Lokur committee to look after the steps to tackle stubble burning on October 16, 2020. Stubble burning is
• the primary source of the pollution in Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh during winters. This committee was to get assistance of chief secretaries of all states to look after the situation.
• Supreme Court Order the SC in its October 16 order stated for the deployment of National Cadet Corps, National Service Scheme and Bharat Scouts and Guides to assist the monitoring of stubble burning in the agricultural fields of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi-NCR.

UP secured first rank disbursing loans under PM SVanidhi Scheme

• Uttar Pradesh government has secured the first rank in central government's PM Atmanirbhar Nidhi Scheme (SVANidhi Scheme) by approving the highest number of loans under the scheme.
• Uttar Pradesh has ranked first in all the categories including Applications, Sanctions and Disbursements of the loans.
• 6,22,167 applications were received under the scheme out of which sanctions were given to 3,46,150 applicants. Loans were disbursed to 2,26,728 beneficiaries.

National Conference on Vigilance and Anti Corruption to be inaugurated on Oct 27

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the National Conference on Vigilance and Anti Corruption on October 27, 2020.
• The theme for the conference is 'Vigilant India, Prosperous India'.
• CBI organized this National Conference along with the 'Vigilance Awareness Week'. The conference is observed every year from 27th October to 2nd November in India.

NTPC Ranks 1st among Indian PSUs in Forbes "World's best Employers 2020"

• NTPC Limited (formerly known as National Thermal Power Corporation Limited), owned by the Government of India and one of India's largest energy corporations tops the list of Indian Public Sector Undertakings (PSUS) featured in the 4th annual "World's Best Employer 2020" list published by Forbes.
  • The final list comprises 750 multinational corporations headquartered in 45 countries.

Arunachal Pradesh is built at Memorial, Bum La, Arunachal Pradesh

• The state government of Arunachal Pradesh has built a war memorial at Bum La in Arunachal Pradesh.
• The memorial is a tribute to Joginder Singh of the 1st Battalion, Sikh Regiment, who received the Param Vir Chakra, the highest gallantry award during the 1962 Indo-China War.
• The Indian Army held the inauguration ceremony of the Joginder War Memorial at Bum La, on the day of the Battle of Tongpen La (Bomb La) in 1962.

About Arunachal Pradesh

• Capital - Itanagar
• CM - Pema Khandu
• Governor - BD Mishra

Indian-origin Wavel Ramkalawan → New Seychelles President; 1st Opposition Leader since 1977

• India origin Wavel Ramkalawan, of the opposition Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) was elected as the President of Seychelles
• It should be noted that since 1977 it was for the first time that Seychelles got a leader from the opposition party.

About Seychelles

• Capital - Victoria
• President - Wavel Ramkalawan Currency - Seychellois Rupee

Luis Ars → Bolivia's new president

• Bolivia's Supreme Electoral Tribunal formally announced that Luis Alberto "Luco" Ars Catecora won the presidential election in Bolivia.
• Luis Aers will succeed Jeanine Avez Chavez, Bolivia's interim president of the Democratic Social Movement Party.

About Bolivia

• Capital - Sucre (Constitutional and Judicial), La Paz (Executive and Legislative)
• President - Louis Ars
• Currency - Boliviano

Alpha Condé → 3rd term as the President of Guinea

• Alpha Condé the incumbent president of Guinea won the 3rd term as the President of Guinea by winning the 2020 primary elections
• About Guinea
• Capital - Conakry
• PM - Ibrahima Kassory Fofana
• Currency Guinean Franc

Saad el-Din Hariri elected for the third time as Lebanese PM → Suchitas Mustafa Adeeb

• Saad el-Din Hariri was elected Prime Minister of Lebanon.
• He replaces Mustafa Adeeb.
• About lebanon
• Capital - Beirut
• President - Michael Aun
• Currency - Lebanese Pound

Apurva Chandra Elected as Chairperson of the Governing Body of ILO for the period October 2020 - June 2021

• Apurva Chandra, Secretary (Labor and Employment), Ministry of Labor and Employment was elected as the Chairperson of the Governing Body of the International Labor Organization (ILO) for the period October 2020 - June 2021.
• It is to be noted that India assumes the Chairmanship of the Governing Body of ILO after 35 years.

About ILO

• HQ - Geneva, Switzerland
• Director-General - Guy Ryder
• Member States - 187 (Including India)