Latest Current Affairs For Thursday 20th October, 2022

Adani Airports appoints Arun Bansal as CEO

Adani Airport Holdings has named Ericsson veteran, Arun Bansal its chief executive officer.

He has spent 25 years at the Swedish telecom network company and was most recently its president for Europe and Latin America.

The appointment will help strengthen digital transformation and the business growth agenda.

Adani’s airports account for 25% of airport footfalls and 40% of air cargo in India.

Adani Airport Headquarters: Ahmedabad

CASHe, IRCTC partner to launch ‘travel now pay later’ facility

CASHe has partnered with Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to provide a ’travel now pay later’ (TNPL) payment option on its IRCTC Rail Connect, travel app.

This feature will enable travellers of Indian Railways to book their rail tickets instantly and pay for it later in EMIs, ranging from three to six months.

With this option, the booking and paying for rail tickets on the IRCTC travel app, is become easier and hassle-free.

Wildlife board approves new tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh Wildlife Board has approved a 2,339 Sq km new tiger reserve, will be known as Durgavati Tiger Reserve.

The new tiger reserve will be spread across Narisinghpur, Damoh and Sagar districts of MP.

The Board’s meeting was chaired by Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who has approved a proposal to notify 1,414 sq km area as core area and 925 sq km as a buffer in the new tiger reserve.

The proposal will be sent to NTCA for final approval.

Real Madrid's Karim Benzema won the Ballon d’Or 2022

Real Madrid's Karim Benzema has won the 2022 Ballon d'Or trophy at the 66th Ballon d'Or ceremony, held at Theatre du Chatelet Paris, France.

While, Barcelona's Alexia Putellas won the women's Ballon d'Or.

Other awards:

Kopa Award: Barcelona's Gavi (best-performing player under the age of 21).

Gerd Muller: FC Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski

Socrates Award: Bayern Munich's Sadio Mane

Club of the Year Award: Manchester City

Yachine Award: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)

SBI General Insurance launches insurance buying facility via WhatsApp

SBI General Insurance has joined hands with Gupshup to offer a new insurance policy, renew an existing one, intimate claims and more, through WhatsApp.

Customers across the country can buy insurance from SBI General by sending a ‘Hi’.

The Gupshup’s chat bot will guide users through a simple and secure buying process.

It also help them to complete the purchase within the WhatsApp chat thread.

SBI General Insurance MD & CEO: Kishore Kumar Poludasu. 

LIC launches new 'Dhan Varsha' plan

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has launched a new scheme 'LIC Dhan Varsha.'

This is a non-linked, non-participating, individual, savings life insurance plan that offers a combination of protection and savings.

This is a close ended plan and would be available for sale till March 31, 2023.

Premiums can be paid in single (lumpsum) payment mode only.

The policy can be surrendered by the policyholder at any time during the policy term.

Javelin thrower, DP Manu bags gold at National Open Athletics C'Ships

Indian javelin thrower, DP Manu has won Gold medal in the men’s javelin with the throw of 81.23m at the National Open Athletics Championships in Bengaluru.

No other athlete could cross the 80 m mark in the final.

Former national champion, Rohit Yadav has clinched Silver medal with throw of 79.80 metre, and Kishore Kumar Jena has settled for bronze.

Manu, who represents Services, had won gold at the National Games 2022 with threw of 80.32m.

Indian junior women's team wins 10m air pistol gold medal at ISSF

India’s junior women’s 10m air pistol team has won Gold medal at the ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Championship 2022 in Cairo, Egypt.

The team comprising Esha Singh, Shikha Narwal and Varsha Singh.

The Indian women team beat China’s Zhao Nan, Wang Siyu and Shen Yiyao by a 16-6.

This was sixth gold medal of India at the ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Championship 2022.

Presently, China top the list with 32 medals, which include 17 golds, while, India placed second with 15 medals.

Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurates Asia's largest Compressed Bio Gas plant

Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri has inaugurated Asia's largest Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) plant in Lehragaga, Sangrur, Punjab.

The plant has been commissioned with FDI of approximately Rs. 220 crores by Verbio AG (German bioenergy company).

The present production of plant is about six tonnes per day.

Soon, it will process 300 tonnes of paddy straw per day to produce 33 TPD of CBG by using eight digester of 10,000 cubic meters.

Father of ORS, Dr Dilip Mahalanabis passes away

Renowned physician, Dr. Dilip Mahalanabis, who is also known as the father of oral rehydration therapy, has been passed away at 87 in Kolkata due to lung infection and other old-age ailments.

During the Liberation War in Bangladesh in 1971, he saved thousands of lives with the oral rehydration solution during an outbreak of cholera while serving in a refugee camp at Bangaon in West Bengal.

It is a solution used to prevent and treat dehydration.

Barbara D Metcalf awarded 2022 Sir Syed Excellence International Award

Noted American historian, Prof. Barbara Metcalf has been awarded the Sir Syed Excellence Award 2022 by the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

The award ceremony was held on the 205th birth anniversary of the founder of AMU, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.

She has written extensively on the history of the Muslim population of India and Pakistan.

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan established the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental (MAO) College in 1875, later known as Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

Bharati Das takes charge as 27th Controller General of Accounts

Senior officer of Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS), Bharati Das has been appointed as the 27th Controller General of Accounts (CGA).

She has replaced Sonali Singh, who had given the additional charge of CGA, after the superannuation of Dipak Dash.

Prior to this, she has served as Principal Chief Controller of Accounts (Pr. CCA), CBDT and Ministries of External Affairs, Home Affairs.

CGA is ‘the Principal Advisor’ on Accounting matters to the Union Government.

Former Indian cricketer Roger Binny appointed as new BCCI president

Former Indian cricketer, Roger Binny (67) has been appointed as the new president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

He has replaced Sourav Ganguly.

Jay Shah has been re-inducted as the secretary of the board.

Other appointments:

Vice President: Rajiv Shukla

Joint-secretary: Devajit Saikia

Treasurer: Ashish Shelar

IPL Governing Council Chairman: Arun Singh Dhumal. 

IPL Governing Council member: Avishek Dalmiya

Apex Council member: M Khairul Jamal Majumdar

PM Narendra Modi to be awarded prestigious Lokmanya Tilak Award 2023

The Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust (Hind Swaraj Sangh) would confer the prestigious Lokmanya Tilak National Award 2023 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Pune on August 1, 2023.

Reason: This award recognizes PM Modi's supreme leadership under which India has climbed the ladder of progress

It is presented annually on the occasion of Lokmanya Tilak's death anniversary.

Other awardees: Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sharad Pawar, Cyrus Poonawalla, and Manmohan Singh. 

J&K Bank wins award for Best Performance in CASA

Jammu & Kashmir Bank has been felicitated for the Best Performance in CASA-India (1st Runner up in Small Bank Category) at ICC Emerging Asia Banking Conclave & Awards 2022.

The event was participated by banks from India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka & Myanmar.

The function was organized by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Goa.

Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group headquartered in Calcutta.

India poised to become world’s 2nd-largest economy by 2075: Goldman Sachs

According to the Investment Bank Goldman Sachs, India is poised to become the world’s second-largest economy by 2075.

As per the report, India would cross Japan, Germany, and the US With a population of 1.4 billion people.

India’s GDP is estimated to expand remarkably, reaching 52.5 trillion dollars surpassing the US GDP projection.

The labour force participation set to make India the second-largest economy in the world by 2075.

L&T and Spain's Navantia sign agreement for submarine project

L&T has signed a teaming agreement with Spanish-based Navantia for the submission of a techno-commercial bid for the Indian Navy’s prestigious P75 (India) submarine program.

P75 (India) Submarine Project is expected to be valued at €4.8 billion.

Navantia would carry out the design of P75(I) submarines based on its S80 class of submarines.

The first S80 class submarine was launched in 2021 and is undergoing sea trials prior to its delivery to Spanish Navy. 

India overtakes China as most attractive emerging market for investing

According to a study by Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management, India has overtaken China to become the most attractive emerging market for investing in sovereign wealth funds this year.

Reason: This is due to its solid demographics, political stability, and proactive regulation. 

Positives for the nation also include the rapidly expanding demography, strong regulatory actions, and a welcoming climate for sovereign investors.

World Population Day 2023: 11 July

World Population Day is observed every year on July 11 in order to raise awareness about global population issues, including population control.

2023 theme: Unleashing the power of gender equality: Uplifting the voices of women and girls to unlock our world’s infinite possibilities. 

It was established by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1989, after the day the world approximately reached a population of five billion, which was observed on 11 July 1987.

MoHUA conducts SBM-U 2.0 Planning & Implementation Review-cum-Workshop

The Housing Ministry organized a review-cum-workshop to evaluate and accelerate the planning and implementation of the SBM-Urban 2.0.

PM Modi launched the 2.0 versions of SBM-U and AMRUT on October 1, 2021.

SBM-U 2.0: Achieving 100% waste segregation in all households and premises and 100% door-to-door collection of segregated waste from each. 

AMRUT 2.0: To provide complete coverage of water supply to all households and sewerage and septage in 500 AMRUT cities. 

Gujarat CM launches pilot project of ‘Antyodaya Shramik Suraksha Yojana’

Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel launched the Antyodaya Shram Suraksha Accident Insurance Scheme from Kheda

All those registered under the e-Shram portal from Nadiad will benefit from the scheme.

It is being implemented through the Indian Postal Department, the IPPB, and the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Under this scheme, insurance with a premium of Rs. 289 and Rs. 499 per year will be a big support to workers in the event of death or partial disability.

OCA elects Sheikh Talal as the new President

Kuwait’s Sheikh Talal Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah has been elected as the new President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).

He replaced his older brother Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, who led the OCA for 30 years until 2021.

The OCA was founded in 1982 by his father Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who led it until 1990.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees.

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance wins Insurer Innovation Award 2023

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance has won the Insurer Innovation Award 2023 for the APAC region at the 8th World Digital Insurance Awards, hosted by TDI - The Digital Insurer.

Recognition: Bajaj Allianz Life's ground-breaking WhatsApp Conversational Platform - empowering customers to digitally services their policies seamlessly. 

The award entries were shortlisted by industry experts and the winner was selected by the community through pre-voting and live event voting.