Current Affairs - October 19, 2020 Current Affairs

Union Minister of Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman, during a press conference on economic issues. launched two scheme for the benefit of central government employees. These scheme are Cash Voucher scheme named Leave Travel Concession (LTC) and Special Festival Advance Scheme.

In a recent move, the Supreme Court-appointed EPCA (Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority) has called for implementing "very poor" and "severe" category measures listed under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in Delhi NCR. These measures have come into effect from October 15, 2020 onwards.

Gujarat state government has announced to set up world's biggest zinc smelter project in Dosawada in Tapi district of Gujarat. As per the official release, the state government signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Vedanta group firm Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) on the evening of October 14, 2020.

The Philippines will resume oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea, in a move that will test how far the country and Beijing are willing to compromise over rival maritime claims and the US's resolve to back Manila. "We trust China will respect our sovereign decision," Alfonso Cusi, energy secretary, said on Friday about the move to end a six-year moratorium on resource exploration in the disputed waters.

Veteran sports journalist and commentator Kishore Bhimani, 81, died of sudden cardiac arrest on Thursday in Kolkata. He was suffering from a number of health complications for the past one month. Following which he was admitted to Woodland Multispecialty Hospital on Tuesday. His only son, Gautam Bhimani, is a well-known television personality and a quiz master.

Ahead of the Bihar election, the government on Friday approved the 14th tranche of electoral bonds which will be open for sale between October 19 to October 28. The Election Commission of India (ECI) accorded 'no objection' from the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) angle on October 15 with certain conditions, a finance ministry statement said.

Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel on Saturday said the movement of women police personnel in Lucknow will inculcate a feeling of pride and safety for women in the city here. The Governor spoke while inaugurating the 'Safe City Project', a 180-day-long campaign under which the police and other departments will work towards safety of women. In a statement issued here, the UP Raj Bhavan said the Governor flagged off 100 pink scooties and 10 four-wheeler police vehicles. Lucknow is among eight cities in the country selected for the 'Safe City Project'. The central government has approved the project for Lucknow at a total cost of Rs 194 crore with an aim to strengthen security of women in public places.

Every year, 17th October is observed as World Trauma Day. This day highlights the increasing rate of accidents and injuries causing death and disability across the world and the need to prevent them. Trauma means "any injury caused to the body".

Jacinda Ardern has won a second term as New Zealand's Prime Minister after her success at handling the country's coronavirus outbreak helped secure a landslide victory. Preliminary results show that Ardern's center-left Labour Party has won 49% of the vote, meaning her party looks likely to score the highest result that any party has achieved since the current political system was introduced in 1996. That result means her party is projected to win 64 out of 120 parliamentary seats, making it the first party to be able to govern alone under the current system. Coalitions are the norm in New Zealand, where no single party has won a majority of votes in the last 24 years.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday asserted that culprits of crimes against women will be punished swiftly as there will be a separate room now for women complainants in 1,535 police stations across the state. Adityanath made these remarks while launching "Mission Shakti" programme for women security in Uttar Pradesh. Young girls demonstrated self-defence techniques during the event.

A massive World War II bomb exploded underwater in Poland during a delicate operation by the Polish Navy. The information was shared by the Navy on its Facebook page. Over hundreds of local residents were evacuated from the area ahead of the military operation undertaken by Polish Military Divers to defuse the five-tonne bomb in a channel near the Baltic Sea. No one was harmed during the operation. The operation was initially planned to take until Friday, depending on the weather.

In line with the government's commitment to end Tuberculosis by 2025 in the country, Nagaland Minister for Health and Family Welfare , Mr. S. Pangnyu Phom today launched a handbook on "TB Harega, Desh Jeetega" . Launching the handbook, Mr. Phom said, the National TB Elimination Programme, NTEP Nagaland is committed to reduce TB burden in terms of incidence, prevalence, morbidity and mortality to make the state free from tuberculosis.

India ranked 94 among 107 nations in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2020 and continues to be in the 'serious' hunger category. Last year, India's rank was 102 out of 117 countries. The Global Hunger Index data showed that 14 per cent of India's population was undernourished. Besides, the country recorded a 37.4 per cent stunting rate among children under five and a wasting rate of 17.3 per cent. The under-five mortality rate stood at 3.7 per cent.

CRPF signs MoU with IIT-Delhi, DRDO to prepare tech experts in force. The CRPF has signed an MoU with IIT-Delhi and DRDO to create a pool of officials who will work to find technology solutions for its operational challenges. Some officers will undertake short-term specialised courses at IIT-Delhi.

This year marks the 27th anniversary of the declaration by the General Assembly, in its resolution 47/196 of 22 December 1992, of 17 October as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. This year also marks the 32nd anniversary of the Call to Action by Father Joseph Wresinski - which inspired the observance of October 17 as the World Day for Overcoming Extreme Poverty - and the recognition by the United Nations of the day as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.