NATIONAL NEWS

National Pension System Diwas

• Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) will observe 01 October as the National Pension System Diwas (NPS Diwas.

• It is to promote pension and retirement planning among the citizens.

• PFRDA is organising this campaign under ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.

• The pension regulator aims to encourage every citizen, whether working professionals or self-employed professionals, to plan towards creating a pension corpus to ensure a financially sound future after retirement.

• NPS subscribers will enjoy the benefits of tax deduction on contribution, power of compounding and reap the benefits of regular income after retirement.

One Week One Lab Theme-Based Campaign

• Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh launched the One Week One Lab theme-based campaign.

• The campaign has been launched to showcase technological breakthroughs and innovations.

• The campaign will be launched in 37 laboratories and institutes of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) across the country.

• CSIR’s achievements in Drone, Heliborne technology, state-of-the-art Sewage cleaning machines and Aroma Mission have opened new opportunities.

• Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh addressed the first-ever CSIR Leadership Meet.

CBI Launches Operation GARUDA

• The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has launched a multi-phase Operation GARUDA to dismantle drug networks with international linkages.

• The CBI is in coordination with enforcement actions across international jurisdictions through INTERPOL and Narcotics Control Bureau with special focus on Indian Ocean Region.

• Operation GARUDA seeks to target drug networks with international footprints for action against handlers, operatives, production zones and support elements.

World’s Largest Safari Park

• Haryana will create the largest jungle safari park in the world in the Aravalli range. The 10,000-acre safari park will cover Gurugram and Nuh districts.
• The largest artfully curated safari park outside of Africa is currently located in Sharjah.
• The Sharjah Safari, which was opened in February 2022. It spans roughly 2,000 acres.
• The proposed Aravalli Park would be five times more this size and it would include a large herpetarium (a zoological exhibition space for reptiles and amphibians), aviary/bird park, four zones for big cats, a large area for herbivores, an area for exotic animal birds, etc.

Bundelkhand’s First Tiger Reserve

• In a bid to promote tiger conservation, the Uttar Pradesh (UP) cabinet led by Chief Minister Mr. Yogi Adityanath gave a green signal for the development of the first tiger reserve in the Bundelkhand region.

• The UP cabinet approved the notification of Ranipur Tiger Reserve under Section 38(v) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972.

• It will span 89 square kilometers (sq km), with a 299.58 sq km buffer zone and 230 sq km core area which was already notified as the RWS in 1977.

• It will be the 4th in Uttar Pradesh, after Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Lakhimpur, Pilibhit and Amangarh in Bijnor district (buffer of Corbett Tiger Reserve).
• It will also be the first in the Up’s portion of the Bundelkhand region, which it shares with neighboring Madhya Pradesh.

INTRNATIONAL NEWS

3rd G20 Sherpa Meeting in Indonesia

• India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant led an official delegation to the third G20 Sherpa meeting held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia from 26 September to 29 of September, 2022.
• He also emphasized the need for G20 to bring enhanced global focus on and strengthen international cooperation and efforts in key priority areas such as sustainable growth, accelerated progress on SDGs and addressing climate change.
• Amitabh Kant also held bilateral interactions with his visiting Sherpa counterparts from Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, UK and US.
• India is set to take over the G20 presidency in December 2022 and will host the next summit in New Delhi in 2023.

BANKING

RBI Hikes Repo Rate by 50 Basis Points

• The monetary Policy Committee of Reserve Bank of India decided to increase Repo Rate by 50 Basis Points to 5.9 percent, with immediate effect.

• The RBI has raised the repo rate by 1.9 percent since May.

• The standing deposit facility (SDF) rate stands adjusted to 5.65 percent.

• The marginal standing facility (MSF) rate, and the Bank Rate to 6.15 percent.

• RBI has projected real GDP growth for 2022-23 at 7.0 percent.

Samsung India Partners Axis Bank

• Samsung, a consumer electronics company, and Axis Bank have partnered to launch an exclusive co-branded credit card-named Samsung Axis Bank Credit Card.
• Samsung Axis Bank Credit Card is powered by Visa.
• With the Card, consumers will get 10% cashback across all Samsung products and services round the year.
• The offer applies to the company’s services such as Service Centre payments, Samsung Care+ mobile protection plans and extended warranties.
• The annual cashback on the two is up to ₹10,000 and ₹20,000 respectively, while the respective monthly cash back limits are ₹2,500 and ₹5,000.
• The card comes in two variants-Visa Signature, Visa Infinite.

‘Carbon Calculator’ for Indian Consumers

• Global payments and technology company Mastercard will launch the Carbon Calculator feature with Indian banks for offering consumers an estimated carbon footprint for each of their purchases.
• Mastercard Carbon Calculator was developed in collaboration with Swedish fintech Doconomy, is currently used in over 25 countries.
• Carbon Calculator is a service and personalized carbon footprint tracker that can tell users the cumulative effect of carbon footprint across a variety of spending categories in a month.
• Banking partners can embed the tracking tool in their websites or mobile apps.

SPORTS

36th National Games- Weightlifting

• Olympic silver medallist Mirabai Chanu won the gold medal with a total lift of 191 kgs in the women’s 49kg weightlifting category at the 36th National Games in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

• Sanjita Chanu secured for the silver medal with a total lift of 187 kgs (Snatch 82kg, Clean and Jerk 105kg).

• Odisha’s Sneha Soren picked up the bronze after lifting169kg (Snatch 73kg, Clean and Jerk 96kg).

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

Global Innovation Index 2022

• India has climbed to the 40th rank in the Global Innovation Index according to a report by the Geneva based World Intellectual Property Organization.

• India and Turkiye entered the top 40 for the first time, placing at 40 and 37th respectively.

• Switzerland has emerged as the world’s most innovative economy for the 12th consecutive year.

• The second position was secured by the US followed by Sweden, the UK, and the Netherlands.

• The index was started in 2007 and was created by Soumitra Dutta.

AWARDS & PRIZES

Awards for Excellence in Book Production 2022

• Publications Division has bagged nine awards for Excellence in Book Production 2022.

• The award was presented by the Federation of Indian Publishers in New Delhi.

• Information and Broadcasting Ministry announced that Directorate of Publications Division won six first prizes in the different Categories.

• These are General and Trade Books (English) for Balancing the Wisdom Tree, General and Trade Books (Hindi) for Bharat Vibhajan Ki Kahani, Art and Coffee Table Books (Regional Languages) for Courts of India (Marathi), Reference Books (English) for India 2022, Scientific, Technical and Medical Books (Hindi) for Covid-19 - Vaishik Mahamari, and Journals and House Magazines (Hindi) for Kurukshetra.

Lata Mangeshkar Award

• Noted playback singers Kumar Sanu and Shailendra Singh and music-composer duo Anand-Milind were conferred with the National Lata Mangeshkar Award for different years.

• State Culture Minister Usha Thakur conferred Shailendra Singh, Anand-Milind and Kumar Sanu with the award for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively.

• They were presented the prestigious award in Indore.

IMPORTANT DAYS

International Translation Day

• International Translation Day is observed every year on 30 September.
• The day is observed to raise awareness about language professionals and bring awareness about languages.
• International Translation Day 2022 also aims to pay tribute to the work of language professionals.
• The theme for the year 2022 is ‘A World Without Barriers’.
• On 24 May 2017, the General Assembly adopted a resolution on the role of language professionals in connecting nations and fostering peace, understanding and development and declared September 30 as International Translation Day.