Current Affairs of the date: 06 Oct 2022

1. Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurates the 3rd Regional center of CCI in Mumbai

Tags: place in news Economy/Finance Person in news

Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) Regional Office (West) in Mumbai, on 6 October 2022, in a virtual event. 

The Regional Office (West) in Mumbai is the third regional office opened by CCI, after Regional Office (South) in Chennai (inaugurated in February 2021) and Regional Office (East) in Kolkata (inaugurated in April 2022).

Competition Commission of India (CCI)

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) was established under the Competition Act, 2002 for the administration, implementation and enforcement of the Act. 

It was constituted in March 2009. 

The following are the objectives of the Commission.

• To prevent practices having adverse effects on competition.
• To promote and sustain competition in markets.
• To protect the interests of consumers and
• To ensure freedom of trade.

Headquarter - New Delhi

Current Chairman - Ashok Kumar Gupta

2. 8th G20 Parliamentary Speaker’s Summit held in Jakarta, Indonesia

Tags: Summits

The 8th G20 Parliamentary Speaker’s Summit (P20) is being held in Jakarta, Indonesia on 6 and 7 October 2022.   The Parliaments of the G-20 countries are organised as P-20.

The P20 summit is being organized by the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia and Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU).

The theme of the P20 Speaker’s summit 2022: "Effective Parliament, Vibrant Democracy".

The Indian delegation is being led by the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and includes Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, Rajya Sabha Secretary-General PC Mody, and other officials.

Group of 20 or G-20 

 G-20 is a group of 19 countries as well as the European Union.  The member countries are ;Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, South Africa, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

India will host the G-20 (Group of 20) leaders’ summit in New Delhi next year in 2023. 

The 17th G20 Heads of State and Government Summit will be held in Indonesia in November 2022, after which India will take over the G20 presidency in December 2022.

3. India to host the 5th Assembly of the International Solar Alliance in New Delhi in October 2022

Tags: Summits

India will host the 5th Assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in New Delhi from 17-20th October 2022.  All the 109 members of the ISA will be attended by their Ministers, missions, delegates.  The Assembly will be presided over by R.K. Singh, Union Minister for Power, New and Renewable Energy.

The Assembly is the apex decision-making body of ISA. This body makes decisions concerning the implementation of the ISA’s Framework Agreement and coordinated actions to be taken to achieve its objective. 

The International Solar Alliance is an international organisation with 109 member and signatory countries. It works with governments to improve energy access and security worldwide and promote solar power as a sustainable way to transition to a carbon-neutral future.

Headquarters: Gurugram, Haryana 

4. Annie Ernaux becomes the first French women to win Nobel Prize for Literature

Tags: Awards Person in news

82 year old, Annie Ernaux became the first French woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature . The Swedish Academy which announced the  Nobel Prize for literature 2022  on 6 October 2022, cited the French author for "the courage and clinical acuity" in her largely autobiographical books examining personal memory and social inequality.

Annie Ernaux's first novel was Les Armoires Vides, published in 1974 but she gained international recognition following the publication of Les Années in 2008, translated into The Years in 2017.

The Nobel prize for literature is normally given to established authors but some prizes have gone to writers from outside mainstream literary genres, including French philosopher Henri Bergson in 1927, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1953 and American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan in 2016.

In 2021 the prize was won by Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah. 

The prizes for achievements in science, literature and peace were established in the will of Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel, who invented dynamite made and the prize have been awarded since 1901.

The prize is worth 10 million Swedish crowns ($915,000) and it will be conferred on 10 December in the Swedish capital city of Stockholm.

5. The World Bank reduces India’s growth forecast to 6.5% in 2022-23

Tags: Economy/Finance

The World Bank in its latest report on South Asia released on 6 October 2022 has reduced the expected Indian economy growth rate in 2022-23 to 6.5% from an earlier estimate of 7.5% it forecasted in June 2022.

Growth estimates for the South Asian region - comprising India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives were revised down to 5.8% from 6.8% forecast in June 2022.

The bank cited the impact of war in Ukraine, which has caused a rise in commodity prices, and the uneven recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region.

In a recent report the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) also revised the Indian economic growth in 2022 to 5.7%.

This is the third time the World Bank has revised its GDP growth forecast for India in 2022-23. In June, it had slashed its GDP growth forecast for India to 7.5%. Earlier in April, it had trimmed the forecast from 8.7% to 8%.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently cut the economic growth projection for the current fiscal to 7% from 7.2% estimated earlier on account of extended geopolitical tensions and aggressive monetary policy tightening globally.

Important for Exam 

World Bank headquarters: Washington D.C, United States of America

World Bank President: David Malpass 

The report published by World Bank are 

• World Development Report 
• Global Economic Prospect 
• Ease of Doing Business (it has been suspended now )

6. WTO reduces its forecast for world trade to 3 % in 2022

Tags: Economy/Finance

The World Trade Organization (WTO) in a press release released on 5 October 2022 has reduced its global trade growth forecast for 2022 to 3% from its earlier forecast of 3.5%. It said that high commodity prices and rising interest rates would curb import demand, and warned of a likely contraction in world trade if the conflict in Ukraine escalates.

The growth in world trade is expected to slow down to one per cent in 2023, due to global uncertainties. 

Elaborating the area of concern for world trade WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in Geneva that  “If the war in Ukraine worsens, rather than gets better, that’s going to have a huge impact,”. 

Trade and economic output will be weighed down by several shocks, including the war in Ukraine, high energy prices, inflation, and monetary tightening, 

WTO said that demand in Europe will decline and the cost of manufacturing will increase due to high energy prices stemming from the Russia-Ukraine war.

According to the WTO ,in the United States of America  monetary policy tightening will hit interest-sensitive spending in areas such as housing, motor vehicles and fixed investment,” .

WTO expects the World GDP to grow by 2.8% in 2022 and by 2.3% in 2023 (revised down from 3.2%).

World Trade Organisation (WTO) 

• It was set up on 1^st January 1995 replacing the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT).
• Its main purpose is to promote rule based trading systems in the world and it also settles trade related disputes between the member countries. 
•  The headquarters of WTO is in Geneva, Switzerland.
• There are 164 member countries.
• Director General of WTO : Dr Ngozi -Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria
• Report released by WTO : World Trade Report 

7. CDSCO takes up investigation on WHO's complaint for India-made cough syrups

Tags: National National News

After the World Health Organization (WHO) issued an alert on four India-made cough syrups used for pediatric groups, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) has launched an immediate investigation in this regard.

Important facts

• Based on the available information, following the information received from WHO, CDSCO has started an immediate investigation of the matter with the State Regulatory Authorities.

• The pharmaceutical company Madden Pharmaceuticals is located in Sonipat, Haryana.

• It is worth noting that in the case of the death of 66 children in the African country of Gambia, 4 cough syrups manufactured in India are being considered as possible responsible.

• The United Nations agency World Health Organization (WHO) has issued an alert on 5 October regarding a cough-cold syrup made by Maiden Pharmaceutical Limited of India.

• WHO has advised not to use these syrups.

8. Home Minister announces Scheduled Tribe status for Pahari community in J&K

Tags: State News

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has announced Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Pahari community in Jammu and Kashmir on 5 October.

Important facts

• In the report submitted to the government by the Justice GD Sharma Commission, it was recommended to give reservation to the Paharis.

• Reservation will be started after completing the administrative formalities.

• The President of India may, after consultation with the Governor of the State, designate tribes or tribal communities as Scheduled Tribes.

• The Indian Parliament may by law include or exclude any caste in the list of Scheduled Tribes.

About Pahari Community

• Pahari people is a term used for several heterogeneous communities settled in parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

• Pahari is a term used to describe the various northern Indo-Aryan languages spoken by the people, most of them found in the lower Himalayas.

Four tribes to the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST)

• The Hatti tribe in the Trans-Giri area in Himachal Pradesh.

• The Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran hill tribes of Tamil Nadu.

• The Binjhia tribe in Chhattisgarh.

• The Cabinet also approved a proposal to bring the Gond community of Uttar Pradesh under the ST list.

9. NASA's SpaceX Crew-5 launches to the International Space Station

Tags: Science and Technology

SpaceX successfully launched four astronauts on NASA's Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on October 5.

Important facts

• This is the first time that the Elon Musk-led company has sent Russian astronauts into space from its launching vehicle.

• The Crew-5 mission consists of two American, one Japanese and one Russian astronaut.

• These include NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, who will serve as mission commanders and pilots.

• Astronaut Koichi Wakata of Japan Airspace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Cosmonaut Anna Kikina of Rokosmos will serve as mission specialists.

• With the help of the Falcon-9 rocket, Crew Dragon Endurance will reach the International Space Station at a speed of 17,500 mph.

• By reaching space, Crew-5 will do more than 200 science experiments.

• This launch has been done under an exchange deal between NASA and the Russian space agency Rokosmos.

• The top Dragon spacecraft of the Falcon-9 rocket has been launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

About SpaceX

• It is a private spaceflight company that sends satellites and people to space, including NASA crews to the International Space Station (ISS).

• The company sent its first two astronauts to the ISS on May 30, 2020, aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon, and several more on behalf of NASA and other organizations.

• As of mid-2022, it is the only commercial spaceflight company capable of sending astronauts into space.

• SpaceX was founded by Alan Musk, a South African-born businessman and entrepreneur. 

About International Space Station (ISS) 

• It is a multi-nation construction project that is the largest single structure humans ever put into space.

• Its main construction was completed between 1998 and 2011.

• It is not owned by a single nation and according to the European Space Agency (ESA) is a "co-operative program" between Europe, the United States, Russia, Canada and Japan.

• As of May 2022, 258 individuals from 20 countries have visited the International Space Station.

• The top participating countries include the United States (158 people) and Russia (54 people).

10. Gujarat becomes first state to launch Gati Shakti Portal

Tags: National State News National News

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel launched the Gati Shakti Portal on 6 October and said that Gujarat is the first state in India to have launched Gati Shakti Port at the state level.

Important facts

• In order to rapidly expand the Internet service, the Gati Shakti Portal started by the Central Government was also started by the Gujarat Government.

• This portal has been started based on the guidance and guidelines of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

• The portal has been developed by Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board in collaboration with Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics.

• The portal will provide ease of doing business to the investors by bringing more transparency in governance. This will save time, money and logistics cost.

• It will integrate more than 500 layers of data from 21 state government departments and 52 sub-departments.

• Portal focuses on the speedy execution of infrastructure projects in the state.

• The main objective of this portal is to reduce red tapism. 

• With the help of this, infrastructure projects will be accelerated.

PM Gati-Shakti Scheme 

• Gati Shakti Yojana or 'National Master Plan for Multi-Modal Connectivity Plan' was launched on 13 October 2021 for coordinated and execution of infrastructure projects to reduce logistics cost.

• It is a digital platform that will bring together 16 Ministries including Railways and Roadways for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects.

• This will help in overcoming long-standing issues such as inconsistent planning, lack of standardisation, problems related to clearances, and timely construction and utilization of infrastructure capabilities.

• This platform aims to prevent overlapping of works by addressing the issue of government departments working in tandem.

11. C K MIshra “Committee of Experts on Sustainable Finance” submits its report to IFSCA

Tags: committee Economy/Finance Person in news

A ‘Committee of Experts on Sustainable Finance’, constituted by International Financial Services Centers Authority (IFSCA) submitted its final report to the Chairperson, IFSCA on October 03, 2022. The committee was chaired by C.K. Mishra, Former Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Environment, and Forest & Climate Change.

The main focus areas of the committee were directed towards aligning the IFSC regulations with the international best practices, exploring ways in which capital flows through IFSC can be enhanced and also supporting development of innovative financial products in the area of green and sustainable finance.

Some important recommendations include developing a voluntary carbon market, framework for transition bonds, enabling de-risking mechanisms, promoting regulatory sandbox for green fintech and facilitating the creation of a global climate alliance among others. 

IFSC (International Financial Service Center) 

• India’s first International Financial Service Center (IFSC) has been set up at GIFT city.
• It deals with customers who are outside India. It provides financial products and services like banking, insurance, etc to foreign customers.
•  It has a well developed Capital market including stock exchanges.
•  It is regulated by the International Financial Service Centers Authority (IFSCA).

Chairman of IFSCA: Injeti Srinivas

12. OPEC Plus member countries cut oil production, US stockpiles fall

Tags: International News

Representatives of OPEC Plus member countries met in Vienna on 5 October after two and a half years in which the member countries agreed to cut the amount of oil production by two million barrels per day.

Important facts

• This decision to cut production will come into effect from November.

• The US has criticized the cut in oil production quotas by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies.

• This move of OPEC will have the most negative impact on low and middle income countries.

• Earlier, OPEC countries had made a symbolic cut in production last month.

Why is OPEC Plus slashing production?

• Oil prices skyrocketed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

• The recent cut is the biggest since 2020 when OPEC Plus members cut production by 10 million bpd during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• This cut will boost oil prices and will be extremely beneficial for Middle Eastern member states.

• This will reduce oil demand in a faltering global economy and the cuts will increase profits.

About OPEC

• It is a permanent, intergovernmental organisation that was established in 1960 at the Baghdad Conference by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.

• The purpose of this organisation is to coordinate and integrate the petroleum policies of its member countries and to ensure the stabilisation of oil markets to ensure efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to the consumer.

• Headquarters - Vienna (Austria)

• OPEC has 14 member states (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Libya, Nigeria, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of the Congo, Angola, Ecuador and Venezuela).

OPEC plus

• It is a coalition of OPEC members and the world's 10 major non-OPEC oil exporting countries.

• Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, South Sudan and Sudan.

13. PR Sreejesh, Savita Punia voted FIH Men's and Women's Goalkeeper of the Year

Tags: Sports Sports News

PR Sreejesh and Savita Punia have been voted FIH Men's and Women's Goalkeeper of the Year for the second year in a row.

Important facts

• Indian women's hockey team captain Savita Punia and veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh won the FIH Goalkeeper of the Year title in both men's and women's categories based on their performances.

• Savita is the third athlete to win the Goalkeeper of the Year (Female) for three consecutive years since the inception of the award in 2014.

• In his 16th year as a full international for India, Sreejesh proved his mettle by appearing in all 16 games in the FIH Hockey Pro League in which India finished third.

• He also participated in all six sports at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, when India won the silver medal.

• Sreejesh got a total of 39.9 votes, followed by Belgium's Loik van Dooren (26.3 points) and Netherlands' Primin Bloc (23.2 points).

• It was voted online by experts (40%), teams (20%), fans (20%), and media (20%).

• Sreejesh is the third consecutive player to win the FIH Goalkeeper of the Year title.

• Earlier, David Hurt (Ire) had won the award twice in 2015 and 2016, while Vincent Vanash (Belgium) won the award three times in a row from 2017 to 2019.

FIH Goalkeeper of the Year past winners

Men

Women

14. PM Modi inaugurates AIIMS in Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh

Tags: National State News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Kothipura in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh on 6 October.

Important facts

• Spread over an area of 247 acres, this Rs 1,471 crore 750 bedded premier medical institution will provide super specialty medical treatment to the people of the area.

• The PM also inaugurated 140 crore Government Hydro Engineering College at Bandla in Bilaspur.

• He also laid the foundation stone of Rs.350 crore medical devices park to be set up under the Nalagarh and Pinjore-Nalagarh four-lane road project to be constructed at a cost of Rs 1,692 crore under Bharat Mala project.

• The PM also participated in Kullu Dussehra celebrations at Dhalpur Ground in Kullu.

Kullu Dussehra in Himachal Pradesh 

• Dussehra is world famous in Kullu Valley of Himachal Pradesh.

• The specialty of Kullu Dussehra is the chariot procession of Lord Raghunath.

• The week-long Kullu Dussehra has traditionally been a majestic festival.

• It signifies the victory of good over evil.

• According to legends, Kullu was ruled by Raja Jagat Singh in the 16th century.

• The king was told that someone named Durgadatta had beautiful white pearls and that the king wanted pearls.

• Durgadatta tried to convince the king that he did not have pearls, the king did not believe him.

• Durgadutt set himself on fire along with his family and cursed the king.

• The king felt guilty and on the advice of a learned Brahmin went to the shelter of Lord Raghunath.

• Raja Jagan Singh started organizing the Kullu Dussehra festival.

15. India emerges as the world’s largest producer and consumer of sugar

Tags: National Economy/Finance National News

As per Ministry of Consumer Affairs, India emerges as the world’s largest producer and consumer of sugar and world’s 2nd largest exporter of sugar.

Important facts

• India has produced more than 5000 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) of sugarcane during the sugar season (October-September) 2021-22.

• Out of this, about 3574 LMT of sugarcane has been processed by sugar mills to produce about 394 lakh metric tonnes of sugar (sucrose).

• Of this, 35 lakh metric tonnes of sugar was used to prepare ethanol and 359 lakh metric tonnes of sugar was produced by sugar mills.

• All the records of sugarcane production, sugar production, sugar export, sugarcane procurement, cane arrears payment and ethanol production were set during the same season.

• Another centre of attraction in the current season is the record highest sugar export of around 109.8 lakh metric tonnes.

• The policies of the Government of India and supportive international prices have played a major role in the achievement of the Indian sugar industry.

• About Rs 40,000 crore foreign exchange has been earned for the country from exports.

The largest producer of sugarcane in the world

• Brazil is the largest producer of sugarcane in the world.

• India is the second largest producer of sugarcane.

• Brazil produced about 32 million ton of sugar in 2021-22.

Major sugarcane-producing states in India

• Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka account for nearly 80 percent of the total sugar production in the country.

• The other major sugarcane-producing states are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Haryana, and Punjab.

• Since 2010-11, India has consistently produced surplus sugar, comfortably exceeding the domestic requirements.