Current Affair 23 Oct 2020-ORSP

International Stuttering Awareness Day: 22 October

International Stuttering Awareness Day is observed globally on 22nd October every year.

• The day is intended to raise public awareness of the millions of people who have a speech disorder of stuttering or stammering.
• Stuttering is a speech disorder that involves frequent and significant problems with normal fluency and flow of speech. People who stutter know what they want to say, but have difficulty saying it.
• 2020 theme “Journey of Words – Resilience and Bouncing Back”.

India participates in 18th meeting of Prosecutors General of SCO via video conference

India participated in the 18th meeting of Prosecutors General of SCO via video conference.

• Representing India, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said India has zero tolerance to corruption and black money.
• He also highlighted the government’s flagship Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna, saying it has expanded India’s financial architecture.
• India will host the next meeting of Prosecutors General in 2021.
• The eight member bloc will meet for this year’s SCO Council of Heads of Govt on 30th Nov which will be hosted by India.

IIT Kharagpur’s ‘COVIRAP’ gets ICMR certification

‘COVIRAP,’ the diagnostic technology developed by researchers at Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, has been successfully validated for its efficacy in COVID-19 detection by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

• This COVID-19 Diagnostic Test has been designed to be fairly easy to conduct and affordable as well and can produce results within one hour.
• This new testing method implements a highly reliable and accurate molecular diagnostic procedure that can be conducted in an ultra-low-cost portable device unit developed by the IIT, Kharagpur research team.

Indigenously built ASW stealth corvette INS Kavaratti commissioned into Navy

The last of four indigenously built Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) stealth corvettes INS Kavaratti under Project 28 (Kamorta class) was commissioned into the Indian Navy by Chief of the Army Staff, General Manoj  Naravane, at Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam.

• Kavaratti is indigenously designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house organization, Directorate of Naval Design (DND) and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata.
• The ship will be commissioned into the Navy as a combat-ready platform as the ship has completed sea trials of all the systems fitted onboard.
• Kavaratti takes her name from erstwhile INS Kavaratti which was an Arnala class missile corvette.

India to host third India-US 22 Ministerial Dialogue on Oct 27

India will be hosting the Third India-US 22 Ministerial Dialogue on 27th of October in New Delhi.

• United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence Mark T. Esper will be visiting India to participate in the dialogue.
• From the Indian side, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar will lead the delegation.
• The first 22 Ministerial Dialogue was held in New Delhi in September 2018 and followed by the second in Washington DC in 2019.
• The agenda for the third dialogue will cover all bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.

RPF launches ‘Meri Saheli’ initiative in Amaravathi Express between Vijayawada-Hubli

As per the directives of Railway Board, the staff of Railway Protection Force in Vijayawada Division launched ‘Meri Saheli’ initiative in Train No.07225 Amaravathi Express between Vijayawada-Hubli.

• The main motto of this ‘Meri Saheli’ initiative is to provide a safe and secure environment to lady passengers travelling in trains throughout their journey.
• To carry out this novel initiative, an all-women team headed by one RPF lady Sub-Inspector and few Constables has been constituted at Vijayawada Railway Station to assist the women passengers on train.
• The women team inspected the entire coaches of Amaravathi Express and briefed the women passengers on precautions to be taken during the journey and 182 Emergency helpline in case of any emergency, along with COVID-19 protocol and guidelines.
• This initiative was launched by RPF to continuously monitor the safety of lady passengers from the originating station to the destination.

Prahlad Singh Patel takes part in 77th Anniversary of formation of Azad Hind Government at Red Fort

Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel took part in the commemoration event of 77th Anniversary of the Formation of Azad Hind Government at Red Fort in Delhi.

• Azad Hind Fauz veterans, 99-year old Naik Lalti Ram and 101- year old Sepoy Parmanand Yadav and family Members of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose were also present on the occasion.
• Azad Hind was an Indian provisional government established in Japanese occupied Singapore during World War II.
• On 21st October 1943, Subhash Chandra Bose announced the formation of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind (Free India) in Singapore, with himself as the Head of State, Prime Minister and Minister of War.
• He gave the famous battle cry ‘Chalo Dilli’. He promised independence to Indians saying, ‘tum mujhe khoon do, main tumhe Azadi dunga’ (You give me blood, I will give you freedom).

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik launches ‘Mo Bidyut’ portal

Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik has launched the electricity consumer service portal ”Mo Bidyut”.

• The bilingual online electricity integrated consumer service portal has been developed by the Energy Department and dedicated to the public under 5T (Teamwork, Transparency, Technology, Time leading to Transformation) initiative of the state government.
• Through this people will now be able to avail efficient, time-bound, and transparent online service delivery.
• The Mo Bidyut supports the people to obtain new electricity connections, enables online
• bill payment and the grievances related to electricity services can be addressed through this portal.

Haryana tops Anemia Mukt Bharat Index in country

Haryana State has the best Anemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) Index among 29 states in the country.

• The Anemia Mukt Bharat, an initiative of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and UNICEF, has been launched to reduce the prevalence of Anemia all over India.
• In a recently released scorecard of the Anemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) Index by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Haryana was ranked at the top slot with an AMB Index of 46.7.

Anemia
Other names	Anaemia
Blood smear from a person with iron-deficiency anemia. Note the red cells are small and pale.
Pronunciation	/əˈniːmiə/
Specialty	Hematology
Symptoms	Feeling tired, Pale skin, weakness, shortness of breath, feeling like passing out[1]
Causes	Blood loss, decreased red blood cell production, increased red blood cell breakdown[1]
Diagnostic method	Blood hemoglobin measurement[1]

Sushil Kumar Singhal accredited as next High Commissioner of India to Solomon Islands

Sushil Kumar Singhal, a 2000-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, has been concurrently accredited as the next High Commissioner of India to the Solomon Islands.

• Mr Singhal will be residing in Port Moresby.
• He is presently serving as the High Commissioner of India to the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.
• Solomon Islands Capital: Honiara
• Currency: Solomon Islands dollar

NK Singh launches his autobiography ‘Portraits Of Power’

Veteran Economist and bureaucrat N K (Nand Kishore) Singh has released his autobiography titled “Portraits of Power: Half a Century of Being at Ringside”.

• Singh is currently serving as the Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission.
• The book portrays the life of NK Singh who played an active role in the development of the Indian economy.
• The book portrays NK Singhs’s stents from 1964 when he joined the Indian Administrative Service(IAS), serving in higher positions of the Indian Government before entering politics as a member of Rajya Sabha.