Current Affairs in English – September 30 2022

September 30 , 2022

National Events:

Maharashtra govt:

• Maharashtra govt on 27 Sept 2022 decided to name the Chipi greenfield airport in Sindhudurg district after the late barrister Nath Pai. Pai , who hailed from Vengurla , had represented the Rajapur Lok Sabha constituency from 1957 to 1967.
• Pai was a freedom fighter & socialist & 2022 is the birth centenary year of Nath Pai. Commercial flights started at the Chipi airport on Oct 9 , 2021.

Tashi Gyaltson:

• Chief Executive Councillor Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council , Leh , Tashi Gyaltson inaugurated a two – day workshop for NGOs of Leh district on Social Welfare Schemes , in September 2022.
• In the workshop , the Ministry of Tribal Affairs , and Ministry of Minority Affairs also will participate to explain various schemes of their respective ministries available for NGOs to work.

Gandhinagar – Mumbai:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Gandhinagar – Mumbai Vande Bharat Express train at Gandhinagar railway station on 30 September 2022.
• He also inaugurated phase – I of the Ahmedabad Metro rail project and also launched various projects worth Rs 7,200 crore.
• The Vande Bharat Superfast Express train will run six days a week between Mumbai Central and Gandhinagar stations.

RBI:

• The Reserve Bank has informed that India’s current account balance recorded a deficit of 23.9 billion dollars in the first quarter of FY23 , an increase of 13.4 billion from the last quarter.
• This rise of the current account deficit was from 1.5 percent of GDP to 2.8 percent of GDP. The net outgo of investment income payments also increased from 7.5 billion dollars to 9.3 billion dollars.

Publications Division:

• 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 in September 2022.
• Directorate of Publications Division won six first prizes in the different Categories. In 2021 , Publications Division won ten awards for its various publications in different categories.

5G:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch 5G services on 1 October 2022 in New Delhi. 5G technology will provide seamless coverage , high data rate , low latency , and highly reliable communications.
• It will also increase energy efficiency , spectrum efficiency , and network efficiency. The government intends to cover the entire country with 5G services within two years.

Repo Rate:

• The Monetary Policy Committee of Reserve Bank of India has decided to increase Repo Rate by a half percent to 5.9 percent , with immediate effect. The repo rate is the interest rate at which the central bank lends to commercial banks.
• The RBI has raised the repo rate by 1.9 percent since May 2022. RBI also projected real GDP growth for 2022-23 at 7.0 percent.

68^th National Awards:

• Marathi film Funeral will be awarded Best Film on Social Issues. Ajay Devgan and Suriya got Best Actor award for films Tanhaji : The Unsung Warrior and Soorarai Pottru. Aparna Balamurali got Best Actress Award for Soorarai Pottru.
• Sachidanandan KR got Best Director Award for Malayalam Film AK Ayyappanum Koshiyum. Supratim Bhol got Best Cinematography award for Bengali film Avijatrik.

Poshan Utsav:

• Ministry of Women and Child Development is organizing Poshan Utsav from 30 September to 2nd October 2022 at Kartavyapath in New Delhi. It is being held to celebrate the culmination of the 5th Rashtriya Poshan Maah.
• It will have cultural performances , poshan parades , health check – up camps , healthy food stalls , and games with a message of nutrition.

AGEL:

• Adani Green Energy Ltd ( AGEL ) on 29 Sept 2022 commissioned the world’s largest wind – solar power plant in Jaisalmer , Rajasthan. This project consists of 600 MW solar and 150 MW wind plants.
• With this , AGEL now has total operational generation capacity of 6.7 GW. In May 2022 , AGEL operationalised India’s first hybrid power plant with a capacity of 390 MW in Jaisalmer.

’Operation Garuda’:

• The Central Bureau of Investigation has launched a multi – phase ‘ Operation Garuda ‘ against illicit drug trafficking network.
• This global operation was initiated in close coordination with 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 & production zones.

Akash Ambani:

• Akash Ambani , head of India’s largest telecom firm Jio , has been named as the only Indian on the Time magazine’s list of 100 emerging leaders.
• The list ‘ Time100 Next ‘ highlights 100 emerging leaders who are shaping the future of business , entertainment , sports , politics , health , science and activism. On 28 June 2022 , Akash Ambani took over as the chairman of Reliance Jio.

CIL:

• Coal India Limited ( CIL ) will introduce conveyor belts in its open – cast coal projects in order to reduce carbon emissions & to ensure safe transportation of coal.
• For this , CIL has introduced a concept called ‘ first – mile connectivity , in which the traditional way of transporting coal from the silos and washeries to railway sidings will be replaced by large conveyor belts. CIL HQ : Kolkata.

22nd tranche of electoral bonds:

• The government has approved the issuance of 22nd tranche of electoral bonds that will open for sale from 1st Oct 2022. SBI has been authorized to issue & encash Electoral Bonds through its 29 authorized branches.
• Only the political parties , which secured not less than 1 % of the votes polled in the last general election or State election , shall be eligible to receive the Electoral Bonds.

National Lata Mangeshkar Award:

• Noted playback singers Kumar Sanu & Shailendra Singh & music – composer duo Anand – Milind have been conferred with the National Lata Mangeshkar Award for different years.
• They were presented this prestigious award in Indore on Sept 28 , the birth anniversary of Lata Mangeshkar. Sanu was given the award for 2021 , Singh for 2019 , and Anand – Milind were given for the year 2020.

Kannada Language Comprehensive Development Bill:

• Karnataka govt tabled the Kannada Language Comprehensive Development Bill , 2022 , in the legislative assembly , in Sept 2022. It provides reservations to Kannadiga in higher education and professional courses.
• As per the bill , person must have lived in Karnataka for 15 years with knowledge of Kannada language to be called a Kannadiga.

Jungle safari park:

• Haryana will develop the world’s largest jungle safari park in the Aravalli range , the state govt announced on 29 Sept 2022. The 10,000 – acre safari park will cover Gurugram and Nuh districts.
• An Aravalli Foundation will also be set up to manage the project. At present , Sharjah safari park in UAE , which covers an area of about 2,000 acres , is the largest curated safari park outside Africa.

Uttar Pradesh cabinet:

• In a bid to promote tiger conservation in the state , Uttar Pradesh cabinet on 27 Sept gave nod for developing the first tiger reserve in the Bundelkhand region. The cabinet approved to notify Ranipur Tiger Reserve under the Wildlife Protection Act , 1972.
• The tiger reserve will span across 52,989 hectares of land . According to the 2018 tiger census , India has a tiger population of 2,967.

Abortion:

• The Supreme Court has ruled that unmarried women have the legal right to a safe abortion. While the US Supreme Court has recently ruled against women’s access to abortion, the Indian Supreme Court has given a historic decision protecting women’s rights.
• The Abortion Act allows married women to safely terminate their fetuses up to 24 weeks. This law also applies to women and girls who are victims of sexual violence.

International Events:

GII 2022:

• India climbed six notches to 40th position in the Global Innovation Index 2022 , Turkiye & India entered the top 40 for the first time , placing at 37th and 40th , respectively , according to a report by the Geneva – based World Intellectual Property Organization.
• The Index was started in 2007 & was created by Soumitra Dutta. Switzerland has topped the ranking for the 12th consecutive year.

US – Pacific Partnership deal:

• The United States has struck a partnership agreement with Pacific island nations on 29 September 2022. The ten – point US – Pacific Partnership deal was announced by the White House.
• As part of a new strategy , the US would appoint its first envoy to focus on the Pacific Islands and will add three more diplomatic missions in the region , bringing the total from six to nine.

International Translation Day : 30 September:

• International Translation Day is observed on Sept 30 every year to raise awareness about the translation profession and bring awareness about languages.
• Sept 30 , according to UN , celebrates the feast of St. Jerome , the Bible translator , who is considered the patron saint of translators.
• The UN General Assembly declared this day on 24 May 2017. 2022 Theme : ‘ A World Without Barriers ‘.

World Maritime Day : 29 September:

• World Maritime Day is observed every year on the last Thursday of every September. In 2022 , it was celebrated on 29th of Sept. First time celebrated : 1978. It also marks the day of adaptation of International Maritime Organisation convention in 1958.
• It is celebrated to recognise the hard work of those who work in the maritime industry. 2022 Theme : ‘ New technologies for greener shipping’.

Sports Events:

36th National Games:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 36th National Games in Gujarat. More than 1 lakh spectators participated in the event held at Narendra Modi Stadium, the world’s largest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.