National:
- Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched YSR Bima scheme on 21st October 2020. Under this scheme, 1.41 crore families will get benifit of insurance cover. The State government will be paying Rs 510 crore every year as a premium for the scheme.
Under this scheme Insurance amount as assistance will be provided:
For accidental death and total permanent disability:
For people aged between 18-50 years is Rs 5 lakh
For those between 51-70 years is Rs 3 lakh
For natural death cases:
For people aged between 18-50 years is Rs 2 lakh
For partial permanent disability in an accident case:
For people aged between 18-70 years is Rs 1.5 lakh
- Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed the inaugural function of Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2020, on 19th October 2020 via video conferencing. The three-day program of ‘Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2020’ was held virtually from 19 to 21 October 2020.
The Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2020 was co-hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India, the Indian Council of Medical Research and NITI Aayog, along with the Grand Challenges Canada, the United States Agency for International Development and Wellcome.
In meeting, three new Grand Challenges was launched to harness innovation around emerging technologies.
The three new challenges are:
- Integrating Tradition and Technology for Fermented Foods for Maternal Nutrition
- New Approaches to Integrating Molecular Surveillance into Malaria Control Programs
- Smart Farming Innovations for Small-Scale Producers
- CSIR-CMERI, Durgapur developed Sustainable Municipal Solid Waste Processing Facility. It besides achieving Decentralised Decimation of Solid Wastes, it also helps create value added end products. Prof (Dr.) Harish Hirani, Director of CSIR-CMERI, Durgapur, deliberated on the issue in his Keynote address at programme “KrishiJagran“, live-streamed on its Facebook Page on 17th October 2020.
- Lok Sabha Secretariat said on 23rd October 2020, Construction of a new Parliament building will begin in December this year and is likely to be completed by October 2022.
In the new building, the Lok Sabha chamber will have a seating capacity for 888 members, while Rajya Sabha will have 384 seats for the upper house members.
The new building will also have some important constructions:
A grand Constitution Hall, to showcase India’s democratic heritage; A lounge for members of Parliament; A library; multiple committee rooms; dining areas; and ample parking space.
International:
- Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt Nirmala Sitharaman participated in the 102nd Meeting of the World Bank Development Committee Plenary on 16th October 2020.
The items on the agenda included Leaning Forward to Save Lives, Scale-up Impact and Get Back on Track: World Bank Group COVID-19 Crisis Response and Update Joint IMF-WBG Staff Note: Implementation and Extension of the Debt Service Suspension Initiative. - Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Kiren Rijiju represented India in the Y20 Global Summit on October 15, 2020. The summit was aimed at exchanging ideas and dialogues between nations to empower the youth across the world. Saudi Arabia was the host country for this year’s Y20 Summit.
Business & Technology:
- LG Electronics has signed the Lewis Hamilton as the global brand ambassador for its LG Signature. LG Signature is the company’s premium home solutions brand.
- Google has launched AppSheet to its Google Workspace interface. AppSheet enable everyone to build and extend applications without having to write any code.
Death:
- Renowned economist from Assam, Dr Jayanta Madhab died in Guwahati. He was 91.
He was founder chairman of North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd & also served as the director at the Asian Development Bank.
He served as the economic advisor to the Assam government from 2003 to 2009. He also worked as financial adviser to the Calcutta Metropolitan Development Corporation.