♦ The Union Government has appointed L Satya Srinivas as the additional CEO of the Government e Marketplace (GeM). Currently he is serving as Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce. Srinivas is an officer of the 1991 batch of the Indian Revenue Service (Customs & Indirect Taxes). ♦ The GeM portal was launched on August 9, 2016, for online purchases of goods and services by all central government ministries and departments.
♦ India’s Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee pair clinched the historic bronze medal at the Asian Table Tennis Championships 2024 in Astana, Kazakhstan on 13 October 2024. The world No. 15 pair lost to Japan’s world No. 33 Miwa Harimoto and Miyuu Kihara with a 3-0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-9) scoreline. ♦ Ayhika and Sutirtha became the first all-Indian women’s doubles table tennis pair to win a medal at the Asian Championships. Gool Nasikwala won a gold medal in women’s doubles with Japan’s Yoshiko Tanaka in the inaugural edition in 1952.
♦ Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla leads the parliamentary delegation to the 149th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Geneva, which will be held from 13 to 17 October 2024. All IPU statutory bodies, including the Governing Council, Standing Committees, Committees on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians and on Middle East Questions, as well as the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and the Forum of Young MPs, will meet on this occasion. ♦ The General Debate will focus on the overall theme Harnessing science, technology and innovation (STI) for a more peaceful and sustainable future and provide a platform for delegates to deliberate, exchange views and galvanize parliamentary action. ♦ The IPU has 180 member parliaments and 15 associate members. Members include parliaments from large countries like China, India, and Indonesia, as well as smaller countries like Cabo Verde, San Marino, and Palau.
♦ PM GatiShakti National Master Plan for muti-modal connectivity is completing three years on 13 October 2024. This master plan was launched in 2021 to provide multimodal connectivity infrastructure to various economic zones. ♦ PM GatiShakti has integrated 44 Central Ministries and 36 States and Union Territories for planning and executing infrastructure projects. It has achieved a milestone of assessing 208 big-ticket infrastructure projects worth over Rs.15 lakh crore of various ministries. ♦ The National Logistics Policy under this scheme aims to reduce logistics costs, improve India’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI) ranking to be among the top 25 countries by 2030, and promote data-driven decision-making.
♦ The government has approved the upgradation of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to 14th Maharatna, Central Public Sector Enterprises. The Finance Ministry announced this on 12 October 2024. This status will give more autonomy to the company in terms of financial and strategic matters. ♦ HAL is a Department of Defence Production, CPSE with an annual turnover of Rs.28,162 crore and a net profit of Rs.7,595 crore in 2023-24. ♦ To qualify for Maharatna status, a company must meet stringent financial criteria: an average turnover exceeding Rs.25,000 crore, an average annual net worth of more than Rs.15,000 crore, and an average annual net profit of over Rs.5,000 crore over the past three years. ♦ The 14 "Maharatna" public sector undertakings (PSUs) in India are: BHEL, BPCL, Coal India, GAIL, HPCL, Indian Oil, NTPC, ONGC, Power Grid, SAIL, Oil India, REC, PFC, HAL.
♦ The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that Indian suppliers are the third largest provider of organisation’s health and nutrition support to children globally. From 2016 to 2023, Indian businesses supplied goods and services worth nearly $6 billion to UNICEF for its global work, making it the third-largest supplier in 2023. This contribution includes vaccines, pharmaceuticals, and nutrition supplies that are vital for addressing children's health and nutritional needs worldwide. About UNICEF ♦ UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children, works to protect the rights of every child, everywhere, especially the most disadvantaged children and in the toughest places to reach. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we do whatever it takes to help children survive, thrive, and fulfil their potential.
♦ India was ranked 105th in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2024 with a score of 27.3. GHI score places India in 'serious' hunger category. A total of 127 countries are present in this index. The index is published by Concern Worldwide, an Irish humanitarian organisation, and Welthungerhilfe, a German aid agency. ♦ India's GHI Score is based on the values of four component indicators: 13.7% of the population is undernourished, 35.5% of children under five are stunted with 18.7% of them being wasted, and 2.9 per cent of children die before their fifth birthday, the report notes. ♦ India is among 42 countries that fall within the "serious" category, alongside Pakistan and Afghanistan, with other South Asian neighbours such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka showing better GHI scores to be listed under the “moderate” category.
♦ Defence Minister Rajnath Singh virtually inaugurated and dedicated 75 BRO (Border Roads Organisation) road and bridge projects to the nation at a cost of Rs.2,236 crore on 12 October 2024. It contains 22 Roads, 51 Bridges and 02 other miscellaneous projects. These Projects have been constructed in 11 border States/Union Territories including the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. ♦ Out of these Projects 19 have been constructed in UT of J&K, 11 in UT of Ladakh, 18 in Arunachal Pradesh, 09 in Uttrakhand, 06 in Sikkim, 05 in Himachal Pradesh, 02 each in West Bengal and Rajasthan and 01 each in Nagaland,Mizoram.
♦ The International Day of the Girl Child is observed every year on October 11, aims to highlight and address the challenges girls face worldwide. It promotes girls' empowerment and the fulfilment of their rights, focusing on issues such as education, health, and gender equality. This day was established by the United Nations (UN) in 2012 to raise awareness about the challenges girls face and to promote their rights. ♦ 2024 theme: ‘Girls’ vision for the future’.
♦ Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with Prime Minister of Lao PDR H.E. Sonexay Siphandone in Vientiane on 11 October 2024. India and Lao PDR signed six MoUs and agreements in the fields including defence cooperation, customs, audio-visual, and preservation of heritage. India has also decided to provide one million US dollar financial assistance to a project to improve nutrition security in Laos with food fortification through the India-UN Development Partnership Fund.
