1 President Draupadi Murmu met the President of Malawi
President Draupadi Murmu met with Malawi President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera on 18 October . During this, the two leaders discussed bilateral issues. During this, four Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed between the two countries to strengthen bilateral relations. This includes art and culture, youth affairs, sports and pharmaceutical cooperation . President Murmu also addressed the India-Malawi business meeting held in Lilongwe , the capital of Malawi . She also paid floral tribute at the tomb of Malawi’s first President Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda. Malawi is a southeastern African country and was earlier called ‘ Nyasaland ‘. This country is surrounded by Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia. Its currency is Malawi Kwacha and the capital is Lilongwe.
2 National Learning Week started
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched Karmayogi Saptah i.e. National Learning Week . This event, which will run till October 25, started at 10.30 am at Dr. Ambedkar International Center in New Delhi . More than 30 lakh civil servants are participating in it. Mission Karmayogi aims to give a new direction to personal and organizational skill development for civil servants . During this, every Karmayogi is participating in 4 hours of learning. This event will provide new inspiration to civil servants towards development. Through skill based learning, this initiative helps in preparing a dynamic and future oriented workforce. The speakers of the program will give information on topics related to their fields. During this, ministries, departments and organizations will also organize seminars and workshops to increase domain specific capacity.
3 Vijaya Kishor Rahatkar appointed as the new chairperson of National Commission for Women
The Government of India on 19 October appointed Vijaya Kishor Rahatkar as the new chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW) . She will be the 9th chairperson of the commission . At the same time, Archana Majumdar has been appointed as a member of the National Commission for Women. Rahatkar has previously been the chairperson of the Maharashtra State Women’s Commission from 2016 to 2021. She has been given this responsibility in view of her role in social work. Rahatkar has also been the president of the BJP Mahila Morcha . During her tenure in the Maharashtra Women’s Commission, she launched welfare initiatives such as Saksham (to help victims of acid attacks) , Prajwala (to connect self-help groups with central government schemes) and Suhita (24×7 helpline service for women) . Apart from this, she also worked on legal reforms by focusing on the POCSO Act, anti-triple talaq cell and anti-human trafficking units.
4 Art exhibition “Silent Conversation: From Margins to the Centre” gives tribal artists an opportunity to connect with the outside society
External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar inaugurated the second edition of the art exhibition “ Silent Conversations: From Margins to the Centre ” held in New Delhi on 17 October 2024. The exhibition showcases paintings and artworks of 49 tribal artists living in 22 national tiger reserves across 10 states in India . The second edition of the tribal art exhibition “Silent Conversations: From Margins to the Centre” is organized by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, an organisation under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Sankla Foundation, National Human Rights Commission and International Big Cat Alliance are assisting the National Tiger Conservation Authority in the exhibition. The four-day exhibition will be held in New Delhi from 17-20 October 2024.
5 Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud inaugurated AROHA – 2024 in New Delhi
Chief Justice of India , Justice Dhananjaya Yashwant Chandrachud inaugurated the first International Conference on Research and Advancement of Global Opportunities for Holistic Ayurveda – AROHA-2024 held in New Delhi on 17 October 2024. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH and Health & Family Welfare, Prataprao Jadhav , Dr. Shyama Kuruvilla, Director (Interim) , Global Traditional Medicine Centre, WHO, Jamnagar , Gujarat and other distinguished guests were present on the occasion. The three-day AROHA-2024 is being held in New Delhi from 17-19 October 2024. AROHA-2024 is organized by All India Institute of Ayurveda, New Delhi, an autonomous institute under the Union Ministry of AYUSH.
6 India extends grant assistance for upgradation of nine schools in plantation areas of Sri Lanka
India has doubled its grant to Rs 17.23 crore to support education of Indian-origin Tamil community living in plantation areas of Sri Lanka . Its aim is to promote education in plantation areas. Under this project, infrastructure of 9 plantation schools identified by the Government of Sri Lanka will be upgraded. These include six schools in the plantation areas of Central Province and one school each in Uva, Sabaragamuwa and Southern Province. This additional fund was given at the request of the Government of Sri Lanka. With this, India’s total commitment for this project now stands at Rs 60 crore Sri Lankan Rupees (17 crore 22 lakh 50 Indian Rupees). This project is part of India’s several earlier and ongoing development partnership initiatives in Sri Lanka in the education sector.
7 Ajay Singh became the new DGP of Jharkhand
On October 19, senior IPS officer Ajay Singh was appointed as the new Director General of Police (DGP) of Jharkhand . He is a 1989 batch IPS officer. Earlier, in view of the assembly elections, the Election Commission had directed the state government to remove acting DGP Anurag Gupta. Anurag Gupta, a 1990 batch IPS officer, was made the DGP of Jharkhand on 26 July 2024. He was also handling the responsibility of ACB and CID DG during his post.
8 Government launched Ask Our Experts series
To connect government schemes in India directly to citizens, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) launched a live series ‘ Ask Our Experts ‘. The episode focused on the features and benefits of DigiLocker , India’s digital document wallet. The episode was aired on Digital India’s YouTube channel. ‘Ask Our Experts’ is a weekly live program in which citizens can ask questions directly to government officials and experts and learn about various Digital India initiatives. The first episode discussed DigiLocker, which allows citizens to store, share and verify their important documents digitally.
9 New Delhi: Indian candidates at WTSA elected to leadership positions in all 10 study groups in the standardization area of the International Telecommunication Union
Indian candidates were elected to leadership positions in all 10 study groups of the International Telecommunication Union’s standardisation sector at the ongoing World Telecommunication Standardisation Assembly (WTSA) in New Delhi . The study groups cover operational aspects, economic and policy issues, security, future networks, etc. India retained its presidency in one group and secured vice presidency in all the other nine study groups. The World Telecommunication Standardisation Assembly of the International Telecommunication Union is currently being held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 15 and will continue till October 24. This is the first time that the WTSA is being held in the Asia-Pacific region.
10 2nd edition of ‘Sagar Kavach’ Exercise 2024 conducted by Indian Coast Guard
The Indian Coast Guard successfully conducted its second edition of the coastal security exercise of the year ‘ Sagar Kavach ‘ off the coasts of Gujarat and Union Territory of Daman and Diu on 16-17 October 2024. The first ‘Sagar Kavach’ exercise of 2024 was conducted by the Indian Coast Guard off the coast of Andhra Pradesh on 11 and 12 July 2024. The second edition of ‘Sagar Kavach’ coastal security exercise was coordinated by the North West Regional Headquarters of the Indian Coast Guard located at Gandhinagar, Gujarat. All agencies responsible for coastal security of India – State Police, Indian Navy, Marine Police, Border Security Force (BSF), National Security Guard (NSG), Gujarat Maritime Board, Intelligence Bureau (IB), and port authorities participated in the exercise. The Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy provided extensive aerial surveillance of the coastal area during the exercise.
11 2nd National Lighthouse Festival held at 75 lighthouses across the nation
The second National Lighthouse Festival will be celebrated on 19th and 20th October 2024 at 75 historical lighthouses across the country . To mark the commencement of the festival, a Lighthouse Tourism Conclave 2024 was organized at Puri , Odisha on 19th October 2024. The first National Lighthouse Festival was held from 23rd to 25th September 2023 at 75 historical lighthouses across the country. The Lighthouse Tourism Conclave 2024 was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Shantanu Thakur on 19th October 2024. During the inaugural session, Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism, Suresh Gopi, Deputy Chief Minister of Odisha, Smt. Pravathi Parida were also present.
12 Kohli is the fourth Indian to score 9,000 Test runs
On 18 October, Indian batsman Virat Kohli scored 70 runs in 102 balls in the second innings of the first Test against New Zealand . During this, he completed 9000 runs in Tests . He achieved this feat by scoring 53 runs in this match. Before him, only Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar have reached this milestone. Kohli scored a half-century in the first Test against New Zealand. This is his 221st 50+ score in all three formats of cricket. Kohli became the second cricketer to score 50+ runs the most number of times in all three formats. Ahead of him is Sachin Tendulkar, who has scored 50+ 264 times in international cricket. Ricky Ponting is at number three in this list.