20th October Daily Current Affairs 2022: Today GK Updates for Bank Exam

Daily GK updates are incorporated with the important news that made the current affairs headlines for banking or other competitive exams. Daily GK Update is the complete bag of important news that is held all day long. One should have complete knowledge about banking terms, current affairs news, etc. So, here is the GK update for 20th October 2022 to help you prepare the Current affairs part. After reading this section, you can successfully attempt Current Affairs Quiz. 

Here is the Daily GK Update of the 20th October 2022 covering the following news headlines: World osteoporosis day, World Statistics Day, International Chef’s Day, Ookla Report, UIDAI, Paytm Payments Bank, Mallikarjun Kharge, Compressed Bio Gas plant.  

Top 19 Daily GK Updates: National & International News 

Here is providing below the top 19 important Daily General Knowledge 2022 updates with national & international news.

National News

1. Hardeep Puri inaugurated Asia’s largest Compressed Bio Gas plant

• Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri has inaugurated Asia’s largest Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) plant in Lehragaga, in Sangrur, Punjab. The plant in Sangrur is just the beginning of India’s master plan for a CBG-based rural economy and the government is taking all steps to promote the ecosystem around it.
• The plant has been commissioned with a foreign direct investment of approximately Rs. 220 crores by Verbio AG, one of Germany’s leading bio-energy companies. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and senior management from Verbio India Private Limited were also present at the inaugural ceremony.

2. United Nations Secretary-General on India’s Visit 

• United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in Mumbai, India on October 19 on a three-day official visit. This is his first visit to India, since he assumed his second term in office in January this year.
• Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations (UNSG) will be on an official visit to India from 18-20 October 2022. This will be UNSG’s first visit to India, since he commenced his second term in office in January 2022. He had earlier visited India (in his first term) from 01- 04 October 2018.
• According to ministry, Guterres will commence his visit to India, by paying tributes to the victims of the 26/11 terror attacks at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai. He will also deliver a public address at IIT Mumbai on the subject – “India @75: UN-India Partnership: Strengthening South-South Cooperation”.

International News

3. Indus Waters Treaty: World Bank Appoints Chairman of Court of Arbitration

• The World Bank has appointed a “neutral expert” and a chairman of the Court of Arbitration regarding the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric power plants, in view of disagreements and differences between India and Pakistan over the 1960 Indus Water Treaty.
• Michel Lino has been appointed as the Neutral Expert and Sean Murphy has been appointed as Chairman of the Court of Arbitration. They will carry out their duties in their individual capacity as subject matter experts and independently of any other appointments they may currently hold, the World Bank said in a statement.

4. One Health Joint Plan of Action: WHO, UNEP, and FAO lay a plan 

• One Health Joint Plan of Action: The One Health Joint Plan of Action would develop a framework and integrate systems and capability to enable improved collaborative prevention, prediction, detection, and response to health hazards. This will support sustainable development while enhancing the health of people, animals, plants, and the environment.
• A sustainable balance and optimization of the health of people, animals, plants, and ecosystems are the goals of the comprehensive, unified approach known as “One Health.”
• It is the main strategy for solving the numerous health issues that our civilization is currently confronting, including ecosystem degradation, problems with the food system, infectious diseases, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Appointments News

5. Mallikarjun Kharge Elected As The New Congress President 

• Veteran Karnataka leader Mallikarjun Kharge defeated his rival Shashi Tharoor to become the first non-Gandhi Congress president in 24 years, and the first Scheduled Caste chief of the grand old organization in four decades.
• Kharge polled 7897 of the 9385 votes cast while Tharoor garnered a meagre 1072. Sources said 416 votes were invalid. He is the first non-Gandhi to head the Congress in 24 years, after Sitaram Kesri was unceremoniously ousted in 1988 through a Congress Working Committee resolution that invited Sonia Gandhi to become the party chief.
• Sonia had become a primary member of the Congress only a year ago at the AICC Kolkata plenary in 1997.

6. Deependra Singh Rathore named as Interim CEO of Paytm Payments Bank 

• Paytm Payments Bank has appointed Deependra Singh Rathore as the interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO), in addition to his role as Chief Product & Technology Officer. CEO Satish Gupta is retiring this month. The bank will announce the new full-time CEO after receiving regulatory approvals.
• The bank has also appointed Sunil Chander Sharma, a former IRS officer as Chief Operating Officer (COO). As the COO, he would oversee the functions of customer support, retail operations, legal and Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) and Human Resources and Administration.
• Paytm Payments Bank (PPBL) is an Indian payments bank, founded in 2015 and headquartered in Noida. In the same year, it received the license to run a payments bank from the Reserve Bank of India and was launched in November 2017. In 2021, the bank received a scheduled bank status from the RBI.

Agreements News

7. Google partners with Assam Government to power digitalled learning

• Google partners with Assam Government: In order to help and expedite the Assam government’s objective to foster digital growth and development in the State, Google inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
• As part of this new initiative, Google will work with the Assam Government’s Skill, Employment & Entrepreneurship Department (SEED) to strengthen school digitization efforts with digital tools and solutions to support teaching and learning, as well as to promote the fundamentals of online safety and digital citizenship to schoolchildren through the “Be Internet Awesome” programme.

Business News

8. CASHe tie-up with IRCTC to launch ‘travel now pay later’ facility 

• AI-driven financial wellness platform, CASHe, announced that it has partnered with the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), to provide a “travel now pay later” (TNPL) payment option on its travel app, IRCTC Rail Connect.
• This will enable travellers of Indian Railways to book their rail tickets instantly and pay for it later in pocket-friendly EMIs, ranging from three to six months. With CASHe’s payment option, booking and paying for rail tickets on the IRCTC travel app will now be easier and hassle-free for millions of Indian Railway passengers.

9. LIC Launched New ‘Dhan Varsha’ Plan 

• Life Insurance Company (LIC) has launched the ‘LIC Dhan Varsha’ scheme. The ‘LIC Dhan Varsha scheme is a non-linked, non-participating, individual, savings life insurance plan which offers a combination of protection and savings.
• The savings insurance plan provides financial support for the family in case of unfortunate death of the life assured during the policy terms.
• LIC Dhan Varsha scheme provides a guaranteed amount on the date of maturity for the surviving life assured.
• The death benefits are payable on the death of the life assured during the policy term after the date of commencement of risk.

Ranks and Reports News

10. UIDAI topped Grievance Redressal Index for second consecutive month

• The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which oversees Aadhaar, has once again topped the September rankings report published by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), for resolving most public grievances among all government ministries and government departments. This is the second consecutive month UIDAI has topped the rankings.
• UIDAI has been a top performer in the resolution of Public Grievances received through the Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS), and making continuous efforts to make Aadhaar holder’s experience better.
• UIDAI has a strong grievance redressal ecosystem in place comprising of UIDAI HQ, its Regional Offices, Technology Centre, and engaged contact centre partners. A coherent system is enabling UIDAI to resolve around 92% of CRM Grievances within a week.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• UIDAI CEO: Dr. Saurabh Garg;
• UIDAI Founded: 28 January 2009;
• UIDAI Headquarters: New Delhi.

11. Reliance Jio surpasses BSNL to become largest landline service provider in August 

• Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio became the largest landline service provider in the country for the first time, in August. With 7.35 million landline connections as on August 31, Reliance Jio beat state-owned telecom operator and hitherto market leader BSNL’s 7.13 million connections, according to the latest data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). Third-placed MTNL provided 2.6 million connections.
• The development marks a watershed moment in India’s telecom history since fixed-line or landline connections formed the final segment where a state-owned operator was in the top spot.
• Reliance Jio had been looking to make inroads into the segment over the past few years and launched Jio Fibre in 2019, which included both landline and fibre-based broadband services.

12. Ookla Report: India Drops Down in Rankings for Mobile, Fixed Broadband Speeds Globally 

• India drops three spots in the Global Ranking for median mobile speed. It went from 115th to 118th in June from May. According to the Ookla Speedtest Global Index report, India’s median mobile download speed has decreased from 14.28 Mbps in May to 14.00 Mbps in June.
• India improved its global ranking in June for the median download speeds on fixed broadband by going three spots forward from 75th to 72nd.
• In May, the overall fixed median download speed in India was 47.86 Mbps as compared to 48.11 Mbps in June.
• In the overall global median mobile speed, Norway is in the top spot and was joined by Chile.
• The second spot is bagged by Singapore in terms of overall global fixed broadband speeds.
• In June, Papua New Guinea and Gabon registered the highest growth for mobile download speeds and fixed broadband speeds.
• India gained three spots in the Global Ranking on median mobile download speed in May.

Science and Technology News

13. Reliance Jio to deploy 5G gear from Nokia & Ericsson

• European telecom gear makers, Nokia and Ericsson have inked multi-year supply contracts with Reliance Jio for supplying 5G network equipment to the country’s largest carrier for deploying standalone or 5G SA.
• With the deals, both Nokia and Ericsson are supplying to India’s three largest mobile operators including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea. While Vodafone Idea is yet to announce its 5G strategy, both Airtel and Jio have said that they will provide pan-India 5G coverage by 2024.

Schemes News

14. PM Modi launched Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Urvarak Pariyojana

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Urvarak Pariyojana-One Nation One Fertiliser. Under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Urvarak Pariyojana, companies must market all subsidized fertilizers under a single brand, ‘Bharat’.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the single brand under the scheme during the two-day event PM Kisan Samman Sammelan 2022.
• The launch event was felicitated by Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Chemicals & Fertilizers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
• The event was also joined by more than one crore farmers who joined virtually.

15. $500 Million Accelerator Program to Strengthen Agri Startups to be launched by Centre

• $500 Million Accelerator Program to Strengthen Agri Startups: Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar announced that the central government will launch a Rs 500 crore accelerator programme to support the productive ideas of agro-businesses.
• On the second day of the PM Kisan Samman Sammelan, Tomar made numerous significant announcements regarding big policy efforts for agriculture entrepreneurs.
• Narendra Singh Tomar stated that an executive committee made up of relevant organisations.
• This will include the Department of Agriculture Research and Education (DARE), DPIIT, agricultural incubators and knowledge partners, agricultural universities, research institutes, top investors, and other stakeholders would be established under the chairmanship of the agriculture secretary.

Important Days

16. International Chef’s Day 2022 celebrates on 20th October

• Every year on October 20th, International Chefs Day is observed to honour the culinary masters who have protected the value of food and are passing on the same message to future generations.
• This day celebrates the culinary arts and recognizes the hard work and dedication that chefs put into their craft. If you know a chef, be sure to thank them for their delicious creations. And if you’re a chef yourself, take pride in knowing that your skills are appreciated by people all over the world!
• The theme for this year is “Growing A Healthy Future.” The idea behind this theme is to ensure a healthy and sustainable planet for future generations.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• World Association of Cooks Societies Headquarters: Paris, France;
• World Association of Cooks Societies Founded: October 1928.

17. World Statistics Day 2022 celebrates on 20 October

• World Statistics Day 2022 is celebrated annually on October 20th to recognize the importance of statistics in our daily lives.
• The United Nations Statistical Commission has been at the forefront of advocating for the use of statistics to track progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Good data and statistics are essential for effective planning, monitoring and evaluation of progress towards the SDGs.
• The theme of Statistics Day, 2022 is “Data for Sustainable Development”.
• The United Nations Statistical Commission proposed celebrating 20 October 2010 as World Statistics Day. The General Assembly adopted on 3 June 2010 resolution 64/267, which officially designated 20 October 2010 as the first-ever World Statistics Day under the general theme “Celebrating the many achievements of official statistics.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams: