Today's Current Affairs - 23rd October 2022

INTERNATIONAL

Xi Jinping secures historic third term in power

• Chinese President Xi Jinping has created history, becoming the first leader of the ruling Communist Party after party founder Mao Zedong to get re-elected for an unprecedented third term in power with the prospect of ruling China for life. He was elected as General Secretary of the Communist Party for 3rd five-year tenure by the new seven-member Standing Committee packed with his supporters who appeared before the local and foreign media here to herald the new era, widely termed ‘Xi era’.
• Xi’s “election” for the third term in power formally ends the over three decades of rule followed by his predecessors, barring Mao, of retiring after a 10-year tenure. Xi was first elected in 2012 and will be completing his 10-year term this year.
• With moderates like Premier Li Keqiang, who was ranked number two, eased out in the election to over 300-member Central Committee by the once-in-a-five-year Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Committee which met on Sunday elected a 25-member Political Bureau.

NATIONAL

PM Modi launches recruitment drive ‘Rozgar Mela’ for 10 lakh personnel

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a mega recruitment drive, Rozgar Mela, for ten lakh personnel today. On this occasion, appointment letters for various posts of Central Government were handed over to 75 thousand of newly inducted appointees in the first tranche.
• While addressing the new appointees through video conferencing, the Prime Minister said, this is another step to provide employment opportunities to youth. He said, several steps have been taken by the government to provide employment and self employment opportunities in the last eight years. He said, India is marching towards becoming self-reliant in every sector and the target of becoming a developed nation can be achieved with the contribution of everyone. He said, India is the fifth biggest economy now and this feat has been achieved due to the reforms undertaken in the last eight years. He said, the government has set a target to spend 100 lakh crore rupees on infrastructure development in the country. He said, works for creating robust infrastructure in the country are creating several employment opportunities for the people.

14th Tribal Youth Exchange Programme Held In New Delhi

• Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in collaboration with Ministry of Home Affairs today organised 14th Tribal Youth Exchange Programme for the development of Tribal Youth in New Delhi.
• The aim of the programme is to sensitize tribal youth to rich cultural heritage of the country and to enable them to appreciate the concept of unity in diversity.
• Its objective is also to expose them to development activities and industrial advancement and help the tribal youth to develop emotional linkages with their peer groups in other parts of the country and enhance their self-esteem.
• 220 selected youth in the age group of 18 to 22 years are participating in the programme from Left Wing Extremism-affected districts of Sukma and Rajnandgaon of Chhattisgarh, Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh and Jamui of Bihar.
• The duration of each Tribal Youth exchange Programme is of 7 days.

SPORTS

ISSF World Championship: Sagar Dangi bags two medals in Junior Men’s 10m Air Pistol team and individual events

• In ISSF World Championship, Sagar Dangi bagged Gold and Silver in the Junior Men’s 10m Air Pistol team and individual events in Cairo, Egypt yesterday. India picked up four more medals, including one gold, at the end of day nine of the competition. Sagar Dangi, Varun Tomar, and Samrat Rana won gold in the men’s 10m Air Pistol Junior team event. Sagar Dangi bagged silver and Varun Tomar won bronze in the junior men’s 10m Air Pistol event. Nancy and Sri Karthik Sabari Raj Ravishankar won bronze in the 10m Air Rifle Junior Mixed team event.
• India now have a tally of 30 medals including 11 gold, 7 silver, and 12 bronze, and sits in second place in the standings.

Western Air Command of IAF wins Air Force Lawn Tennis Championship

• Western Air Command, Indian Air Force (IAF) won the Air Force Lawn Tennis Championship 2022-23 held at Head Quarter MC, Vayusena Nagar, Nagpur. The final match of team Championship was played between Western Air Command and Training Command in which Western Air Command emerged as the winner. The final of the open singles was played between Corporal Pradeep of Training Command and Sergeant Manolin of Western Air Command and Corporal Pradeep emerged as the winner.
• The Championship was inaugurated by Air Marshal Vibhas Pande, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, HQ MC on 17 October 2022. A total of eight teams comprising of 48 players from the seven Commands of Indian Air Force, participated in the Championship. The Championship was held in two events namely, Team Championship and Open Singles.
• During the closing ceremony of the Championship on 21 October 2022, Air Marshal Vibhas Pande, Air Officer Commanding in Chief of Headquarters Maintenance Command was the Chief Guest. After the prize distribution ceremony during his closing address, he congratulated the winners and appreciated all the participants, official of the Air Force Sports Control Board (AFSCB) and the Commanding Officer of HQ MC (U) who was instrumental in organizing the event.

 SCIENCE & TEHNOLOGY

ISRO's heaviest rocket successfully places 36 satellites in orbit

• OneWeb’s 36 satellites were successfully orbited by the biggest rocket ever launched by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3 or GSLV Mark 3), which lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. With this 14th launch, OneWeb will have 462 satellites in its constellation. This launch represents more than 70% of the 648 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites that are expected to be deployed globally to provide high-speed, low-latency connectivity.
• 36 satellites totaling 5,796 kg, or approximately 5.7 tonne, were carried by the 43.5-meter LVM3, which was around 644 tonnes in weight.
• OneWeb is still on target to activate global coverage in 2023 with just four more launches, and its connectivity solutions are now operational in areas north of 50 degrees latitude.

 APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Dalit woman scholar from Karnataka appointed UNHRC Special Rapporteur

• P. Ashwini, a Dalit scholar whose roots are in Kurabarahalli in Kolar district, has been appointed Special Rapporteur for United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC). She is the first Indian and Asian woman to be appointed to this post.
• The Geneva-based 47-member UN human rights body has endorsed Dr. Ashwini’s appointment.
• An Ambedkarite and a PhD scholar from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Ms. Ashwini is planning to address issues such as racism and casteism, now also increasingly on social media platforms.

BANKING AND ECONOMY

India suffered income loss of 5.4% of GDP due to heat wave: Report

• India suffered an income loss of 5.4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the highest among the G20 nations in 2021, according to the new report of Climate Transparency.
• The report highlighted that India witnessed a record heatwave that greatly affected workers, labour migrants, low-income households, and the homeless, and reduced the yields of wheat crops.
• Despite the fact that India is responsible for 3% of global emissions, the report mentioned that around 142 million people in India may be exposed (10% of the population) to summer heatwaves at 1.5 Degrees Celsius.
• The higher temperature resulted in the reduction of working hours, which further led to substantial income losses in services, manufacturing, agriculture, and construction.
• The 'Climate Transparency Report 2022' was developed with experts from 16 partner organisations from the majority of the G20 (Group of 20) countries.