Current Affairs for the Day 6th October
National News
- Delhi Chief Minister Arvind has Kejriwal launched a mega anti-air pollution campaign, “Yudh Pradushan ke Virudh”.
- India successfully test-fired a new version of the surface-to-surface nuclear-capable hypersonic Shaurya missile with a range of 750 kilometres at Balasore, off the Odisha coast.
- Sikkim’s famous red hot cherry pepper “Dalle Khursani” has earned its Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
- Puducherry airport has become the Airports Authority of India’s (AAI) first entirely solar-powered airport in the country.
- Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan virtually inaugurated Super Speciality Block at Motilal Nehru Medical College, Prayagraj. It has been built under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).
- Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Swiggy to onboard street food vendors on its e-commerce platform under Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor’s Aatmanirbhar Nidhi.
- The Central Government has decided to extend the deadlines for the applicability of new emission norms for the tractors and construction equipment vehicles till October 2021. According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the new emission norms for the tractors and construction equipment vehicles will come into force from October 2021 and April 2021.
- The Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has rolled out the AYUSH Standard Treatment Protocol on 6th September 2020 at an event through video conference.
- Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ), India’s largest post developer, completed the acquisition of Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. (KPCL) at the cost of 12000 crores.
- Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) and Gap Inc. have announced a new agreement to create opportunities for rural youth by leveraging Gap Inc.’s Personal Advancement and Career Programme (PACE).
- The Government has set up a cocoon auction market in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, to benefit farmers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Ravi Santhanam, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of HDFC Bank, has made it to the Forbes’ list of ‘World’s Most Influential CMOs’.
- The Supreme Court has constituted the Ravi Chopra Committee to look into asses the environmental violations in the Chardham road project.
- A team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru has discovered that nanomotors can help in early detection of cancer cells.
- An agreement has been signed between the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to make educational materials accessible for deaf children in India sign language.
- To address the growing issue of mental illness during COVID, Mental Health Foundation of India has launched an exclusive web portal for mental healthcare– MiHOPE.
International News
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has launched Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus Spacecraft, named after Astronaut Kalpana Chawla to the International Space Station (ISS).
- India and Israel agreed to continue and advance bilateral cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus with emphasis on technological Cooperation and tests.
- 12th BRICKS Summit will be held on 17th November 2020 through video conference, hosting country is Russia.
Theme- BRICKS Partnership for Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth. - American Actress Sofia Vergara is the highest-paid actress in the Annual List of Forbes’ Highest-Paid Actresses 2020.
- Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and Army Chief General M M Naravane provided 3000 vials of Remdesivir to Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi to help the country in its fight against the Coronavirus.
- India and South Africa have asked the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to waive off the intellectual property rules on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to help the developing countries to import or Produce the drugs for COVID-19.
- According to IEEE Spectrum report, China is ready to send the world’s first mining robot named ‘Asteroid Mining Robot’ into space by November 2020.
- The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which confers the Nobel Prize announced that Physics Nobel Prize will be awarded to British, German and American scientists for black hole research (one half to Roger Penrose and the other half jointly to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez).
- External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Tokyo to discuss Indo-Pacific strategy, focusing on various aspects of bilateral ties.
- Elon Musk’s SpaceX has won Pentagon award for missile tracking satellites.
State News
- Gujarat Government has decided to provide subsidized food grain to additional 10 lakh families under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
- Arunachal Pradesh signed MoUs with three companies – Siva Sai, 3F and Ruchi Soya for setting up oil extraction factories and buyback oil palm fruits from farmers under the scheme.
National and International Appointments
- The Election Commission has appointed Former Indian Revenue Service officials Madhu Mahajan and BR Balakrishnan as Special Expenditure Observer (SEO) for the coming Bihar Assembly elections.
- The government has appointed economists Shashank Bhide, Ashima Goyal and Jayanth R Varma as independent members to the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee.
Awards and Honor
- Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) has presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to business icon Ratan Tata.
- Iqbal Singh Chahal, Municipal Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, Maharashtra was honoured with “COVID Crusader Award 2020”. He became the first Indian bureaucrat to be recognised with this award.
Obituaries and Retirement
- Actress Misti Mukherjee has passed away recently.
- Former acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court Justice Anantkumar Surendraray Dave passed away.
- Veteran Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav has died recently.
- Afghanistan’s top-order batsman Najeeb Tarakai has died.
- Veteran Congress leader and former MP Kartikeswar Patra have died.
Banking News
- SEBI whole-time member Madhabi Buch has got 1-year extension in tenure by the approval of The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- Paytm has announced the launch of its “mini-app” store to support Indian developers in taking their products to the masses in line with Google.
Sports
Indian Olympic quota winner Yashaswini Singh Deswal won the 10m air pistol event in the fifth edition of the International Online Shooting Championship (IOSC).
Important Days
- Wildlife Week is annually celebrated across India between 1st and 8th October.
Theme 2020- RoaR (Roar and Revive) – Exploring Human-Animal Relationships.