Daily Current Affairs 8 & 9 October for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.
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NATIONAL NEWS
India’s first solar cycling track comes up in Hyderabad
In Hyderabad, the country’s first solar roof cycling track was inaugurated by state Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister K Tarakarama Rao. This innovative track named Healthway is the second of its kind globally. Located on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) between the main carriageway and service road, the track will be open 24×7, giving a major push to the dedicated bicycling community in the city. It is the second in the world after South Korea’s solar rooftop covered track.Similar ones are now under construction in Dubai and Switzerland.
- The 23-km path has two stretches – a pink line of 8.5 km from Nanakramguda to Telangana State Police Academy and a blue line of 14.5 km from Kollur to Narsingi with five different access points. It is a three-lane track that is 4.5 meters wide, with one meter of green space on either side.
- A total of 16,000 solar panels were installed to generate 16 megawatts (MW) of power which will be utilized to light up the track at night and provide protection to cyclists from the sun, rain, and other weather conditions.
India, Tanzania sign 6 MoUs, agree on 5-year roadmap on defence cooperation
India and Tanzania announced elevating their ties to strategic partnership and agreed on a five-year roadmap to significantly expand defence cooperation following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
- The two countries inked six agreements providing for cooperation in the digital domain, culture, sports, maritime industries and white shipping information sharing.
Army concludes 70 schemes under EP-4 worth ₹11000 crore
The Indian Army and Air Force have completed the fourth phase of Emergency Procurements (EP) with the Army finalizing over 70 schemes worth nearly ₹11,000 crore and the Indian Air Force concluding 64 contracts worth around ₹8,137 crore.
- The primary objective of EP was to plug critical operational gaps, especially along the Northern Borders. Elaborating on the contracts concluded, the source said about 6-7 schemes worth ₹1,300 crores went for weapon systems, ₹1,300 crore was used across 7-8 projects for protective equipment, and 9 to 10 schemes at about ₹1,500 crore related to Intelligence, Reconnaissance, and Surveillance.
- Another ₹2,000 crore was reserved for about 10 projects focusing on drones and counter drones. Communication and non-communication equipment comprised about a dozen plus projects, absorbing approximately ₹1,800 crore, and lastly, an amount of ₹3,100 crore was used for about 25 projects on survivability and training.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Typhoon Koinu brings floods to Hong Kong
Many parts of Hong Kong are witnessing flooding as Typhoon Koinu brought torrential rains during the night, forcing authorities to issue the highest level of alert. According to media reports, it was the second time in a month the city’s authorities had sent out a black rain warning, the highest in Hong Kong.
- It said, most of the region saw more than 150 millimeters of rainfall in the early hours today, and rainfall exceeded 300 millimeters over some parts of urban Hong Kong island.
BANKING & FINANCE
RBI doubles UCB gold loan limit to ₹4 lakh
The Reserve Bank of India has increased the existing limit for gold loans under the Bullet Repayment scheme from ₹2 lakh to ₹4 lakh for Urban Co-operative Banks that have met the overall target and sub-targets under the Priority Sector Lending as of March-end. The move comes on the back of sharp jump in gold prices.
- The RBI permitted bullet repayment of gold loans of up to ₹1 lakh to start with in 2007, which was increased later in 2014 to ₹2 lakh, with the repayment being restricted to 12 months. UCBs are allowed to extend gold loans under Bullet repayment and Equated Monthly Instalment (EMI) repayment route for 12 months.
YES Bank Introduces India’s First ONDC Network Gift Card
YES Bank announced that it has become the first bank in the country to issue an ‘ONDC Network Gift Card’. This marks a shift in the way India shops and aims to revolutionise the shopping experience for Indian consumers.
- The ONDC Network Gift Card, issued in partnership with Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), is at the forefront of democratising digital commerce. Unlike traditional gift cards, this concept empowers customers to utilise the gift card for purchasing products from any brand and any seller across a wide array of segments, including food, fashion, handicrafts, electronics, home essentials, health and wellbeing, the lender said.
SPORTS
Kelvin Kiptum breaks a world record at the Chicago Marathon
Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum set a world record to win Chicago Marathon men’s title in an unofficial time of two hours and 35 seconds.
- YhgcdhThe 23-year-old shattered the old world record of 2:01:09 set by Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge to win the 2022 Berlin Marathon.
- It marked the third time a men’s world record had been set on the streets of Chicago but the first time since Morocco’s Khalid Khannouchi in 1999.
AWARDS
Nobel economics prize awarded to Claudia Goldin for work on women’s pay
Harvard economic historian Claudia Goldin won the 2023 Nobel economics prize for her work exposing the causes of deeply rooted wage and labour market inequality between men and women, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.
- The prestigious award, formally known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, is the last of this year’s crop of Nobel prizes and is worth 11 million Swedish crowns, or nearly $1 million.
- This year’s Laureate in the Economic Sciences, Claudia Goldin, provided the first comprehensive account of women’s earnings and labour market participation through the centuries,” the prize-giving body said.
IMPORTANT DAYS
India to mark 10 Oct as Good Manufacturing Practice Day
The Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association (IDMA) has initiated a plan, under the guidance from Union Health Ministry and Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, to celebrate the first ever “National Current Good Manufacturing Practices Day” (National cGMP Day) on October 10, 2023 in Mumbai.
- The “National cGMP Day” idea was conceived at the Centre for cGMP, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal and IDMA has proposed to celebrate this day every year as National cGMP Day.
- The purpose of celebrating the cGMP day is to reiterate IDMA’s commitment to patient safety