Why in news:                   

• The Haryana Cabinet under the chairmanship of chief minister has approved amendment in the Freight Assistance Scheme notified under the Haryana Enterprise and Employment Policy (HEEP) - 2020.

Key Points:

• This brings major relief to various industrial associations and exporters of the state who requested the state government to revise the scheme for all MSMEs and review the block wise capping to motivate exporters.
• According to the new amendment Rs 25 lakh will be provided as subsidy in view of freight reimbursement for transportation cost from the unit's premises to port / air cargo / international borders. Along with other non-financial incentives this move aims to make MSME exports competitive in the global market.
• Freight assistance to the extent of 1% of Free on Board (FOB) value or actual freight, whichever is less, on transportation of goods from manufacturing site to seaport/air cargo/road to international border, excluding government duties and taxes will be decided based on the level of ZED certification.
• For thrust sector (notified under HEEP), a maximum of Rs 25 lakh to a manufacturer exporter engaged in thrust sector located in 'C' and 'D' category blocks and a manufacturer exporter engaged in thrust sector 'A' and 'B' category blocks Rs 15 lakh will be assured subsidy.
• For all other eligible manufacturer exporter units (non-thrust sector), a maximum of Rs 20 lakh for a manufacturer exporter located in 'C' and 'D' category blocks and Rs 10 lakh for a manufacturer exporter located in 'A' will be provided as subsidy.
• As per the amendment, the applications of all eligible units shall be submitted on the web portal of the department within a period of 6 months from the date of closure of the financial year and Director General/Director, MSME for sanction of freight subsidy above Rs 10 lakh shall be the competent authority. The policy has been notified with an aim to attract Rs 1 lakh crore investment in the state and create 5 lakh jobs.

Context:

• As part of its social welfare measures, the state government has announced measures to improve access to quality health care services for the people from disadvantages sections.

Key Points:

• Taking active steps in the direction, the state government has decided to provide financial aid to poor patients through Chief Minister's Relief Fund on medical grounds. The move is intended to provide better medical care facilities to the people belonging to economically weak sections of Haryana.
• According to the concerned officials, in order to execute the initiative, the state government has amended the Chief Minister's Relief Fund scheme to ensure that poor people can get immediate treatment benefits.
• Financial assistance is now being provided to the patients for the treatment of 25 chronic diseases under this scheme. As per the procedure set by the Health department in this regard, the applicants seeking financial assistance can avail the facility through the SARAL portal of the government. The amount of financial assistance from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund will be directly transferred to the bank account of the applicant or beneficiary. For financial assistance on medical grounds from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund, the applicants can simply apply on the SARAL Portal through her/ his Parivar Pehchan Patra ID by uploading relevant documents like medical bills, OPD bills etc.
• As per the amendments made in Chief Minister's Relief Fund scheme, if any disease is not being covered under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, then the beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat Yojana will get benefits under this scheme.

Context:

• The state government of Haryana has announced various initiatives to improve administrative efficiency and to make government bodies more responsive to people’s needs.

Key Points:

• Taking active steps in the direction, in order to bring synergy in functioning of various departments and streamlining of work, the state government has decided to merge and reorganise some departments. The stated aim of the exercise is that reorganization of departments having similar nature of work will improve administrative efficiency. The decision of reorganisation and merger of various departments in this regard has been approved by the state cabinet.
• As per the state government’s mandate in this regard, the Directorate, Utilities and Authorities will continue to function as before. Further, the state government has decided that no staff cadres will be merged at present to avoid legal issues of seniority.
• According to the concerned officials, as per the decision, now the departments of New and Renewable Energy is merged with Power department and the nomenclature will be renamed as ‘Department of Energy’.  Similarly, Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes and Social Justice and Empowerment Department has been merged and now the name of new department will be ‘Department of Social Justice, Empowerment, Welfare of SCs and BCs’ and Antyodaya.
• In order to improve synergy, Department of Higher Education, Technical Education and Science and Technology has been merged into a single department with the nomenclature as ‘Department of Higher Education.'” Archaeology and Museums Department has been merged with Tourism Department and the nomenclature has been renamed as ‘Department of Heritage and Tourism’.
• Besides, Forests and Wildlife Department and Department of Environment and Climate Change have been merged into a single department as ‘Department of Environment, Forests and Wildlife’.  Art and Culture Department has been merged with Information, Public Relations and Languages Department, and renamed as ‘Information, Public Relations, Languages and Culture Department’.
• As per the mandate of the state government, Youth Affairs component of the Sports Department has been merged with the Skill Development and Industrial Training Department and Employment Department. The nomenclature has been renamed as ‘Department of Youth Empowerment and Entrepreneurship.'”
• The Department of Electronics and Information Technology has been dissolved and the electronics manufacturing and private IT have been merged within the ambit of the Industries and Commerce Department. The existing work of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology has been allocated to different existing departments. The work/subjects related to the IT Industry has been reallocated to the Industries Department.

Why in news:

• The state government of Haryana has approved the drafts of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for three state police awards.

Key Points:

• The draft has been approved by the state Cabinet under the chairmanship of chief minister of Haryana. The council of ministers had earlier approved the three awards — Chief Minister’s Medal for Bravery, Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Investigation and DGP’s Uttam Seva Medal which have been designed to recognise and reward outstanding detection, investigation, bravery and outstanding performance of administrative duties by Haryana Police personnel.
• As per the newly drafted standard operating procedures, the awardees of the Chief Minister’s Medal for Bravery will get a one-time cash reward of Rs 2 lakh. Similarly, the new standard operating procedures entails that the recipients of Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Investigation will get a one-time Rs 1 lakh. The officers and officials will also get a certificate/scroll signed by the chief minister and the home minister respectively.
• In addition to that, the state government has also announced that the awardees will also get a medal along with a ribbon display above the left pocket of the uniform and six-month extension of service after retirement for Group-B and C for police personnel,  applicable only in case they are not availing of any other extension in service. The names of the awardees will be published in the gazette of Haryana and the register of such names will be kept in the Home Department, Haryana.
• Further, it has been decided that as per the new standard operating procedure, the recipients of the DGP’s Uttam Seva Medal will get a one-time cash reward of Rs 50,000 along with a certificate signed by the Director General of Police. The names of the medal awardees will be maintained in a register at Police Headquarters, Haryana.

The European Union’s top human rights prize on Thursday, awarded Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in police custody in Iran last year.

• She was arrested by the so-called Iranian Morality Police for not wearing the burqa (a black scarf) properly in a public place. Several videos that went viral on social media platforms showed she slipped into a coma after being tortured brutally by the Iranian police.
• This had prompted worldwide protests against the country’s conservative Islamic theocracy. 
• The EU award, named for Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, was created in 1988 to honour individuals or groups who defend human rights and fundamental freedoms. Sakharov, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, died in 1989.

The International Monetary Fund expects India to increase its contribution to global growth over the next five years as the economy continues to grow fairly rapidly.  

• India will likely account for 18 per cent of world growth by 2028, up from 16per cent currently, Krishna Srinivasan, director of the Asia and Pacific Department of IMF, told reporters in Mumbai on Thursday.
• India’s faster growth compared with China’s economic slowdown could see the South Asian nation make a bigger contribution to global growth than its larger rival — only temporarily — the latest IMF figures show. 
• However, in terms of the size of their economies, China remains dominant. Based on the latest estimates from the IMF, China’s nominal gross domestic product will increase to $23.61 trillion by 2028, while India’s will reach $5.94 trillion.
• China and India will jointly contribute about half of world growth in both 2023 and 2024, IMF figures show.  

Mumbai is currently under a cyclone alert due to the warning issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) regarding possible weather disturbances in the city of Maharashtra.

• This alert has been prompted by the expected development of a low-pressure system in the southeastern and adjoining east-central Arabian Sea within the next 48 hours.
• The period from October to December is considered to be favourable for cyclone formation in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, mainly due to higher ocean temperatures.
• If a tropical storm forms in the Indian seas during this time, it will be named "Tej" according to the established cyclone naming practice in the Indian Ocean region. 
• Currently, the chances of this system developing into a cyclonic storm are not considerably high. It is worth mentioning that in 2022, no tropical storms were observed in the Arabian Sea after the monsoon season, whereas the Bay of Bengal witnessed the emergence of two tropical storms, namely Sitrang and Mandous.

World Statistics Day is celebrated every year on 20 October. The day is dedicated to create awareness about the significant role of advanced, reliable, and good quality statistics in the development of global nations.

• The United Nations General Assembly established World Statistics Day on 20 October 2015.
• The main of observing this day is to highlight the huge achievements of national statistical systems, and to foster the importance of statistics in various aspects of society.
• Celebrating World Statistics Day provides an opportunity for statisticians, government organisations, policymakers, and other agencies to promote the values of high quality date and statistics in the current data-driven world. 
• Statistics plays a magnificent role in areas like healthcare, economics, education, environment, and social welfare.
• It not only helps in understanding the complexities of the world, but also helps in the development of effective policies in diverse fields. Statistics is an important aspect of evidence-based decision-making.

In a breathtaking display of chess mastery, 24-year-old Indian grandmaster Karthikeyan Murali delivered a remarkable blow to the reigning world champion and number one player, Magnus Carlsen.

• This stunning victory, achieved in the classical chess format at the ongoing Qatar Masters, marks a historic moment in the world of chess. 
• Karthikeyan Murali’s victory over Magnus Carlsen is a significant milestone for Indian chess.
• This remarkable feat occurred in the seventh round of the prestigious tournament, where Karthikeyan deftly handled the black pieces.
• It is only the third instance in chess history where an Indian player has emerged triumphant against the formidable Magnus Carlsen.

Kotak Mahindra, received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to acquire Sonata Finance for Rs. 537 crore, the company said in its filing.

• Kotak Mahindra Bank's shares were trading 1.68% higher at Rs.1767.50 per share on BSE at 2:37 pm.  
• The bank had announced to acquire 100% stake of the Non-Banking Finance Company, Sonata Finance Private Limited, in February this year.
• The acquisition received approval of the RBI on October 19, the company said in its stock filing. After the completion of the transaction, Sonata will become a ‘wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bank’. 
• The approval has come prior to the announcement of September quarter result by Kotak Mahindra. The bank is set to announce its Q2 results on October 21.