French author Annie Ernaux recently received Nobel Peace Prize in Literature.

• Annie Ernaux, whose works are mostly autobiographical, received the Nobel Prize for Literature in recognition of her courage and clinical acuity with which she exposes her life through literature.
• Her works are mostly inclined towards sociology, focusing on topics such as abortion and other social issues.
• They are influenced by the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, Simone de Beauvoir and the May 1968 social unrest.
• Ernaux is only the 17^th female author to receive this prestigious award in the field of literature.
• She is the second woman to receive the award 3 years after the American poet Louise Gluck received the 2020 award.
• Her notable works include the debut “Cleaned Out” and the “A Simple Passion” – a bestseller in France depicting the author’s affair with a married foreign diplomat.

On October 7, Nobel Peace Prize for 2022 has been conferred to human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, Ukrainian human rights organization named Center for Civil Liberties and Russian human rights organisation Memorial.

• With the Nobel Peace Prize being conferred to individuals or organizations from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, implicit message is being sent about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
• These awardees have advocated for human rights, democracy and peaceful coexistence in the three neighbouring countries.
• They have, for years, supported the right to criticize the political power and sought to safeguard the fundamental rights of citizens.
• In addition, they played a major role in recording cases of human rights abuses, war crimes, and abuse of power.
• Together, they have demonstrated the importance of civil society in safeguarding peace and democracy.

Carolyn Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and K. Barry Sharpless have been awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry.

• Click chemistry revolutionized the options available to chemists for creating the molecules they desired.
• Today’s announcement marks the second time that Sharpless has won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In 2001, he shared the prize with William Knowles and Ryoji Noyori for the development of catalytic asymmetric synthesis.

The SASTRA Ramanujan Prize for 2022 will be awarded to Yunqing Tang, Assistant Professor with the University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A.

The award, instituted by the Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy (SASTRA) in 2005 with a cash prize of $10,000, is presented annually to individuals aged 32 and below, who made outstanding contributions in the field of mathematics, influenced by Srinivasa Ramanjuan in a broad sense.

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently received the Nansen Refugee Award.

• Ex-German Chancellor Angela Merkel received the UNHCR Nansen Award for providing asylum for refugees while in office.
• While Merkel was the Chancellor in 2015 and 2016, Germany welcomed more than 1.2 million refugees and asylum seekers, especially from Syria.
• The UNHCR recognized Merkel’s determination to protect asylum seekers, helping them to survive and rebuild after facing war.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced, the Nobel Prize in Physics 2022 was awarded to Alain Aspect (France), John F. Clauser (USA) and Anton Zeilinger (Austria) for their work on quantum mechanics.

• The 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded “for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities, and pioneering quantum information science,”.

• The award was announced by Hans Ellegren, Secretary General, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, on Tuesday at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

Indian-origin, Dr. Vivek Lall has been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award by US President Joe Biden with the citation of 'With Grateful Recognition'.

• The citation was given to Dr. Lall  by the AmeriCorps, which is a part of the US Government and aims to foster activities that bring Americans closer together to "serve communities." 
• According to the official statement, the citation was personally signed by the President of the United States. 
• Dr. Lall is an industry leader and Chief Executive Officer of General Atomics. The company is a global leader in the specialised fields of nuclear technology and has developed state-of-the-art Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) like the Predator, Reaper, and Guardian drones.

The Nobel Prizes 2022 for medicine or physiology was awarded to Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo.

Svante Pääbo was given the award “for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution,” the Nobel Prize committee.

Considered the most prestigious prize in the scientific world, it is awarded by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and is worth 10 million Swedish crowns ($900,357).

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Thursday participated in the Kiwi Indian Hall of Fame Awards 2022 and launched the book "Modi@20: Dreams Meet Delivery" in Auckland.

• The event felicitated members of the Indian community in New Zealand for their exceptional achievements and contributions.
• Dr Jaishankar started his official engagements earlier today with a traditional Maori welcome. 

The 90th anniversary of the Indian Air Force (IAF) was celebrated on October 8, 2022.

• This year, the celebration of the Indian Air Force Day is organized outside Delhi for the first time.
• It is being organized in Chandigarh, with an hour-long air display of 80 aircraft over the Sukhna Lake.
• During the event, a new combat uniform was unveiled and the creation of a new operational branch of the IAF called Weapon System Branch was announced.

World Migratory Bird Day takes place on May 8 and October 9 every year to spread awareness about the importance of migratory birds and highlights their need for conservation.

• This year's World Migratory Bird Day 2022 campaign will focus on the theme of “Light Pollution”.
• At least 4,000 different bird species travel long distances, making up about 40% of the world’s bird population.
• The purpose of World Migratory Bird Day is to increase public awareness on the issues migrating birds encounter, their ecological importance, and the need for global cooperation to safeguard them.
• They migrate in search of food. Twice a year, these birds spend the winter in warmer regions before coming home to reproduce.

World Cotton Day is observed on October 7 each year to promote the production, transformations, sale and consumption of cotton.

• 2022 marks the third anniversary of World Cotton Day.
• The theme for this year’s World Cotton Day is “Weaving a better future for cotton”.
• Its aim is to promote sustainable farming of cotton to help in the development of cotton labourers and small-scale cultivators.

World Farm Animals Day, an October 2 holiday, is mainly about animal rights.

• This day was created in memory of Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu spiritual leader in the country of India.
• Among the many things, Gandhi taught was non-violence and treating all living beings with respect. This teaching is all-inclusive. This means fair and humane treatment of farm animals, too.
• This event was created to draw attention to the poor treatment and plight of animals on some farms in many parts of the world.

The United Nations observes the first Monday of October as World Habitat Day. This year, World Habitat Day will be observed on October 3.

• World Habitat Day was established in 1985 by the UN General Assembly through Resolution 40/202, and was first celebrated in 1986.
• This year World Habitat Day (WHD 2022) under the theme "Mind the Gap. Leave No One and Place Behind" looks at the problem of growing inequality and challenges in cities and human settlements.

The celebration of 68th National Wildlife Week is observed all over India from 2nd to 8th October 2022. The main objective of this campaign is to promote the conservation and protection of animal life. It teaches people about animal life and encourages them to save a large number of animals by not killing them for their own food or for other purposes.

• Awareness of the protection and conservation of wildlife.
• To make the people aware of the importance of wildlife conservation.
• Set up additional services to protect wildlife.
• Discuss all issues related to the protection and conservation of wildlife.

Indian anti-doping authorities have suspended Tokyo Olympic javelin thrower Shivpal Singh for four years after he tested positive for a banned drug.

Shivpal, India's second best javelin athlete after Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra, was tested out of competition in September last year.

The World Bank on cut its 2022-23 (FY23) real gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for India to 6.5%, from an earlier estimate of 7.5%, while warning that spillovers from Russia's invasion of Ukraine and global monetary tightening will weigh on the economic outlook.

• The international financial institution also noted that slowing global demand will impact the country's exports.
• This is the third time the World Bank has revised its GDP growth forecast for India in FY23.
• In June, it had slashed its FY23 GDP growth forecast for India to 7.5%. Earlier in April, it had trimmed the forecast from 8.7% to 8%.

India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform and RuPay cards could soon be accepted in Oman, benefiting Indian workers and professionals residing in the sultanate.

• In a significant step to expand economic cooperation between the two countries, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Central Bank of Oman (CBO) and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) for cooperation in digital payment systems.
• The MoU was signed by H E Tahir bin Salim al Amri, CBO’s executive president and Ritesh Shukla, CEO of International Payments Limited, a subsidiary of NPCI.
• NPCI has created a robust payments infrastructure and changed the way payments are made in India through its innovative retail payment solutions such as RuPay card and UPI platform.

Growth in India's services industry eased to a six-month low in September, led by a cooling in demand amid high inflation, a private survey showed.

• The S&P Global India services Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 54.3 in September from August's 57.2, lower than the Reuters poll expectation of 57.0.
• However, the September reading stayed above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction for the fourteenth straight month - the longest stretch of expansion since October 2016.
• Weak external demand weighed on sales of services sector, with international orders declining further in September, according to the survey. Service providers reported a further increase in their operating expenses during September, owing to higher energy, food, labour and material costs. 

The World Bank had recently downgraded India’s real GDP growth forecast for the Financial Year 2023 (2022-23).

• In its latest South Asia Economic Focus Update, the World Bank had slashed India’s real GDP growth forecast from the earlier estimate of 7.5 per cent to 6.5 per cent.
• It warned that the Indian economy will be adversely impacted by the Russia-Ukraine war and the tightening of global monetary policy.
• Private investments are expected to decline because of uncertainties and high cost.
• India’s export will be adversely impacted because of the fall in global demand.

The gross GST revenue collected in September totalled Rs 1.47 lakh crore, the seventh month in a row in which receipts have been more than Rs 1.4 lakh crore, data released by the finance ministry showed on Saturday.

The September revenue was 26% higher than the GST receipts in the same month last year. 

During the month, revenue from import of goods was 39% higher and receipts from domestic transactions (including import of services) were 22% higher than the revenue from these sources in the same month last year.

India's unemployment rate fell to 6.43% in September 2022, its lowest level since August 2018.

• Unemployment rate was 8.3% highest in one-year n August 2022, the latest data shared by the private think tank Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) shows.
• The jobless rate fell in both urban and rural parts of the country, thanks to the addition of new jobs during September 2022.
• In urban areas, the unemployment rate fell to 7.7% from 9.57%, while it dropped to 5.84% from 7.68% in rural areas of the country.

The Reserve Bank has informed that India’s current account balance recorded a deficit of 23.9 billion dollars in the first quarter, an increase of 13.4 billion from the last quarter.

• This rise of the Current Account Deficit from 1.5 percent of GDP to 2.8 percent of GDP was primarily due to the widening of trade deficit from 54.5 billion dollars to 68.6 billion dollars.
• The net outgo of investment income payments also increased from 7.5 billion dollars to 9.3 billion dollars.
• As per the data released by the Reserve Bank on India’s Balance of Payments during the First Quarter of 2022-23, the services exports grew 35.4 percent on a year-on-year basis, led by broad-based growth in computer, business, transportation and travel services.

The Middle East and North Africa are the world's fastest-growing cryptocurrency markets, with the volume of crypto received in the region jumping 48% in the year to June.

• While the MENA region is one of the smallest crypto markets, its growth to $566 billion received in cryptocurrency between July 2021 and June 2022 shows adoption is rising rapidly.
• Three MENA countries are among the top 30 in Chainalysis' 2022 Global Crypto Adoption Index, with Turkey in 12th place, Egypt taking the 14th spot and Morocco 24th.

A fuel tank explosion caused the partial collapse of the Kerch Bridge, which connects Russia with Crimea.

• The Kerch Bridge, also known as Crimea Bridge, is a road-and-rail bridge connecting Russia and Crimean Peninsula.
• It is the longest bridge in Europe.
• This bridge passes over the Kerch strait and provides the only direct link between Russia’s transport network and the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed in 2014 by Russia from Ukraine.

Historians in Egypt are currently demanding the return of the Rosetta Stone from the British Museum.

• The Rosetta Stone is a large stone slab that dates back to 196 BC.
• It was discovered by the French military leader Napoleon’s army in Northern Egypt in 1799.
• The Rosetta Stone and other antiquities were taken by British following Napoleon’s defeat as per the provisions of the 1801 Treaty of Alexandria.
• It has been displayed at the British Museum ever since 1802.

The US Government recently imposed FDPR to limit China’s access to advanced computer chips and chip-making equipment, which are used for military modernization and development of weapons of mass destruction.

• The foreign direct product rule (FDPR) was recently applied on China’s advanced computing and supercomputer industry to prevent it from obtaining advanced computing chips.
• The imposition of the FDPR would prevent companies, including those operating outside American soil, from selling certain products that were produced using American technology to Chinese consumers without the US government’s permission.
• This rule will now apply to semiconductor chips used in supercomputers and certain artificial intelligence applications.
• It will prevent China from developing nuclear weapons and other military equipment.

The recent coup d’état resulted in the overthrowing of the Interim President Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba and army Captain Ibrahim Traore taking over the government.

• On September 30, 2022, the second coup took place in Burkina Faso this year, resulting dissolution of the traditional government and suspension of the constitution.
• The interim President Damiba was overthrown because of his alleged involvement in the African country’s Islamic insurgency.

Australia plans to halt the loss of any more species and end its status as "the mammal extinction capital of the world", its government says.

• More than 100 threatened animals and plants - including iconic species like the koala - will be prioritised under new conservation strategies.
• The plan includes a promise to protect a third of the continent's land mass.
• Earlier this year a report found Australia's environment is in shocking decline.
• Many native animals and plants face threats including habitat loss, invasive pests and weeds, climate change, and more frequent and destructive natural disasters.

Defending champion USA beat China 83-61 to win a record-extending 11th Women's World Cup title in Sydney on Saturday.

• A'ja Wilson, who plays for the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces, led tournament favourites Team USA with 19 points.
• The United States earned a hard-fought early lead of 18-13 at the end of the first quarter and was made to work by China as it extended the lead to 43-33 at the halfway mark.

nternational Finance Corp. (IFC) has launched Global Food Security Platform to strengthen the private sector’s ability to respond to food crisis and boost food production.

Key facts

The World Bank’s private sector arm, IFC, launched the Global Food Security Platform to address global food crisis. This 6 billion USD financing facility will help boost the flow the vital goods and services, including the uninterrupted trade flow of food supplies and other important commodities like fertilizers to vulnerable communities.

• It is part of the World Bank’s on-going 30 billion USD initiative that was launched to reduce food insecurity.
• The Global Food Security Platform will also help private entities to make new and long-term investment on local food systems in emerging markets to make them more diversified, sustainable and productive.
• The platform aims to reduce the food volatility through emergency funding to farmers, food and feed processors, commodity traders, and other stakeholders witnessing funding constraints because of sudden inflation.
• It will also assist war-torn Ukraine to restore crop production, food storage, food processing and logistics.

Dozens of individuals participating in a mountaineering course were hit by an avalanche on Draupadi Ka Danda-II peak in Uttarakhand on October 4, 2022.

• A total of 16 individuals, including 2 instructors and 14 trainees have lost their life to the avalanche while taking part in a training course conducted by Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. 15 more people are currently missing.
• Among the casualties is 26-year-old Savita Kanswal, who became the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest and Mount Makalu in just 16 days.
• The rescue operations are currently being conducted by State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), a 14-member team from High Altitude Warfare School based in Jammu and Kashmir’s Gulmarg as well as mountaineers from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM).
• The avalanche had hit the Draupadi Ka Danda II peak in Uttarakshi district at an altitude of 17,000 feet.
• This catastrophic avalanche may have been caused because of a 2.5 magnitude earthquake that hit the Uttarakshi district on October 2.
• The epicentre of this earthquake was at Nald village in Uttarakshi district’s Bhatwari tehsil.

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has kickstarted a campaign under ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.

• The Pension Regulator will be observing 1st October as the National Pension System Diwas (NPS Diwas) to promote pension and retirement planning among the citizens of India, and enjoy financial independence post retirement.
• PFRDA is promoting this campaign on its social media platforms.

Indore was awarded as the cleanest city in the Swachh Survekshan Awards 2022 today for the sixth straight year.

• Surat and Navi Mumbai followed in the next two spots.
• President Droupadi Murmu today felicitated the awardees of the cleanest States and cities at the award ceremony of Swachh Survekshan 2022 at Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi.
• Indore also emerged as India’s first 7-star Garbage Free city, while Surat, Bhopal, Mysuru, Navi Mumbai, Vishakhapatnam, and Tirupati earned 5-star Garbage Free certifications.

Veteran actor Arun Bali breathed his last on Friday in Mumbai at the age of 79.

• He was a prolific actor and had worked in notable films and TV serials throughout his career.
• The actor was suffering from a rare muscular disease and was also admitted to the hospital earlier.
• He was known for his roles in movies like the cult Aamir Khan starrer ‘3 Idiots,’ ‘Kedarnath,’ ‘ Raam Jane ,’ ‘Zameen,’ ‘ Policewala Gunda ,’ ‘Phool Aur Angaar’ among many other roles that he essayed in super hit movies throughout his acting career.

Arunachal Pradesh Governor Brig (Retd) BD Mishra has been given additional charge of Meghalaya.

• Mishra is a war veteran, who served the Indian Army in three major wars in 1962, 1965 and 1971. He took charge as full-fledged Governor of Arunachal Pradesh on October 3, 2017.
• Incumbent Satya Pal Malik completes his tenure on October 3.
• Mishra will continue to be acting Governor of Meghalaya till regular arrangements are made.

Senior diplomat Sibi George has been appointed as the next Indian ambassador to Japan, a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.

George, a 1993-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently the Ambassador of India to Kuwait. He will replace Sanjay Kumar Verma as India’s envoy to Japan.

Notably, India and Japan share a very Special Strategic and Global Partnership and the two sides continue to maintain the momentum in diverse areas to advance their partnership for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.

President Joe Biden has nominated US Surgeon General, Dr Vivek Murthy, to serve as the US representative on the World Health Organisation’s executive board.

• The White House said in a statement that Dr Murthy, 45, will take on the new role while continuing to serve as the US surgeon general.
• The US Senate confirmed him in March 2021 as the 21st US surgeon general. Previously, he served as the 19th Surgeon General under former President Barack Obama.

Shri Sanjeev Kishore, a 1985 batch officer of the Indian Ordnance Factory Service (IOFS), has taken over as the Director General Ordnance (C&S) with effect from 01-10-2022 upon the superannuation of Shri M K Grag.

• Before taking over the charge of DGO (C &S), Shri Kishore was the Additional Director General Ordnance at the Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination & Services), Kolkata.
• He has ensured smooth transition of Armoured group of factories from Government department to a corporation. AVNL recorded profit in its first six months of operation under his leadership.

Writer Dr. Madhav Hada will be awarded the 32nd Bihari Puraskar for his 2015 literary criticism book ‘Pachrang Chola Pahar Sakhi Ri’, the KK Birla Foundation announced .

A literary critic and academic, Hada has written extensively on literature, media, culture and history.

He has also been a member of the general council of the Sahitya Akademi and the Hindi Advisory Board.

About Bihar Puraskar 

The Bihari Puraskar is one of the three literary awards instituted by the foundation in 1991. Named after famous Hindi poet Bihari, the award is given every year for an outstanding work published in the last 10 years by a Rajasthani author in Hindi or Rajasthani. It carries a cash prize of ?2.5 lakh, a plaque and a citation. The recipient is chosen by a selection committee headed by chairman Hemant Shesh.

The Central government appointed 1988 batch IPS Sujoy Lal Thaosen and Anish Dayal Singh as new Director General (DGs) of CRPF and ITBP respectively.

Taosen, officer of Madhya Pradesh Cadre is currently posted as DGP of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and was holding the additional charge of ITBP chief as well. Meanwhile, Singh, officer of Manipur cadre, is currently posted as Special Director in the Intelligence Bureau.

The New Indian had earlier reported that the government was considering to take the DGP of CRPF from the 1988 batch. The government, however, filled the post of the chief of ITBP with the same batch as well.

Shri Sunil Barthwal assumed charge as Secretary, Department of Commerce in New Delhi today. 

• Prior to this he was serving as Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment. Shri Barthwal is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Officer of Bihar Cadre.
• He is a post graduate in Economics. He did his B.A. (Hons) Economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi and his M.A. Economics from J.N.U. Delhi.
• He has a PG Diploma in Economics of Competition Law from King’s College, London.

Lalit Bhasin has been elected as the National President of Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC).

Before being elected as the National President of the IACC, Bhasin was the Executive Vice President of IACC. 

He is the 54th National President of IACC, which was set up in October 1968 and is headquartered in Mumbai, having 14 offices all over India, with a large membership from large, medium and small business entities.

Dr. A K Anil Kumar, SeniorScientist in ISRO is elected as the Vice President of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) during its Annual Conference International Astronautical Congress (IAC) 2022 held in Paris during 18-22 September 2022.

Founded in 1951, the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is the world's leading space advocacy body with 433 members in 72 countries, including all leading space agencies, companies, research institutions, universities, societies, associations, institutes, and museums worldwide.

IAF actively encourages the development of astronautics for peaceful purposes and supports the dissemination of scientific and technical information related to space.

The Hanuma Vihari-led Rest of India (ROI) displayed a dominant performance beating hosts and defending champs Saurastra by 8 wickets to lift the Irani Cup 2022 at the Saurastra Cricket Association Stadium.

• Beginning the day, pacer Kuldeep Sen took the last two Saurashtra wickets early on the fourth day of the Irani Cup.
• Chasing a target of 105 for victory, Abhimanyu Easwaran hit an unbeaten 63 while Srikar Bharat played a knock of 27 not out as ROI chased down a target of 105 inside 32 overs with eight wickets to spare.

Rohit Sharma became the first Indian cricketer to complete 400 appearances in the Twenty20 format during the second T20I against South Africa in Guwahati on Sunday.

The India skipper, making his 141st appearance in Twenty20 Internationals in the second game of the three-match series against the Proteas, marked the special occasion with a stroke-filled 43 off 37 balls, which included seven hits to the fence and one over it.

Antim Panghal, the World under-20 champion, made an impressive debut at the National Games 2022 as she won the gold medal in women's 53kg wrestling .

• Haryana's Antim Panghal, who made history in August by becoming the first Indian to become U20 world champion in women's wrestling, beat Priyanshi Prajapati of Madhya Pradesh by fall in the final.
• Gujarat's Hina Khalifa and Swati Sanjay of Maharashtra won the bronze medals in the women's 53kg.

India’s Rohan Bopanna and his Dutch partner Matwe Middelkoop clinched the ATP 250 Tel Aviv Watergen Open men’s doubles title yesterday, October 2.

The top seeded Indo-Dutch pair notched up a 6-2, 6-4 victory over the third seeded Mexican-Argentine pair of Santiago Gonzalez and Andres Molteni in the final.

It was Bopanna’s third ATP title of the season and 22nd overall. 

Shri R.K Singh , Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy today unvieled the curtain raiser to  the Fifth Assembly of the International Solar Alliance along with side events to be held in New Delhi from 17th - 20th October, 2022.

• India holds the office of the President of the ISA Assembly. Ministers, missions and delegates from 109 Member and Signatory Countries are set to participate in this meeting.
• The Assembly will be presided over by Shri R.K. Singh, Union Minister for Power, New and Renewable Energy.

Context:

• From addressing the major issues raised by the industry to facilitating ease and cost of doing business, the new draft Industrial and Business Development policy 2022 approved by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann proposes to transform the state as the most preferred destination for doing business.

Key Points:

• The policy aims to attract Rs 5 lakh crore of investment in five years, increase the share of secondary sector in GSDP to 30 per cent and tertiary sector to 62 per cent. The new policy is likely to be notified by October 17, 2022.
• According to the local industrialists, although there are no major changes in fiscal incentives, but definitely this policy is better than the previous policy. If some of the suggestions of the industry are incorporated in the final policy, this will give major fillip to industrialisation in the state.
  
  
   

Building plan approval

• One big relief in the draft policy is that building plan approvals are now with single agency which is Director (Factories). This was the pain point due to which maximum industry of Punjab had suffered. The delay by the Housing and Urban Development Department in building plan approvals caused biggest loss to the industry. According to Chairman, CII, Punjab, now since the Director (Factories) shall be declared as a competent authority to approve building plans, it is going to be a big relief.

Rationalisation of power

• Industry shall be allowed to buy power from the energy exchange as per the charges fixed by the regulator. Some of the other proposals include rationalisation of fixed charges based on season and industry, change in captive DG set definition bringing it under the captive power for continuous process industry and relaxation of solar power rules. Now, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) will promote the solar industry and advise the industry to install solar power units to augment the solar power generation.

Focus on MSMEs, start-ups

• For the focused development, a dedicated wing will be created which will address the concern of MSMEs. Also, single window system will be created at district level for them. Other incentives for MSMEs include development of cluster, setting up of technology centres and common facility centres, access to finance and markets. The state will facilitate 1,000 start-ups in five years and 10 incubation centres or accelerators in the state.

PPP for infrastructure

• The policy proposes setting up of effective mechanism for partnering with various national and international agencies and develop effective PPP model for infrastructure, technology support, skills and other requirements of the industry.

Skill development

• The policy proposes to build strong linkages with all major educational institutions to facilitate setting up of 50 entrepreneurship development centres in colleges, to set up one skill university in the state, to set up one skill centre for each identified industrial cluster and to set up advance skilling centre on hi-tech manufacturing, design and IT skills for five identified sectors.

Why in news:

• The government of Punjab has announced various policy decisions for sportspersons from the state aimed at giving a boost to the sports sector.

Key Points:

• Punjab Sports Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer has launched a scholarship scheme to give monthly stipend to sportspersons who bag first three positions in national competitions.
• According to the Sports Minister, a new sports policy will also be launched by the state government, under which sportspersons winning medals in international events will be recruited directly by creating a special cadre under the Sports Department.
• The government will also launch a health insurance scheme for sportspersons which will be announced soon.
• Launching the Olympian Balbir Singh Senior Scholarship Scheme, the sports minister announced that  the players from Punjab  state who bag first three positions in sports events at senior national championships will be given Rs 8,000 per month for one year.
• Similarly, junior national medal players will be given Rs 6,000 per month. It should be noted here that the stipend will continue if they again win medals after one year.
• The minister said an annual budget of Rs 12.50 crore has been reserved by the department for this scheme, claiming that Punjab is the first state in the country which will give stipend to sportspersons.
• Apart from providing sports equipment to players, new coaches will be recruited at a large scale. The diet stipend of day scholar players has been increased from Rs 100 to Rs 125 per day and those of players residing in hostels has been increased from Rs 200 to Rs 225.
• Giving diet, coaching, sports equipment, jobs and cash prizes to players will be key factors of the policy, according to the concerned officials. The state Sports Department will also be hiring 220 new coaches very soon to boost sports activity in the state.

Why in news:

• The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors have approved a loan of $150 million to Punjab to help the state better manage its financial resources and improve access to public services.

Key Points:

• The World Bank has granted a loan of $150 million to help Punjab in managing financial resources and ensure accessible public service.
• The loan was approved by the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors to support the state in strengthening public service infrastructure and its institutional capacities. The $150 million loan has a maturity period of 15 years.
• In its statement, the World Bank mentioned its aim of providing monetary support to the state to bolster the capabilities of various government departments, help them manage fiscal risks, and make informed policy choices to support sustainable growth.
• The World Bank in its statement has pointed out that Punjab's growth has been below potential. A combination of fiscal challenges and institutional capacity constraints means that scarce resources are spread thin across development priorities.
• The new projects that will be launched with World Bank's assistance will help Punjab in attaining its development goals. The state would be able to enhance its planning, budgeting, and monitoring functions. There will also be an increase in the use of digital technology. People in the state will also witness new reforms in legal and policy frameworks.
• According to the World Bank's Country Director in India Auguste Tano Kouame, the World Bank is pleased to be a partner of the state of Punjab in the state's effort to deliver timely, cost-effective, and good-quality public services, which is critical for inclusive development.
• This new project will support the implementation of the state's new data policy, which aims to bring together various social protection initiatives and reduce potential leakages while delivering essential services.

24x7 water supply in selected areas and a performance-based grants system

• The project will focus on two major key areas to improve governance in Punjab. Under the project, there will be an initiative to introduce a performance-based grants system to encourage municipal corporations to improve service delivery.
• Under the second initiative, a pilot project will demonstrate 24x7 water supply in selected areas of Amritsar and Ludhiana. Under the initiative, water delivery systems will be improved along with the reduction of water leakages. These pilot projects will pave way for the formulation of a significant state-wide scale-up of improved service delivery.
• The project will be using a 'whole-of-government' approach which will ensure that various departments in the Punjab state government are linked to enhance their efficiency in managing public resources. Performance linked inter-governmental fiscal transfers will incentivize improved management of cities and service delivery to citizens.

Major decisions of Punjab Legislative Assembly

• The Punjab Legislative Assembly has passed a bill to dissolve the state Vigilance Commission. The main reason pointed out by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was that the body was not serving any useful purpose except being a burden on the exchequer.
• The Punjab State Vigilance Commission (Repeal) Bill, 2022 was moved by Chief Minister Mann on the third day of the state Assembly.
• The state anti-graft body was set up under the Punjab State Vigilance Commission Act, 2020 by the previous government in order to curb corruption among the state’s public servants.
• Introducing the bill, the chief minister pointed out that the state Vigilance Commission Act suffers from serious deviations. As per the government version, the Vigilance Commission was not serving any useful objective except being a burden on the exchequer as there are multiple agencies to deal with the same issues. Therefore, in order to avoid overlapping, contradictory findings, resultant delays and gaps in communication, the government has found it necessary to repeal the Punjab State Vigilance Commission Act, 2020.
• The Punjab Assembly also passed the Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2022. Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema moved the GST Bill, issuing a stern warning that that tax evaders in the state will be dealt with severely.
• In order to check the menace of bogus billing and fraudulent input tax credit, an amendment has been made to empower the state government to restrict availing of the input tax credit by the taxpayer. The amendment will provide for furnishing of details of outward supplies as a condition for furnishing returns to check the menace of bogus billing and fraudulent input tax credit and to improve compliance. The amendment will also ensure levying of interest only on input tax credit availed and utilised.
• Additionally, a fee has been introduced for late filing of statements by taxpayers who are tax collectors such as e-commerce operators to improve compliance.
• Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal also tabled the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulations) Amendment Bill, 2022. The said Bill was also passed by the House.
• With this amendment, gram panchayats will be made the exclusive owner of the common village land in the state.
• In response to a calling attention notice of AAP MLA Barinder Kumar Goyal, drawing attention towards non-construction of the bridge on the drain running through Badalgarh to the Nava Gaon road, the Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal assured the house of the construction of a 30-metre-long bridge on the Jhambowali choe in Lehragaga.