• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA approved mechanism for ethanol procurement by public sector oil marketing companies under Ethanol Blended Petrol programme.
• It approved higher Ethanol price derived from diffrent sugarcane based raw materials under the programme for the forthcoming sugar season.
• Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri informed that the government has advanced the target for 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol by Five years to 2025.
• The target was previously to be met by 2030. He said the target of 10 per cent ethanol blending has already been achieved in May this year.

• Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) has conducted a successful maiden flight-test of Phase-II Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) interceptor AD-1 missile from APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha.
• The flight-test was carried out with the participation of all BMD weapon system elements located at different geographical locations.
• The AD-1 is a long-range interceptor missile designed for both low exo-atmospheric and endo-atmospheric interception of long-range ballistic missiles as well as aircraft.
• It is propelled by a two-stage solid motor and equipped with indigenously-developed advanced control system, navigation and guidance algorithm to precisely guide the vehicle to the target.
• It as a unique type of interceptor with advanced technologies available with a very few nations in the world.
• He exuded confidence that it will further strengthen the country’s BMD capability to the next level.
• Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman, DRDO Dr Samir V Kamat also congratulated his team on the successful trial.

• Dr Neelam Kaur, advisor, Healthcare and Education, Akal Academy, Baru Sahib, has been conferred with the prestigious ‘Excellence in School Education Award’ by the Republic of Mauritius for her contribution and dedicated services in the field of education and women empowerment in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
• Dr Kaur has contributed to the formal education of girls from economically-challenged families for the past 25 years.

• Following coordinated efforts of the Forest Department, a herd of eight elephants successfully reached Colonel Sher Jung National Park, Simbalbara, in Paonta Sahib.
• Divisional Forest Officer Kunal Angrish said historically, solitary elephants have been found on western side of Paonta-Nahan National Highway (NH).
• However, this new group of eight elephants had crossed the NH and travelled about 20 km east toward Paonta Sahib, exploring the new forest areas of Girinagar, Byas and Khara on their way.
• The department had constituted block-level teams to safely drive the herd as their presence might have caused commotion among the residents of the area, which have hitherto remained unexposed to elephant movement.
• “The teams tracked the daily movement of the heard and drove them in a planned direction by co-ordinated blockading and use of firing sound gun.
• Finally, covering a distance of approximately 60 km in nine days, the herd reached Simbalbara national park.
• Thirty officials of the department were involved in the operation, which also met support and collaboration from the locals.

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) has published a report highlighting the first-ever list of fungal “priority pathogens” – a catalogue of the 19 fungi that represent the greatest threat to public health.
• The WHO fungal priority pathogens list (FPPL) is the first global effort to systematically prioritize fungal pathogens, considering the unmet research and development (R&D) needs and the perceived public health importance. This report is based on research led by the University of Sydney in Australia.
• Emerging evidence indicates that the incidence and geographic range of fungal diseases are both expanding worldwide due to global warming and the increase of international travel and trade.
• During the COVID-19 pandemic, the reported incidence of invasive fungal infections increased significantly among hospitalized patients. As the fungi that cause common infections (such as candida oral and vaginal thrush) become increasingly resistant to treatment, risks for the development of more invasive forms of infections in the general population are also growing.
• “Emerging from the shadows of the bacterial antimicrobial resistance pandemic, fungal infections are growing, and are ever more resistant to treatments, becoming a public health concern worldwide” said Dr Hanan Balkhy, WHO Assistant Director-General, Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).

Three priority categories

• The WHO FPPL list is divided into three categories: critical, high and medium priority.

1. The critical group includes Candida auris, which is highly drug resistant and has caused a number of outbreaks in hospitals worldwide, as well as Cryptococcus neoformans, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Candida albicans.
2. The high group includes a number of other fungi from the Candida family as well as others such as Mucorales, a group containing the fungi that causes mucormycosis or “black fungus”, an infection which rose rapidly in seriously ill people – particularly in India – during COVID-19.
3. The medium group lists a number of other fungi, including Coccidioides spp and Cryptococcus gattii.

Fungal infection treatment

• Fungal pathogens are a major threat to public health as they are becoming increasingly common and resistant to treatment with only four classes of antifungal medicines currently available, and few candidates in the clinical pipeline, WHO said.

• India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries are expected to start negotiations for a free trade agreement next month with an aim to boost economic ties between the two region.
• GCC is a union of six countries in the Gulf region — Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain.
• Terms of reference for the agreement are being finalised and we expect to launch the negotiations next month,” the official said.
• India has already implemented a free trade pact with the UAEin May this year.
• According to experts, the GCC region holds huge trade potential and a trade agreement would help in further boosting India’s exports to that market.
• Rakesh Mohan Joshi, Director, Indian Institute of Plantation Management, Bangalore, said the GCC market is unexploited by domestic exporters and it holds huge potential.
• “GCC is a major import dependent region. We can increase our exports of food items, clothing and several other goods. Duty concessions under a trade agreement will help in tapping that market. It will be a win-win situation for both sides,” Mr. Joshi said.
• Mumbai-based exporter and founder chairman of Techno-craft Industries India, Sharad Kumar Saraf said the GCC has emerged as a major trading partner for India and there is huge potential for increasing investments between the two regions.
• “FTA will have a major benefit for both the sides,” Mr. Saraf said.
• Federation of Indian Exports Organisation (FIEO) Vice Chairman Khalid Khan said sectors like chemicals, textiles, gems and jewellery and leather will get a major impetus by this agreement.
• India imports predominately crude oil and natural gas from the Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and exports pearls, precious and semi-precious stones; metals; imitation jewellery; electrical machinery; iron and steel; and chemicals to these countries.
• India’s exports to the GCC increased by 58.26% to about $44 billion in 2021-22 against $27.8 billion in 2020-21, according to data of the Commerce Ministry.
• The share of these six countries in India’s total exports has risen to 10.4% in 2021-22 from 9.51% in 2020-21. Similarly, imports rose by 85.8% to $110.73 billion compared to $59.6 billion in 2020-21, the data showed.
• The share of GCC members in India’s total imports rose to 18% in 2021-22 from 15.5% in 2020-21.
• Bilateral trade has increased to $154.73 billion in 2021-22 from $87.4 billion in 2020-21.
• Besides trade, Gulf nations are host to a sizeable Indian population. Out of about 32 million non-resident Indians (NRIs), nearly half are estimated to be working in Gulf countries.
• These NRIs send a significant amount of money back home.
• According to a November 2021 report of the World Bank, India got $87 billion in foreign remittances in 2021. Of this, a sizeable portion came from the GCC nations.
• Saudi Arabia was India’s fourth-largest trading partner last fiscal. From Qatar, India imports 8.5 million tonnes a year of LNG and exports products ranging from cereals to meat, fish, chemicals, and plastics.
• Kuwait was the 27th largest trading partner of India in the last fiscal, while the UAE was the third-largest trading partner in 2021-22.

• Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina conferred the prestigious ‘Friends of Liberation War’ honour on former US Senator Edward M Kennedy posthumously on Monday in Dhaka for his contribution to the liberation of Bangladesh.
• The honour was handed over to his son Edward M Ted Kennedy Junior.
• She said that Kennedy Senior took a bold stand against the genocide committed by Pakistan on innocent Bengali people despite the US government role during the 1971 liberation war. Recalling the strong opposition mounted by Kennedy Senior against the US government policy of supplying arms to Pakistan, Prime Minister Hasina said that Kennedy worked hard to stop US military and economic aid to Pakistan till the end of the war.
• She recalled that Kennedy visited the refugee camps in West Bengal where a large number of people from the then East Pakistan had fled to escape from Pakistan army brutality.
• Earlier, Kennedy Junior with his family called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday at her official residence in Dhaka. Ted Kennedy Junior, is a former member of Connecticut State Senate, USA.
• He is currently on a seven-day visit to Bangladesh to join the yearlong celebration of the 50th anniversary of US-Bangladesh relations.

• A fish museum, the first of its kind in the Northeast, would soon be built in Arunachal Pradesh, Fisheries Minister Tage Taki.
• The museum in the NorthEast region (NER), with all fish species across the district from Tawang to Longding, to attract tourists, fish lovers and the museum will also serve as a training centre for fish farmers.
• The fish museum would be a part of India’s first Integrated Aqua Park (IAP), sanctioned by the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying (MoFAHD).
• The existing Tarin Fish Farm (TFF), located at high-altitude Bulla village, would be upgraded as the IAP where the museum would come up. It will have all fish species of the state and serve as a training centre for fisherfolk.
• An amount of Rs 43.59 crores was sanctioned for the project in the current financial year as the first instalment.

• The 1st ASEAN-India Start-up Festival(AISF) was inaugurated by  Srivari Chandrashekhar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology on 27th October 2022 in Bogor, Indonesia.
• The inaugural event was felicitated by  Satvinder Singh, Deputy Secretary General for ASEAN Economic Community, and Ambassador, Mr. Jayant Khobragde, Indian Mission to ASEAN (IMA). 

Key Points related to the 1st ASEAN-India Start-up Festival:

• Deputy Secretary General for ASEAN Economic Community, Satvinder Singh highlighted that ASEAN has a vibrant and promising start-up ecosystem.
• In 2021, 25 new unicorns in ASEAN were included with their combined valuation at USD 55.4 billion.
• The 1st ASEAN-India Start-up Festival will further strengthen the ASEAN-India cooperation to accelerate the start-up economy.
• The National COSTI Chairperson of Indonesia and the Chairman National Research and Innovation Agency, were also present at the inaugural ceremony.
• The festival is part of the overall ASEAN-India Science, Technology, and Innovation Corporation program between the ASEAN Committee on Science Technology, and Innovation (COSTI) and the Department of Science and Technology (GoI).
• It is supported under the ASEAN-India Science and Technology Development Fund (ADF) of Govt of India.
• The four-day event is being hosted in conjunction with the Indonesian Research and Innovation Expo (INA-RIE) from the 27th until the 30th of October 2022 at the Innovation Convention Centre, Cibinong Bogor, Indonesia.

• The Kashmir tourism department had recently invited students and local farmers to join the saffron festival organised in Ladoo area to highlight the whole process of saffron cultivation.

About:

• The unique characteristics of Kashmir saffron are its longer and thicker stigmas, natural deep-red colour, high aroma, bitter flavour, chemical-free processing, and high quantity of crocin (colouring strength), safranal (flavour) and picrocrocin (bitterness).
• It is the only saffron in the world grown at an altitude of 1,600 m to 1,800 m AMSL(above mean sea level).
• Pampore region, in India, commonly known as Saffron bowl of Kashmir, is the main contributor to saffron production, followed by Budgam, Srinagar, and Kishtiwar districts.
• Kashmir saffron is a very precious and costly product.
• Kashmir saffron is renowned globally as a spice.
• It rejuvenates health and is used in cosmetics and for medicinal purposes. It has been associated with traditional Kashmiri cuisine.
• In 2020, Union Government has issued a certificate of Geographical Indication (GI) registration for Saffron grown in the Kashmir Valley.
• National Mission on Saffron is focused on several measures to improve its farming.