• In Kerala, African Swine Flu has been confirmed at a pig farm at Meenachil panchayat in Kottayam district.
• The district authorities said the virus infection was confirmed after samples taken from the farm were tested at the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal.
• A one-kilometer stretch around the farm has been declared infected where 48 pigs have been culled as a preventive measure.
• A ten-kilometer radius around the farm is being closely monitored.
• The authorities have shut down shops selling pig meat and steps have been taken to ensure that no pigs are being transported from the infected zone.

• Frontline fighter jets of India and France are participating in the nearly fortnight long bilateral exercise Garuda ‘Garuda VIl,’ at Air Force Station, Jodhpur commencing October 26 and ending November 12.
• French Air and Space Force (FASF) has deployed four Rafale fighter aircraft, one A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft and a contingent of 220 personnel.
• The IAF is participating with Su-30 MKI, Rafale, Tejas light combat aircraft(LCA) and Jaguar fighter aircraft, as well as the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and Mi-17 helicopters, IAF officials said here on Friday.
• The IAF contingent also includes combat enabling assets like Flight Refuelling Aircraft, AWACS and AEW&C.
• This joint exercise will provide a platform for both the countries to enhance operational capability and interoperability, while also sharing best practices. This is the seventh edition of the bilateral exercise.
• The first, third and fifth editions were conducted in India in 2003, 2006 and 2014 at Air Force Stations Gwalior, Kalaikunda and Jodhpur, respectively.
• The second, fourth and sixth editions were conducted in France in 2005, 2010 and 2019

• The Steel Authority of India Limited, SAIL and the Airport Authority of India, AAI signed an Operation and Management agreement in New Delhi to facilitate commercial operations from Rourkela in Odisha.
• SAIL, in 2018, had signed a MOU for the use of its own airport, under the UDAN scheme, for the operation of commercial flights. Now, SAIL has signed the Operation and Management contract with AAI, through its Rourkela Steel Plant, to facilitate the commencement of commercial flights from Rourkela.
• The Ministry of Civil Aviation has provided financial support for the up-gradation of this airport. The government of Odisha will provide the security, fire, and ambulance services, besides helping with other local clearances. AAI, on behalf of SAIL-Rourkela Steel Plant, will operate and manage the airport.
• The airport will provide relief to all air travellers from the industrial town of Rourkela and the surrounding areas.
• The commencement of air services is also important in view of the forthcoming Hockey World Cup, where 20 out of the total 44 matches are being held at Rourkela in January 2023.

• The flight acceptance hot test of a CE-20 engine is successfully carried out for a duration of 25 s in the High Altitude Test facility of ISRO Propulsion Complex at Mahendragiri on October 28, 2022. This engine is earmarked for the LVM3-M3 mission identified for the launch of the next set of 36 numbers of OneWeb India-1 satellites.
• The cryogenic upper stage of the LVM3 vehicle (C25 stage) is powered by a CE-20 engine working with the LOX-LH2 propellants combination. This engine develops a nominal thrust of 186.36 kN in vacuum.
• The major objectives of the flight acceptance test were to confirm the integrity of the hardware, assessment of subsystems’ performance and tune the engine for meeting the mission requirements parameters for engine tuning for flight operation. Analysis of test data confirmed the satisfactory performance of the engine systems. This engine will be assembled to the C25 flight stage being integrated for the LVM3 M3 vehicle.
• These satellites of OneWeb, the London-based satellite communications company, are expected to be launched by the NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the ISRO’s commercial arm, aboard LVM3 early next year.
• This flight acceptance test comes within days of the launch of the first set of 36 OneWeb satellites by the NSIL from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC- SHAR) in Sriharikota on October 23.
• According to OneWeb, its partnership with NSIL and ISRO demonstrated its commitment to provide connectivity across the length and breadth of India by 2023.
• From Ladakh to Kanyakumari and Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh, OneWeb will bring secured solutions not only to enterprises but also to towns, villages, municipalities and schools, including the hardest-to-reach areas across the country, it said.
• “OneWeb’s commitment to enhance connectivity in India is backed by Bharti Global, its largest investor”, the company said.
• NSIL, a central public sector enterprise under the Department of Space, had earlier signed two launch service contracts with the Network Access Associated Limited (OneWeb) for launching a total of 72 OneWeb LEO (low earth orbit) satellites on-board ISRO’s LVM3.
• LVM3, ISRO’s heaviest rocket, is capable of launching a four ton class of satellite to Geosynchronous Transfer orbit.
• LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark 3) is a three-stage vehicle with two solid motor strap-ons, a liquid propellant core stage and a cryogenic stage.

• The university tea gardens will soon undergo a transformation with the addition of a cafeteria. This was disclosed by Prof HK Chaudhary, Vice-Chancellor, CSK HP Agriculture University.
• He said a plan was envisaged to link the university tea gardens with tea tourism, excursions, etc. The Vice-Chancellor visited Orthodox Tea Garden of the Department of Tea Husbandry & Technology and sought details about the ongoing activities like processing of Orthodox Black and Green Tea.
• Prof Chaudhary said the tea produced in the hill state had been accepted for its high-standard quality and taste by several experts and had got wider acceptability in urban areas of the country.
• He said high polyphenols in green tea helped improve metabolism as compared to black tea, thereby making green tea more popular among health-conscious urban population.

• RD Dhiman, Chief Secretary, will inaugurate the international Renuka Ji fair on November 3.
• Though the fair is traditionally inaugurated by the Chief Minister, owing to the model code of conduct, the Chief Secretary will inaugurate it this time.
• The fair marks the union of Lord Parshuram with his mother Goddess Renuka on Dashmi. Every year on Devprobodhini Ekadashi, traditional Renukaji fair is organised on the banks of the Renuka Lake where lakhs of devotees converge. They take a holy dip in the religious Renuka lake on ‘Prabodhini Ekadashi’.
• As per the tradition, the palanquin of Lord Parshuram is brought to Renuka from the ancient temple in Jamu Koti village. It departs after religious ceremonies, including a dip in the Renuka lake. Attired in traditional colourful attire and dancing to the tune of folk music, the devotees lend religious fervour to the occasion.
• This fair is celebrated for Six days.
• Renuka fair starts ten days after the Diwali festival.

• It aims to acknowledge the contributions of Infantry, the largest fighting arm of the Indian Army.
• This day is commemorated to honour the brave soldiers of the infantry who fought and laid down their lives during the India-Pakistan war in 1947.
• The operation was started on October 27, 1947; to protect the people of Kashmir from the Pakistani invaders after Maharaja Hari Singh of Kashmir had signed the Instrument of Accession of Kashmir to India.
• The Indian Air force carried out the task of flying the troops of 1st Sikh Regiment into Srinagar on this day.

About:

• National Investigation Agency (NIA) is the Central Counter Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency of India.
• It comes under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
• NIA was created after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks with the enactment of the National Investigation Agency Act 2008.
• It is headquartered in Delhi.
• Branches: Hyderabad, Guwahati, Kochi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Kolkata, Raipur, Jammu, Chandigarh, Ranchi, Chennai and Imphal.
• Jurisdiction:
  • The agency is empowered to deal with terror related crimes across states without special permission from the states.
  • A State Government may request the Central Government to hand over the investigation of a case to the NIA, provided the case has been registered for the offences as contained in the schedule to the NIA Act.
• NIA special courts:
  • Various Special Courts have been notified by the Govt. of India for trial of the cases arising out of offences committed in various states of the Union.
  • These are presided over by a judge appointed by the Central Government on the recommendation of the Chief Justice of the High Court with jurisdiction in that region.

• IIT Bombay is the best educational institute in India, as per the ‘QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2023’.
• In the rankings, released in London recently, IIT Bombay was evaluated as India’s top higher education institute for its excellence in employability, social concern, and environment.
• IIT Bombay was featured in the 281-300 rank range, followed by IIT Delhi (321-340 rank) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) at the third rank (361-380).
• Apart from this, IIT Bombay was also included in the world’s top 100 institutes based on the employability of its graduates.
• IIT Delhi was ranked for its employability and environment while Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was ranked for gender equality and removing other inequalities.
• In terms of competition and academic freedom, Delhi University ranked fourth in India.
• Globally, the University of California was declared the top university, followed by the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia in second and third ranks, respectively.
• The US dominates the rankings with 135 ranked universities (19.2 per cent of the total). Of these, 30 universities are included in the top 100.
• Similarly, the UK was ranked second with 67 British universities being included in the rankings.
• After the US and the UK, Australia and Germany are at the forefront of this ranking.
• The students and teachers of JNU are excited by the university’s performance in the rankings.

• Lebanon signed and delivered its copy of a US-mediated sea border deal with Israel to a US mediator, hoping to soon start exploring gas in its southern maritime blocs to bring economic stability to the crisis-ridden country.
• The agreement to demarcate the maritime border comes after months of indirect talks mediated by Amos Hochstein, the US envoy for energy affairs, and would mark a major breakthrough in relations between the two nations, which have formally been at war since Israel’s creation in 1948.
• Lebanon and Israel both claim around 860 square kilometres (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea that are home to offshore gas fields.
• Lebanon hopes that demarcating maritime borders will pave the way for gas exploration to help lift it out of its crippling economic crisis, which has plunged three-quarters of its population into poverty.
• Israel hopes that the deal will reduce the risk of war with Lebanon’s Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.