• Prime Minister Modi paid tributes to the brave Shyamji Krishna Varma on his birth anniversary on October 4.

About Shyamji Krishna Varma:

• Shyamji Krishna Varma (1857 – 1930) was an Indian freedom fighter, lawyer and journalist.
• Indian Home Rule Society (IHRS):It was an Indian organisation founded in London in 1905 that sought to promote the cause of self-rule in British India. The organisation was founded by Shyamji Krishna Varma, with support from Bhikaji Cama, Dadabhai Naoroji and S.R. Rana.
• India House:He founded India House in London. It was a student residence that existed between 1905 and 1910 which was opened to promote nationalist views among Indian students in Britain.
• Indian Sociologist:He founded Indian Sociologist in London. The monthly Indian Sociologist became an outlet for nationalist ideas.

• Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that provide our understanding of how modern-day humans evolved from extinct ancestors.
• The award’s panel said, his study also provides key insights into the immune system and human uniqueness compared with their extinct cousins.
• Paabo’s key achievements include sequencing an entire Neanderthal genome to reveal the link between extinct people and modern humans.
• Sixty-seven-year-old Paabo performed his prizewinning studies in Germany at the University of Munich and at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig. Paabo is the son of Sune Bergstrom, who won the Nobel prize in medicine in 1982.
• Last year’s medicine recipients were David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian for their discoveries into how the human body perceives temperature and touch.
• The prizes carry a cash award of nearly 900,000 US dollars and will be given on December 10 this year.

• Himachal Pradesh has again got the top ranking in the drinking water quality.
• Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat would present the award on Gandhi Jyanti and Swachh Bharat Diwas at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.
• During a comprehensive survey of tap functionality, the state had been ranked first in the quality of drinking water service delivery.
• Last year too, the state had secured the top position in water quality and tap functionality in a similar survey.
• The Centre had made a financial provision of Rs 1,344.94 crore for the state this year and released the second instalment of Rs 336.23 crore on September 30.
• The Centre and state government had provided Rs 3,820.61 crore under the JJM.
• In view of the excellent work, the Centre had also released an incentive amount of Rs 1,028.43 crore to the state in three years.
• Water connections had been provided to all households of 15,300 villages of 2,551 panchayats in 21 blocks of four districts.

• Rural Development Minister Virender Kanwar inaugurated and laid stones of development works estimated at over Rs 187 crore in Kutlehar Assembly segment. These include inauguration of a water sports facility at Androuli village on the bank of Gobind Sagar reservoir of Bhakra dam in Kutlehar Assembly segment, Una.
• It is being managed by Kutlehar Tourism Development Society, chaired by the DC. Tourists will be able to take rides in speed boat, water scooter and water ski.
• Kanwar said similar facility was being developed on the other bank of the reservoir near Lathiani village.
• The minister said that two paragliding sites had already been notified by the state government on the Solasingi dhaar mountain ranges of the segment. He said that three parks, namely Eco Park, Aqua Park and Butterfly Park, were being developed in Sohari Bhanjal village.

• Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, who is on an official visit to the Maldives, on Sunday witnessed the exchange of a $100 million Line of Credit agreement and handing over of a speed launch to the Maldives Correctional Services, under Indian grant assistance.
• Kawtra called on President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and assured him of the firm commitment to the growth of India-Maldives ties.
• Kwatra also met his Maldivian counterpart, Ahmed Latheef.
• The Maldives President welcomed the Foreign Secretary and noted that this was his first visit to the Maldives. At the meeting, Kwatra stated that the Maldives is one of the most important regional partners, and that India would continue to support numerous development projects in the Maldives, stated a Maldives government release.
• Recently, Maldives had signed an agreement with an Indian company to develop Hanimaadhoo International Airport. The project worth $136.6 million was contracted to JMC Projects Limited and will be financed by India’s Exim Bank.

• This year, the theme for the International Day of Older Persons is “Resilience of Older Persons in a Changing World”
• The day was introduced by the United Nations General Assembly with an aim of honouring the contribution of older persons and looking into the problems that they face.
• The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution on December 14, 1990, to establish October 1 as the International Day of Older Persons.
• The day came into being after the Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing initiative, which was adopted by the World Assembly on Ageing in 1982.
• The UN General Assembly in 1991 approved the United Nations Principles for Older Persons. Later in 2002, the Second World Assembly on Ageing embraced the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing.
• It was done to address and understand the opportunities and challenges faced by the older generation in the 21st century and to promote the development of a society for all ages.

About:

• Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and the Ivory Coast to the southwest.
• It was previously called Republic of Upper Volta.
• Its capital and largest city is Ouagadougou.
• The country owes its former name of Upper Volta to three rivers which cross it: the Black Volta (or Mouhoun), the White Volta (Nakambé) and the Red Volta (Nazinon).

• Since May 2021, Zhurong has been exploring Utopia Planitia, in Mars’s northern hemisphere.
• Images from the rover’s ground-penetrating radar found layered patterns under the surface, which are made of sedimentary rocks carried in by two major floods around 1.6 billion years ago.
• China’s Zhurong rover landed in the Utopia Planitia, a 2,000-miles-wide (3,300 kilometers) basin in the Northern Hemisphere of Mars, in May 2021.
• Since then, the rover has been studying local geology, chemical composition of rocks, and local weather conditions using its six scientific instruments.
• Zhurong has already completed its primary mission of 90 sols. But the rover is continuing its way to the south of its landing site, collecting data as it goes.

• Science and Technology Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh said that India’s geospatial economy is expected to cross Rs. 63100 crore rupees by 2025 at a growth rate of 12.8 percent.
• He said, geospatial technology has become one of the key enablers in socio-economic development by enhancing productivity, ensuring sustainable infrastructure planning, effective administration, and aiding the farm sector.
• The government is consistently playing an enabler’s role in expanding the scope of geospatial applications in multiple spheres to benefit every section of the society. He said, the government has been digitizing and mapping the entire rural sector to ensure better planning and implementation of the developmental schemes.
• The Second United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress is scheduled to held in Hyderabad from 10th to 14th October this year.
• The conference will be attended by over two thousand delegates including 700 plus international delegates and participants from about 120 countries.

• Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that the government plans to set up 100 labs for 5G technology across India and at least 12 of them will be used to train students and conduct experiments.
• The minister also asked companies participating in the Indian Mobile Congress to provide their input for the new telecom bill through which the government aims to simplify licensing regime.
• Vaishnaw said the government is working significantly towards simplifying the licensing regime for all telecom players. Telecom Minister said he is really happy to see the energy of startups and MSMEs, who are going to rural areas to benefit people.
• Indigenous telecom gear maker HFCL announced the launch of 5G Lab-as-a-Service to accelerate the rollout of 5G solutions and services. It will provide an automated test environment for the private sector, academia, and government to work together on product innovations from concept to reality.
• Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that the launch of 5G is going to be a defining moment for not only India but for the world. He said, we are now indigenously designing, developing, and manufacturing goods and showing the world the scale and speed with which we will take 5G through the length and breadth of India.