• PM Modi dedicated India’s first earthquake memorial, named Smruti Van at Bhuj in Gujarat.
• Smruti Van is a unique memorial carrying the names of more than 12 thousand people who lost their lives in the devastating earthquake that struck here in January 2001.
• This novel memorial is spread across 470 acres of land and is built atop Bhujiyo hill.
• The earthquake simulator will provide real like experience of earthquake tremors to visitors.

About

• National Centre for Seismology under Ministry of Earth Sciences is the nodal agency of Government of India (GoI), for monitoring earthquakes in and around the country.
• A total of ~59% of the land mass of India (covering all states of India) is prone to earthquakes of different intensities. As per the seismic zoning map of the country, the total area is classified into four seismic zones. Zone V is seismically the most active region, while zone II is the least. Approximately, ~ 11% area of the country falls in zone V, ~18% in zone IV, ~ 30% in zone III and remaining in zone II.
• Seismic Zonation map of the country (state wise) given by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has categorised into several seismic zones (Zone II to Zone V).

• Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana PMJDY, the National Mission for Financial Inclusion completed eight years of successful implementation, August 28th.
• More than 46.25 crore beneficiaries banked under PMJDY since inception, amounting to over one lakh 73 thousand crore rupees. PMJDY Accounts grew three-fold from 14.72 crore in March 2015 to 46.25 crore as on the 10th of this month.
• 56 percent Jan-Dhan account holders are women and 67 percent of Jan Dhan accounts are in rural and semi-urban areas. 31.94 crore RuPay cards have been issued to PMJDY account holders.
• On the occasion 8th Anniversary of PMJDY, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that financial inclusion is a major step towards inclusive growth which ensures the overall economic development of marginalised sections of society. She said the continuation of PMJDY beyond 2018 saw a marked shift in approach to meet the challenges and requirements of the emerging financial inclusion landscape in the country.
• The Minister said, the underlying pillars of PMJDY, namely, Banking the Unbanked, Securing the Unsecured, and Funding the Unfunded have made it possible to adopt multi-stakeholders collaborative approach while leveraging technology for serving the unserved and underserved areas as well.
• She said financial inclusion needs policy-led intervention based on an architecture linked to suitable financial products, information, and communication technologies, and data infrastructure.
• PMJDY has become the foundation stone for the government’s people-centric economic initiatives.

About Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)

• The PMJDY was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address in 2014.
• Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was launched by Narendra Modi on 28th August 2014
• Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is National Mission for Financial Inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely, Banking/ Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable manner.

Objectives:

• Ensure access of financial products & services at an affordable cost
• Use of technology to lower cost & widen reach

Basic tenets of the scheme

• Banking the unbanked – Opening of basic savings bank deposit (BSBD) account with minimal paperwork, relaxed KYC, e-KYC, account opening in camp mode, zero balance & zero charges
• Securing the unsecured – Issuance of Indigenous Debit cards for cash withdrawals & payments at merchant locations, with free accident insurance coverage of Rs. 2 lakh
• Funding the unfunded – Other financial products like micro-insurance, overdraft for consumption, micro-pension & micro-credit

• National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, NPPA will celebrate its Silver Jubilee in New Delhi.
• On the occasion, Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya will launch Integrated Pharmaceutical Database Management System 2.0, an integrated responsive cloud-based application.
• It will provide a single window for submissions of various forms as mandated under Drug Price Control Order, 2013.
• It will also enable paperless functioning of NPPA and facilitate the stakeholders to connect with National Pharma Pricing Regulator from across the country.

About National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, NPPA

• The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority was set up as an attached office of the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals (now Department of Pharmaceuticals since July, 2008) on 29th August 1997.
• It has been entrusted inter-alia, with the following functions
• To implement and enforce the provisions of the Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO), 1995/2013 in accordance with the powers delegated to it.
• To undertake and/or sponsor relevant studies in respect of pricing of drugs/formulations.
• To monitor the availability of drugs, identify shortages, if any, and to take remedial steps.
• To collect/maintain data on production, exports and imports, market share of individual companies, profitability of companies etc. for bulk drugs and formulations.
• To deal with all legal matters arising out of the decisions of the Authority.
• To render advice to the Central Government on changes/revisions in the drug policy.
• To render assistance to the Central Government in the parliamentary matters relating to the drug pricing.

• Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has called for strong legal and punitive actions against fraudulent activities on Government e Marketplace- GeM portal.
• The Minister said this while reviewing the progress of GeM in New Delhi.
• He said, in addition to detecting anomalies, GeM also plans to use Artificial Intelligence-Machine Learning to make proactive feature simplifications and product suggestions to buyers to ensure informed decision-making and savings in public spendings.
• Goyal also stressed on the need to bring all public procurement online to promote economies of scale and social Inclusiveness.
• The Minister suggested bringing in end-to-end online fulfillment and payment for all transactions by buyers on GeM and to improve monitoring of delivery against timelines.
• Significant technical upgrades have been planned by GeM to enable cutting edge use cases and improve user experience on the platform.

About GeM

• GeM is a short form of one stop Government e-Market Place hosted by DGS&D where common user goods and services can be procured.
• GeM is dynamic, self-sustaining and user friendly portal for making procurement by Government officers.
• The portal was launched on 9^thAugust 2016 by the Commerce & Industry Minister.
• Procurement on GeM has been authorized by General Financial Rules by making necessary changes in government rules. Presently more than 7400 products in about 150 product categories and hiring of transport service are available on GeM POC portal. Transactions for more than Rs 140 Crore have already been processed through GeM.
• GeM is a completely paperless, cashless and system driven e-market place that enables procurement of common use goods and services with minimal human interface.

• Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar today administered the oath of office and secrecy to Rameshwar Singh Thakur as the Chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (HPPSC) at Raj Bhawan.
• Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, MLAs, Chief Secretary RD Dhiman, Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission PS Rana, Advocate General Ashok Sharma, senior government officers and other prominent people were present on the occasion.
• The Governor also administered the oath of office and secrecy to Rakesh Sharma, Col Rajesh Kumar Sharma (retd) and Dr Nain Singh as members of the commission. Rajesh Sharma, Secretary to the Governor, conducted the proceedings.

• Ishani Singh Jamwal of Kullu is the only girl from Himachal in the nine-member team of the Indian Mountaineering Federation (IMF) and the Navodit Samaj Seva Sansthan that will scale the 7,077-metre high Kun peak of Kargil.
• The Chhattisgarh Government is organising the expedition in collaboration with the IMF for the purpose of women empowerment.
• This expedition team will be mentored by Banshilal and comprises Shanti Rai from Sikkim, Aarti Kunjami, Dashmat Batti and Kalpana Bhaskar from Chhattisgarh, Anamika Bisht from Uttarakhand, Sabita Mahto and Mitali Prasad from Bihar and Ishani Singh Jamwal from Himachal.
• Ishani has done her entire training and mountaineering courses from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, Manali.

• Former chief economic adviser (CEA) Krishnamurthy V Subramanian will take over as the next executive director (ED) for India at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from November 1. He will replace economist Surjit Bhalla.
• According to an order by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, Subramanian’s term will continue for a period of three years or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
• Bhalla was appointed in 2019 after then ED for India and former RBI deputy governor Subir Gokarn died in July that year.
• After completing a three-year tenure as the CEA in December 2021, Subramanian returned to ISB Hyderabad where he is serving as a professor.
• A PhD in financial economics from the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, and an alumnus of IIM Calcutta as well as IIT Kanpur, Subramanian is an expert in banking, corporate governance and economic policy.

• Government has notified Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022 to ensure environmentally sound management of waste batteries.
• Environment Ministry said, the new rules will replace Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001. The rules cover all types of batteries – Electric Vehicle batteries, portable batteries, automotive batteries and industrial batteries.
• The Ministry said, it mandates that all waste batteries to be collected and sent for recycling, refurbishment, and its prohibits disposal in landfills and incineration.
• The rules also promote setting up of new industries and entrepreneurship in collection and recycling of waste batteries.

• India was among the 13 countries who voted in favour of a proposal seeking to allow Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to address the United Nations Security Council virtually.
• As the UNSC meeting began, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations Vassily A Nebenzia requested a procedural vote concerning the Ukrainian president’s participation in the meeting through video conference.
• Russia voted against while China abstained from voting. The result of the voting was 13 was in favour, one vote against, and one abstention. The proposal to invite Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine to participate in today’s meeting via VTC, has been adopted.
• Earlier, India announced that it is ready to dispatch its 12th consignment of humanitarian aid to Ukraine consisting of twenty-six types of medicines on a special request from the Ukrainian side. Addressing a United Nations Security Council briefing, the country’s.
• Permanent Representative to the UN, Ruchira Kamboj said that the humanitarian aid includes ‘hemostatic bandages’ which are meant to stem the bleeding of deep wounds in children and adults and are included in the aid on the specific request by the Ukrainian side as the members meet to mark 6 months since the beginning of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
• This comes as the Ukrainian authorities by requested assistance from the govt of India to tackle the looming crisis in the country.
• The ambassador said that India’s approach will be to promote dialogue and diplomacy with an aim to end the conflict to mitigate the economic challenges emerging from the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine seeking an early resolution.

• Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and NITI Aayog will establishing more than 500 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) in Jammu and Kashmir to nurture an innovative mind-set among high school students.
• ATL is the flagship initiative of the AIM launched by Centre to nurture an innovative mindset amongst high school students across India.
• The objectives of the AIM are to create and promote an ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship across the country via interventions at school, university, research institutions, MSME and industry levels.
• The programmes of AIM cover 34 states and Union Territories with the goal of leveraging India’s demographic dividend by inspiring greater participation in the innovation ecosystem.
• Recently an AIM team led by Mission Director, Dr Chintan Vaishnav inspected the Atal Tinkering Labs in J&K during which creative students displayed their innovative models and briefed about the challenges they faced while working on these innovations.
• The government has directed School Education Department to promote scientific temper among the students in areas such as machine learning and artificial intelligence by proactively engaging them in various experiments and scientific activities.