• Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka won the 2022 Booker Prize for his second novel ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’. Booker Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world.
• 47-year-old Karunatilaka, becomes the second Sri Lankan to win the prestigious 50,000 pounds literary prize at a ceremony in London on Monday night, after Michael Ondaatje who won for ‘The English Patient’ in 1992.
• ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’ tells the story of the photographer of its title, who in 1990 wakes up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office.With no idea who killed him, Maali has seven moons to contact the people he loves most and leads them to a hidden cache of photos of civil war atrocities that will rock Sri Lanka.
• Chair of the 2022 Booker judges Neil MacGregor said, the judges particularly admired and enjoyed in ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’ the ambition of its scope, and the hilarious audacity of its narrative techniques.
• The novel has been described by judges as a whodunnit and a race against time, full of ghosts, gags, and deep humanity.
• Shehan Karunatilaka, who was born in Galle in 1975 and grew up in Colombo, says that Sri Lankans specialise in “gallows humour” and make jokes in the face of crises as a coping mechanism. His debut novel from 2011, ‘Chinaman’, had won the Commonwealth Prize.
• The Booker Prize is awarded annually to a book published in English in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

• The Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has become part of the world’s largest and most diverse genomic study covering 54 lakh individuals. It identified 12 thousand 222 places in the human genome that are associated with human height.
• The study by name ‘A saturated map of common genetic variants associated with human height’ was published in Nature science journal recently. Researchers from across the world, including chief scientist Dr G R Chandak from CCMB, came together to form a consortium to study genetic links to human height.
• They analysed existing genetic data of over 53 individuals drawn from various parts of the world. In the course of the genomic study, the researchers identified over 1,200 spots in the human genome that literally dictate the height of humans.
• An official release stated that the study paves the way for similar investigations on the impact of genes on other human traits and diseases.
• The findings from the path-breaking study have the potential to help researchers worldwide understand how the human body grows.
• They also enable researchers to understand the increased risk of several diseases such as irregular heartbeat, varicose veins, nerve damage in arms and legs, and bone infections among taller people.
• The findings also support earlier studies which predicted that 40-50 percent of height variation among people could be explained by common genetic variants.

• Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to address the National Conference on Tourist Police Scheme in New Delhi.
• The agenda of the Conference is implementation of uniform Tourist Police Scheme at pan-India level for developing the tourist specific policing.
• It also aims to provide safer ecosystem to the foreign and domestic tourists in and around tourist destinations.
• The Ministry of Tourism in co-ordination with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Bureau of Police Research and Development is organizing the conference.
• The Ministry said, this will change the safety and security-related perception of India at global level and help in making India a must-visit destination around the globe.

 Tourist Police Scheme:

• Under the scheme, a pool of trained policemen would be made available to render policing service to the tourists and would control the crimes at the places of tourist interest.
• The rules of the district police of the concerned state shall be applicable to the Tourist Police, unless the contrary appears from the content or from rules in this scheme.
• Tourist Police Station will work under the jurisdiction of district police (Superintendent of Police) for all policing purpose.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate ‘Indian Urban Housing Conclave-2022’, IUHC2022, a three-day event being organised by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs from tomorrow at Rajkot, Gujarat.
• This Conclave will provide a platform to all stakeholders to demonstrate their technologies and they will deliberate upon various options of technologies, materials and processes for large scale adoption and mainstreaming in different type of housing construction suitable for different Geo-climatic regions of the country.
• It will help devise strategies, action plan and roadmap for achieving the vision of “Future Ready Urban India.”
• The Conclave will also help in widening the horizon and bringing technology transition in the construction sector for sustainable development.
• It will bring together all global and indigenous innovative technologies, materials and process, including those developed subsequently by various stakeholders across the world.

• Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri dedicated a Asia’s largest Compressed Biogas  Plant CBG  to the people of Punjab. The plant set up in 20 acres has been commissioned with a Foreign Direct Investment of 220 crore rupees by Verbio AG one of the Germany’s leading bioenergy company.
• Mr Puri said that this plant in Sangrur district is just the beginning of India’s master plan for a CBG based rural economy.
• Talking about the benefits of Sangrur CBG plant for rural economy he said that this plant will consume 100,000 tons of paddy straw which will be procured from 6 to 8 satellite locations within 10 kilometre radius of the plant.Mr Puri said, there will be daily production of about 600-650 tons of Fermented Organic Manure which can be used for organic farming.
• The plant shall also provide direct employment to 390 and indirect employment to 585 people.

• Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar has announced creating a fund of 500 cro re rupees as a accelerator program for Startups working in agriculture sector for commercialisation and democratisation of their successful innovations and techniques.
• Announcing a number of initiatives at Agri Startup Conference in New Delhi, Mr Tomar said that  that  a network will be set up under the Agriculture Ministry to help and support the Agri Startups and for overall planning,   an steering committee wil be set under the Chairmanship of Agriculture Minister.
• Mr Tomar also announced that an executive committee will be set up under Secretary, Agriculture and Secretary , Department of Agriculture Research and Education to take decisions on issues related to Agri Startups. Mr Tomar said, a separate division  for such startups will be created at the Ministry under the chairmanship of Joint Secretary.
• Mr Tomar said, currently  there are two thousand Agri Startups in the country and the government aims to to take this number to 10 thousand.

• India’s internet freedom score improved by two points to 51 in the global ranking following efforts to bridge the digital divide in the country, according to the US government-funded NGO Freedom House.
• The improvement in the score is also based on reduced frequency and intensity of internet shutdowns in the country.
• Internet freedom in India marginally improved over the last year, following four years of decline, as efforts to bridge the country’s digital divides expanded access to the internet. While the government continues to impose internet shutdowns, they have reduced in their frequency and intensity,” Freedom on The Net 2022 said.
• India’s score was 49 in Internet Freedom in 2021.
• According to report, legal challenges to laws enabling the government to censor online content, including against the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, have seen limits imposed on some powers.
• However, the state continues to block online content, and Indian internet users risk arrest for posts critical of the government. Misinformation and disinformation are frequently shared online, and journalists, nongovernmental organizations, and members of marginalized groups remain at risk of facing hate speech and online harassment,” the report said.
• The US government-funded NGO found that global internet freedom declined for the 12th consecutive year with sharpest downgrades were documented in Russia, Myanmar, Sudan, and Libya.
• The report claimed that China was the world’s worst environment for internet freedom for the eighth consecutive year and internet freedom in the United States improved marginally for the first time in six years.
• There were fewer reported cases of targeted surveillance and online harassment during protests compared with the previous year, and the country now ranks ninth globally, tied with Australia and France.
• The United States still lacks a comprehensive federal privacy law, and policymakers made little progress on the passage of other legislation related to internet freedom,” the report said referring to the internet freedom status in US.

• Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines, Ballot Units and Control Unit Machines will be housed securely in a warehouse being built in the Mini-Secretariat complex at a cost of Rs 6.50 crore in Kullu.
• The EVM warehouse is being built on the vacant space behind the Mini-Secretariat.
• Due to the lack of an EVM warehouse, there is a problem of storing EVM and other equipment after the Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha, Municipal Council and Panchayati Raj elections.
• At present, these election-aiding equipment are being kept in Government College, Kullu. The demand for making an EVM warehouse was being made to the government and the Election Commission for several years.
• The EVM warehouse was finally approved and its construction work began in February this year.
• The EVM warehouse will provide a permanent solution for the storage of election-related material. These will be mobilised only during the elections. There will be five floors in this warehouse.
• The two floors will have a District Election Office and apartments for security personnel, the other two floors will have strong rooms and one floor will have a training hall. The administration will be fully assured about the security by having this modern warehouse near the Mini Secretariat.
• The construction work of the warehouse has been given impetus. The target of March 2023 has been set to prepare the five-storey building.
• The District Administration and Public Works Department are trying to complete the construction work of the warehouse as soon as possible.
• Kullu Deputy Commissioner Ashutosh Garg said the construction work was entrusted with the PWD. He said efforts were being made that the construction of the EVM warehouse is accomplished soon, most likely by December.

• Caroline Rowett, British Deputy High Commissioner, Chandigarh, said that negotiations are underway for a Free Trade Agreement between the UK and Indian governments and it will be signed as soon as possible.
• She said that it would enhance trade relations between the two countries. During a special meeting with the Press Club of Kullu, she said that the UK government was funding a project in Shimla to develop infrastructure for the transport needs of the city in view of expanding population.
• The UK diplomat said that she represents the UK in the four Indian states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand, and the UT of Chandigarh.
• She said, “The Deputy High Commissioner fulfils a similar role to a Consul General, representing the UK government and typically responsible for consular, visa and trade activities in their city or region.”
• Caroline said that she was visiting Kullu for the first time and was delighted to witness clean air and its pristine beauty.
• She said that Britain is exploring the possibility of commercial, trade and technical relations in Himachal.

• The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is observed on 17th October and the theme for this year is “Dignity for All in Practice”.
• The history of observation of this day can be traced back to 17th October 1987. On that day, over a hundred thousand people gathered at the Trocadéro in Paris and proclaimed that poverty is a violation of human rights and to ensure that these rights are respected.
• Since then, every year people gather on the 17th of October to renew their commitment and show their solidarity with the poor. It was recognized by the UN General Assembly on 22 December 1992.
• To alleviate poverty, as a part of sustainable development goals, the Government of India have introduced many schemes in the last few years.
• Launched in 2014, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana aims the unbanked poor. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, launched in 2015, facilitates insurance policies for society’s underprivileged sections.
• Through Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, the government aims to distribute LPG connections to women below the poverty line. Likewise, there are schemes like Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, Solar Charkha Mission, Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhan, and many others for the welfare of the poor.
• The central government’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was lauded by the world bank as a ‘stellar example of rural development.