1) World Day Against the Death Penalty: 10 October
•The World Day Against the Death Penalty is observed every year on 10 October. It is a day to advocate for the abolition of the death penalty and to raise awareness of the conditions and the circumstances which affect prisoners with death sentences. The theme for 2021 is “Women Sentenced to Death: An Invisible Reality.”
2) World Mental Health Day: 10 October
•World Mental Health Day is observed every year on 10 October globally for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy against social stigma. The overall objective of World Mental Health Day is to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilize efforts in support of mental health. The theme for World Mental Health Day 2021 is ‘Mental health in an unequal world’.
3) National Postal Day: 10 October
•In India, the National Postal Day is celebrated annually on 10 October, as an extension of World Post Day, which is celebrated on 9 October. The Day aims to commemorate the role played by the Indian postal department for the past 150 years, which was founded in 1854 by Lord Dalhousie. Indian postal service is an integral part of India. The postal services in India have given the best performance despite the diversity in culture, tradition and difficult geographical terrains.
4) International Day of the Girl Child: 11 October
•The International Day of the Girl Child (also known as Day of Girls and the International Day of Girls) is observed annually on October 11 since 2012. This international observance day was declared by the United Nations to raise awareness of issues facing girls internationally surrounding education, nutrition, child marriage, legal and medical rights. The theme for 2021 International Day of the Girl Child is “Digital generation. Our generation”.
5) Bathukamma festival begins in Telangana
•The nine-day floral festival has begun in Telangana. The festival began with excitement as the women were dressed in traditional clothes and colourful processions were carried out in Telangana, the Bathukamma festival is celebrated during Durga Navratri. Bathukamma festival begins on the day of Mahalaya Amavasya and the festival continues till nine days, ending on the day of Durgashtami.
6) Jyotiraditya M. Scindia flags off the Doon Drone Mela
•Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia has flagged off the Doon Drone Mela 2021 in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Minister flagged off the event with a paragliding demonstration and also interacted with the drone companies exhibiting their prototypes at the Doon Drone Mela. The day marked the demonstration of the Drone & Aerosports Demonstrations that included a paragliding demonstration by the Border Security Force, a Paramotor demonstration by Harsh Sachan, and an agriculture spraying drone demonstration by IoTechWorld Aviation & Dhaksha.
•Furthermore, the event also included an emergency search & response drone demonstration with an indigenously 3D-printed drone by the Drone Application and Research Centre (DARC) & State Disaster Response Force (SDRF). It was followed by a brief survey drone demonstration by the Aarav Unmanned Systems (AUS) under the SVAMITVA Scheme along with a training drone demonstration by Sqn Ldr Varsha Kukreti (Retd).
7) PNB launches ‘6S Campaign’ under customer outreach programme
•Punjab National Bank (PNB) has launched ‘6S Campaign’ under a customer outreach programme to extend financial services at a concessional rate during the festival season. The ‘6S Campaign’ encapsulates different schemes such as – Swabhiman, Samruddhi, Sampark and Shikhar, Sankalp and Swagat. The objective is to drive a special awareness campaign for the development of financial services in the country and to accelerate credit growth, improve penetration of social security schemes and drive digital banking push.
8) FICCI projects 9.1% GDP growth for FY22
•India’s GDP is expected to grow at 9.1 per cent in 2021-22 as the economic recovery, post the second wave of the pandemic, seems to be holding ground. The survey was conducted in September 2021 and drew responses from leading economists representing the industry, banking and financial services sector. FICCI’s Economic Outlook Survey also noted that the ongoing festive season would support this momentum.
9) The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences 2021 announced
•The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2021 with one half to David Card (University of California, Berkeley, USA) “for his empirical contributions to labour economics”. The other half jointly to Joshua Angrist (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA) and Guido Imbens (Stanford University, USA) “for their methodological contributions to the analysis of causal relationships”.
•This year’s Laureates – David Card, Joshua Angrist and Guido Imbens – have provided us with new insights about the labour market and shown what conclusions about cause and effect can be drawn from natural experiments. Their approach has spread to other fields and revolutionised empirical research.
10) Malayalam writer Benyamin bags Vayalar Award
•Well-known Malayalam writer Benyamin has bagged the 45th Vayalar Ramavarma Memorial Literary Award for his book “Manthalirile 20 Communist Varshangal”. The prestigious award, instituted by the Vayalar Ramavarma Memorial Trust, comprises a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, a sculpture designed by renowned sculptor Kanayi Kunhiraman and a citation.
•A political satire, the novel revolves around a nondescript village called Manthalir and the influence of religion and politics in its culture in two decades. It was chosen for recognition by an expert panel comprising writers K R Meera, George Onakkoor and C Unnikrishnan.
11) Astronautical Society of India Confers Aryabhata Award to G Satheesh Reddy
•Secretary DDR&D and Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy has been conferred the prestigious Aryabhata Award by the Astronautical Society of India (ASI) for his outstanding lifetime contribution to the promotion of astronautics in India. Dr Reddy is a pioneer in the area of R&D of advanced avionics, navigation, and missile technologies.
•Dr Reddy has contributed immensely to strategic and tactical missile systems and helped the country become self-reliant in critical defence technologies. He is an institution builder and has set up mechanisms to establish robust defence development and production ecosystem.
12) Valtteri Bottas Wins Turkish Grand Prix 2021
•Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes-Finland) has won the F1 Turkish Grand Prix 2021, held on October 10, 2021. This is his first title of this season. Max Verstappen (Red Bull – Netherlands) came second while Sergio Perez (Mexico- Red Bull) finished third. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton finished fifth.
