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October – 03

TNPSC BITS
❖ Tamil Nadu Chief Minister laid the foundation stone for the ₹9,000-crore
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and Tata Motors’ manufacturing facility in Ranipet.
❖ The Department of Science and Technology launched the Women in Space
Leadership Programme (WiSLP) in collaboration with the British Council as
part of the UK-India Education and Research Initiative.
❖ The Ninth Annual Meeting of Board of Governors of Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB) was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
❖ India is set to host the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly
(WTSA) in New Delhi.
❖ The Nasa astronaut Sunita Williams has officially taken command of the
International Space Station (ISS) for the 2nd time.
❖ Veteran Bollywood actor Mithun Chakraborty will be honoured with the
Dadasaheb Phalke Award.
❖ Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh succeeded Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari as
the new Air Force chief.
❖ The Annual International Conference and Exhibition (AICE) 2024 has been
relocated for their 10th edition from Bari, Italy, to Dubai, the UAE.
o It took place in Dubai under the new name, World FZO 10 th World
Congress.

TAMIL NADU
Ramsar tag for two bird sanctuaries
❖ The Tamil Nadu Wetlands Mission is pursuing Ramsar designation for two more
bird sanctuaries in Ramanathapuram.
❖ Ramanathapuram is home to five bird sanctuaries — Therthangal, Sakkara
kottai, Melaselvanoor-Keelaselvanoor, Kanjirankulam, and Chitrangudi.
❖ Of them, the Chitrangudi and Kanjirankulam sanctuaries received the Ramsar
status in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
❖ Tamil Nadu now boasts 18 Ramsar sites, the highest in India.
❖ The State’s wetlands constitute 6.92% of the total geographical area, above the
national average of 4.86%.
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❖ The Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary, the first to receive the Ramsar
tag in 2002.

NATIONAL
Free visa for friends of diaspora
❖ In a first-of-its-kind initiative, India will allow “friends” of diaspora members to
get free visas.
❖ Up to five foreign nationals nominated by the OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) card
holders on a special website will be eligible for the gratis e-visa.
❖ The initiative is to be launched as part of a “Chalo India” campaign.
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❖ OCI cardholders will need to register on the special website, which goes live in a
few weeks, and enter the details of their nominated friends.
❖ They will then be assigned a unique code after verification.
❖ The designated friends can then use the special code to avail of a free visa.
❖ There are about four million OCI cardholders, as per the government records.
❖ They can invite as many friends as possible and will also earn rewards for each
foreign visitor they successfully attract to India.

Paryatan Mitra & Paryatan Didi

❖ Ministry of Tourism has launched a national responsible tourism initiative titled

Paryatan Mitra and Paryatan Didi.
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❖ It aims to elevate the overall experience for tourists in destinations, by having

them meet ‘tourist-friendly’ people who are Ambassadors and Storytellers for
their destination.
❖ In pilot mode, around 3,000 people have been trained in the 6 pilot destinations
on the importance of creating a positive experience for tourists

INTERNATIONAL
Steering Committee of the GlobE Network

❖ India has secured a position on the 15-member Steering Committee of the GlobE
Network, an international anti-corruption body.
❖ The Ministry of Home Affairs serves as India's Central Authority for the GlobE
Network.
❖ The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED)
acting as member authorities.
❖ The GlobE Network originated as an initiative from the G-20, supported by India
in 2020.
❖ The GlobE Network was officially launched on 3 June 2021.
❖ The network has 121 member countries and 219 member authorities.

Joint ministerial meeting of L.69 and C-10 groupings

❖ India participated in the first-ever Joint Ministerial Meeting of the L.69 and C-10
groupings of nations on the sidelines of the 79th session of UNGA.
❖ The Committee of Ten (C10) is a group of African countries that is part of the
African Union (AU).
❖ It is dedicated to advancing Education, Science, and Technology.
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❖ The L69 grouping consists of 32 developing nations (including India) from Asia,
Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific (Small Island Developing
States).
❖ It stands for expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of
membership of UNSC.
❖ It derives its name from the draft document number “L.69”, tabled in 2007-08.
❖ This led to the initiation of the Intergovernmental Negotiation (IGN) process.

ECONOMY
China Shock 2.0

❖ A 100 per cent duty on electric vehicles imposed by the US on imports from
China.
❖ The US tariff hikes also include a 50 per cent duty on solar cells and 25 per cent
on steel, aluminium, EV batteries and some minerals.
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❖ China’s surpluses stem from industrial policies aimed at bolstering exports amid
weak domestic demand, prompting fears of a potential “China shock 2.0”.
❖ India’s imports from China grew at a much faster pace than from the rest of the
world.
❖ Goods imports from China surged from $10.87 billion in 2005-06 to $61.71
billion in 2015-16.
❖ Despite many economic restrictions on Chinese businesses, imports from China
surpassed a record $100 billion in 2023-24.
❖ China’s exports surged significantly in the post Covid period compared with the
pre-pandemic period.
❖ According to IMF calculations, China’s share of global exports increased by 1.5
percentage points
❖ Bill Clinton, the then US President supported China’s accession to the WTO.
❖ This led to inexpensive Chinese goods, backed by abundant labour, flooded global
markets, resulting in manufacturing job losses internationally.
❖ Thus, China’s entry into the WTO came to be known as the “China shock”.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

India's First Mission to Venus

❖ The Union Cabinet recently approved India’s first mission to Venus that ISRO
aims to launch in March 2028.
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❖ This will be the country’s second interplanetary mission after the Mars Orbiter
Mission launched in 2013.
❖ It aims to examine the surface and sub-surface of Venus, its atmosphere, its
ionosphere, and its interaction with the Sun.
❖ Venus is often called Earth’s twin because it is similar in mass, density, and size.
❖ Therefore, studying Venus may offer scientists clues about the evolution of Earth.
❖ Notably, Venus is thought to have had water at some point in its history but has
now become a dry and dusty planet.
❖ It has an extremely high surface temperature of around 462 degrees Celsius, even
hotter than Mercury.
❖ The atmospheric pressure on Venus is much higher than on Earth.
❖ 96.5% of the atmosphere of Venus is made up of carbon dioxide and there are
sulphuric acid clouds on the planet.
❖ Venus rotates very slowly on its axis as compared to Earth and one rotation of
Venus lasts around 243 Earth days.

PERSONALITIES, AWARDS, AND EVENTS

Best Tourism Villages Competition - 2024

❖ Ministry of Tourism announced winners of the Best Tourism Villages Competition

2024 on the occasion of World Tourism Day.
❖ To promote tourism to the Soul of India (India’s villages), the Best Tourism
Villages Competition was introduced in 2023.
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❖ Totally 36 villages recognized as winners across 8 categories.

❖ Keeladi from Tamil Nadu topped in the Heritage Category.
❖ Melkalingam Patti from the Namakkal District won the award in Spiritual and
Wellness Category.

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