Current Affairs- Today News Headlines: October 28, 2022

Here are Today News headlines for October 28, 2022 by Times darpan. This is useful for daily news digest, current affairs, News breaking etc..

1. States should have a uniform policy on law and order: Shah

• The union minister said that states should have a uniform law and order policy as certain crimes such as cross-border terrorism and cybercrimes transcend regional and international boundaries.
• By 2024, each state would have a National Investigation Agency (NIA) office.
• He also called for the centralisation of data on terror and other crimes.
• He urged the states to utilise the National Intelligence Grid (NAT-GRID) that is operational now. It brings datasets of 11 agencies on a common platform.
• Although law and order is a state subject, the centre can intervene in matters concerning national security.

2. Coinage with images of gods and Goddesses dates back to Kushans.

• The Kushans, who hailed from central Asia and ruled till 3rd century AD, were the first ones to use the image of Goddess Lakshmi on their coins, along with Ardochsho, the Iranic Goddess of wealth.
• The Kushans also depicted Oesho (Shiva), moon deity Miro and Buddha in their coinage.
• The Vijayanagar kings also used coinage with Hindu idols. Harihara- II introduced coins that had Brahma-Saraswati, Vishnu-Lakshmi and Shiva-Parvati.
• Coins with goddess Lakshmi were also issued by Mohammed bin Sam, known to us as Mohammed Ghori.

3. The dismal case of slashing schemes and cutting funds.

• Over the past 3 years, over 50% of existing central government sponsored schemes have been discontinued, subsumed, revamped or rationalised into other schemes.
• For example, for the union ministry of Women and Child Development, there are only 3 schemes now out of 19 schemes – Mission Shakti (which replaced 14 other schemes), mission Vatsalya and Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0.
• In case of ministry of Animal Husbandry and Dairy, only two schemes remain out of 12.
• For the schemes that exist, there are challenges such as funding cuts, disbursement and utilisation of funds.
• The Nirbhaya Fund (2013) which focused on funding projects to improve public safety of women, had been allocated ₹6214 since its launch, but only ₹2,922 was utilised.
• The allocation for MGNREGA went down by approximately 25% in the FY22-23, at a time when the demand for the scheme was higher than the pre-pandemic levels.
• The salary of ASHA workers has been delayed up to 6 months.
• Allocations for Wildlife habitat programmes like Project Tiger has also been declined from ₹323 crore (FY18-19) to ₹194.5 crore (FY20-21).

4. TN’s conservation, climate change announcements are avante-garde.

• Tamil Nadu has struck out clearly for a future that would be climate conscious, greener, with a series of announcements
  • It had got Ramsar Site declaration for a record number of ecological zones.
  • It has declared its intention to create green parks in 100 villages.
  • It has proposed an elephant reserve at Agasthiyarmalai, a dugong conservation park in Palk Bay, a new bird sanctuary at Tiruppur, and India’s first ever wildlife sanctuary for the slender loris in Dindigul and Karur district.
  • Governing council on climate change has been appointed which includes experts in the field.

• Tamil Nadu Green Climate Company has been set up to advise on managing three major missions – Climate Change, Tamil Nadu Green and Wetlands.
• According to the UN data, only 26 of 193 countries that agreed to enhance climate change action last year have followed up with concrete plans.

5. What is Turkey’s latest ‘disinformation’ law?

• On October 14, Turkey’s parliament adopted the much critiqued ‘disinformation law’ that accords jail terms of up to three years to social media users and journalist for spreading ‘disinformation’.
• Article 29 of the law, the most contentious, designates it an offence to publicly disseminate misleading information about the country’s internal and external security, public order, and general well being for the purpose of causing fear or panic among the populace.
• Concerns –
  • Unclear interpretation of crucial terminologies like ‘disinformation’.
  • Assertions on what could constitute disturbance to ‘public peace’.
  • The social media companies could be now asked to hand over user data to Turkish courts.

• Turkey ranks 149 out of 180 in the Press Freedom Index (2022).

6. PM to lay foundation stone for C-295 aircraft pant in Gujarat on October 30.

• A manufacturing facility for C-295 transport aircraft will be set up at Vadodara in Gujarat by Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. in partnership with European aviation major Airbus.
• This will replace the legacy Avro aircraft in service with the Indian Air Force.
• The C-295 is an aircraft of 5-10 tonne capacity used for tactical transport of up to 71 passengers or 50 paratroopers, and for logistic operations to locations that are not accessible by current heavier aircraft.
• It can operate from short or unprepared airstrips.

7. GM Mustard will be ready for cultivation in 3 crop seasons: IARI director.

• Following the approval of the GEAC for genetically modified mustard, the IARI director said that it will lead finding a science based solution for a major challenge – the import of edible oil.
• The hybrid can be commercially cultivated after producing a large quantity of its seeds.
• In this season, the available male and female lines of the seeds have to be multiplied.
  • In the second season, large quantity of hybrid seed production will be done by crossing female with male.
  • The third season will see its commercial availability for cultivation.
  • The name of the GM crop is Dhara Mustard Hybrid (DMH-11).