1.Swetashree Mohapatra topped the Odisha Civil Services Examination (OCSE) 2022, the results of which were announced by the Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC)  Saturday.

2.Vijaya Kishore Rahatkar has been appointed the ninth chair person of the National Commission for Women (NCW) succeeding Rekha Sharma, according to an official order.

3.Term life insurance policies, and senior citizens’ health insurance premium are likely to be exempted from GST as most members of a state ministerial panel favoured cutting taxes to benefit the common man, an official said Saturday.

4.A cyclonic circulation, which has formed over Andaman Sea, is likely to intensify into a low pressure by October 21 and further into a depression around October 23, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Saturday.

5.The Centre Saturday said it was confident of achieving record foodgrain production in the 2024-25 rabi season despite fertiliser shipment delays, citing favourable soil moisture conditions and adequate water levels in reservoirs.

6.Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud Saturday said all forms of derogatory language, particularly against women, have no place in courts, noting that insensitive words can perpetuate stereotypes and may disproportionately affect women and marginalised communities

7. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has cleared a resolution passed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah-led Cabinet urging the Centre to restore the statehood to the Union Territory, officials said Saturday.

8.The 51.38-km Bhairabi-Sairang new railway line project connecting Aizawl in Mizoram with the rest of the country is at an advanced completion stage, an official statement said Saturday.

9.Over 2,000 athletes, including international elite runners, will participate in the first-ever Kashmir International Marathon October 20, said Raja Yaqoob Farooq, Kashmir Director of Tourism.

10.Former MLA Utkal Keshari Parida died at a hospital in the City here Saturday following a brief illness, his family said.He was 65.

11.Doctors at STNM Hospital here removed a surgical scissor which was in the abdomen of a woman for 12 years, official said Saturday.

12.Breast cancer, a disease long associated with older age groups, has surged enormously in women aged below 50 in the last three decades, according to experts. The recent data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) showed that breast cancer accounted for 28.2 per cent of cancers in women.

13.Pakistan reported another four cases of poliovirus taking the national tally to 37 this year, a media report said Saturday.

14.The Israeli government said a drone targeted the Prime Minister’s house Saturday, though there were no casualties.

15.Israeli planes dropped leaflets over southern Gaza Saturday showing a picture of the dead Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar with the message that “Hamas will no longer rule Gaza”, echoing language used by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

16.Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Minister Rabinarayan Naik Saturday said that the state government has decided to change the name of ‘Ama Odisha, Nabin Odisha’ to ‘Bikasit Gaan, Bikasit Odisha’

17.Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Saturday said his government is fully committed to ushering in a new era of industrial development and asked industrialists to invest in the state.

18.India proposes critical minerals partnership agreement with US that will help domestic firms to get certain benefits in US market.

19.Genes that help humans digest carbohydrates could have started evolving more than 800,000 years ago, long before the advent of farming, a new study has found.

20.New Zealand’s golden generation, led by inspirational Sophie Devine, will have one last chance to lay hands on a global ICC trophy when it meets a gritty South Africa in the summit clash of the T20 World Cup which is set to throw a new champion, here Sunday.