Notes:
Noted author and activist Sivasankari was honoured with the prestigious Saraswati Samman for the year 2022 for her memoir written in Tamil, Surya Vamsam.
The Saraswati Samman was instituted by the KK Birla Foundation and Sivasankari is the 32nd recipient of the award. The Saraswati Samman, given annually for outstanding literary works in 22 Indian languages in the last 10 years.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit (P20) in New Delhi.
The two-day summit was preceded by a Parliamentary Forum on Mission LiFE. Apart from the G20 countries, 10 other countries were invited to the conference. The theme of the 9th P20 Summit was ‘Parliaments for One Earth, One Family, One Future’.

Notes:
India’s retail inflation, in terms of the Consumer Price Index CPI, eased to a three-month low in September, to 5.02%.
Moreover, the inflation came below RBI’s upper tolerance band of 2%-6%. RBI has clarified that it is targeting inflation of 4% and a figure of below 6% may not suffice as a condition for easing its lending rates.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) initiated a pilot program for the wholesale segment of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the interbank call money market.
As per media reports, nine banks, including four public sector banks and five private sector banks, are participating in the e-rupee call money pilot. This is the second use case of testing wholesale CBDC, the first being the government securities market introduced in November last year.

Notes:
The 8th BRICS International Competition Conference 2023 (BRICS ICC 2023), was hosted by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in New Delhi.
Joint Statement signed by the BRICS competition authorities called for alignment towards fostering competition-driven growth and socio-economic progress. CCI handed over the baton to South Africa for the 9th BRICS International Competition Conference to be held in 2025.