The Karnataka cabinet granted approval to implement the Bhagyalakshmi scheme, which provides financial security to girl child of BPL families, through Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana of the postal department instead of LIC.

The payments technology company Mastercard has partnered with Atlantis, a Singapore-based financial technology company, for the expansion of its Digital First Program in India.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) fixed the minimum Net Owned Fund (NOF) size for housing finance companies at Rs 25 crore.

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has been re-appointed to the post on 22 October 2020, after winning a slim majority of votes in parliament election.

The Paediatric Heart Hospital was inaugurated  at U.N Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre at Civil Hospital campus in Ahmedabad and a Mobile Application for tele-cardiology.

The Labour and Employment Secretary, Apurva Chandra, has been elected as the Chairperson of the Governing Body of the ILO for the period October 2020- June 2021.

India has been ranked 131 out of 138 countries in the global mobile internet speed rankings by Ookla, the US based company behind testing the speed and performance of the internet connection of a country. India was at 121 rank in 2019.The Ookla Speedtest Global Index shows the data as of September 2020.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Trivendra Singh Rawat has inaugurated Integrated Model Agricultural Village scheme (Ekikrit Adarsh Krishi Gram Yojana) in the state in partnership with NABARD.

The policy think tank NITI Aayog has constituted a 14-member advisory committee to look into introducing reforms in the urban planning education system. The panel will be headed by NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar.

Singapore-based bond exchange, BondEvalue, developed by India-origin entrepreneurs, is targeting to launch a blockchain-platform in the New Year to facilitate investment in bondsby individuals and common man.

India will be hosting the third India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue on October 27, 2020 in New Delhi.

India has become the fourth most powerful country in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the Sydney-based Lowy Institute’s Asia Power Index for 2020, which ranks 26 nations and territories.

The 18th meeting of Prosecutors General of SCO was held on 20 October 2020, via video conference.India was represented by the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.

Indian Air Force 1st woman officer, Wing Commander (retd) Dr Vijaylakshmi Ramanan passed away.

Wing Commander (Retd) Dr Vijayalakshmi Ramanan, the first woman commissioned officer of the Indian Air Force, has died at the age of 96.

The theme of the meeting was “Unleashing the South Asian Century through Human Capital for All”and “Investing in Covid-19 Vaccines and Primary Healthcare Delivery System.

In India, the Police Commemoration Day is observed on October 21 every year.

Haryana State has the best Anemia Mukt Bharat Index among 29 states in the country. Haryana was ranked at the top slot with an AMB Index of 46.7.

Nokia has been selected as a partner by NASA to build the first-ever cellular network on the Moon, helping pave the way towards a sustainable human presence on the lunar surface.

Asan Conservation Reserve has become Uttarakhand’s 1st Ramsar site, making it Wetland of International Importance. Reserve is located on the banks of Yamuna river and is home to many rare & endangered species like Ruddy Shelduck, Red Crested Pochard. Number of Ramsar sites in India: 38

 Noted Bengali elocutionist Pradip Ghosh passed away at his Jodhpur Park residence. He was 78.

Veteran Economist and bureaucrat N K (Nand Kishore) Singh has released his autobiography titled “Portraits of Power: Half a Century of Being at Ringside”.

 Locals in Bongaigaon celebrated the Kati Bihu festival in Assam. Kati Bihu is celebrated on the first day of ‘Kati’ month in Assamese calendar.

The Union Cabinet on October 21, 2020, approved the MoU signed between India and Nigeria on cooperation in the exploration and uses of outer space for peaceful purposes.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched AYUSHMAAN SHAKAR scheme which has been formulated by the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has approved the Safe City project to be implemented in 8 selected cities in the first phase, which include Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai.The total cost sanctioned for the project is Rs. 2919.55 crore, and will be implemented under Nirbhaya Fund to strengthen the security of women in public places.

In Singapore, online government services can now be accessed by facial recognition — a world first.

World Statistics Day was observed across the world on October 20, 2020. The day’s theme this year was ‘Connecting the world with data we can trust’.

India will host 5th Joint Working Group (JWG) on Coal between India and Indonesia.The 1 day meeting will be held through Video conference from New Delhi due to travel restrictions on the pandemic.

The book titled “On the Trail of Buddha: A Journey to the East” by Deepankar Aron has been released by West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.