- The World Bank said that the coronavirus pandemic could push as many as 150 million people into extreme poverty by the end of 2021, wiping out more than three years of progress in poverty reduction. Releasing its flagship biennial report on poverty and shared prosperity, the multilateral development lender said that an additional 88 million to 115 million people will fall into extreme poverty – defined as living on less than $1.90 a day -in 2020. The report said this could grow to 111 million to 150 million by the end of 2021.
- Amazon India has partnered with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to provide their customers with the facility to book reserved train tickets on its platform.
- World Sight Day, observed annually on the second Thursday of October, is a global event meant to draw attention on blindness and vision impairment. This year, World Sight Day will take place on 8 October 2020 with the theme: Hope in Sight.
- The World Food Program won the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to combat hunger and food insecurity around the globe.
- World Post day happens each year on October 9, the anniversary of the Universal Postal Union, which started in 1874 in Switzerland. Today the universal postal union celebrates its 146th anniversary.
- The poet Louise Glück has become the first American woman to win the Nobel prize for literature in 27 years, cited for “her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal”
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a campaign on Jan Andolan for COVID-19 Appropriate Behaviour in view of the upcoming festivals and winter season as well as the opening up of the economy.
- The Reserve Bank of India in its bi-monthly Monetary Policy statement issued, has maintained a status quo keeping the key interest rates unchanged. The reverse repo rate remains unchanged at 3.35 per cent, the repo rate at 4 per cent.
- Indian Foreign Service Day is celebrated on 9 October every year since 2011 to commemorate the day the Indian Cabinet created the IFS.