Hello and welcome to exampundit.in. Here are the important Current Affairs Today 30th October 2020. These are important for the upcoming Exams. Candidates who were preparing for the examination can use these current affairs and also you can download the same as PDF.
Current Affairs Today – 30th October 2020
NEWS AT A GLANCE
- The World Psoriasis Day is observed every year on 29 October by the International Federation of Psoriasis Associations (IFPA).
- Merchant payment platform BharatPe has introduced digital gold product on its platform for merchants in association with Safegold.
- Single-use plastic and polythene bags will remain prohibited in Ambala, with effect from November 1.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two-day visit to Gujarat.
- eSanjeevani, the Health Ministry’s telemedicine initiative has completed 6 lakh tele consultations.
- Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the Green Delhi mobile application today, on October 29, 2020.
- The Centre has allocated the first tranche of more than Rs. one crore for the paperless project of Odisha Vidhansabha
- India hosted the 19th Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Ministers of Foreign Economy and Foreign Trade on 28 October 2020.
- Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the 4th India Energy Forum by CERAWeek through video conference and delivered the inaugural address.
- Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the internationally acclaimed Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) has been rescheduled to January 2021 by West Bengal Government.
- 8th India-Mexico Joint Commission Meeting was held through Video-Conferenc.
- NITI Aayog, Ministry of Power, Rockefeller Foundation and Smart Power India launched the ‘Electricity Access in India and Benchmarking Distribution Utilities’ report.
- The SBI Card in association with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation launched a contactless multi-purpose card that can function as a credit card and as a metro smart card.
- SVC Bank (SVC Co-operative Bank Ltd.), one of the leading Co-operative Banks in the country, announced the launch of SVC Rewards Program.
- The union cabinet approved the Memorandum of Understanding signed between India and Cambodia on cooperation in the field of medicine and health.
- The Union Cabinet approved the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) signed between India and Japan on Cooperation in the field of Information and Communication Technologies.
- India and United Arab Emirates recently held a webinar to boost defence production and exports between the countries.
- The Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Tech Mahindra signed a contract worth Rs 400 crore recently in Bengaluru for implementation of the Enterprise Resource Planning to support HAL’s ‘Project Parivartan.
- Rachana Patil has been made new DM of Munger district while MS Dhillon became new SP of the district.
- “Dr.Tulsi Das Chugh Award 2020” conferred to Dr Satish Mishra.
- The 14th Asian Film Awards (“AFA14”) were announced on 28 October 2020 virtually by the Asian Film Awards Academy (“AFAA”).
- Government of India has approved the name of Former Foreign Service officer, Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha as the new Chief Information Commissioner.
- The Indian Army launched a messaging mobile application called the SAI
- The Indian Space Research Organisation is to launch Earth observation satellite, RISAT-2BR2 and nine other customer satellites by November 7, 2020.
- Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik has launched two web portals named ‘Odisha State Scholarship Portal’ and ‘Sumangal Portal’.
- Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao launched the web portal ‘Dharani’ for land and property registrations.
- Keshubhai Savdasbhai Patel, former Chief Minister of Gujarat, has passed away following sudden cardiac arrest at an age of 92.
- Daniel Menaker has passed away at age 79.
NEWS IN DETAILS
IMPORTANT DAYS AND THEMES
29th October is observed as World Psoriasis Day
- The World Psoriasis Day is observed every year on 29 October by the International Federation of Psoriasis Associations (IFPA).
Objective:
- to promote awareness, empowerment, and action for improving the quality of life for people with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis
Theme:
- The theme for 2020 World Psoriasis Day is “INFORMED”.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
BharatPe launches digital gold on its platform
- Merchant payment platform BharatPe has introduced digital gold product on its platform for merchants in association with Safegold.
- Safegold is a digital platform that allows customers to buy, sell and take delivery of 24k physical gold, at low ticket sizes, around the clock.
- Merchants will get an entire gamut of financial products with the launch of digital gold on BharatPe.
NATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS
Single-use plastic to be banned in Ambala from 1 Nov
- Single-use plastic and polythene bags will remain prohibited in Ambala, with effect from November 1.
- Shopkeepers are being requested not to use polythene bags to give goods to customers.
PM two day visit to Gujarat
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two-day visit to Gujarat.
- He will pay tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at the ‘Statue of Unity’ near Kevadiya in Narmada district on the occasion of his 145th birth anniversary.
- He will inaugurate Arogya Van and Arogya Kutir at Kevadia.
- He will inaugurate Ekta Mall Children Nutrition Park. Mr. Modi will then inaugurate Jungle Safari and Geodesic Dome Aviary and lay the foundation stone for various projects before reaching the Statue of Unity.
- He will also inaugurate Children Nutrition Park and Unity Glow Garden.
- Around 30 lakh LED lights have been used to illuminate the garden during the night.
- The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the illuminated Cactus Garden and Ekta Nursery.
Extra Shots:
Gujarat:
- Capital: Gandhinagar
- Chief Minister: Vijay Rupani
- Governor: Acharya Devvrat
- State formed on: 1 May 1960
- Literacy Rate: 79.31%
- National Park: Vansda NP, Blackbuck NP, Gir Forest NP, Marine NP, Gulf of Kutch
Health Ministry’s telemedicine initiative ‘eSanjeevani’ completes 6 lakh tele consultations
- eSanjeevani, the Health Ministry’s telemedicine initiative has completed 6 lakh tele consultations.
- It took only 15 days to complete the last one lakh consultations.
- The eSanjeevani digital platform has proved its usefulness and easy access for the caregivers and the medical community, and those seeking healthcare services in the times of COVID.
- eSanjeevani is accessible to the population in 27 States and Union Territories across the country.
- The digital platform provides eHealth services through more than 6000 doctors which man 217 online OPDs in patient to doctor telemedicine model.
STATE CURRENT AFFAIRS
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal launches Green Delhi app
- Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the Green Delhi mobile application today, on October 29, 2020.
- The app can be used by citizens to bring pollution causing activities to the government’s notice.
- The Green Delhi app aims to keep a check on rising air pollution in Delhi and bring pollution-causing activities to the state government’s notice.
- People will be able to use the Green Delhi app to inform the government regarding complaints related to burning waste, industrial pollution and dust in the National Capital.
Centre allocates first tranche of more than Rs. one crore for paperless project of Odisha Vidhansabha
- The Centre has allocated the first tranche of more than Rs. one crore for the paperless project of Odisha Vidhansabha.
- Odisha is one among the first states in the country to implement the National e-Vidhan Application Project, NeVA, to make the state assemblies go digital.
- For the purpose, Centre has sanctioned a total of about Rs. 8 crore 52 lakh for Odisha.
SUMMITS AND CONFERENCES
19th Meeting of SCO Ministers of Foreign Economy & Foreign Trade
- India hosted the 19th Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Ministers of Foreign Economy and Foreign Trade on 28 October 2020.
- The virtual meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Union Minister of Commerce and Industry of India Shri Piyush Goyal.
- It was attended by the Secretary General of SCO Vladimir Norov and Ministers from Kyrgyz Republic, China, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Extra Shots:
SCO
- Headquarters: Beijing, China
- Founded: 15 June 2001
- Deputy Secretaries General: Sabyr Imandosov; Wang Kaiwen; Aziz Nosirov; Vladimir Potapenko
- Secretary General: Vladimir Norov
- Official language: Chinese and Russian
- Founders: China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
4th India Energy Forum by CERAWeek
- Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the 4th India Energy Forum by CERAWeek through video conference and delivered the inaugural address.
- The event was held from October 26-28, 2020.
- The event was organised by NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
- The theme of 2020 India Energy Forum was “India’s Energy Future in a world of Change”.
- The CERAWeek India Energy Forum has been organized since 2017 by the information and insights company IHS Markit based in Houston, Texas.
Kolkata International Film Festival rescheduled to January 2021
- Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the internationally acclaimed Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) has been rescheduled to January 2021 by West Bengal Government.
- KIFF was supposed to be held during November 5-12, 2020 but the dignitaries and global film fraternity suggested the state government to postpone it to January.
Extra Shots:
Kolkata International Film Festival
- It is the third oldest international film festival in India.
- The festival is organized by the West Bengal Film Centre under the West Bengal Government
- Founded in 1995
8th India-Mexico Joint Commission Meeting was held
- 8th India-Mexico Joint Commission Meeting was held through Video-Conferenc.
- The Meeting was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Jaishankar and his Mexican counterpart Marcelo Ebrard.
- Both sides appreciated the progress made in the bilateral trade and commercial relations between India and Mexico in recent years.
- The two sides agreed that given their respective economic strengths, growing regional and global profile, India and Mexico will further work on strengthening their ‘Privileged Partnership’.
Extra Shots:
Mexico (Capital/Currency): Mexico City/ Mexican peso
- President: Andrés Manuel López Obrador
RANKS AND INDICES
‘Electricity Access in India and Benchmarking Distribution Utilities’ report launched
- NITI Aayog, Ministry of Power, Rockefeller Foundation and Smart Power India launched the ‘Electricity Access in India and Benchmarking Distribution Utilities’ report.
- According to the report, 92 per cent of customers reported the overall availability of electricity infrastructure within 50 metres of their premises.
- The report is based on a primary survey conducted across ten states, representing about 65 per cent of the total rural population of India and with a sample size of more than 25 thousand, including households, commercial enterprises and institutions.
- The report highlights the benefits of government-led schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana.
Extra Shots:
NITI Aayog
- Formed: 1 January 2015
- Objectives: Foster involvement and participation in the economic policy-making process by the State Governments of India
- Jurisdiction: Government of India
- Headquarters: New Delhi
- Chairperson: Narendra Modi
AGREEMENTS AND MOU SIGNED
DMRC & SBI card launch multi-purpose smart card
- The SBI Card in association with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation launched a contactless multi-purpose card that can function as a credit card and as a metro smart card.
- The credit card Delhi Metro SBI Card is designed for regular commuters on Delhi Metro.
- It will enable its users to use it as a smart card with an auto-top up facility whenever the balance is below Rs 100.
- The credit card facility will automatically recharge a top-up value of Rs 200 from the user’s linked card/bank account.
Extra Shots:
DMRC
- CEO: Mangu Singh
- Founded: 3 May 1995, New Delhi
- Headquarters: New Delhi
SBI Card
- CEO: Ashwini Kumar Tewari
- Headquarters: New Delhi
- Chairperson: Rajnish Kumar
- Founded: October 1998
SVC Bank partners with NPCI to launch a digital rewards platform
- SVC Bank (SVC Co-operative Bank Ltd.), one of the leading Co-operative Banks in the country, announced the launch of SVC Rewards Program.
- The Program is designed to make banking experience more rewarding for its customers in the form of Reward points earned upon use of SVC Bank Cards and digital solutions.
- To make the experience seamless, the Bank has tied up with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
Extra Shots:
NPCI
- Headquarters location: Mumbai
- Founded: 2008
SVC Bank
- Founded: 1906
- Founder: Late Shamrao vital Kaikini, Late Rao bahadur shripad subbarao talmaki
- Headquarters: Mumbai
Cabinet approves MoU signed between India and Cambodia
- The union cabinet approved the Memorandum of Understanding signed between India and Cambodia on cooperation in the field of medicine and health.
- The MoU will increase the cooperation between the countries through joint initiatives and technological developments in health sector.
Extra Shots:
Cambodia (Capital/Currency): Phnom Penh/ Cambodian riel
- Prime Minister: Hun Sen
India-Japan Cooperation in ICT approved by Union Cabinet
- The Union Cabinet approved the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) signed between India and Japan on Cooperation in the field of Information and Communication Technologies.
- The Memorandum will strengthen cooperation between the countries in the field of communications.
- The agreement will also help in cooperation in the field of telecom security, 5G, submarine cable, utilization of latest wireless technologies, Disaster relief, block chain, spectrum management, standard certification of communication equipment and cooperation on multilateral platforms.
Extra Shots:
Japan (Capital/Currency): Tokyo/ Japanese yen
- President: Shinzo Abe
India-UAE Defence Cooperation enhanced through Joint Production
- India and United Arab Emirates recently held a webinar to boost defence production and exports between the countries.
- The Webinar was organised by the Department of Defence Production operating under the Ministry of Defence through Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM).
- The webinar was organised to help India achieve its target of reaching 5 billion USD of defence exports in five years.
- The bilateral trade between India and UAE is 53 billion USD.
Extra Shots:
UAE (Capital/Currency): Abu Dhabi/ United Arab Emirates dirham
- President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Tech Mahindra and HAL sign Rs 400-crore contract
- The Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Tech Mahindra signed a contract worth Rs 400 crore recently in Bengaluru for implementation of the Enterprise Resource Planning to support HAL’s ‘Project Parivartan.
- The exercise will enable HAL to adopt some of the best practices followed in similar industries globally.
- Tech Mahindra will be responsible for the modernisation of the ERP System as an implementation and support partner enabling HAL to streamline and standardise its business processes across the organisation.
- As a system integrator, Tech Mahindra will implement the project over a period of nine years.
Extra Shots:
HAL
- Founder: Walchand Hirachand
- Founded: 23 December 1940, Bengaluru
- Headquarters location: Bengaluru
Tech Mahindra
- CEO: C. P. Gurnani
- Parent organization: Mahindra Group
- Headquarters: Pune
- Founder: Anand Mahindra
- Founded: 1986
Rachana Patil appointed new DM of Munger District
- Rachana Patil has been made new DM of Munger district while MS Dhillon became new SP of the district.
- Earlier in the ECI has ordered immediate removal of SP and DM of Munger.
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL AWARDS
“Dr Tulsi Das Chugh Award-2020 conferred to Dr Satish Mishra
- “Dr.Tulsi Das Chugh Award 2020” conferred to Dr Satish Mishra.
- The National Academy of Medical Sciences (India) has selected the Principal Scientist, Division of Molecular Parasitology and Immunology, (CSIR-CDRI)-Lucknow.
- He is awarded for his research work on Malaria parasite’s life cycle which is a complex process involving two hosts and three invasive stages.
Indian Film Gully Boy Wins Best Original Score At 14th Asian Film Awards
- The 14th Asian Film Awards (“AFA14”) were announced on 28 October 2020 virtually by the Asian Film Awards Academy (“AFAA”).
- Ranveer Singh and, Alia Bhatt starrer Gully Boy bagged the award for the Best Original Score at the event.
- The award went to Karsh Kale and The Salvage Audio Collective.
- Gully Boy has been directed by Zoya Akhtar and was released on 14 February 2019.
List of Winners
- Best Film: Parasite (South Korea)
- Best Director: Wang Xiaoshuai for So Long, My Son (China)
- Best Actor: Lee Byung-hun – The Man Standing Next (South Korea)
- Best Actress: Zhou Dongyu – Better Days (China)
- Best Supporting Actor: Ryo Kase – To the Ends of the Earth
- Best Supporting Actress: Ko Shu-chin – A Sun
- Best New Director: Hikari – 37 Seconds
- Best Newcomer: Jackson Yee – Better Days
- Best Screenplay: Bong Joon-ho, Han Jin-won – Parasite
- Best Editing: Yang Jin-mo – Parasite
- Best Cinematography: Dong Jinsong – The Wild Goose Lake
- Best Original Music: Karsh Kale, The Salvage Audio Collective – Gully Boy
- Best Costume Designer: Pacharin Surawatanapongs– Happy Old Year
- Best Production Design:Ha-jun Lee – Parasite
- Best Visual Effects: Tomi Kijo, Renovatio Pictures – Detention
- Best Sound: Yoshifumi Kureishi – Listen to the Universe
APPOINTMENTS IN NEWS
Yashvardhan K. Sinha appointed as the New Chief Information Commissioner
- Government of India has approved the name of Former Foreign Service officer, Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha as the new Chief Information Commissioner.
- The post of CIC chairman had been vacant for several months after Bimal Zulka retired.
- Uday Mahurkar has been selected for the post of Information Commissioner.
DEFENCE CURRENT AFFAIRS
Indian Army launches Secure Messaging Application
- The Indian Army launched a messaging mobile application called the SAI.
- The application will provide secure voice, video and text calling services to the soldiers of Indian Army.
- The mobile application developed by the Indian Army is called the Secure Application for Internet (SAI).
- It facilitates secure communication among the Indian Army personnel
Extra Shots:
Indian Army
- Founded: 1 April 1895, India
- Headquarters: New Delhi
- Commander-in-Chief: President Ram Nath Kovind
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY CURRENT AFFAIRS
ISRO to launch Earth Observation Satellite EOS-1 and 9 Customer Satellites
- The Indian Space Research Organisation is to launch Earth observation satellite, RISAT-2BR2 and nine other customer satellites by November 7, 2020.
- It aims to support applications in Forestry, agriculture and disaster management.
- The launch of this earth observation satellite will be the 51st the mission of ISRO.
- The earth observation satellite is to be launched on Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles.
Extra Shots:
ISRO
- Headquarters: Bengaluru
- Founder: Vikram Sarabhai
- Founded: 15 August 1969
- Director: Kailasavadivoo Sivan
WEB PORTALS & APPS IN NEWS
Odisha CM launches ‘Sumangal’ & Student Scholarship web portals
- Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik has launched two web portals named ‘Odisha State Scholarship Portal’ and ‘Sumangal Portal’.
Objective of the Portal:
- The former portal is to help eligible students of the state to avail scholarship benefits in a seamless and transparent manner, while the latter one is to help people avail inter-caste marriage incentives.
Integrated Odisha State Scholarship Portal
- This portal will help eligible students of the state in availing scholarship benefits in a seamless and transparent manner.
Sumangal Portal
- This portal will help people avail inter-caste marriage incentives, under Odisha Right to Public Services Act, 2012.
- The initiative aims to reduce the caste-prejudices, abolish ‘untouchability’ and spread the value of liberty, equality, fraternity in the society.
Extra Shots:
Odisha:
- Statehood Day: 1st April 1936
- Capital: Bhubaneswar
- Governor: Ganeshi Lal
- Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik
Telangana launches ‘Dharani’ Portal for land & property registrations
- Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao launched the web portal ‘Dharani’ for land and property registrations.
- The Dharani is a one-stop portal for all land and property related transactions as well as documentation.
- The state government will now undertake all the property transactions, including registrations and mutations, through web portal.
Extra Shots:
Telangana
- Statehood day:2 June 2014
- Capital:Hyderabad
- Chief Minister: Kalvakuntla Chandrashekhar Rao
- Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan
- Literacy Rate: 66.46%
OBITUARY
Former Gujarat CM Keshubhai Patel passes away
- Keshubhai Savdasbhai Patel, former Chief Minister of Gujarat, has passed away following sudden cardiac arrest at an age of 92.
- Keshubhai Patel had served as the Chief Minister of the state for a few months in 1995 and then from March 1998 to October of 2001.
Daniel Menaker, award-winning author and editor, passes away
- Daniel Menaker has passed away at age 79.
- Daniel Menaker was the author of several books, including the memoir My Mistake and the comic psychological novel The Treatment, adapted into a 2007 movie starring Chris Eigeman and Ian Holm.
- He was also known for the O Henry Award-winning title story of his collection The Old Left.
