Daily Current Affairs 31 October 2019: We have collected the latest current affairs for 31 October 2019 that are important for all competitive exams like Bank, SSC, IBPS, SBI exams. The GK current affairs will help you score more in these competitive exams. Improve your general knowledge with our daily online current affairs. You can also read the daily current affairs on our mobile app.
Current Affairs 31 October 2019
New UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh Come into Existence on October 31, 2019
- With the implementation of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the state of Jammu & Kashmir has been transitioned into two Union Territories.
- The two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh came into existence on the birth anniversary of the Iron man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on October 31, 2019.
- This is the first time that a state has been downsized into union territories.
- With this, India now has total 9 UTs while the number of states in India have come down to 28.
- R K Mathur has been appointed as the first Lieutenant Governor of newly carved UT of Ladakh.
- Girish Chand Murmu has take over as first Lieutenant Governor of UT of Jammu & Kashmir.
35th ASEAN Summit Begins in Bangkok, Thailand
- The 35th edition of the semi-annual summit of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) began in Bangkok, Thailand from October 31 to 4 November.
- Thailand holds the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2019.
- The theme of the Summit is “advancing partnership for sustainability”.
- The five days summit will be attended by the leaders of 10 ASEAN member countries: Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma), Laos.
- Besides, head of 8 dialogue partner countries including India, USA China, Japan , republic of Korea , Australia and New Zealand will also participate in the summit.
- East Asia Summit (EAS) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Summit ( RCEP) will be also held on the sidelines of 35th ASEAN Summit.
Tamil Nadu Becomes First State to Enact Law on Contract Farming
- Tamil Nadu has become the first State in the country to enact a law on contract farming, to protect the farming community, particularly marginal farmers, from any untoward challenges as well ensure fair price even in case of excess supply into the markets.
- The Tamil Nadu Agricultural Produce and Livestock Contract Farming and Services (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2019 adopted by the state has received the President’s approval.
- What is Contract Farming? It refers to various formal and informal agreements between producers and processors or buyers and involves basic elements like pre-agreed price, quality, quantity or acreage (minimum/maximum) and time.
- The new legislation will allow farmers or related groups to carry out transaction of their farm or livestock produce with a processing firm on the rate arrived at on the date of entering into the contract.
- This would provide them protection from price fluctuations, and also allow procuring firms or food processing industries to avail of quality produce from farmers or farmer groups.
India ranked 5th in 2019 Global Microscope Report on Financial Inclusion; Top- Colombia
- India has been ranked at 5th spot in The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2019 Global Microscope on Financial Inclusion report. Colombia has topped the ranking.
- Peru is on second, Uruguay is on third and Mexico is on fourth. Total 55 countries have been ranked.
- The 2019 Global Microscope analyses the practices used by governments and regulators around the world to increase financial inclusion with a particular focus on the adoption of digital financial services.
FM Nirmala Sitharaman Releases Commemorative Coin to Mark 125th Birth Anniversary of Paramahansa Yogananda
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on October 29, 2019 released a special commemorative coin on Paramahansa Yogananda to mark his 125th Birth Anniversary.
- Paramahansa Yogananda is known as the Father of Yoga in the West.
- He was the founder of two organisations Yogoda Satsanga Society of India and Self-Realisation Fellowship.
Centre hikes e-payments target for FY20 to 45 billion
- Central Government has increased the target for e-transactions in the financial year ending March 2020 to 45 billion (by volume) from 40 billion.
- The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has also redistributed individual targets for banks and payments firms for the same period.
- For the financial year ending March 2019, the government had set up a target of 30 billion e-transactions, of which 90-95% were met last year.
IIIT Hyderabad Researchers Create first-ever Indian Brain atlas to help early disease diagnosis
- The researchers at the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Hyderabad have created the first-ever Indian Brain Atlas (IBA).
- The India-specific brain atlas, named IBA100, has been created by using the MRI scans of 50 individuals of different genders.
- As per the atlas, the Indian brain is smaller in height, width, and volume compared to the western and eastern populations.
- This study will help in the early diagnosis of brain diseases like Alzheimer’s among others.
- The researchers are also tying to prepare atlases for different age groups to study age related affects on brain anatomy.
Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Datta Padsalgikar Appointed Deputy NSA
- Former Mumbai Police Commissioner and Maharashtra DGP Datta Padsalgikar has been appointed as Deputy National Security Advisor (NSA) to the Government of India.
- The 1982-batch IPS officer has also served in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) for 26 years.
- Currently, there are two deputy NSAs, former RAW chief Rajinder Khanna and former IFS officer Pankaj Saran.
- The Deputy NSAs are tasked to assist the National Security Advisor of India. The current NSA is Ajit Doval.
Lt Gen Arvind Dutta appointed Adjutant General of Indian Army
- Lieutenant General Arvind Dutta has been appointed as the next Adjutant General of the Indian Army.
- He will succeed Lieutenant Gen Ashwini Kumar, who will superannuate on October 31.
- The Adjutant-General of the Indian Army is the senior administration officer who reports to the Chief of Army Staff and is also the Colonel of the Corps of Military Police.
Shiva Thapa & Pooja Rani Wins Gold at Olympic Test event for Boxing in Tokyo
- Indian professional boxers Shiva Thapa (63kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg) claimed the gold medals at the Olympic Test Event for Boxing in Tokyo, Japan on October 31.
- India ended with a decent haul of seven medals at the event which also included one silver and 4 bronze.
- Silver medal for India came from Ashish (69kg) while the other four bronze medals came from Nikhat Zareen(51kg), Simranjeet Kaur (60kg), Sumit Sangwan (91kg) and Vahlimpuia (75kg).
First Female UN Refugee Chief Sadako Ogata Passes Away at 92
- Japanese academic and diplomat Sadako Ogata who became the first female to be appointed as the U.N. refugee chief passed away at 92.
- She served as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) from 1991 to 2000.
National Unity Day (Rashtriya Ekta Diwas): October 31
- In India, every year Rashtriya Ekta Diwas is observed on October 31 since 2014, to commemorate the birth anniversary of the Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
- 2019 marks the 144th anniversary of the great leader who played an instrumental role in India’s struggle for independence, and later during the integration of the country.
World Cities Day: October 31
- The United Nations has designated October 31 as World Cities Day (WCD).
- This day is observed to promote the international community’s interest in global urbanization, cooperation among countries in addressing challenges of urbanization, and contributing to sustainable urban development around the world.
- The general theme of World Cities Day is Better City, Better Life.
- 2019 Theme of WCD is Changing the world: innovations and better life for future generations.