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Current Affairs - 28 October 2020

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1. Indian Army celebrates 74th Infantry Day in J&K
  • Every year, October 27 is celebrated as Infantry Day by the Indian Army in Jammu & Kashmir (known by nickname, Chinar Corps).
  • The Chinar Corps celebrated the 74th Infantry Day on October 27, 2020, to honour the supreme sacrifice of the gallant soldiers in fighting the Pakistani invaders, in Jammu and Kashmir, in 1947.
  • Infantry Day is celebrated as a remembrance of the first military event of independent India, when the First Battalion of the Sikh Regiment of Indian Army fought battle to accomplish victory over the first attack on the Indian soil by the Pakistan Army and Lashkar invader on October 27, 1947, in the Kashmir valley, who tried to grab J&K.
Foot Notes:
About Indian Army:
Chief: Manoj Mukund Naravane
Chief of Defence Staff: General Bipin Rawat

2. India hosts meeting of SCO Ministers handling economy and foreign trade
  • India today hosted the 19th Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Ministers responsible for Foreign Economy and Foreign Trade Activities.
  • In his opening remarks, Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal said that the current crisis due to Covid-19 is a clarion call to the SCO countries to leverage the economic strength and explore partnerships that enhance trade and investment in the region.  He said that cooperation should be continued to enhance intra-SCO trade and investment which would be critical in ensuring the speedy recovery from the aftermath of the pandemic.  Shri Goyal said that every nation’s world view is shaped by its civilization and philosophical tradition.  India’s ancient wisdom sees the world as one family  –  Vasudeva Kutumbakam, he aadded.
  • Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Shri Hardeep Singh Puri also spoke on the occasion. The virtual meeting was attended by the Secretary General of SCO and Ministers from,  Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan,  Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Foot Notes:
About Commerce and Industry Ministry:
Minister: Piyush Goyal
 
About SCO:
Headquarters: Beijing, China
Founded: 15 June 2001
Deputy Secretaries General: Sabyr Imandosov; Wang Kaiwen; Aziz Nosirov; Vladimir Potapenko
Secretary General: Vladimir Norov
 
3. Union minister Shri Mansukh Mandaviya inaugurates ‘DIRECT PORT ENTRY FACILITY’ at V.O. Chidambaranar port
  • The Union Minister of State for Shipping (I/C), Mansukh Mandaviya has inaugurated the ‘Direct Port Entry (DPE) facility’ of V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust in Tamil Nadu.
  • This will help in increasing Ease of Doing Business for the exporters, as the facility will bring efficiency and reduce dwell time, lower tariff cost and improve the competitiveness of shipper in the international trade.
  • The state-of-the-art Direct Port Entry (DPE) facility would enable direct movement of containers from factories, without intermediate handling at any Container Freight Station (CFS), thus facilitating the shippers to Gate-In their factory stuffed exports directly to the Container Terminal on 24×7 basis.
  • The facility is created in an area of 18,357 sqm inside the Truck Parking Terminal which was developed under the ‘Sagarmala’ for issuing customs clearance of export cargo i.e. Factory stuffed/re-sealed containers.
4. Luis Arce declared as the President of Bolivia
  • Bolivia’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) announced that Luis Arce Catacora, the candidate for the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party, has won the October 18 presidential elections with 55.1 percent of the votes.
  • The MAS also obtained absolute majorities in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, although it did not achieve the two-thirds majority required to carry out constitutional reforms.
  • This is the first time since 1989 that the country has published the official results of a presidential election in such a short period of time.
Foot Notes:
About Bolivia:
Capitals: La Paz, Sucre
Currency: Boliviano
Continent: South America
 
5. Feni bridge connecting India and Bangladesh to be completed by December: Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari
  • The 1.8 kilometre long Feni bridge connecting Sabrum in India with Ramgarh in Bangladesh will be completed by December this year.
  • This was announced on Tuesday by the Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Minister Nitin Gadkari while laying the foundation stone of nine National Highway projects in Tripura through video conferencing.
  • According to a press release issued by the Ministry, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the Feni bridge being built at the cost of Rs. 129 crore will ease the transportation of goods from Chattogram and Kolkata ports. An integrated check post is also proposed to be built near Sabrum. 
  • He said that the construction of the RCC bridge over Feni will improve connectivity to the international border with Bangladesh.
Foot Notes:
About Bangladesh:
Capital: Dhaka
Currency: Bangladeshi taka 
Prime Minister: Sheikh Hasina
 
6. Sashidhar Jagdishan takes over as MD & CEO of HDFC Bank 
  • Aditya Puri stepped out of HDFC Bank's corporate headquarters after handing over charge to Sashidhar Jagdishan as the new chief executive and managing director of the largest private sector lender.
  • Over 25 years ago, at a nondescript office across the road in Lower Parel's Kamala Mills compound, Puri had started work as the bank's first head, and built the lender which now employs close to 1.20 lakh people.
  • Jagdishan had also come to office for the hand-over ceremony. Both Jagdishan and Puri addressed their colleagues virtually during the day, officials said.
Foot Notes:
About HDFC bank:
CEO: Sashidhar Jagdishan 
Headquarters: Mumbai
Founded: August 1994, India
 
7. Centre sets up high-level committee to commemorate Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur’s 400th birth anniversary
  • The Centre set up a high-level committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to commemorate the 400th birth anniversary of Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur.
  • The mandate of the 70-member committee includes approval of policies, plans, programmes and supervision and guiding the commemoration, besides deciding broad dates for detailed programmes of celebration.
  • Guru Tegh Bahadur was the ninth of ten Gurus of the Sikh religion.
  • He founded the city of Anandpur Sahib in Punjab in 1665.
  • On 24 November 1675, the Guru was publicly beheaded on the orders of Aurangzeb for refusing to accept the authority of Mughal Emperor, at Chandni Chowk in Delhi.
8. RBI bars payment system operators from launching any new QR codes
  • The Reserve Bank of India has barred Payment System Operators (PSOs) from launching any new proprietary QR code for payment transactions.
  • Currently, there are two interoperable QR codes — UPI QR and Bharat QR.
  • The decision to continue with the two existing Quick Response (QR) codes was based on the recommendations of the committee which was set up by the Reserve Bank under the chairmanship of Deepak Phatak to review the current system of such codes in India and suggest measures for moving towards interoperable QR codes.
  • QR codes are two-dimensional machine-readable barcodes, which are increasingly used to facilitate mobile payments at the point-of-sale. QR codes can store a large amount of information.
  • PSOs that use proprietary QR codes shall shift to one or more interoperable QR codes; the process of migration shall be completed by March 31, 2022.
Foot Notes:
About RBI:
Headquarters: Mumbai
Founder: British Raj
Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata
Governor: Shaktikanta Das
 
9. India, US hold 3rd bilateral two plus two Ministerial Dialogue in New Delhi; sign landmark defence pact BECA
  • India and US today held the 3rd bilateral two plus two Ministerial Dialogue in New Delhi and signed the landmark defence pact BECA. The signing of BECA is significant as it allows India to use global geospatial maps of the United States for accuracy of stand-off weapons like cruise and ballistic missiles. 
  • From the Indian side, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar led the delegation. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence Mark Esper led the US delegation. India and US signed five agreements in total.
  • In the press statement after the meeting, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, signing the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement, BECA after signing of LEMOA in 2016 and COMCASA in 2018 is a significant achievement. He said, they had comprehensive discussions on key aspects of bilateral and multilateral cooperation. He said they also explored probable capacity building and other joint cooperation activities in third countries, including India's neighbourhood and beyond during the meeting.
Foot Notes:
About US:
President: Donald Trump 
Capital: Washington, D.C.
Currency: US dollar

10. Lt. Governor R K Mathur flags off Ultimate Ladakh Cycling Challenge 
  • In Leh, Ladakh Lieutenant Governor R. K. Mathur flagged off Ultimate Ladakh Cycling Challenge, today. At an altitude of over 17 thousand feet this is one of the toughest cycling challenges in the world.
  • Ladakh Police, Ladakh Tourism Department in association with the Cycling Federation of India with the support of Ladakh Cycling Association have organized the four-day event.  AIR correspondent reports that Union Territory administration is taking all measures to promote tourism and Ladakh as the centre for adventure sports. As part of the activities, Ladakh Police and Tourism Departments are organizing a four-day Ultimate Ladakh Cycling Challenge in Leh.
  • On various routes, the cyclists peddle a total of 263 kilometres in the four-day event. On 3rd and 4th Day the cyclists have to climb the world’s 3rd highest Taglang La and the highest motorable road Khardung La that test the stamina, endurance and the will power of a cyclist.  Top national and local cyclists are taking part in the challenge. Winners will be awarded 10 lakh rupees as prize.
Foot Notes:
About Ladakh: 
Capital: Leh, Kargil
Lt. Governor: R K Mathur
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