Important Current Affairs 31st October 2019

NATIONAL AFFAIR

-Delhi: Run for Unity participants brave bad air quality in capital

Thousands of participants of the 'Run for Unity' on Thursday braved bad air quality in Delhi as they made their way through a smoky haze to mark the 144th birth anniversary Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

-RK Mathur sworn-in as first L-G of Union Territory of Ladakh

RK Mathur is the first L-G of the union territory of Ladakh after the two UTs of J-K and Ladakh came into existence on midnight Wednesday following a notification by the home ministry.

-Ban on night-time construction in NCR extended till Saturday

The window of the ban, which starts from 6 pm, has also been increased to 10 am from the earlier 6 am, the Supreme Court-mandated body said on Thursday. The ban on coal-based industries, barring power plants, in Faridabad, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Noida.

-Labour productivity falls over the last eight years

Labour productivity in India has gone down significantly over the last eight years from the average of 7.4% between 2010-11 and 2014-15 to a low of average 3.7% during fiscal year 2015-16 to 2017-18, an analysis of India Ratings and Research

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Fiat Chrysler to join forces with Peugeot to create world's fourth-largest auto firm

The boards of the two groups have mandated their respective teams to finalise discussions and reach a binding memorandum of understanding in the coming weeks, the two automakers said in a joint statement.

-Reorganisation of J&K internal affair: India slams China over Kashmir statement

We do not expect other countries, including China, to comment on the matters which are internal to India, just as India refrains from commenting on internal issues of other countries," Raveesh Kumar said. Asserting that the UT of J&K and Ladakh are integral part of India, he said India expects other countries to respect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Twitter bans all political advertisements

The issue suddenly arose in September when Twitter, along with Facebook and Google, refused to remove a misleading video ad from President Donald Trump’s campaign that targeted former Vice President Joe Biden

           

Facebook agrees to pay 500,000 pound fine to UK over Cambridge Analytica

The social networking giant had initially appealed the penalty. The ICO then pursued its own counter-appeal.But finally, Facebook has agreed to pay the 500,000 pound fine but has made no admission of liability in relation to the fine.

Lost World War II British submarine found sunk off the coast of Malta

The wreck of a British submarine, which vanished at the height of World War Two, has been discovered lying at the bottom of the sea off Malta, university marine archaeologists said on Thursday.

HMS Urge had been based with other submarines in Malta and had carried out several deadly missions when the British navy ordered it and rest of the flotilla to redeploy to Egypt because of a relentless German siege of the Mediterranean island.

Urge set sail on April 27, 1942, carrying a 32-strong crew, 11 other naval personnel and a journalist. However, it failed to reach Alexandria on the agreed rendezvous date of May 6 and its fate has always been a mystery - until now.

Gas canister being used to cook breakfast in Pakistan train explodes, kills at least 65

A fire swept through a Pakistani train on Thursday, killing at least 65 people and injuring nearly 40 after a gas canister that passengers were using to cook breakfast exploded, government officials said.

The fire destroyed three of the train’s carriages near the town of Rahim Yar Khan in the south of Punjab province. It was on its way from the southern city of Karachi to Rawalpindi, near the capital, with many people going to a religious conference.

SPORTS AFFAIRS

From Warne scandal to Shakib ban: The curious case of Indian bookies in international cricket

•           ICC revealed Shakib Al Hasan exchanged WhatsApp messages with an Inidan bookie

•           ICC ACU chief Alex Marshall had said Indian bookies operate across the globe

•           The likes of Mohammad Ashraful and Hanse Cronje landed in trouble after contact with Indian bookies. Fiat Chrysler (FCA) and PSA said they aimed to reach a binding deal to create a $50 billion company domiciled in the Netherlands, with listings in Paris, Milan and New York and with PSA's Carlos Tavares as CEO and FCA's John Elkann as chairman.

           

-Glenn Maxwell announces break from cricket in the middle of Sri Lanka series

In a surprising move Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell decided to go on an indefinite from cricket in the middle of the T20I series against Sri Lanka. Maxwell is believed to have taken the decision to deal with his mental health issues.

Oman, Scotland grab last two places at T20 World Cup

Oman and Scotland join Namibia, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea and Ireland, who had already booked their places in the 2020 showpiece but are still competing for the winner’s trophy in UAE.

IMPORTANT DAYS

-Rashtriya Ekta Diwas or National Unity Day is observed on 31 October every year to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhai Patel. He had played an important role in unifying the country.

IMPORTANT DATES

31 Oct, 1984 - India Gandhi

1984 : Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was gunned down outside of her home by Sikh extremists.  

31 Oct, 1921 - U.S.A. Forests

1921 : Latest figures released by the federal government show that forests in the United States cover 463 million acres. Current Forestry is 745 million acres.

31 Oct, 1931 - U.S.A. Gold Standard

1931 : Following the announcement that Great Britain had decided to abandon the Gold Standard in mid-September a mini panic occurred when people were worried their money was not safe in local banks, the panic caused people to draw savings from the banks which in turn placed more pressure on the banks than the 1929 stock market crash had already, because of this by 31st October 827 banks were forced to close.

31 Oct, 1941 - U.S.A. Mount Rushmore

1941 : The Mt. Rushmore sculpture is completed after Gutzon Borglum and 400 stone masons sculpt the colossal 60-foot carvings of U.S. presidents, The project had started on October 4th, 1927 to represent the first 150 years of American history.

George Washington 1732–1799

Thomas Jefferson 1743–1826

Abraham Lincoln 1809–1865

Theodore Roosevelt 1858–1919

31 Oct, 1956 - Egypt Suez Canal Crisis

1956 : Following Egypt's decision to nationalize the Suez Canal Britain and France begin bombing Egypt to force the reopening of the Suez Canal.

31 Oct, 1964 - Germany Berlin Wall

1964 : The Berlin wall was opened up for the second time yesterday for West Germans to visit relatives in East Germany and by nightfall 20,000 had passed through the communist controls. The visits are only allowed one way from west to east due to concerns of the East German Government that it's subjects would not return.

31 Oct, 2008 - China Melamine In Food

2008 : State Media in China has reported the toxic chemical melamine is probably being routinely added to Chinese animal feed, melamine has now been found in contaminated milk and eggs. Melamine is used to reduce production costs while maintaining the protein count for quality inspections.