Daily GK Updates - 31st October, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1.PM Modi dedicates Sardar Patel’s ‘Statue of Unity’ to the nation : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the ‘Statue of Unity’ (world's tallest Statue) on the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Surat, Gujarat.

The Statue of Unity (bronze statue) is the tallest statue (182-metre) in the world, taller than China's Spring Temple Buddha statue (153-metre) and almost double the height of the Statue of Liberty (93 metres) in the US.The statue of unity located on the Sadhu Bet island (near Rajpipla) on the Narmada river, located between the Satpura and the Vindhya mountain ranges.

2. 31st October: National Unity Day : The ‘National Unity day’ (Rashtriya Ekta Diwas) is being celebrated every year on 31st October in India.The objective of this event is to pay tribute to the Iron man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, on his birth anniversary by remembering his extraordinary works for the country.The Union Home Minister Raj Nath Singh has flagged off the Run for Unity from Major Dhyanchand Stadium, New Delhi.It is celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who really unified the country.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Malala Yousafzai to be honoured by Harvard University : According to the Harvard’s Kennedy School, Nobel Prize Winner Malala Yousafzai (20-year) will be honoured by Harvard University for her work promoting girls' education.Yousafzai will be conferred with the Gleitsman Award 2018 at a ceremony on 6th December this year.The Gleitsman Award provides 125,000 US dollars for activism that has improved quality of life around the world.Now, Yousafzai is a student at Oxford University in England.

2. VP Naidu embarks on the seven-day visit to three South African countries :

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu embarked on a seven-day visit to three South African countries (Botswana, Zimbabwe and Malawi).In the first leg of his visit, Mr Naidu will meet his Botswana counterpart Slumber Tsogwane and hold delegation-level talks.He will also inaugurate the 13th Annual Global Expo Botswana 2018.During his visit to Zimbabwe, the Vice President will call on President Emerson Mnangagwa.On his final leg of the visit to Malawi, Mr Naidu will call on its President Peter Arthur Mutharika.

3. World's largest Airport 'under one roof' opened in Istanbul : The world's largest airport terminal "under one roof" has been officially opened in Istanbul, with a capacity to serve 90 million passengers.Overall the first phase has cost 7.5 billion Euro.The airport has been envisioned to have a total capacity of up to 200 million passengers (once all four phases are completed) in the next 10 years.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1.  IBM acquired Red Hat for USD 34 Billion in its biggest purchase : America's IBM has acquired software company Red Hat in a USD 34 billion cash and debt deal, marking its biggest ever acquisition till date.The open source, enterprise software maker ‘Red Hat’ founded 25 years ago, valued at about USD 20.5 billion at the end of trading.

2. Seychelles launches world’s first Sovereign Blue bond : The Republic of Seychelles has launched the world’s first Sovereign Blue Bond.Sovereign Blue Bond is a financial instrument designed to support sustainable marine and fisheries rojects.The bond demonstrates the potential for countries to harness capital markets for financing the sustainable use of marine resources.The bond raised USD 15 million from international investors

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. New SBI ATM withdrawal limits to come into effect from today : The Country’s largest bank SBI has reduced the daily cash withdrawal limit for Classic and Maestro debit cards to Rs. 20,000 per day (earlier, Rs. 40,000).New ATM cash withdrawal rules for SBI account holders will come into effect from today (31^st October).Now, SBI account holders having higher daily cash withdrawal requirements can apply for other debit card variants that have a higher daily withdrawal limit.

2. SBI & Hitachi payments form a joint venture : State Bank of India (SBI) and Hitachi Payment Services India (payments solution provider) has entered into an agreement to form a joint venture for establishing a card acceptance and digital payment platform.SBI will have a majority stake in the proposed joint venture.Hitachi Payment Services India is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Group, Japan.