Daily GK Updates - 28th October, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. First-ever Ladakh Literature Festival: Ladakh administration is organizing the first-ever Ladakh Literature festival. The 3-day Literature Festival is being organized from 29 to 31 October 2019. The first-ever Ladakh Literature festival aims to celebrate the uniqueness of the region in the fields of Art, Culture and Literature. There will be screenings of Ladakhi films, discussions on Heritage and presentations on History and Archeology of Ladakh, during the festival. To provide an opportunity to children, youth and women to participate in the 3 Day Ladakh Literature Festival several competitions and events like Calligraphy, Culinary art are also incorporated.

2. Odisha inks LoU with UNICEF to provide safe drinking water: The Odisha government has signed a Letter of Understanding (LoU) with UNICEF to provide safe drinking water to every household in the state. The LoU was signed by the state housing and urban development department (HUDD) to provide 24-hour safe drinking water and the project has been named as 'Drink from Tap Mission'. The project will be launched on a pilot basis for about 1.2 lakh people involving 22,000 families in pockets of Puri and Khurda district. The project is being undertaken with financial support from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), which will hopefully help in achieving the state government's target.

3. Andhra Pradesh launches online platform SMARTPORT for Ease of Doing Business for Ports: Andhra Pradesh has launched an online portal named SMARTPORT for implementing the Ease of Doing Business Reforms related to trade and export promotion in all ports in the state. Andhra Pradesh is the first state in the country to launch such a portal for port-related services.

SMARTPORT will enable online services like request for entry of vessels into Indian waters, furnishing cargo declaration, request for entry certificate of vessels, furnishing import/export parameters and request for final clearance certificate.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Alberto Fernandez Elected as President of Argentina: Argentina has elected Centre-left opposition candidate Alberto Fernández as its new President. The 60-year-old law professor secured 47.36 percent votes, crossing the threshold for outright victory. He will succeed incumbent conservative Mauricio Macri and assume office on December 10, 2019.

Note: Argentina Capital: Buenos Aires; Currency: Argentine peso

2. Bill Gates overtakes Jeff Bezos as the world’s richest person: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates overtook Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest person. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos lost the title as the world’s richest man to Bill Gates, after losing nearly $7 billion in stock value leaving his net worth to $103.9 billion. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is currently worth $105.7 billion. Bezos ended Gates’ 24-year run as the richest man in 2018 and became the first man on earth with a net worth of $160 billion. Bill Gates debuted on Forbes’ first ever billionaire list in 1987 with a net worth of $1.25 billion.

3. International Animation Day: October 28: The International Animation Day is observed every year on October 28 to celebrate the art of animation and also recognise the artists, scientists and technicians behind animation. The day was created in 2002 by ASIFA, an International Animated Film Association, a member of UNESCO. 2019 marks the 18th International Animation Day.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Lewis Hamilton wins Mexican Grand Prix 2019: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes – Britain) has won the Formula One, Mexican Grand Prix 2019. Sebastian Vettel remained on second position, Valtteri Bottas was on third followed by Charles Leclerc on fourth spot. Hamilton’s 10th win of the season, and 83rd of his career, was also a 100th for Mercedes as a constructor.

2. Federer Won 10th Basel Title: Roger Federer won his 10th Swiss Indoors Basel title, entering double digits at a tournament for only the second time by racing past #NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur 6-2, 6-2. Federer, playing in front of a fervent home crowd, played attacking tennis against the speedy 20-year-old, who was going for his fourth title of the season (3-1)

3. Open final: Satwik-Chirag settles for silver: The Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty finished second best after losing the finals in straight games against top seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia at the French Open Super 750 in Paris.

BANKING AND FINANCE

11. RBI imposes ₹35 lakh fine on Tamilnad Mercantile Bank: The Reserve Bank has imposed a penalty of ₹35 lakh on Tamilnad Mercantile Bank for violating norms on frauds classification and notification. The bank has been penalised for “non-compliance with certain provisions of directions issued by RBI on frauds classification and reporting by commercial. The RBI had conducted a statutory inspection of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank on its financial position as on March 31, 2017.

2. SBI Life fined Rs 4 lakh by IRDAI for violating norms on protection of policyholders: Insurance sector regulator IRDAI has imposed a fine of Rs 4 lakh on SBI Life Insurance Company Ltd for violating norms on advertisement and protection of policyholders’ interest. Irdai examined samples of proposal forms signed on November 30, 2016; December 23, 2016; February 17, 2017; and March 23, 2017. It was found that provisions prior to the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Act, 2015, were incorporated instead of new provisions.

ORBITUARIES

1. Padma Shri Awardee Nonagenarian Yoga Exponent V Nanammal Passes Away: The renowned nonagenarian yoga exponent V Nanammal passed away. She was 99 years old. V Nanammal was conferred the Padma Shri in 2018 and the Nari Shakti Puraskar and Yoga Ratna awards in 2016 and 2017 respectively. She had trained over 10 lakh students over 45 years, with nearly 100 students daily.