Daily Current Affairs - 30 Oct 2020

Daily Current Affairs Capsule

30th October 2020

National

Railways launches ‘Meri Saheli’ initiative for security of women passengers

Railways has launched Meri Saheli initiative for focused action on security of women passengers across all zones.

1. The objective of this mission is to provide safety and security to lady passengers travelling by trains for their entire journey from starting station to destination station.
2. Meri Saheli initiative was started as a pilot project in South Eastern Railway in September this year and after getting encouraging response from lady passengers, it was extended to all zones and Konkan Railway with effect from 17th of this month.
3. The RPF team collects only the seat numbers of the ladies and conveys them to stoppages en-route.

PM Modi Inaugurates 4th edition of India Energy Forum

PM Narendra Modi has inaugurated the 4th India Energy Forum by CERAWeek organised by HIS Markit.

1. The theme of this edition is “India’s Energy Future in a World of Change”.
2. India is the third-largest and the fastest-growing aviation market in terms of domestic aviation and Indian carriers are projected to increase their fleet size from 600 to 1200 by 2024.

Indian Army develops messaging application ‘Secure Application for Internet’

Indian Army has developed a simple messaging application named the Secure Application for Internet (SAI).

1. The application supports end to end secure voice, text and video calling services for Android platforms over the internet.
2. The model is similar to commercially available messaging applications like Whatsapp, Telegram, SAMVAD and GIMS and utilises end to end encryption messaging protocol.
3. SAI will be utilised pan Army to facilitate secure messaging within the service.

Tamil Nadu passes order for 7.5 % reservation to govt school students in UG medical courses

Tamil Nadu Government has passed an order to provide 7.5 percent reservation for Government school students in undergraduate medical courses.

1. The state Assembly passed a bill unanimously on September 15th for the purpose.
2. However, it is yet to become a law as it awaits the state Governor’s nod.
3. It will be made applicable for the state quota seats in the government and private medical colleges.

PM to inaugurates Arogya Van & Arogya Kutir at Kevadia in Gujarat

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a two-day visit to Gujarat.

1. He will pay tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at the 'Statue of Unity' near Kevadiya in Narmada district on the occasion of 145th birth anniversary of this great leader.
2. He inaugurated the Arogya Van and Arogya Kutir at Kevadia.
3. He also inaugurated Ekta Mall Children Nutrition Park. Mr. Modi will then inaugurate Jungle Safari and Geodesic Dome Aviary and lay the foundation stone for various projects before reaching the Statue of Unity.
4. He will also launch the country's first seaplane service between Kevadia and Ahmedabad Riverfront.

Kolkata International Film Festival rescheduled to January 2021

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the internationally acclaimed Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) has been rescheduled to January 2021 by West Bengal Government.

1. KIFF was supposed to be held from November 5, 2020 but the dignitaries and global film fraternity suggested the state government postpone it to January.
2. Founded in 1995, it is the second oldest international film festival in India.
3. The festival is organized by the West Bengal Film Centre under the West Bengal Government.

Telangana CM launches ‘Dharani’ Portal for land & property registrations

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao launched ‘Dharani’ Portal for land and property registrations.

1. The slot bookings in the website for the land registrations begin and all the land and property registrations will start from 2^nd November.
2. The property details which are not uploaded on the portal will be treated as illegal and will not be allowed for further registrations or mutation.
3. The one-in-all, Dharani portal has been designed to reduce loopholes in the registration process.

Odisha launches ‘Sumangal’ & Student Scholarship web portals

Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik has launched two web portals named ‘Odisha State Scholarship Portal’ and ‘Sumangal Portal’.

1. The portal is to help eligible students of the state to avail scholarship benefits in a seamless and transparent manner, while the latter one is to help people avail inter-caste marriage incentives.
2. According to a government release, 21 scholarships would be offered by eight state departments and more than 11 lakh beneficiary students from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, and educationally backward classes would benefit from the scholarship portal.
3. Through the State Scholarship Portal, scholarships will be credited directly to students’ bank accounts as the portal is linked to the state treasury.

Business

DMRC & SBI card launch multi-purpose smart card

The SBI Card in association with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation launched a contactless multi-purpose card that can function as a credit card and as a metro smart card.

1. The credit card Delhi Metro SBI Card is designed for regular commuters on Delhi Metro.
2. It will enable its users to use it as a smart card with an auto-top up facility whenever the balance is below Rs 100.
3. The credit card facility will automatically recharge a top-up value of Rs 200 from the user’s linked card/bank account.
4. The card offers an enhanced daily commute experience to millions of metro commuters together with a rewarding experience on their daily purchases.

Awards

PM Hasina confers highest civilian award of Bangladesh to 8 individuals, 1 institution

The highest national award of Bangladesh ‘Swadhinata Puraskar 2020’ was conferred on eight distinguished persons and an educational institute.

1. The recipients included Jute and Textiles Minister Golam Dastagir Gazi , Azizur Rahman (posthumous), Commander Abdur Rauf (posthumous) and Mohammad Anwar Pasha (posthumous) for their contribution in the liberation war of Bangladesh.
2. In the field of medical sciences the award was conferred on Professor Dr Md Obaidul Kabir Chowdhury and Prof Dr AKMA Muktadir.
3. Kalipada Das and actress Ferdousi Mazumdar were honoured in the field of culture.
4. The renowned boarding school for girls in Tangail, Bharateswari Homes, was given away the independence award for institutions doing commendable work in the field of education.
5. The award carries a gold medal, certificate and Taka 5 lakh.