VINTAGE

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF OCTOBER 21st to 26th  2019

              IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF OCTOBER  21st to 26th 2019 

1.           Justin Trudeau has won a second term as Canada's Prime Minister as his Liberal Party will return to power as a minority government, preliminary results showed.

2.           Hong Kong's legislature has formally withdrew planned legislation that would have allowed extradition of people to mainland China. 

a.  The planned bill had sparked widespread protests in the city. 

b. However, the move only meets one of the five demands by pro-democracy protestors and may not lead to the end of months-long protests.

3.           Abortion has been decriminalised in Northern Ireland. 

a.  Earlier, abortion was only permitted in Northern Ireland if a woman's life was at risk or there was a danger of permanent and serious damage to her physical or mental health. 

b. Note : Same-sex marriages have also been legalised in Northern Ireland.

4.           The Disabled and People over 80 years of age can now cast their vote through postal ballot, the government announced today. 

a.  On EC's recommendation, the government amended the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, allowing senior citizens and disabled people in the absentee voter list. 

b. Earlier, voting through postal ballot was available to armed forces and those on poll duties.

5.           The Assam Cabinet has decided that no government jobs will be given to those having more than two children after January 1, 2021.

a.  It also adopted a land policy, which will give three bighas of agricultural land to landless indigenous people and half a bigha for constructing a house. 

6.           Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has announced that the Siachen area has been opened for tourists and tourism. 

a.  The Siachen Glacier, the highest battlefield in the world, is a part of Ladakh.

7.           The government has launched a challenge for startups to present alternative solutions to single-use plastics which it seeks to phase out by 2022. 

a.  The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade will award the first and second place holders ₹3 lakh and ₹2 lakh respectively. 

8.           The US Air Force has received its 1st anti-drone weapon system from defence contractor Raytheon. 

a.  The system, introduced about a year ago by Raytheon, is a high-energy laser system mounted on a small all-terrain vehicle which uses electro-optical/infrared sensors to detect and track drones and neutralise them in seconds. 

b. The system can deliver "dozens" of laser shots on single charge.

9.           Bollywood Actress Vidya Balan has received the Youth Icon Award from Imperial College London.

10.      The Union Cabinet has approved the merger of state-run telecom operators BSNL and MTNL. 

a.  The government will raise ₹15,000 crore via sovereign bonds for the revival of the companies and will provide them 4G spectrum on an administrative basis. 

b. Assets of BSNL and MTNL worth ₹38,000 crore will be monetised.

11.      India is considering tariff and non-tariff measures to limit Turkish and Malaysian imports over their leaders' comments on Kashmir. 

a.  The options reportedly include strict quality tests and a safeguard tax. 

12.      Saudi Arabia replaced Iraq as top oil supplier to India in September after a gap of about 13 months.

a.  The two OPEC members accounted for about 43% of India's overall imports. 

b. India's oil imports fell 8.4% to their lowest in more than three years in September to 3.82 million barrels per day (bpd).

13.      The IT Ministry has launched a new version of its Unified Payment Interface (UPI) platform Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) app including new initiatives and features. 

a.  BHIM 2.0 will consist of additional languages, a 'Donation' gateway and an increased transaction limit.

14.      Don Valentine (87), the founder of American venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, passed away.

a.  The firm revealed that an early mutual fund group, Capital Group had first allowed Valentine to form a $3-million venture fund in 1974.

b. Among his first bets from that pool of capital were Atari and Apple.

15.      M L Khattar will take oath as Haryana Chief Minister for a second term tomorrow. 

a.  Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) chief Dushyant Chautala will take oath as Deputy CM. 

16.      1987 batch IAS officer Pankaj Kumar as the new CEO of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). 

a.  Kumar is currently Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. 

17.      Japan's Emperor Naruhito (59), formally proclaimed his ascension to the throne in a ceremony attended by dignitaries from more than 180 countries, including Indian President Ram Nath Kovind. 

a.  Naruhito, the 1st Japanese emperor born after WWII, acceded to the throne in May when his father, Akihito, became the first Japanese monarch to abdicate in two centuries.

18.      Bollywood Actor Ayushmann Khurrana has been roped in by UNICEF and the Government of India to build awareness and raise his voice against sexual abuse of children. 

19.      Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has been transferred and appointed as Governor of Goa. 

a.  Girish Chandra Murmu has been appointed as Lieutenant Governor of J&K, while Radha Krishna Mathur has been appointed as Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh. 

b. Important Note : J&K and Ladakh will officially become Union Territories from October 31.

20.      Former Team India captain Sourav Ganguly has taken over as BCCI President.

a.  With this, Ganguly became the 1st ex-captain to hold the post full-time since Maharajkumar of Vizianagram (Vizzy) in 1954. 

21.      Former top-ranked men's singles tennis player Andy Murray won his first title since March 2017 after beating Stan Wawrinka in the final of the European Open.

22.      Former Australian cricketer Andrew McDonald has been appointed as Rajasthan Royals' new head coach for a 3 -year term.