DAILY GK 20-21 OCT 2024
1. PM MODI’S VISIT TO VIENTIANE, LAO PDR
·
NarendraModi, Prime Minister (PM)
of India, visited Vientiane, the capital of Lao People’s
Democratic Republic (LPDR or Laos), at the invitation of SonexaySiphandone, PM
of Lao, to strengthen the bilateral relations between India and Laos.
·
During his visit to Laos, PM Modi attended
the 21st Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-India Summit and the 19th East
Asia Summit, hosted by Laos, the current Chair of ASEAN.
·
Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) Currency –
Laotian Kip
2. 8TH PRESIDENT OF INDONESIA
·
Former general Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo (73)
of Great Indonesia Movement Party
(Gerindra Party) was appointed as the 8th President of
Indonesia (2024-2029).
·
He succeded JokoWidodo,
who served as the President of Indonesia from 2014 to 2024.
·
Gibran Rakabuming, son of
JokoWidodo, was appointed as the Vice
President of Indonesia.
·
PrabowoSubianto served as the Defence
Minister of Indonesia from 2019 to 2024.
·
PrabowoSubianto secured a decisive victory by winning
around 59% of the votes in first round of
presidential election.
3. CHAIRMAN OF SIR RATAN TATA TRUSTS
·
Noel Naval Tata, half-brother of Ratan Tata, has been selected unanimously by the
Board members of Sir Ratan Tata Trusts as
the chairman and all trusts covered under it.
·
He will succeed Ratan Tata who
passed away at the age of 86 on October 9, 2024.
·
Noel Naval Tata is currently the chairman
of Trent Limited, Tata International
Ltd, Voltas Ltd and Tata Investment Corporation Ltd.
·
He is also the vice chairman of Tata Steel
Ltd and Titan Company Ltd.
·
Tata
Trusts has a 66% stake in Tata Sons, while 12.87% is
owned by several Tata Group companies, and 18.4% by the ShapoorjiPallonji
family.
4. CHAIRMAN OF WORLDSTEEL
·
ThachatViswanath (TV) Narendran, the
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD)
of Tata Steel, was elected as the chairman of
the World Steel Association (Worldsteel) for the term 2024-25.
·
He will succeed Leon Topalian,
CEO of the United States of America (USA)-based Nucor Corporation, who served as Chairman of Worldsteel
(2023-24).
·
He became the 2nd Indian to hold the position as the Chairman of Worldsteelafter Sajjan Jindal, the chairman of
JSW Group, who served as the chairman from 2021-22.
·
World Steel Association (Worldsteel) is an association that represents
over 160 steel producers, research institutes, and national and regional
industry associations. It accounts for nearly 85% of the world’s steel production
·
Headquarters– Brussels, Belgium
5. PAKISTAN CHIEF JUSTICE
·
Pakistan has appointed Justice Yahya Afridi as the next Chief
Justice
·
Pakistan enacted the Constitution (26th Amendment) Act, 2024,
limiting the Chief Justice’s tenure to three years and establishing a special
commission for appointing the top judge from three senior-most Supreme Court
judges.
·
The amendment received President Asif Ali Zardari’s assent
6. VIETNAM PRESIDENT
·
Vietnam’s parliament elected army general Luong Cuong as the
new state president
·
Cuong, aged 67, succeeds To Lam, who was appointed president
in May and later became party chief following the death of general secretary
Nguyen Phu Trong in July.
7. 51ST CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA
·
Justice Sanjiv Khanna has been appointed as the 51st Chief
Justice of India (CJI),
·
Justice Khanna was part of benches upholding Article 370’s
abrogation, invalidating the Electoral Bonds scheme, and allowing divorce
decrees for irretrievable marriage breakdowns under Article 142.
8.
CHAIRPERSON OF NCW
·
Smt. Vijaya Kishore Rahatkar has been appointed as the new Chairperson of the
National Commission for Women (NCW), making her the 9th individual to
hold this esteemed position.
·
Dr. Archana Majumdar has also been appointed as a member of
the NCW.
·
The National Commission for Women (NCW) is an autonomous and
statutory body established in 1992 under the National Commission for Women Act,
1990, to protect and promote women’s rights in India.
·
As per Section 3 of the National Commission for Women Act
1990, the Commission shall consist of a Chairperson, 5 Members, and a
Member-Secretary who are nominated by the Central Government.
·
Term : The Chairperson and every Member shall hold office for
a period of three years.
9. PRESIDENT OF INDIAN CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE
·
The Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), a prominent national
business association, has appointed Abhyuday Jindal, Managing Director of
Jindal Stainless Limited, as its new president.
·
Founded in 1925, the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is the
foremost and only national chamber of commerce in India, headquartered in
Kolkata.
10. INDIA’S 1ST DEMONSTRATION FACILITY
FOR BIOPOLYMERS
·
Union Minister of State (Independent
charge, IC) Dr.Jitendra Singh, Ministry of Science and
Technology(MoST), virtually inaugurated India’s 1st Demonstration
Facility for Biopolymers at Jejuri, Pune, Maharashtra.
·
This
initiative emphasises India’s commitment to sustainable practices and supports
Prime Minister (PM) NarendraModi’s goal of reaching
a ‘Net Zero’ carbon economy.
·
India
ranks 12th globally and 3rd in
the Asia-Pacific region in biotechnology.
·
It is the largest vaccine producer and has the third-largest
startup ecosystem.
11. ‘HUMSAFAR POLICY’ FOR ONBOARDING
SERVICE PROVIDERS
·
Union
Minister Nitin Gadkari, Ministry of Road Transport
& Highways (MoRTH) launched the ‘Humsafar Policy’
in New Delhi(Delhi) to enhance the
convenience of travelling on National Highways(NHs) and accelerate the
development of the Wayside Amenities
·
The Humsafar Policy will introduce facilities, such as clean toilets, baby care rooms,
provisions for wheelchairs, Electric Vehicle(EV) charging stations, parking spaces,
and dormitory services at fuel
stations along highways.
·
Commuters
can quickly access details of nearby service providers through the mobile
application “Rajmarg Yatra”, launched by the National
Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in August 2023.
12. INDIA & UAE TO INTERLINK UPI
& AANI
·
The
Government of India and the United Arab Emirates(UAE) are working
on interlinking India’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI)
with UAE’s instant payments platform AANI to enable
seamless cross-border transactions between the two countries.
·
It was discussed during the 12th Meeting of the
India-UAE High Level Joint Task Force on Investments (HLJTFI)
took place in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
13. SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS SECTION
6A OF CITIZENSHIP ACT AS VALID LAW
·
The Supreme Court of India (SCI) upheld
the constitutionality of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955,
with a majority of 4:1.
·
As per it, Section 6A does not violate Articles 6 and 7 of the Constitution,
which pertain to citizenship rights
established at the Constitution’s commencement in 1950.
·
Instead, Section 6A addresses migrants
from erstwhile East Pakistan (Present Bangladesh),
specifically those who entered Assam between January 1, 1966, and March 24,
1971.
·
The majority judges, which includes Chief
Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Yeshwant (DY) Chandrachud and
Justices Surya Kant, M.M. Sundresh,
and Manoj Misra, upheld Section 6A of the
Citizenship Act, 1955.
·
Justice Jamshed Burjor (JB) Pardiwala dissented
in the verdict.
·
The Court ruled that changes in
demographics do not violate cultural rights protected under Article
29(1). It highlighted that different cultures can coexist peacefully
in Indian society.
14. INDIA-PAKISTAN EXTEND KARTARPUR
CORRIDOR AGREEMENT FOR FIVE YEARS
·
India and Pakistan have agreed to renew their pact on the Kartarpur
Sahib Corridor for an additional five years, just days after External Affairs
Minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to Islamabad, where he met with Pakistan Prime
Minister Shehbaz Sharif
·
The 4 km-long Kartarpur Corridor provides visa-free access
for Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, the final resting place
of Sikhism’s founder, Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
·
It Connects Darbar Sahib Gurdwara in Narowal district,
Pakistan, with the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district, Punjab, India.
15. TOPS TRAVEL DESTINATIONS FOR INDIAN
TRAVELLERS
·
Shillong has emerged as the most popular destination for
Indian travellers in 2025, as revealed by Skyscanner’s “Travel Trends Report”
·
Meghalaya’s capital topped the list, surpassing Baku
(Azerbaijan) and Langkawi (Malaysia)
·
The report indicates that 66% of Indians plan to travel more
in the coming year.
16. NCGG TRAINING FOR MALDIVIAN CIVIL
SERVANTS
·
The National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) has
successfully concluded its 34th Capacity Building Programme (CBP) for Maldivian
civil servants in New Delhi.
·
this two-week program, organized in collaboration with the
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)
17. E-MIGRATE V2.0 WEB PORTAL FOR SAFER
GLOBAL MOBILITY
·
Union Minister Dr S. Jaishankar, Ministry
of External Affairs (MEA) and Union Minister MansukhMandaviya, Ministry of
Labour and Employment (MoLE), launched the e-Migrate V2.0 web
portal and mobile app at SushmaSwarajBhawan,
New Delhi,
·
This aims to ensure safe and more regulated overseas travel for Indian workers.
·
This aligns with Goal 10 of the United
Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development:
“Reduce inequality within and among
countries”.
18. UNFPA HONORS INDIA’S LEADERSHIP IN
MATERNAL HEALTH AND FAMILY PLANNING
·
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
has recognized India’s extraordinary progress in advancing Maternal Health and Family Planning.
·
UNFPA, honored Government of
India(GoI), with a plaque and certificate,
·
MoHFW
aims to improve maternal health and work towards zero preventable maternal
deaths under the Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan Yojana (SUMAN),
PradhanMantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA),
and the Midwifery Services Initiative.
19. ICMR STUDY ON BRICS NATIONS:
CANCER CASES AND DEATHS
·
According to the Bengaluru
(Karnataka)-based Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR)-National
Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR)’s latest
study, cancer cases and deaths are expected to surge between 2022 and 2045 in
India and South Africa.
·
The study has mainly examined cancer
cases, deaths and the impact on the quality of life in the BRICS
countries – Brazil, Russia,
India, China and South Africa.
·
The study reported a 12.8% increase
in the incidence of cancer cases in India in 2025 compared to 2020.
·
The
study found that oral cancer, especially lip and mouth
cancers, are most prevalent among men in India compared to other countries.
·
As
per the study, prostate, lung and colorectum cancers
are some of the common cancers prevalent among men in all BRICS countries.
·
The
study revealed that breast cancer is dominated among women in all BRICS
countries, except China, while Cervical Cancer is
ranked as the 2nd most common type of cancer among women in India and South
Africa.
·
The breast cancer was
the main reason for the highest number of cancer-related deaths in India.
20. HURRICANE OSCAR HITS CUBA
·
Hurricane Oscar hit Cuba, leaving six dead and triggering
widespread blackouts, protests, and severe disruptions to daily life.
·
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country,
comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and 4,195
islands
·
Capital – Havana
