Current affairs on 31 October 2020

Current affairs on 31 October 2020

• Sir Sean Connery, Oscar winner and 1st actor to play James Bond, dies at 90

  Sir Sean Connery, the first actor to portray James Bond, has passed away aged 90. He had also won the Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category for his role in 1987 film 'The Untouchables'. Some of his popular films include 'Marnie', 'Murder on the Orient Express', 'The Man Who Would Be King' and 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'.

• Telangana CM Chandrasekhar Rao launches 'Dharani' Portal

  Telangana Chief Minister, K Chandrasekhar Rao has launched the web portal 'Dharani' for land and property registrations. The state government will now undertake all the property transactions, including registrations and mutations, through a web portal.

• World Psoriasis Day 2020

  World Psoriasis Day is commemorated by International Federation of Psoriasis Associations (IFPA) annually on 29th October. It aims to create awareness and promoting empowerment, taking action regarding improving the quality of life for citizens with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.

• International Internet Day 2020

  International Internet Day is observed on 29th October every year. It aims to honour a momentous day in the history of telecommunications and technology. This day also highlights the sending of the 1st electronic message which was conveyed from one computer to another computer in the year 1969.

• World Cities Day: 31 October

  The United Nations General Assembly has designated the 31st of October as World Cities Day. The Day is celebrated to promote the international community's interest in global urbanization, push forward cooperation among countries in meeting opportunities and addressing challenges of urbanization, and contributing to sustainable urban development around the world.

• Om Puri awarded Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously at IIFFB 2020

  Late Indian actor, Om Puri was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the third edition of the India International Film Festival of Boston (IIFFB 2020). The award was received by his wife Nandita Puri.

• National Unity Day: 31 October

  In India, the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas or National Unity Day is observed every year on October 31 since 2014, to commemorate the birth anniversary of the Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

• India-Mexico holds 8th Joint Commission Meeting

  India and Mexico recently held the eighth Joint Commission Meeting. The countries appreciated the recent progress in the bilateral trade between them. The bilateral cooperation includes areas such as trade, agriculture, investment, health and education.

• Public Affairs Index: Kerala, Goa & Chandigarh best governed states

  The Public Affairs Index, 2020 was released by Public Affairs Centre, a non-profit organisation. According to the index, Kerala was the best governed the state. The report was released by the committee headed by a former Indian Space Research Organisation chairman Kasturirangan.

• Malabar Exercise to be held in Bay of Bengal

  The first phase of Malabar Exercise is to be held in Bay of Bengal between November 3, 2020 and November 6, 2020. The navies of India, Japan, US and Australia are to participate in the exercise. The second phase of the exercise is to be held between November 17, 2020 and November 20, 2020.

• India extends $ 1 billion Line of Credit to Central Asia

  India announced an additional $ 1 billion Line of Credit for Central Asian countries to widen connectivity and energy partnership among other sectors at the meeting of India-Central Asia Dialogue held virtually with participation of Afghanistan.

• DBS named Asia's Safest Bank for 10th consecutive year

  DBS Bank announced that it has been named "Safest Bank in Asia" for the tenth consecutive year by New York-based trade publication Global Finance. DBS is also fourth-safest among the world's commercial banks and 14thon Global Finance's list of the World's 50 Safest Banks.

• IBM, Indian Oil Corporation collaborate for digital services

  Tech giant IBM said it has collaborated with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) to transform the latter's customer experience using digital tools. Around 12,400 IOCL distributors covering about 130 million consumers can now use the IndianOil One mobile app and portal, developed by IBM Services, a statement said.

• 8000MW renewable park to light up India-Pak border areas in Rajasthan

  India's border areas with Pakistan in Rajasthan would soon be illuminated with renewable energy as the state government will soon ink an MoU with National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to establish Ultra Mega Renewal Energy Power Park, government officials said.