Daily updates 26,27,28 October 2019

National

1. Health Ministry to observe Vigilance Awareness Week

• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will observe the Vigilance Awareness Week from 28th October to 2nd November, 2019.
• The week will be observed with the theme of “Integrity- a way of life”. Vigilance Awareness Week will commence with the administration of ‘Integrity Pledge’ to the officers/staff of the Ministry by the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, to fight against corruption and commit to highest standards of honesty and integrity.
• The week will be observed as per directions of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), Government of India.
• CVC observes Vigilance Awareness Week every year to promote probity in public life and to achieve a corruption free society.

2. 'Maharatna' status granted to state-owned HPCL & PGCIL

• 'Maharatna' status has been granted by the Government to state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited.
• The status also comes with greater operational and financial autonomy.
• The grant of Maharatna status to the PSUs will impart enhanced powers to their Boards to take financial decisions.
• The Boards can structure and implement schemes relating to personnel and human resource management and training. They can also enter into technology joint ventures or other strategic alliances, among others.

State News

3. 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.

Agreements

4. USD 165 mn loan agreement for Odisha's Integrated Irrigation Project

• The Government of India, Government of Odisha and the World Bank have signed a USD 165 million loan agreement.
• The agreement is signed for Odisha's Integrated Irrigation Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture.
• The project will be implemented in rural areas vulnerable to droughts and largely dependent on rainfed agriculture.
• The project will strengthen the resilience of smallholder farmers against adverse climate by improving access to resilient seed varieties and production technologies, diversifying towards more climate-resilient crops, and improving access to better water management and irrigation services.
• The project will also support aquaculture in rehabilitated tanks, help farmers access affordable and quality fingerlings, and disseminate improved aquaculture practices and post-harvest management.
• The $165 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (Member of World Bank Group), has a 6-year grace period, and a maturity of 24 years.

5. IOB launches health care plus insurance policy

• Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) in association with Universal Sompo General Insurance Co Ltd. has launched upgraded health care plus insurance policy.
• It is a co-branded insurance scheme exclusively designed for IOB customers with a sum insured starting from ₹50,000 and going up to ₹15 lakh.
• The policy issuance will be made on a real-time basis at the IOB branches to its customers. Self, spouse, dependent children, dependent parents can be covered under the policy.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RBI Grade ‘B’ 2019:

• MD & CEO of IOB: Karnam Sekar; Founded: 10 February 1937.
• Headquarters: Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
• Tagline: Good people to grow with.

Appointments

6. Manohar Lal Khattar sworn in as CM of Haryana for a second term

• Senior BJP leader Manohar Lal Khattar was sworn in as the chief minister of Haryana for second straight time, with the support of Dushyant Chautala led Jannayak Janta Party.
• Dushyant Chautala took oath as deputy chief minister of Haryana. Governor administered him the oath of office and secrecy at a function at Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/SSC CGL:

•  Governor of Haryana: Satyadev Narayan Arya.

Ranks and Report

7. 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.

Summit and Conferences

8. “Global Bio-India 2019” Summit to be held in New Delhi

• The Global Bio-India 2019 will be held for the first time in India in New Delhi from 21st to 23rd November, 2019. It is one of the largest biotechnology stakeholders integration programme.
• India is hosting this mega event for the biotech community to attract investments and showcase our indigenous strengths and aspirations of the indigenous talent pool.
• A brochure of GlobalBio-India 2019 was also released at the Curtain Raiser ceremony.
• The DBT, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India will organize the event with Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council.
• The Summit is one of the largest biotechnology stakeholders conglomerate to be held in India for the first time.
• The event will bring together stakeholders from 30 countries, 250 start-ups, and 200 exhibitors.

Sports

9. Jasprit Bumrah, Smriti Mandhana win Wisden India Almanack Cricketer of the Year award

• Indian Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and batswoman Smriti Mandhana won the Wisden India Almanack Cricketer of the Year award.
• The other 3 winners are Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman, Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne and Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan.
• Smriti Mandhana became the third woman to win ‘Cricketer of the Year’, after Mithali Raj and Deepti Sharma. Former Indian cricketers Gundappa Viswanath and Lala Amarnath were inducted into the Wisden India Hall of Fame.
• Wisden India Almanack, annual cricket publication, also featured the name of Indian cricketer Mayank Agarwal for his splendid performance in the Test match against South Africa in a recently concluded series. 
• The book titled “Cricket Country: The Untold History of the First All India Team” by Prashant Kidambi was adjudged the Wisden India Book of the Year 2019 (Published by Penguin India).

10. Karnataka wins Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019-20

• Karnataka has won the 2019-20 Vijay Hazare Trophy. Karnataka defeated Tamil Nadu by 9 wickets in the finals of Vijay Hazare Trophy at Bengaluru.
• Karnataka won their 4th Vijay Hazare Trophy title with a dominant display against Tamil Nadu. Abhimanyu Mithun took a hat-trick in the summit clash.

11. Prithvi Sekhar wins gold in World Deaf Tennis Championship

• India’s unseeded Prithvi Sekhar beat 3rd seeded Jaroslav Smedek of the Czech Republic by 6-4, 6-3 points and clinched the men’s singles title in World Deaf Tennis Championships 2019.
• The 2nd Edition of World Deaf Tennis Championships 2019 was held in Antalya, Turkey.
• He had also won the men’s doubles bronze medal with Prashanth Dasharath Harsambhavi.

Important Days

12. World Day For Audiovisual Heritage: 27 October

• World Day for Audiovisual Heritage is celebrated all over the world on 27th of October.
• The theme for World Day for Audiovisual Heritage 2019 is “Engage the Past Through Sound and Images”.
• In 2005, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) General Conference declared October 27 as World Day for Audiovisual Heritage.

Obituaries

13. Former Gujarat Chief Minister Dilip Parikh passes away

• Former Gujarat Chief Minister Dilip Parikh passed away. He served as the 13th Chief Minister of Gujarat between October 1997 and March 1998.
• He was an industrialist and also served as president of the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Miscellaneous

14. CBSE & NCERT launches 'Tamanna' test for Class 9 & 10 students

• The Central Board of Secondary Education and National Council for Educational Research and Training have launched an online aptitude test called ‘Tamanna’.
• Tamanna stands for "Try And Measure Aptitude And Natural Abilities". Tamanna is an aptitude test that aims to help students of Class 9 and 10 to make a better choice of subjects, eventually helping them in making an informed decision while choosing subjects in Class 11 and 12.
• Tamanna provides information about strengths of students and there is no pass or fail in this test.