31st October and 01st November 2021 Daily GK Update: Read Daily GK, Current Affairs for Bank Exam

Here is the Daily GK Update of 31st October and 01st November 2021 covering the following news headlines: IRCTC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Samudrayan Project, Sardar Patel Leadership Centre, Dairy Sahakar” scheme, World Vegan Day.

Daily GK updates are incorporated with the important news that made the current affairs headlines for banking or other competitive exams. Daily GK Update is the complete bag of the important news that is held all day long. One should have complete knowledge about banking terms, current affairs news, etc. So, here is the GK update of 31st October and 01st November 2021 to help you prepare the Current affairs part. After reading this section, you can successfully attempt Current Affairs Quiz.

Top 17 Daily GK Updates: National & International News

Here is providing below the top 17 important Daily General Knowledge GK 2021 updates with national & international news.

National News

1. Dr Jitendra Singh dedicates ‘Sardar Patel Leadership Centre’ to the Nation

• Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh has dedicated to the nation “Sardar Patel Leadership Centre” at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie.
• The facility was inaugurated on the occasion of Rashtriya Ekta Diwas on October 31, 2021, which marks the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
• The Sardar Patel Leadership Centre aims to lay the foundation capacity building for future generations of Civil Servants from India and Abroad, as visualised by the Father of All India Services.
• The Centre aims to emerge as a Huge Resource Centre to provide continuous study and learning opportunities to Civil Servants so that they learn from the best practices of leadership across the world while remaining connected with their cultural ethos, values and roots.

2. Agriculture Minister inaugurated “Apple Festival” in Jammu and Kashmir

• Union Agriculture Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar and Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha has virtually inaugurated Apple Festival, organized for the first time in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. It will provide a better platform to apple growers and other stakeholders.
• With an annual production of more than 2 million metric tonnes, apple from J&K contributes to 87% of the national production and is linked to the livelihood of about 30% of the population of Jammu and Kashmir.

International News

3. Microsoft surpasses Apple to become world’s most valuable company

• Microsoft Corp. has surpassed Apple Inc. to become the world’s most valuable publicly-traded company by market capitalisation.
• At market close on October 29, 2021, Apple stood at about $2.46 trillion while Microsoft reached nearly $2.49 trillion.
• Apple had held the top position for more than a year. Microsoft became the second US public firm to surpass a $2 trillion market value in June, driven by expectations that its dominance in cloud computing and enterprise software will expand further in a post-coronavirus future.

Appointments News

4. Isha Ambani appointed to Smithsonian’s board of trustees

• Board member of Reliance Jio Infocomm, Reliance Retail and Reliance Foundation, Isha Ambani was appointed on the Board of Trustees of the prestigious Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art.
• The appointment is for 4 years. Apart from Isha Ambani, Carolyn Brehm, founder and CEO of the consulting firm Brehm Global Ventures LLC and lecturer, and Peter Kimmelman, also joined the board. Antoine van Agtmael is the chair of the museum’s board of trustees.

5. GoI appoints Ashok Bhushan as NCLAT Chairperson

• The Centre has appointed former Supreme Court Judge Justice Ashok Bhushan as the new Chairperson of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), for a period of four years or until he attains the age of 70 years, whichever is the earliest.
• He was the former Chief Justice of Kerala High Court. NCLAT was formed by the government under Section 410 of the Companies Act, 2013.
• Apart from this, Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar has been appointed as the new President of the quasi-judicial body, National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for five years or till he attains the age of 67 years. Justice Sudhakar was the former Chief Justice of Manipur High Court.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• National Company Law Appellate Tribunal Founded: 1 June 2016.

Agreements News

6. Kotak Mahindra Bank partnered NPCI to launch Rupay Credit Cards ‘Veer’

• Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) has partnered with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch Kotak credit cards on the RuPay network named ‘Veer’ for Indian armed forces i.e. the Army, Navy, and Air Force personnel.
• In India’s 75th year of Independence, the first credit card to be introduced by KMBL on the RuPay network is the ‘Veer’ credit card, exclusively for the armed forces.
• The launch of Veer credit card for the armed forces marks Kotak’s 1st credit card under the RuPay network.
• The credit card is available in two variants as Kotak RuPay Veer Platinum and Kotak RuPay Veer Select. These contactless cards come with a zero joining fee and provide multiple exciting benefits to cardholders.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• Kotak Mahindra Bank Founded: 2003;
• Kotak Mahindra Bank Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra;
• Kotak Mahindra Bank MD & CEO: Uday Kotak;
• Kotak Mahindra Bank Tagline: Let’s make money simple.

7. IRCTC & Truecaller partnered to reduce fraud in the railways

• The Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) has partnered with Truecaller India to provide passengers with greater trust in communication. This partnership aims to reduce fraud in the railways.
• Under this partnership, the integrated National Railways Helpline 139 has been verified by Truecaller Business Identity solutions. This partnership aims to assure the passengers that critical communications such as booking details and PNR status are delivered only by IRCTC.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• IRCTC Founded: 27th September 1999;
• IRCTC Headquarters: New Delhi;
• IRCTC CMD (Additional Charge): Rajni Hasija.

Schemes and Committees News

8. Union Minister Amit Shah launches the “Dairy Sahakar” scheme

• The Union Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah has launched the “Dairy Sahakar” scheme at Anand, Gujarat during a function organised by Amul to celebrate the 75th Foundation Year of Amul.
• The total outlay of the Dairy Sahakar scheme is Rs 5000 crore. The scheme will be implemented by National Cooperative Development Corporation ( NCDC) under the Ministry of Cooperation.
• The scheme will supplement the existing efforts of strengthening the dairy sector in the country, doubling the farmer’s income as well as realizing the vision of ‘from cooperation to prosperity’.
• Under the scheme, NCDC will extend financial support to eligible cooperatives for activities like bovine development, milk procurement, processing, quality assurance, value addition, branding, packaging, marketing, transportation and storage of milk and milk products, exports of dairy products among others.

9. Union Minister Jitendra Singh launches ‘Samudrayan Project’

• The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences Dr Jitendra Singh officially launched India’s First Manned Ocean Mission called the “Samudrayan project” at Chennai. The Unique Ocean Mission aims to have deep underwater manned vehicles for carrying out subsea activities.
• With this technology, India joins the elite club of nations such as the USA, Russia, Japan, France and China to have such underwater vehicles.
• The Unique Ocean Mission aims to have deep underwater manned vehicles for carrying out subsea activities.
• The deepwater manned submersible has been codenamed as the ‘MATSYA 6000’.
• It is developed by the Chennai-based National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT).
• The technology will help to conduct deep-ocean exploration of the non-living resources located at a depth of about 1000 and 5500 meters, such as polymetallic manganese nodules, gas hydrates, hydro-thermal sulphides and cobalt crusts.

Economy News

10. Govt approves interest rate on EPF for FY21 at 8.5%

• Ministry of Finance has approved the interest rate on employees’ provident fund (EPF) deposits for 2020-21 at 8.5%. The rate has been kept unchanged as for the year 2019-20.
• EPF is one fixed-income instrument that is completely tax-free under the exempt-exempt-exempt (EEE) regime, along with PPF and the Sukanya Samriddhi Account. Now the labour ministry will notify the interest rate for it to come into effect.

11. ADB approves $250 million loan for India’s NICDP

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 250 million (about Rs 1,875 crore) loan to support India’s National Industrial Corridor Development Program (NICDP).
• This is the first subprogram of the programmatic USD 500 million loans to develop 11 industrial corridors spanning 17 states.
• NICDP aims to develop world-class industrial nodes that are supported by efficient urban agglomerations and multimodal connectivity, including international gateways like ports and airports and inclusive, climate-resilient, and sustainable infrastructure.

Ranks and Reports News

12. Public Affairs Index 2021: Kerala topped in governance performance

• According to the 6th edition of the Public Affairs Index (PAI 2021) report by the Public Affairs Centre (PAC), a Bengaluru- based non-profit think tank, the top three slots have been taken by Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana among 18 large states.
• PAI 2021 highlights the state government’s quality governance and especially the state’s government involvement over the curb of Covid-19.

Toppers among large states

• Kerala (1.618)
• Tamil Nadu (0.857)
• Telangana (0.891)

Toppers among small states

• Sikkim (1.617)
• Meghalaya (1.144)
• Mizoram (1.123)

Toppers among Union Territories

• Puducherry (1.182)
• Jammu and Kashmir (0.705)
• Chandigarh (0.628)

Important Days

13. World Vegan Day: 01 November

• World Vegan Day is observed globally on 1st November every year. This day is celebrated to spread the benefits of veganism for humans, non-human animals, and the natural environment.
• Vegan Day is an opportunity to promote the benefits of a vegan diet and veganism in general.
• The day was established in 1994 by Louise Wallis, then Chair of The Vegan Society in the United Kingdom, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the organisation and the coining of the terms “vegan” and “veganism”.
• The President of the Vegan Society decided to elect the date of the 1st of November. This is now recognised as the date on which the Vegan Society was founded and on which Vegan Day would be observed.

Obituaries News

14. Australian legend Alan Davidson passes away

• Australian legend Alan Davidson has passed away. The bowling allrounder, who made his Test debut against England in 1953, represented Australia 44 times in the longest format.
• The left-arm pacer had finished his career with a stunning average of 20.53, having picked up 186 wickets.

15. Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar passes away

• Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar passed away due to a fatal cardiac arrest. He was the son of legendary actor Rajkumar. He was known to fans as “Appu” – after the 2002 film. He was also a singer and was admired for his dance skills.
• Puneeth was the presenter of Kannadada Kotyadhipathi, the Kannada version of the game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

Miscellaneous News

16. National Small Matchbox Manufacturers Association increases price of matchbox

• National Small Matchbox Manufacturers Association has increased the price of a matchbox from Rs.1 to Rs. 2 per box.
• This will come into effect from December 01, 2021. The increase in the price of matchbox has been done after 14 years since last increase in 2007 from 50 paise to Re. 1.
• However, with the increase in the price of matchboxes, the number of matchsticks in each box has also been increased from 36 matchsticks to 50 matchsticks. The increase in price was necessary as the price of all the 14 key raw materials of the matchstick has increased.

17. Chennai-Mysore-Chennai Shatabdi Express gets IMS certification

• The Chennai-Mysore-Chennai Shatabdi Express has become the first train of Southern Railway to receive Integrated Management Systems (IMS) certification. It got the certificate for world-class maintenance of the train, environment-friendly resources and convenient and safe travel of the passengers.
• It is also the first Shatabdi train and the only second mail/express train of Indian Railways to receive this prestigious certification. The IMS certificate provided are ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018. The first train of Indian Railways to be IMS certified is Habibganj-Hazrat Nizamuddin-Habibganj Bhopal Express.