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Current Affairs Capsule – 28 October 2019

October 28, 2019
Posted by: Team CP
Category: Current Affairs Capsule

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US President Donald Trump announced on 27th October that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had died in a raid by the US Special Forces in northwest Syria. Baghdadi killed himself during the raid by detonating a suicide vest. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as the Daesh, gained global prominence in 2014 when it drove Iraqi government forces out of the key cities in Iraq. The group was designated as a terrorist organization by the United Nations. Baghdadi headed Islamic State between 2013 and 2019.
The first-ever Ladakh Literature Festival is going to be organised by the Ladakh administration from 29th October to 31st October, 2019 to celebrate the uniqueness of the region in the fields of literature, art and culture. The festival now will be held every year at places like the historic Leh Palace and the Central Asian Museum.
The Union Ministry of Law and Justice has amended the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 on 22nd October allowing senior citizens and person with disabilities (PwD) in the absentee voter list. The amendment was a recommendation of the Election Commission. Absentee voter refers to a vote cast by someone who is unable to go to a polling station. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, about 60.14% of absentee voters voted through e-postal ballot while in the general elections of 2014, this was just 4%.
During the 29th Ministerial Meet of the BASIC countries that was held in Beijing on 25th & 26th October, 2019, the ministers emphasized on the comprehensive implementation of the Paris Agreement and also underlined the importance of effective and sustained implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The BASIC countries are a block of four large newly industrialized countries – Brazil, South Africa, India and China – formed by an agreement on 28th November, 2009.
The 58th raising day of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) was observed on 24th October, 2019. Raised on 24th October, 1962 under the CRPF Act, the ITBP is one of the seven Central Armed Forces. There are 56 service battalion and specialist battalions that constitute the ITBP on the whole. The ITBP guards the Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh, which is over 3,488 km of the Indo-China border.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited have been accorded the ‘Maharatna’ status by the Department of Public Enterprises, under the Union Ministry of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises. It will impart greater operational and financial autonomy, thus enhancing powers to their Boards to take financial decisions. Incorporated in 1974, the HPCL is an Indian oil and natural gas company, which is headquartered at Mumbai, Maharashtra. Founded in 1989 with headquarters in Gurugram, Haryana, the Power Grid Company is India’s largest electric power transmission utility firm.
India, Nepal and Bhutan have drafted a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create a trans-boundary wildlife conservation ‘Peace Park’. This park will have biodiversity-rich landscapes in the adjoining areas of the three countries. It will be an extension of the Manas National Park, which is a UNESCO Natural World Heritage site, Project Tiger reserve and a biosphere reserve.
The Sakharov Prize for Human Rights 2019 has been awarded by the European Union (EU) Parliament to Uighur intellectual Ilham Tohti (49), who has been jailed and sentenced to life imprisonment in China for separatism. He has worked for more than 20 years on the situation of Uighur minority and on fostering inter-ethnic dialogue and understanding in China. Constituted in the memory of Soviet physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, the prize is awarded annually for free speech.