1st November 2015 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

Today (1st November) is World Vegan Day.
- This day was established in 1994 by Louise Wallis, then President & Chair of The Vegan Society, United Kingdom to commemorate its 50th anniversary and in 2014 the 70th anniversary of the term 'vegan', 'veganism', and the establishment of The Vegan Society.
Vice President Hamid Ansari left on a five-day two-nation official visit to Indonesia and Brunei.
- Note : Indonesia will be the first stopover for the vice president, who is going there at the invitation of his Indonesian counterpart Jusuf Kalla.

National Affairs

Railways launched a new scheme 'VIKALP' today.
- Under Vikalp scheme, wait-listed passengers can get confirmed accommodation in next alternative train if they opt for the option while booking their tickets online.
- This alternative train accommodation scheme will take off in trains running on Delhi-Lucknow and Delhi-Jammu sectors from today on a pilot basis.
The world famous Simlipal National Park and Tiger Reserve in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district reopened for tourists today.
- The world famous tiger reserve remains closed for tourists every year during monsoon and reopens in October or November.
- Note : Simlipal National Park is the largest Tiger Reserve of Odisha.
In what a major step towards tackling the menace of wheat and paddy straw burning in Punjab, the State government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for setting up a bio-ethanol refinery.
- The MoU was inked with a consortium of Beta Renewables, Novozymes and CVC India Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. for an estimated project worth Rs. 950 crore, during the Progressive Punjab Investor Summit, 2015.
- Punjab’s Renewable Energy Minister : Bikram Singh Majithia

New Appointments

Navtej Singh Sarna, Secretary (West) in External Affairs Ministry, was today named the next High Commissioner to Britain.
- Mr Sarna, a 1980-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, will replace Mr Ranjan Mathai in London.

Deaths

World-renowned Archaeologist and pre-historian of international repute and former director of the Deccan College, Professor VN Misra, passed away.
- Misra was the recipient of the prestigious VS Wakankar Award by the Madhya Pradesh government with for his contribution to pre-history.

Business & Economy

Boosting the government's ambitious 'Digital India' drive, social media giant Facebook has come forward to facilitate state-run BSNL in setting up 100 wi-fi sites in rural areas of western and southern India.
- Facebook will spend Rs 5 crore per annum for sponsoring these 100 wi-fi hotspots in the country.
As per the annual report on world's most valuable nation brands compiled by Brand Finance, India has moved up one position to become the world's seventh most valued nation brand with an increase of 32% in its brand value to 2.1 billion dollars.

Science & Technology

The supersonic cruise missile BRAHMOS was today successfully tested from Indian Navy’s newest stealth destroyer INS Kochi on the west coast of India, validating yet again its strike power.

Sports

Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis lifted their ninth title together this year, beating the Spanish pair of Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro to clinch the WTA Finals women’s doubles trophy on Sunday.
- All the 9 titles won by Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis Pair in 2015
- - Wimbledon 2015 - Ekaterina Makarova / Elena Vesnina (Russia)
  - US Open 2015 - Casey Dellacqua(Australia) / Yaroslava Shvedovar (Russia)
  - Indian Wells (BNP Paribas Open 2015) - Ekaterina Makarova / Elena Vesnina (Russia)
  - Miami Open 2015 - Ekaterina Makarova / Elena Vesnina (Russia)
  - Charleston Open 2015 - Casey Dellacqua (Aus) / Darija Jurak (Croatia)
  - Guangzhou open 2015 - Shilin Xu / Xiaodi you (China)
  - Wuhan open 2015 - Irina-Camelia Begu / Monica Niculescu (Romanian)
  - ChinaOpen 2015 - Hao-Ching Chan / Yung-Jan Chan (Taipei)
  - WTA Tour Championships 2015 - Garbine Muguruza / Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain)
New Zealand has lifted the Rugby World Cup 2015 for a record third time by defeating Australia.
- Note : New Zealand became first team ever to retain the title.