Today's Event – 20th October 2021

• 1781 – The Patent of Toleration, providing limited freedom of worship, is approved in Austria.

• 1803 – The United States Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase.

• 1818 – The Convention of 1818 is signed between the United States and the United Kingdom, which settles the Canada–United States border on the 49th parallel for most of its length.

• 1827 – In the Battle of Navarino, a combined Turkish and Egyptian fleet is defeated by British, French and Russian naval forces in the last significant battle fought with wooden sailing ships.

• 1883 – Peru and Chile sign the Treaty of Ancón, by which the Tarapacá province is ceded to the latter, bringing an end to Peru's involvement in the War of the Pacific.

• 1904 – Chile and Bolivia sign the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, delimiting the border between the two countries.

• 1935 – The Long March, a mammoth retreat undertaken by the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party a year prior, ends.

• 1944 – Liquefied natural gas leaks from storage tanks in Cleveland and then explodes, leveling 30 blocks and killing 130 people.

• 1944 – American general Douglas MacArthur fulfills his promise to return to the Philippines when he comes ashore during the Battle of Leyte.

• 1947 – The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigation into Communist infiltration of the Hollywood film industry, resulting in a blacklist that prevents some from working in the industry for years.

• 1951 – The "Johnny Bright incident" occurs during a football game between the Drake Bulldogs and Oklahoma A&M Aggies.

• 1952 – The Governor of Kenya declares a state of emergency and begins arresting hundreds of suspected leaders of the Mau Mau Uprising.

• 1961 – The Soviet Union performs the first armed test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, launching an R-13 from a Golf-class submarine.

• 1962 – China launches simultaneous offensives in Ladakh and across the McMahon Line, igniting the Sino-Indian War.

• 1962 – China launches simultaneous offensives in Ladakh and across the McMahon Line, igniting the Sino-Indian War.

• 1973 – "Saturday Night Massacre": United States President Richard Nixon fires U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refuse to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who is finally fired by Robert Bork.

• 1973 – The Sydney Opera House is opened by Elizabeth II after 14 years of construction.

• 1976 – The ferry George Prince is struck by a ship while crossing the Mississippi River. Seventy-eight passengers and crew die, and only 18 people aboard the ferry survive.

• 1981 – Two police officers and an armored car guard are killed during an armed robbery carried out by members of the Black Liberation Army and Weather Underground.

• 1982 – During the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem, 66 people are crushed to death in the Luzhniki disaster.

• 1986 – Aeroflot Flight 6502 crashes while landing at Kuibyshev Airport (now Kuromoch International Airport) in Kuibyshev (now present day Samara, Russia),killing 70 people

• 2003 – The Sloan Great Wall, once the largest cosmic structure known to humanity, is discovered by students at Princeton University.

• 2011 – Libyan Civil War: Rebel forces capture Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and his son Mutassim in his hometown of Sirte and kill him shortly thereafter, ending the first Libyan civil war.

• 2017 – Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declare victory in the Raqqa campaign.

National Events- 

•  Ruling YSR Congress Party cadre on Tuesday allegedly ransacked Telugu Desam Party's headquarters at Mangalagiri near here, offices at Visakhapatnam and other places, blaming that a spokesperson of the opposition party made objectionable comments against the Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in a press conference.

•  Former BJP Member of Parliament Babul Supriyo seems to be quite undecided whether the BJP “trusts” him  or distrusts him or vice versa.

• In the backdrop of a steep hike in the domestic oil and diesel prices, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with CEOs and experts of the global oil and gas sector on Wednesday via video conferencing. 

• A latest data analysis has shown that compared to the previous three years, there has been an increase in emissions due to crop fires in 2019-2020 by 12.8 per cent, taking India’s global contribution to 12.2 per cent. 

• The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Tuesday condemned the incidents of attacks on temples and Hindus in Bangladesh and demanded the Indian Government to step in and save the community from the atrocities. “The Hindu society won’t tolerate inhuman atrocities being committed on Hindus.

International Events- 

•  Agencies are gearing up to vaccinate all of Afghanistan's children under 5 against polio for the first time since 2018, after the Taliban agreed to the campaign, the World Health Organization says.

•  The Taliban have recruited women cadres in its fold to raise a women's wing with the twin agenda of projecting itself as pro-women and countering its anti-women image through these women who have graduated from Quranic schools.

• China’s ruling Communist Party has appointed Wang Junzheng, sanctioned by the US, Britain, EU and Canada for his alleged role in the human rights violations against Uygur Muslims in Xinjiang, as the head of its party unit in the sensitive Himalayan region of Tibet. 

•  North Korea on Tuesday fired at least one ballistic missile, which South Korea’s military said was likely designed to be launched from a submarine, in what is possibly the most significant demonstration of the North’s military might since U.S. President Joe Biden took office.

• Crowds gathered Tuesday outside prisons around Myanmar, waiting for at least a glimpse of friends and relatives who were being freed under an amnesty for people arrested for protesting against military rule.

Job alerts-

• Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited Jobs for Assistant Accountant, Assistant Review Officer, Camp Assistant and other posts. Last date Nov 9, 2021

• Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES Goa) Jobs for Fire Fighter, LDC, Junior Stenographer and other posts. Last date Oct 29, 2021

• Directorate of Medical Education & Research (DMER Haryana) Jobs for Staff Nurse and other posts. Last date Nov 8, 2021

• Indian Navy Jobs for Sailor AA & SSR and other posts. Last date Oct 25, 2021

• Kerala Public Service Commission (KPSC) Jobs for Senior Civil Police Officer and other posts. Last date Nov 3, 2021

Sports-

•  Returning to action after a break, double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu saw off Turkey’s Neslihan Yigit in straight games to join compatriots Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma in the second round of the Denmark Open here on Tuesday.

•  Picking Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s brain is on KL Rahul’s checklist for the next few weeks as he wants to utilise every bit of advice from Team India’s mentor, who, according to the opener, always instils a sense of calm into the dressing room.

•  Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has said that his hamstring is on the path of recovery and he will probably bowl in the next warm-up match against India on Wednesday. Stoinis, who opted out of Australia’s T20 tours of the West Indies and Bangladesh, suffered an untimely hamstring injury in the IPL 2021.

•  Bangladesh beat Oman by 26 runs in their Group B match of the T20 World Cup here on Tuesday.

• India’s Harbhajan Singh and Javagal Srinath were on Tuesday awarded life membership of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC),joining 16 other cricketers who were given the honour this year. The MCC, based at Lord’s, is the custodian of cricket laws.  

Technology-

•  Google on Tuesday finally launched the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro with Tensor chipset to improve AI functionalities. Pixel 6, which starts at $599 and the Pixel 6 Pro, at $899, can be ordered now.

•  The new Data safety section will help developers with a transparent way to show potential users of their apps, if and how they collect data to share and protect user data

•  OnePlus has rolled out the new OxygenOS updates for its OnePlus 8 series smartphones.

•  With the launch of Google Pixel 6 and Google Pixel 6 Pro smartphones, the company has also started to roll out Android 12 OS for its smartphones.

• Android 12 finally arrived on Pixel smartphones. The tech giant Google launched its much-awaited Pixel 6 series smartphones last night (October 19).

Economy – 

• Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday raised the outlook for the Indian banking system to ‘stable’ from ‘negative’ citing moderate deterioration of asset quality since the onset of the pandemic and likely pick-up in credit growth with economic recovery.  

•  The coal stock situation at thermal power projects has improved further as the number of non-pit head projects having less than four days of coal (supercritical stock) reduced to 58 on Monday from 69 a week ago, Government data showed. 

• After scaling the 62,000-mark for the first time, the 30-share BSE Sensex succumbed to selling pressure in fag-end trade to close 49.54 points or 0.08 per cent lower at 61,716.05. Similarly, the Nifty shed 58.30 points or 0.32 per cent to close at 18,418.75. It touched a new intra-day record of 18,604.45 in early deals.

• The Middle East is expected to see significant economic growth this year, but also soaring inflation and food prices, as coronavirus vaccines are unevenly rolled out across the region, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday.

•  Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani said that policies to manage and overcome the climate change crisis must be equitable and pragmatic. Speaking to business leaders on the sidelines of the UK’s Global Investment Summit at the London Science Museum, he noted that green policies and climate action not based on equitable growth will struggle in the long run.

Local –

• 2500 kg beef seized in Thane (Maharashtra). Driver in police custody

•  Delhi government to compensate farmers for crop loss

•  Karnataka sets up help desk for people stranded in Karnataka

•  Covid-wary families in West Bengal continue Laxmi Puja without priests

• Gujarat University started giving Ph.D. in yoga

GK – 

Praggnanandhaa, who was seen in the news recently, is associated with which game?

[A] Cricket
[B] Chess
[C] Soccer
[D] Volleyball

“Collective Security Treaty Organisation”, which is an intergovernmental military alliance, comprises how many full-time members?

[A] 17
[B] 13
[C] 11
[D] 6

Where is NATO’s headquarters located?

[A] Belgium
[B] USA
[C] Russia
[D] France

As per the study conducted by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, which state/UT top in electric cooking?

[A] Delhi and Haryana
[B] Maharashtra and Goa
[C] Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh
[D] Delhi and Tamil Nadu

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has unveiled the “Bhoodan Grove” plaque in which country?

[A] USA
[B] UK
[C] France
[D] Israel