This is the current affairs of 9 & 10 October 2024. Here are questions and answers of daily current affairs for better preparation of competitive exams for government jobs.
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1. Renowned industrialist Ratan Tata passed away on 9 October 2024, which of these honors had he received?
a. Bharat Ratna
b. Padma Vibhushan
c. Ashok Chakra
d. None of these
Answer: b. Padma Vibhushan (year 2008)
– Ratan Tata Awarded Padma Vibhushan (2008) and Padma Bhushan (2000)
India Loses Ratan Tata
– Ratan Naval Tata, Honorary Chairman of Tata Sons, passed away on the night of October 9, 2024, at the age of 86.
– He was battling age-related illnesses in a hospital in Mumbai.
– His last rites will be conducted with state honors.
Just two days prior, news of his illness emerged, although he stated in a post that he was fine and there was nothing to worry about.
– Ratan Tata played a significant role in realizing the dream of owning a car for the middle class. He also had a crucial impact on India’s growth.
Known for his humble personality, Ratan Tata was a corporate giant. He built a unique image based on his grace and integrity.
Ratan Naval Tata
– Birth: December 28, 1937
– Parents: Naval Tata and Soonoo (his parents separated in his childhood, and he was raised by his grandmother; he was a descendant of Jamsetji Tata, the founder of the Tata Group).
– Education: Studied management at Cornell University (New York) in 1955 and later at Harvard Business School, USA.
Career at Tata Group
– 1962: Joined Tata Industries as an assistant.
– 1963: Joined the Iron and Steel Company for training.
– 1965: Joined TISCO as a Technical Officer.
– 1970: Joined TCS for a brief period.
– 1974: Joined Tata Sons as a director.
– 1981: Became Chairman of Tata Industries at the age of 21.
– 1991: Became Chairman of Tata Trust and Tata Sons after his uncle JRD Tata.
– 2000: Acquired Tetley, Corus, JLR, General Chemical, and Daewoo Motors.
– 2008: Launched the Tata Nano, the world’s cheapest car.
– December 2012: Stepped down as Chairman of Tata Sons after 50 years with the Tata Group and was appointed Honorary Chairman.
– Awards: Padma Vibhushan (2008), Padma Bhushan (2000).
– Date of Death: October 9, 2024, at the age of 86.
Ratan Tata’s Personal Life
– He was unmarried. Ratan Tata almost got married four times but never went through with it. He shares that once, he was ready to marry while he was in the US, but his grandmother called him back urgently, coinciding with the outbreak of war between India and China, which led to his delay and the girl marrying someone else.
First Indian to Fly the F16 Fighter Jet
– Ratan Tata became the first Indian to fly the F-16 Falcon fighter jet.
– He achieved this feat during the 2007 Bengaluru Airshow.
– No Indian had flown this fighter jet before him.
Stake Distribution in Tata Group
– Tata Trust: 66%
– Mistry Family: 18.4%
– Tata Group Companies: 13%
– Others: 2.6%
(Note: Tata Trust works in education, health, arts and culture, and livelihood generation.)
Major Companies of Tata Group Company and Market Cap (in Crores INR)
– Tata Consultancy Services (TCS): 15.39 lakh
– Tata Motors: 3.46 lakh
– Tata Steel: 2.08 lakh
– Titan: 30 lakh
– Tata Consumer Products: 1.11 lakh
– Trent: 2.92 lakh
– Tata Power: 1.47 lakh
– Indian Hotels Company: 98,770
– Voltas: 59,260
– Tata Communications: 55,579
– Tata Elxsi: 47,520
– Tata Technologies: 42,520
– Tata Investment Corporation: 33,140
– Tata Chemicals: 28,190
– Tata Teleservices: 15,470
– Nelco: 2,280
– Rallis India: 6,090
– Tata Coffee: 6,440
– Tata Metallics: 3,487 (Note: The Tata Group has over 100 companies.)
Total Revenue of the Group: ₹13.86 lakh crores
– In 2023-24, the total revenue of all Tata Group companies was ₹13.86 lakh crores.
– It provides employment to over 10 lakh people, and its products are part of our daily lives, ranging from tea leaves to watches, cars, and entertainment services.
Ratan Tata’s Words
– “The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a rapidly changing world, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”
– “If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together.”
– “Face challenges with patience and perseverance, as they are the foundation of success.”
– “I don’t believe in making the right decisions. I make decisions and then make them right.”
– “Take the stones that people throw at you and use them to build a monument.”
About Tata Group
– The Tata Group was founded by Jamsetji Tata in 1868.
– It is India’s largest multinational company, with 30 companies operating in 10 different businesses across more than 100 countries.
– N. Chandrasekaran is currently its Chairman.
A Lesson for Ford from Ratan Tata
– In 1998, Tata Motors launched India’s first indigenous car, Tata Indica.
– Ratan Tata took a personal interest in the project, but it did not succeed, leading the company to substantial losses.
– Tata Motors decided to save its car business within a year.
– In 1999, Tata began a deal with the American company Ford.
– During a meeting with Ford’s then-Chairman Bill Ford, he expressed disbelief at Tata starting a passenger car division without prior knowledge and experience, suggesting that it would be a favor to Tata by dealing with him.
– This was humiliating for Ratan Tata, who decided not to sell the car production unit.
Nine years later, in 2008, during the global recession, Ford found itself on the brink of bankruptcy.
– Ratan Tata (Tata Motors) then acquired Ford’s two popular brands, Jaguar and Land Rover, for $2.3 billion.
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2. When is Indian Foreign Service Day celebrated?
a. October 6
b. October 7
c. October 8
d. October 9
Answer: d. October 9
– This day has been celebrated since 2011.
– The Indian Foreign Service was established on October 9, 1946, and this day is celebrated to honor that.
3. When is the Raising Day of Territorial Army celebrated?
a. October 10
b. October 9
c. October 8
d. October 7
Answer: b. October 9
– On October 9, 2024, the 75th Foundation Day was celebrated across the country.
– This day is observed in memory of the establishment of the Territorial Army by India’s first Governor-General, C. Rajagopalachari, on October 9, 1949.
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4. When is World Post Day celebrated?
a. October 7
b. October 8
c. October 9
d. October 10
Answer: c. October 9
Theme for 2024:
– 150 years of enabling communication and empowering peoples across nations.
– This day is celebrated worldwide on October 9 to highlight the utility of postal services.
– It marks the establishment of the Universal Postal Union on this day in 1874.
– This day is declared by the United Nations.
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5. When is National Post Day celebrated?
a. October 7
b. October 8
c. October 9
d. October 10
Answer: d. October 10
– This day is celebrated every year on October 10 and is an extension of World Post Day, which is observed on October 9.
– National Postal Week is celebrated in India from October 9 to October 13.
– For over 150 years, the postal department has been the backbone of the country.
– It has played a significant role as a primary means of communication in the nation.
– In 1854, Governor-General Lord Dalhousie laid the foundation of India Post.
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6. When is World Mental Health Day celebrated?
a. October 7
b. October 8
c. October 9
d. October 10
Answer: d. October 10
Theme for 2024:
– Mental Health At Work
– This day is declared by the World Health Organization (WHO).
– According to the World Health Organization, one in eight people globally lives with mental health issues, and concerningly, these conditions are rising among adolescents and young people.
– According to UNICEF, one in seven Indians aged 15 to 24 feels depressed.
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7. When was World Sight Day celebrated in the year 2024?
a. October 7
b. October 8
c. October 9
d. October 10
Answer: d. October 10
– The purpose of celebrating World Sight Day is to raise awareness about visual impairments and blindness.
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8. When is International Day of the Girl Child celebrated?
a. October 11
b. October 10
c. October 9
d. October 8
Answer: a. October 11
Theme for 2024:
– Girls’ vision for the future
– International Day of the Girl Child was declared by the United Nations in 2011.
– It was first celebrated on October 11, 2012.
– This day highlights the issues that hinder young girls from leading a good life.
Note – National Girl Child Day – January 24
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9. PM Modi launched three supercomputers in institutions located in Delhi, Pune and Kolkata in October 2024, name it?
a. Param Dham Supercomputer
b. Rudra Supercomputer
c. Param Rudra Supercomputer
d. Abhikalitra Supercomputer
Answer: c. Param Rudra Supercomputer
– To promote science and technology, India has launched the Param Rudra Supercomputer.
– These supercomputers have been developed under India’s National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).
– The cost of these supercomputers is ₹130 crores.
This indigenous supercomputer uses state-of-the-art hardware and software technologies.
– Most of its parts were manufactured and assembled in India.
– In which institutes in three cities were the
supercomputers installed:
– Inter-University Accelerator Center (IUAC) in Delhi: The Param Rudra Supercomputer will advance research in fields like material science and atomic physics.
– Giant Metre-wave Radio Telescope (GMRT) in Pune: The supercomputer will be used to study fast radio bursts (FRBs) and other astronomical programs.
– SN Bose Centre in Kolkata: This supercomputing technology will be used for advanced research in fields like physics, cosmology, and earth science.
National Supercomputing Mission (NSM):
– The Government of India launched this mission in 2015.
– The mission is managed by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
It is being implemented by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune and IISc, Bengaluru.
– The three supercomputers (Param Rudra) launched under the National Supercomputing Mission are part of this mission.
– The goal of this mission is to strengthen India’s supercomputing infrastructure in fields like education, research, MSMEs, and startups.
Under this mission, the first indigenously assembled supercomputer, Param Shivay, was installed at IIT BHU in 2019.
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10. RBI did not change the repo rate for the ninth time in the bi-monthly monetary policy review (October 2024), what is this repo rate?
a. 5.5%
b. 5.8%
c. 6.2%
d. 6.5%
Answer: d. 6.5%
– The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 6.50% for the tenth consecutive time.
– The meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) was held in October 2024.
What is the Repo Rate?
– In simple terms, banks lend us money, and we pay interest on that loan.
– Similarly, banks also need large sums of money for their daily operations, and they borrow from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
– The rate at which the RBI charges interest on these loans is called the repo rate.
How does the repo rate affect the common man?
– The RBI has a powerful tool to combat inflation in the form of the repo rate.
– When inflation is very high, the RBI tries to reduce the money flow in the economy by increasing the repo rate.
– When banks can obtain loans at lower interest rates (i.e., when the repo rate is lower), they can also provide cheaper loans to their customers.
Conversely, if the RBI raises the repo rate, borrowing will become more expensive for banks, and they will pass on this higher cost to their customers, making loans more expensive.
Reverse Repo Rate
– This is the opposite of the repo rate.
– When banks have excess money left after their daily operations, they deposit this money with the RBI.
– The RBI pays interest to the banks on this deposited amount.
– The rate at which the RBI pays interest on this amount is called the reverse repo rate.
Ex-officio Chairman of the Monetary Policy Committee – Shaktikanta Das, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
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