Daily updates 2 and 3 October 2019

National

1. Amit Shah flags off Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah flagged off Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express from the New Delhi Railway Station. The first commercial run of the train will start from 5th October.
• Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express is a big gift for Jammu and Kashmir's development and for promoting religious tourism. This is the second Vande Bharat Express. The first one runs in between Delhi and Varanasi.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/IBPS RRB Mains:

• Railways Board chairman: Vinod Kumar Yadav.

2. Palestine issues commemorative stamp to honour Gandhi on 150th birth anniversary

• Palestine has released a commemorative postage stamp on Mahatma Gandhi, honouring his legacy and values, to mark the 150 birth anniversary of the world leader.
• Palestinian Authority's Minister of Telecommunication and Information Technology Ishaaq Seder released the stamp in Ramallah.
• Palestine's issuance of the commemorative stamp comes in honour of Gandhi's memory, legacy, and values that guided and shall continue to guide humanity.

3. Smriti Irani Inaugurates India's Largest 'Charkha' Made of Waste Plastic in Noida

• Union Minister Smriti Irani Inaugurates India's Largest 'Charkha' made of Waste Plastic in Noida. This 'charkha' (spinning wheel) made of used plastic waste was inaugurated the eve of Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary.
• The 'charkha', which symbolises Gandhi's dream of Swadeshi (self-sufficing and self-reliance), measures 14ft, 20ft and 8ft and is made of 1,250 kg of used plastic.

4. Nation pays homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th and Lal Bahadur Shashtri on his 115th birth anniversary

• The Nation pays homage to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary today i.e. 2nd October 2019. A series of activities are being organized across the country and by Indian Missions abroad.
• The nation is also remembering Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on his 115th birth anniversary.
• Under Shastri's leadership, India won the 1965 war against Pakistan.
• He gave the nation the powerful slogan of Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan to enthuse soldiers and farmers.

International

5. China unveiled DF-41 the most powerful intercontinental-range ballistic missile on the planet

• China unveiled the Dongfeng-41 (DF-41) intercontinental-range ballistic missile, touted to be the most powerful missile on the planet at the National Day parade, as China observed its 70th anniversary of Communist rule. DF-41 has a range of up to 9,320 miles (15,000 kilometres), more than any missile on Earth.
• The missile capable of carrying 10 independently targeted nuclear warheads and could theoretically, hit the United States in 30 minutes, according to the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. China has also displayed its underwater vehicles and new stealthy DR-8 drones thought to be able to fly up to five times the speed of sound.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/IBPS RRB Mains:

• President of China: Xi Jinping.
• Capital of China: Beijing; Currency: Renminbi.

State News

6. Rajasthan becomes the third state to ban certain categories of pan masala

• Rajasthan became the third state in India after Maharashtra and Bihar to ban certain categories of pan masala containing magnesium carbonate, nicotine, tobacco, mineral oil and flavoured ‘supari’. All such products will now be banned in the State under the Food Safety Act.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/IBPS RRB Mains:

• Chief Minister of Rajasthan: Ashok Gehlot; Governor: Kalraj Mishra.

Appointments

7. SS Mallikarjuna Rao appointed MD and CEO of Punjab National Bank

• SS Mallikarjuna Rao was appointed as the Managing Director(MD)and Chief Executive of the Punjab National Bank(PNB).
• He is currently serving as chief executive of the Allahabad Bank. He will replace Sunil Mehta of PNB.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Main 2019:

• Headquarters of PNB: New Delhi;  Founded: 19 May 1894.
• Founder: Dyal Singh Majithia and Lala Lajpat Rai.

8. Former Indian cricketer, Kapil Dev resigned as chairman of CAC

• The former Indian captain Kapil Dev decision to resign from the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) of BCCI.
• This decision comes after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Ethics Officer D.K. Jain sent a notice to the panel comprising of Kapil, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy with regards to allegations of conflict of interest as claimed by Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association MPCA life member Sanjeev Gupta.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/IBPS RRB Mains:

• President of BCCI: C.K. Khanna; Headquarters of BCCI: Mumbai.

9. Air Marshal S K Ghotia appointed as chief of South Western Air Command

• Air Marshal S K Ghotia has taken over as the new Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the South Western Air Command (SWAC) of the Indian Air Force (IAF), at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• He replaced Air Marshal H S Arora, who moved to Air Headquarters as the Vice-Chief of Air Staff. Prior to assuming the present appointment, Air Marshal Ghotia was the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Training Command.
• Air Marshal Ghotia was commissioned in the fighter stream of the IAF in 1981.
• He has held various posts including Chief Operations Officer and Station Commander of a forward base in SWAC, Director Intelligence at Air Headquarters, Air Attache at Embassy of India in Paris, Air Officer Commanding COBRA Group and Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Intelligence) at Air HQ.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Main 2019:

• The Indian Air Force is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces.
• Indian Air Force was founded on 08th October 1932.
• Headquarters of IAF is in New Delhi.

10. Surjit S Bhalla appointed as Executive Director for India at IMF

• The government has appointed economist Surjit Bhalla as the executive director of the International Monetary Fund for a period of three years.
• The post was lying vacant after the death of Dr. Subir Gokarn in July.
• Bhalla earlier served as a member of the prime minister's economic advisory council but resigned earlier this year.

11. Jai Bhagwan Bhoria appointed as new administrator for PMC Bank

• The Reserve Bank of India has superseded the Board of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank Limited, Mumbai and appointed Jai Bhagwan Bhoria as the bank's administrator with all powers of the board.
• The amount of withdrawal from the bank allowed to depositors has been increased from one thousand to ten thousand rupees.
• The RBI's directives will remain in force for a period of six months.

Agreements

12. Bank of Baroda signs MoU with Indian Army for customised services

• Bank of Baroda (BoB) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Army under which the bank would offer customised services along with a host of facilities to account holders.
• The MoU includes handsome free personal accident insurance cover, free air accident insurance cover of Rs 15 lakh to Rs 50 lakh and an overdraft facility up to three times of monthly net salary.
• The features are also applicable for pensioners of Indian Army up to the age of 70 years.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/IBPS RRB Mains:

• Managing Director & CEO of BOB: P S Jayakumar; Headquarters: Baroda, Gujarat.

Banking

13. Axis Bank launches short-term online fixed deposits "Express FD"

• Axis Bank, India’s third-largest private sector bank has launched the  ‘Express FD’, a digital fixed deposit (FD) product that allows a customer to open an FD account in 3 minutes through the digital mode without opening a savings account with the bank.
• ‘Express FD’ offers attractive interest rates, zero issuance fees and no penalty on pre-mature withdrawal of up to 25% of the amount, the bank said.
• A customer can open an Express FD account by investing a minimum Rs 5,000 up to Rs 90,000, for a tenure of 6 to 12 months.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/IBPS RRB Mains:

• Chairman of Axis Bank: Rakesh Makhija; Headquarters: Mumbai.

Awards

14. President Kovind to confer Vayoshreshtha Samman-2019

• President Ram Nath Kovind will confer the Vayoshreshtha Samman-2019 on the eminent senior citizens and institutions in recognition of their services towards the cause of the elderly persons.
• The Vayoshreshtha Samman is a Scheme of awards instituted by the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry and gradually upgraded to the status of National Awards for institutions involved in rendering distinguished service for the cause of elderly persons.

15. Sachin Tendulkar gets most effective Swachhata Ambassador award

• President Ram Nath Kovind presented the most effective Swachchta Ambassador award to Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Books and Authors

16 . Book by India’s Ambassador to the Netherlands, titled ‘India and the Netherlands – Past, Present and Future” released

• A book penned by Indian Ambassador to the Netherlands Venu Rajamony titled 'India and the Netherlands - Past, Present and Future,' was released in Amsterdam.
• The book gives an insight into the cross-cultural legacy between the two countries and was released at a function attended by the king and queen of the Netherlands.
• The first copy of the book was received by Dutch King Willem-Alexander in presence of all high officials. The book has been published by Bombay Ink.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Main 2019:

• Netherlands Capital: Amsterdam, Currency: Euro and USD.

17. A new book titled “The Tech Whisperer” penned by Jaspreet Bindra released

• A new book entitled “The Tech Whisperer”, written by digital transformation expert Jaspreet Bindra, features a chapter on AI (Artificial Intelligence).
• The book has been published by Penguin India. The book will describes and simplify "emerging technologies like AI, blockchain, Internet of things, virtual reality," and talk about how companies can employ these to drive their digital transformation.

Important Days

18. International Day of Non-Violence: 2nd October

• The International Day of Non-Violence is observed on 2 October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. According to the UN General Assembly, which established the commemoration, International Day is an occasion to "disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness".

Obituaries

19. Hollywood tycoon Eric Pleskow passes away

• American-Austrian film producer Eric Pleskow the Hollywood tycoon passed away.
• He was the president of the film company United Artists from 1973 to 1978 and then as co-founder of Orion Pictures where many films under these film companies won Oscar awards.