Daily updates 20 August 2019

National

1. National Sports Awards 2019
i. Selection Committee for the Sports Awards 2019 has announced the National Sports Awards 2019. National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports. The awardees will receive their awards from the President of India at a specially organized function at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
ii. Selection Committee for the Sports Awards 2019 was headed by Justice Mukundakam Sharma, Retired Judge, Supreme Court.
Apart from a medal and a citation, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardee will receive a cash prize of Rs. 7.5 lakh. Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand Awardees will receive statuettes, certificates and cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh each. A trophy and citation is given to the entity in the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar, 2019. Recipients of Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar will be given Trophies and certificates. 
iii. Overall top performing university in inter-university tournaments will be given MAKA Trophy, award money of Rs. 10 lakh and certificate.

To read complete list of awardees Click Here

International

2. Qamar Javed Bajwa's term extended as Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff
i. Pakistan Prime Minister Office has announced a 3-year extension of General Qamar Javed Bajwa's tenure as Chief of Army Staff. 
ii. Bajwa’s original term was to end in November 2019 after serving as Army chief for three years. He will remain as Army chief till November 2022.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• Pakistan Capital: Islamabad; PM: Imran Khan; President: Arif Alvi.

3. Shavendra Silva appointed as Commander of the Sri Lankan Army
i. President of Sri Lanka has appointed Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva as 23rd Commander of the Sri Lankan Army. He will replace Lt Gen Mahesh Senanayake as the Commander of the Sri Lankan Army. 
ii. Mr. Silva commanded the Sri Lankan Army’s 58 Division during the final stages of the war against the rebel LTTE in 2009.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• Currency of Sri Lanka: Sri Lankan Rupee; Prime Minister: Ranil Wickremesinghe; President: Maithripala Sirisena.

State News

4. Karnataka categorises Nicotine as "class A poison"
i. The Karnataka government has amended the Karnataka Poisons (Possession and Sale) Rules 2015 and notified Nicotine as "Class A poison". The step has been taken to strengthen the enforcement of the ban on production and sale of electronic cigarettes. 
ii. The notification has also ordered the suspension of all kinds of promotion of e-cigarettes, including online promotion. This will curb the illegal sale, smuggling of nicotine cartridges and e-cigarettes.
Class A poison are "Highly toxic chemicals", which even in very small quantities as gas or vapour in the air are dangerous to life (such as cyanogen, hydrocyanic acid, nitrogen peroxide, and phosgene).

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Clerk Mains:

• Capital of Karnataka: Bengaluru; CM: BS Yediyurappa; Governor: Vajubhai Vala.

5. Gujarat to get India’s first CICET
i. India’s first Central Institute of Chemical Engineering & Technology will be set up in Gujarat. It will be set up either in Ahmedabad or Surat. It will be built on the lines of Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology. 
ii. The aim of setting up the institute is to facilitate the chemical industry with research and innovations.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• CM of Gujarat: Vijay Rupani; Governor: Acharya Devvrat; Capital: Gandhinagar.

Appointment

6. Paytm promotes CFO Madhur Deora as President
i. Digital payments player Paytm announced the promotion of its Chief Financial Officer Madhur Deora as the company's President.
ii. Madhur joined the digital payment firm in October 2016. Earlier, Deora has served as Managing Director in Citigroup's investment banking business in New York, London and Mumbai.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Clerk Mains:

• Paytm Founder: Vijay Shekhar Sharma.
• Parent Organization: One97 Communications.

7. Ravinder Takkar appointed as MD-CEO of Vodafone Idea
i. Ravinder Takkar has been appointed as the MD and CEO of Idea-Vodafone. He is currently a board member of Vodafone Idea and Indus Towers, where he is responsible for all Vodafone Group interests in India. He will replace Balesh Sharma after his resignation as the chief executive officer of Vodafone Idea (VIL).

Awards

8. CCMB scientist K Thangaraj awarded JC Bose Fellowship
i. Dr K Thangaraj, Chief Scientist at Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) was awarded JC Bose Fellowship.
ii. Thangaraj was given this fellowship for his outstanding contributions in the field of population and medical genomics. 
iii. The JC Bose Fellowship is awarded to scientists in recognition for their outstanding performance by the Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology.

Defence

9. Home Ministry fixes the retirement age of CAPF personnel at 60 years
i. The Union Home Ministry has fixed the retirement age of all Central Armed Police Force personnel at 60 years. 
ii. MHA has issued the order following the 2019 Delhi High Court verdict. The high court verdict asked the Ministry to fix a retirement age that would be uniform for all members of the CAPFs “irrespective of rank”.

Important Days

10. Sadbhavana Diwas: 20 August
i. Sadbhavana Diwas is celebrated on 20 August every year to commemorate the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. This year will be the 75th Birth Anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi.
ii. On this day national integration, peace, love, affection and communal harmony among all Indians are encouraged. Shri Rajiv Gandhi was born on August 20, 1944, in Bombay. At 40, Mr Rajiv Gandhi was the youngest Prime Minister of India.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the 6th Prime Minister of India, serving from 1984 to 1989.
• He was assassinated on 21 May 1991.

Sports

11. Mitchell Johnson becomes MCC Honourary Life member
i. Former Australian pace bowler Mitchell Johnson has been elected as an Honorary Life Member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
ii. Johnson represented Australia in 153 One Day Internationals picking up 239 wickets, 73 international Test matches claiming 313 wickets and 30 T-20 Internationals in which he takes 38 wickets.

12. Former Chelsea footballer Ashley Cole announces retirement
i. Former Chelsea, Arsenal and England football player Ashley Cole aged 38, announced his retirement from football. He was ending his 20-year playing career.
ii. He won 3 Premier League titles and seven FA Cups, as well as helping the Chelsea to win the 2011-12 Champions League.

Obituaries

13. Veteran music composer Mohammed Zahur Hashmi passes away
i. Veteran music composer Mohammed Zahur Hashmi, popularly known as Khayyam passed away. He was best known for his music in classic films such as Umrao Jaan and Kabhi Kabhie. He was also a recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Padma Bhushan.

14. Sahitya Akademi Award winner NS Tasneem passes away
i. Eminent Punjabi writer and Sahitya Akademi winner Professor Niranjan Singh Tasneem passed away.
ii. Tasneem was awarded Sahitya Akademi award in 1999 for his novel ‘Gawache Arth’ (The Lost Meaning) which was based on Punjab and lives of Punjabis in 1984. He was also awarded Punjab’s highest literary honour "Punjabi Sahit Rattan" in 2015.  He had served as a professor at SCD Government College, Ludhiana.

Miscellaneous

15. India becomes the largest SO2 emitter in the world
i. India is the world’s largest emitter of anthropogenic sulphur dioxide, which is produced from coal burning, and greatly contributes to air pollution. According to an analysis of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) data released by environmental NGO Greenpeace.
ii. India has more than 15% of all anthropogenic sulphur dioxide (SO2) hotspots in the world detected by the OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) satellite.
iii. The major SO2 emission hotspots in India are:

• Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh
• Neyveli and Chennai in Tamil Nadu
• Talcher and Jharsuguda in Odisha
• Korba in Chhattisgarh
• Kutch in Gujarat
• Ramagundam in Telangana
• Chandrapur and Koradi in Maharashtra

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

• Administrator of NASA: Jim Bridenstine; Headquarter of NASA: Washington DC, US.

Daily updates 21 August 2019

State News

1. Chief minister of Punjab launched "Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana"
i. The chief minister of Punjab has launched a universal health insurance scheme "Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana " benefiting nearly 46 lakh families. With this scheme, covering 76% of the state’s population.
ii. Punjab has become the first state in the country to offer medical insurance cover to the maximum number of its people. The scheme would entitle beneficiaries to avail annual cashless treatment up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year, including pre-existing diseases.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• Chief Minister of Punjab : Amarinder Singh; Governor of Punjab: VP Singh Badnore.

Agreement

2. Wipro partners with IISc on robotics and 5G
i. Wipro announced a strategic partnership with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to conduct advanced applied research in autonomous systems, robotics and 5G.
ii. Wipro IISc Research and Innovation Network (WIRIN), a hybrid industry-academia collaboration unit, which will drive idea discovery, research and innovation in technology and product design.
iii. (WIRIN) will focus on the research and development of cutting-edge technologies in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Visual Computing, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Vehicle-to-everything communication (V2X).

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

• Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Wipro: Abidali Z. Neemuchwala.

3. SMVDU, NISE sign MoU to achieve national solar mission
i. Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), Jammu and National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work jointly to achieve the objective of National Solar Mission through training programmes. The MoU, which will be valid till 5 years.

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

• International Solar Alliance is an alliance of more than 121 countries, most of them being sunshine countries.
  

• Headquarters of International Solar Alliance‎: ‎Gurugram, Haryana.

Awards

4. Indian-American teen wins South Asian Spelling Bee competition 2019
i. Navneeth Murali, an Indian-American teenager from New Jersey, has won the 2019 South Asian Spelling Bee contest. The prize money for this contest is USD 3,000.
ii. The South Asian Spelling Bee (SASB) is an annual spelling bee platform in the US for children of South Asian descent. The competition is open to any student at or below the age of 14, who has at least one parent or grandparent who is of South Asian descent, or whose lineage can be traced to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and/or Sri Lanka.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

•  President of USA: Donald Trump; Capital of the USA: Washington, DC.

Defence

5. DRDO transfer design of Mobile Metallic Ramp to Indian Army
i. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) handed over the design of Mobile Metallic Ramp (MMR) to the Indian Army at a ceremony held at DRDO Bhawan, New Delhi. (MMR) load-bearing capacity of 70 metric ton. 
ii. The MMR has been designed and developed by DRDO’s premier research laboratory Centre for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES) on the requirements projected by Army for reducing the Strategic Mobility time of mobilizing Armoured Fighting Vehicles. 
iii. The ramp will provide the strategic mobility for Armoured and Mechanized units and formations of the Army. It is portable, modular in design, which can be easily assembled or disassembled.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• Union Minister of Defence: Raj Nath Singh.
• Chairman of DRDO: Dr G Satheesh Reddy.

Science and Technology

6. IIT-Delhi start-up wins NCPEDP-Mphasis Universal Design Award 2019
i. IIT-Delhi, Ankita Gulati was awarded the NCPEDP-Mphasis Universal Design Award 2019 for developing a multisensory kit named TouchVision. 
ii. IIT-Delhi-incubated start-up working on the design and development of inclusive learning resources for visually impaired people.
TouchVision aims at digital inclusion for 253 million persons with visual impairment globally.

Sports

7. Sreesanth's Life Ban on cricket reduced to 7 Years
i. Former India paceman Shanthakumaran Sreesanth’s life ban has been reduced to 7 years. This order was passed by BCCI Ombudsman, Justice (Retd.) DK Jain. The Ban will end in 2020.
ii. The BCCI banned Sreesanth for life in September 2013, along with his Rajasthan Royals teammates Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, for indulging in alleged spot-fixing in the IPL.

8. Para swimmer Satendra Singh Lohia crosses America's Catalina Channel
i. Indian Para Swimmer Satendra Singh Lohia has become the first Asian swimmer to cross the Catalina Channel of America. Satendra holds the Asian record of crossing both the English and Catalina channels.
ii. Satendra led the Indian Para Relay team along with 5 teammates and crossed the Catalina Channel and covered the distance of 42km in 11 hours 34 minutes.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

•  Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports: Kiren Rijiju.

Obituaries

9. Former Madhya Pradesh CM Babulal Gaur passes away
i. Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Babulal Gaur passed away. He served as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh from August 2004 to November 2005 and represented Govindpura Assembly seat for 10 times.

Miscellaneous

10. 2nd Uday Express to run between Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada
i. Indian Railway's 2nd double-decker Uday (Utkrisht Double-Decker Air Conditioned Yatri) Express will run between Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada. The train would consist of 9 double-decker coaches and 2 power cars.
ii. The trains are primarily allocated to routes with heavy passenger traffic. They are equipped with WiFi facility, have striking interiors, cushioned seating, and display screens.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• Union Railway Minister: Piyush Goyal.

Daily updates 22 August 2019

National News

1. Union HRD Minister launches NISHTHA
i. Union HRD Minister launched the training programme NISHTHA, (National Initiative for School Heads and Teachers Holistic Advancement) to improve Learning Outcomes at the Elementary level across the country. This is the largest teachers’ training programme of its kind in the world.
ii. NISHTHA to build capacities of 42 Lakh government teachers across the country. The basic objective of this massive training programme ‘NISHTHA’ is to motivate and equip teachers to encourage and foster critical thinking in students.

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

• Union HRD Minister: Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’.

2. "Op-Blue Freedom" flag off in Delhi
i. Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and former India football captain Baichung Bhutia flagged off Op-Blue Freedom in  Delhi. This is an initiative in which a group of armed forces veterans train sports enthusiasts in survival training and self-defence.
ii. Op-Blue Freedom is a nation-wide adaptive scuba diving programme for people with disabilities as well as the able-bodied. It comes under the parent project "Special Forces Adventures".

3. Amazon's largest campus in the world inaugurated in Hyderabad
i. Amazon has opened its largest campus in the world in Hyderabad. The campus covers 1.8 million square feet and can accommodate 15,000 workers. 
ii. This is Amazon's first owned-building outside of the US and and is also its largest tech base outside the Seattle headquarters, which has about 155,000 contract employees.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Clerk Mains:

• CEO of Amazon: Jeff Bezos; Headquarters: Seattle, United States.

4. 9th Session of India-Kenya Joint Trade Committee
i. The 9th Session of the India-Kenya Joint Trade Committee was held in New Delhi. The Joint Trade Committee reviewed the progress in cooperation in the power sector, renewable energy, petroleum and natural gas, civil aviation and agricultural research. 
ii. The next session of the Joint Trade Committee meeting in Nairobi.
iii. The Indian delegation was led by Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Railways. The Kenyan delegation was led by Peter Munya, Minister of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives.

State News

5. Super 50 programme launched in Maharashtra
i. Maharashtra’s Tribal Development Department in association with the Pace Educational Trust launched an academic programme "Super 50". The programme has been launched for young tribal students aspiring to be doctors and engineers.
ii. The Super 50 programme will mentor 50 most meritorious tribal students from the State and prepare them for engineering and medical exams. 
iii. It will be a two-year residential programme, where the students will be provided hostel and mess facilities, a tablet, NCERT books and career counselling.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• CM of Maharashtra : Devendra Fadnavis; Governor: CH Vidyasagar Rao.

6. Karnataka tops the State Rooftop Solar Attractiveness Index
i. The State Rooftop Solar Attractiveness Index-SARAL was launched during the Review Planning and Monitoring (RPM) Meeting with States and State Power Utilities. Karnataka has topped the index which evaluates Indian states based on their attractiveness for rooftop development.
ii. SARAL currently captures five key aspects:

• Robustness of policy framework
• Implementation environment
• Investment climate
• Consumer experience
• Business ecosystem

iii. SARAL has been designed collaboratively by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation (SSEF), Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and Ernst & Young (EY).

Economy News

7. RBI allows e-mandate for cards for recurring transactions
i. The Reserve Bank of India has permitted processing of e-mandate on credit and debit cards for recurring transactions (merchant payments). The maximum limit for such a transaction will be Rs 2,000. 
ii. While processing the first transaction in e-mandate-based recurring transaction series, additional factor authentication (AFA) validation should be performed.
iii. As per the RBI circular, no charges should be levied or recovered from the card holder for availing the e-mandate facility on cards for recurring transactions. The direction is applicable for transactions performed using all types of cards—debit, credit and Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs), including wallets.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Clerk Mains:

• Governor of RBI: Shaktikant Das; Headquarters: Mumbai; Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.

Appointments

8. Ajay Kumar appointed as Defence Secretary
i. Ajay Kumar has been appointed as Defence Secretary. Ajay Kumar is currently serving as Secretary in Department of Defence Production. He will replace Sanjay Mitra, upon completion of his term. 
ii. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved his appointments.

9. Rajiv Gauba appointed as Cabinet Secretary
i. Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba appointed as a Cabinet secretary for two years. He will replace P.K. Sinha, who was appointed Cabinet Secretary in 2015. 
ii. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved his appointment.

Awards

10. JNU Professor Meeta Narain was conferred the ‘Pushkin Medal 2019’
i. JNU Professor Meeta Narain was conferred the ‘Pushkin Medal - 2019’. This award is the highest honour given to an Indian scholar by the Russian government.
ii. Pushkin Medal is given to a scholar of Russian language and literature for outstanding contribution to Russian studies abroad.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• President of Russia: Vladimir Putin; Capital city of Russia: Moscow.

Books and Authors

11. Culture Minister to launch book ' The Diary of Manu Gandhi'
i. Culture Minister will launch the book  "The Diary of Manu Gandhi" at a function in New Delhi.
ii. The book has been brought out by National Archives of India, on the occasion of 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in collaboration with Oxford University Press. The first volume covers the period 1943-1944.
iii. The Diary of Manu Gandhi originally in Gujarati has been edited and translated by Dr Tridip Suhrud. Manu Gandhi (Mridula) was a grand niece of Mahatma Gandhi, and stayed with Gandhiji till his assassination.

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

• Union Culture Minister of India: Prahlad Singh Patel.

Science & Technology

12. Cerebras Systems reveals "world's largest computer chip"
i. Artificial intelligence(AI) company Cerebras Systems has unveiled the world’s largest single silicon-based processor named Cerebras Wafer Scale Engine(WSE). 
ii. This chip has 1.2 trillion transistors, the basic on-off electronic switches that are the building blocks of silicon chips.
iii. The rectangular shape chip measures 21.5cm sq (8.5in sq), comes with 400,000 AI (Artificial Intelligence) cores and 18 gigabytes of on-chip memory.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• CEO & Co-Founder of Cerebras Systems: Andrew Feldman; Established: 2016.
• Headquarters: California, USA.

Sports

13. Paytm retains title sponsorship of Indian cricket for 5 years
i. The Board of Control for Cricket in India has announced that mobile payments and e-commerce company "Paytm" has retained the title sponsorship rights. Paytm has retained the title sponsorship rights for all cricket matches, domestic and international, played in India for 5 years.
ii. Paytm has signed the deal for ₹326.80 crores which it will pay BCCI over a period ranging between 2019 and 2023.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• Paytm Founder: Vijay Shekhar Sharma; Parent Organization: One97 Communications.

14. Gold medal for India in World Police and Fire Games
i. B.N.S. Reddy beats Bruce Barrios of the U.S. in the men’s singles final to win the gold medal at the World Police and Fire Games. 
ii. The tournament was held in Chengdu, China. In the doubles event, Reddy and Surinder Mohan Sharma lost to the pair of Sabandon Eduardo (Phi) and Helminen Risto (Fin) in the finals and bags the silver medal.
iii. B.N.S. Reddy is a former Additional Commissioner of Police and a current member of the BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Unit.

Important Days

15. World Photography Day 2019
i. World Photography Day is celebrated on 19 August every year. The day is celebrated so that people around the world can communicate their feelings and express themselves through the art of photography.
ii. World Photography Day is an annual, worldwide celebration of the art, craft, science and history of photography.

16. International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief: 22 August
i. United Nations observes 22 August every year as “International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief”. 
ii. The day is observed to strongly condemn continuing violence and acts of terrorism targeting individuals, including persons belonging to religious minorities, on the basis of or in the name of religion or belief.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Clerk Mains:

• Headquarters of United Nations: New York; Secretary General of the United Nations: António Guterres.

17. International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism: 21 August
i. United Nations observes 21 August every year as International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism. 
ii. This year, the 2nd commemoration of the day will focus on the resilience of victims and their families, how they have coped and what they have done to transform their experiences to aid healing and recovery as well as become stronger and more united against terrorism.
iii. To observe the International Day, the United Nations Office of Counter Terrorism (UNOCT) and the Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism will launch a photographic exhibition on August 21 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• Secretary General of the United Nations: António Guterres.