Daily updates 13 August 2019

National News

1. Air India first flight over North Pole from Delhi to San Francisco
i. On the nation's Independence Day, Air India will become the 1st Indian airline to fly over the North Pole while connecting New Delhi and North America. 
ii. The inaugural flight over the Polar region will take flight on August 15, 2019, and will fly from New Delhi to San Francisco.
iii. Currently, the route taken by New Delhi to San Francisco flight goes over Bangladesh, Myanmar, China and Japan before crossing the Pacific Ocean to enter the United States of America.

2. Doordarshan produced a patriotic song “Watan”
i. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister has released a patriotic song “Watan” to mark the occasion of Independence Day, 2019. 
ii. The song is sung by singer Javed Ali, penned by lyricist Alok Shrivastav and musically composed by Dushyant. The patriotic song is produced by Doordarshan.
iii. The song highlights several path-breaking initiatives of the government including the determination and vision behind the recent successful launch of "Chandrayaan 2". 
iv. The song also pays tribute to the bravery and valour of our armed forces and the martyrs of the country.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• Union Information and Broadcasting Minister: Prakash Javadekar.

3. Headgear becomes mandatory for children above 4 years
i. Central government has made "Headgear" mandatory for children above 4 years while travelling on a motorcycle. 
ii. The safety measures for the children travelling on motorcycles have been included in the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019.
iii. Making the protective headgear mandatory for children, Central government has replaced Section 129 of the principal Act in the Act as “Every person, above four years of age, driving or riding or being carried on a motorcycle of any class or description shall, while in public place wear protective headgear conforming to such standards as may be prescribed by the Central government”.
iv. Only Sikhs wearing turban have been exempted from the provision of Section 129 that makes helmets mandatory for all riders of motorcycles above 4 years of age.

International News

4. Alejandro Giammattei elected as Guatemala's new president
i. Alejandro Giammattei has been elected as new president of Guatemala. He defeated former first lady Sandra Torres for the president's seat. Giammattei will succeed corruption tainted outgoing President Jimmy Morales.

Banking

5. AePS crosses 200 million transactions in July: NPCI
i. National Payments Corporation of India has announced that Aadhaar enabled Payment System has crossed the milestone of over 200 million transactions during July 2019. The transaction count of AePS stood at 220 million in july 2019.
ii. AePS is a bank led model which allows basic banking transactions at point of sale. AePS empowers a bank customer to use Aadhaar as identity to access respective Aadhaar enabled bank account and perform basic banking transactions like cash withdrawal, intrabank or interbank fund transfer and balance enquiry.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC Mains:

• MD & CEO of NPCI: Dilip Asbe.

6. EnKash Launched India's first Corporate Credit Card for SME's
i. Business-to-business payments startup EnKash has launched the country's first corporate credit card called 'Freedom Card' for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
ii. The Freedom Card would give SMEs and startups the freedom to avail credit facility for immediate needs and to manage their liquidity.

Appointments

7. Ghotu Ram Meena named India’s next Ambassador to Republic of Congo
i. Ghotu Ram Meena has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Congo. Currently, Meena is serving as a counsellor, Embassy of India in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/IBPS RRB Main 2019:

• Capital of Congo: Brazzaville; Currency of congo: Congolese franc.

Award

8. National Youth Awards conferred for development and social service work
i. The Union Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports (I/C) conferred the National Youth Awards. The awards were conferred to 20 individuals (aged between 15-29 years) and 3 organizations for excellent work and contribution in different fields of development and social service.
ii. The individual award comprises of a medal, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs. 50,000/-. The award to a youth organisation includes a medal, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs. 2,00,000/-.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• Union Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports (I/C): Kiren Rijiju.

Defence

9. Army launches 'Mission Reach Out' in Jammu
i. The Army has launched "Mission Reach Out" was chaired by White Knight Corps Commander Lt Gen Paramjit Singh in Jammu. 
ii. This Mission aims to ensure basic necessities and essential services are available in the region post the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 and reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir.
iii. It was attended by Jammu Divisional Commissioner Sanjeev Verma, members of the civil administration, representatives of the J&K Police, CRPF, BSF and intelligence agencies.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• Governor of Jammu & Kashmir: Satya Pal Malik.

Science and Technology

10. IIT Kharagpur researchers develop low-cost blood test device
i. Researchers from IIT Kharagpur have developed a low-cost diagnostic device which can perform various pathological tests by using blood taken from a fingerprick.
ii. The device requires only a paper strip based kit integrated with a smartphone to enable analytics and readout functions and an LED light for imaging.

11. Huawei launches its own operating system HarmonyOS
i. Chinese telecom giant Huawei unveiled its own operating system will be called the HongmengOS, known in English as the HarmonyOS.
ii. The operating system will be released as an open-source platform worldwide to encourage adoption. 
iii. HarmonyOS is future-oriented and designed to be more smooth and secure, and is completely different from Android and iOS.

Books and author

12. "Sridevi: Girl Woman Superstar" a book on the life of Sridevi
i. The book, titled 'Sridevi: Girl Woman Superstar' will be launched on Sridevi's 56th birth anniversary. 
ii. The book is written by author-screenwriter Satyarth Nayak. The book will be published under the Ebury Press imprint of Penguin Random House in October 2019.

Sports

13. Aishwarya Pissay wins FIM Bajas World Cup
i. Aishwarya Pissay made history by becoming the first Indian to win a world title in motorsports as she won the FIM World Cup in women’s category after the final round of the championship in Varpalota, Hungary.
ii. The event was conducted by the International Motorcycling Federation, the governing body for motorcycle racing in the world.

14. Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu wins Rogers Cup 2019
i. Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu wins Rogers Cup tennis tournament 2019 held in Toronto, Canada. 
ii. She was the first Canadian to win the event in 50 years. Serena Williams was the runner-up in the final.

Obituaries

15. Music star DJ Arafat passes away
i. Ivory Coast music star DJ Arafat passed away. He issued 11 albums, mainly of "coupe-decale", a dance music form combining rapid percussion, choppy rhythms with hip hop-style vocals. He was also named "Best Artist of the Year" at the Ivorian "Coupe-decale" Awards in 2016 and 2017.

16. Freedom fighter Dayanidhi Nayak passes away
i. freedom fighter Dayanidhi Nayak passed away. Nayak has struggled against the British Government during the Quit India movement and he was a devout follower of Mahatma Gandhi.

17. Former ASG Amarendra Sharan passes away
i. Senior advocate and former Additional Solicitor General Amarendra Sharan passed away. Sharan was the Additional Solicitor General in the Supreme Court from 2004 to 2009.
ii. He was also appointed as an amicus curiae by the apex court which was hearing a petition seeking fresh investigation in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

Miscellaneous

18. Two new UTs, J&K and Ladakh will come into existence on Oct 31
i. President Ram Nath Kovind gave assent to legislation for bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir, and two Union Territories, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh will come into existence on October 31.

Daily updates 14 August 2019

National News

1. Centre launches Swachh Nagar app
i. Swachh Nagar app was launched by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry. An app that will allow users to have waste — solid, wet or construction and demolition (C&D) — collected by their urban local bodies along with a new protocol on wastewater treatment that would become a part of cleanliness rankings of cities.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/IBPS RRB Main 2019:

• Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs: Hardeep Singh Puri.

2. “Operation Number Plate” Launched by RPF
i. Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Indian Railways launched a Special Drive with a Code Name "Operation Number Plate” to identify and verify all vehicles parked in Railway premises, circulating area, parking and even in the ‘No Parking’ areas for a longer duration.
ii. The unidentified vehicles are considered a serious threat to the security and safety of passengers and other stakeholders of railways.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• Minister of Railways: Piyush Goyal.

State News

3. J&K will host Global Investors Summit 2019
i. Jammu and Kashmir administration will host a 3 days global investors summit from October 12 in Srinagar.
ii. The summit will provide J&K with an opportunity to showcase its strengths, strategies and potential. It will also provide an opportunity to allay fears and apprehensions in the minds of outside trade and the business community.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/IBPS RRB Main 2019:

• Governor of Jammu & Kashmir: Satya Pal Malik.

4. ‘Panchamirtham’ of Palani temple gets GI tag
i. The Panchamirtham is an ‘abhishega prasadam’ of the Murugan temple has been bestowed with the Geographical Indication tag. 
ii. The Murugan temple is situated in Tamil Nadu. 
iii. The panchamirtham is a combination of five natural substances — banana, jaggery, cow ghee, honey and cardamom. Dates and diamond sugar candies are added for flavour. It is served in a semi-solid state.

Banking

5. Government rolls out scheme for liquidity support to NBFCs
i. The Central government has rolled out scheme for liquidity support to NBFCs. The partial guarantee scheme will allow state-run banks (PSBs) to purchase assets of non-banking and housing finance companies (NBFCs and HFCs).
ii. The partial guarantee scheme aims at providing liquidity support to avoid distress sale of assets in a sector facing a shortage of cash due to asset-liability mismatch. NBFCs will be able to sell 20% of standard assets, worth up to Rs 5,000 crore, as on March 31.
iii. The Department of Economic Affairs will provide government guarantee of up to 10% of the fair value of assets purchased by a bank from a stressed NBFC or HFC. The scheme is capped at Rs 1,00,000 crore and will be open for up to 6 months. The government will settle claims by banks within 5 working days. 
iv. The one-time guarantee on the pooled assets will be valid for 24 months from the date of purchase and can invoked in specified circumstances.

Agreement

6. Naval Air Enclave & CIAL inks MoU for air operations
i. The Naval Air Enclave in Kochi and Cochin International Airport Limited have signed a MoU for commencement of naval air operations from the NAE, a naval aviation facility at CIAL in Nedumbassery. 
ii. According to MoU, military aircraft will use the CIAL runway for take off and landing and the NAE taxy track for accessing the dispersal and aircraft hangar.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO/Clerk Mains:

• Chief of the Naval Staff: Admiral Karambir Singh.

Appointments

7. P.T. Usha appointed as a member of AAA's Athletes Commission
i. Legendary Indian sprinter P.T. Usha, one of India’s greatest athletes, has been appointed as a member of the Asian Athletics Association’s (AAA) Athletes Commission. 
ii. This is the 2nd time P.T. Usha has been appointed a member of the Asian Athletics Association’s Athletes Commission
iii. P.T. Usha will be one of the six members of the AAA Athletes Commission, to be headed by 1992 Olympics gold medallist hammer thrower Andrey Abduvaliyev of Uzbekistan.

Awards

8. Wg Cdr Abhinandan Varthaman to be honoured with Vir Chakra
i. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will be honoured with the Vir Chakra on Independence Day. Wg Cdr Abhinandan became the face of a tense military confrontation between India and Pakistan when his MiG-21 was shot down during the aerial combat between Indian and Pakistani air forces on February 27 after the February 26 Balakot airstrike. Before his jet was hit, he downed an F-16 fighter of Pakistan.

9. Priyam Chatterjee becomes 1st Indian chef to win French honour
i. Priyam Chatterjee became the 1st Indian chef to be awarded the 'Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricoleto' by the government of France to recognise his contribution towards reinventing the gastronomic scene in India.
ii. Chatterjee is best known for revisiting the traditional dishes from his native state of West Bengal and giving it a French twist.
iii. 'Ordre du Mérite Agricole' (Order of Agricultural Merit) is a distinction bestowed by the French Republic for outstanding contributions, to agriculture, agro-food industry and gastronomy.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019 :

• President of France: Emmanuel Macron; Capital: Paris; Currency: Euro, CFP Franc.

10. Rajasthan bags award at World Education Summit 2019
i. Rajasthan wins the “best innovation and initiative leadership award” for its achievements in higher education in the World Education Summit-2019 held in New Delhi.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• Chief Minister of Rajasthan: Ashok Gehlot; Governor of Rajasthan: Kalyan Singh.
• Capital of Rajasthan: Jaipur.

Defence

11. Japanese Maritime Self Defence Ship visits Kochi
i. Japanese ship "JS Sazanami", visited Kochi on a 2 day goodwill visit. JS Sazanami, a Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force Ship is a missile destroyer. 
ii. The visiting team was given a conducted tour of the Anti-Submarine Warfare School and the Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel, INS Sunayna. A visit of Indian Navy personnel was also conducted onboard JS Sazanami.

Science and Technology

12. Ola ‘acqui­hires’ AI start-­up Pikup.ai
i. Cab aggregator Ola announced acquihiring of Pikup.ai, an Artificial Intelligence start­up based in Bengaluru. 
ii. Acquihiring typically refers to a transaction in which the staff of the target company join the acquiring firm.
iii. Pikup.ai uses autonomous technologies like AI, computer vision and sensor fusion to provide seamless AI-powered solutions for businesses.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• CEO of Ola: Bhavish Aggarwal; Headquarter: Bengaluru.

Sports

13. Dutch Hero Wesley Sneijder announces retirement from Football
i. The Netherlands' most-capped player Wesley Sneijder announced his retirement from football. 
ii. He played 134 times for his country and his career included a World Cup runners-up medal as well as Champions League, La Liga and Serie A titles.

14. Women's Cricket at Birmingham CWG
i. Cricket will come back to the Commonwealth Games (CWG) roster for the 1st time since 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, with the inclusion of women’s T20 for the 2022 edition in Birmingham.
ii. It will take place from July 27 to August 7, 2022, with 8 international teams playing cricket. 
iii. This decision was taken by Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and the International Cricket Council (ICC).

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

• ICC Chairman: Shashank Manohar; Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

15. Simone Biles makes history with a “triple-double” twist
i. Simone Biles makes history with a never-before-seen “triple-double” floor exercise landing. She performed the landing featuring "two flips and three twists" in U.S. Gymnastics Championships held in Kansas City. 

Obituaries

16. Former Argentina footballer Brown passes Away
i. Argentina World Cup-winning team football player Jose Luis Brown has passed away. Brown made 36 appearances for his country, the most famous of which came in the 1986 World Cup final in Mexico

Daily updates 15 16 August 2019

National News

1. PM announces appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff
i. In his Independence Day address to the nation, Prime Minister has announced the appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff. The Chief of Defence Staff will be above the three Service Chiefs. 
ii. The CDS is meant to be a single-point military advisor to the government who will coordinate long-term planning, procurements, training and logistics of the three services. The CDS will also act as the military advisor to the Prime Minister on nuclear issues.
iii. This is one the country's biggest higher level military reform to bring in jointness and tri-service integration. 
iv. In the absence of a CDS, presently the senior most of the three Chiefs functions as the Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC). Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa is the present chairman of COSC.

2. PM to be the chairman of the Inter-State Council
i. The Inter-State Council has been reconstituted with Prime Minister as its chairman and 6 Union ministers and all chief ministers as its members. Home Minister Amit Shah will chair the standing committee of the Inter-State Council.
ii. The Union ministers who will be members of the reconstituted council are Amit Shah (Home), Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance), Rajnath Singh (Defence), Narendra Singh Tomar (Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj).

Banking News

3. RBI clarifies rules on ‘free ATM transactions’
i. The Reserve Bank of India has clarified rules on ‘free ATM transactions’ provided by banks to its customers. Banks provide certain number of free transactions at ATMs to their customers and beyond that impose charges.
ii. According to the Reserve Bank of India, the following transactions should not be counted as valid ATM transactions for the customer as the ‘free ATM transactions’:

• Transactions failed at ATMs due to technical reasons like hardware and software issues.
• Transactions failed due to non-availability of currency in ATMs.
• Use of ATMs for non-cash withdrawal transactions such as balance enquiry, cheque book request, payment of taxes, funds transfer.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

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

Appointments

4. Harshad Pandurang Thakur appointed as NIHFW's director
i. Harshad Pandurang Thakur has been appointed as the director of National Institute of Health and Family Welfare. The proposal of appointment was approved by the appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister.
ii. The NIHFW is an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. It acts as an apex technical institute as well as a think tank for the promotion of health and family welfare programmes in the country.

Awards

5. ISRO Chairman K. Sivan honoured with A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Award
i. Tamil Nadu government has awarded K. Sivan with its Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Award. K. Sivan is currently serving as the chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC Mains:

• Tamil Nadu Capital: Chennai; CM: Edappadi K. Palaniswami; Governor: Banwarilal Purohit.

Sports

6. Liverpool beats Chelsea to win UEFA Super Cup
i. Liverpool defeated Chelsea in the finals to win UEFA Super Cup held in Istanbul. The match ended in draw with score 2-2 following the extra time. 
ii. Later in the penalties, Liverpool beats Chelsea by 5-4. This was the fourth time Liverpool have won this competition.

7. Deepak Punia wins Junior World Championship title
i. Deepak Punia won the gold medal at the Junior World Championships held in Talinn, Estonia. He defeated Russia's Alik Shebzukov to win the 86 kg junior freestyle title. With the victory, he has become the 1st Indian in 18 years to win a Junior World Championship title.
ii. Another Indian wrestler Vicky Chahar also won the bronze medal in the 92 kg category after beating Mongolia's Batmagnai Enkhtuvshin.

Obituaries

8. Veteran actor Vidya Sinha passes away
i. Veteran Bollywood actress Vidya Sinha passed away. She was renowned for her role in Basu Chatterjee's film "Rajnigandha". 
ii. She was a major figure in Bollywood in the 1970s-1980s. Her list of notable films includes Mera Jeevana, Chhoti Si Baat, Safed Jhooth and many others.

9. Former India cricketer V.B. Chandrasekhar passes away
i. Former India and Tamil Nadu cricketer V.B. Chandrasekhar passed away. He represented India in 7 ODIs. 
ii. V.B. Chandrasekhar was also a National selector from 2004 to 2006. He was a part of the last Tamil Nadu team which won the Ranji Trophy in 1988