Daily updates 12 September 2019

National

1.Skill India gets its first Batch of IES officers to the ISDS cadre

• The fresh batch of the newest central government services, the Indian Skill Development Services(ISDS) commenced their training program at the Administrative Training Institute (ATI) in Mysuru, Karnataka. These are the first batch which is joining the ISDS cadre from the Indian Engineering Service Examination conducted by UPSC.
• The aim for this is to attract young and talented administrators towards institutionalizing the Skill Development environment in the country.
• The induction of young talent as ISDS officers is one of the special initiatives taken by the Ministry of Skill Development And Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and the government as a whole, to significantly strengthen the skill development eco-system in the country. This is the first batch of young minds from Indian Engineering Services to be included in the MSDE.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• Minister of State in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship: Raj Kumar Singh.

State News

2. Haryana launches two insurance schemes for traders

• The State government of Haryana has launched two insurance schemes for registered small and medium traders.
• The schemes includes “Mukhyamantri Vyapari Samuhik Niji Durghatna Beema Yojana” and “Mukhyamantri Vyapari Kshatipurti Beema Yojana".
• An insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh would be provided under the Mukhyamantri Vyapari Samuhik Niji Durghatna Beema Yojana. An insurance cover ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh would be provided under the Mukhyamantri Vyapari Kshatipurti Beema Yojana.
• Traders registered under the Haryana Goods and Service Tax (HGST) Act, 2017 would be covered under these schemes.
• As per the scheme, the premium of people under both the schemes would be paid by the State government.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• Capital of Haryana: Chandigarh; Chief Minister: Manohar Lal Khattar; Governor: Satyadev Narayan Arya.

Banking

3. IDBI to launch co-branded credit card with LIC

• The Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI Bank) and Life Insurance Corporation of India Credit Cards Services (LIC CSL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of LIC, will launch a co-branded credit card, which will be marketed to customers, agents, and employees of the corporation and its subsidiaries.

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

• IDBI Bank Headquarters: Mumbai; MD and CEO: Rakesh Sharma.
• Chairman of LIC: MR Kumar; Headquarters of LIC: Mumbai.

Agreement

4. India and ADB signs 200 million dollar loan agreement

• India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed 200 million dollar loan agreement.
• Under the agreement, they will upgrade rural roads in 34 districts of Maharashtra to improve road safety.
• The project aims to improve the condition of about 2,100 km of rural roads to all-weather standards, with climate resilience and safety features.
• It will also help in connecting rural communities with productive agricultural areas and socio-economic centres.
• The enhanced road connectivity and better access to markets will help the farmers increase agricultural productivity and incomes.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• Chief Minister of Maharashtra: Devendra Fadnavis; Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

Appointment

5. PK Mishra appointed as the Principal Secretary to PM

• Pramod Kumar Mishra will be the new Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• He will replace Nripendra Mishra. He is a 1972 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Gujarat cadre. He joined PM Modi in 2014 as the Additional Principal Secretary.
• He has varied experience in the management of programmes relating to agriculture, disaster management, power sector, infrastructure financing and regulatory issues.

6. P K Sinha appointed as the Principal Advisor to PM

• Former Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha has been appointed the Principal Advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of PK Sinha.
• He is a 1977 batch Indian Administrative Service Batch officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre. He joined cabinet secretariat on June 1, 2015, as Officer-on-Special Duty.

Defence

7. DRDO successfully tests indigenous anti-tank guided missile (MPATGM)

• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight tested an indigenously-developed low weight, fire and forget Man-Portable Antitank Guided Missile (MPATGM) in the ranges of Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh.
• This is the third series of successful testing of MPATGM. The missile is incorporated with state-of-the-art Infrared Imaging Seeker along with advanced avionics. The test paves the way for the Army to have developed third-generation man-portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile indigenously.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• DRDO Chairman: G Satheesh Reddy, Established: 1958, Headquarters: New Delhi.

8. IAF resurrects 17 Squadron 'Golden Arrows' for Rafale

• The Indian Air Force (IAF) resurrected the Air Force Station (AFS) Ambala-based 17 Squadron ‘Golden Arrows’, which will operate the first squadron of Rafale fighter jets.
• Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa presented a memento to Station Commander Group Captain Harkirat Singh to commemorate the occasion.
• The squadron was formed at Ambala on 01st Oct 1951 under the command of Flight Lieutenant D L Springett and was then equipped with Harvard-II B aircraft.
• Under the command of then Wing Commander BS Dhanoa, Golden Arrows participated actively in Operation Safed Sagar in 1999. On December 31, 2011, the squadron was ‘number plated’ after the Russian Mig-21 jets that it flew was decommissioned as part of the IAF’s long-term plan to phase the decades-old aircraft out of service and was since awaiting newer inductions.

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

• Motto of the Indian Air Force: Nabha Sprsham Deeptam (The Glory that touches the sky).

9. INS Khanderi to be commissioned into the Indian Navy

• India's 2nd Scorpene-class submarine, INS Khanderi will be commissioned into the Indian Navy by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
• The conventional diesel-electric submarine has been manufactured by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd in Mumbai.
• The first Scorpene-class submarine INS Kalvari was commissioned into the Indian Navy in December 2017.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Clerk Mains:

• Chief of the Naval Staff: Admiral Karambir Singh.

Awards

10. Navdeep Singh Suri honoured with First Class Order of Zayed II

• Navdeep Singh Suri, India's envoy to United Arab Emirates, has been honoured with the First Class Order of Zayed II award.
• He was awarded by UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan for his contribution to the development and strengthening of friendly relations and co-operation between India and UAE during his tenure.

Summits and Conferences

11. National Conference on “Criminal Activities and Radicalization in Jails"

• Bureau of Police research and development will organize the National Conference on “Criminal Activities and Radicalization in Jails: Vulnerability of Inmates and Jail Staff and their Protection” in New Delhi.
• The conference aims to provide a platform for the prison personnel of all ranks at the national level to share their candid views on various operational as well as administrative issues. The conference will focus on the following issues:

1. To understand various criminal activities at individual and gang level and considers safety measures for vulnerable inmates and jail staff.
2. To understand various facets of radicalization in prison and suggest measures for counter radicalization.
3. To analyse and formulate the security and protection standards for prison staff.
4. To provide an interdisciplinary platform for correctional personnel to exchange and share their experience on prison reforms.

• The event will also promote research and development activities on the functioning of the correctional administration across the country.

12. Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2019 held in Kathmandu

• Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2019 was held in Kathmandu, Nepal.
• The theme of the summit was "Resilient Infrastructure for Sustainable Development".
• It focuses on the global and regional mega trends, including climate change and their relevance to the local context, issues surrounding infrastructure project delivery, financing modalities and opportunities for cross-border economic cooperation and investments.
• The summit was organised by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries in association with Government of Nepal. Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, New and Renewable Energy Raj Kumar Singh represented India in the summit.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• Prime Minister of Nepal: K P Sharma Oli; Capital: Kathmandu.

Miscellaneous

13. Cryodrakon boreas is the largest flying animal of all time

• Scientists have unveiled a newly discovered species of a pterosaur, the largest ever flying animal according to a study conducted by Queen Mary University in London.
• These species come from the Azhdarchid group of pterosaurs. The pterosaur's name Cryodrakon boreas roughly translates to 'frozen dragon of the north wind'.
• Cryodrakon boreas is the largest flying animal of all time, With a wingspan of 10 m and weighing 250 kg, researchers reported in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

14. Thailand 1st in Asia to roll out plain cigarette packaging

• Thailand became the first Asian nation to unveil plain cigarette packaging to reduce the appeal of smoking and complied with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) guidelines.
• In 2012, Australia became the first country to require tobacco products to be sold without colourful brand logos.

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

• Thailand Capital: Bangkok, Currency: Baht

Daily updates 14 September 2019

National

1. World Bank to sanction Rs 3,000 crore for food parks

• The World Bank will provide Rs 3,000 crore assistance to finance mini and mega food parks across India.
• The announcement was made by Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries during the 15th Indo-US Economic Summit.
• The 15th Indo-US Economic Summit was organized by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce-North India Council (IACC-NIC) in New Delhi.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Clerk Mains:

• President of World Bank: David Malpass; Headquarters: Washington DC, USA.
• Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries: Rameswar Teli.

2. Centre to set up 12,500 Ayush Health and Wellness Centres

• Union Government has set a target of setting up 12,500 Ayush Health and Wellness Centres across the country.
• Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy Minister Shripad Yesso Naik announced this during the inauguration of a Unani Medical Centre and Siddha Clinical Research Unit.
• Out of 12,500 Ayush Health and Wellness Centres, 4000 centres will be set up in 2019.

State News

3. Rajasthan launches "Jan Soochna Portal-2019"

• Rajasthan has launched "Jan Soochna Portal-2019" a public information portal to provide information about government authorities and departments to the public in the true spirit of the Right To Information Act.
• The portal ensures compliance with Section 4(2) of the RTI Act mandating the public authorities to disclose information in the public domain.
• The State government has collaborated with the civil society groups to develop the portal, presently giving information pertaining to 13 departments on a single platform.
• The portal empowers the common people with access to useful information.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

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

Schemes and Committees

4. NGT constitutes committee to cease illegal groundwater extraction

• The National Green Tribunal has constituted a committee to formulate steps to cease illegal groundwater extraction.
• The committee comprises joint secretaries of Ministry of Environment and Forests and Ministry of Water Resources, Central Ground Water Board, National Institute of Hydrology (Roorkee), National Remote Sensing Centre and Central Pollution Control Board.
• The committee aims to ensure that groundwater is not illegally extracted and to monitor manning and functioning of the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA).

Agreement

5. Railway ministry signs MoU with CII

• The Railway Ministry signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for evaluating the green initiatives and rate the performance of its industrial units pursuing environmentally sustainable practices.
• The MoU was signed for Green Business Centre (GBC) of CII to extend technical co-operation for various green initiatives. It has developed a GreenCo Rating system to evaluate the various steps and rate them.
• GBC will also assess and certify 3 industrial units of the Railways and organise studies on energy efficiency.

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

• Union Minister of Railways: Piyush Goyal.
• John Mathai was the first Railways Minister of Independent India.

Appointment

6. Kapil Dev appointed as chancellor of Rai Sports University

• The Haryana Government has appointed cricket legend Kapil Dev as the first Chancellor of Sports University, Rai (Sonepat).
• The Haryana Assembly recently established Haryana’s first sports university at Rai.
• Kapil Dev was the captain of India’s 1983 Cricket World Cup winning team.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• Chief Minister of Haryana: Manohar Lal Khattar; Governor: Satyadev Narayan Arya.

Defence

7. DAC approves Capital Procurement of Rs 2,000 crores

• The Defence Acquisition Council accorded approval for Capital Procurement for the Services amounting to approximately Rs 2,000 crores.
• The decision was taken during the Defence Acquisition Council meeting held under the chairmanship of Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh.
• Focussing on the 'Make in India' initiative, DAC granted:
• The approval for indigenous development and production of the main gun 125mm Armour Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding-Sabot (APFSDS) ammunition for T-72/T-90 tanks by the Indian Industry.
• Approved procurement of DRDO developed and Industry manufactured Mechanical Mine Layer (Self Propelled) to improve automated minelaying capability with the Indian Army.

Awards

8. 5 Indian women police officers honoured by UN

• Five Indian women police officers were honoured by the United Nations for their commendable services in the world body's mission in South Sudan.
• The women officers who were conferred the UN medal were

1. Reena Yadav (Inspector Chandigarh Police)
2. Gopika Jahagirdar (DSP, Maharashtra Police)
3. Bharati Samantray (DSP, Ministry of Home Affairs)
4. Ragini Kumari (Inspector, Ministry of Home Affairs)
5. Kamal Shekhawat (ASP, Rajasthan Police)

• The Indian women police officers received the UN medal at a medal parade in the United Nations Mission in Juba in South Sudan.

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

• On 24 October 1945, The United Nations officially comes into existence
• Antonio Guterres is the Secretary-General of the United Nations
• United Nations is headquartered in New York.

Sports

9. Andrew Strauss becomes chairman of ECB's cricket committee

• Former England captain Andrew Strauss has been appointed as the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s cricket committee.
• As a chairman, Strauss will monitor all levels of cricket in England and Wales to ensure a “thriving professional game at the heart of the sport”.
• Andrew Strauss played 100 tests for England from 2004-12, scoring more than 7,000 runs at an average of 40.91, and captained the team to two Ashes series wins. He also served as England’s director of cricket between 2015 and 2018.

Important Days

10. Hindi Diwas celebrated on 14 September

• Hindi Diwas is observed every year on 14 September to mark the popularity of Hindi as an official language of India.
• On the occasion, International Hindi Conference was also organised by World Hindi Council in New Delhi.
• Hindi lovers from 6 countries including Mauritius, Uzbekistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka attended the International Hindi Conference.

Obituaries

11. Former bureaucrat B.N. Yugandhar passes away

• Former bureaucrat and Secretary to the PMO, B.N. Yugandhar passed away.
• He served as Secretary to the PMO between May 1995 and March 1997 during former PM P.V. Narasimha Rao’s term. He also served in the Ministry of Rural Development from March 1993 to May 1995.
• B.N. Yugandhar was the father of Microsoft's present Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella

Electronics questions and answers

1. What is Electronic?

The study and use of electrical devices that operate by controlling the flow of electrons or other electrically charged particles.

2. What is communication?

Communication means transferring a signal from the transmitter which passes through a medium then the output is obtained at the receiver. (or)communication says as transferring of message from one place to another place called communication.

3. Different types of communications? Explain.

Analog and digital communication.
As a technology, analog is the process of taking an audio or video signal (the human voice) and translating it into electronic pulses. Digital on the other hand is breaking the signal into a binary format where the audio or video data is represented by a series of "1"s and "0"s.
Digital signals are immune to noise, quality of transmission and reception is good, components used in digital communication can be produced with high precision and power consumption is also very less when compared with analog signals.

4. What is sampling?

The process of obtaining a set of samples from a continuous function of time x(t) is referred to as sampling.

5. State sampling theorem.

It states that, while taking the samples of a continuous signal, it has to be taken care that the sampling rate is equal to or greater than twice the cut off frequency and the minimum sampling rate is known as the Nyquist rate.

6. What is cut-off frequency?

The frequency at which the response is -3dB with respect to the maximum response.

7. What is pass band?

Passband is the range of frequencies or wavelengths that can pass through a filter without being attenuated.

8. What is stop band?

A stopband is a band of frequencies, between specified limits, in which a circuit, such as a filter or telephone circuit, does not let signals through, or the attenuation is above the required stopband attenuation level.

9. Explain RF?

Radio frequency (RF) is a frequency or rate of oscillation within the range of about 3 Hz to 300 GHz. This range corresponds to frequency of alternating current electrical signals used to produce and detect radio waves. Since most of this range is beyond the vibration rate that most mechanical systems can respond to, RF usually refers to oscillations in electrical circuits or electromagnetic radiation.

10. What is modulation? And where it is utilized?

Modulation is the process of varying some characteristic of a periodic wave with an external signals.
Radio communication superimposes this information bearing signal onto a carrier signal.
These high frequency carrier signals can be transmitted over the air easily and are capable of travelling long distances.
The characteristics (amplitude, frequency, or phase) of the carrier signal are varied in accordance with the information bearing signal.
Modulation is utilized to send an information bearing signal over long distances.

11. What is demodulation?

Demodulation is the act of removing the modulation from an analog signal to get the original baseband signal back. Demodulating is necessary because the receiver system receives a modulated signal with specific characteristics and it needs to turn it to base-band.

12. Name the modulation techniques.

For Analog modulation--AM, SSB, FM, PM and SM
Digital modulation--OOK, FSK, ASK, Psk, QAM, MSK, CPM, PPM, TCM, OFDM

13. Explain AM and FM.

AM-Amplitude modulation is a type of modulation where the amplitude of the carrier signal is varied in accordance with the information bearing signal.
FM-Frequency modulation is a type of modulation where the frequency of the carrier signal is varied in accordance with the information bearing signal.

14. Where do we use AM and FM?

AM is used for video signals for example TV. Ranges from 535 to 1705 kHz.
FM is used for audio signals for example Radio. Ranges from 88 to 108 MHz.

15. What is a base station?

Base station is a radio receiver/transmitter that serves as the hub of the local wireless network, and may also be the gateway between a wired network and the wireless network.

16. How many satellites are required to cover the earth?

3 satellites are required to cover the entire earth, which is placed at 120 degree to each other. The life span of the satellite is about 15 years.

17. What is a repeater?

A repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal and retransmits it at a higher level and/or higher power, or onto the other side of an obstruction, so that the signal can cover longer distances without degradation.

18. What is an Amplifier?

An electronic device or electrical circuit that is used to boost (amplify) the power, voltage or current of an applied signal.

19. Example for negative feedback and positive feedback?

Example for –ve feedback is ---Amplifiers And for +ve feedback is – Oscillators

20. What is Oscillator?

An oscillator is a circuit that creates a waveform output from a direct current input. The two main types of oscillator are harmonic and relaxation. The harmonic oscillators have smooth curved waveforms, while relaxation oscillators have waveforms with sharp changes.

21. What is an Integrated Circuit?

An integrated circuit (IC), also called a microchip, is an electronic circuit etched onto a silicon chip. Their main advantages are low cost, low power, high performance, and very small size.

22. What is crosstalk?

Crosstalk is a form of interference caused by signals in nearby conductors. The most common example is hearing an unwanted conversation on the telephone. Crosstalk can also occur in radios, televisions, networking equipment, and even electric guitars.

23. What is resistor?

A resistor is a two-terminal electronic component that opposes an electric current by producing a voltage drop between its terminals in proportion to the current, that is, in accordance with Ohm's law:
V = IR.

25. What is inductor?
An inductor is a passive electrical device employed in electrical circuits for its property of inductance. An inductor can take many forms.

26. What is conductor?

A substance, body, or device that readily conducts heat, electricity, sound, etc. Copper is a good conductor of electricity.

27. What is a semi conductor?

A semiconductor is a solid material that has electrical conductivity in between that of a conductor and that of an insulator(An Insulator is a material that resists the flow of electric current. It is an object intended to support or separate electrical conductors without passing current through itself); it can vary over that wide range either permanently or dynamically.

28. What is diode?

In electronics, a diode is a two-terminal device. Diodes have two active electrodes between which the signal of interest may flow, and most are used for their unidirectional current property.

29. What is transistor?

In electronics, a transistor is a semiconductor device commonly used to amplify or switch electronic signals. The transistor is the fundamental building block of computers, and all other modern electronic devices. Some transistors are packaged individually but most are found in integrated circuits

30. What is op-amp?

An operational amplifier, often called an op-amp , is a DC-coupled high-gain electronic voltage amplifier with differential inputs[1] and, usually, a single output. Typically the output of the op-amp is controlled either by negative feedback, which largely determines the magnitude of its output voltage gain, or by positive feedback, which facilitates regenerative gain and oscillation.

31. What is a feedback?

Feedback is a process whereby some proportion of the output signal of a system is passed (fed back) to the input. This is often used to control the dynamic behaviour of the system.

32. Advantages of negative feedback over positive feedback.

Much attention has been given by researchers to negative feedback processes, because negative feedback processes lead systems towards equilibrium states. Positive feedback reinforces a given tendency of a system and can lead a system away from equilibrium states, possibly causing quite unexpected results.

33. What is Barkhausen criteria?

Barkhausen criteria, without which you will not know which conditions, are to be satisfied for oscillations.
“Oscillations will not be sustained if, at the oscillator frequency, the magnitude of the product of the
transfer gain of the amplifier and the magnitude of the feedback factor of the feedback network ( the magnitude of the loop gain ) are less than unity”.
The condition of unity loop gain -A? = 1 is called the Barkhausen criterion. This condition implies that
A?= 1and that the phase of - A? is zero.

34. What is CDMA, TDMA, FDMA?

Code division multiple access (CDMA) is a channel access method utilized by various radio communication technologies. CDMA employs spread-spectrum technology and a special coding scheme (where each transmitter is assigned a code) to allow multiple users to be multiplexed over the same physical channel. By contrast, time division multiple access (TDMA) divides access by time, while frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) divides it by frequency.
An analogy to the problem of multiple access is a room (channel) in which people wish to communicate with each other. To avoid confusion, people could take turns speaking (time division), speak at different pitches (frequency division), or speak in different directions (spatial division). In CDMA, they would speak different languages. People speaking the same language can understand each other, but not other people. Similarly, in radio CDMA, each group of users is given a shared code. Many codes occupy the same channel, but only users associated with a particular code can understand each other.

35. explain different types of feedback

Types of feedback:
Negative feedback: This tends to reduce output (but in amplifiers, stabilizes and linearizes operation). Negative feedback feeds part of a system's output, inverted, into the system's input; generally with the result that fluctuations are attenuated.
Positive feedback: This tends to increase output. Positive feedback, sometimes referred to as "cumulative causation", is a feedback loop system in which the system responds to perturbation (A perturbation means a system, is an alteration of function, induced by external or internal mechanisms) in the same direction as the perturbation. In contrast, a system that responds to the perturbation in the opposite direction is called a negative feedback system.
Bipolar feedback: which can either increase or decrease output.

36. What are the main divisions of power system?

The generating system,transmission system,and distribution system

37. What is Instrumentation Amplifier (IA) and what are all the advantages?

An instrumentation amplifier is a differential op-amp circuit providing high input impedances with ease of gain adjustment by varying a single resistor.

38. What is meant by impedance diagram. 

The equivalent circuit of all the components of the power system are drawn and they are interconnected is called impedance diagram.

39. What is the need for load flow study.
The load flow study of a power system is essential to decide the best operation existing system and for planning the future expansion of the system. It is also essential for designing the power system.

40. What is the need for base values? 

The components of power system may operate at different voltage and power levels. It will be convenient for analysis of power system if the voltage, power, current ratings of the components of the power system is expressed with referance to a common value called base value.