Daily updates 10 September 2019

National News

1. 1st Helicopter summit 2019 held in Dehradun
i. The Ministry of Civil Aviation organised India's first-ever helicopter summit in Dehradun. The Indian Air Force was invited at the summit to talk on the "role of IAF helicopters in MEDEVAC (Medical evacuation) at the national level. The conclave was attended by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, the Aviation Secretary, and the Chief Secretary of Uttrakhand.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Civil Aviation: Hardeep Singh Puri.

Banking

2. RBI to launch a mobile app for visually impaired
i. Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) is to implement the idea to develop a mobile application with an aim to help the visually impaired people to identify currency notes. For this, RBI has selected Daffodil Software Pvt Ltd.
ii. The application should be able to identify the denomination of legal tender banknotes of Mahatma Gandhi Series and Mahatma Gandhi (New) series by capturing the image of the notes that are placed in front of the mobile camera or scrolled across it. The mobile application should be searchable via voice option in all app stores.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• RBI 25th Governor: Shaktikant Das; Headquarters: Mumbai; Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.

3. IPPB rolls out Aadhaar-enabled payment services
i. India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) rollout of Aadhaar Enabled Payment System Services (AePS). With AePS services, any person with a bank account linked to Aadhaar can perform basic banking services such as cash withdrawals and balance enquiry irrespective of the bank they hold their account with.
ii. IPPB has become the single largest platform in the country for providing interoperable banking services to customers of any bank by leveraging the last mile unprecedented reach of the Postal network.

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

• Managing Director & CEO of IPPB: Suresh Sethi; Established: 1 September 2018.

Appointment

4. Rajiv Kumar appointed as the new MD of Microsoft India (R&D)
i. Microsoft has appointed Rajiv Kumar as the new managing director of Microsoft India Research and Development Pvt Ltd (MIRPL). He is currently served as a Corporate Vice-President of Microsoft's Experiences and Devices (E+D) Group. He will replace Anil Bhansali, who held this role for six years.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• CEO of Microsoft: Satya Nadella.

5. Justice Vikram Nath appointed as Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court
i. Justice Vikram Nath has been appointed as the chief justice of the Gujarat High Court. The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended the name of Justice Nath for the top post in the Gujarat High Court. He is at present posted as a judge in the Allahabad High Court.

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

• Chief Justice of India: Ranjan Gogoi; Supreme Court established: 28 January 1950.

Agreements

6. H-Energy & KSPL partners for regasification project
i. Hiranandani Group energy arm H-Energy has signed a port service agreement with Kakinada Seaports Limited. As per the agreement, they will develop a liquified natural gas (LNG) regasification and reloading terminal at Kakinada port. 
ii. The project will cater to the needs of domestic customers in the state of Andhra Pradesh. KSPL has the concession for Kakinada Deep Water Port from the Government of Andhra Pradesh.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• CEO of H-Energy: Darshan Hiranandani.

Awards

7. Odia Writer Pradeep Dash to receive 40th Sarala Puraskar
i. Noted Odia writer Pradeep Dash will be conferred with the 40th edition of prestigious Sarala Puraskar for his poetry work Charu Chibar O Charjya. The annual award, comprising a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh and a citation.
ii. The annual Sarala Puraskar instituted by eminent Odia industrialist Late Bansidhar Panda and Late Ila Panda in 1979, has been continuously awarded by Indian Metals Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT). 
iii. Sarala Puraskar is recognised as the foremost literary award of Odisha. This award is one of the finest contributions of  Indian Metals Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT) to glorify Odia literature.

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

• Utkal Divas or Odisha Day falls every year on 01st April.
• Chief Minister of Odisha: Naveen Patnaik; Governor: Ganeshi Lal.

Summit and Conference

8.  6th India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue held in New Delhi
i. The 6th India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue was held in New Delhi. The Dialogue comprised of round table meetings of Joint Working Groups on infrastructure, energy, high-tech, resource conservation and policy coordination followed by technical site visits and closed-door G2G meetings.
ii. The Indian side was led by Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog and the Chinese side by Mr. He Lifeng, Chairman, National Development and Reforms Commission. The dialogue is held annually alternately at the capital cities of the two countries.
iii. The 2 sides arrived at following mutual agreements:

• They exchanged views on regulatory procedures of ease of doing business, development of artificial intelligence, high-tech manufacturing, and next-generation mobile communications of both countries.
• They also pressed upon the need for promoting cooperation in emergent areas like Waste to Power, co-processing of Septage with Sewage Sludge, stormwater management etc.
• They agreed on cooperation in R&D for developing new technology for manufacturing solar cell from alternate material and improvement of efficiency of solar cells.

9. 22nd Session of UN Committee on CRPD at Geneva
i. The 22nd Session of UN Committee on Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities was held at Geneva. The UN Committee on CRPD took up India’s First Country Report for consideration during the session. India ratified this Convention on 01-10-2007 in pursuance of Article 35 of the Convention.
ii. Shakuntala D. Gamlin, Secretary, DEPwD headed the Indian delegation at the session. She highlighted various initiatives taken by the Government in the recent past for inclusion and empowerment of PwDs in line with the obligations under UNCRPD.

Obituaries

10. Freedom fighter Heeralal Sharma passes away
i. Rajasthan born freedom fighter of India Heeralal Sharma has passed away at the age of 95. He took an active participated in the freedom struggle and was jailed for two years.

Important Days

11. World Suicide Prevention Day: 10 September
i. The International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) observes World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) on 10 September every year. WHO has been co-sponsor of the day. 
ii. The purpose of this day is to raise awareness around the globe that suicide can be prevented. The number of countries with national suicide prevention strategies has increased in the five years since the publication of WHO’s first global report on suicide.

Miscellaneous

12. Royal Society honour for Dr Yusuf Hamied
i. Dr Yusuf Hamied, chairman of Cipla, a pharmaceutical company has been inducted as an honorary fellow of the Royal Society. He was elected as an honorary fellow of the Royal Society for his service to the cause of science.
ii. A total of 51 new Fellows and 10 foreign members were elected to the Royal Society in 2019. Royal Society is the independent scientific academy of the UK and the Commonwealth which is dedicated to promoting excellence in science.

13. Hurricane Dorian: India announces USD 1 million disaster relief aid for Bahamas
i. India announced humanitarian assistance of USD 1 million to help people in the Bahamas affected by Hurricane Dorian. According to reports, the death toll from the calamity has risen to over 40 and is likely to increase even more, even as search and rescue teams are still trying to reach out to Bahamian communities isolated by floodwaters and debris in the wake of Hurricane Dorian.

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

• Capital of Bahamas: Nassau; Currency of Bahamas: Bahamian dollar.

14. PM Modi and Nepalese PM to inaugurate Motihari-Amlekhgunj oil pipeline
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nepal's Prime Minister K.P.Sharma Oli will jointly inaugurate Motihari-Amlekhgunj cross border petroleum products pipeline. 
ii. The 69 km long pipeline from Motihari in Bihar to Amlekhgunj in Nepal has been constructed by India. This is the first transnational petroleum pipeline form India and first South Asian oil pipeline corridor.
iii. The pipeline will ensure smooth, cost-effective and environment-friendly supply of petroleum products to Nepal. The pipeline will save billions of rupees every year on transportation, leakage and expected to make a significant contribution to the prosperity of Nepal and its people.

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

• Capital of Nepal: Kathmandu; President of Nepal: Bidhya Devi Bhandari; Currency of Nepal: Nepalese rupee.

Daily updates 11 September 2019

National

1. PM Modi to inaugurate India's second Multi-Modal Terminal in Jharkhand

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation India’s second riverine Multi-Modal terminal (MMT) built at Sahibganj in Jharkhand.
•  The terminal at Sahibganj will open up industries of Jharkhand and Bihar to the global market and provide Indo-Nepal cargo connectivity through waterways route.
• Coal, stone chips, fertilizers, cement and sugar are other commodities expected to be transported through the terminal.
• This is the second of the three Multi-Modal Terminals being constructed on river Ganga under Jal Marg Vikas Project

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• Chief Minister of Jharkhand: Raghubar Das; Governor: Draupadi Murmu.
• Capital of Jharkhand: Ranchi.

International

2. Typhoon Faxai hits Tokyo, Japan

• Typhoon Faxai has hit Tokyo, Japan. There were winds of up to 210km/h (130mph).
• Faxai is one of the strongest typhoons to hit the Japanese capital in a decade. The Authorities have issued non-compulsory evacuation warnings to more than 390,000 people.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• President of Japan: Shinzo Abe; Capital of Japan: Tokyo.
• Currency of Japan: Japanese Yen

State News

3. Kerala to set up India's first iWTC in Kozhikode

• Kerala will set up India’s first international women’s trade centre (iWTC), in consonance with the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Kozhikode.
• A key project of the state’s gender park under the department of social justice, it is envisaged as a safe space away from home for women to harness their entrepreneurial capabilities, set up or expand their businesses and get their products marketed globally.
• The first phase of iWTC, being executed under the gender park’s “Vision 2020”, is scheduled to be completed by 2021.

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

• Chief Minister of Kerala: Pinarayi Vijayan; Governor of Kerala: Arif Mohammed Khan.

Schemes and Committees

4. PM Narendra Modi launches National Animal Disease Control Programme

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the National Animal Disease Control Programme in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura.
• The programme aims at vaccinating over 500 Million livestock including cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats and pigs against foot and mouth disease. The programme also aims at vaccinating 36 million female bovine calves annually in its fight against Brucellosis disease.
• The government will fund the programme for Rs 12,652 crore for a period of 5 years till 2024. The programme has two components: to control the diseases by 2025 and eradication by 2030.

Agreement

5. Gurugram Police ties up with tech giant Google

• The Gurugram traffic police have tied up with Google maps for real time traffic updates. The traffic related information will be shared in real time for public use.
• The information such as planned road closures, diversions, traffic alerts regarding road crash etc. will be shared by Gurugram traffic police with Google maps. Responding to the situation, Google maps will immediately update the information on its public maps.
• The basic idea behind this arrangement is to prompt commuters to make intelligent choices in order to make their commuting experience hassle-free.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Clerk Mains:

• Chief Executive Officer of Google: Sundar Pichai.

6. Niti Aayog, McKinsey to Launch First Digital Capability Centre

• National Institution for Transforming India (Niti Aayog) has selected McKinsey & Company to set up India’s first Digital Capability Centre (DCC). McKinsey supports five such digital capability centres across the globe – Aachen, Chicago, Singapore, Venice, and Beijing.
• DCC is a unique digital manufacturing learning centre offering company leaders and their workforces hands-on experience and workshops in next-generation technology to help them advance their operations, design and productivity and can be used at all levels of the value chain.

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

• CEO NITI Aayog: Amitabh Kant; Vice Chairman: Rajiv Kumar.

Awards

7. Pawan Munjal to be honoured with Asia Pacific Golf Hall of Fame

• Managing Director and Chairman of Hero MotoCorp, Pawan Munjal will be inducted into the 2019 Asia Pacific Golf Hall of Fame.
• He will be inducted for his support to "Golf" in India and around the world. The induction ceremony will be held at the 2019 Asian Golf Awards Gala Banquet.
• With the honour, he will join the legendary players such as Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and other leading personalities such as David Chu who were bestowed with the highest honour in the Asia Pacific golf industry.

8. England greats Boycott & Strauss honoured with knighthoods

• England cricket greats Geoffrey Boycott and Andrew Strauss have been honoured with "Knighthoods" by Theresa May in her resignation honours list.
• Both the former cricketers have received the honour for their services to sport after outstanding careers for England.
• Geoffrey Boycott played 108 tests between 1964 and 1982 for England and scored 8,114 Test runs at an average of 47.72.
• 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.

Summits and Conferences

9. International conference ‘ANGAN’ organized in New Delhi

• International conference ANGAN (Augmenting Nature by Green Affordable New-habitat) for Energy Efficiency in the Building Sector is being organized by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency in New Delhi.
• This event to discuss various alternative options and technologies in the field of design and construction of energy-efficient commercial as well as residential buildings.
• This event will provide a platform to deliberate on the interdependence between organizations, systems sustainability and feedback loops for better resource efficiency.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• Director-General of Bureau of Energy Efficiency: Abhay Bakre.
• Headquarters of Bureau of Energy Efficiency: New Delhi.

10. 24th World Energy Congress commence in Abu Dhabi

• The 24th World Energy Congress commence in Abu Dhabi under the patronage of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates.
• World Energy Congress aims to bring together international energy stakeholders, including governments, private and state corporations, academia and media.
• The theme of this World Energy Congress is "Energy for Prosperity".
• World Energy Congress is the World Energy Council’s global flagship event offering a unique platform for global energy leaders to explore new energy futures, critical innovation areas, and new strategies.

Books and authors

11. A book titled "Savarkar: Echoes from a forgotten past, 1883-1924” released

• A book titled "Savarkar: Echoes from a forgotten past, 1883-1924″ is penned by Bengaluru-based historian Vikram Sampath and published by Penguin.
• This book describing the life of freedom fighter and Philosopher Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, popularly known as Veer Savarkar.
• This first volume of the two-volume series covers the life of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (Veer Savarkar), from his birth in 1883 to his conditional release to Ratnagiri in 1924.

Obituaries

12. Tamil actor, cinematographer and director Rajasekar passes away

• Tamil Film Director, Actor and Cinematographer Raja Sekar passed away.
• He was a part of the director duo Robert-Rajasekar. Along with Robert Ashirwatham, he had directed films such as Palaivanacholai, Chinnapoove Mella Pesu, Dhooram Adhigamillai, Manasukkul Mathappu and Paravaigal Palavidham.

Sports

13. Paralympic Committee of India de-recognised for Sports Code violation

• The Sports Ministry of India has de-recognised the Paralympic Committee of India.
• The ministry has de-recognised the committee for violation of the National Sports Code. The committee violated the code by removing its elected president Rao Inderjit Singh.
• The Committee has been penalised for misgovernance and has been directed to comply with the Sports Code and ensure good governance practices in its internal functioning.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• Ministers of State (I/C) Youth Affairs and Sports: Shri Kiren Rijiju.

Miscellaneous

14. "CHC Farm Machinery" App launched for farmers

• Minister of State for Agriculture, Parshottam Rupala has launched a multilingual Mobile App “CHC Farm Machinery” during a conference on Crop Residue Management in New Delhi.
• The app will allow farmers to avail custom hiring services of CHCs located in a radius of 50 km. With the help of app, the farmers will now be able to get affordable access to cutting-edge technology at their doorsteps.

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