Daily updates 1 October 2019

Appointments

1. RBI appoints Jai Bhagwan Bhoria as administrator for PMC Bank

• The Reserve Bank of India has superseded the Board of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank Limited, Mumbai and appointed Jai Bhagwan Bhoria as the bank's administrator with all powers of the board. Jai Bhagwan Bhoria replaces S.Waryam Singh.
• RBI had recently increased the amount of withdrawal allowed to the depositors of PMC from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000 and the directives will remain in force for a period of six months.

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

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

2. KS Dhatwalia appointed as PIB's Principal DG

• Senior Indian Information Service officer, KS Dhatwalia, has been appointed as the Principal Director General of Press Information Bureau.
• He will succeed Sitanshu Kar and will be the 28th Principal Spokesperson of the government.
• He has worked in key positions in various Media Units of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Banking

3. SBI becomes first Indian bank to have office in Australia's Victoria

• The State Bank of India opened its Melbourne office and becoming the first Indian bank to have a branch in the Australian state of Victoria.
• The Melbourne office will assist the growing trade and investment relations between Victoria and India and is the outcome of the state's 10-year India Strategy.
• This investment by India's largest commercial bank is a testament to our thriving financial services sector and our highly skilled workforce.

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

• SBI Chairperson: Rajnish Kumar; Headquarters: Mumbai; Founded: 1 July 1955.

Defence

4. Land-attack version of BrahMos supersonic missile successfully test-fired

• India successfully test-fired a land-attack version of BrahMos supersonic missile from Chandipur coast in Odisha’s Balasore district.
• DRDO conducted the test-fire successfully. The missile, with a strike range of 290km, can be fired from land as well as sea-based platforms. BrahMos is a joint venture between the DRDO and the NPOM of Russia.

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

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

Ranks and Reports

5. Kerala tops NITI Aayog’s School Education Quality Index

• Kerala has topped the "School Education Quality Index" launched by NITI Aayog. Uttar Pradesh was ranked at the bottom of the list. Chandigarh has topped the list of Union Territories.
• The School Education Quality Index assesses States on the basis of learning outcomes, access, equity and infrastructure and facilities, using survey data, self-reported data from States and third-party verification.
• Tamil Nadu was the top performer in access and equity outcomes, while Karnataka led in learning outcomes. Haryana had the best infrastructure and facilities.

Sports

6. Wilson-Satish pair wins gold at Asian Age Group Championships

• India’s N. Wilson Singh and Satish Kumar Prahapati won the gold medal in the 10m platform synchronised diving event at the Asian Age Group Championships held in Bengaluru.
• The duo of Wilson and Satish scored 290.19 score to beat Uzbekistan’s Zaynetdinov Marsel and Khasanov Botir, who scored 280.53 points. The bronze medal went to Mojtaba Valipour and Masood Vakili of Iran with a score of 266.16.

7. Fraser-Pryce wins World Championship 100m gold

• Jamaican sprint legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won gold medal in 100m race of 2019 IAAF World Championships held in Doha.
• This was her 4th women's 100 metres world title. She defeated Britain's European champion Dina Asher-Smith who took silver medal while Marie-Josee Ta Lou finished 3rd.

8. Fencer Bhavani Devi wins silver medal at Tournoi satellite competition in Belgium

• Indian fencer Bhavani Devi wins the silver medal in the women's sabre individual event at the Tournoi satellite competition in Belgium. She lost 15-10 to Anna Bashta of Azerbaijan in the final.

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

• Capital of Belgium: Brussels; Currency of Belgium: Euro.

9. Japan’s Kento Momota wins Korea Open

• Top-ranked Kento Momota of Japan clinched the men’s singles title at the Korea Open badminton tournament with a win over number two Chou Tien-Chen of Taiwan.
• In the women’s final, China’s He Bingjiao defeated Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand.

10. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton won 2019 Russia F1 Grand Prix

• Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes won the 2019 Russia F1 Grand Prix (Formula 1 GP) at Sochi Autodrom race track in Russia.
• Mercedes Valtteri Bottas (Finland) and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (Monaco) won the second and third spot respectively. The victory was the 82nd of Hamilton’s career, and ninth of the season, leaving him nine short of Michael Schumacher's all-time record of 91.

Obituaries

11. INA veteran from Tamil Nadu V Ganesan passes away

• Indian National Army (INA) veteran V Ganesan passed away. He joined Netaji's INA at the age of 18 and received six months of military training in Singapore.
• While participating in the battle against the British Army in Myanmar, he was arrested and was imprisoned for 10 months in Yangon jail and was later repatriated to India.
• He was honoured by the President of India in 2012 at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan. He also a recipient of Copper Plaques from both the central and state governments.

12. Legendary singer Jose Jose passes away

• Legendary Mexican singer Jose Jose who was often called 'El Principe de la Cancion' or 'The Prince of Song, passes away.
• In a career of more than four-decade, the singer sold millions of albums and picked by 6 Grammy nominations.

13. Grammy-winning opera star 'Jessye Norman' passes away

• Jessye Norman, the renowned international opera star whose passionate soprano voice won her 4 Grammy awards and the national medal of arts, passed away recently.
• She was a trailblazing performer and one of the rare black singers to attain worldwide stardom in the opera world.
• Jessye Norman made her operatic debut in 1969 in Berlin, wowing audiences around the world on stages in Milan, London and New York. Norman, at 52, became the youngest person to earn the Kennedy Center Honor in the organization’s 20-year history.

Important Days

14. International Day of Older Persons: 1 October

• The United Nations observes 1 October every year as International Day of Older Persons.
• The International Day of Older Persons is an opportunity to highlight the important contributions that older people make to society and raise awareness of the opportunities and challenges of ageing in today’s world.
• 2019 Theme: The Journey to Age Equality.
• The theme focuses on pathways of coping with existing and preventing future old age inequalities.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Clerk Mains:

• Headquarters of United Nations: New York, USA; Founded: 24 October 1945.
• Secretary General of the United Nations: Antonio Guterres.

Miscellaneous

15. UNESCO, DD Join Hands for TV Show on Gandhi's 150th Anniversary

• UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and Doordarshan, country’s public service broadcaster have joined hands to telecast TV bilingual programme ‘Mahatma Lives‘ or ‘Bapu Zinda Hain’ on 1-2 October 2019.
• UNESCO and Doordarshan will telecast TV bilingual programme to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.
• The objective of the programme is to celebrate his ideas and teachings and how it has shaped the lives of people in India as well as around the world.

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

• Director-General of UNESCO: Audrey Azoulay; UNESCO Headquarters: Paris, France.

16. Gandhi Film Festival to be organised in Mumbai

• Film Division in association with India Tourism will organise a "Gandhi Film Festival" in Mumbai from 2nd to 6th October, 2019.
• This film festival is a part of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary celebration and will focus on Gandhiji’s message of non-violence and Swachh Bharat.
• The select documentaries and feature films will be screened at the Films Division Complex, including: The Making of Mahatma, Gandhi, Gandhi My Father and Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara.

Daily updates 30 September 2019

National

1. International Astronomical Union names asteroid after Pandit Jasraj

• The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named an asteroid after Indian classical singer Pandit Jasraj. The asteroid formally known as a minor planet, is located between Mars and Jupiter.
• It was discovered on November 11, 2006, by the Catalina Sky Survey. The privilege of naming a planet is first given to discoverers, who have 10 years to propose a name.
• Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj is an exponent of Indian classical vocal music. Jasraj is the recipient of numerous awards, honours, and titles, including the prestigious Padma Vibhushan and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.

Appointments

2. Suresh Chitturi appointed International Egg Commission chief

• Suresh Chitturi, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of India's leading poultry firm Srinivasa Farms, has been appointed as chairman of the International Egg Commission(IEC) for the next two years.
• The appointment was made at the IEC Global Leadership Conference in Copenhagen in Denmark.
• He will be the first chair from Asia in the history of the institution, as he assumes the role of the Chairman of IEC.

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

• International Egg Commission(IEC) Founded: 1964.
• International Egg Commission(IEC) Headquarters: United Kingdom.

Awards

3. Tapan Mishra honoured with the National Tourism Award

• Odisha's Tapan Kumar Mishra has been honoured with the National Tourism Award for the Category of “Best Tourist Guide” for the year 2017-18 during celebration of the World Tourism Day.
• He is a freelance Tourist Guide approved by the Union Ministry of Tourism.
• Tapan Kumar Mishra has the rarest achievement of accompanying a single Belgian tourist for 965 days in a span of 8 years in which he has covered 26 States out of which 15 states twice on road from Odisha covering more than one lakh km.

4. Kallie Puri awarded with "India's Most Powerful Women in Media"

• India's Kallie Puri has been awarded with "India's Most Powerful Women in Media" award at the famed Confluence Excellence Awards.
• She received the prestigious award at the British Parliament. She is the Vice-Chairperson of the India Today Group.

5. Documentary on Real Kashmir FC nominated for BAFTA Awards

• A documentary on Srinagar-based football club Real Kashmir FC has nominated in the prestigious British Academy Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards.
• The documentary, aired by BBC Scotland earlier this year on the journey of former Rangers ace David Robertson at the helm of Real Kashmir FC, has been nominated in two categories.
• Its director Greg Clark has picked up a nod for the 'Director Factual' category, while the show will battle it out in the 'Single Documentary' category.

6. Thanu Padmanabhan gets MP Birla Memorial Award

• Physicist Thanu Padmanabhan received the M P Birla Memorial Award 2019 for his contributions to the world of cosmology.
• He is a professor of Inter-university Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune.
• The award was introduced in 1993 in recognition to the excellence in research in Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Science and related areas.

Defence

7. INDO-KAZAKHSTAN Joint Military Exercise KAZIND 2019

• Joint Military Exercise KAZIND-2019 between India and Kazakhstan will be conducted at Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand.
• The exercise will comprise of nearly 100 soldiers from both Indian and Kazakhstan Army who would be sharing their experience gained during conduct of various counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations in the past.
• Exercise KAZIND-2019 is the 4th edition of an annual event which is conducted alternatively in Kazakhstan and India.
• The aim of this exercise is to conduct company level joint training with an emphasis on counter-terrorism operations in mountainous terrain.
• During the exercise, aspects of emerging trends of global terrorism and hybrid warfare have also been included. The joint military exercise will enhance the level of defence cooperation further fostering bilateral relations between the two nations.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Main 2019:

• Kazakhstan PM: Askar Mamin, Capital: Nur-Sultan, Currency: Kazakhstani Tenge.

Summit and Conferences

8. 31st International Conference on Sindh held in London

• The World Sindhi Congress (WSC) hosted a 31st international conference on Sindh in London.
• In WSC the participants highlighted issues such as enforced disappearances of activists, human rights violations and forced conversion of religious minorities in Pakistan.
• The 31st International Conference on Sindh slammed Pakistan over its failure to respect democratic rights and curbs on by the country's military and called on the need to tackle growing religious extremism.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Main 2019:

• Chairman of World Sindhi Congress: Rubina Shaikh.

9. 7th World Hindu Economic Forum (WHEF) 2019 held in Mumbai, Maharashtra

• 7th World Hindu Economic Forum (WHEF) 2019 held in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• The theme of (WHEF) 2019 “Prosperous Society: Stronger Society” to bring together financially successful members in Hindu society such as traders, bankers, technocrats, investors, industrialists to share business knowledge, expertise and resources with their fellow brethren.
• The World Hindu Economic Forum has earlier been organised in London, Chicago, Losa Angeles, Hong Kong, and Nairobi.

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

• Maharashtra CM: Devendra Fadnavis, Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Capital: Mumbai.

Sports

10. Aryna Sabalenka wins WTA Wuhan Open

• Aryna Sabalenka has won the WTA Wuhan Open held in Wuhan, China.
• She became the first player to claim back-to-back titles in Wuhan. She defeated American Alison Riske in the summit clash by 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
• She has also joined Petra Kvitova as the only two-time Wuhan Open champion.

11. Sumit Nagal wins title at ATP Challenger Tournament

• Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal has won the men’s singles title at the ATP Challenger Tournament held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• He defeated Argentina's Facundo Bognis by 6-4, 6-2 to win the title. It was Sumit’s second Challenger title of his career, following the triumph in the Bengaluru Challenger event in 2017.
• He jumped of 26 spots to achieve a career-best ranking of 135.

Obituaries

12. Veteran actor Viju Khote best known as Kalia from Sholay passes away

• Veteran Bollywood actor Viju Khote passed away. The actor best is remembered for his role as Kalia in the cult classic Sholay. He worked in over 300 Hindi and Marathi films. He has been working in film since 1964. Apart from Sholay, he was remembered for his roles in films like Andaz Apna Apna, in which he starred as Robert.

13. Former Foreign Secretary KPS Menon (Junior) passes away

• Former diplomat KPS Menon (junior) passed away. He was a 1951 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer.
• He had served as the Foreign Secretary of India from 1987 to 1989. He served as an ambassador to various countries, including Bangladesh, Egypt, Japan and China.

Important Days

14. International Day for Universal Access to Information: 28 September

• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) observes International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI) on 28 September every year. The IDUAI has particular relevance with Agenda 2030 with specific reference to:
• SDG 2 on investment in rural infrastructure and technology development
• SDG 11 on positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas
• SDG 16 on initiatives to adopt and implement constitutional, statutory and/or policy guarantees for public access to information
• The theme of this year’s celebration: Leaving No One Behind!
• UNESCO is commemorating the International Day for Universal Access to Information with a series of ‘Open Talks’ to be held in Lima, Peru.

15. World Rabies Day: 28 September

• The World Health Organization observes World Rabies Day on 28 September every year.
• The day is celebrated annually to raise awareness about rabies prevention and to highlight progress in defeating this horrifying disease.
• The day also marks the anniversary of Louis Pasteur's death, the French chemist and microbiologist, who developed the first rabies vaccine.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• WHO Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland; Director general: Tedros Adhanom.

16. International Translation Day: 30 September

• The United Nations observes International Translation Day on 30 September every year.
• International Translation Day is meant as an opportunity to pay tribute to the work of language professionals, which plays an important role in bringing nations together, facilitating dialogue, understanding and cooperation, contributing to development and strengthening world peace and security.
• On 24 May 2017, the General Assembly adopted resolution 71/288 on the role of language professionals in connecting nations and fostering peace, understanding and development, and declared 30 September as International Translation Day.

17. World Heart Day 2019 observed on September 29

• World Heart Day (WHD) was observed annually on 29 September across the world.
• The day which is celebrated annually creates awareness of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) including heart disease & stroke and highlights the preventive and control measures.
• It was launched in 2000 by the World Heart Federation as an annual event. The theme for the World Heart Day 2019 is "My Heart, Your Heart".

Miscellaneous

18. Nepal Rastra Bank issues commemorative coins on 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev

• The Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), Dr Chiranjibi Nepal & Indian Ambassador Manjeev Singh Puri have jointly released three coins (100, 1000 and 2500 Nepali rupees) bearing the Sikh symbol to commemorate the 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
• A book titled “Sikh Heritage of Nepal” based on the Sikh heritage of Nepal was also launched in the program. This book has been published by BP Koirala India-Nepal Foundation in association with the Indian Embassy in Nepal.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Main 2019:

• Nepal Prime Minister: K P Sharma Oli; Capital: Kathmandu.
• President of Nepal: Bidhya Devi Bhandari; Currency of Nepal: Nepalese rupee.

WTA Architecture

Browsing the web using the WML browser is only one application for a handheld device user. Say a user still wants to make phone calls and access all the features of the mobile phone network as with a traditional mobile phone. This is where the wireless telephony application (WTA), the WTA user agent (as shown in Figure), and the wireless telephony application interface WTAI come in. WTA is a collection of telephony specific extensions for call and feature control mechanisms, merging data networks and voice networks.

The WTA framework integrates advanced telephony services using a consistent user interface (e.g., the WML browser) and allows network operators to increase accessibility for various special services in their network. A network operator can reach more end-devices using WTA because this is integrated in the wireless application environment (WAE) which handles device-specific characteristics and environments. WTA should enable third-party developers as well as network operators to create network-independent content that accesses the basic features of the bearer network. However, most of the WTA functionality is reserved for the network operators for security and stability reasons.

WTA extends the basic WAE application model in several ways:

● Content push: A WTA origin server can push content, i.e., WML decks or WMLScript, to the client. A push can take place without prior client request. The content can enable, e.g., the client to handle new network events that were unknown before. Access to telephony functions: The wireless telephony application interface (WTAI, WAP Forum, 2000m) provides many functions to handle telephony events (call accept, call setup, change of phone book entries etc.).

● Repository for event handlers: The repository represents a persistent storage on the client for content required to offer WTA services. Content are either channels or resources. Examples for resources are WML decks, WMLScript objects, or WBMP pictures. Resources are loaded using WSP or are pre-installed. A channel comprises references to resources and is associated with a lifetime. Within this lifetime, it is guaranteed that all resources the channel points to are locally available in the repository. The motivation behind the repository is the necessity to react very quickly for time-critical events (e.g., call accept). It would take too long to load content from a server for this purpose.

●  Security model: Mandatory for WTA is a security model as many frauds happen with wrong phone numbers or faked services. WTA allows the client to only connect to trustworthy gateways, which then have to check if the servers providing content are authorized to send this content to the client. Obviously, it is not easy to define trustworthy in this context. In the beginning, the network operator‟s gateway may be the only trusted gateway and the network operator may decide which servers are allowed to provide content. Figure 10.30 gives an overview of the WTA logical architecture.

The components shown are not all mandatory in this architecture; however, firewalls or other origin servers may be useful. A minimal configuration could be a single server from the network operator serving all clients. The client is connected via a mobile network with a WTA server, other telephone networks (e.g., fixed PSTN), and a WAP gateway. A WML user agent running on the client or on other user agents is not shown here.

The client may have voice and data connections over the mobile network. Other origin servers within the trusted domain may be connected via the WAP gateway. A firewall is useful to connect third-party origin servers outside the trusted domain. One difference between WTA servers and other servers besides security is the tighter control of QoS. A network operator knows (more or less precisely) the latency, reliability, and capacity of its mobile network and can have more control over the behavior of the services. Other servers, probably located in the internet, may not be able to give as good QoS guarantees as the network operator.

Similarly, the WTA user agent has a very rigid and real-time context management for browsing the web compared to the standard WML user agent. Figure shows an exemplary interaction between a WTA client, a WTA gateway, a WTA server, the mobile network (with probably many more servers) and a voice box server. Someone might leave a message on a voice box server as indicated. Without WAP, the network operator then typically generates an SMS indicating the new message on the voice box via a little symbol on the mobile phone. However, it is typically not indicated who left a message, what messages are stored etc. Users have to call the voice box to check and cannot choose a particular message. In a WAP scenario, the voice box can induce the WTA server to generate new content for pushing to the client. An example could be a WML deck containing a list of callers plus length and priority of the calls. The server does not push this deck immediately to the client, but sends a push message containing a single

URL to the client. A short note, e.g., ―5 new calls are stored", could accompany the push message. The WTA gateway translates the push URL into a service indication and codes it into a more compact binary format. The WTA user agent then indicates that new messages are stored. If the user wants to listen to the stored messages, he or she can request a list of the messages.

This is done with the help of the URL. A WSP get requests the content the URL points to. The gateway translates this WSP get into an HTTP get and the server responds with the prepared list of callers.

After displaying the content, the user can select a voice message from the list. Each voice message in this example has an associated URL, which can request a certain WML card from the server. The purpose of this card is to prepare the client for an incoming call. As soon as the client receives the card, it waits for the incoming call. The call is then automatically accepted. The WTA server also signals the voice box system to set up a (traditional) voice connection to play the selected voice message. Setting up the call and accepting the call is shown using dashed lines, as these are standard interactions from the mobile phone network, which are not controlled by WAP.