Daily updates 4 October 2019

National

1. Nationwide ‘Paryatan Parv 2019’ to promote tourism kicks off

• The nationwide Paryatan Parv, 2019 kicked off to promote tourism in the country.
• The aim is to propagate the message of Dekho Apna Desh to encourage people to visit tourist destinations of the country and also spread the message of Tourism for All.
• This year's event is dedicated to 150th birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

2. PM of India & Mauritius jointly inaugurated projects in Mauritius

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mauritius PM Pravind Jugnauth jointly inaugurated 2 landmark projects in Mauritius via video conference.
• The 2 projects includes the phase-1 of the Metro Express and a new ENT Hospital. The Indian Government has granted $275 million for the Metro Express project and a grant of $14 million for the new Hospital Project.
• The grant was awarded as a special economic package for assisting five high-priority projects, which include the Metro Express project and a new ENT hospital.

3. Tourism Ministry launches App "Audio Odigos" for 12 sites of India

• Tourism Ministry has launched the Audio Guide facility "Audio Odigos" for 12 sites of India (including Iconic Sites) on the occasion of "Paryatan Parv 2019".
• An MoU for Gol Gumbad, Delhi with Government of Delhi and Resbird Technologies was also exchanged for the development of Tourism Amenities.
• Audio guide odigo offers Government of India verified content, with visuals & voice over support. With Audio Odigos, tourists will now enjoy a more enriching experience and take back historical insights of the Indian culture and heritage.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• Minister of State (I/C) of Tourism Ministery: Prahalad Singh Patel.

4. IRCTC to compensate passengers on delay of Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express

• Passengers of IRCTC's Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express will be compensated in case of delays, the Railway subsidiary, announcing a first of its kind offer from any national carrier.
• An amount of Rs 100 will be paid in case the delay is for over an hour and Rs 250 for delays of over two hours.
• This latest offer is in addition to the Rs 25 lakh free insurance that will be given to passengers of the train.
• This travel insurance also includes coverage of Rs 1 lakh against household theft and robbery during travel period of the passengers, again a first for those travelling onboard trains.

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

• Railway Minister: Piyush Goyal.

5. India's first private train Lucknow-Delhi Tejas Express flagged off

• Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath flagged off country's first private train Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express started its maiden journey from Lucknow.
• It will be the first train of Indian Railways that will be entirely run by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). The new Tejas Express will cover the distance between Delhi and Lucknow in six hours fifteen minutes.
• All passengers travelling by Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express will be provided free insurance of up to ₹25 lakh by IRCTC.

State News

6. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik launches ‘Mo Sarkar’ initiative

• Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik rolled out ‘Mo Sarkar’ programme which finds its roots in the Gandhian philosophy of giving people their voice in daily governance.
• The objective of ‘Mo Sarkar’ is to improve governance by collecting feedback on behaviour and professionalism displayed by the Government officers.
• "Mo Sarkar’ programme has been launched in 21 district headquarters hospitals and medical colleges at Cuttack, Sambalpur and Berhampur.

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

• Odisha CM: Naveen Patnaik; Governor: Ganeshi Lal.

7. Uttarakhand CM launches awareness campaign ‘Urjagiri’ to stop power theft

• Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat launched an awareness campaign "Urjagiri" which aims at stopping power theft and saving.
• The Chief Minister emphasised on the need to speed up the process for wider awareness to avoid power loss in Uttarakhand.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Main 2019:

• Capital of Uttarakhand: Dehradun; Governor: Baby Rani Maurya.

Appointments

8. Tata Communications names Amur Lakshminarayanan as its MD and CEO

• Digital infrastructure provider, Tata Communications has named Amur S Lakshminarayanan as Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer designate of the company.
• He comes with 35 years of experience in a broad range of leadership roles across industries and regions across the world.
• Prior to this appointment, Lakshminarayanan was President and CEO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Japan, Ltd.
• He also worked in the company as Global Head of Telecom, Media and Information Services, HiTech and Utilities, and Head of TCS UK (United Kingdom) and Europe.

9. Amrit Lugun appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Greece

• The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India was appointed Amrit Lugun as the next Ambassador of India to Greece. He is an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) Officer of the 1989 batch. He will replace Shamma Jain.

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

• Capital of Greece: Athens; Currency of Greece: Euro.

10. Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to Niue

• The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India notified that Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi was appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to Niue, with residence in Wellington, New Zealand.
• He is an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) Officer of the 1991 batch presently working as a High Commissioner of India to New Zealand. He will replace Sanjiv Kohli.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Main 2019:

• Capital of Niue: Alofi; Currency: Niue dollar, New Zealand dollar.

11. Sushil Chandra appointed as MD & CEO of Oil India Limited

• Oil India Limited has appointed Sushil Chandra Mishra as the new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company. He will replace Utpal Bora.
• Sushil Chandra Mishra started his professional journey as an executive trainee with OIL in 1984 and developed deep expertise in commercial matters.
• He also played a key role in framing and implementing procurement policies and procedures for inventory management, vendor development, framework agreement and its related strategies.

Banking

12. RBI reduces repo rate by 25 basis points in 4th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy

• In its 4th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee meeting, the Reserve Bank of India has reduced the policy repo rate by 25 basis points (bps).
• The MPC has also decided to maintain the accommodative stance of monetary policy. The main decisions taken in the 4th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee meeting are:
• The repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) was reduced from 5.40% to 5.15%.
• The reverse repo rate under the LAF stands revised to 4.90%.
• The marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate is revised to 5.40%.
• RBI has also reduced the real GDP growth for 2019-20 from 6.9% to 6.1%.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For SBI Clerk Mains:

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

Awards

13. Ben Stokes named PCA player of the year

• England all-rounder Ben Stokes has been voted Professional Cricketers' Association player of the year at the Professional Cricketers' Association awards.
• All-rounder Stokes played a starring role in England's maiden World Cup win before repeating his heroics to help salvage an Ashes draw with Australia.
• Tom Banton of Somerset picked up the PCA young player of the year, while England bowler Sophie Ecclestone collected the women's player of the summer award.
• The 50th NatWest PCA Awards were held at the Roundhouse in Camden. The event, organised by the PCA in conjunction with the England and Wales Cricket Board.

14. Kyrgyz lawyer AzizbekAshurov wins 2019 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award

• Human rights lawyer from Kyrgyzstan Azizbek Ashurov was awarded the 2019 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) prestigious Nansen Award.
• Ashurov will receive the award comprising of a commemorative medal and a cash prize of USD 150,000 prize money at a ceremony in Geneva on October 7, 2019.
• The UNHCR hailed Azizbek Ashurov for helping Kyrgyzstan become the world's first country to end statelessness, working through his organisation Ferghana Valley Lawyers Without Borders (FVLWB).
• He and his organisation have helped more than 10,000 people gain Kyrgyz nationality after they became stateless following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

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

• UNHCR Founded: 14 December 1950; Headquarters of UNHCR: Geneva, Switzerland.

Sports

15. Abdul Quadir Khan Wins Silver Medal in Asian Body Building & Physique Sports Championship 2019

• Maj Abdul Quadir Khan of the Corps of Signals has won the Silver medal at the 53rd Asian Body Building and Physique Sports Championship held at Batam, Indonesia.
• His accomplishment in the sport has brought glory to the Indian Army and Corps of Signals.

Obituaries

16. Padma Shri awardee HL Trivedi passes away

• Renowned kidney transplant surgeon and Padma Shri recipient Dr H L Trivedi passed away.
• He was as an expert in handling kidney transplant surgeries and was awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, in 2015 for his contribution to the society as a nephrologist.
• He also established dialysis centre network in district hospitals across Gujarat with the help of the state government.

Miscellaneous

17. Govt launches portal for monitoring coal supply to power plants

• Power Minister RK Singh and Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi have jointly launched PRAKASH - Power Rail Koyla Availability through Supply Harmony- portal in New Delhi.
• The portal aims at bringing better coordination for coal supplies among all stakeholders.
• This is an important step in ensuring adequate availability and optimum utilization of coal at thermal power plants.
• The portal is designed to help in mapping and monitoring the entire coal supply chain for power plants.

18. NBCC sign MoU with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports

• National Buildings Construction Corporation(NBCC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to provide project management consultancy for the development of National Sports University at Imphal, Manipur.
• NBCC has bagged a Rs 400-crore contract to develop National Sports University.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Main 2019:

• Chief Minister of Manipur: N. Biren Singh; Governor of Manipur: Padmanabha Balkrishna Acharya.

Daily updates 10 October 2019

                         National

1. Dearness allowance of government employees hiked by 5%

• The Central government has increased the Dearness Allowance (DA) of Central government employees and pensioners. The government has hiked DA by 5%, which means the dearness allowance has been increased from 12% to 17%. The decision was approved in a cabinet meet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The hike would be effective from July 2019. The cost to the exchequer will be Rs 16,000 crore.
• The cabinet also approved inclusion of 5,300 families under the development package of Jammu & Kashmir, who initially opted to move outside the state, but later returned and settled in the Jammu & Kashmir. This will enable such development package families to become eligible to get one-time financial assistance of Rs 5.5 lakh under the existing scheme.
• Cabinet has also relaxed the mandatory requirement of Aadhaar-seeded data as a pre-condition for release of funds to the beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. The relaxation will be till 30th November 2019. It will enable immediate release of benefits to a large number of farmers who are not able to avail the same due this requirement.

2. "DHRUV" a Learning Programme launched from ISRO, Bengaluru

• "DHRUV" a Pradhan Mantri Innovation Learning Programme has commenced from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bengaluru and will conclude at IIT, Delhi.
• The programme aims to further sharpen innovative imagination, skills and knowledge of the students who are expected to contribute to bringing solutions to socio-economic, political and environmental issues in the country.
• 60 brightest and talented students from Science, Mathematics and Performing Arts have been chosen for the programme.

3. GoI launches "Ganga Aamantran: Open Water Rafting Expedition"

• Jal Shakti Minister has launched an initiative 'Ganga Amantran'. The initiative has been launched to connect with the stakeholders of the river.
• It is a pioneering exploratory open-water rafting and kayaking expedition on the Ganga river. The expedition will start at Devaprayag and culminate at Ganga Sagar covering the entire stretch of over 2500 kms of the River.
• Ganga Aamantran is the 1st ever effort by National Mission for Clean Ganga to raft across the entire stretch of the river.
• It is also the longest ever social campaign undertaken through an adventure sporting activity to spread the message of River Rejuvenation and Water Conservation on a massive scale.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Clerk Mains:

• Union Jal Shakti Minister: Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

4. Govt constitutes panel for measures to raise GST revenue

• The Central Government has constituted a committee of officers to suggest measures to augment GST revenue collections and administration.
• The terms of reference of the panel includes making suggestions related to systemic changes in goods and services tax (GST) including checks and balances to prevent misuse and measures to improve voluntary compliance.
• The panel has also been given the task to give inputs on measures for the expansion of the tax base. The committee have to submit its 1st report within 15 days to the GST Council Secretariat.

Business News

5. RBI rejects Indiabulls Housing & Lakshmi Vilas Bank merger deal

• The Reserve Bank of India has rejected the merger proposal of Indiabulls Housing Finance and Lakshmi Vilas Bank.
• RBI has rejected the application for voluntary amalgamation of Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd. and Indiabulls Commercial Credit Ltd. with the Lakshmi Vilas Bank Ltd.
• The merger was crucial for Lakshmi Vilas Bank as it is now under the prompt corrective action framework of the RBI due to a high level of bad loans and insufficient capital.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• Chairman of Indiabulls Group: Sameer Gehlaut.

Ranks and Reports

6. RBI released Consumer Confidence Survey (September 2019)

• The Reserve Bank of India has released the results of the September 2019 round of its Consumer Confidence Survey.
• The survey was conducted in 13 major cities: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna and Thiruvananthapuram.
• Perceptions and expectations on the general economic situation, the employment scenario, the overall price situation and own income and spending are obtained from households across these cities.

Highlights of the survey:

• Consumer confidence weakened in September with both the current situation index and the future expectations index recording declines.
• Households’ sentiments on the general economic situation and the employment scenario declined. They were less optimistic on their income over the year ahead than in July 2019.
• Respondents perceived an increase in the price level over the last 1 year and a majority of them expect prices to rise further in the coming year.
• Respondents sentiments on overall spending as well as essential spending remain strong, though sentiments on discretionary spending weakened.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

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

Banking

7. RBI approves merger of DCBs to form ‘Kerala Bank’

• The Reserve Bank of India has given the go-ahead to the Kerala government to amalgamate 13 district cooperative banks (DCBs) with the Kerala State Cooperative Bank to form the proposed "Kerala Bank".
• Except the Malappuram District Cooperative Bank, all district banks had approved the scheme of amalgamation proposed by the State government at their respective general body meetings.
• Now, the government have to complete the stipulations laid for merger and submit a compliance report to the apex bank before March 31, 2020.
• RBI also insisted that the State government would have to consistently infuse additional capital and also put in place a well-defined governance structure by amending the KSCS Act.

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

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

Awards

8. Russia honors astronaut Nick Hague with "Order of Courage"

• Russia has honoured NASA astronaut Nick Hague with one of its highest honours, "The Order of Courage".
• Nick Hague survived an aborted space launch with Russian cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin when their Soyuz rocket failed minutes after blast-off from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in October 2018.
• Hague has been awarded for his "courage and high professionalism" shown during life-threatening conditions.

Sports

9. German Footballer Bastian Schweinsteiger announces his retirement

• German World Cup champion Bastian Schweinsteiger has announced his retirement from soccer.
• Schweinsteiger spent a major part of his career with European giants Bayern Munich, where he won 8 Bundesliga titles and 7 German cups as well as the Champions league in 2013.
• He made over 300 appearances for the Bavarian side, scoring 45 goals from 2002-2015.

Important Days

10. World Mental Health Day: 10 October

• World Health Organization observes World Mental Health Day on 10th of October every year. The day is celebrated with an objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health.
• The Day provides an opportunity for all stakeholders working on mental health issues to talk about their work and what more needs to be done to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide.
• The theme selected for this year’s Day: Suicide Prevention.
• This year’s Day is supported by WHO, the International Association for Suicide Prevention, and United for Global Mental Health. World Mental Health Day is organized by the World Federation for Mental Health.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Clerk Mains:

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

11. World Space Week: 4th-10th October

• The United Nations (Office for Outer Space Affairs) observes 4-10 October every year as World Space Week. It is an international celebration of science and technology, and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition.
• The United Nations General Assembly declared in 1999 that World Space Week (WSW) will be held each year from October 4-10. The dates were in recognition of the October 4, 1957 launch of the first human-made Earth satellite, Sputnik 1.
• The theme for 2019 is: The Moon: Gateway to the Stars
• During World Space Week space education and outreach events are organised by space agencies, aerospace companies, schools, planetaria, museums, and astronomy clubs around the world.

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.

Science and Technology

12. Saturn overtakes Jupiter as planet with most moons

• A team of astronomers has discovered a haul of 20 new moons orbiting the ringed planet, Saturn. This discovery has brought its total to 82 moons, while Jupiter, by contrast, has 79 natural satellites.
• The moons were discovered using the Subaru telescope on Maunakea, Hawaii.
• Each of the newly discovered objects in orbit around Saturn is about 5 km in diameter and 17 of them orbit the planet "backwards" i.e. retrograde direction. The other three moons orbit in a prograde direction i.e. the same direction as Saturn rotates.
• Dr Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC led the team of astronomers including David Jewitt of University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and Jan Kleyna of the University of Hawaii.

Miscellaneous

13. Vishnu Nandan among 300 researchers to join MOSAiC Expedition

• Vishnu Nandan, polar researcher from Kerala will join largest ever Arctic expedition "MOSAiC Expedition". He will be the only Indian aboard among the 300 researchers for multidisciplinary drifting observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate expedition.
• Vishnu Nandan will aboard the German research vessel Polarstern, anchored on a large sheet of sea ice in the Central Arctic, drifting along with it during the pitch-black Polar winter.
• Led by the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany, MOSAiC, the largest ever Arctic expedition in history, will be the first to conduct a study of this scale at the North Pole for an entire year.
• The expedition will help the researchers better understand the impact of climate change and aid in improved weather projections.

14. "GEMINI" system to warn fishermen of danger

• GEMINI is a portable receiver developed to avoid communication blackouts. It linked to ISRO-satellites and is “fail-proof” and warn fishermen of danger.
• The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services collaborated with Accord, a private company, to develop a box-shaped receiver that has an antenna and in-built battery that can last 3 to 4 days.
• GEMINI works on GAGAN, developed by ISRO and the Airports Authority of India and is an India-made global positioning system and relies on the positioning system by ISRO’s GSAT satellites.
• When GEMINI is connected to an app, it also lets fishermen know the probability of fish-catch in the surrounding seas.

Daily updates 11 October 2019

National

1. SARAS Aajeevika Mela begins in New Delhi

• SARAS Aajeevika Mela has begun at India Gate Lawns, in New Delhi. It has been organized by the Ministry of Rural Development under the initiative of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission.
• It aims to bring the rural women Self Help Groups (SHGs) formed with support of DAY-NRLM, under one platform to show-case their skills, sell their products and help them build linkages with bulk buyers.
• Over 200 stalls have been set-up at the Mela venue, where nearly 500 rural SHG craftswomen from 29 States and UTs will show-case varied range of products like handicrafts, handlooms, natural food products and a food court with regional cuisines at India Gate Lawns.

2. GoI launches Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN) initiative

• Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan has launched the Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN) initiative in New Delhi.
• The initiative was launched during the 13th Conference of Central Council of Health and Family Welfare.
• The initiative aims to assure dignified, respectful and quality health care at no cost for every woman and newborn visiting the public health facility in order to end all preventable maternal and newborn deaths.
• It also provides a positive birth experience to both mother and infant. With the initiative, the government is committed to achieve the target of reducing the maternal mortality and child mortality.

Economy News

3. Moody’s cuts India’s GDP growth forecast to 5.8% for FY20

• Moody, the rating agency has lowered its 2019-20 GDP growth forecast for India to 5.8% from 6.2%.
• It stated that the Indian economy is experiencing a pronounced slowdown partly due to long-lasting factors.

Appointments

4. Yes Bank Ltd appoints Anita Pai as COO

• Yes Bank Ltd has appointed Anita Pai as the Chief Operating Officer and Jasneet Bachal as the Chief Marketing Officer of the bank. The appointments has been made to further strengthen the top management at the bank.
• Anita Pai will lead the bank’s operations and service delivery and will also look after the information technology functions of the lender.
• Jasneet Bachal will head the marketing and communication efforts of the bank.

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

• Chief Executive Officer of Yes Bank: Ravneet Gill.

Agreements

5. GeM signs MOU with Union Bank of India

• Government e-Marketplace signed an MoU with Union Bank of India. As per the MoU, UBI will be able to offer an array of services including transfer of funds through GeM Pool Accounts, advising of Performance Bank Guarantees and Earnest Money Deposit to the registered users on the GeM portal.
• The MoU will facilitate a cashless, paperless and transparent payment system on the portal and will create an efficient procurement system for government entities.
• GeM is an initiative of the Government of India offering one stop platform facilitating online procurement of common use goods and services required by various government departments, organisations, Public Sector Units.

Awards

6. The Nobel Peace Prize for 2019

• The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2019 to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali. He has been awarded for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea.
• The prize is also meant to recognise all the stakeholders working for peace and reconciliation in Ethiopia and in the East and Northeast African regions.
• He will receive a full cash prize, valued this year at 9-million kronor ($918,000), a gold medal and a diploma.

7. The Nobel Prize in Literature 2018 and 2019

• The Nobel Prizes in Literature 2018 and 2019 were announced at The Swedish Academy in Stockholm. Both winners will receive a full cash prize, valued this year at 9-million kronor ($918,000), a gold medal and a diploma.
• The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2018 is awarded to the Polish author Olga Tokarczuk. She has been awarded “for a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life.”
• The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2019 is awarded to the Austrian author Peter Handke. He has been awarded “for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience.”

Obituaries

8. Legendary saxophonist Kadri Gopalnath passes away

• Legendary saxophonist and the Padma Shri awardee Kadri Gopalnath passed away. The Carnatic music maestro won multiple awards in his illustrious career, including the Kendra Sangeetha Nataka Academy Award and Karnataka Kalashree.
• He had the distinction of being the first Carnatic musician to be invited in the BBC Promenade concert in the Royal Albert Hall at London in 1994.

Important Days

9. International Day of the Girl Child: 11 October

• The United Nations observes International Day of the Girl Child on 11th of October every year. The day aims to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face, while promoting girls' empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights.
• The theme for 2019: GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable.

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.

Summits and Conferences

10. Gujarat to host conference of State Power Ministers

• Gujarat will host the State Power Ministers’ Conference. It will take place at Kevadia, on the banks of Narmada river.
• The 2 day conference will see discussions on policies related to emerging technologies in sustainable and renewable energy sector.
• It will also look after the implementation of Prime Minister Kusum Yojana, Solar Roof top, renewable energy development in the border areas, projects for Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Parks, ease of doing business in solar and wind energy space and the concerning issues related to regulatory matters, land and infrastructure.

11. 9th RCEP Intersessional Ministerial Meeting to be held in Thailand

• The 9th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Intersessional Ministerial Meeting will be held in Bangkok, Thailand.
• This will be the final Ministerial meeting before the 3rd Leaders’ Summit which will be held on November 4, 2019 in Bangkok.
• Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will represent India in the meeting.
• He will also hold a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Japan, Singapore, China, Australia and New Zealand during the Bangkok Ministerial.

Miscellaneous

12. Railway police's website & mobile app "Sahyatri" launched

• Union Minister Nityanand Rai has launched a Government Railway Police's website "railways.delhipolice.gov.in" and a mobile application "Sahyatri".
• The database of criminals, including their photographs, active in railways’ jurisdiction all over India would be uploaded on the Railway police's website. It will also have the facility to scan and read QR codes and make an emergency call.
• The Sahyatri app will help railway passengers find out the jurisdiction of a police station and the details of GRP officials by geo-tagging with Google Maps.
• It will also help the railway police in addressing complaints of passengers from across India and crime detection by integrating the criminal database online.

13. 38th India Carpet Expo begins in Varanasi

• The 38th India Carpet Expo will be held in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The expo will be organized by the Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC).
• The India Carpet Expo aims to promote the cultural heritage and weaving skills of Indian hand-made carpets and other floor coverings for the visiting overseas carpet buyers.
• India carpet expo also acts as a platform for international carpet buyers, buying houses, buying agents, architects and Indian carpet manufacturers and exporters to meet and establish business relationship.

14. Maharashtra & Goa Circle celebrating National Postal Week

• The Maharashtra and Goa Circle of the India Post is celebrating National Postal Week.
• The postal circle is observing the National Postal Week in each of the six regions under its jurisdiction - Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Goa.
• The week is being celebrated to spread awareness about services provided by the department and efforts made to meet changing requirements of customers.
• The week also commemorates the establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874 in the Swiss capital Berne.