Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Apr 01, 2016

ANSWER: USD 480 billion

Explanation:
Finance Ministry has calculated that India’s total external debt has risen to USD 480 billion towards the close of December as compared to March in 2015. Total external debt stock at December end recorded a rise of USD 4.9 billion over level at end March. Government external debt stood at USD 90.7 billion in December 2015 while non government debt equaled USD 389.5 billion.

• Effective external debt policy has helped in controlling rising external debt and maintaining comfortable external debt position.
• Long as well as short term debt will be focused on by the policy
• It will also study raising sovereign loans on concessional terms with longer maturities, regulating ECBs, and rationalising interest rates on Non-Resident Indian deposits.

ANSWER: 100 million

Explanation:
RBI bought as much as USD 1 billion (100 million) to prevent rupee from strengthening too much after the currency hit three-month highs as investors poured funds into emerging markets, and despite the buying, the rupee struck a three month high of 66.1700 per dollar on 31st March and was on course to post a gain of 3.2 percent in March - its biggest monthly gain in 2 1/2 years.

• The rupee's appreciation reflects a broad move into high yield emerging markets by investors, as central banks for major economies - notably the Bank of Japan and European Central Bank - have adopted a more dovish stance.
• Traders said they expect the rupee could appreciate further, after foreign investments into Indian debt and equity surged to a one-year high of USD 3.3 billion in March, reversing outflows from earlier this year.

ANSWER: LIGO

Explanation:
India will sign a MoU for building a state-of-the-art LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational - wave Observatory) project in the country, almost a month after the discovery of gravitational waves with the US.

• The MoU will be signed between the National Science Foundation USA and India's Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Science and Technology.

ANSWER: Kissan Swaraj Sammelan

Explanation:
A three-day biodiversity festival will be held in the city from April 1 as part of the third Kissan Swaraj Sammelan.

It is organised by Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture (ASHA) and hosted by Rythu Swarajya Vedika.

ANSWER: Shiv Thapa

Explanation:
World Championship bronze medalist Shiv Thapa became the first Indian boxer to make the cut for this year’s Olympics by entering Asian Qualifying Tournament final but MC Mary Kom failed to make the cut after losing in the last four stage here.

ANSWER: Kosli

Explanation:
A 66 year old poet in Kosli language, Haldhar Nag was in news in March 2016 after President Pranab Mukherjee on 28 March 2016 conferred Padma Shri 2016 on him at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
He was honoured with contribution in the Literature and Education Section

• In Odisha, he is known as Lok Kabi Ratna and has penned down 20 epics and several poems. He remembers all his creations and can recite them at any point of time.
• He wrote his first poem 'Dhodo Bargachh' (The Old Banyan Tree) in 1990.