Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Apr 21, 2016

ANSWER: Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority

Explanation:
Government has approved changes in the bill on afforestation, providing agreement for expeditious utilisation in a transparent manner of over INR 40,000 crore earmarked for forest land lying unspent. Official amendments in Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority Bill involves fresh accrual of compensatory levies and interest on accumulated unspent balance, which will be of the order of approximately Rs 6,000 crore per annum.

• Apart from this, the bill will also utilise amounts in creation of productive assets and generation of huge employment opportunities in rural areas.

ANSWER: World Press Freedom Index

Explanation:
The 2016 World Press Freedom Index was released on 20 April 2016 by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

• Finland retained its top position for the sixth consecutive year, followed by the Netherlands and Norway
• The Index ranks 180 countries according to the freedom allowed journalists. It also includes indicators of the level of media freedom violations in each region.
• Europe with 19.8 points still has the freest media, followed distantly by Africa with 36.9, which for the first time overtook the America’s 37.1, a region where violence against journalists is on the rise.
• Asia with 43.8 and Eastern Europe/Central Asia with 48.4, while North Africa/Middle East with 50.8 is still the region where journalists are most subjected to constraints of every kind.

ANSWER: Victoria Wood

Explanation:
British comedian Victoria Wood whose sketch shows and sitcoms blended playfulness and social observation has died at the age of 62. She succumbed to cancer.

• Wood got her break in 1974 winning the TV talent contest "New Faces."
• She had her own TV show in the 1980s with "Victoria Wood as Seen on TV.”
• Wood also created and starred in the late-1990s sitcom "Dinner ladies," which featured a mostly female cast.

ANSWER: Ge Fuping

Explanation:
President Pranab Mukherjee on 19th April 2016 honoured the Chinese professor Ge Fuping with the George Grierson prize for his remarkable works done for the propagation of Hindi abroad.

• Besides him, Alka Dunputh (from Mauritius) and Shichiro Soma (from Japan) were also given the George Grierson award by the President.
• These awards were instituted by Central Hindi Institute, Agra in 1989.

ANSWER: 30

Explanation:
14 scholars receive this award in seven different categories every year for their contribution in the field of Hindi language and literature. Ge Fuping was among over 30 international and Indian scholars that were honoured by President Pranab Mukherjee for their effort in promoting Hindi language.

• The President presented them with the Hindi Sevi Samman awards for the years 2012, 2013 and 2014.
• The Hindi Sevi Samman Awards were instituted by Central Hindi Institute, Agra in 1989.

ANSWER: Geeta Pasi

Explanation:
Pasi, who served as the United States Ambassador to Djibouti from 2011 to 2014, is a career member of the Foreign Service.

• Earlier, she has been the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Dhaka, from 2006 to 2009
• She had also been Deputy Principal Officer at the US Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany from 2003 to 2006Since joining the Foreign Service in 1988,
• Pasi also served at a number of diplomatic positions in Cameroon, Ghana, India and Romania.
• Pasi is an American diplomat awarded a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and masters from NYU

ANSWER: S-300

Explanation:
S. Davis Iran on 17th April 2016 unveiled S-300 missile system parts at army parade in Tehran. It was a long-awaited air defence system ordered from Russia.

• A deal between Iran and six world powers over its nuclear activities which caused lifting of sanctions in January 2016 removed the barriers to delivery but the fully operational system is still awaited.
• Iran insists the system is necessary to protect itself from threats of attack, including possible bombing of its nuclear facilities, and the S-300 would allow early detection of approaching aircraft.
• The S-300 is a series of Soviet-Russian long range surface-to-air missile systems produced by NPO Almaz, based on the initial S-300P version.
• It was first deployed by Russia in the year1979.

ANSWER: Durga Thakur

Explanation:
India's Durga Thakur was on 19th April 2016 promoted as International Outdoor Umpire by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

• The decision was taken after watching her performance at the Hawkes Bay Cup that was held in April 2016 in Hastings, New Zealand.
• FIH’s list currently has 14 Indians in the elite league of international umpires (10 men, 4 women).
• Thakur started her career as an umpire from the third Hockey India Sub-Junior Men & Women National Championship (Finals) in Bhopal in 2013.
• She is from HP

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 20th April gave its approval for signing the Paris Agreement adopted at the 21st Conference of Parties held in Paris in December 2015.

• The Paris Agreement on climate change is a milestone in global climate cooperation.
• It is meant to enhance the implementation of the Convention and recognises the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities
• The Paris Agreement acknowledges the development imperatives of developing countries.
• It recognises the importance of sustainable lifestyles and sustainable patterns of consumption with developed countries taking the lead, and notes the importance of 'climate justice’ in its preamble.
• Agreement seeks to enhance implementation of the Convention
• Agreement has important elements like finance, technology, capacity building and transparency of action and support.

ANSWER: Kartar Lalvani

Explanation:
The making of India: The untold story of British Enterprises authored by Kartar Lalvani came out in the third week of April.

• It captures positive aspects of colonial rule
• First book in single volume to assess all aspects of British contribution in India
• Kartar Lalvani is an Indian born Karachi in 1931 and moved to Mumbai in the 1940s

ANSWER: Bhutan

Explanation:
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi gave its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Bhutan on technical cooperation in the field of capacity building, benchmarking and bilateral exchange in infrastructure engineering.

• India and Bhutan have had a long standing diplomatic, economic and cultural relations with each other.
• The India-Bhutan friendship treaty signed in New Delhi in February, 2007 also strengthens the mutual relations.
• MoU is part of Article 2,7 and 8 of the India-Bhutan friendship treaty.
• The MoU will provide an Umbrella for educational, scientific & technical research and environment protection which are also stated aim of the India-Bhutan foundation established in August 2003.

ANSWER: Posterior Superior Temporal Sulcus

Explanation:
Scientists placed college students into an MRI machine and showed more than 1000 photos of facial expressions of people. The area on the right side of the brain is associated with the posterior superior temporal sulcus is directly responsible for facial recognition.

• This part of the brain activated when test subjects looked at people making facial expressions
• Neural patterns within this brain area are specialised for recognition of movement in specific parts of the face.
• Grains decode facial expressions through setting up of key muscle movements in the face of the person one is looking at
• Humans use numerous facial expressions to convey emotions and non-verbal communication signals and language

ANSWER: Chromecast Audio

Explanation:
Google has introduced the latest version of media streaming device Chromecast and also launched the new Chromecast Audio. Both devices were priced at INR 3399.

• Chromecast is available in 31 countries and has 20 million users globally
• Chromecast Audio allows users to stream audio from the smartphone on to the speaker

ANSWER: Jute I-CARE project

Explanation:
The government and the jute sector have set out on a programme aimed at handholding farmers to increase the supply of raw jute.

• This program is launched through the National Jute Board and the Jute Corporation of India
• It is called the Jute I-CARE project
• Around 8000 ha were covered in jute year 2015 while 25,000 ha will be covered over the next year
• Jute is known as the golden fibre

ANSWER: Preferential Trade Agreement

Explanation:
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for expansion of India - Chile Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between India and Chile.

• India’s export basket with Chile is diversified and keeping in view the wide variety of tariff lines offered by Chile, the expanded PTA would immensely benefit India.
• Under the expanded PTA, Chile has offered concessions to India on 1798 tariff lines with Margin of Preference (MoP) ranging from 30%-100% and India has offered concessions to Chile on 1031 tariff lines at 8-digit level with MoP ranging from 10%-100%.
• Under the proposed expanded PTA, 86% of India's exports to Chile will get covered with concessions, which is likely to result in doubling of our exports in the near future.

ANSWER: A serial killer

Explanation:
Norwegian authorities have violated the human rights of mass killer Anders Behring Breivik by holding him in solitary confinement in a three-cell complex where he can play video games, watch TV and exercise, a court in Oslo ruled on 21st April, 2016.

• Oslo district court said the isolation that Breivik faces in prison for killing 77 people in a bomb-and-gun massacre in 2011 is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.