Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Apr 21, 2017

ANSWER: Yoga Day

Explanation:
The UN postal agency, UN Postal Administration (UNPA) will issue the new special event sheet to commemorate Yoga Day that has been marked annually since 2015.

The special sheet comprises stamps with images of the sacred Indian sound “Om” and various yogic asanas. The UN stamps are issued simultaneously at UN offices in New York, Geneva and Vienna.

Each issue carries a design theme with different denominations for each office. Generally, six new commemorative issues are released each year and remain on sale for 12 months only.

The stamps illustrate the aims and achievements of the United Nations and the other organisations affiliated to it.

The UN General Assembly had adopted the resolution to commemorate the International Day of Yoga every year on 21 June in December 2014.

The resolution had been passed with the support of a record number of nations (177).

The first International Yoga Day was commemorated at the UN in 2015.

MEA Minister Sushma Swaraj had led the celebrations along with the then UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, spiritual yoga guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.

ANSWER: Vinay Shah

Explanation:
Life insurance Corp of India has appointed Vinay Shah as the new managing director and chief executive director of its mortgage loan arm and listed entity LIC Housing Finance, after government elevates Sunita Sharma to managing director of LIC earlier this week.

Shah was executive director.

Shah has been with LIC since 1983. Prior to this assignment, he was executive director marketing. He took over the business as ED in April 2015.

He has looked after areas of new product launches in the last two years. He was zonal manager western zone.

The housing finance company had grown profit by 19.2% during the third quarter.

It has strong asset quality. However, in the past few quarters, developer loan segment has been growing faster than the retail loan growth.

ANSWER: BN Mohapatra

Explanation:
B N Mohapatra on 17 April 2017 took over as the new Financial Commissioner (FC) (Railways) and ex-officio Secretary to the Government of India.

The Financial Commissioner of Railways plays an important role in allocation of funds and for all expenses and revenues of the Railways.

Born on 15 January 1958, B N Mohapatra is an officer of Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS) of 1980 batch.

He completed his graduation in LLB and post graduation in Political Science.

During his career, he worked on various higher and middle level management posts in the Indian Railways.

He worked in various capacities in Khurda Road, Chakradharpur, Kharagpur, Bilaspur Railway Divisions and also in South Eastern Railway Headquarters at Garden Reach, Kolkata.

ANSWER: Both of the above

Explanation:
The Reserve Bank has opened a new ombudsman office in Jammu as part of its efforts to expand banking grievances complaint cells across the country. E

Earlier, the banking services related complaints from entire Jammu & Kashmir used to fall under the jurisdiction of New Delhi-I banking ombudsman office.

There are two banking ombudsman offices in New Delhi.

There has been a significant increase in banking network during the recent past and the New Delhi office covers a large jurisdiction.

ANSWER: SBI

Explanation:
State Bank of India on April 20, 2017 yet again surpassed energy behemoth ONGC to become the country's most-valued PSU by market valuation.

In the past few days, a game of musical chair was being played out between SBI and ONGC for the title of most-valued PSU.

SBI on Tuesday for the first time toppled ONGC as the most-valued PSU.

The market capitalisation (m-cap) of SBI at the end of recent trade stood at INR 2,31,049.83 crore. This was Rs 757.42 crore more than ONGC's valuation of Rs 2,30,292.41 crore.

ONGC has been the country's most valued firm across private and public sectors for some time a few years ago, when it first toppled RIL from the top of the charts and then also TCS from the pole position.

Shares of SBI today rose by 0.25 per cent to close at Rs 284.90, while ONGC ended at Rs 179.45, down 0.22 per cent on BSE.

In the top-10 ranking, SBI stands at sixth place and ONGC at seventh spot.

Most Valued Indian Firms

• TCS is the most-valued Indian firm with a market valuation of Rs 4,58,784.59 crore,
• RIL (Rs 4,45,237.53 crore) is second.
• HDFC Bank (Rs 3,74,631.37 crore) is third.
• ITC (Rs 3,39,397.88 crore) is fourth.
• HDFC (Rs 2,40,992.68 crore), at fifth place.
• SBI, ONGC, Infosys (Rs 2,13,076.07 crore) are sixth.
• IOC (Rs 2,07,589.94 crore) comes 7^th.
• HUL (Rs 1,98,276.07 crore) is 8^th.

ANSWER: AT Kearney FDI Confidence Index

Explanation:
India has jumped one spot to rank 8th in the 2017 AT Kearney Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index with 31 percent of the surveyed respondents being more optimistic on economic outlook over the next three years.

Investors see India as a vast and diverse up-and-coming market with plans to increase investments there over the near to medium term.

Investor confidence in India has been growing steadily over the last two years, making it one of the top two emerging market performers on the FDI Index, said the UK-based AT Kearney in the index.

Reform efforts by the current government have improved the country's investment environment.

This includes the national goods and service tax (GST) reform, the largest non- direct tax reform in India in recent years.

India's vast domestic market is an added attraction for foreign companies. Investors are looking at India's phenomenal economic performance as a key selling point.

It is forecast to be the fastest-growing major economy in the world in the coming years, which should provide a variety of investment opportunities to global firms," he said.

Among the investors surveyed, over half said a successful GST implementation would cause them to significantly or moderately increase their investment in India.

More broadly, 70 percent of the respondents plan to maintain or increase their FDI in India in the coming years, according to Kearney.

India's government is considering further policy reforms to further boost FDI inflows. A proposal to loosen FDI regulations on the retail sector is being evaluated, in part to support the country's 'Make in India' initiative and bolster the manufacturing industry, said the consultancy.

The government is eliminating the need for FDI approvals in sectors where licenses are also required, such as defence, telecommunications and broadcasting.

ANSWER: ISRO, BHEL

Explanation:
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) which is finalising a memorandum of understanding with BHEL to help develop low-cost lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles, also envisages a buyback commitment for such batteries.

The move is expected to take care of concerns on managing the waste generated at the end of battery life.

According to the MoU, BHEL will set up a production plant, while ISRO will provide support for scale-up, joint effort in cost optimisation, research and development for alternate chemistry and buyback commitment.

ANSWER: Chennai

Explanation:
Naval ship ‘INS Chennai’ was formally dedicated to the city in the presence of Chief Minister K Palaniswami and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, Vice-Admiral HCS Bisht.

The dedication ceremony of the ‘P15A Guided Missile Destroyer’ was marked by a series of drills and events, besides unveiling of a plaque by Palaniswami at the Chennai Port Trust

The navy was fully geared to meet the challenges at sea.

INS Chennai has been anchored here since April 15 and was visited by more than 5,000 people, including 2,000 students.

ANSWER: Devineni Nehru

Explanation:
Telugu Desam leader and former Andhra Pradesh minister, Devineni Nehru (Rajasekhar), died of cardiac arrest. He was 63.

A powerful youth leader, Devineni Nehru has been part of the TDP since its formation in 1982 by the TDP supremo and leading star NT Rama Rao.

He was elected MLA from Kankipadu in 1985, 1989 and 1994 and served as a minister in the NT Rama Rao cabinet.

After switching over to the N Chandrababu Naidu camp in 1996, when the TDP split, he later joined the Congress.

Nehru lost the elections in 1999 but was later elected in 2004 and defeated in 2009 and 2014.

ANSWER: Narayan Sanyal

Explanation:
Narayan Sanyal, a top leader of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist [CPI-Maoist], passed away on 17 April 2017.

This is following a prolonged illness in a South Kolkata hospital. He was 78.

Famously known as Bijoy-da, Narayan Sanyal joined the Maoist politics in 1967. Born in undivided Bengal’s Bogra district, now in Bangladesh, Sanyal was known for his keen interest in football.

In 1940s, he joined the CPI-Marxist-Leninist (ML) in the 1960s.

Sanyal was among the last links between CPI(ML), considered as the father of leftwing insurgency in India and its offshoot CPI(Maoist), which is perceived as India’s gravest internal security threat.

In December 2005, Sanyal was arrested from Raipur in Chhattisgarh when he was serving as a member of the banned CPI (Maoist)’s politburo, the highest decision-making body.

He was released from jail in 2014 due to failing health and had been living in Kolkata since.

CPI-M: Know More

• Headquarters: Gole Market, New Delhi, India
• Founded: 7 November 1964
• Newspaper: Ganashakti, People's Democracy
• Ideology: Communism, Marxism–Leninism
• Political position: Far-left politics
• Alliance: Left Front
• General secretary: Sitaram Yechury

ANSWER: Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail

Explanation:
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for procurement of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) Units for use in the General Elections, 2019.

The decision of the Government would enable the Election Commission of India to deploy VVPAT Units in all polling booths in the General Elections, 2019.

This will act as an additional layer of transparency for the satisfaction of voters, allaying any apprehension in the minds of the voters as to the fidelity and integrity of the EVMs.

VVPAT: Know More

• Voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) or verifiable paper record (VPR) is a method of providing feedback to voters.
• It is using a ballotless voting system.
• A VVPAT is intended as an independent verification system for voting machines designed to allow voters to verify that their vote was cast correctly.
• It is used to detect possible election fraud or malfunction, and to provide a means to audit the stored electronic results.
• It contains name of the candidate (for whom vote has been casted) and symbol of the party/ individual candidate.

ANSWER: Both of the above

Explanation:
Scientists have discovered a new Earth-like planet orbiting a red dwarf star about 40 light years away, which may be the best place yet to look for signs of life beyond the solar system.

Using European Southern Observatory (ESO)'s HARPS instrument at La Silla, and other telescopes around the world, an international team of astronomers discovered the exoplanet orbiting in the habitable zone around the faint star LHS 1140.

This world is a little larger and much more massive than the Earth and has likely retained most of its atmosphere.

This, along with the fact that it passes in front of its parent star as it orbits, makes it one of the most critical future targets for atmospheric studies.

Red dwarfs are much smaller and cooler than the Sun.

Although the super-Earth LHS 1140b is ten times closer to its star than the Earth is to the Sun, it only receives about half as much sunlight from its star as the Earth and lies in the middle of the habitable zone.

The orbit is seen almost edge-on from Earth and as the exoplanet passes in front of the star once per orbit it blocks a little of its light every 25 days.

For life as we know it to exist, a planet must have liquid surface water and retain an atmosphere.

When red dwarf stars are young, they are known to emit radiation that can be damaging for the atmospheres of the planets that orbit them.

The planet's large size means that a magma ocean could have existed on its surface for millions of years.

This seething ocean of lava could feed steam into the atmosphere long after the star has calmed to its current, steady glow, replenishing the planet with water.

The astronomers estimate the age of the planet to be at least five billion years.

They also deduced that it has a diameter 1.4 times larger than the Earth - almost 18 000 kilometres.

However, with a mass around seven times greater than the Earth, and hence a much higher density, it implies that the exoplanet is probably made of rock with a dense iron core.

This super-Earth may be the best candidate yet for future observations to study and characterise its atmosphere, if one exists than Proxima b or TRAPPIST-1.

ANSWER: Cheetah

Explanation:
Scientists have developed a lightweight robotic cheetah. It efficiently uses its energy to replicate the movements of the fastest land animal in the world.

The scaled-down robotic version moves using only about 15 per cent more energy than a real cheetah.

While walking robots tend to be large and heavy, taking cumbersome steps that use a lot of energy, the cheetah runs swiftly and smoothly.

The research provides valuable knowledge that can be used to optimise the robots of the future, designed to support us in areas such as healthcare or housekeeping.

The knowledge gained from the project can also be put to good use in rehabilitation robots or advanced prosthetics that are equipped with robotics.

The backbone proves crucial to the power this big cat generates. Bending and extending its spine enables the cheetah to move efficiently, run exceptionally fast and make huge leaps.

The main difference between existing walking robots and the cheetah robot is therefore the backbone.

Cheetahs are also able to store a lot of energy in their muscles for later use. This too is something one would have imitated by fitting carefully selected springs in our robot's legs.

The prototype weighs in at 2.5 kg and is 30 cm long–twenty times lighter than a real cheetah and four times smaller.

Taking into account the weight difference, the robot moves using only about fifteen per cent more energy than a real cheetah.

The robot can currently reach a speed of about one kilometre per hour.

ANSWER: China

Explanation:
China has launched its first unmanned cargo spacecraft on a mission to dock with the space station of the country.

The Tianzhou 1 blasted off on April 20, 2017 atop a latest-generation Long March 7 rocket from China's newest spacecraft launch site, Wenchang, on the island province of Hainan.

It is programmed to conduct scientific experiments after reaching the now crewless Tiangong 2, China's second space station.

China launched the Tiangong 2 precursor facility in September and the station's 20-ton core module will be launched next year.

The completed 60-ton station is set to come into full service in 2022 and operate for at least a decade.

Tiangong-2: Know More

• Launch date: 15 September 2016
• Orbital period: 1.5 hours
• Launch pad: Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-1
• Orbital inclination: 42.79°
• Orbital speed: 7.68 km/s (4.77 mi/s)
• Manufacturer: China National Space Administration

ANSWER: TCS

Explanation:
Global IT services provider Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been recognized by Oracle as its "Integrated Cloud Partner of the Year" in the UK and Ireland.

Over the last five years, TCS has strategically invested and pivoted toward Oracle Cloud to help its clients transform their businesses.

TCS was recently recognised as an "Oracle Cloud Elite Partner", received several "Oracle Excellence Awards.”

For a fifth consecutive year, TCS was ranked a leader in "Magic Quadrant for Worldwide Oracle Application Management Services" by Gartner in 2016.

Oracle: Know More

• Headquarters: Redwood City, California, United States
• Subsidiaries: NetSuite, Dyn, Art Technology Group, Taleo, Endeca.
• Founders: Larry Ellison, Ed Oates, Bob Miner

ANSWER: Mauritius

Explanation:
Mauritius has approached Indian information technology industry body NASSCOM for support in building capacity in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skill needs.

ICT has become an important activity to Mauritius. The country has started a dialogue with NASSCOM for skill development in the sector.

According to him ICT is already contributing by five per cent to the national GDP and holds lot more potential.

The proposed Indo-Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement is expected to be signed by end of this year as both countries finalised the areas of exchange.

Implementation of the CECPA between the two countries is likely to be signed by the end of this year which will help greater cooperation between two countries.

Areas of cooperation identified are financial services, ICT, health, education, R&D and construction.

He invited Indian investment in Mauritius to exploit the African market as the country offers preferential access through agreements.