Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Apr 27, 2017

ANSWER: Robin Kamark

Explanation:
Etihad Aviation Group on 24 April 2017 appointed Robin Kamark as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Airline Equity Partners.

Kamark will take over the position from Bruno Matheu, who has held the role since May 2016.

He will be responsible for leading and developing the Group’s minority equity investment strategy, which includes stakes in airberlin, Alitalia, Jet Airways, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Etihad Regional and Virgin Australia.

Robin Kamark is a 17-year veteran of the airline industry.

He rose through a range of strategy, commercial and general manager roles at SAS Group to become Chief Commercial Officer.

For the last five years, he has been Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Storebrand ASA.

Etihaad: Know More

• The Airways is the second - largest airline of the UAE after Emirates.
• Its head office is in Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi.
• Etihad commenced operations in November 2003.
• Since July 2016, the airline operates more than 1000 flights per week to over 120 passenger and cargo destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas.
• Since October 2016, Etihad Airways is rated as one of a small number of 5-star airlines by Skytrax.

ANSWER: 10

Explanation:
Ten nations from across the world came together on 24 April 2017 to form a group with the aim of protecting ancient heritage from extremism like that of the Islamic State, which led to the destruction of Syria’s ancient city, Palmyra.

The forum was launched in Athens, the capital city of Greece, by ministers and ambassadors from all the ten nations.

The list includes India, Greece, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Bolivia, Peru, Italy, China and Mexico, all of which are home to some of the world’s greatest archaeological sites.

The group would mainly run joint projects to promote dialogue and culture in the face of fanaticism and terrorism.

The project will be headed by the Greek government along with China.

Extremists from the Islamic State groups gained control over the ancient heritage monumental ruins of Palmyra in May 2015.

The occupation of the city was followed by destruction of many of its monuments.

Though Syrian and Russian forces reclaimed the city from the extremist group in March 2016, they lost it again in December 2016

Other UNESCO recognised sites that suffered destruction at the hands of terrorists include Bamiyan in Afghanistan where the Taliban blew up the Buddha statues and the ancient city of Timbuktu in Mali where extremists destroyed mausoleums and shrines.

The 10-nation group is due to meet again in 2018 in Bolivia.

ANSWER: Armenia

Explanation:
India will help Armenia to build satellite and remote sensing data matters and train Armenian scientists as both the countries today signed three agreements to boost bilateral cooperation.

The two sides stressed that there cannot be double speak on the issue of terrorism. During the talks, Ansari stressed that there cannot be bad or good terrorism.

The two sides acknowledged that there cannot be double standard on terrorism and the international community should speak in one voice against the menace.

The 2 countries also agreed to liberalise the visa regime issue to improve people-to-people contact, she added.

Both the sides also agreed to enhance cooperation in the agricultural sector and a joint working group will meet soon to finalise the broader outline, she said.

They also agreed to enhance space cooperation in which satellite, remote sensing data matters, training of scientists are important aspects. India will help Armenia in this sector, she said.

The two countries also agreed to enhance cooperation in the broadcasting and film sector especially Bollywood.

India had helped Armenia in many fields including establishing a centre of excellence, Param super computer besides setting up a number of computer labs in schools. IT and machine making is an important area of thrust for both the sides and a possibility of a joint venture will be worked out.

ANSWER: Army, Navy, Air Force

Explanation:
Joint operational doctrine aimed at providing deeper operational synergies among the tri-services was unveiled by the chairman of the chiefs of staff committee (COSC) and Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba in presence of Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat and IAF Chief B S Dhanoa.

The doctrine is aimed at coherently dealing with all possible security threats faced by India such as conventional and proxy wars.

This document is the second edition of the joint doctrine.

The first edition of the document was released around eight years ago.

The doctrine proposes joint training of personnel, unified command and control structure.

In addition, it supports tri-service approach to modernise the tri-services. The doctrine has said that the Higher Defence Organisation will facilitate inter-Service coordination in planning, execution of operations and force planning.

The doctrine facilitates the establishment of a broad framework for the conduct of operations across all the domains (land, air, sea, space and cyber-space).

The doctrine pushes for effective deterrent capabilities to protect India’s strategic interests along the Northern, Western and Eastern borders and sensitivities along the Line of Control (LoC) and Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The doctrine calls for the integration of the layered hierarchies of the national security structures to reap the most out of the available expertise.

The doctrine also pushes for having an ‘Integrated Theatre Battle’ as the guiding philosophy for evolution of war fighting strategies.

It has called for coordination of agencies like RAW, Intelligence Bureau and Intelligence organisations of the para-military forces as part of the Joint Intelligence Committee under the National Security Adviser.

ANSWER: Nita Ambani

Explanation:
Nita Ambani has been made member of two important commissions of IOC’s governing body.

She has been made as a member of the prestigious Olympic channel and Olympic education Commission.

Nita Ambani already holds the distinction of being India’s first woman International Olympic Committee member.

She was elected as an individual member of International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year.

She will serve the IOC till she turns 70. IOC has announced the composition of 26 commissions for 2017.

The composition of the IOC commissions for 2017 has seen a 70% increase in female participation since September 2013.

The commissions have also been constituted to reflect a broader geographical representation and include a number of new faces.

Nita Ambani has replaced International Paralympic Committee President Philip Craven to be one of the 16 members of the Olympic Channel Commission headed by United States Olympic Committee Chairman Lawrence Francis Probst.

Olympic Channel: Know More

• The Olympic Channel is a digital channel which is estimated to cost about USD 600 million over the first seven years.
• It was launched last year during Rio Games.
• The channel aims to promote Olympic sports and values all round the year.
• The channel is based in Madrid.

Nita Ambani: Know More

• Nita Ambani is also named in the 24-member Olympic Education Commission headed by Barry John Maister of New Zealand.
• She is the chairperson and founder of Reliance Foundation and a non-executive director of Reliance Industries.
• Forbes Magazine has adjudged Nita Ambani as the most influential women business leaders in Asia for the year 2016.
• She is the wealthiest woman in India

ANSWER: China

Explanation:
China has launched its first indigenously built aircraft carrier following the 68th-anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Chinese navy.

It is China’s second aircraft carrier built in the north-eastern port of Dalian.

The new aircraft carrier will be able to operate China’s Shenyang J-15 fighter jets and will be more dedicated to military and humanitarian operations.

The design of the new aircraft carrier has been obtained from China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, which was bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998 and refitted in China.

As per the foreign military analysts, the presence of two aircraft carriers has made China the most powerful maritime force in the Asia-Pacific.

What is a Blue Water Navy in China?

• A blue-water navy is a maritime force having the capability to operate globally across the deep waters of open oceans.
• China has the second largest military budget in the globe.
• Although, the design of China’s aircraft carriers would give its fighter jets enough lift to take off from their shorter decks, they lack the powerful catapult technology for launching aircraft as seen in US navy’s longer-range nuclear carriers.
• With China’s claims of almost all the South China Sea in which other countries like Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims, experts feel that the country will need at least six carriers.
• The United States operates 10 aircraft carriers and plans to build two more carriers in the future.

ANSWER: Belgium

Explanation:
Belgium has become the first country to open an honorary consulate office in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).

Besides the Belgian Embassy in New Delhi, two Consulates-General in Mumbai and Chennai, and an honorary consulate in Kolkata, Belgium has expanded its diplomatic representation in India with this new office in Gandhinagar.

The consulate was inaugurated by Belgian Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Pieter De Crem, at an event where Ajay Pandey, Managing Director and Group CEO, GIFT City, and members of a high-level delegation from Belgium were also present.

Hari Sankaran was nominated as Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Belgium to the state of Gujarat.

Sankaran, who is the Vice-Chairman and MD, IL&FS, said Gujarat and Belgium have had strong historic ties around the diamond industry.

With Gujarat emerging as a pre-eminent centre for manufacturing, agriculture, and, now services through GIFT, the potential for increasing collaboration is manifold.

About GIFT City

• GIFT is a central business district (CBD) located between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar in the state of Gujarat.
• GIFT is built on 886 acres of land to provide high-quality physical infrastructure with facilities like electricity, water, gas, district cooling, roads, telecoms and broadband services to woo finance and tech firms to relocate their operations from Mumbai, Bangalore, Gurgaon etc.
• GIFT includes a special economic zone (SEZ), international education zone, integrated townships, an entertainment zone, hotels, a convention center, an international techno park, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) units, shopping malls, stock exchanges and other service units.
• The likely cost of the GIFT City project is INR 70,000 crore.
• Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Company Limited (GIFTCL) is responsible for developing and implementing the project.
• GIFTCL is a joint venture of Gujarat Urban Development Company Limited (GUDCOL) and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS).

ANSWER: Ballabhgarh

Explanation:
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on 24^th April, 2017 announced the renaming of Ballabgarh town in Faridabad as Balramgarh.

The process to change the name in official records may take a few months.

Local MLA Moolchand Sharma and the Raja Nahar Singh Society had been demanding for long that the town be renamed after its founder king Balram Singh.

Situated around 30 km from Delhi on National Highway-2, Ballabgarh is a town and a tehsil (sub-division).

The princely State was founded by Balram Singh in 1739. Ballabgarh means ‘the fort of Balram’.

Raja Nahar Singh, who ascended the throne of Ballabgarh in 1829, was the ruler of 101 villages.

ANSWER: Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar

Explanation:
Senior IPS officer Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar was appointed as the new Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on April 26, 2017.

His appointment comes two days after the CRPF lost 25 jawans in the deadly Sukma attack.

Bhatnagar will be replacing acting DG Sudeep Lakhtakia.

Currently, Bhatnagar serves as DG of the Narcotics Control Bureau–an ADG rank post which has temporarily been upgraded to a Special DG rank.

Bhatnagar belongs to the 1983 batch of the Indian Police Service (IPS).

In another key appointment, R K Pachnanda was appointed as DG of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

He'll be taking over from Krishna Chaudhary, who is set to retire in June this year.

Pachnanda is serving as DG of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), India's specialized force for responding to natural disasters and CBRN emergencies.

Pachnanda is an IPS officer of the 1983 batch, West Bengal cadre.

ANSWER: Vani Jairam

Explanation:
Vani Jairam, the versatile playback singer in the South Indian film industry, was presented with the Ghantasala national award on 23 April 2017 at a function held in Andhra Pradesh.

The award is instituted by the Ghantasala National Art Academy in Andhra Pradesh.

The 71-year-old singer received the award from A. Ramalingeswara Rao, a High court judge in Andhra Pradesh and R Ananda Bhaskar, Rajya Sabha member from the INC party.

Award was in the name of legendary singer Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao who ruled the Telugu film music industry for over three decades.

The Telugu film ‘Sankarabharanam’ won her the National Film Award in Telugu in 1980.

Vani Jairam: Know More

• Vani Jairam is fondly called as Meera of modern India.
• She started her singing career in 1971 and has completed over four decades in the industry. She has done playback singing for over 1000 movies and recorded over 10000 songs.
• In addition, she has recorded over thousands of devotional songs and private albums and also participated in numerous solo concerts in India as well as abroad.
• Besides Hindi and Telugu, she has sung in several other Indian languages including Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Kannada, Gujarati and Bengali.
• She has won the National Film award for Best Female Playback singer thrice and has also received several state government awards from states such as Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. She was honoured with the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement award in 2012.
• She will be receiving the North American Film Award for Best Singer for Malayalam film ‘Pookkal Panineer’ in July 2017 at an event in New York City.

ANSWER: None of the above

Explanation:
Bollywood star Aamir Khan broke his record of not being part of any awards functions when he attended the Master Dinananth Mangeshkar Awards ceremony in Mumbai on 23^rd April, 2017.

He received a special award given to the city’s eminent personalities in various fields from RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.

Aamir was selected for the recognition for the success of his film Dangal, one of the biggest hits of 2016.

Aamir reportedly attended the Master Dinanath Mangeshkar Awards after singer Lata Mangeshkar invited him.

The event also commemorated Dinanath Mangeshkar’s 75th death anniversary.

Kapil Dev was given the award for his outstanding contribution to the Indian cricket.

Legendary actress Vyjayanthimala Bali was honoured with Master Dinanath Vishesh Puraskar for her achievements in Hindi cinema.

Other Awardees

• Kishore Deshpande, presented with Anadmayee Puraskar for his work in social service, Vishwanath Karad, Founder, Vishwashanti Kendra, presented with Samarpit Jeevan Puraskar,
• Vijaya Rajadhyaksha, conferred with Vagvilasini Puraskar for her work in literature.
• Uday Nirgudkar received an award for his editorial work
• Kaushiki Chakraborty for her endeavour in the field of music.
• ‘Mohan Wagh Award’ for best drama was presented to Sunil Barve for Amar Photo Studio - Subak Sanstha.

ANSWER: Pressure

Explanation:
A stadium-sized pressure balloon launched by NASA in New Zealand began collecting data in near space on 26th April 2017.

This is beginning a 100-day planned journey after several launch attempts were thwarted by storms and cyclones.

The balloon, designed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to detect ultra-high energy cosmic particles from beyond the galaxy as they penetrate the earth’s atmosphere, is expected to circle the planet two or three times.

The balloon’s monitoring was only the start of a long quest which would next involve a space mission currently being designed by NASA, she added.

The balloon, launched on 24th April 2017 in Wanaka, a scenic spot on New Zealand’s South Island, will collect data from 34 km above the earth.

New Zealand was also the base for NASA’s scientific balloon programme in 2015 and 2016.

New Zealand: Know More

• New Zealand is a country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.
• It is consisting of 2 main islands, both marked by volcanoes and glaciation.
• Capital Wellington, on the North Island, is home to Te Papa Tongarewa, the expansive national museum.
• Capital: Wellington
• Code: +64
• Currency: New Zealand dollar
• Prime minister: Bill English
• Population: 4.596 million (2015) World Bank

ANSWER: Only a and b

Explanation:
Market regulator SEBI on 26th April, 2017 decided to grant a unified licence to brokers and clearing members to operate in commodity derivative as well as equity markets.

SEBI’s board approved a proposal for integration of stock brokers in equity and commodity derivative space.

Following this, a broker or clearing member dealing in the securities markets will be allowed to buy, sell or deal in commodity derivatives without setting up a separate entity and vice-versa.

To enable the integration, SEBI will amend norms pertaining to stock broker and securities contract regulations.

The integration of stock brokers in equity and commodity derivative markets while having many synergies in terms of trading and settlement mechanism, risk management, redressal of investor grievances, etc would benefit investors, brokers, stock exchanges and SEBI.

Besides, it will increase economic efficiency in terms of meeting operational and compliance obligations at the member level, potentially resulting in ease of doing business.

Also, the integration will help in widening market penetration and facilitate effective regulatory oversight by stock exchanges and SEBI.

Bolstering steps to curb any flow of illicit funds in markets, SEBI also decided to bar resident as well as non-resident Indians from making investments through participatory notes.

The decision is part of efforts to strengthen the regulatory framework for offshore derivative instruments (ODIs), commonly known as participatory notes (P-Notes).

These have been long seen as being possibly misused for routing of black money from abroad.

The notional value of these instruments has declined over the years from 55.7% of overall FPI investments in June 2007 to just 6.7% in December 2016.

P-Note investments may now start coming from other jurisdictions like the US, France and the Netherlands after tightening of rules for inflows from Mauritius, Singapore and Cyprus.

ANSWER: Terminal High Altitude Area Defence

Explanation:
The US military has moved parts of THAAD, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence System to South Korea on 26th April 2017.

The earlier-than-expected steps to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system was also denounced by North Korea even as South Korea's presidential election are on May 9, 2017.

South Korea's Defence Ministry indicated elements of THAAD were moved to the deployment site, on what had been a golf course, about 250 km south of the capital, Seoul.

The battery was expected to be operational by the end of the year, it said.

The United States and South Korea agreed in 2016 to deploy the THAAD to counter the threat of missile launches by North Korea. They say it is solely aimed at defending against North Korea.

But China says the system's advanced radar can penetrate deep into its territory and undermine its security, while it will do little to deter the North, and is adamant in its opposition.

China is North Korea's sole major ally and is seen as crucial to US-led efforts to rein in North Korea.

The United States began moving the first elements of the system to South Korea in March after the North tested four ballistic missiles.

South Korea has accused China of discriminating against some South Korean companies operating in China because of the deployment.

The United States and North Korea have been stepping up warnings to each other in recent weeks over North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and missiles in defiance of UN resolutions.

North Korea says it needs the weapons to defend itself and has vowed to strike the United States and its Asian allies at the first sign of any attack on it.

The United States is sending the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group to waters off the Korean peninsula, where it will join the USS Michigan, a nuclear submarine that docked in South Korea.

South Korea's navy has said it will hold drills with the U.S. strike group.

Kim Jong-un had supervised the country's “largest-ever” live-fire drill to mark 25th April''s 85th founding anniversary of its military, with more than 300 large-calibre, self-propelled artillery pieces on its east coast.

ANSWER: Infrastructure Investment Trust

Explanation:
Infrastructure investment trust or InvIT is the new buzzword for money managers and infra companies. IRB Infra and Sterlite Power Grid's Indian Grid Trust are all set to sell InvITs.

IRB InvIT (Infrastructure Investment Trust) Fund, sponsored by IRB Infrastructure Developers, will launch its initial public offering (IPO) on May 3.

The issue would be available for subscription till May 5.

The IPO consists of a fresh issue aggregating up to Rs 4,300 crore and an offer for sale of up to 34,761,770 units by IRB Infrastructure Developers, Modern Road Makers, Aryan Toll Road, ATR Infrastructure and Ideal Road Builders.

The issue is being made through the book building process and in compliance with the InvIT regulation.

Around not more than 75% of the issue shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to institutional bidders, IRB said.

The investment manager and the selling unit holders, may, in consultation with the GCBRLMs (Global Co-ordinators and Book Running Lead Managers) and the BRLM (Book Running Lead Managers) allocate up to 60% of the institutional bidder category to anchor investors and strategic investors.

This is on a discretionary basis in accordance with the InvIT regulations.

Further, not less than 25% of the issue shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to other bidders, in accordance with the InvIT regulations, subject to valid bids being received at or above the issue price.

In case of under-subscription in any category, the unsubscribed portion in either category may be allotted to bidders in the other category at the discretion of the investment manager, in consultation with the GCBRLMs, the BRLM and the designated stock exchange.

As per InvIT regulation sponsor will hold 15% units for the initial three years.

What is InvIT?

• InvIT is like a mutual fund a collective investment framework.
• The sponsor is usually an infrastructure company which sets up a trust.
• The trust raises capital by issuing units and uses that cash to buy a bunch of the sponsor’s projects which are already generating cash.
• The units are typically purchased by pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign funds.
• These funds are paid from the revenues generated by the infra projects. Under Indian rules, the sponsor has to retain 15 percent of the units for at least 3 years.
• Thus the InvIT helps an infra company sell-off a part of its completed projects to new investors and secure funds for new projects. In a way, InvITs replace banks as funders for infra projects.

InvIT versus REITs

• InvITs are like real estate investment trusts (REITs) - in that the REITs are backed by rent-generating real estate assets and InvITs by cash generating infra projects like roads or power grids or even power projects.
• However, InvITs are different because the returns depend on both growth and on inflation.
• Besides the sponsor and the trust, the InvIT has a project manager who manages the under construction projects and operates the completed assets.
• The InvIT also has an investment manager who makes investment decisions related to the InvIT and oversees the project manager.