Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Aug 03, 2016

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
An Indian government body has suggested the provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of hot rolled steel products to reduce overseas purchase of alloy and shield local mills.

• Directorate General of Anti Dumping recommended the duties on steel products from China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Brazil and Indonesia.
• Indian steelmakers such as SAIL, TATA Steel and JSW Steel have lobbied for protectionist measures to block cheap overseas purchases undercutting local mills and squeezing margins.

ANSWER: Long dry spells

Explanation:
Different regions of the planet will react to global warming differently according to scientists. Researchers have shown that people in the Himalayas will have to contend with flooding while those in Andes will have longer dry spells and less water.

• Swiss researchers measured data and climate models to examine water balances in mountain ranges of upper Langtang valley in Nepal and Juncal region of central Andes.
• While in the upper Langtang valley, water discharge will increase in the first half of this century by as much as 70 percent, Juncal region will become drier in the future.

ANSWER: Tesla Motors

Explanation:
SolarCity Corp has agreed to the USD 2.6 billion offer of Tesla Motor to purchase the solar panel installer learning the obstacle for a carbon free energy and transportation company.

• The fall in the value of SolarCity is due to the solar company’s slowing growth, complicated financial structure and increased scrutiny of government incentives for rooftop solar.
• For Tesla, acquisition of SolarCity will offer greater economies of scale in electrical energy management systems

ANSWER: Nimesh Kampani

Explanation:
Veteran investment banker and market expert Nimesh Kampani currently the MD of JM Financial Ltd has announced the decision of stepping down on September 30 after attaining 70 years of age.

• Kampani will continue to be non executive chairman of the company and the group.
• He will also continue as director on board of some companies at JM Financial.

ANSWER: Purushottam Kaushik

Explanation:
CISCO MD of sales for India and SAARC region, Purushottam Kaushik resigned from the networking major after having worked there for 7 years.

• He may join Juniper Networks whose India head recently quit.
• He also created and managed a USD 2 billion business centred around smart cities, IoT, public safety and surveillance and Digital India initiatives.

ANSWER: Twitter

Explanation:
Telecom and postal service users can now file complaints with the government directly on social media platform Twitter.

• Communications Minister Manoj Sinha announced the Twitter Seva for registration and resolution of complaints.
• Platform will also address grievances against private players.
• People can use four commands to escalate their complaints. These are #DoTSewa, #BSNLSewa, #MTNLSewa, #PostalSewa.
• Twitter Seva is free for government departments; subscribers will be added to the service to generate revenue through this.

ANSWER: Prof. Anil K Gupta

Explanation:
President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee received a copy of the book Grassroots Innovation authored by Prof. Anil K Gupta (IIM-A) who is also Vice Chairman National Innovation Foundation.

• The book details how entrepreneurs and thinkers are contributing to the innovation movement for the economic development and advancement of society.
• President Mukherjee also said that innovation at grassroots level should be supported.

ANSWER: R.D. Burman

Explanation:
A took titled R.D.Burman: Pancham Memoirs authored by Chaitanya Padukone was released in July 2016.

• Book elucidates the life of legendary musician RD. Burman.
• The book is a exclusive tribute to Panchamda from well known performers like Amitabh Bachchan, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and Zeenat Aman.
• Padukone is a senior showbiz journalist honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

ANSWER: Anita Gopalan

Explanation:
Translator and artist Anita Gopalan was awarded the 2016 PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants for English translation of Hindi novel Simsim by Geet Chaturvedi.

• Gopalan is the second Indian translator to be selected for the grant.
• Simsim was first published in 2008 and focuses on 4 central characters and a decaying library in prime Mumbai locales.
• Book contrasts old and traditional India with corporate greed and consumerism.
• Gopalan has graduated in computer science and maths from BITS Pilani and has worked in the banking sector for 14 years.

ANSWER: Rani Singh Nair

Explanation:
Senior IRS officer Rani Singh Nair was on August 1, 2016 given charge of the CBDT Chairperson post.

• Her predecessor, Atulesh Jindal appointed CBDT chief in February 2016 retired on 31st July 2016.
• Following the appointment, she will oversee effective initiation of one time domestic black money disclosure scheme also called Income Declaration Scheme.
• Singh is a 1979 batch IRS officer of IT cadre who has worked as Member (Legislation and Computerisation) at CBDT.

ANSWER: Mondelez International

Explanation:
Deepak Iyer was appointed as MD of Mondelez International’s India business on August 1, 2016.

• He succeeds Chandramouli Venkatesan, who was MD (India operations) for two years.
• As MD of Monedelz India, Iyer will be part of the Asia Pacific Leadership Team and report to President of Asia Pacific Mondelez International.
• Iyer was previously MD-CEO of Bharti Axa General Insurance Company

ANSWER: Nida

Explanation:
Typhoon Nida has made its landfall near Dapeng Peninsula in China’s Guangdong province on 2nd August 2016.

• Nida carried gale force and heavy rain lashed the city of Hong Kong located 42 km from the peninsula.
• Nida generated winds of 145 km per hour as it moved towards Hong Kong.
• Chinese State Oceanic Administration has issued a red alert, the highest in China’s 4 tier colour coded warning system for ocean waves and storm tides

ANSWER: Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill 2016

Explanation:
Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill 2016 was passed on August 1, 2016 by the RS through voice vote.

• Bill seeks to replace the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Ordinance 2016
• Bill states that provisions will come into force from May 24, 2016.
• Bill was passed in LS on 19th July 2016.
• It was introduced by Minister of Health and Family Welfare, JP Nadda.
• The bill seeks to introduce uniform entrance examination for all medical educational institutions at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

ANSWER: Manipur

Explanation:
Indian Railways took another step towards connecting the NE with the rest of India through good rail network by laying the foundation for Imphal station and announced commencement of country’s longest rail tunnel and world’s tallest girder rail bridge.

• Tunnel will be built on Jiribam- Tupul- Imphal new broad gauge railway line in Manipur- the 111 km log line has 37 tunnels on it.
• New tunnel will be 11.55 km long more than famous Pir Panjal railway tunnel in J&K.
• The world’s tallest girder rail bridge over Iring river will be equal to two Qutub Minars stacked atop each other.
• Currently, the Malarijeka via duct on Montenegro Europe with a height of 139m is the highest rail bridge.

ANSWER: Vivek Teja

Explanation:
Martial arts champion Vivek Teja won the Martial Arts Championship in Sydney, Australia to become a world karate champion.

• He beat Australian teakwondo star Mathew Rose to win the title.
• He has won over 60 medals at national and international tournaments.
• He is the first Indian to have expertise and skill in all martial arts styles of the world.

ANSWER: None of the above

Explanation:
Indian off-spinner R. Ashwin has surged to the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for test bowlers after superb outing in the first test against West Indies in Antigua.

• Ashwin has top ranked the 2015 year end rankings.
• He replaced Yasir Shah to grab the number one ranking for bowlers.

ANSWER: Avinash Gupta

Explanation:
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur is instituting a chair professorship award in the name of late alumnus Avinash Gupta in the department of Architecture and Regional Planning.

• Award amounts to INR 20000 er month in addition to usual institute salary
• A donation of INR 2.4 lakh will be made to the IIT by Ron Gupta for 5 years to cover the chair award expenses for the chair position for 12 months

ANSWER: CHAMAN

Explanation:
Nature of horticulture crops assessment of production has become easy due to a new project called CHAMAN instituted by Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmer’s Welfare.

• As per this project, sound methodology for estimation of horticulture crops is being developed and initiated on pilot basis using Sample Survey methodology and remote sensing technology.
• Under CHAMAN, another project for area and production assessment of 7 major horticulture crops through remote sensing is being carried out by Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre.

ANSWER: GiftMilk

Explanation:
GoI’s NDDB (National Dairy Development Board) has registered a trust/society called NDDB Foundation for Nutrition to implement an initiative called Giftmilk to improve child nutrition through provision of milk and milk products free of cost.

• NFN has been registered on 9th October 2015 in Gujarat under Societies Registration Act 1860 and Bombay Public Trust Act 1950
• NFN has also been granted approval u/s 80G(5) of the Income Tax Act 1961.

ANSWER: India Gate Lawns, New Delhi

Explanation:
Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports Shri Vijay Goel has inaugurated the Wall of Wishes at India Gate Lawns in New Delhi in the presence of boxer MC Mary Kom to celebrate the Olympic contingent for India.

• India is sending its largest ever Olympic contingent to Rio games this year.
• The Minister also launched the Digital campaign for general public (#kheloIndia) to wish the Olympic Contingent from India all the best for the Rio Games.