Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Aug 13, 2016

ANSWER: 2017

Explanation:
There will be no separate railway budget from the next financial year, putting an end to a practice that began in 1924, with the finance ministry acquiescing to the proposal to merge the transporter’s annual exercise with the general budget.

• Finance ministry has constituted a 5 member committee of officers to work out the modalities for the exercise which will end the annual budget speech being followed by the rail budget.
• Move to discard the British era practice of a separate rail budget by the Modi government was after a 2 member committee comprising Niti Aayog member Bibek Debroy and Kishore Desai recommended the exercise to be scrapped.
• Finance minister Arun Jaitley has been asked to merge the rail budget with the general budget in the long term interest of the national transporter as well as the economy of the nation.
• Once the rail budget is merged with the general budget, Indian Railways will be like any other government department receiving budgetary support under the supervision of the finance minister.
• Once the overall funds are allocated, railways will then segregate them for various reasons with sources suggesting that the model will be akin to the one of the postal department.

ANSWER: MSME

Explanation:
RBI eased priority sector norms to boost cash flow to MSMEs including factoring transactions under priority sector lending with the aim to increase cash flow to small and medium sized enterprises.

• For increasing liquidity support for the MSME sector, the decision has been taken to factor transactions with on recourse basis eligible for priority sector classification by banks which are carrying out the business of factoring on a departmental basis.
• Factoring refers to a kind of financial transaction and debtor finance in which the business sells its invoices to a third party referred to as factor, at a discount.
• Companies often factor receivable assets to meet immediate cash requirements.
• Factoring transactions occurring through TReDS shall also be eligible for classification under priority sector lending upon operationalisation of the platform.
• TReDS is an exchange based trading platform to facilitate financing bills by small entities to corporate and other buyers including the government department and PSUs.

ANSWER: Fiscal Responsibility and Management

Explanation:
FRBM disclosure statements should be transparent and complete, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General. Centre should take steps to ensure that FRBM disclosure statements are transparent and complete with respect to all aspects.

• In its first report relating to review of the Fiscal Responsibility and Management Act, CAG said the government should carry out suitable amendments to the Act as well as Rules to address inconsistency.
• Government will strengthen the process of making underlying assumptions for projection of receipt and expenditure in various fiscal policy statements to insulate them from frequently changing and integrating the projections in the disclosure statements tabled for the Parliament in 2014-2015.
• Report said a refund of INR 1.17 lakh crore (including interest on refund of taxes) was made from gross direct tax collection in 2014-2015 but was not disclosed in government accounts.
• CAG also regretted that 12th Finance Commission recommendations pertaining to inclusion of 8 additional statements in the Union government accounts for more transparency were not implemented despite in-principle acceptance.

ANSWER: Rizvi Traverse Management LLC

Explanation:
Rizvi Traverse Management LLC managed by investor Suhail Rizvi has halved its stake in Twitter Inc and increased holding in mobile payments company Square Inc, regulatory filings have shown on 12th August 2016.

• Rizi had amassed more than 15% stake in microblogging phenomenon for himself and his investors.
• He also influenced the Kingdom Holding Co, Saudi Prince Alwaweed bin Talal’s investment company to purchase extra Twitter stock, according to a Reuters report.
• Firm owned 1.4 million Twitter shares as of June 30 down from March 31, as per a filing.
• This will provide a stake of 0.2 percent as per a estimate.
• Firms stake in square rose to 1.05 million Class A shares from 44,000 working out to a stake of 0.3 percent.
• Twitter and Square are headed by Jack Dorsey.

ANSWER: Biodiversity Mission and DDA Greens

Explanation:
DDA will create an SPV for green projects for the operation and maintenance of green projects including those pertaining to parks, nature reserves and eco-friendly corridors.

• The aim is to make them socially, economically and environmentally sustainable.
• SPV will be called Biodiversity Mission and DDA Greens.
• The different categories which will be part of the PSV are urban parks (city parks, district parks and community parks), biodiversity parks (wetlands, biotic communities, conservatories and ecologically functional ecosystems).
• SPV will also include nature reserves, spanning ridge area, protected forest, city forest, river front, lakes and green circuits like green corridors, belts and parks.
• SPV will be managed by a Board of Directors totalling 15 with the Lt. Governor as chairman.
• Board of Directors shall be representative from diverse professional backgrounds.
• CEO will be appointed and will manage the strategic vision set by the Board of Directors.
• The Biodiversity Mission and DDA Greens is an autonomous, non profit entity.

ANSWER: Michael Phelps

Explanation:
Michael Phelps of the United States won the Olympic 200m individual medley on 11th August to capture the 22nd gold medal of his career and became the first swimmer to win the same event at four consecutive Games.

• Japan’s Kosuke Hagino won Silver and Wang Shun of China won the bronze moving dramatically through the field on the final length after turning in fifth and seventh place.
• Phelps has now won 2 individual and 2 relay golds at his 5th Olympics, two years after coming out of retirement.
• His total medal haul has now risen to 26 including two bronzes and three silvers.
• Phelps has attained 4 consecutive golds in the same event placing him in the same Olympic pantheon as Al Oerter in the discus and Carl Lewis in the long jump.

ANSWER: Almaz Ayana

Explanation:
In a memorable women’s 10,000 championship, Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana shattered the world record by running 29:17:46 to win the gold medal at the Rio Olympic games.

• Vivian Cheruiyot won silver in 29:32:53 minutes and bronze was claimed by defending champion Tirunesh Dibaba who closed in 29:42:56.
• US Olympic Trials champion Molly Huddle broke the American record at 30:13:17, by around 9 seconds.
• In just her second track 10K, Ayana broke into record books at a timing 42 seconds faster than Junxia’s long standing record.

ANSWER: Both a and c

Explanation:
Joseph Schooling won the men’s 100m butterfly final on 12th August to secure Singapore’s first Olympic gold medal and denied Michael Phelps a 23rd medal.

• Phelps, the defending champion and world record holder finished second.
• Schooling has set an Olympic record at 50.39.
• Phelps now has 27 medals.

ANSWER: Rafael Nadal

Explanation:
Rafael Nadal has won his second Olympic tennis gold medal, teaming with Marc Lopez to win the men’s doubles championship for Spain in the Rio Games.

• Nadal and Lopez beat Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau of Romania 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in the final.
• Nadal is a 14 time champion at major tournaments.
• He also won an Olympics title in singles in the year 2008.
• This is the first medal for Lopez.
• Meanwhile, silver for Mergea and Tecau is the first tennis medal for Romani in Olympics.
• Bronze went to Steve Johnson and Jack Sock of the US who whom the Wimbledon doubles championship in 2014.

ANSWER: Simone Manuel

Explanation:
With a victory in the 100 metre freestyle, she became the first African American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming.

• 20-year-old Simone upset world record holder Cate Campbell of Australia and tied with Penny Oleksiak of Canada at Rio Games.
• Oleksiak is the youngest swimmer in the field; Canadian became the first swimmer born in the 21st century to win a gold medal in any Olympic sport.
• It was the first victory by the US in the women’s 100 free since 1984.
• Last Olympic tie for gold was in men’s 50 free at the 2000 Sydney Games.

ANSWER: Hadrosaur

Explanation:
A rare well preserved hadrosaur also known as duck billed dinosaur has been unearthed in Inner Mongolia autonomous region and expected to be of massive value regarding how the species has evolved.

• More than 90 percent of bones of animal were intact including the head,cervical, limbs, vertebrae and a tail bone.
• This is the most complete dinosaur fossil unearthed in Inner Mongolia in 20 years.
• Fossil was discovered in 2012 in Urad Back Banner in NW part of the region.
• Chinese researchers say that the fossil structure of the hadrosaur was about 8 meters long, one meter wide and 5 meters tall.
• Archeologists have found fossils of other plants and living organisms in the Rehe area.

ANSWER: Pisces A and B

Explanation:
Two tiny galaxies drafted in cosmic wilderness for billions of years before they started giving birth to new stars which made them visible from the earth.

• Hubble observations suggest that galaxies called Pisces A and B spent most of their existence in Local Void, a region of the universe sparsely populated with galaxies.
• Local Void is 150 million light years across.
• Then they moved to give birth to the stars. In a gas rich environment, star birth may have been triggered by gas raining down on the galaxies as they plow through the denser region.
• Dwarf galaxies are building blocks from which larger galaxies were formed billions of years ago in the early universe, inhabiting a sparse desert of empty space for most of the history of the universe, these galaxies were less active than they are today.
• Pisces A is about 19 million light years from Earth and Pisces B is 30 million light years away.
• Each galaxy contains 20-30 bright blue stars, indicating they are very young less than 100 million years old.
• Less than 100 million years ago, the galaxies doubled their star formation pace.

ANSWER: Deep Brain Stimulator

Explanation:
The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology, Thiruvananthapuram have signed an MoU to develop Deep Brain Stimulator/DBS.

• DBS is currently being imported limiting its wider usage to high cost.
• Planned joint development is targeted to provide an alternative that is affordable.
• DBS involves implanting electrodes within certain brain areas and regular electrical pulses generated by pacemaker like device placed under the skin in upper chest regulates abnormal impulses of the brain.
• It is used in neurological conditions of essential tremor, dystonia and Parkinson’s Disease.
• DBS comprises implanted pulse generator, electrodes and extension cable which interface with external programmer modules and wireless battery chargers.
• As per the MoU, BARC will develop the device as per specifications provided by SCTIMST and the latter will manage clinical trials, testing and qualifications.
• Electronics Division Reactor Control Division and Centre for Design & Manufacture of the BARC will participate in developing various subsystems.

ANSWER: Maldives

Explanation:
Maldives President Abdulla Yameen on 11th August gave his deal of approval to the controversial defamation bill.

• Earlier, the Maldives Parliament had adopted the Bill on Defamation and Freedom of Speech with 47 members voting in favour and 31 against it.
• As per the law, defamation is a criminal offence.
• In November 2009, when Mohammad Nasheed was President, it was made a civil infraction.
• Government also said it would provide a layer of protection for those undergoing defamation.

ANSWER: Intel

Explanation:
Department of Science and Technology, Intel the world’s largest chipmaker and IIT Bombay’s Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship have collaborated to introduce a system which will incubate hardware startups. Programme will support hardware and systems based ventures through mentoring, infrastructure, lab facilities, funding and business services

• DST is committed to supporting technology and entrepreneurship initiatives that are of relevance to national needs.

ANSWER: Venezuela and Colombia

Explanation:
Venezuela and Colombia on 11th August 2016 agreed to the gradual reopening of their border one year after the Venezuelan government closed crossings to prevent smuggling.

• Announcement followed a meeting between President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia in the city of Puerto Ordaz in Venezuela.
• Venezuela government closed all crossings a year back to stem smuggling along the 1378 mile (2219 km) long border.
• Before the border was shut close to 100,000 people crossed the border everyday from Colombia.

ANSWER: Cybercrime

Explanation:
Pakistan’s parliament adopted a draconian legislation to deal with cybercrime in the country despite criticism by opposition parties and groups working to protect fundamental rights.

• National Assembly or lower house passed the “Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act” without any amendment to the draft passed by the Senate.
• Senate also made close to 50 amendments which were passed by the National Assembly in April.
• Law includes a total of 21 offences related to misuse of the Internet with over a dozen crimes for which fresh law prescribes jail term.
• This includes the use of cyberspace for terrorism, pornography, hate speech, fraud and tampering information.
• Opposition parties including Pakistan People Party, Pakistan’s Tehreek-i-Insaf and Muttahida Quasi Movement condemned sections of the bill.

ANSWER: Sriram Rajamani

Explanation:
Microsoft announced the appointment of Sriram Rajamani as the new MD of the India lab.

• He will spreadhead Microsoft India from the Bengaluru office replacing Chandu Thekkath who has been MD of the lab for two years.
• Prior to joining the India lab, Rajamani headed the Software Productivity Tools group within the Microsoft Redmond Research Lab.

ANSWER: Foxconn

Explanation:
Taiwan’s Foxconn indicated that China’s anti monopoly authorities approved acquisition of Japan’s Sharp Corp paving the way for the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer to seal a USD 3.8 billion deal.

• With all necessary regulatory reviews complete, Sharp and Foxconn will now move to complete transactions in accordance with agreement as quickly as possible.
• Seeking control of Sharp’s advanced panel technology and strengthen position with major client Apple Inc, Foxconn formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co will spend 388.8 billion yen or USD 3.84 billion to acquire two thirds stake in Sharp.
• Foxconn was unable to complete the acquisition in June due to prolonged Chinese antitrust review indicating fears among investors that the deal might fall and send Sharp shares below the planned acquisition price of 88 yen.

ANSWER: Grasim

Explanation:
Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd will merge with Grasim Industries Ltd to unlock shareholder value and create a USD 9 billion or INR 59,766 crore enterprise.

• With this merger, Aditya Birla Group will hive off financial services business into a separate entity to be listed later.
• BoD of Grasim Industries Ltd, ABNL and Aditya Birla Financial Services Ltd at their respective meetings approved the merger of ABNL into Grasim and subsequent demerger and listing of financial services business through a composite arrangement scheme.
• Transaction which is subject to regulatory approvals will be implemented in 2 phases.
• ABNL will first merge into Grasim and financial services business would then be demerged resulting in listed financial services company with 57 percent owned by post merger Grasim and the balance being held by post merger Grasim shareholders on a proportionate basis.
• Following the merger, Grasim with an aggregate turnover of INR 59,766 crore and EBITDA of INR 11,961 crore for March 31, 2016 will become India’s top cement company and will be among the top diversified private NBFCs in India.
• It will be the third ranked telecom operator besides being among the top four private sector insurance and asset management companies.
• The proposed transaction will create a combined entity with USD 9 billion revenue, EBITDA of INR 12,000 crore and EBIDTA margins of 19 percent.
• This is a win-win situation for shareholders of both companies - Grasim shareholders will gain access to high growth businesses of financial services and telecommunications while Nuvo shareholders will get strong cash flow business of cement and VSF
• ABFSL will be listed by May-June 2017.
• For each merger of ABNL with Grasim, each ABNL shareholder will get three new equity shares of Grasim for every 10 equity shares held in ABNL which means shareholder holding 100 shares in ABNL will receive 30 shares in Grasim.

ANSWER: Both of the above

Explanation:
Signalling a strong consensus in the political class on making corporates and non governmental organisations more accountable for acts of corruption, a parliamentary committee has recommended to make bribe giving an offence under Prevention of Corruption Act.

• Select committee studying the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2013 and further amendments circulated by the government last year, has recommended that it be made mandatory for corporates to have proper anti-graft system in place deterring employees from indulging in corrupt practices.
• PC Act covers public servants accepting a bribe, not a bribe giver.
• Providing a bribe to a public servant is covered under the provision pertaining to abetment.
• There is no specific provision in dealing with companies and private individuals engaging in bribe giving.
• Bill proposes a jail term of close to 7 years for any private individual, corporate or member of NGO who tries to bribe a public servant.
• Scope of the bill has been widened to include middlemen, company directors and private individuals who are linked to payoffs.
• In case amendments approved by the select committee are passed by Parliament, a new act will hold a commercial organisation liable for failure to prevent persons from bribing a public servant.
• Firm can therefore be held responsible for corrupt acts of employees.

ANSWER: Little Master

Explanation:
Hanif Mohammad , the cricketer who was known as the original Little Master passed away on August 11,2016 in Karachi Pakistan. He was 81 years old and succumbed to cancer in 2013.

• Born in 1934, he was a Pakistani cricketer who played in 55 test matches.
• He was one of the best batsmen in the world at one point in time and named Wisden Cricketer of the year in 1968.
• Highest test century attained by the cricketer which is the longest innings in Test history was 337 against West Indies in the six day test at Bridgetown in the 1950s.

ANSWER: Encephalitis

Explanation:
Encephalitis which claimed many lives in eastern India, will be made a notifiable disease after concerns voices in the LS regarding failure to check it.

• INR 50 crore given to this state for vector borne disease control is still unspent.
• A notifiable disease must be reported to the authorities as per law allowing preparation in time to take preventative measures.
• According to a Government of India estimate, close to 757 encephalitis cases have been reported from UP.

ANSWER: Saina Nehwal

Explanation:
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal has been appointed as the brand ambassador for ITC’s leading health and hygiene brand.

• In the fresh campaign with Saina, Savlon will inspire parents to let their children maximise their potential.

ANSWER: Greenland shark

Explanation:
Greenland shark is the world’s longest living vertebrate with scientists estimating life expectancy at 272 years.

• The Greenland shark is among the largest carnivore sharks in the world with adults reaching more than 5 metres in length.
• The longevity of this shark has intrigued marine biologists for decades now.
• Typically, the age of sharks and rays are determined by counting deposited layers in harder calcified structures such as fin spines.
• Because the Greenland shark is among the biggest carnivorous sharks in the planet which lacks hard structure, this method cannot be used.
• Greenland sharks are the apex predator in the Arctic ecosystem; the researchers analysed the eye lens nucleus of 28 female sharks sampled as accidental by catch during fish and shrimp surveys.
• Researchers measured the radiocarbon content of the lenses from which they could assess age by measuring the data against calibration curves and chronologies indicative of temporal radiocarbon changes in the marine food web in the Northern Atlantic over the past 5 centuries.

ANSWER: Proxima Centauri

Explanation:
Scientists will unveil a new planet in the galactic neighbourhood said to be Earth like and capable of supporting life. The exoplanet orbits a well investigated star Proxima Centauri part of the Alpha Centauri star system according to NASA.

• This still nameless exoplanet is believed to be Earth like and orbits at a distance to Proxima Centauri that could allow it to have liquid water on its surface, an important requirement for life.

ANSWER: Assam

Explanation:
The Assam Assembly on 12th August 2016 passed a resolution to become the first state to ratify the Constitution (122nd Amendment) GST Bill 2014.

• The bill was passed by the LS on 8th August 2016 and RS on 3rd August 2016.
• The GST will have two components keeping the federal structure of India in mind- the Central GST and the State GST.
• For goods and services that pass through several states or imports, the Centre will levy the Integrated GST.
• Alcohol for human consumption or liquor has been kept out of the ambit of GST.
• GST Bill empowers the centre to impose additional tax of up to 1 percent on interstate supply of goods for two years or more- tax will accrue to states from where the supply originates.
• GST will not apply to petroleum crude initially or high speed diesel, motor spirit (petrol), natural gas and aviation turbine fuel and GST council will decide when GST will be levied for these.
• Tobacco and tobacco products will be subject to GST and centre may impose excise duty on tobacco.
• Compensation may be provided to states for revenue losses stemming from implementation of GST for 5 years based on the recommendations of the GST Council.

ANSWER: IISc, Bengaluru

Explanation:
Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru has a massive share of the medals with 5 of the faculty members being awarded the Indian National Science Academy Medal for Young Scientists, 2016 making it the institute with more awardees than any other.
- INSA presents Young Scientist Awards to young scientists who have made notable contributions in the field of science and technology.
Winners this year include:

• Prabeer Barpanda.
• A. Siva Gorthi.
• Chandan Saha
• Anshu Pandey
• Praveen Kumar.

ANSWER: Traditional Knowledge Digital Library

Explanation:
AYUSH Ministry has established a Traditional Knowledge Digital Library in collaboration with CSIR. According to the information provided by CSIR, TKDL comprises more than 2.90 lakh medicinal formulations of Ayurveda, Siddhi and Unani available in the public domain, in 5 international languages namely English, Japanese, French, German and Spanish.

• To facilitate protection of country’s traditional knowledge, access of TKDL has been provided to International Patent Offices under the International Agreement.
• Pre-grant opposition on patent applications along with prior art evidence from TKDL are submitted on a regular basis.
• Implementing agency of the TKDL project is CSIR; total cost incurred on this project is INR 20 crores.
• TKDL has prevented the grant of wrong patents in 220 cases

ANSWER: Tiranga Yatra

Explanation:
Sri MV Naidu, Minister for Information and broadcasting launched the theme song of the Tiranga Yatra based on independence day celebrations and the Festival of Independence being celebrated across the nation.

• Tiranga yatra captures the fervour of patriotism and showcases the nation’s diversity.
• Collection of patriotic songs will be played on DD and other channels and national radio stations.
• Biographies of composers of patriotic songs like Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Rabindranath Tagore will be broadcast before the songs.

ANSWER: 6

Explanation:
Six corridors on the Diamond Quadrilateral connecting metro cities and growth centres of the country (Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata) have been identified for feasibility studies for high speed rail connectivity i.e:

• Delhi Mumbai
• Mumbai Chennai
• Chennai Kolkata.
• Kolkata Delhi.
• Delhi Chennai
• Mumbai Kolkata

ANSWER: Both a and c are the same

Explanation:
Parliament functioned overtime in the monsoon session with the LS working for 110.84 percent and RS for 99.54 percent of the scheduled time, as per figures shared by the government.

• During this session, 15 bills were introduced. LS passed all 15 while RS approved 14 including the GST Bill.
• Some bills were introduced and passed on the same day for example Lokpal Bill, Taxation laws (Amendment) Bill and Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Bill

ANSWER: Akhil Joshi

Explanation:
Akhil Joshi presently working as ED, BHEL has been appointed as Director (Power) BHEL for 5 years from the date of assumption of charge of post or till the date of superannuation or until further orders.

• As Director (Power). Josh will be responsible for marketing, construction, commissioning and overall management of power projects and an after market business for the company.
• He has diverse experience of over 3 decades working in major units of BHEL.
• He has also held global leadership positions in international operations and information technology divisions of BHEL.
• He has a degree in engineering.