Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Aug 20, 2016

ANSWER: More than 170

Explanation:
Expanding digital presence, MEA has launched an app on 18th August 2016 providing a common platform to further public outreach.

• App integrates websites and social media handles of over 170 Indian missions on a common platform to further public outreach
• App developed in cooperation with social media giant Facebook has helped people to connect with Indian missions abroad and MEA through a range of social media platforms without having access to individual websites
• App is a one stop shop to find social media handles, like Twitter and YouTube and websites of all Indian missions abroad
• Facebook has made the app for free
• Currently over 165 Indian missions and posts are on Twitter and 172 on FB with 124 having their websites and many having youtube channels
• Facebook pages and Twitter handles of individual missions, people through the app can just tap on the map of the country and immediately social media platforms of the mission will appear on the screen
• App hosted on Facebook pages of MEA and Indian diplomacy will help people in distress connect with the missions, without any hassles
• MEA uses Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Plus, Instagram, Soundcloud and Flickr to reach out to people as part of its social media engagement.
• Facebook has 100 million hours of video posted on it every day while number of average posts is 2.3 trillion
• Facebook has over 155 million users in India

ANSWER: TARANG

Explanation:
Union Minister of State (independent charge) for power, coal, new and renewable energy and mines Piyush Goyal on 17th August 2016 launched the TARANG mobile app and two web portals- e-Trans and DEEP e-bidding.

• They were developed by Rural Electrification Corporation Transmission Projects Company Ltd, a subsidiary of REC Ltd
• Initiatives were launched keeping in line with the Digital India initiative to promote transparency in the power sector.
• TARANG stands for Transmission App for Real Time Monitoring and Growth.
• It can also be utilised to monitor progress between and within states for transmission systems.
• It helps the stakeholders- Ministry of Power, State Governments, all private sector transmission developers and PSUs like PGCIL for expeditious completion of projects.
• Green Energy Corridors, a vital component of the renewable energy mission would also be monitored through TARANG to help meet ambitious targets in same on time.
• This will improve ease, accountability and transparency and would boost confidence of investors in power transmission sector.
• Better price discovery will benefit Indian power consumers.
• E-trans was a site that was developed through the Regulated tariff mechanism and the Tariff Based Competitive Bidding Route.
• It is a web platform for e-bidding and e-reverse auction for Tariff Based Competitive Bidding in transmission projects.
• Till date, transmission sector providers have been participating in transmission bids through manual mode.
• With e-trans, the interface will be electronic and on the lines of the coal sector, reverse auction is being launched in the transmission sector to facilitate better price discovery in transmission projects.

ANSWER: One Humanity

Explanation:
World Humanitarian Day was observed on 19th August 2016 with the theme One Humanity.

• Theme explains how shared human experiences bind us across divides and create a common sense of responsibility to demand action for the most vulnerable and those at risk of being left behind.
• Digital campaign for World Humanitarian Day last year was The World You’d Rather.
• Day is dedicated to humanitarian personnel and those losing their lives working for humanitarian causes
• It also celebrated the spirit that inspires humanitarian work around the globe.
• World Humanitarian Day was designed by the UNGA as part of a Swedish sponsored resolution on Strengthening of the Coordination of Emergency Assistance of the United Nations.
• Day was designed by the General Assembly to coincide with the anniversary of the bombing of UN headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq.
• Then Special representative Sergio Viera de Mello and 21 of his colleagues were killed in the attack.

ANSWER: Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma

Explanation:
The Sursagar Society of Dilli Gharana in August 2016 announced it will confer the annual Sangeet Martand Ustad Chand Khan Lifetime Achievement Award on saunter maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma.

• Society has been felicitating stalwarts of Indian classical music and dance with the award since 1986
• The award is for recognising contribution towards enriching art forms.
• In 2015, the honour was conferred upon Kathak dance artist Pandit Birju Maharaj.
• Other recipients of the award include Pandit Jasraj, Ustad Abdul Halleem Jaffar kKhan, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan.
• Award carries a prize of INR 50,000 and a memento and citation.
• Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma is an Indian santoor player
• Santoor is the folk instrument of hill state of Jammu & Kashmir.
• Sharma was born in Jammu on 13th January 1938.
• He is credited with making the Santoor a popular classical instrument.
• He also composed background music for several films like Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje.
• In the year 1967, he teamed up with flutist Hariprasad Chaurasia and Nirj Bhushan Kabra to produce a concert album called Call of the Valley that turned out to be one of the greatest hits in Indian classical music scene.

ANSWER: PV Sindhu

Explanation:
For the second time, India won an Olympic medal with the victory of ace shuttler PV Sindhu who beat Japan’s Nozomu Okuhara ranked sixth in the world in straight sets spanning 51 minutes 21-19, 21-10.

• She is the first Indian to enter an Olympics badminton final.
• BAI announced INR 50 lakhs for Sindhu after she won the historic silver medal.
• It also announced INR 10 lakh award for coach Pullela Gopichand who trained Sindhu to achieve the feat.
• She lost to Spain’s Carolinia Marin by 21-19, 12-21 and 15-21 in a thrilling final match.
• This is India’s first silver medal in badminton.
• The first medal- a bronze- was won by Saina Nehwal for India in the 2012 London Olympics.
• Padma Bhushan and Dhronacharaya awardee P. Gopichand is credited with her success too.
• Sindhu became the first woman shuttler from India to reach the final of Badminton in the Olympics too.
• She is now the fourth Indian to win a silver at the Olympics after shooters Rajyavardhan Singh Rathor and Vijay Kumar a well as wrestler Sushil Kumar.
• She won the award for India following two silver medals in the 2012 London Olympics and one in Athens 2004.
• The two time World championship bronze medallist also became the fifth woman player from the country to win a medal in the Olympics and the first to clinch a silver.
• Other women players who have won in the Olympics for India include:
• Karnam Malleshwari (2000, Sydney)
• MC Mary Kom (London 2012).
• Saina Nehwal (London 2012) and
• Sakshi Malik (Rio, 2016)
• American Ryan Crouser also broke a record at the Olympics, hurling the longest throw of his life to win the men’s short put final breaking the Olympic record and snatching gold.
• 23-year-old Crouser set the record at 22.52 m shattering Olympic record set by East Germany's Ulf Timmermann in 1988.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
Regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India on 18th August 2016 proposed outsourcing norms for insurance companies under which service of individuals can be taken for medical examination, claim investigation and recovery.

• Every insurer should also have in place a comprehensive board approved outsourcing policy
• In considering or renewing an outsourcing arrangement insurer should subject the agency to due diligence according to the proposed proposed IRDAI (Outsourcing of Activities by Indian Insurers) Regulations, 2016.
• The insurer shall satisfy itself that the outsourcing agency’s security policies, procedures and controls will enable the insurer to protect confidentiality and security of policyholder information,” according to the draft.
• Meanwhile, in other banking and insurance news, SBI market share rose from 17 to 23 percent.
• Board of State Bank of India approved a swap ratio for merger of three listed associate banks and Bharathiya Mahila Bank
• Deal involves allowing 28 SBI shares of INR 1 each for every 10 shares in the State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (INR 10 each) and 22 shares of SBI for every 10 shares held in State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Travancore.
• The other two associate banks, that is, State Bank of Hyderabad and State Bank of Patiala, are unlisted entities, which are fully owned by the SBI.
• For Bharathiya Mahila Bank, which is also an unlisted entity but owned by the government, SBI fixed the swap ratio at 4.42 crore shares of SBI for every 100 crore share of BMB.
• Barring State Bank of Mysore shareholders, the share allotment ratio is broadly even for all the holders. In our view, even if the allotment ratio is favourable / unfavourable for shareholders of associate banks, it is unlikely to make any difference since SBI holds 75-90% in these banks
• The merged entity will have a business of around Rs.40 lakh crore, and SBI will aspire to be in the top 50 global banks, going ahead.
• Meanwhile India Post Payments Bank has received the certificate of incorporation from the Registrar of Companies, paving the way for the postal department’s bank to begin operations in 2017 as announced.
• This will be the first public sector undertaking under the Department of Posts.
• The Department of Posts is expected to complete the roll out of its branches all over the country by September 2017. The government said this could be the fastest roll out for a bank anywhere in the world.
• The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had in January approved the proposal to set up IPPB with total project cost of Rs.800 crore.
• The new bank is expected to commence operations by March 2017 and will set up 650 branches and 5000 ATMs across the country.

ANSWER: Indian Bureau of Mines

Explanation:
India has become one of the fastest growing and developing economies in the world.

• Enriched with numerous minerals, there has been a growing need to balance mining activities with protection of the ecology.
• Ministry of Mines, Government of India has focused on Sustainable Development Framework for the Indian Mining Sector as a guiding principle for Indian mining industry encompassing well being and inclusive growth with environmental protection.
• Ministry of Mines has developed a credible system of evaluation of mining footprints first launched at Odisha’s Sukinda Chromite mine.
• Ministry through the Indian Bureau of Mines has developed a template for the scheme of Star Rating of Mines.
• The aim is to bring the mines to a minimum standard of star rating in the shortest time to adopt sustainable practice.
• A two layered system providing self-evaluation templates to be filled in by the mine operator followed by validation through Indian Bureau of Mines. Templates have been notified vide notification dated 23.05.2016. The star rating will be based on the following parameters:
Scientific and systematic mining to mitigate environmental impact, addressing the social impact of resettlement and rehab of mining affected people
Local community engagement and development of social economic nature for the local community
Progressive and final mine closure to ensure for restoration of mined out land in better conditions than the original and international standards for mining operations and reporting
• A web enabled online system for evaluation of measures has been developed by the National Institute of Smart Governance Hyderabad.
• Schema of Star rating will be a vital step for the compliance of ecological protection and social responsibility by the mining sector.
• PIB has listed the following benefits of this system:
• Comprehensive mitigation of environmental impacts on land, air and water by mining activities.
• Collation of various technical, environmental and social data of the mining sector at one platform by IBM, which would be utilised to enable better management and monitoring of the compliance of various conditions laid down by statutory authorities for mining.
• Formulation of Comprehensive Regional Plans’- a robust Environment &Social Management framework.
• Availability of the information on mining as well as the conservation activities in public domain to enable greater transparency to enable effective participation of stakeholder and speedy resolution of conflicts.
• Reduced delays in obtaining various clearances (environmental, forest, mining plan, etc.) for mines. Self-certification to be allowed for the approvals for scheme of mining.
• Mine monitoring and high standards adoption for evaluation.

ANSWER: Health Ministry

Explanation:
The health ministry will be launching National Injury Control Program to provide trauma healthcare and save lives of people who are injured or in an accident.

• This was announced by the Health Minister at the third World Trauma Congress.
• Road traffic injuries are among three leading causes of death for people between 5 and 44 years of age.
• Road traffic injuries will soon become the fifth leading cause of death in the world resulting in 24 lakh deaths annually, according to the Indian government.
• Road injuries and deaths cause a colossal economic cost of up to 1.5% of the Gross National Product (GNP) in the low- and middle-income countries.
• The figure for India is close to 3% GDP. As per the latest statistic, in India 52 persons died every hour in various accidents in 2014, the major causes of accidental deaths in India are “Traffic accident, “Drowning”, “Poisoning” and “Accidental fire”.
• India also has the highest Road crash mortality in the world.
• Nearly 16 lakh people die globally as a result of a road traffic collision— more than 3000 deaths each day—and more than half of these people are not travelling in a car.
• About 2 to 5 crore more people sustain non-fatal injuries from a collision, and these injuries are an important cause of disability worldwide.
• 90 of road traffic deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, which claim less than half the world's registered vehicle fleet.
• The Health Minister stated that India is hosting the 3rd World Trauma Congress (WTC) this year, the first and second one’s being held at ‘Rio’ and ‘Frankfurt’.
• From 2011 to 2020, the UN Decade on Action for Road Safety is being celebrated.

ANSWER: Hungary

Explanation:
President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings to the government and people on the eve of their National Day (August 2016).

• The current president of the republic of Hungary is Dr. Janos Ader
• Hungary also celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution on 20th August.
• Meanwhile in other global news, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) and University of Latvia on establishment of an academic chair in Ayurveda was signed today at AYUSH Bhawan, New Delhi.
• The MoU will provide a structured framework for taking forward academic and research activities in Ayurveda through deputation of an Ayurveda Professor to the University of Latvia.
• India’s relations with EU nations are fairly cordial with warm bilateral ties with most countries.
• Recently, the United Kingdom broke apart from the EU following the historic Brexit vote
• France and Germany are the two biggest nations in the EU