Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Dec 09, 2016

ANSWER: 18

Explanation:
Located deep within a cave where entry is limited, scientists have found a bacterium named Paenibacillus that is resistant to 18 different antibiotics. These bugs have been living in isolation 1000 feet underground for over 4 million years.

This raises an important question– how did the bacterium become resistant to antibiotics discovered only in the 20th century.

Bacterium was found in Lechuguilla Cave which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in New Mexico in the US. It is one of the longest caves in the world and the deepest in the US.

Because of the fragile and highly technical nature of the cave, it was only open to experts and researchers. It was originally discovered in 1986.

Restricted access makes it ideal to study how the microbes can influence human life.

ANSWER: Thermosphere

Explanation:
Researchers have discovered the existence of hot atomic hydrogen atoms in an upper layer of earth’s atmosphere known as thermosphere.

The discovery changes current understanding of the distribution of hot atomic hydrogen and its interaction with other atmospheric constituents.

This discovery was enabled by development of new numerical techniques and their application to years worth of remote sensing measurements acquired by Nasa’s TIMED satellite. TIMED is Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics satellite.

Atomic hydrogen scatters UV radiation emitted by the sun. The amount of scattered light depends on the amount of hydrogen atoms in the atmosphere

As an outcome, remote observations of the scattered H emission can be used to probe the abundance and spatial distribution of H.

To get information about upper atmosphere from such measurements, one needs to calculate exactly how the solar photons are scattered.

Researchers developed a model of the radiative transfer of the scattered emission.

This was performed along with a new analysis technique that incorporated a transition region between the lower and upper extents of the H distribution.

Temperature of the H atoms in the thermosphere was found to increase significantly with declining solar activity.

The finding is in contrast to the ambient atmospheric temperature, which decreases with declining solar activity.

Hot H atoms

• Theorised to exist at very high attitudes.
• Now found as low as 250 km.
• Ongoing atmospheric escape of hydrogen caused Mars to lose water.
• H atoms play an important role in physics governing earth’s upper atmosphere.
• It serves as a shield for satellites in low earth orbit agains the harsh space environment.

ANSWER: Both of the above

Explanation:
Allahabad HC on Dec 8, 2016 declared Triple Talaq was unconstitutional. The single judge bench of Justice Sunit Kumar observed that no Personal Law Board is above the Constitution.

The verdict was pronounced while deciding two separate writ petitions that the ‘Triple Talaq’ practice, violated the rights of Muslim women. Triple Talaq is sanctioned under Muslim personal law that governs marriage, property and divorce.

Triple Talaq’ has been challenged in the Supreme Court of India by several women.

The Union Government has told the top court that it is against gender justice, equality and the Constitution.

It had held that that the issue of the validity of triple talaq, polygamy and nikah halala should be considered in accordance with the principles of gender justice, dignity and equality.

Triple Talaq

• Islamic practice of divorcing women.
• Husband has to pronounce the world talaq three times to divorce women.
• Judgement a major boost for women’s rights.
• AIMPLB- All India Muslim Personal Law Board regulates this law.
• It follows triple talaq as per the Shariat.

ANSWER: AP Purse

Explanation:
The Andhra Pradesh government has launched AP Purse, a new platform to help people in the state move to cashless payments using mobile wallets.

Its tech-savvy chief minister Chandrababu Naidu wants to make AP the first state in India to completely switch to digital transactions.

AP Purse is an Android app that compiles various mobile payment apps and tools.

Through this, the government will create awareness and expand adoption of digital wallets, especially for big urban areas.

The government has tied up with 15 mobile wallets and payment gateway apps including

• Paytm,
• MobiKwik,
• PayUmoney,
• Freecharge,
• JioMoney,
• SBI’s Buddy,
• Ola Money,
• Aitel Money,
• Vodafone m-pesa,
• Idea Money,
• Oxigen Wallet,
• Citrus,
• Icash and
• ItzCash

How to Use AP Purse?


• Download the AP Purse app on Google Play Store.
• Register with your name and mobile number.
• The app provides access to install any of the 15 payment apps available on the platform.
• Using the payment apps, people can pay bills and make cashless payments.
• AP Purse also educates citizens and merchants on benefits of cashless transactions.
• Plan also involves low-cost smartphones to people living below poverty-line to encourage mobile wallet usage.

ANSWER: 10 lakh

Explanation:
To promote digital transactions across the country, government has asked banks to install 10 lakh additional Point of sale (PoS) terminals within four months.

Towards this end, banks have already placed orders for 6 lakh PoS machines and another 4 lakh are likely to be ordered in the next few days.

There are about 15 lakh PoS terminals currently across different merchants to facilitate card based payments.

As part of the plan to expand the digital payments ecosystem and facilitate the move towards cashless transactions, the government has decided that an additional one million new PoS terminals should be installed by 31 March.

To encourage purchase of PoS machines, the excise duty payable on acquisition of PoS machine which was earlier 16.5% has been waived till 31 March.

The special drive has also been undertaken jointly with ministry of labour & employment and states’ administration to open banks accounts for unorganised labour by holding camps at various locations.

ANSWER: Haryana

Explanation:
Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar has given approval for implementation of the INR 50-crore National Hydrology Project to be set up in the state with 100 per cent assistance from the Centre.

The project aimed at improving the extent, quality and accessibility of information about water resources, and strengthening the capacity of water resource management institutions in the country.

The direct beneficiaries of the project include central and state implementing agencies responsible for surface and/or ground water planning and management.

The final beneficiaries would be farm communities selected for pilot projects, rural and urban water and power users and people affected by floods and droughts, and such families may benefit from improved irrigation water supply and management.

The central assistance had been allotted to Haryana for implementation of the project in four components -

• Improving water resources monitoring system,
• Water resources information system,
• Water resources management application and
• Institutions and capacity building.

MOA has been signed under the National Hydrology Project between Principal Secretary, Irrigation and Water Resources Department, Haryana and the Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

The aim is to set up monitoring networks in Haryana, with a focus on deploying new sensors, data storage and telemetry technologies across the state.

The goal is to establish comprehensive, modern and automated real-time monitoring systems for surface and ground water.

ANSWER: Agreement with Raymond to promote Khadi as a fashion garment in India and abroad

Explanation:
Consumers will be able to buy genuine khadi products online from an e-commerce portal to be launched by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC).

Cashing in on fast-growing e-commerce sector and increasing demand for khadi products in the country, the KVIC has submitted a proposal to launch its online portal to the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).

Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has also has entered into agreement with Raymond Ltd to promote Khadi as a fashion garment in India and abroad.

In this first of its kind initiative Raymond would source Khadi fabric from artisans and market the products after value addition.

This PPP initiative is aimed at helping the artisans and boosting income of rural women.

According to the agreement Raymond will use the ‘Khadi Mark’ and sell the range under the brand Khadi by Raymond.

This initiative is conceptualised under KVIC Act.

Raymond Ltd has agreed for a guaranteed minimum procurement of Khadi and Khadi products for a period of 5 years with primary purchases of muslin cotton and silk.

KVIC

• Stands for Khadi and Village Industries Commission.
• Statutory body under Khadi and Village Industries Commission Act of 1956.
• Apex organisation under MSME ministry with regard to Khadi and village industries in India.
• Aim is to plan, promote, facilitate and assist in the establishment of khadi and village industries.
• Chairman: VK Saxena

ANSWER: Intel

Explanation:
The Indian government and the US multinational technology company, Intel, on Dec 8th 2016 inked a partnership for development of state-of-art solutions for real-time air and river water quality monitoring.

Aim of this initiative of the department of science and technology (DST) and the Intel is to develop key technologies for sensing, communication and analysis of large-scale data collected from autonomous networks.

This will be followed by integration and deployment for water and air quality monitoring in real-time.

Under the joint initiative, proposals from academic and research institutions are invited on developing online 'Water and Air Quality Monitoring' (WAQM) systems.

The selected submissions will be provided grant-in-aid support. An amount of INR 33 crore has been set aside for the project.

The programme will be administered by the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF).

This will eventually lead to development and deployment of low-cost, low-power, autonomous wireless sensor networks to provide a fine-grained view of several critical water and air quality metrics over large geographic areas (cities, rivers and watersheds).

The programme is very critical for the restoration, conservation and preservation of the environment.

These online sensor networks for river water and air quality monitoring will provide the pre-remedial quality status.

It is expected that the real time data will significantly strengthen and complement the missions of national priority like Namami Gange Programme and others by serving as critical data feeders for pre and post treatment analysis.

New iOT Network for monitoring air and river water

• Internet of Things (IoT)-based solution will require innovations in sensor technology for miniaturised platforms.
• Blocks will need to be woven together by a data analytics framework.

This spans edge devices, gateways and cloud-based analytics, to enable inferencing and sense-making in a low-latency manner.

ANSWER: John Glen

Explanation:
John Glenn, who was the first American to orbit Earth and later as the world's oldest astronaut, and also had a long career as a US senator, died in Ohio on Dec 8 at age 95.

Glenn, the last surviving member of the original seven American "Right Stuff" Mercury astronauts, died.

His three laps around the world in the Friendship 7 capsule on Feb. 20, 1962, forged a powerful link between the former fighter pilot and the Kennedy-era quest to explore outer space as a "New Frontier.”

President Barack Obama in 2012 awarded Glenn the nation's highest civilian honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

President-elect Donald Trump said on Twitter the United States had lost "a great pioneer of air and space in John Glenn. He was a hero and inspired generations of future explorers.”

He was the third of seven astronauts in NASA's solo-flight Mercury program to venture into space.

Glenn's astronaut career and role as a fighter pilot in World War Two and the Korean War, helped launch him to the US Senate in 1974, where he represented his home state of Ohio for 24 years as a moderate Democrat.

He retired from the Senate in 1999.

36 years after his maiden space voyage, Glenn became America's first geriatric astronaut on Oct. 29, 1998.

He was 77 when he blasted off as a mission specialist aboard the shuttle Discovery.

About John Glen

• Full name: John Herschel Glenn Jr.
• Born: July 18, 1921, in Cambridge, Ohio.
• Adjunct professor at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs.
• First American to orbit the earth.
• Oldest astronaut in history of mankind.

ANSWER: Climate Change Knows No Borders

Explanation:
Climate change will cause "uncontrollable" escalation in migration in South Asia, including India, 3 major international organisations working on the issue warned today.

Ahead of the Global Forum on Migration and Development, which is scheduled to start from Dec 9 in Dhaka in Bangladesh, the study 'Climate Change Knows No Borders' by ActionAid, Climate Action Network South Asia and Bread for the World (Brot Fuer Die Welt) stressed about the devastating and increasing impact of climate change on migration.

The study, which looks at climate change and its impact on migration in South Asia, particularly in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, also underlined the need for action by all governments of the world to tackle the issue.

It held that the region is particularly vulnerable to climate change events, including droughts, heat waves, cyclones, rising sea levels, heavy rainfall, landslides and floods.

According to the study the study, the need for South Asian governments to monitor the specific impact of 'climate migration' on women and girls is highlighted as a critical concern which the region needs to address.

In May 2016, Cyclone Roanu ripped through Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh causing widespread damage and leaving in its wake reconstruction costs estimated at $1.7 billion.

A month later in 2016, temperatures reached a record-breaking 51 degrees Celsius at Rajasthan in India.

2015-16 brought with it extended drought and crop failure in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and across India. Around 330 million people were affected in India alone and many more across the region.

The Warsaw International Mechanism

• Established in 2013.
• Set up by the UN.
• Affirmed by the last round of climate talks at Paris 2015.
• Works for legal protection for people who are forced to migrate or are displaced by climate change.

ANSWER: Conference of All India Traders

Explanation:
Quick Response code (QR code) technology is all set to dominate the digital payment system in the country and does not require any additional cost.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) is set to promote it as a seamless mode of transaction.

CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said QR code is the most effective technology in digital payments.

In India, QR code technology is provided by all network providers including

• RuPay,
• MasterCard,
• Visa,
• American Express

RBI's latest move was to develop One India QR code wherein all three payment technology companies namely Mastercard, Visa and RuPay have been asked to develop inter operable QR code solution.

This allows ease of accepting digital payments without the complication of managing multiple or competitive solutions available.
CAIT will be campaigning about the benefits of QR code across the country among the trading community.

ANSWER: Both of the above

Explanation:
The Chinese navy on Dec 8 celebrated the 70th anniversary of the capture of the Xisha and Nansha islands in the South China Sea (SCS).

The Asian nation was also asserting its claim over the disputed area which it continued to retain setting aside an international tribunal ruling quashing its claims.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on Dec 8 commemorated the 70th anniversary of the recovery of the Xisha and Nansha Islands, the Chinese names of Paracel and Spratly islands in the SCS.

According to the Cairo Declaration and Potsdam Proclamation, China in November and December 1946 designated officials to proceed to the islands by four warships to take over the islands, illegally occupied by Japan.

China’s claims over almost all of the SCS was contested by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, which were backed by the United States to assert their claims.

ANSWER: Terry Branstad

Explanation:
China has welcomed the appointment of Terry Branstad - the Governor of Iowa who is well connected with the Chinese political elite - as the next ambassador of the United States to China.

Appointment has been met with approval from China.

This is after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump broke from convention established since 1979, and took a congratulatory call from Taiwan’s President, Tsai Ing-wen.

That upset Beijing as it brought into question Mr. Trump’s commitment to the One-China policy, which does not recognise Taiwan as a separate state.

Mr. Branstad has long developed a close relationship with China, having visited China multiple times.

ANSWER: Scott Pruitt

Explanation:
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has picked climate change sceptic Scott Pruitt, a Republican, to head America’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Currently Attorney-General of Oklahoma, Mr. Pruitt prides himself in being “a leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda.”

His appointment could undermine the proactive environmental programme pursued by President Barack Obama.

The selection has outraged environmental activists and organisations.

Mr. Obama and former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had sought to build the global climate regime as an opportunity to create jobs in America, in the renewable energy sector.

Mr. Trump, on the other hand, appears to be focused on fossil fuel jobs that have been lost in America. Mr. Pruitt has been a strong supporter of fossil fuel industry in the country.

Trump Selects Military Generals

• Trump on 7th Dec named retired four-star Marine general John Kelly to head the Department of Homeland Security.
• Retired general, David Petraeus, has been floated as a possible pick for secretary of state
• Retired admiral Michael Rogers has been rumoured to be in the running for director of national intelligence.
• Gen. Mattis has been chosen as head of Pentagon.
• Having retired in 2013, Mattis needs a special waiver to serve.

ANSWER: 7

Explanation:
The European Union opened legal action on Thursday against seven nations including Germany and Britain for failing to police emissions cheating by carmakers after the Volkswagen scandal.

Germany, Britain, Spain and Luxembourg stand accused of not imposing the same kind of penalties VW faced in the United States over its use of illegal software to mask emissions of health-harming nitrogen oxide on tests.

The European Commission, the bloc's executive unit , has further made Germany and Britain to come to account for refusing to share details on breaches of EU emissions laws uncovered in national investigations this year.

The Czech Republic, Lithuania and Greece have been targeted for not even including within national legislation the possibility of fining Europe's biggest industry over potential violations.

This marks first step in what is known as infringement procedures, allowing the EU to ensure the bloc's 28 nations abide by agreed EU-wide regulations.

Member states have two months to respond.

EU Commission

• President: Jean-Claude Juncker
• The European Commission is the executive of the European Union.
• It promotes its general interest.
• HQ: Brussels, Belgium.

ANSWER: New Delhi

Explanation:
The India-UK Conference on Ease of Doing Business has been jointly inaugurated by Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, India, Shri Ramesh Abhishek and British High Commissioner Sir Dominic Asquith, on 8th December, 2016 in New Delhi.

It will act as a springboard to propel the strategic bilateral partnership between the two countries to the next level.

The India and UK partnership on Ease of Doing Business is important because of the role that the business environment plays in encouraging trade, investment, innovation and economic growth.

This conference, following the commitments made by UK Prime Minister Ms. Theresa May and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in Nov 2016, will provide a forum for experts from both countries to share best practice – and to make the connections that will lead to further collaboration in the future.

This conference is the next step in this process, bringing together officials from state and central Government in India with UK experts.

The discussion will cover areas including

• regulatory reform,
• inspection reform,
• tax administration,
• trade facilitation,
• electricity provision,
• insolvency,
• land registry and
• standards.

ANSWER: None of the above

Explanation:
In a further move to take the Indian Railways at an advanced level, Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu in a programme held in Rail Bhawan on 8th Dec launched website of National Rail Plan, 2030.

The website can be accessed at http://www.nationalrailplan.in. This dedicated website for National Rail Plan (NRP, 2030) has been developed for all stakeholders to give their inputs for purposeful study as Railways’ planning cannot be done in isolation.

In order to provide long term perspective to planning for augmenting the railway network Ministry of Railways have decided to develop National Rail Plan (NRP 2030) in consultation with all the stakeholders including State Governments, public representatives and other relevant Central Ministries.

NRP-2030 will endeavour to harmonise and integrate the rail network with other modes of transport and create synergy for achieving seamless multi modal transportation network across the country.

Indian Railways needs to form a concrete plan about its doings in the coming 10-20 years. He said that after receiving ideas Railways will capture all the requirements from the different stakeholders.

Indian Railways- National Rail Plan 2030

• The Indian Railway Network is a key component of the Country’s Transport System. Transporting
• Presently Railway planning is presently not based on some integrated plan.
• The network plan shall take into account connectivity to backward region.
• It will also take up Congestion in the existing network and futuristic development of Industrial corridors.
• Deficits in existing network are to be planned for removal.
• National Rail Plan 2030 has been envisaged which shall not only take care of existing corridors but also the identification and development of new corridors & connections.

ANSWER: 14

Explanation:
The Ministry of Shipping has identified fourteen Coastal Economic Zones (CEZ) along the coastline of the country under National Perspective Plan (NPP) of Sagarmala Programme.

• The CEZ are spatial economic regions spread over multiple coastal districts with strong port linkage.
• Within each CEZ, there could be multiple industrial clusters that could contain industrial units with requisite support infrastructure.
• List of CEZs
  
  CEZ-1 : Gujarat - Kandla, Mundra - Petrochemicals, Cement, Furniture
  
  CEZ-2 : Pipavav, Sikka - Apparel, Automotive
  
  CEZ-3 : Dahej, Hazira - Marine clusters
  
  CEZ-4 : Maharashtra, Goa, JNPT, Mumbai - Power, Electronics, Apparel
  
  CEZ-5 : Dighi, Jaigarh, Mormugao - Refining, Steel, Food processing
  
  CEZ-6 : Karnataka, New Mangalore - Petrochemicals
  
  CEZ-7 : Kerala, Cochin - Furniture
  
  CEZ-8 : Tamil Nadu, VOCPT(Tuticorin) - Apparel, Refining
  
  CEZ-9 : Karaikal - Leather processing, Power
  
  CEZ-10 : Chennai, Kamarajar(Ennore) and Katupalli - Steel, Petrochemicals, Electronics, Shipbuilding
  
  CEZ-11 : Andhra Pradesh, Krishnapatnam - Electronics
  
  CEZ-12 : Vizag, Kakinada - Food processing, Petrochemicals, Cement, Apparel
  
  CEZ-13 : Odisha, Paradip, Dhamara - Petrochemicals, Marine processing
  
  CEZ-14 : West Bengal, Kolkata, Haldia - Leather processing
  
  
• Based on the land parcels available in close proximity to a deep draught port and with strong potential for manufacturing, four CEZs have been identified to be taken up in the first phase of development.
• These are in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.