Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Dec 10 & 11, 2016

ANSWER: United States

Explanation:
India on 8^th Dec was formally designated as the Major Defence Partner of the United States.

This was announced in the India-US Joint statement following US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter’s visit to the capital city, Delhi.

This marks the seventh interaction between Carter and Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

The designation is a status unique to India and institutionalises the progress made to facilitate defence trade and technology sharing with India to a level par with that of the closest allies and partners of the United States

Designation will also ensure enduring cooperation in the future.

National Defence Authorisation Act, 2017: NDAA 2017

• India’s Major Defence Partner Status has been part of the Amendment to this act.
• Act was to allocate funds annually to the US military.

US will review requests to:


• Export defence articles
• Defence services
• Related technology to India
• This is under the Arms Export Control Act.
• American official will be designated to ensure the success of the Framework for US-India Defence Relationship.
• This relationship was finalised in 2015.
• Deal will strengthen US-India Defence Trade and Technology Initiative
• It will also strengthen the stability of the India Rapid Reaction Cell in Pentagon.

ANSWER: Vietnam

Explanation:
To enhance bilateral ties between the two nations, India and Vietnam on 9^th Dec 2016 signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement.

The agreement was signed in New Delhi.

This agreement also marked the visit of President of Vietnam’s National Assembly Nhuyen Thi Kim Ngan. Ngan is the first woman to head the National Assembly of Vietnam.

This is the second nuclear pact signed by India within a month.

In Nov 2016, India signed a similar civil nuclear agreement with Japan.

Vietnam is the 14th nation India has signed a civil nuclear deal with.

Aside from the nuclear deal, the two nations signed three more agreement to enhance aviation links, to jointly work in the area of energy efficiency and promotion of parliamentary cooperation.

ANSWER: Provinces

Explanation:
Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada on 9^th Dec 2016 announced that his government and a majority of Canada’s provinces had agreed on a national carbon pricing plan.

PM Trudeau has been working on a national carbon pricing plan with the provinces for months.

The framework agreement on the carbon tax was cited as a historic pact. But Canada’s 10 provincial leaders are not unanimous in agreeing to the carbon tax.

Brad Wali, Saskatchewan Premier has refused to agree to the tax, while Manitoba’s premier said he had not signed on yet because more money should be allocated for health care.

British Columbia Premier Christy Clark settled for a compromise.

As per reports, Trudeau wants to impose a national carbon tax which would rise to Canadian dollar 50 by 2022.

Under the compromise deal, the carbon price would pause at British Columbia’s existing $30 Canadian level in 2020 when an independent expert panel checked how the plan is evolving.

Uncertainty surrounds America’s policies on a low carbon future: US Presidential elect Donald Trump has called climate change a “hoax.”

ANSWER: Nepal

Explanation:
China on 9^th Dec 2016 launched a new cargo service connecting Tibet and Nepal.

Trucks carrying goods worth 2.8 million dollars left the Tibetan border of Gyrirong en route to Kathmandu.

A train carrying several products also traversed a 5200 km distance between the capital of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou and Xigaze in Tibet was also an important feature.

New rail and road cargo services connect Guangdong, Tibet and Nepal. It was launched with the objective of enhancing trade with the South Asian neighbour.

This is in line with the China and Belt and Silk Road Initiative.

This marks the first time the consignment was sent to Nepal by China after the Prachanda government took charge from former PM KP Sharma Oli.

Transit deal was signed between Nepal and China in March 2016 during Oli’s tenure as Nepal PM.

Deal was signed for ending the hegemony in regard to Nepal’s dependance on trade

During the signing ceremony of the agreement, China agreed to Oli’s request of creating a strategic link between Tibet and Nepal.

Gyirong in Tibet is the last Tibetan country which shares a border with Nepal.

ANSWER: Haritha Keralam Mission

Explanation:
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan on 8th Dec 2016 launched the Haritha Keralam Mission in Thiruvananthapuram.

It is a comprehensive programme to make the state clean, protect its water sources and soil.

Mission aims at new development through maximum utilisation of opportunities through waste management, water resources and agricultural development.

Well known Carnatic vocalist and playback singer KJ Yesudas is the brand ambassador of the mission.

Project aims to clear and remove waste from all water bodies in the state. It ensures disposal of solid waste and waste water.

As part of this mission, the government is also targeting the increase of land under cultivation.

The government has also slated a survey covering 60 lakh houses to collect data regarding existing waste management systems in the state.

This is the first of the four mega missions planned by the Left Democratic Front government.

Other missions to be subsequently launched include health, housing and education.

Immediate programs that will be launched include the cleaning of vacant lands which will be used for vegetable cultivation.

A comprehensive waste management plan will be launched to collect, put side and recycle waste in panchayats and municipalities.

More about Kerala

• Location: Malabar coast
• Shoreline: 600 km
• Inland: Western Ghats
• National parks: Eravikulam, Periyar.
• Sanctuaries: Wayanad
• Land Area: 38,863 km²Founded: 31^st Oct, 1956
• Capital: Thiruvananthapuram
• Population: 34.8m (2012)

ANSWER: DigiShala

Explanation:
To digitally empower millions of Indians in rural areas and educate them regarding cashless transactions, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on 9th Dec 2016 launched a TV channel called DigiShala.

This is a free to air channel which is broadcast nationally on DD free-DTH service with a potential viewership of 2 crore across the nation.

To achieve the objective of educating, enabling and informing citizens about cashless economy, the government initiated Digi Dhan Abhiyan.

DigiShala will empower and enable citizens including farmers, students, Dalits and women to learn the benefits of digital payment according to MeitY minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

As digital payment rises, the tax base of the nation will also increase ensuring that the country’s GDP will rise.

DigiShala will inform and educate about various digital payment options through demonstration of digital payments using UPI, USSD, Aadhaar enabled payment systems, e-wallets and cards.

Linking demonetisation to Digital India, the government will also boost digital payment through credit and debit cards, internet banking, e-Wallets and mobile apps.

Central bank through NABARD will also support Rural Regional Banks and Cooperative Banks to issue Rupay Kisan cards to 4.32 crore Kisan Credit Card holders to enable them to make digital transactions at micro ATMs, ATMs and PoS machines.

Petroleum PSUs will offer incentives by providing a discount at the rate of 0.75 percent of the sale price to consumers on purchase of petrol and diesel, if the payment is made through digital means.

To expand digital payment infrastructure in rural areas, NABARD will extend financial support to eligible banks for the deployment of 2 PoS devices in 1 lakh villages with population of less than 10,000.

This will benefit farmers of one lakh villages covering a total population of nearly 75 crore.

Railways, through its suburban railway network will provide incentive by way of discount of up to 0.5 percent to customers for monthly or seasonal tickets from January 2017, if digital payment is made.

PSU companies will provide incentive of up to 10 percent of the premium in general insurance policies and 8 percent in new life policies of LIC sold through the customer portals, if payment is made through digital means.

Union Government departments, state governments and CPSUs will ensure transaction fees/MDR charges associated with payment through digital means should not be passed on to the consumers and should be borne by them only.

In PSU banks, merchants should not be required to pay more than INR 100 per month as monthly rental for PoS terminals/MIcro ATMs/mobile PoS to bring small merchants on board the digital payment eco system.

No service tax will be charged on digital transaction charges/MDR for transactions up to INR 2000.

For payment of toll at toll plazas or national highways using RFID cards/Fast tags, a discount of 10 percent will be available in 2016-2017.

Digital India

Services offered by Digital India include:

a. DigiLocker
b. Attendance.gov.in
c. MyGov.in
d. SBM Mobile App
e. e-Sign framework
f. e-Hospital
g. National Scholarship Portal

• DigiLocker stores important documents digitally.
• BAS: Biometric attendance system part of government offices
• SBM: Swachch Bharat Mobile App is being used by people and government organisations.
• e-Sign: Citizens can digitally sign document using Aadhaar authentication
• Digital transactions have surged 400-1000% since demonetisation.

ANSWER: Both a and b

Explanation:
Researchers from the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Delhi in the month of Dec 2016 discovered a novel route to ascertain new drug targets and potential drugs.

New drug targets route and potential drugs are particularly for the parasites such as Loa loa nematode/roundworm and Schistosoma mansoni platyhelminths/flatworm that cause several diseases.

Parasites are a major cause of diseases in African nations- they have limited treatment options and are also drug resistant.

Researchers took aaRSs or aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases of the two parasites instead of blindly screening molecules which is expensive and takes a long time.

They picked up one of the enzymes that contribute to protein synthesis and authenticated it as a druggable target.

They then studied the crystal structure of the enzyme with cladosporin, a drug that targets these parasites.

It showed the acquaintance of the drug within the active site of the enzyme.

What is aaRSs?

• Stands for Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases
• Essential enzymes that decode the genetic information and enable protein translation.

Enzyme family of aaRSs has 20 members.

Each enzyme contributes to protein synthesis.

If one of 20 enzymes is missing, then protein synthesis cannot happen.

ANSWER: 3

Explanation:
The 2016 World Power Language Index in the first week of Dec 2016 announced that English language is the most powerful in the world.

Index was published by the World Economic Forum. It ranked English first in the top 10 most powerful languages in the world.

Hindi language was ranked 10^th in the 2016 PLI

The top 6 languages in the ranking were official languages of the UN

The remaining four languages include the two other BRIC languages Portuguese and Hindi and the tongues of 2 economic heavyweights - Germany and Japan

The basis for the rankings were 20 indicators that sought to measure the usefulness of a language to the representative human being.

English Language

• Dominant language of 3 G7 nations- US, UK and Canada.
• British legacy gives English a global footprint.
• It is the world’s lingua franca.
• 8 of the 10 global financial centres are English speaking cities
• 4 of the 10 most competitive economies have English as an official language.

ANSWER: Polymer substrate

Explanation:
GoI has announced in the Parliament that it has been decided to print notes on plastic or polymer substrate. The process of procurement has been initiated.

RBI has been planning to launch plastic currency notes after field trials. One billion plastic notes of INR 10 denomination were introduced in a field trial in five cities.

The plastic notes have the following main advantages:

• The average life span of plastic notes is around 5 years.
• These notes are difficult to imitate.
• Currency notes made of plastic are cleaner than paper ones.

These type of notes were first introduced in Australia to guard against counterfeiting.

ANSWER: Newspaper

Explanation:
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has issued an advisory saying it has decided to ban the use of newspapers for wrapping and packing food items, a common practice by small corner shops and street vendors.

In its advisory, FSSAI has asked commissioners of food safety of all states and UTs to take necessary steps to restrict the use of newspapers for packing, serving and storing of food items.

Newspaper ink can contaminate food items leading to serious health concerns.

Cancer related complications can result from the use of newspaper as a food packaging material.

This is the first time FSSAI has brought about a rule with regard to packaging food materials. So far, it has focused on setting standards for packaged food.

Food Retail in India

• 10 million street vendors in 2014(estimate by Union Housing Ministry).
• BCG estimates there are 12 million kirana stores as per a 2014-2015 estimate.
• India has the second largest food retail industry in the world.
• 97% of the Indian food retail industry is unorganised.

ANSWER: 7th

Explanation:
India was ranked 7^th in a list of countries most impacted by terror attacks and terrorism in 2015 as per the GTI or Global Terrorism Index.

This index has been released by a Sydney based think tank Institute for Economics & Peace.

India is one of the 6 Asian countries ranked in the top 10 nations most impacted by terror recording 289 terrorism related deaths in 2015, a 45 percent decline over 2014.

Number of Indian army and paramilitary soldiers killed in 2016 is at a 8 year high.

Indians experienced 7 percent of all terror attacks in the world, the 4th highest after the following countries:

• Iraq:20 percent
• Afghanistan: 14 percent
• Pakistan: 8 percent.
• India in 2015 had fewer terror attacks (797) than only Iraq (2,415), Afghanistan (1,715) and Pakistan (1,008).
• India suffered twice as many attacks as Syria (384)
• OECD countries which are the most developed in the world, witnessed a 650 percent increase in terrorism deaths from 77 in 2014 to 577 in 2015, marking the worst year for the 35 nation group since 9/11.

ANSWER: South Korea

Explanation:
The South Korea president’s powers were suspended on 9^th Dec 2016 after the nation’s parliament voted to impeach her, as per her office.

PM Hwang Kyo-ahn took over as acting president and promised to ensure a stable government.

The South Korean president was voted to be impeached over a corruption scandal.

Country’s Constitutional Court will have up to 180 days to assess whether to formally end the Park presidency.

Park will be suspended but not removed during this time.

She will lose her power as the Commander in Chief of South Korea’s 630,000 strong military.

Park’s confidante Choi Soon-sil and the former presidential aid linked to the scandal have also been indicted.

Park has immunity from prosecution while in office and has refused to meet with prosecutors investigating the scandal.

About Park Guen-Hye

• South Korea’s first female president.
• She will be the second leader to face an impeachment vote.
• In 2004, lawmakers impeached President Roh Moo-Hyun on allegations of incompetence and election law violations.
• Park has apologised over the scandal thrice.
• Park’s father, Park Chung-hee ruled the country for 18 years till the 1979 assassination.
• Her mother was also assassinated in 1974.
• Choi’s father, Choi Tae-min was a cult leader who mentored Park.

ANSWER: BlackBerry

Explanation:
Canadian mobile company BlackBerry on 9th Dec 2016 launched a Cloud enabled mobile security platform for Enterprise of Things that will address entire businesses from endpoint to endpoint.

Businesses will now be able to reliably transmit sensitive data between endpoints to keep people, information and goods safe.

BlackBerry CEO is currently John Chen.

Platform completes the integration of BlackBerry’s prior acquisition of key technology firms such as:

• Good Technology
• WatchDox
• AtHoc
• Encription

What is Enterprise of Things?


• EoT is a network of intelligent connections and endpoints within the enterprise. These enable products to move from sketch to scale.

It involves anything that can communicate with each other to facilitate smart product development, distribution, marketing and sales.

Collection comprises:


• Devices
• Computers
• Sensors
• Trackers
• Equipments

ANSWER: Global Virtual Reality Association

Explanation:
Acer Starbreeze, Facebook Oculus, Google, HTC Vive, Samsung and Sony Interactive Entertainment have launched the formation of an international non-profit organisation called The Global Virtual Reality Association to foster and research virtual reality technology and bring together all the players in the industry, including customers.

Partners in the alliance aim to shape VR technology as an emerging industry to develop synergy with the customers.

Advanced research is available to web users, while also taking on board user feedback.

The association’s members will develop and adopt VR globally and share best practices, conduct research and bring the international VR community together as technology advances.

ANSWER: 28

Explanation:
President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee honoured 9 Shilp Gurus and 19 National Awardees for the year 2015.

The main objective of the awards is to give recognition to masters for their excellence in craftsmanship and valuable contribution to Indian Handicrafts.

Growth in handicraft exports at 16 percent in 2015-16 is an indication of the importance this sector is assuming in India’s export basket.

Proactive steps are needed to realise the full potential of this sector.

Promotion of products in both domestic and international markets would expand its geographic reach, achieve economies of scale and make production more viable.

Policy support will be necessary to evolve profitable market linkages and ensure easier access to bank credit.

Other Initiatives for Craftspersons are:

• “Pehchan”
• Aadhar linked national database
• National artisans portal
• Creating Common Facilities Centre

About Shilp Guru and National Award


• Shilp Guru Award consists of a gold coin, Rs. 2,00,000/- in cash, a Tamrapatra, an Angavastram and a certificate.
• National Award consists of Rs. 1,00,000/- in cash, a Tamrapatra, an Angavastram and a certificate. The Shilp Guru Awards, National Awards and National Merit Certificate are awarded to a craftsperson only once in a lifetime.
• The awards are to encourage master craftspersons to maintain excellence in craftsmanship.
• The aim is also to keep traditions alive.

List of Awardees

Awardee	Art	State	Region
1. K Siva Prasada Reddy	Kalamkari Painting	Andhra Pradesh	Southern Region
2. Irshad Hussain Farooqi	Calligraphy in wood carving	Delhi
3. Rajender Parshad Bondwal	Sandal Wood Carving	Haryana	Northern Region
4. Khatri Abdul Razak Mohmed	Ajrakh Hand Block Printing	Gujarat	Western Region
5. Abdul Raouf	Bidri Craft	Karnataka	Southern Region
6. Girish Kumar Rajsoni	Thewa Craft	Madhya Pradesh	Western Region
7. Pravakar Maharana	Stone Carving	Odisha	Eastern Region
8. Inder Singh Kudrat	Enamel of silver & Gold jewellery	Rajasthan	Northern Region
9. Hari Charan Das	Cane & Bamboo	Tripura	North Eastern Region

List of National Awardees for the year 2015

1. Punam Das	Mithila Painting	Bihar	Eastern Region
2. Ramrati	Terracotta	Delhi	Northern Region
3. Zameer Ahmed	Miniature Painting	Delhi	Northern Region
4. Mohd. Yaqoob	Metal Embossing	Delhi	Northern Region
5. Zahid Hussain Beig	Papier Machie	Jammu & Kashmir	Northern Region
6. M Ramamurthy	Wood Carving	Karnataka	Southern Region
7. Laxmidhar Subudhhi	Palmleaf Engraving	Odisha	Eastern Region
8. Biswanath Swain	Palm Leaf Engraving & Painting	Odisha	Eastern Region
9. Jashobanti Meher	Natural Fiber Craft	Odisha	Eastern Region
10. Abdul Ghani	Block Printing	Rajasthan	Northern Region
11. Vasudev Sharma	Miniature Painting	Rajasthan	Northern Region
12. Jugal Kishor Chandel	Miniature Painting	Rajasthan	Northern Region
13. Roop Kishor Soni	Silver Engraving	Rajasthan	Northern Region
14. Akoju Venkateshwarlu	Silver Filigree	Telangana	Southern Region
15. Munna Lal Soni	Metal Craft	Uttar Pradesh	Central Region
16. Israr Ahmed	Bone Carving	Uttar Pradesh	Central Region
17. Kunjbihari Singh	Gulabi Meenakari	Uttar Pradesh	Central Region
18. Sohit Kumar Prajapati	Black Pottery	Uttar Pradesh	Central Region
19. Shri Haradhan Das	Copper Engraving	West Bengal	Eastern Region