Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Dec 24, 2015

ANSWER: Abu Bakr

Explanation:
An ancient copy of the Quran found at the University of Birmingham may belong Abu Bakr. He was the first person to convert to Islam outside Prophet Mohammed's direct family. He also became the first ever Muslim caliph in 632. Radiocarbon dating found the copy of the Holy Book to be 1370 years old raising the chance it could be the oldest copy of the Islamic Holy Book in existence.

ANSWER: Justice V. S. Malimath

Explanation:
Former CJI of Karnataka and Kerala HC Justice V. S. Malimath breathed his last at Bangalore on 22nd December 2015. He died at the age of 86 and is survived by a wife, 4 daughters and a son. Malimath was born on June 12, 1929 and was a diploma holder in international law and LLB from University of London. He was appointed as Advocate General and Judge of the Karnataka HC during 1968 and 1970 respectively. He also held posts as CAT chairman and member of NHRC.

ANSWER: Both a and b

Explanation:
Adjudicatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee on 21st December 2015 banned FIFA president Sepp Blatter and Vice President Michel Platini for 8 years from football associated activities at national or international level. Ban came into force with immediate effect. Both officials have also been fined USD 40,000 and 80,0000 respectively.

The Ethics Committee was chaired by Hans-Joachim Eckert. The ban was made in the wake of payment of 20 lakh Swiss Francs which was transferred to Platini by Blatter in February 2011.

ANSWER: Handbook of Statistics on Central Government Debt

Explanation:
Second Edition of the “Handbook on Statistics on Central Government Debt” has been released on 23rd December by the Middle Office of the DEA. The handbook is also available at the Finance Ministry website. This edition contains time-series data covering outstanding debt, primary issuance of bills and bonds, and secondary market transactions in government securities in 16 tables. MO is the independent debt management office of DEA.

ANSWER: Pawan Kumar Agarwal

Explanation:
He was appointed on 22nd December 2015 replacing Yudhvir Singh Malik who was shifted to Additional Secretary in Niti Aayog. Before this FSSAI Chairman Ashish Bahugana was holding the additional charge of FSSAI CEO. Agarwal is a 1985 batch WB cadre IAS officer.

ANSWER: Both a and b

Explanation:
Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, Sh Radha Mohan Singh launched two mobile apps for the farmers here namely Crop Insurance and AgriMarket Mobile on 23rd December. The ministry has also organized Kishan Jai Vigyan week to celebrate the birth anniversaries of AB Vajpayee and Ch. Charan Singh, the former PMs of India. National e-Governance Plan in agriculture (NeGP-A) has been launched for cluster development and providing hardware at block levels.

ANSWER: Malaysia

Explanation:
Rayani Airlines, a new low-cost airline, follows Sharia rules "based on guidelines by relevant authorities", according to MD Jaafar Zamhari. Rules include mandatory hijab for female Muslim cabin crew while Non Muslims may wear a decent uniform. Prayers will be said before the departure of each flight and alcohol is strictly forbidden. Food and beverages provided will be haha. Initially, the airline plans to introduce only domestic flights. Other airlines that comply with some Sharia laws include Etihad and Emirates.

ANSWER: Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Bill 2015

Explanation:
Parliament has passed the Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Bill 2015 moved by Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya. The Bill allowing doubling of the wage ceiling for calculating bonus to reach INR 7000 per month with factory workers for establishment with 20, more workers. Benefits are going to be applicable from April 2014. Both LS and RS have now approved this Bill. Official amendments provide that benefits of the Act will come into force w.e.f April 2014 instead of April 2015. The Bill also enhanced eligibility limit for payment of bonus from INR 10000 per month to INR 21,000 per month.

ANSWER: 5.1%

Explanation:
Between the March and September quarters, NPAs jumped 50 basis points to 5.1% between March and September quarters. Gross naps rose to 5.1% as of September quarter from 4.6% in March 2015. As per the Financial stability report released by RBI, net NPAs as percentage of total net advances increased to 2.8% from 2.5% in March. The end of the Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) cell, led to restructured standard advances as percentage of gross advances declining to 6.2 from 6.4, but stressed loans ratio increased to 11.3 from 11.1 percent in the same period. Public sector lenders recorded the highest level of stressed assets at 14.1 percent followed by private sector banks at 4.6 percent and foreign banks at 3.4 percent, as per the report.

ANSWER: Pandora Media

Explanation:
Music streaming services provider Pandora Media has signed separate multi-year licensing agreements with music companies ASCAP and BMI or Broadcast Music for their combined catalogs. As part of the deal, Pandora has also agreed to withdraw its appeal in a recent BMI case. Radio companies and the music industry have lobbied for different payment schedules. BMI manages performance rights for performers like Lady Gaga and Rihanna.

ANSWER: Amazon

Explanation:
E-commerce major Amazon has signed an agreement with National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development/NIESBUD for encouraging SMEs to grow businesses profitably online. As part of the MoU, Amazon.in and NIESBUD will work for promoting greater awareness about e-commerce for SMEs and empower then to leverage various opportunities in the growing digital economy of India.

ANSWER: Welspun

Explanation:
Welspun Enterprises Ltd has divested 37% stake in JV firm Dewas Bhopal Corridor Pvt Ltd for INR 662 crore to IDFC sponsored fund India Infrastructure Fund. As per the agreement, the company has sold 37% equity stake in Dewas Bhopal Corridor Pvt Ltd which is a 50% JV of the company at enterprise value of INR 6.62 billion.

ANSWER: Amit Agarwal

Explanation:
Jet Airways on 22nd December 2015 appointed Amit Agarwal as CFO, prior to which he was the CFO of Suzlon Energy. He will be responsible for financial and fiscal management aspects of the airline business. He has also worked with Arcelor Mittal and Essar Steel prior to this.

ANSWER: Zimbabwe

Explanation:
Zimbabwe FM Patrick Chinamasa on 21st December 2015 announced the country has planned to adopt the Chinese Yuan as legal tender in return for debt cancellation worth USD 40 million dollars. As per the decision, Yuan will be a function of trade between China and Zimbabwe and acceptable with customers in Zimbabwe. China is currently the largest investor in Zimbabwe.

ANSWER: Kirti Azad

Explanation:
BJP leader and former cricketer Kirti Azad was suspended by party chief Amit Shah for targeting FM Arun Jaitley with allegations of irregularities in the DDCA, Delhi’s cricket body. The Darbhanga MP has been suspended from the party w.e.f immediate date for anti party activities. A show case notice has also been issued asking him to explain his anti-party conduct. Ad spoke at a press conference highlighting DDCA corruption allegations against the FM who was president for 13 years till 2013.

ANSWER: Artificial Neural Network

Explanation:
Beijing scientists have discovered an Artificial Neural Network system. This is a type of information processing system that replicates the functioning of the biological brain and has application ind domains such as AI, decision support system, signal processing and automatic control. SNN or Spiking Neural Network is the biologically inspired ANN that reforms processing associated with discrete time spikes. It is more biologically realistic than classic ANNs. Researchers from 2 Chinese universities have developed the Darwin Neural Processing Unit (NPU), a neuromorphic hardware co-processor based on Spiking Neural Networks, fabricated by standard CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) technology.

ANSWER: Darwin neural chip

Explanation:
Scientists at Beijing have discovered a Darwin neural chip which is a kind of information processing system mimicking the human brain. advances which would lead to the development of AI systems and IoT.