Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Feb 07, 2017

ANSWER: J&K

Explanation:
A Tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for implementation of Tourism projects in Jammu and Kashmir was signed among Ministry of Tourism, M/s NPCC & NBCC and Government of Jammu and Kashmir on 6th Feb 2017.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Shri Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, M/o Tourism and the signatories for the MoU included

- Shri. Suman Billa, Joint Secretary , Ministry of Tourism ;

- Shri. Shamim Ahmad Wani, Managing Director, J&K Cable Car Corporation ;

- Shri. K K Sharma, Executive Director, M/s NPCC ; and

- Shri. Alok Rastogi, Chief General Manager (BD), M/s NBCC

The Prime Minister announced the Development Package (Reconstruction Plan) for Jammu and Kashmir on 7.11.2015.

The details of all proposals included in the Development Package for Tourism are as under:

• Log Huts,
• Heliports,
• Open air theatre,
• Walking trail,
• Landscaping,
• Solar lighting,
• Solid waste management & public amenities etc.

ANSWER: Rajeev Singh

Explanation:
Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati on 4^th Feb 2017 named Rajeev Singh, member (finance) as interim chief executive officer (CEO) at its board meeting in Hyderabad.

Prasar Bharati runs Doordarshan and All India Radio.

Singh will replace Suresh Chandra Panda who has been serving as interim CEO since November 2016, after full time chief Jawhar Sircar put in his papers in October.

Panda was formerly member (personnel) of Prasar Bharati and is scheduled to retire on 4 February.

Singh, who has been serving Prasar Bharati as member (finance) since April 2015, was previously with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd in different roles for a little over nine years.

Singh is an engineering graduate from Nagpur University and has a masters in business administration from Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi.

Singh’s appointment comes at a time when the public broadcaster is all set to revamp Doordarshan by introducing new prime time programming in February.

The production houses Ekta Kapoor-promoted Balaji Telefilms and Saaibaba Telefilms are readying programming ranging from youth-oriented shows to family dramas and music reality shows in a bid to revive the viewership and finances of Prasar Bharati.

Currently, Prasar Bharati has two vacant top posts.

While a committee headed by the vice-president is in the process of selecting a new CEO for the public broadcaster, the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry had issued an advertisement, calling applications for the post of member (personnel).

The ministry has received 56 applications and is yet to make a decision.

ANSWER: Nagaland

Explanation:
The Nagaland Cabinet has decided to submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister to issue an ordinance to exempt the state from the provision of Part IX A of the Constitution.

This part is related to municipalities and ULBs, and their composition.

The decision comes after various tribal organisations opposing elections to Urban Local Bodies (ULB) with 33 per cent reservation of seats for women.

State Cabinet, in an emergency meeting attended by special invitees comprising of legislators from all tribes yesterday, decided to submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister to amend the Constitution through an ordinance.

The Nagaland Cabinet has decided to take the matter to New Delhi to demand that Nagaland be exempted from the purview of Part IX A.

All 60 legislators of the state, both the MPs, the chairman and vice chairman of the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland will submit the memorandum jointly for which an early appointment with the Prime Minister has been sought.

Tribal organisations are observing an indefinite bandh in the state against the functioning of state government offices and vehicles and demanding the resignation of Chief Minister T R Zeliang and his cabinet.

On February 2, violent mobs had set afire government offices and vehicles in Kohima, and also vandalised the State Election Commission office.

However, the Nagaland Tribes Action Committee (NTAC) Kohima has expressed shock over the decision of state Cabinet to submit a memorandum to the PM to amend the provision of Part IX A.

ANSWER: Gandhinagar

Explanation:
The Union Minister for Sports Vijay Goel laid the foundation stone of the country’s first centre of excellence for differently abled sportsmen at Gandhinagar today.

The centre is proposed with an estimate of INR 50 crores rupees and will provide World class facilities such as indoor halls, dedicated tracks and 100 bedded hostel where para athletes will be trained for various international competitions including Paralympics.

The Minister also inaugurated a sports training centre at Sports Authority of India campus in Gandhinagar.

Around 50 differently abled sportspersons between age group 8-12 will be imparted training in Athletics, Swimming and power lifting at the training centre.

Government is committed to encourage sports culture in the country and will soon launch the sports talent hunt portal through which talented amateur sportsmen from all parts of the country will be selected and provided with training as well as scholarships.

Sports Ministry has established task forces to select and train sports persons for the coming Olympics in 2020.

The Centre will train the para athletes for various international sporting competitions including Olympics, Asian Games and Common Wealth Games. It will have dedicated tracks and a 64 m long, fully air conditioned indoor hall having swimming pool as well as other training facilities for the athletes.

ANSWER: 2017

Explanation:
India will host FIBA Women’s Asia Cup basketball tournament in July, Basketball Federation of India announced.

The continental flagship tournament for women will be held here from July 23 to 29.

India has also been given another continental level tournament - the FIBA U-16 Women’s Asian Championship - which will be held from October 22 to 28 in Hyderabad.

This will be the first time since 2009 that India will host a major FIBA (International Basketball Federation) event.

In 2009, the BFI was allotted the same two Championships - the 1st FIBA Asia U-16 Championship for Girls in Pune and the 23rd FIBA Asia Championship for Women in Chennai.

Fourteen teams will compete in both the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup and the U-16 Women’s Asian Championship, with eight teams in Division A (which include new Oceania teams Australia and New Zealand) and six in lower Division B.

India is in Division B in both the Senior and U-16 events.

ANSWER: Nizamabad

Explanation:
The Telangana government has launched India’s first social innovation centre - The ‘Kakatiya Hub For Social Innovation’ in Nizamabad on Feb 5, 2017.

Telangana IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan made this announcement at the one-day Development Dialogue, an international social entrepreneurship ecosystem conference hosted by Kakatiya Sandbox.

Jayesh Ranjan said the ‘Kakatiya Hub For Social Innovation’ funded by the Telangana government and implemented through Kakatiya Sandbox will function as a rural incubator to encourage entrepreneurship at the grassroots level.

Problems are to be solved in rural areas and the people who are familiar with them should be in the best position to solve the problems.

However, rural entrepreneurs need a structured guidance and an incubator is the best way of providing a necessary ecosystem and support to them.”

Rural incubator in Telangana will be run exactly in the same as any other high-end incubator like the T-Hub, the country’s biggest, located in Hyderabad.

Indian-American entrepreneur Raju Reddy, co-founder of Kakatiya Sandbox, Dr. ‘Desh’ Deshpande, founder of Deshpande Foundation, Redbus founder Phanindra Sama, who is also the co-founder of Kakatiya Sandbox, welcomed the government’s decision.

Dr. ‘Desh’ Deshpande, founder of Deshpande Foundation introduced the Sandbox concept in India 10 years ago.

ANSWER: West Bank

Explanation:
The Israeli Parliament has finalised a controversial law legalising dozens of Jewish outposts built on private Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.

The law, approved by 60 members of parliament to 52 against, passed its third and final reading on 6th Feb 2017.

This after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had updated the US administration on the issue.

The law met with fierce opposition within the Parliament, with warnings that it would harm Israel, and the United Nations saying it would diminish chances for peace.

Ahead of the vote, opposition chief and Labour leader Isaac Herzog lashed out against the “despicable law” that he said would undermine the country’s Jewish majority.

The law would “annex millions of Palestinians into Israel”, he warned, and expose Israeli soldiers and politicians to lawsuits at international criminal courts.

Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis of Netanyahu’s Likud party said the argument was over the right to the Land of Israel.

The law is seen by critics as promoting at least partial annexation of the West Bank, a key demand for parts of Netanyahu’s right - wing cabinet, including the hardline Jewish Home party.

Last week, the few hundred residents of the Amona outpost in the West Bank were evicted after the Supreme Court ruled their homes were built on private Palestinian land.

ANSWER: Sculptor Anish Kapoor

Explanation:
Well known Indian-origin British sculptor Anish Kapoor was on 6th Feb 2017 named the winner of a prestigious $1 million Genesis Prize.

This prize was given by Israel for his commitment to Jewish values.

Mr. Kapoor also spoke out against “abhorrent government policies” towards refugees as he was named the recipient of this year’s Genesis prize, dubbed Jewish Nobel.

The prize committee, headed by Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky, acknowledged Mr. Kapoor as “one of the most influential and innovative artists of his generation.”

Mr. Kapoor joins Itzhak Perlman, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and actor-director Michael Douglas as recipients.

Mr. Kapoor said he would use the award money to help alleviate the refugee crisis and try to expand the Jewish community’s engagement in a global effort to aid Syrian refugees.

Stan Polovets, chairman and co-founder of the Genesis Prize Foundation, has said the profound impact of Mr. Kapoor’s work continues a long history of Jewish contribution to the arts.

Alongside, his social activism reaffirms the commitment of the Jewish people to humanitarian causes.

About Genesis Prize

• Outstanding achievement by individuals who have attained excellence and international renown in their chosen professional fields.
• Award is given to those whose actions, in addition to their achievements, embody the character of the Jewish people through commitment to Jewish values, the Jewish community and/or to the State of Israel.
• Date: 2013
• First awarded: 2014
• Official website: www.genesisprize.org
• Also called Jewish Nobel.

ANSWER: 75%

Explanation:
A third of the organisations internationally experienced a cyberattack in 2016 registered a revenue loss of more than 20 percent, as per a new report.

According to global networking giant Cisco's annual report, 'Annual Cybersecurity Report 2017', more than 50% of organisations faced public scrutiny after a security breach.

Operations and finance systems were the most affected, followed by brand reputation and customer retention, the report indicated.

22% per cent of breached organisations lost customers, 29% lost revenue and 23% lost business opportunities.

The report is based on a survey spanning over 13 countries and including 3,000 chief security officers (CSOs).

Cyberattacks in 2016 became more "corporate" with digitization creating more opportunities for cybercriminals.

75 per cent of the organisations investigated were infected by old-fashioned adware software that downloads advertising without user permission.

The study suggested that security should be made a business priority and executive leadership must own and evangelise security and fund it as a priority.

ANSWER: Pathani Patnaik

Explanation:
Eminent educationist and litterateur Pathani Patnaik passed away in Cuttack, Odisha at age 89.

He had written over 50 books on different aspects of literature, including short stories and poems.

He is an ex principal of Christ College and had served as president of Odisha Sahitya Akademi.

He had received the Kendriya Sahitya Akademi Award in 2010 for his autobiography “Jeebanara Chalapatha”.

Utkal Sahitya Samaj, the oldest literary organisation of Odisha had felicitated Patnaik with its Lifetime Honorary membership in 2015.

ANSWER: Bano Qudsia

Explanation:
Well known Pakistani Urdu novelist and playwright Bano Qudsia passed away in Lahore at age 88.

She was born in Nov 1928, in Ferozepur India. She migrated to Pakistan following the partition.

She started her career by writing short stories. Her most famous novel (for which she attained acclaim in the Indian subcontinent) was Raja Gidh (The Vulture King).

She has written prominent works like:

- Aadhi Baat,
- Aatish-i-zer-i-paa,
- Aik Din,
- Amer Bail,
- Asay Pasay,
- Chahar Chaman,
- Chhotaa Sheher Baray Log,
- Footpath ki Ghaas,
- Hasil Ghaat and
- Hawa Kay Naam.

Pakistan Government had awarded her with Sitara-i-Imtiaz (2003) and Hilal-i-Imtiaz (2010).

All About Sitara-i-Imtiaz

• Type: Award
• Day: Announced on August 14 each year, Independence Day of Pakistan and awards actually given on March 23rd the next year (Pakistan Day)
• First induction : 19 March 1957
• Eligibility : Pakistani or Foreign citizen
• Next (higher) : Hilal-i-Imtiaz

ANSWER: Both a and c

Explanation:
Indian Coast Guard and its UAE counterpart will take part in Joint Exercise and sharing of operational expertise in Dubai.

In the exercise, ICG will have representation by Samudra Pavak. The ship will sail to Oman, Qatar and S. Arabia.

Saumdra Pavak is the Purifier of Seas. It is the third of the Pollution Control Vessel of the ICG.

It has been indigenously deployed along the northwest maritime frontier to safeguard maritime interests of India.

It has also been tasked with EEZ surveillance, search and rescue, pollution response and other duties of the Coast Guard charter.

ICG: Know More

• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Motto: वयम् रक्षामः (Sanskrit: We Protect)
• Founded: 18 August 1978
• Patrol: Dornier Do 228

ANSWER: Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism

Explanation:
India will be hosting the Implementation and Assessment Group Meeting of the GICNT. GICNT stands for Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism.

This is a key meet on nuclear security in February 8-10, 2017.

It is being hosted by MEA in coordination with DAE.

Around 150 delegates from 100 partner countries and international organisations will participate in the event.

This highlights India's commitment to global nuclear non proliferation and peaceful use of nuclear energy and overall engagement with global community on national security issues.

GICNT: Know More

• GICNT was launched in 2006 by Russia (Vladmir Putin) and the US (George W. Bush)
• Members: 86
• Observers: 5 organisations
• It has held several multilateral activities in support of its Statement of Principles.
• GICNT partner nations organize and host workshops, conferences, and exercises.
• It aims to share best practices for implementing the Statement of Principles.
• The GICNT also holds Plenary meetings to discuss improvements and changes to the partnership.