Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Feb 23, 2016

ANSWER: Wipro

Explanation:
Software major Wipro has joined hands with telecom network engineering company Verveba for providing advanced mobile RAN/radio network optimization solutions. Companies will offer 4G and Single RAN technologies through the partnership. The two network services organisations will also partner each other to combine skills and talents to provide cutting edge telecom experience solution to clients. Verveba is a world class multiple vendor skilled in building solutions, Wi-FI and LTE.

ANSWER: Vineet Saran

Explanation:
President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee on 22nd February 2016 appointed Justice Vineet Saran as the new CJ of Odisha HC. Saran will take oath on 26th February 2016. Justice DH Waghela was transferred to the Bombay HC as CJ following with Saran was appointed. The acting CJ since then has been Justice Pradeep K. Mohanty. Saran worked in the Karnataka HC before this.

ANSWER: Vinay Kumar Singh

Explanation:
Railways officer VK Singh has been chosen for appointment as MD of North Capital Region Transport Corporation. NCRTC is a implementing agency for 3 corridors of the RRTS in the NCR zone. Singh is currently with RVNL.

ANSWER: A Just Transition- Environmentally Sustainable Economies and Societies

Explanation:
The theme was none other than A Just Transition - environmentally sustainable economies and societies. For marking the occasion, numerous activities were organised to emphasise the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This day was created by UNGA in the year 2007 for ensuring social and economic justice for all.

ANSWER: Both a and b

Explanation:
President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has extended greetings to the people of Guyana on their republic day on 23rd February 2016. and the president of this republic is currently Brig. (Retd) David Arthur Granger who met Modi in NY recently. Shri Mukherjee has also extended his greetings and felicitations to the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Negara Brunei Darussalam, and people of Brunei Darussalam on the eve of their National Day (February 23, 2016). Both Brunei and India are partners in India’s Act East Policy.

ANSWER: Kanavu Variyam

Explanation:
Tamil movie Kanavu Variyam directed by Chennai-based techie Arun Chidambaram, has gone on to win the prestigious Remi Award in the US. Other than this award, Kanavu Variyam also won the Special Jury Award at the National Science Festival. It has a song called Kalla Manna which has acompilation of 51 traditional games of rural India. Previous award winners include Ang Lee, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

ANSWER: Both of the above

Explanation:
This app was launched in cooperation between ministries of tourism and culture with the objective to ensure citizens’ participation in the protection and upkeep of heritage monuments in India. The app, available on Android Phones, will shortly be available on Apple and Microsoft. It will be monitored by the Project Monitoring Unit of Swachh Bharat Mission in Ministry of Tourism. 25 Adarsh Smarak Monuments such as Red Fort, Taj Mahal, Elephanta Caves, Qutab Minar Complex, have been identified for inclusion in the app, but it would be scaled up to include more monuments as the campaign expands.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
The projects approved are as follows:

‘I. ’Resilient Agricultural Households through Adaptation to Climate Change in Mahbubnagar district, Telangana’’ is at a total cost of Rs. 25 crore for four years.

II. The project from Mizoram titled “Sustainable agriculture development through expansion, enhancement and modelling in the state of Mizoram” is at a total cost of Rs. 10.95 crore for three years.

III. The project from Jammu & Kashmir titled ‘Climate Resilient Sustainable Agriculture in Rainfed Farming (Kandi) Areas of Jammu & Kashmir’ involves a total cost of Rs. 23.86 crore for four years.

IV. The project from Meghalaya titled ‘Spring-shed development works for rejuvenation of springs for climate resilient development in the water stressed areas of Meghalaya’ is at a total cost Rs. 23.98 crore for four years.

V. The project from Chhattisgarh titled ‘Climate Adaptation in Wetlands along the Mahanadi River Catchment Area in Chhattisgarh’ submitted by Government of Chhattisgarh is at a total cost of Rs. 24.95 crore for four years.

ANSWER: Coin and Currency of India

Explanation:
FM Shri Arun Jaitley has inaugurated the exhibition of “Coin and Currency of India” in the Great Hall of North Block on 22nd February. The Exhibition was organised by the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance. This marks the first time that such an exhibition has been organised in this historic Hall and it depicts how money has changed in appearance and substance and evolved from barter to coins to the present day bank notes and e-money. The exhibition depicts the many names of money, some of which have gone into oblivion and some are in use even today besides presenting brief history of the Great Hall as well.

ANSWER: India

Explanation:
India has surpassed China’s air pollution levels in 2015 and average particulate matter exposure was higher for the first time in the 21st C, according to Greenpeace India analysis of NASA satellite data. This marks the first time in this century that average particulate matter exposure was higher for Indian citizens than that of Chinese people.World Health Organization (WHO) states India has 13 out of 20 most polluted cities in the world with deteriorating air pollution levels in the past decade, especially in North India. Greenpeace has shown in its NAQI National Air Quality Index Report that 15 of the 17 Indian cities with such stations showed levels of air pollution far exceeding prescribed standards in India. In 2015, India particulate pollution stands higher than that of China, after increasing at an average rate of 2 per cent over the past decade.

ANSWER: Huawei

Explanation:
Chinese electronics giant Huawei has unveiled the first personal computer, a convertible tablet aimed at premium business market that will compete with Apple and Microsoft products. The PC is known as MateBook and has a 12 inch pixel display battery. It has a battery life of 10 hours under standard use and weights just 640 gems.

ANSWER: IBM

Explanation:
Computing giant IBM has grown its partnership with VMWare to carve out a larger role in the field of cloud computing. VMWare virtualisation products will now be easily available on IBM cloud data centres so companies can make the connection between data centres and cloud easier. Virtualisation allows one server to run many OS and forms the heart of the cloud technology. IBM also plans to make it easy for developers using its tools to create applications in Swift, the programming language developed by Apple. IBM is also set to purchase medical data company Truven Heath for USD 2.6 billion in the first week of February 2016.

ANSWER: CII

Explanation:
Confederation of Indian Industries signed MoU with Dubai exports to boost trade for strengthening India UAE economic ties . CII has signed the MoU with Dubai exports which works with Dubai government departments for simplification of the export process. It aims to capitalise on Dubai as a natural trade gateway between the East and the West.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
This low cost machine can be used to monitor endemic, epidemic and pandemic disease outbreaks in resource-limited developing countries that need portable diagnostic equipment that functions outside the hospital. New tests and on site diagnostic testing will benefit from this.

ANSWER: Bihar

Explanation:
Bihar signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) under the Scheme UDAY – “Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana” for operational and financial turnaround of the DISCOMs. The distribution utilities of the country are currently reeling under heavy debt burden. As on 30th September, 2015, the outstanding debt of the DISCOMs stood at Rs.4.3 lakh crore.

ANSWER: Yunus Khan

Explanation:
Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari has announced formation of an Empowered Group of State Transport Ministers to advise on policy issues to make the country’s transport sector modern, efficient and transparent. The Empowered Group will be headed by Shri Yunus Khan, the PWD and Transport Minister of Rajasthan. The group will focus on making India’s road transportation system efficient, practical and cost effective as well as safe.

ANSWER: RCom

Explanation:
Reliance Communications has indicated that regulatory authority CCI has given the approval for its acquisition of Russian company Sistema’s Indian telecom unit, System Shyam Teleservices Ltd operating under the ATS brand. The leading telecom operator announced acquisition of the all stock deal for acquiring SSTL that will create operator with 118 million subscribers in November. According to the deal, Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd will hold ten percent stake in Reliance Communications and pay off debts before the deal closes. System currently holds 56.68% stake in SSTL while the Russian government owns 17.14% and Shyam Group as a 23.98% stake while the rest is owned by small investors. Sistema offers mobile telephony services as part of the MTS brand in 9 telecom circles.

ANSWER: Devices that can detect different biomarkers in blood

Explanation:
Such devices can detect different biomarkers in small quantities of blood and have tremendous potential in the area of diagnostics. They are composed of silicone rubber with minuscule channels the width of a hair. The microfluidic portable device runs on battery power and is completely self-sustained. It operates seamlessly with inexpensive microscopes and provides very high levels of accuracy and detection.The device is special in that it is composed of both analog and digital detection mechanisms, while conventional devices hitherto only integrated one or the other.

ANSWER: Symantec

Explanation:
Software services provider HCL and US software security firm Symantec Corp has expanded the partnership to assist enterprises in areas such as cybersecurity, cloud security and forensic solutions. Aim is to help enterprises meet information and risk management needs and build a cyber-resilient system. According to Cyberthreat Defence Report 2015, close to 70% of the respondents have alleged data breach resulting in erosion of brand reputation and loss of shareholder value.

ANSWER: Prediction IO

Explanation:
Salesforce has acquired a start up with general purpose open source machine learning software called Prediction IO. CEO and co-founder Simon Chan noted that the startup’s team — which includes other co-founders Donald Szeto, Kenneth Chan and Thomas Stone — will be joining Salesforce after the closing of the transaction. Salesforce, which has acquired RelateIQ and Tempo AI, among other companies in recent times to expand in machine learning. Other startups include H2O and Skytree. PredictionIO started in 2013 and was based in Palo Alto, California. The startup raised a $2.5 million round in 2014.