Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Feb 24, 2016

ANSWER: Godavari

Explanation:
The committee has been formed towards reviving the river Godavari and it is headed by chairman of Maharashtra State Economic Development Council, Deepak Naik. A member who formed this committee is director, Naik Environmental Research Institute Limited, Rekha Somalia. Around 78% of the river is set to be rejuvenated this year. The river has become concretised and has potential to revive. Committee has also decided to focus on ecotourism around Nashik.

ANSWER: Bolivia

Explanation:
In a scientific breakthrough which will enhance accelerated gene discovery and development of improved peanut/groundnut cultivars, high quality sequencing of the ancestral genomes of the crop has been developed leading to peanut varsities with better pod and oil yield, higher disease as well as drought and heat resistance and better oil quality. Breakthrough was made by IPGI or International Peanut Genome Initiative led by the US University of Georgia researchers. Roots of the original wild genomes of, Arachis duranensis (V14167, A-genome ancestor) and A.ipaensis (K30076, B-genome ancestor) have been traced to a wild plant from Bolivia, which is a "living relic" of the prehistoric origins of the cultivated peanut species. Peanut grown today results from hybridisation of these 2 wild species and ancestors were two different species.

ANSWER: 1969

Explanation:
Apollo 10 mission astronauts have heard mysterious outer space music as their spacecraft flew to the far side of the moon in 1969. The transcript of the conversation between Apollo 10 astronauts Eugene Cernan and John Young mentioning the strange sound and the crew's response to the phenomenon were released in 2008. Michael Collins, pilot of Apollo 11 and the first person to fly around the side of the moon by himself also recalled hearing strange sounds when radios in both vehicles were turned on and in close proximity to one another.

ANSWER: Both a and b

Explanation:
Peanut was a result of hybridisation between two wild species and the hybrid was cultivated by ancient South American inhabitants. As ancestors were 2 different species, peanut is a tetraploid which means it carries A and B sub genomes or 2 separate genomes. Comparison of DNA sequence of wild species and cultivated peanut shows exactly the same sequencing which is 99.96% identical. IPGI is a multi national group of crop geneticists working with 39 scientists from 26 organisations in 6 countries including ICRISAT. New peanut genome will also help farmers to tackle climate change better. Peanut (Arachis hypogaea), is an important crop both commercially as well as nutritionally and around 25.7 million hectares of peanut is tended each year, producing about 42 million metric tons. Mapping the genome structure also required sequencing of two ancestral parents, because together they represent the cultivated peanut. The sequences provide researchers access to 96 percent of all peanut genes in their genomic context. ICRISAT is currently a member of the Peanut Genome Consortium.

ANSWER: Both a and b

Explanation:
To enhance economic cooperation and strengthening financial stability, RBI has extended USD 2 billion currency swap arrangement to SAARC nations till mid November 2017. As per the arrangement, RBI is to provide swap arrangement for up to USD 2 billion in foreign currency and Indian rupee. SAARC swap arrangement was offered by RBI to SAARC nations in November 2012 and facilities will be made available to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The swap amount available to various member central banks has been arrived at broadly based on two months import cover subject to a floor of USD100 million and a maximum of 400 million per nation.

ANSWER: Both b and c

Explanation:
The MPs will have to discuss 12 essential bills some of which are presented below:

• GST Bill-Gives concurrent taxation powers to the centre and states to levy a Goods and Services Tax, and creates a Goods and Services Tax Council.
• Real Estate Bill - Regulates transactions between buyers and promoters of real estate projects and sets up state level Regulatory Authorities to monitor it
• Lokpal Bill - Modifies the composition of the Selection Committee to include the leader of the single largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha, and the manner of declaration of assets of public servants.
• Anti-Hijacking Bill - Replaces the Anti-Hijacking Act, 1982. Defines hijacking and awards death penalty for hijacking in certain cases, such as death of hostage or security personnel.
• Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill -Prohibits reporting of corruption related complaints that fall under 10 specified categories such as economic and scientific interests, cabinet proceedings and those within the ambit of the Official Secrets Act.
• High Court & Supreme Court Judges Bill -Seeks to ensure uniformity in pensions and other conditions of service of Supreme Court and High Court judges.
• Repealing and Amending Bill - Repeals 295 Acts which have ceased to be in force, and amends two Acts.
• Appropriation Acts (Repeal) Bill -Seeks to repeal 758 Appropriation Acts.
• Industries Amendment Bill -Excludes production of alcohol for potable purposes from the ambit of the Act.
• Bureau of Indian Standards Bill -Replaces the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986. Seeks to establish BIS as the national standards body and mandatory standardisation of products.
• National Waterways Bill, 2015 - Replaces the five existing national waterways laws. Identifies additional 101 waterways as national waterways.
• Carriage by Air (Amendment) Bill - Allows the central government to revise liability limits of air carriers for compensation related to death, injury, and loss of baggage.

ANSWER: Both of the above

Explanation:
By 2019, EC holds that whole country will be covered by paper audit trail machines. Such machines also called Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail were first introduced in 2013 to ensure transparency and precision in the voting process. One polling takes place, VVPAT linked EVM takes a printout and preserves it for later use to tally when there is dispute in the final result.

ANSWER: Both b and c

Explanation:
Polling for 2019 general elections will be conducted through paper trail-based electronic voting machines to “enhance transparency”, according to CEC Nasim Zaidi who also indicated voting through the internet is not the aim, though ICT will be used to reach voters. Paper audit trail machines are being demanded by voters.

ANSWER: Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India Limited

Explanation:
Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India Limited on 22nd February 2016 appointed Udai Kumar as CMD following SEBI approval. He was previously MD of Metropolitan Clearing Corporation of India Limited and has worked with JM Morgan Stanley as well as Fortune Financial.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
Election Commission of India on 23rd February 2016 hosted an International Seminar on “Leveraging Technology for Transparent and Credible Elections”. The Seminar was organized for Members of the Executive Board of Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB), and the Oversight & Audit Committee of A-WEB, who were in New Delhi to take part in the 4th Executive Board meeting of the organization. Chief Election Commissioner, Dr. Nasim Zaidi, and Election Commissioners, Mr. A.K. Joti and Mr. O.P. Rawat were part of the event which saw delegates from
11 countries participating in the Seminar which have a population of over 1.7 billion, which means that the delegates present represented over one fifth of humanity. Zaidi referred to Information Communication and Technology (ICT) initiatives such as the single window National Voter Services Portal launched in 2015, which provides multiple voter centric services, development of safe and appropriate technology for providing electronic Postal Ballot facility to Overseas Indian Voters and the gradually increasing use of Voters Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT)/ ECI has also been working on an E-Governance vision 2020 to provide inclusive, integrated single window view of services to all stakeholders in all phases of the electoral cycle.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
Caucuses recently won by democratic and republican candidates have Clinton and Trump leading the race. These caucuses are conducted by political parties themselves with registered members of that party in a city, town or county gathering to express support for a candidate. The combined recommendations of a political party’s state Caucuses determine its nominees for State or national offices. Usually held between months of February and June, it is sometimes combined with Primary Elections. Only 14 states are holding the caucuses in 2016 namely: Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming, the District of Columbia, and four U.S. territories (American Samoa, Northern Marianas, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
This year’s Super Tuesday will be held on 1st March 2016. This is a Tuesday in months of February or March when largest number of states hold primary elections. This represents the candidate’s first test of national electability. Those who win become party’s candidate for presidential elections. These are elections in each State within the two major parties, but usually paid for by the State and run by State election officials. Registered voters from each party vote to nominate one among the several candidates to represent the party in the presidential race. Each party has a certain number of delegates from that State who will be attending its national convention, where the final selection of the candidate happens. The percentage of votes won by a candidate in a State Primary translates into the percentage of delegates from that State who will vote for that candidate at the national convention.

ANSWER: Both of the above

Explanation:
Cloud Flare has launched a new service aiming to protect users from domain hijacking which can lead to leakage of website’s traffic data and email hacks. Hackers have attempted to engage in domain hijacking and this marks the first time any company has created a product like this to counter it. To make the domain more secure, Cloud Flare needs three people to approve of any change been made to the DNS record. Company will also track suspicious requests by clients.

ANSWER: Sepp Blatter: Mission Football

Explanation:
Sepp Blatter’s much awaited book about life at FIFA will be published soon, according to Swiss publications Werd and Weber. “Sepp Blatter: Mission Football” will cost USD 49 and be available from February 2016. It is a photograph led book with stories about his 4 decades as FIFA including presidency in 1998. The 300-page, hardcover book was written by his spokesman, Thomas Renggli.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
The state's first and country's second solar slum was inaugurated on Tuesday by state power minister Manish Gupta at Topsia's Majdoor Para area falling under ward number 66 of the Kolkata municipal corporation. 800 families living in the slums benefited from solar domes developed by experts.

ANSWER: 7.4%, 7.6%

Explanation:
Indian economy is expected to grow at 7.4% in FY 2016, slightly lower than 7.6% projected by AE of CSO. FICCI’s Economic Outlook survey puts across a media GDP growth forecast of 7.4% in the current fiscal. CSO had earlier estimated that Indian economy will record a 5 year high growth of 7.6% in 2015-2016 based on enhanced performance in farm and manufacturing sectors. FICCI poll was conducted in Jan/Feb 2016 and it estimated that agriculture sector will experience record growth of 1.7% in 2015-2016, 0.3 percentage points lower than what was the estimated growth in the round before this. The median forecast for Wholesale Price Index based inflation rate for 2015-16 has been put at (-)1.8 percent, with a minimum and maximum range of (-)2.8 percent and (-) 0.4 percent, respectively. The Consumer Price Index based inflation has a median forecast of 5 percent for 2015-16, with a minimum and maximum range of 4.6 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively.

ANSWER: 28

Explanation:
Scientists reconstructed the level of the sea over time and confirmed that it is most likely rising faster than at any point in 28 centuries, with rate of increase growing sharply over the past century. They also confirmed that if emissions were to continue at the rate over next few decades, the ocean could rise as much as three or four feet by 2100. Extreme weather events are likely to increase as part of the rise in sea level.

ANSWER: Integrated Approach for Sustainable Water Management’

Explanation:
Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Sushri Uma Bharti has announced that Jal Manthan convention will become an annual feature at the valedictory address at Jal Manthan-2 in New Delhi on 23rd February.The Minister also announced that her Ministry will closely monitor all the 46 projects under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichai Yaojna (PMKSY).The two day event with the theme ‘Integrated Approach for Sustainable Water Management’ had wide consultations and discussions on River Basin Approach for Sustainable development, Ground water, Water security, Principles of allocation of water, innovation in water governance, Water management, coordination between centre and states, Water conservation and need for a National Legislation on water. Ministers for irrigation from UP, Telengana, Sikkim and Chhattisgarh, eminent experts in water sector, representatives of NGOs and senior officers of the Central and State Governments attended the event.

ANSWER: 70%

Explanation:
India, home to nearly 70% of the world's tiger population, will host the next Asia Ministerial Conference on tiger conservation and the 3 day event will commence on April 12. All tiger range countries (TRCs) will participate in the conference where their representatives would share their good practices and success stories towards conserving tigers.According to the 2014 tiger census, India has 2,226 tigers with the three southern states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala of the Western Ghats recording nearly 1/3rd of the country's total number of big cats. Karnataka has the highest number of tigers (406) followed by 340 (Uttarakhand), 308 (Madhya Pradesh), 229 (TN), as well as 190 in Maharashtra, 167 in Assam, 136 in Kerala and 117 in Uttar Pradesh.

ANSWER: February 24th

Explanation:
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has extended his greetings and felicitations to the Government and people of the Republic of Estonia,on the eve of their National Day (February 24, 2016), and Toomas Hendrik Ilves, the President of the Republic of Estonia. The two nations have bilateral relations in areas of mutual interest – especially information technology, e-governance and cyber security.

ANSWER: Anti Microbial Resistance

Explanation:
International Conference on Combating Antimicrobial Resistance was held on 23rd February. On this occasion, it was noted AMR has emerged as the number one public health challenge faced by the world today, the Union Health Minister stated that the first step in addressing the problem of AMR is to avoid the need for antibiotics at all in the first place. He further added that this is best done through improved water and sanitation, in the absence of which the proliferation of diarrheal diseases results in inappropriate antibiotic use. Through the Swacch Bharat mission, the Government has taken active steps to improve hygiene and sanitation and reduce the environmental spread of pathogens, he said. Vaccination is an equally important public health measure. Through Mission Indradhanush, India has set itself an ambitious goal of increasing routine immunisation coverage to 90% within just a few years. AMR is estimated to cause around 10 million deaths globally by 2050. Appreciating the need for media campaign for raising awareness about antibiotics, Shri J P Nadda released the “Medicines with the Red Line” media campaign at the function which creates awareness regarding rational usage of medicines which carry a red line on their strip. He also unveiled the Infection Control Policies for Hospitals handbook.

ANSWER: Both of the above

Explanation:
Mahomed was conferred with the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Literature) by French Ambassador Elisabet Barbier in Johannesburg for devotion and promotion of arts. He has a career in this field spanning three decades and currently is Artistic Director of the National Arts Festival in Grahams town. Other awards he has won include the US Merit of Honour Award and Premier’s Award.

ANSWER: US

Explanation:
The ceasefire is to begin on February 27 and in a joint statement, the 2 nations held that agreement will not apply to 'Daesh', also known as the Islamic State (IS), 'Jabhat al-Nusra', or other terrorist organisations designated by the UNSC. Any group engaged in conflicts in Syria will indicate to Russia or the US their commitment to and acceptance of the terms for the cessation of hostilities by no later than 12.00 (Damascus time) on February 27, said the joint statement issued by the State Department.

ANSWER: India

Explanation:
As per the latest report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute on international arms purchases India is the world’s largest arms importer accounting for 14% of the global imports in the 2011-2015 timeframe. India’s arms imports remain 3 times greater than those of its rivals China and Pakistan. Its biggest suppliers are Russia, the US, Israel and France. China which has emerged as the world’s third largest arms exporter after U.S. and Russia has raised its exports of major arms by 88% between 2006-2010 as well as 2011-2015 and concurrently China’s global share of arms exports rose from 3.6 to 5.9 per cent.

ANSWER: MP

Explanation:
This bridge is 14 km on the up line, almost three and half times longer than Vembanad rail bridge in Kerala that connects Edappally and Vallarpadam in Kochi and is 4.62 km long. Called Katni grade separator, down line of the bridge would be of 7 km. Its total length would be 21 km up and down side. CCEA has cleared the project. Good and cargo trains as well as passenger trains will benefit from this move.

ANSWER: National Automotive Testing and R & D infrastructure project

Explanation:
Union Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises (MoHI & PE), Shri Geete launched modern test facilities installed as a part of the National Automotive Testing and R & D infrastructure project (NATRiP) at International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT), Manesar in Gurgaon district of Haryana on 23rd February 2016. The NATRiP project with was setup in line with the vision of automotive mission plan 2016 ; “To emerge as the destination of choice in the world for design and manufacture of automobiles and auto components with output reaching a level of USD 145 billion accounting for more than 10% of the GDP and providing additional employment to 25 million people by 2016.” Boosting exports, increasing manufacturing and encouraging localised research and development are the basis of NATRiP.

ANSWER: 1.5%

Explanation:
India’s steel output fell by 1.5% in January marking the first decline since September 2015 as steel production in the world’s third largest producer fell to 7.4 million tonnes. This marks the first fall since September 2015 when crude steel production in the nation declined to 7.3MT as against September 2014. Latest data released by the Joint Planning Committee under the Ministry of Steel, overall crude production fell on account of decrease of 1.7% in case of other producers, while output fell by 1.4% with respect to Integrated Steel Plant producers. Compared to December 2015, the output went up by 1.5%, led by increase of 3.5% in case of ISP producers. According to World Steel Association (WSA), India's crude steel production was 7.4 MT, a decrease of 1.2 percent compared to January 2015. Internationally, total production in the 66 countries, reporting to the WSA, stood at 128 MT last month, a 7.1 percent decrease compared to January 2015, according to the association.

ANSWER: UL Cyberpark, Nellikode

Explanation:
The first IT park to be set up by a labour cooperative society Uralungal Labour Cooperative Society in Nellikode was inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee. This IT park has been constructed at the estimated cost of INR 270 crore and it will provide direct employment to 4500 persons during the first phase and indirect employment to about 20,000 persons. 6 IT companies have received approval of SEZ authority to commence operations in the park.