Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Jan 08, 2016

ANSWER: Tracxn

Explanation:
Top industrialist Ratan Tata has invested a non-disclosed amount in startup research platform Tracxn. This was started in 2013 by ex investors Abhishek Goyal and Neha Singh and leverages data analytics for helping VC funds, PE firms and strategy teams globally track the start up market and locate interesting investable companies. Prior to Tracxn, Tata has invested in Paytm, UrbanClap, Ola Cabs and Snapdeal. Traxcn’s client base has seen a 400% rise over the past one year.

ANSWER: Four Freedoms Medal

Explanation:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been named as the recipient of this year’s Four Freedoms Award. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been selected for the prestigious international Four Freedoms Award with organisers lauding great moral leadership in Germany and tackling the crises in Europe. Previous award winners include US President Harry S. Truman and JFK as well as Nelson Mandela and Kofi Annan. This is an annual award presented to men and women whose achievements have received the commitment of FDR.

ANSWER: Border Roads

Explanation:
Lieutenant General Suresh Sharma has taken over as the 24th Director General for Border Roads, holding the appointment of Director General Combat Engineers at Army HQ. He was commissioned into Corp of Engineers from Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.

ANSWER: Trade Facilitation Agreement

Explanation:
India will pitch for a trade facilitation agreement in services at the WTO and other bilateral FTAs as the sector has massive potential and contributes to the economy of the country. India is forging ahead for a comprehensive trade pact in the services sector which is a key area of interest in the nation. This is with respect to the ongoing free trade agreement negotiations including RCEP/ Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and EU.

ANSWER: North Korea

Explanation:
North Korea has conducted a powerful hydrogen bomb test on 6th January 2015 which will see a huge jump in Pyongyang’s quest for improving still limited nuclear arsenal. South Korea’s spy agency and external nuclear experts however, cast doubt on this announcement. A successful H Bomb will be a major achievement for N. Korea as these bombs are 100 times more powerful than atomic bomb using fission. Within a hydrogen bomb, radiation from nuclear fission explosion will set off a chain of reactions responsible for the blast and consequent radioactivity.

ANSWER: Both a and b

Explanation:
Pierre Boulez, former principal conductor of the NY Philharmonic who was also a famous composer and teacher passed away in Baden-Baden Germany at the age of 90. Known for conducting musicals like Wagner and Mahler, he was born in Montbrison, France. He studied mathematics in youth before switching to music. He was trained in 12 tone composition. He conducted an enormous range from Mahler to Beethoven and Stockhausen.

ANSWER: Operation Dhangu

Explanation:
NSG were in action against the six fidayeen at the Pathankot airbase and three service chiefs had taken the call jointly so that the elite combat force could deal with any hostage crisis in the airbase which had around 3,000 family members of IAF personnel and 23 trainees from four foreign countries at the time of the attack, during Operation Dhangu. Commander of the Army's Western Command Lt Gen K J Singh said the NSG was deployed as it is a force specially trained to deal with a hostage crisis. Apart from family members, 23 trainees from Afghanistan, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Myanmar were at the airbase when fidayeen struck.

ANSWER: Ramon Magsaysay Award

Explanation:
The IIT-BHU's decision to dis-empanel social activist , founder of Asha Trust and 2002 Magsaysay Award winner Sandeep Pandey from the list of its guest faculty was based on his taking part in "unwanted activities", and the activist claims RSS is behind his ouster. Pandey was visiting faculty in the department of mechanical engineering. The banned documentary Nirbhaya was screened by him and he also took part in Naxal activities according to BHU administration.

ANSWER: Kerala

Explanation:
Kerala is set to pay a solatium of Rs. 50 lakh to the family. The late commando’s wife, Radhika, will be given a government job and the entire education expenses of his daughter, Vismaya, would be borne by the government. The Cabinet, which took up the issue as the first item of the agenda, decided to carry out renovation to the 10-km Kollengode-Elampilassery road leading to Niranjan’s house at a cost of Rs. 4 crore. Elampilassery government ITI will also be renamed as Lt. Col. Niranjan memorial government ITI.

ANSWER: Shatrughan Sinha

Explanation:
Shatrughan Singh released his biography “Anything But Khamosh,” on 6th January 2016. Book release saw LK Advani and Yashwant Sinha sharing stage and BJP leader Kirti Azad and Union Ministers General (Retd.) V.K. Singh and Harsh Vardhan attended the launch. Former SP leader Amar Singh was also present. The film star-politician, the book reveals, was once disappointed with Mr.Advani, whom he sees as the tallest leader of his party, when the latter had denied him a third Rajya Sabha term in 2008.

ANSWER: Singapore

Explanation:
The objective of this MoU is to establish mutual cooperation in the field of civil aviation, which will cover, to begin with, the airports of Jaipur and Ahmedabad. This cooperation will be extended to other airports with mutual consent, between India and Singapore. The MoU envisages collaboration with Singapore in areas such as traffic development, commercial development, master planning and design, training and development, cargo handling and management among others.

ANSWER: Bangladesh

Explanation:
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its ex-post-facto approval for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Bangladesh for setting up Border Haats on India-Bangladesh Border. The MoU seeks the following:
- To establish new Border Haats after identification of suitable locations in consultation with Government of Bangladesh and concerned State Governments and
- To modify/revise the terms and condition of the above MoU/Addendum in consultation with relevant State Governments/Central Government agencies and Government of Bangladesh.

ANSWER: Credit Guarantee Fund for MUDRA

Explanation:
Union Cabinet gives approval for Credit Guarantee Fund for MUDRA (Micro Units Development Refinance Agency) loans and conversion of MUDRA Ltd into MUDRA SIDBI. Fund will generate more than 100,000 crore worth of loans to micro and small units within the first instance.

ANSWER: BSV

Explanation:
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has decided to make the transition from BS-IV to BS-VI emission norms directly by 01/04/2020. A unanimous decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari. GoI has taken the decision to eliminate BSV altogether. A notification in this regard will be issued. Bharat stage emission standards are instituted by GoI to regulate output of air pollutants from international combustion engine equipment including motor vehicles.

ANSWER: River Information System

Explanation:
Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the River Information System/RIS. The first of its kind in India, the new system will encourage safe and accurate navigation on National Waterway 1 on the Ganga River. RIS is being implemented by Inland Waterways Authority of India. RIS aims to streamline the exchange of information between waterway operators and users.

ANSWER: Stand Up India

Explanation:
Union Cabinet on 6th January 2016 approved the Stand Up India Scheme for promoting entrepreneurship among SC, ST and Women entrepreneurs. Scheme will work to facilitate two projects per bank branch for one category of entrepreneur each. This will be benefiting 2.5 lakh borrowers. This provides a refinance window through SIDBI with initial amount of INR 10,000 crore. It will also create a guarantee mechanism through National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company or NCGTC. The focus will be on handholding support for SC, ST and women borrowers.

ANSWER: MOIA

Explanation:
12 years after the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs has been set up, it will now emerged with the Ministry of External Affairs in line with principle of minimum government and maximum governance. Proposal for the merger was cleared by PM Narendra Modi, according to MEA minister Sushma Swaraj who also holds charge of MOIA. MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup announced that the decision to merge the 2 ministries was in line with overall objective of minimising government and maximising governance. Proves Bharatiya Diwas, the flagship event of MOIA will now be celebrated by MEA on January 9th 2015. Established in 2004 as the Ministry of NRI affairs, this ministry was renamed MOIA in September 2004. The primary aim of the ministry is to connect the Indian diaspora with their motherland.

ANSWER: Agricultural

Explanation:
MNREGA wage rates will be fixed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in accordance with prevailing agricultural wage rates in states such as Uttarakhand. Recommendation to this effect has been made by a committee appointed by the Union in light of demands across country for revision in wage rates under MNREGA. Proposal of INR 2000 crore will be submitted to the FM for tailoring wage rates under MNREGA. Currently, wage rate under MNREGA in states like Uttarakhand is INR 161 agricultural wage rate in states is INR 204.

ANSWER: First Immediate Response

Explanation:
Karnataka Police on 7th January 2015 launched a free mobile phone application called First Immediate Response that will help people to send an SOS. App was inaugurated by the Karnataka CM at Hassan on 7th January 2016. App works on both Android and iOS.

ANSWER: INS Kadmatt

Explanation:
INS Kadmatt, second ship of Project 28 class Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvettes was commissioned into the Indian Navy by Chief of Naval Staff at Vizag’s Naval Dockyard. The INS ship carries the name inherited from Peta Class. Cadmic also an ASW Corvettew was acquired in 1968 from erstwhile Soviet Union. INS Kadmatt has been named gayer the large Lakshadweep group of islands off India’s western coast.

ANSWER: Bhanumurthy BM

Explanation:
After the elevation of COO Abidali Neemuchwala as CEO Wipro has appointed new COO Bhanumurthy BM. He was earlier president and chief executive of the business application series, beating three other presidents in Wipro for the post. BAS business headed by Bhanumurthy contributes 47% of revenue. Within the new role, all service lines will be reporting to him. Meanwhile GK Prasanna, president and CEO of Global Infrastructure Services has been made president of newly created Marketing, Innovations and Technology/MIT. The freshly carved digital business will be headed by Rajan Kohl while business outcome services led by Anurag Srivastava will be mentored by Kurien over next few months.

ANSWER: Sam Pitroda

Explanation:
Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda well known as Sam Pitroda was on 6th January 2016 appointed Technology Advisor to the Odisha Government. He was appointed as technology advisor for telecom, IT, ITES and electronics sectors of the rile. He will play a key role in preparing the vision document for 2036 for celebrating 100 years of the formation of the state. Pitroda is also director of the Young Indian Company and served as an adviser to UN and Rajiv Gandhi, India’s late PM on various Technology Missions. He is also the founding chairman of India’s Telecom Commission.

ANSWER: Pavan Kapoor

Explanation:
Senior diplomat Pavan Kapoor has been appointed as Indian ambassador to Israel, succeeding Jaideep Sarkar. He is a 1990 batch IFS officer and is currently the High Commissioner of India in Mozambique capital Maputo. He is an MBA from IIM-A and also holds a master’s degree in international political economy from LSE. He has served at different Indian missions in Kiev, London, Geneva and Moscow as well. He was also the Political Adviser on Asia and Europe at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London. Israel is currently one of India’s largest supplier of military hardware, and India is its largest buyer.

ANSWER: Gurbir Grewal

Explanation:
He became the first South Asian to occupy this post in the state. He was sworn in as acting Bergen County prosecutor on 4th January 2016. He succeeded John Molinelli who retired after 15 years. He is a former deferral prosecutor and was nominated for the post by New Jersey governor Chris Christie.

ANSWER: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Explanation:
Grandi is a 58 year old Italian diplomat who has worked in international affairs for the past 30 years, 27 of which were in the UN. He was previously the head of UN relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. He has also worked in the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan as the Deputy Special Representative. Guterres has been occupying the post since 2005.

ANSWER: Netflix

Explanation:
American streaming company Netflix has announced an entry into India on 6th January 2016 looking to encash on the rapidly improving internet speeds and growing online presence. The company provides on-demand TV shows and movies through the internet, and announced prices starting from Rs 500 per month for the Indian market. It also announced higher-tier packages which include a Rs 650 package for High Definition (HD) content that can be watched on two separate devices. The top-end Rs 800 package is for 4K content that allows 4 concurrent streams.

ANSWER: Both a and b

Explanation:
A globular cluster holding million stars in a ball about 100 light years ago could be the place to look for intelligent life identified in the galaxy. Milky Way galaxy hosts about 150 globular clusters, most of them orbiting in the galactic outskirts. They formed about 10 billion years ago on average, researchers said. Some scientists have argued that this makes globular cluster stars less likely to host planets. In fact, only one planet has been found in a globular cluster to date. Interstellar communication becomes easy for stars within the cluster called global customer opportunity.

ANSWER: Labhshankar Thakar

Explanation:
Well known Gujarati writer and poet Labhshankar Thakar passed away on 6th January 2016 following prolonged illness at the age of 80. Born in 1935 in Sedia, Gujarat. he was famous for pens like Ramya Ghosha (1965), Manasni Vaat (1968), Mara Namne Darwaje (1972), Boom Kagalma Kora (1974), Pravahan (1986), plays including Asatyakumar Ekagrani Dharpakad, Make Believe (1967), Mari Jawani Maza (1973), Bathtub ma Machhali (1982) and novels Akasmat (1968) and Kon? (1968).

ANSWER: J&K

Explanation:
CM of J&K, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed died in a hospital in Delhi of multiple organ failure and was laid to rest with full state honours in Bijbehara town, Anantnag district. A 7 day state mourning will also be observed. He founded PDP in 1999. Former chief ministers of the state - Omar Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Azad - were among those who attended the funeral prayers which were led by Sayeed's trusted aide, Education Minister Naeem Akhtar. Sayeed was given a 21 gun salute and laid to rest after the ceremonial last post was played for the deceased CM. Meanwhile ruling PDP president Mehbooba Mufti is now set to be the first woman CM of the hilly state following Sayeed’s death.