Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Jan 27, 2017

ANSWER: Alexander Kadakin

Explanation:
Russian Ambassador to India and the most well known face in diplomatic corps in Delhi, Alexander Kadakin passed away in a hospital in Delhi on 26th Jan 2017.

Kadakin was 67 years old at the time of his death. He passed away due to a heart attack.

He was a part of all major agreements between India and Russia from the Soviet Union to the India Soviet treaty of friendship of 1971.

Kadakin was one of the longest serving envoys for any country here. He promoted Russia's ties with India, devoting a significant part of his life to this.

He was head of the Russian diplomatic mission in New Delhi from Nov 2009. This is his second stint as the Indian ambassador.

He was also head of Russia's mission in India between 1999 and 2004.

He started his career as a third secretary in the Russian mission in the 1970s.

Kadakin indicated that Indo-Russian ties became stronger in the present. Defence and nuclear cooperation are on a high.

Kadakin was among the diplomatic community known for his deep understanding of Indian culture and language and his proficiency in Hindi drew admiration from those meeting him.

He was born in Chisnau in USSR in 1949. Graduating with honours from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1972.

Russian Government: Know More

• Government: Federal semi-presidential constitutional republic
• President: Vladimir Putin
• Prime Minister: Dmitry Medvedev
• Chairman of the Federation Council: Valentina Matviyenko
• Chairman of the State Duma: Vyacheslav Volodin

ANSWER: Sena Medal

Explanation:
Major Sandeep Kumar, Captain Manik Sharma and Naik Arvind Singh from the Rashtriya Rifles were awarded the Sena Medal for gunning down dreaded terrorist Burhan Wani.

The July 8 operation in 2016 saw the three army personnel show restraint and courage in neutralising Sartaj Aziz and 2 other militants in Bumdoora village: Burhan Wani and Pervaiz Ahmad Lashkari.

ANSWER: Havildar Hangpan Dada

Explanation:
Arunachal Pradesh's Havildar Hangpan Dada laid down his life in Kashmir, neutralising 3 infiltrators in Kashmir's Naugam sector in 2016.

He was posthumously awarded the Ashok Chakra on 26th Jan 2017. His widow Chasen Lowang received the highest peacetime military decoration from the country from President Pranab Mukherjee.

On May 26, 2016, Dada as Sabu post commander of 35 Rashtriya Rifles with his team sought to block 5 infiltrators at 12,500 feet in Naugam. He shot two terorrists down before singlehandedly combating the other two and preventing the infiltration.

Lance Havildar Vareshang of Sabu Post recalled how Dada motivated them to look for terrorists.

Born on oct 2, 1979 in Tirap district, AP in Borduria village, he was a brave and courageous soldier who died protecting his nation.

Dada joined the 3rd battalion of the Parachute Regiment on October, 28, 1997.

In 2005, he was transferred to the Assam Regimental Centre.

On January 24, 2008, he joined the 4th battalion of Assam Regiment.

He then requested a transfer to an RR battalion engaged in J&K operations.

He was posted to 35 RR in May 2016.

Rashtriya Rifles: Know More

• The Rashtriya Rifles or RR (Hindi: राष्ट्रीय राइफल्स) is a branch of the Indian Army.
• It is under the authority of the Indian Ministry of Defence.
• A counter-insurgency/anti-terrorist force made up of soldiers deputed from other parts of the Indian Army.
• These personnel receive special incentives while serving in the Rashtriya Rifles.
• One half of the RR come from the Indian Army's infantry, and one half from the rest of the Indian Army.
• The force is deployed in J&K.

ANSWER: 2014 MU69

Explanation:
NASA's New Horizon spacecraft is set to explore small ancient object 2014 MU69 discovered by Hubble Space Telescope in 2014.

This object is located 1.6 billion km beyond Pluto.

The object is in the Kuiper Belt, a distant region that surrounds the solar system and is filled with trillions of icy rocks that have yet to be explored.

The spacecraft took about 16 months to beam back all of the data from the Pluto flyby and planetary scientists are studying the developments.

The next big stage of the mission, the flyby of 2014 MU69, will occur in January 2019.

MU69 is much smaller and more representative of the trillions of other KBOs.

Pluto is comparable to the size of North America at 2,370 km in diameter.

MU69 is less than 45 km across. It has a special kind of orbit that makes it possibly a type of object that is primordial and left over from early solar system formation.

About the Kuiper Belt

• The Kuiper belt is sometimes called the Edgeworth–Kuiper belt.
• It is a circumstellar disc in the Solar System beyond the planets.
• It is extending from the orbit of Neptune (at 30 AU) to approximately 50 AU from the Sun.
• It is similar to the asteroid belt, but it is far larger - 20 times as wide and 20 to 200 times as massive.
• The Kuiper belt is home to three officially recognized dwarf planets: Pluto, Haumea, and Makemake.
• Some moons, such as Neptune's Triton and Saturn's Phoebe, are also thought to have originated in the region.

ANSWER: 1186

Explanation:
A staggering 1,186 cyclists have set the Guinness World Record for the longest line of moving bicycles.

They were recorded travelling together in a single file line down a highway in Bangladesh.

The large-scale event was organised by BDCyclists.

This is a non-profit social community that aims to promote healthy living as well as reduce congestion and pollution in the area by encouraging locals to cycle to work.

The goal of staying healthy in this stressful life and ride for recreation, commute, health, and eco friendly practices–which is a community initiative, was the core of this record.

Participants were required to ride continuously for a minimum of 3.2 km, ensuring that no significant gaps opened up in the enormous chain.

Though 1200 started in the challenge, some were disqualified for breaking the cycle. But the number (1186) was enough to break the earlier record of 984 achieved in 2015.

This was during the Sarajevo Grand Prix at Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

ANSWER: Health, Coastal Zones, Waste to Energy

Explanation:
India’s 8-point National Action Plan on Assessment, Adaptation and Mitigation of Climate Change (NAPCC) to fight climate change will soon get three new missions.

They are missions on health, coastal zones and waste-to-energy.

These will be added to address the impact of climate change on health, coastal zones and waste-to-energy.

Since 2012, the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change India has instituted a NAPCC that has specified eight national missions.

These include:

• National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change
• National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture
• National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency
• National Mission for Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem
• National Mission on Sustainable Habitat
• National Solar Mission
• Green India Mission
• National Water Mission

ANSWER: Qinghai

Explanation:
China has built Longyangxia Dam Solar Park. This is the world’s biggest solar park in the western province of Qinghai.

China has made an effort to become the super powerful occupier of green energy.

The park covers an area over 27 square km and has capacity to produce 850 MW of power, enough to supply up to 200,000 households.

The construction of the solar park was started in 2013 at total costs around $875 million (around INR. 6,000 crore).

Qinghai: Know More

• Area: 720,000 km^²
• Capital: Xining
• Governor: Wang Jianjun
• Secretary: Wang Guosheng

ANSWER: 25^th Jan

Explanation:
The National Voters’ Day (NVD) was observed on 25 January.

This is held commemorate the foundation day of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

This year was 7th edition of the day and its theme was Empowering Young and Future Voters.

On this occasion President Pranab Mukherjee gave away awards for best electoral practices to District Collectors, Superintendents of Police and other functionaries involved in election management.

The day marks the foundation day of ECI which came into existence on 25th January 1950.

This day is also utilized to spread awareness among voters regarding effective participation in the electoral process.

Voting in India: Know More

• A citizen can be enrolled as voter when he or she is 18 years as on January 1 of the year electoral rolls are prepared.
• The electoral rolls are revised once in five years as well as before an election.
• The Commission occasionally does house-to-house enumeration.
• But the onus is on the citizen to register as a voter.
• The Election Commission registers persons as a voter in the constituency where they ordinarily reside.
• When you change your residence, the EC has to be intimated.
• Enrolling as a voter in more than one area is an offence.
• An NRI can vote in his/her hometown after registering as an Overseas Voter.

ANSWER: National festival

Explanation:
Bharat Parv, a national festival showcasing the country’s diverse culture, cuisines, handicrafts and catch glimpses of a progressive India was held.

It was inaugurated by Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (Independent charge) for Tourism and Culture at Red Fort, Delhi on Republic Day.

Bharat Parv event is being organized by the Government of India at the Red Fort, Delhi from 26th to 31st January 2017, as part of the Republic Day 2017 Celebrations.

The prime objective of organizing the event is to generate a patriotic mood, promote the rich cultural diversity of the country, ensure wider participation.

It is also to popularise the idea of “Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat.”

The Ministry of Tourism has been designated as the nodal Ministry for the event, the highlights of which include:

• Republic Day Parade Tableaux,
• Performances by the Armed Forces Bands (static and moving),
• Multi-Cuisine Food Court,
• Crafts Mela,
• Cultural Performances from different regions of the country and a
• Photo Exhibition by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has also set up a Photo Exhibition on the theme “Mera Desh Badal Raha Hai, Aage Badh Raha Hai.”

ANSWER: Hugo Barra

Explanation:
Hugo Barra, vice-president at Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is to join Facebook.

He will lead the company’s virtual reality efforts, including the Oculus VR team as per the CEO of the social networking giant Mark Zuckerberg.

Barra, who has also worked with Google previously, had announced his exit from Xiaomi.

He indicated that he wanted to return to Silicon Valley.

Barra said it had been his dream to work in virtual reality.

In a separate post on his profile, Mr. Barra said he was returning to Silicon Valley in a couple of months and will be joining Facebook as VP of virtual reality (VPVR) and lead the Oculus team.

Mr. Barra was instrumental in Xiaomi expanding outside of its home market to geographies such as India, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia.

More recently, under his efforts Xiaomi expanded to 20 other markets, including Russia, Mexico, and Poland.

The top job at Oculus has been vacant since 2016, when its CEO Brendan Iribe stepped down to run one of the other divisions.

Facebook had acquired Oculus in 2014.

Oculus: Know More

• CEO: Brendan Iribe (since 2012)
• Founded: 2012, Irvine, California, United States
• Headquarters: Menlo Park
• Acquisition date: March 25, 2014
• Founders: Brendan Iribe, Palmer Luckey
• Parent organization: Facebook, Inc.