Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Jan 31, 2017

ANSWER: Shillong

Explanation:
The Union Textiles Minister Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani inaugurated the 1st North East Investors’ Summit, organized jointly by the Ministry of Textiles and the Ministry of DoNER.

This was at the State Convention Centre, in Shillong on 29th Jan 2017.

The Summit is being organized exclusively for the North Eastern Region, focusing on manufacturing in textiles and allied sectors.

It aims to showcase the region as a global destination for investment and explore the possibility of convergence of efforts of various central Ministries and North Eastern States in attracting investment into the region.

'India Handmade Bazaar', an online portal, which will provide direct market access facility to handloom weavers & handicraft artisans was launched.

The portal will facilitate weavers & artisans to enter information about their products for easy understanding of customers/exporters.

Weavers and artisans will be able to access the portal through their mobile number registered with Office of Development Commissioner.

The mobile number can be registered by visiting nearest Weavers' Service Centre & Marketing Centre as well.

Buyers can view the products online and directly contact weaver/artisan to enquire or place an order.

Nearly 20 MoUs were signed on the occasion, to develop & promote NER handicrafts, handlooms, agro-textiles & geo-textiles.

E-Dhaga app and the ‘Bunkar Mitra’ helpline have been established for artisans. With E-Dhaga, subsidy is just a click away for the weavers.

The app, which enables handloom weavers to order and track their yarn, will be a boon for handloom weavers. T

This would enable them to transact business anytime, anywhere; weavers can send their indents and payments online through this app.

On January 4, 2017 the Ministry launched ‘Bunkar Mitra’, the first ever helpline for handloom weavers.

Apparel and Garment Making Centre: Know More

• The first Apparel and Garment Making Centre, covering an area of 45,000 sq. ft, has been set up at Hatisil near Ampati in the NE state of Meghalaya.
• The Apparel and Garment Making Centre is being set up as part of a landmark initiative announced by the PM Shri Narendra Modi in Nagaland, on 1st December, 2014.
• PM Modi had announced an Apparel and Garment Making Centre shall be constructed in all North Eastern states.
• Each Apparel and Garment Making Centre set up under the initiative is estimated to generate direct employment for 1,200 people.
• The initiative comes under the North East Region Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS) of the Ministry of Textiles.
• NERTPS is an umbrella scheme for the development of various segments of textiles, i.e. silk, handlooms, handicrafts and apparels & garments.

ANSWER: Hubballi

Explanation:
The Deshpande Foundation, the philanthropy arm of Silicon Valley entrepreneur Gururaj ‘Desh’ Deshpande, will launch the country’s largest start-up incubation centre at Hubballi.

The foundation aims to promote entrepreneurship in India’s tier-II and tier-III cities.

It is investing INR 30 crore in the centre, to be opened this September and able to seat 1,200 people at any point.

Housing a makers lab, a 3D printing lab, hardware labs and an IOT lab, the centre will try to attract entrepreneurs from across sectors and any background, to build new-age solutions.

A ‘sandbox’ location has been created to allow entrepreneurs to test and nurture their ideas into businesses.

His foundation has set up two more sandboxes. One is in Varanasi, the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and another in neighbouring Telangana.

The Hubballi centre will continue to be funded by the Deshpande Foundation.

About Deshpande Foundation

• Deshpande Foundation is a non-governmental organization founded in 1996 by Gururaj and Jaishree Deshpande.
• Founded: 1996
• Headquarters: Massachusetts
• Type: Non-governmental organization

ANSWER: Diana Edulji

Explanation:
Supreme Court on Monday appointed a four-member panel of administrators led by former Comptroller and Auditor General of India Vinod Rai. This includes the legendary women test cricket player, Diana Edulji.

SC also appointed noted historian Ramchandra Guha and IDFC Ltd MD and CEO Vikram Limaye, who is expected to provide the committee with expertise in financial matters.

They will function as the new interim bosses of the BCCI. They will also run the day-to-day administration of BCCI till the Lodha reforms are fully implemented. This is until elections are held.

The BCCI CEO was in the driver's seat since the Supreme Court ousted former BCCI president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke in a January 2 order for stalling Lodha reforms.

He was ordered to submit a report to the new Committee detailing the level of compliance achieved by the BCCI and its members in adopting the Lodha recommendations upheld by the apex court on July 18, 2016.

The Lodha Committee secretary and advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan was asked to give the BCCI CEO a check-list of 16 timelines the Lodha panel had prepared for the BCCI and State associations to implement the reforms within the cricket body.

The CEO would consider the timelines to prepare his compliance report.

The Bench advised the BCCI to come up with a proposition of a respectable amount for the Supreme Court to consider as payment to the new administrators for services they would render.

Meanwhile, the Bench appointed Amitabh Choudhary and Anirudh Choudhary - both BCCI nominees - and Mr. Limaye to represent BCCI in the crucial ICC meet.

ANSWER: Amulya Kumar Patnaik

Explanation:
Patnaik, who is from the AGMUT cadre, got the prestigious G-Files Excellent Contribution Award in 2015 for his outstanding track record.

A police medal for meritorious service also goes to his list of accomplishments.

Superseding two seniors, Amulya Kumar Patnaik, the 1985-batch IPS officer, was appointed the next Delhi Police Commissioner on 30th Jan 2017.

Having become the police chief at a relatively younger age of 57, Mr. Patnaik will have one of the longest tenures till January 2020 when he is scheduled to retire.

He replaces Alok Kumar Verma, who was appointed as the CBI Director.

He edged out Deepak Mishra and Dharmendra Kumar, both of whom are 1984 batch officers.

Currently Special Commissioner of Police (Administration),Mr. Patnaik has handled several critical assignments in the Delhi Police.

The chief among which was heading the Crime Branch and the Southern Range as Joint Commissioner.

Known to be adept in handling both law and order and investigation, he solved an abduction case in Sarita Vihar in a record 12 hours.

He also led the police action during the anti-Dunkel protest in 1994 in which he received serious injuries.

In 1995, Patnaik took the initiative to launch ‘Pratidhi’, a Delhi Police programme to extend counselling and other assistance to victims of traumatic crimes.

Mr. Patnaik is also credited with steps like launching the Anti-Obscene Call Cell and the Anti-Stalking Cell.

ANSWER: Hafeez Saeed

Explanation:
Pakistani authorities, facing mounting pressure from the Trump administration placed Mumbai attacks mastermind and Jamaat-udDawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed under house arrest.

Saeed and four others under detention on 30th Jan 2017. The action was taken under an anti-terrorism act.

Saeed, a co-founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), would be placed under house arrest and that his residence had been declared a sub-jail.

Pakistan interior minister Nisar Ali Khan said the PML-N government was taking steps to "fulfill our obligations" with regard to JuD.

"The organisation (JuD) has been `under observation' since 2010-11.

Hafiz Saeed was moved from Masjid Al-Qudsia Chauburji to his Jauhar Town residence to place him under house arrest on the orders of the government,".

ANSWER: Sally Yates

Explanation:
The federal government's top lawyer, US Acting Attorney General Sally Yates had said Justice Department would not defend new travel restrictions targeting seven Muslim-majority nations.

This was because she was not convinced they were lawful.

Trump's directive on Friday put a 120-day hold on allowing refugees into the country,

He also placed an indefinite ban on refugees from Syria. Also included is a 90-day bar on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

The White House dismissed her comments as rhetoric and said Trump acted within his presidential powers.

There have been only a handful of instances in US history of top Justice Department officials publicly breaking with the White House.

The most famous example was in 1973, when then-Attorney General Elliot Richardson resigned. He refused to obey President Richard Nixon's order to fire a special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal.

An internal Department of Homeland Security document showed 348 visa holders were kept from boarding US-bound flights this week. More than 200 people came to the United States but were denied entry.

More than 735 people were pulled aside for questioning by US Customs and Border Protection officers in airports, including 394 green card holders, who are legal permanent residents of US.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the country's biggest Muslim advocacy group, filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of more than 20 people.

Technology companies Amazon.com Inc and Expedia Inc , both of which are based in Washington state's Seattle area, will support the state's suit.

Microsoft Corp, said it has been cooperating with the attorney general's office to provide information about the order's impact to be supportive.

Other companies also went public with concerns, including the chief executives of Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Ford Motor Co.

The Iraqi parliament voted to ask the country's government to retaliate against the United States, putting at risk cooperation in the fight against Islamic State.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson joined a chorus of concern expressed by US allies, ranging from Iraq to Germany.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
The push for digitisation in the wake of demonetisation and the proposal for public sector bank (PSB) consolidation are to top the agenda for Gyan Sangam.

This is the retreat for PSBs, government-owned Financial Institutions (FI) and insurance companies, slated for March.

The sessions on digitisation will include presentations on increasing the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems. It will also study big data analytics in the banking & financial services industry in India.


The major slowdown in credit growth – to a more than six-decade low of 5.1% for the fortnight ended December 23 – and ways to revitalise it, as well as measures to effectively tackle bad loans will also be discussed.

The retreat would have discussions on automating many of these functions to ensure productivity improvement.

Strategies for strengthening the ‘banking correspondent’-network and increasing the usage of micro ATMs and Point of Sale machines will also be discussed.

The high-profile meeting will also deliberate upon the need for the autonomous Banks Board Bureau (BBB) to expedite banking reforms including PSB consolidation.

The BBB was set up to help select heads of public sector banks and financial institutions as well as assist banks with strategies and capital-raising plans.


Also on the agenda for discussion is the proposed National Asset Management Company (or a ‘bad bank’).

This is a special category asset reconstruction company with stakeholders including the government and the private sector for takeover and turnaround of bad loans, stressed assets and restructured assets.

ANSWER: Location of airborne plane

Explanation:
Researchers have developed a reconfigurable radio to help ATC see in real time regarding the location of planes flying in air, even across oceans.

For designing and developing the new reconfigurable, higher bandwidth radio, NASA collaborated with Palm Bay based Harris Corporation.

Thanks to real time global tracking, planes can fly with less space and take more direct routes.

This will not only improve public safety, but save fuel cost too, because aircrafts no longer have to remain in particular airline traffic lanes.

The biggest point is the flexibility of the radio. Both its hardware and software are completely reconfigurable.

The company can rapidly and cheaply redesigning the radio to fit the needs of the aircraft.

It will be used to create first space-based global air traffic control system.

The air traffic control agencies will be able to see in real time the location and heading of every plane in the air.

For decades, airplanes have relied on radar surveillance via land-based radar stations. This has led to mishaps like the missing MH370.

A constellation of 66 satellites, owned by Iridium Communications Inc., goes into orbit equipped with AppSTAR radios.

The radios are programmed to receive signals from new airplane transceivers called ADS-B, which automatically send out a flight's number.

It also provides location, heading and other details.

Within seconds you can keep track of all the aircraft in the world.

System will go live in 2018.

About NASA

• Formed: July 29, 1958
• Preceding agency: NACA (1915–1958)
• Jurisdiction: United States government
• Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
• Key official: Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr. (acting), Administrator
• Website: nasa.gov

ANSWER: Pac Man

Explanation:
Masaya Nakamura, the “Father of Pac-Man” who founded the Japanese video game company Namco has died. He was 91.

Nakamura, who died on January 22, founded Namco, part of Bandai Namco, in 1955.

It started out as just two mechanical horse rides on a department store rooftop but went on to pioneer game arcades and amusement parks.

Bandai Namco, formed in 2005.

Pac-Man was designed by Namco engineer and video game maker Toru Iwatani.

It went on sale in 1980, at a time when there were few rival games, such as Space Invaders.

It’s estimated to have been played more than 10 billion times. This marks a Guinness World Record has named it the world’s most successful coin-operated arcade game.

The game was non-violent but just challenging enough to hook players into steering the Pac-Man for hours.

The iconic Pac-Man adorns T-shirts and other merchandise.

It has inspired animation shows, a breakfast cereal and even the nickname for Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao.

The idea for Pac-Man’s design came from the image of a pizza with a slice carved out.

Nakamura reportedly chose the word “Pac,” or “pakku” in Japanese, to represent the sound of the Pac-Man munching its prey.

The game started out as an arcade item and then was at first played on the Nintendo Family Computer home console.

It has since been adapted for cellphones, PlayStation and Xbox formats.

Other hits from Namco are driving simulation games like “Ridge Racer” and a drumming game.

Pac Man: Know More

• Initial release date: 22 May 1980
• Designer: Toru Iwatani
• Series: Pac-Man
• Platforms: Arcade game, Android, Nintendo Entertainment System.
• Developers: Atari, Namco, Interactive Brains, Namco Networks
• Inventor: Toru Iwatani

ANSWER: Iris Mittenaere

Explanation:
Iris Mittenaere, a 23-year-old dental student from France has won the Miss Universe 2017 crown in the annual pageant at Phillipines.

Mittenaere comes from Lille in northern France and was announced the winner among 86 contestants.

Miss Haiti, Raquel Pelissier, a 25-year-old survivor of the devastating 2010 earthquake that destroyed her hometown, was named first runner up.

Miss Colombia, 23-year-old, Andrea Tovar, was second runner up.

Mittenaere’s victory was the first by a French contestant in more than 60 years.

Mittenaere said her victory would also help cheer French people following terrorist attacks in recent years.

Mittenaere said she would focus during her reign on helping all children, especially girls, attend school.

Pellissier said surviving Haiti’s quake, which officials in her country estimated killed more than 300,000 people and displaced more than 1.5 million others, and her pageant success underscored her rise from adversity.

She had to raise funds to compete in the pageant after her sponsors pulled out to help victims of Hurricane Matthew, which devastated parts of Haiti in October.

Eighty-six candidates vied in this year’s pageant, which was formerly owned by Donald Trump.

The national costume competition won by 24-year-old Myanmar model Htet Htet Htun, who carried a backdrop depicting her country’s traditional puppet theatre.

Judges initially selected a dozen candidates. A 13th picked through online balloting which drew 100 million votes worldwide.

Miss Universe Pageant: Know More

• Motto: "Confidently Beautiful"
• Formation: June 28, 1952
• Headquarters: New York City
• Location: United States
• Official language: English
• President: Paula Shugart
• Parent organization: WME/IMG, 21st Century Fox
• Affiliations: William Morris Endeavor, Fox (21st Century Fox)
• Website: www.missuniverse.com