Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Jul 03, 2017

ANSWER: NBCC

Explanation:
Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) has inked MoU with National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) for redevelopment of 10 railway stations across the country on global standards.

The identified stations to be taken up initially by NBCC, a PSU of Urban Development Ministry for redevelopment are Tirupati, Nellore, Puducherry, Sarai Rohilla (Delhi), Madgaon, Lucknow, Gomtinagar, Kota, Thane (New) and Ernakulam.

RLDA is an arm of the Indian Railways for commercial exploitation of rail land.

As per the MoU, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be formed at the national level as a Joint Venture (JV) company between RLDA and NBCC on 50:50 shareholding basis.

The SPV in turn will enter into City Support Agreements (CSA) with respective cities for the redevelopment of stations and commercial development on Railway land in alignment with the Smart City Plans of respective cities. RLDA will lease out the land to the SPV for a fixed lease period of up to 45 years at a nominal token cost for development and NBCC as Project Management Consultant will execute the project work on behalf of SPV.

Earnings from the commercial development of land parcels at stations will be utilized to redevelop the stations for creating necessary infrastructure and better passenger amenities.

The surplus earnings will go to RLDA which would in turn would be remitted to Zonal railways.

The entire revenue from lease revenues from built up spaces will be deposited in an SPV’s ESCROW account which is to be managed by a Committee to be formed.

Know More About Indian Railways: World's Largest PSU employer

• The Indian Railways has embarked on an ambitious project to redevelop 403 stations with the participation of private players, public sector and foreign agencies.
• It has taken up this redevelopment programme of stations in a big way by adopting a multi-pronged strategy.
• It has chosen PPP model and is also roping in varied agencies to execute the project namely its own PSUs, other Central government PSUs, foreign countries through government-to-government (G2G) cooperation and state governments.
• Earlier in October 2016, MoU was also signed between the Railway Ministry and Urban Development Ministry for integrated planning for redevelopment of railway stations in the cities included in the Smart Cities Mission and AMRUT schemes.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
Two Indian-Americans, Adobe Chief Shantanu Narayen (54) and former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy (39) have been chosen for prestigious Great Immigrants: The Pride of America Award 2017.

They are among 38 distinguished US immigrants representing more than 30 countries of origin around the world honoured with this year’s award for their role in advancing US’s economy, society, and culture.

Some the honourees include Canadian-origin social entrepreneur Jeff Skoll, PayPal cofounder of Ukrainian origin Max Levchin, Iranian-origin philanthropist and entrepreneur Hushang Ansary. Vivek Murthy Murthy was born in the UK. He is alumnus of Harvard and Yale. He was appointed as Surgeon General by former President Barack Obama in 2014, making the first-ever Indian-American and also the youngest to occupy the post.

He was dismissed this in April 2017 by the Trump administration. Shantanu Narayen is a native of Hyderabad.

He holds an undergraduate degree in electronics engineering, a master’s degree in computer science, and an MBA from UC Berkeley.

He is a board member of Pfizer and US-India Business Council.

At present, he is CEO of Adobe Systems.

About Great Immigrants Award: Know More

• The Pride of America Award The award is given annually on the occasion of Independence Day of United States that is, 4th July to naturalised citizens of US for their contribution in advancing US’s economy, society, and culture.
• The award has been instituted by New York-based Carnegie Corporation in 2006. The honourees are recognised with a full-page public service announcement in The New York Times and an online public awareness initiative.
• The Carnegie Corporation was established in 1911 by Scottish immigrant Andrew Carnegie to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding.
• Carnegie Corporation’s founder Andrew Carnegie was one of pioneer American capitalist who had shaped the modern American industry and philanthropy.
• He was the son of impoverished immigrants who had settled in US.

ANSWER: National Biopharma Mission

Explanation:
The Cabinet Minister for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Harsh Vardhan, on 30 June 2017 launched a first ever Industry-Academia mission.

The National Biopharma Mission was launched to accelerate biopharmaceutical development in India. Under the Mission, the government launched a programme named Innovate in India (i3) that will witness an investment of USD 250 million with USD 125 million as a loan from World Bank.

The i3 aims to create an enabling ecosystem to promote entrepreneurship and indigenous manufacturing in the sector.

The aim of the Mission is to enable and nurture an ecosystem for preparing India’s technological and product development capabilities in biopharmaceuticals to a level that will be globally competitive over the next decade.

It also looks forward to transform the health standards of India’s population through affordable product development.

The Mission will provide a holistic and integrated approach to strengthen and support the entire product development value chain for accelerating the research leads to product development.

It will help not only in immediate product development addressing public health needs, but will also help to create an ecosystem which will facilitate development of a continuous pipeline of products.

The Mission will be implemented by the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a Public Sector Undertaking of Department of Biotechnology.

The National Biopharma Mission will bring together expertise from national and international corridors to provide strategic guidance and direction to move promising solutions through the product development value chain.

As a flagship programme of the Government of India in collaboration with the World Bank, the mission promises to boost the growth curve for domestic biopharma in India by accelerating the translation of research concepts into viable products, supporting clinical validation, enabling sustainable networks for collaboration between industry and academia, and supporting entrepreneurial ecosystem amongst many others.

At present, India has only 2.8 per cent share in the global biopharmaceutical market. The programme program aims to increase this to 5 per cent resulting in an additional business opportunity of USD 16 billion.

National Biopharma Mission

• The mission aims to enable and nurture an ecosystem for preparing India’s technological and product development capabilities in biopharmaceuticals to be globally competitive level over the next decade.
• It will also strive to transform the health standards of India’s population through affordable product development
• The mission will be implemented by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a PSU of Department of Biotechnology.
• It will bring together expertise from national and international corridors to provide strategic direction and guidance to move promising solutions through the product development value chain.
• It will provide a holistic and integrated approach to strengthen and support the entire product development value chain for accelerating the research leads to product development.
• This will help not only in immediate product development for addressing public health needs, but also help to create an ecosystem which will facilitate development of a continuous pipeline of products.
• The mission will concentrate on development of specific products such as vaccines, medical devices, biotherapeutics and diagnostics etc.
• Besides, it will also work on establishment of shared infrastructure and facilities.
• It will help in building and strengthening domain specific knowledge and management skills at the same time creating and enhancing technology transfer capabilities in public and private sector.

ANSWER: Key Indicators of Unincorporated Non Agricultural Enterprises Excluding Construction in India

Explanation:
The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) under Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on 29 June 2017 released the report titled ‘Key Indicators of Unincorporated Non-Agricultural Enterprises (Excluding Construction) in India’.

The Report was released based on the information collected under 73rd round of its survey conducted during July 2015 to June 2016 as a follow-up survey of the 6th Economic Census.

The survey was designed to generate various estimates on the operational and economic characteristics of the unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises in industry sectors of manufacturing, trading and other services such as type of enterprises, employment particulars, operating expenses, etc.

The survey covered non-agricultural enterprises which are not incorporated or not registered under Companies Act, 1956.

The categories of enterprises under the coverage of survey included proprietary and partnership enterprises (excluding limited liability partnerships), Self Help Groups (SHGs), Non-Profit Institutions (NPIs) and Trusts etc.

The domain of ‘unincorporated enterprises’ excluded bidi and cigar manufacturing enterprises registered under Bidi and Cigar Workers (Condition of Employment) Act, 1966; government sector enterprises and cooperatives.

The results of the survey are based on the sample canvassed by NSSO consisting of 8484 villages and 7839 urban blocks spread over all States and Union Territories of the country.

The total number of enterprises in which the Schedule was canvassed was 143179 and 146934 in rural and urban India respectively during the period July 2015 –June 2016.

Non Agricultural Enterprises in India

• During 2015-16, 6.34 crore unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises (excluding construction) were estimated at all India level.
• Out of the total estimated number of enterprises at all India level, 31 per cent were engaged in manufacturing, 36.3 per cent were in trading and 32.6 per cent were in other services sector.
• Out of the total number of unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises, about 51 per cent were located in rural areas and 49 per cent were located in urban areas.
• Own Account Enterprises (OAEs) have a dominant share of 84.2 per cent in the unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises under survey coverage.
• Uttar Pradesh reported the highest share of 14.20 per cent in total number of unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises followed by West Bengal (13.99 per cent), Tamil Nadu (7.80 per cent), Maharashtra (7.54 per cent) and Karnataka (6.05 per cent)

ANSWER: Arnav Sharma

Explanation:
Arnav Sharma, an 11-year-old Indian-origin boy in the United Kingdom, secured the top possible score of 162 on a Mensa IQ test.

Sharma secured two points higher than physicist Albert Einstein and astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, making him one of the brainiest children in the country.

The Indian-origin boy passed the infamously difficult test a few weeks back with zero preparation. In fact, he had never seen what a typical paper looked like before taking it.

Sharma’s score in the exam, which primarily measures verbal reasoning ability, puts him in the top one per cent of the nation in terms of IQ level.

Sharma currently attends Crossfields School on the outskirts of Reading town in southern England, has been selected for Eton College and Westminster, both highly competitive and sought-after schools, with no preparation.

Mensa: Know More

• Mensa is believed to be the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world.
• Its membership is open to anyone who can demonstrate an IQ in the top 2 per cent of the population, measured by a recognised or approved IQ testing process.
• The society was founded in 1946 in Oxford by Lancelot Lionel Ware, a scientist and lawyer, and Roland Berrill, an Australian barrister.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
Election Commission (EC) has launched nation wide month long special drive from today for maximization of registration of eligible electors with focus on left out eligible young citizens in age group of 18-19.

During the drive, the EC will remove names of registered dead electors, if any, from electoral rolls.

During the month of June , the election officials have completed preparatory work like identification of critical gaps in existing electoral rolls, strengthening of infrastructure and sensitization of ground level electoral machine.

The EC has also sent communication to all recognised political parties seeking their cooperation for success of the Special Drive.

During the Special enrollment Drive, which will be completed by 31st July, special attention would be given receiving Form 6 for enrolment of new electors and Removal of names of registered dead electors, if found any.

ANSWER: KK Venugopal

Explanation:
Senior advocate and constitutional expert KK Venugopal was on 30 June 2017 appointed as the 15th Attorney General of India.

His appointment was approved by President Pranab Mukherjee after his name was proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Venugopal will succeed Mukul Rohatgi, who chose to return to private practice after a three-year term as the Attorney General of India, country’s top law position.

He returns as a law officer after four decades. Earlier, in 1977, he had served as Additional Solicitor General.

Hailing from Kerala’s Kasargode district, KK Venugopal started his legal career in Mysore in 1954, before practising at the Madras High Court under his father, late barrister M K Nambiar.

He started appearing in the SC in the early 1960s while being based in erstwhile Madras and was designated as a senior advocate by the SC in 1972.

Five years later, he was appointed as an Additional Solicitor General in 1977. Venugopal was also appointed by the Royal Government of Bhutan to serve as the Constitutional adviser for the drafting of the Constitution of Bhutan.

In 2015, he was conferred with Padma Vibhushan award, the second-highest civilian honour in India.

He had also been awarded with the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour.

He is a collector of antiquarian books and possesses a large personal library , including many books published in the 17th and 18th century.

With more than 50 years of practice in the Supreme Court, his legal acumen is unmatched.

How is the AGI Appointed?

• The President shall appoint a person who is qualified to be appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court to be Attorney General for India.
• It shall be the duty of the Attorney General to give advice to the Union Government on legal matters, and to perform duties of a legal character, referred or assigned to him by the President.
• In the performance of his duties, the Attorney General shall have right of audience in all courts in the territory of India.
• The Attorney General shall hold office during the pleasure of the President, and shall receive such remuneration as the President may determine Conduct of Government Business.

ANSWER: Both a and b

Explanation:
China has unearthed the mummified remains of a middle-aged man on a less frequented section of the ancient Silk Road on the edge of China’s Qinghai-Tibet plateau.

The mummy is believed to be 1,700 years old. It was found at a construction site in the town of Mang’ai.

It is perhaps the oldest and the best-preserved mummy discovered on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The body measures 1.62 metres and features perfectly preserved skin and hair remnants. The body is believed to have belonged to a man in his 40s.

To know further about the man’s ethnicity and identity, archaeologists will conduct DNA tests. Besides this, the mummy was found amidst dried reeds, dyed cloth mats, a horse’s hoof, and sheep bones, all of which were thought to be funeral objects for the upper class of the time.

The area where the body was found is on the northern edge of the plateau close to Taklamakan Desert, on a less travelled off-shoot route of the ancient Silk Road.

Traders took this route to avoid conflict on the Hexi Corridor, the much-popular main road.

Mummies are usually formed in very dry environments which prevent bodies from decay.

ANSWER: July 1

Explanation:
The International Day of Cooperatives 2017 was observed across the globe on July 1, 2017.

The theme for the 2017 International Day of Cooperatives is Co-operatives ensure no-one is left behind.

The theme for the year complements the priority theme of the 2017 High-level Political Forum for Sustainable Development: ‘Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world’.

As per the United Nations, co-operatives’ open membership model affords access to wealth creation and poverty elimination.

This results from the co-operative principle of members’ economic participation: ‘Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their co-operative.’

International Cooperative Day: Know More

• International Co-operative Day is an annual celebration of the co-operative movement.
• It has been observed on the first Saturday in July since 1923 by the International Co-operative Alliance. On 16 December 1992, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed in resolution 47/90 “the first Saturday of July 1995 to be International Day of Cooperatives, marking the centenary of the establishment of the International Cooperative Alliance.”
• Co-operatives around the world celebrate the day in various fashions and each year the organising institutions agree on a theme for the celebrations