Current Affairs Questions & Answers - July 27, 2017

ANSWER: Black, white and green pepper, cumin and thyme

Explanation:
In a major recognition of India’s efforts to benchmark global spices trade, the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) has adopted three Codex standards for black, white and green pepper, cumin and thyme.

This is paving the way for universal agreement on identifying quality spices in various countries.

The member-countries of CAC, the international food standards-setting body which met in Geneva for its 40th session during July 17-22, unanimously approved the adoption of Codex standards for the three spices.

This would facilitate evolving a common standardization process for their global trade and availability.

The Codex standards were adopted in the wake of India conducting three sessions of Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH) at Kochi (2014), Goa (2015) and Chennai (2017).

The Chennai session succeeded in achieving this consensus.

Subsequently, these drafts were placed before the CAC, and it was adopted by consensus with an overwhelming support from the member-countries.

With the adoption of the Codex standards on pepper, cumin and thyme, spices have been included for the first time as commodities that will have such universal standards.

The adoption of the Codex standards would imply that there are now reference points and benchmarks for the member-countries to align their national standards for spices with Codex.

It will bring harmony to the global spice trade and ensure availability of high quality, clean and safe spices to the world.

It will also benefit the trade from universal agreement to identify good quality spices.

These spices have made a definitive entry into the league of commodities having Codex standards, and India played a key role in achieving this objective.

Spices and Need for Codex

• This triumph of CCSCH is the harbinger of a lot of hard work ahead. The number of spices and culinary herbs is very large – although only 109 spices are notified in the ISO list, their actual number, as used in various countries, would be much higher.
• It was in 2013 that the need for Codex standards for spices and herbs became a matter of concern, owing to the increased level of issues in spice trade.
• At that time, there was no Codex committee exclusively for spices and culinary herbs. Thus, the first step in development of Codex standards was the establishment of a dedicated Codex committee for spices and herbs.
• With the approval of the Central government, Spices Board India submitted to CAC a proposal for such an exclusive committee for spices and culinary herbs.
• After completing the background work, it sent delegates to a series of Codex committee meetings all over the world, making a forceful plea for the need for a committee on spices and herbs.
• The 36th session of CAC, which met in Rome from July 1-5, 2013, deliberated on this proposal from India, and later approved it with unanimous support of the member-countries.
• It heralded the creation of CSCH, with India as the host country and Spices Board as the Secretariat. This was the first new Codex commodity committee to be approved in the past 25 years.
• Historically, the developed countries, being the major importers of spices, have always insisted on unreasonably strict standards, which have had adverse effects on spice trade.
• This is an issue that the Codex, jointly formed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), seeks to address.
• Spices Board India, the flagship organization of the Central Government for export and promotion of spices from the country, has always been concerned about this aspect.
• It has taken keen interest in harmonizing the disparate standards for spices which exist all over the world.
• Atleast one species, the velvet belly lanternshark, uses its light as a warning.

ANSWER: SECC

Explanation:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the proposal of Department of Rural Development.

This is for revision of cost of Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 (SECC 2011).

It provides for:

(a) Revising the cost of SECC 2011 to Rs. 4893.60 crore from the approved estimated expenditure of Rs.3,543.29 crore within the indicative cost of Rs.4,000 crore as approved by the Government.

(b) Approval of time and cost overrun and consequential revision in the upper limit of cost per record to the consortium of Central Public Sector Undertakings.

The SECC -2011 project has been concluded on 31.3.2016. The cost has already been committed and the project has met all its milestones.

Before the availability of SECC data, correct identification of eligible beneficiaries was a major challenge.

SECC database provides an authentic list of information disclosed by the households for identifying and prioritising beneficiaries under various schemes run by Ministry of Rural Development and other Departments in the Government.

How It Works

• Ranking of Households is made through a three-step process involving thirteen Exclusion parameters for identifying not-poor households.
• Also selected are five Automatic Inclusion parameters for identifying poorest of the poor households and seven Deprivation Criteria for identifying poor households.
• Government of India has advised States to use this process, SECC data and its TIN number of households for identification of poor under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana (DAY), Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin(PMAY-G), etc.
• Use of SECC-2011 has brought transparency in selection of beneficiary and its structured incidence with DBT having maximal impact on governance and accountability

Need for SECC

• Before the availability of SECC -21011 data, Below Poverty Line (BPL) list prepared in 2002, by States/UTs was being used for identifying beneficiaries of development programmes and schemes.
• This is including Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G)) and National Social Assistance Programme(NSAP).
• The 2002 BPL list attracted claims of biases.
• It was decided by the Government on 19th May to launch a Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 in order to get data for ranking of households for receiving benefits from the Government.
• To avoid exclusion and inclusion errors, the SECC 2011 elicited information on identified parameters from each household for identification of deprivation and multi-dimensionality of poverty.

Importance of SECC

• SECC allows ranking of households based on their socio economic status.
• SECC-2011 provides the government the names and number of families in each Panchayat and details their status on seven deprivation parameters.
• The advantage of SECC is that it provides for programme specific customized priority list to suit programme objective and budget space to address specific deprivation.
• Ministry of Rural Development has generated customized priority list for Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojna-Gramin(PMAY-G) and Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) from SECC following due selection process approved by the Government.

ANSWER: Etmopterus lailae

Explanation:
A new species of shark has been discovered by a team of scientists in the depths of the Pacific Ocean.

Etmopterus lailae, a member of the Lanternshark family, is a miniature shark weighing less than 2 pounds and under a foot in length that glows in the dark.

The species was first encountered 17 years ago at a depth of 1,000 feet, but like many discoveries the process of identifying a new species takes many years within the scientific community.

When the shark was first encountered scientists did not realize they had discovered a new species.

It was only after submitting their findings to a journal that the reviewers suggested it was a new species of shark. As there are only 450 species of sharks it is rare to discover a new one.

Some of the features that set Etmopterus lailae apart from other lanternsharks are its odd-shaped head, arched snout, and bioluminescent abilities.

Scientists believe the larger snout is helpful in locating food in an environment with very little light.

While it is difficult to study a species that lives in the ocean depths scientists have come up with several hypotheses for the bioluminescent underbelly of this shark and they cary from mating recognition to camouflage and luring prey.

This miniature, “glow-in-the-dark” shark is a member of the Lanternshark family (Squaliformes: Etmopteridae), which was serendipitously found 1,000 feet below the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

There are only about 450 known species of sharks worldwide and you don't come across a new species all that often.

A large part of biodiversity is still unknown, so for us to stumble upon a tiny, new species of shark in a gigantic ocean is really thrilling.

This species is very understudied because of its size and the fact that it lives in very deep water. They are not easily visible or accessible like so many other sharks.

Identifying the Etmopterus lailae required an extensive list of measurements, diligent categorization and thorough comparisons with other museum specimens.

Some of the other distinctive characteristics of this new species are its flank markings that go forward and backward on their bellies.

Also there is a naked patch without scales on the underside of its snout, as well as internal differences such as the number of vertebrae they have as well as fewer teeth than the other sharks.

Like other Lanternsharks, the Etmopterus lailae is bioluminescent and the flanks on the bottom of its belly glow in the dark. These markings on its belly and tail also were specific to this new species.

There are a number of hypotheses for why Lanternsharks glow in the dark including mate recognition to ensure they are mating with the right species.

This serving as a form of camouflage to protect them from predators in the deep sea and using bioluminescence to act as a lure to attract little fish or shrimp.

Why Do Sharks Glow?: Know More

• There are about 550 species of shark in the oceans. Around twelve percent of them glow.
• These luminous fish belong to two groups: the kitefin sharks and the lanternsharks.
• They are little creatures, no bigger than 50 centimeters long, and they feed on small fish, squid, and crustaceans.
• They also live in the deep ocean One genus alone - the Etmopterus lanternsharks - includes 38 distinct species approximately
• The light comes from many small organs called photophores, which dot their bellies and sometimes their flanks. No one knows how these structures produce light Scientists have found that the sharks use their light for camouflage.
• The glow from their bellies perfectly matches this downwelling light, and cancels out their outlines.
• In technical terms, the sharks use counter-illumination. In simple terms, they cast no shadows.

ANSWER: Shakuntala Barua

Explanation:
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on 26th July 2017 conferred this year's ‘Mahanayak Samman 2017' to veteran actress Shakuntala Barua for her contribution to the world of cinema.

Awards were also presented to Prosenjit Chatterjee, Nusrat Jahan, Arindam Sil, Bickram Ghosh, Soumik Halder and Padmanabha Dasgupta.

Suparnokanti Karati for Bisarjan film and Shiboprasad Mukhopadhyay of Windows Productions for Praktan film were also among the awardees for Best Film and Best Producer categories.

The CM also looks to digitalise Bengal's film records.

ANSWER: Merchant banking

Explanation:
Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has started full-fledged merchant banking operations to benefit the expanding number of growth-oriented micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

This is especially those with a strong technology and innovation quotient.

The initiative is aimed at enhancing the access of MSMEs to the capital markets, including the SME Trading Platform and Institutional Trading Platform.

SIDBI has supported over 125 venture capital funds and thus can provide support for listing the investee companies on SME exchanges through its merchant banking operations.

SIDBI, by virtue of direct credit assistance for nearly two decades, also has a good number of such MSMEs that would like to list in the SME exchanges.

It is this strength that SIDBI would like to utilise by connecting the right investment opportunity to the funds and also would like to help these funds with exit opportunities at attractive valuations.

A significant increase in the number of venture funds active in the start-up/ MSME space in the past two years will create a large pipe of fast growing companies seeking public markets.

This will prove beneficial to the SME exchange as well as investors seeking liquidity or exit.

ANSWER: Bolivia

Explanation:
Bolivia’s President Eva Morales declared on twitter that his nation has achieved “total independence” from the IMF and the World Bank

The socialist leader published his comments after meeting with his peers Friday at a gathering in Argentina of the Mercosur, a sub-regional economic bloc.

Bolivia begins its process of becoming a full member of the Mercosur, also called the Southern Common Market, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Until now Bolivia has served as an associate member along with Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname.

Also on Friday, President Morales accused world powers of intervening in oil rich nations such as Libya, Iraq, and Venezuela to “appropriate resources”.

Historically, Bolivia has relied heavily on the IMF for loans to fund their socialist government expenditures.

President Morales has even previously quipped that his nations past dependence on the agencies was so great that the IMF had an office in government headquarters and even participated in their meetings.

President Morales become Bolivia’s first indigenous leader in 2006, and gained popularity after the nations popular uprising known as “The Cochabamba Water War”, which occurred in 2000, and was waged against the U.S.-based Bechtel Corporation over water privatization.

The World Bank at the time, which was closely associated with the Bechtel Corporation, shed light on the growing debt issues facing the country through policy publications.

According to a report from teleSUR, some of Bolivia’s largest resistance struggles in the last 60 years have targeted the economic policies carried out by the IMF and the World Bank.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
The parliament has passed The Collection of Statistics (Amendment) Bill, 2017 after it was approved by the Rajya Sabha.

The Lok Sabha has passed it earlier.

The bill aims at amending the Collection of Statistics Bill, 2008, which facilitates the collection of statistics related to social, economic, demographic, scientific and environmental aspects, by central, state and local governments.

It also allows the appointment of statistics officers to collect information and contains provisions to ensure security of information.

The Bill extends jurisdiction of the parent act to the state Jammu and Kashmir for the collection of statistics pertaining to subjects under the Union (List-I) or the Concurrent list (List-II) of the Constitution.

These subjects include citizenship, banking, education, labour and forests as applicable to J&K.

It adds provisions for the appointment of a nodal officer by the Union or state government. The function of nodal officer is to coordinate and supervise statistical activities under the government which has appointed him.

Further, the Union government can also determine the powers and duties of the nodal officer. Use of information:

The Bill removes provision from parent act dealing with information collected under it only is used for statistical purposes.

It also allows the Union government to determine the manner in which such information collected will be used for statistical purposes.

ANSWER: KE Mammen

Explanation:
Freedom fighter K.E. Mammen passed away due to age-related diseases in Neyyatinkara, Kerala. He was 96.

He was a pacifist and adherent follower of Mahatma Gandhi

He was born into the renowned Kandathil family on July 31, 1921, in Thiruvananthapuram. He was a staunch believer of Gandhian principles and led an austere life.

From an early age, he had lent his support for the freedom struggle. He became active in the freedom movement as a college student.

He was first jailed for taking an open stand against Sir C.P Ramaswamy Iyer, the then Dewan of the erstwhile Travancore state.

Later he participated in the Quit India Struggle. In recent years, he was an active social worker, forefront in the anti-liquor campaign in Kerala.

ANSWER: Mahagatbadhan

Explanation:
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has resigned, citing irreconcilable differences with ally RJD on the issue of corruption charges against his deputy Tejashwi Yadav.

In the circumstances that prevail in Bihar, it became difficult to run the grand alliance government.

Less than 24 hours after he resigned as the chief minister of Bihar stating he could no longer continue amid allegations of corruption in his government, Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar is set to be back as chief minister when he takes oath of office 27th July at 10 in the morning.

The JD(U) leader resigned over a CBI FIR against his deputy and ally Lalu Prasad Yadav’s son Tejashwi Yadav.

Calling off the grand alliance or ‘mahagathbandhan’ between JD(U), Congress and Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal, Nitish secured the support of NDA to form the next government in Bihar.

About Nitish Kumar

• He was born on 1st March 1951 in Bakhtiarpur District of Bihar. He had started his political career by taking part in the mass movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan between 1974 and 1977.
• Kumar was elected to Bihar legislative assembly for first time in 1985.
• He was elected to Lok Sabha for 4 consecutive times, first in 1989 than in 1991, 1996 and 1998. In 1990, for a brief stint he had served as Union Minister of Agriculture.
• In 1998-99, he had served as Union Minister for Railways and Surface Transport and Minister for Agriculture.
• He also had served as Union Cabinet Minister for Railways in the NDA Government led Atal Bihari Vajpayee from 2001-2004.
• In 2000, he was made CM of Bihar for first time but had resigned within 7 days. In 2005 for second time he was sworn in as the CM of Bihar and for third time in 2010.
• For fourth time he was sworn-in as CM in February 2015 till November 2015 state Assembly election. He was again elected for fifth term and was in office from February 2015 to July 2017.