Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Jun 23, 2017

ANSWER: Yaroslavl

Explanation:
A 483-MW gas-steam Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant, built by a China-Russia joint venture, officially started operation on 20 June 2017.

The CHP is the tangible result of the Huadian-Teninskaya joint project. It was launched by China Huadian Hong Kong Co. Ltd. and Russia’s second regional power company TGC-2 in 2011, with a total investment of USD 571 million.

The project is seen as a symbol of further deepening of cooperation between China and Russia in the field of electric power.

The project was designed to generate 3.02 billion KWH of electric energy and 814000 Giga of heating supply annually.

The plant is expected to tackle the Yaroslavl Province’s chronic problem of power shortages. It will bring down Yaroslavl’s power deficit from 40-50 per cent to 5-15 per cent and fully cover its total power demand in warmer months.

Huadian Corp. : Know More

• China Huadian Corporation is one of the five largest state-owned power generation enterprises in China.
• It is administrated by State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) for the State Council of the People’s Republic of China.
• The corporation is engaged in production and supply of electricity and heat, and the development of power-related primary energy.
• It produces about 10 per cent of China’s power along with Huaneng Group, Datang Group, Guodian Group and CPI Group.

ANSWER: Travis Kalanick

Explanation:
Travis Kalanick, the Chief Executive Officer of Uber announced his resignation from the post on 21 June 2017.

Kalanick reportedly took the hard decision after a group of major Uber investors demanded his immediate resignation.

Travis Kalanick will, however, stay on Uber’s board of directors and control a majority of its voting shares.

The ride-hailing company has been hit by a barrage of controversy and scandals over the past year.

The company’s troubles included widespread allegations of sexual harassment, a video showing Travis Kalanick engaging in a heated argument with a driver, a major lawsuit claiming intellectual property theft from Google’s Waymo self-driving car unit and uproar over an executive obtaining the medical records of a woman who was raped by a driver in India.

The company also reportedly fired more than 20 employees recently as a result of an investigation into its work culture.

Travis Kalanick: Know More

• Born on 6 August 1976, he is an American computer programmer and businessman.
• He co-founded two a peer-to-peer file sharing service companies between 1998 and 2007, Scour Exchange and Red Swoosh, both of which didn’t do very well.
• While Scour Exchange filed for bankruptcy to protect itself from a lawsuit, Red Swoosh was sold to another American technology company.
• He co-founded UBER, the transportation network company in 2009.
• In 2014, his name was featured on the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans at 190th position, with an estimated net worth of US$6.3 billion.
• In December 2016, he along with CEOs of other leading American companies was appointed as an economic advisor on Trump’s Strategy and Policy Forum.

ANSWER: AirAsia

Explanation:
Qatar Airways on 20 June 2017 was announced the World’s Best Airline at the SKYTRAX 2017 World Airline Awards.

Qatar Airways was voted Best Airline by travellers across the world in the annual passenger survey.

The Doha based carrier has now won the prestigious Airline of the Year title for a fourth time.

Qatar Airways also won the World’s Best Business Class, the World’s Best First Class Lounge and the Best Airline in the Middle East awards.

On the other hand, AirAsia won awards for being the Best Low-Cost Airline in Asia for a month year in the row, and also as World’s Best Low-Cost Airline Premium Cabin 2017.

The World Airline Awards are most coveted Quality accolades for the airline industry. Travellers across the globe take part each year in the world’s largest airline passenger satisfaction survey to decide the winner. Other awards that AirAsia won include world's best low cost airline. Air Astana won the best airline in Central Asia. The Bangkok Airways won the best regional airline in Asia. Indigo was awarded the best low-cost airline in central asia and India while Singapore Airlines won the best airline in Asia award.

ANSWER: Anil Kumble

Explanation:
Kumble resigned because it was apparent the partnership [with Virat Kohli] was untenable, and "I therefore believe it is best for me to move on".

Kumble stepped down as coach four days before the limited-overs tour of the Caribbean begins, even as the team was mid-flight to the West Indies.

Kumble had remained in London after the Champions Trophy which ended on Sunday; as chairman of the ICC’s cricket committee, he will be attending the chief executives committee meeting there.

Two days before the Champions Trophy had kicked off in England, it emerged in the media that India captain Kohli had told BCCI officials that some players were uncomfortable with the "intimidating" style of Kumble’s man management.

As a result, despite India’s success in Kumble’s year in charge, during which the team climbed to No.1 in the Test rankings, the board advertised for fresh interviews for the head coach’s position instead of extending his contract.

Kumble, whose original contract ran till the end of the Champions Trophy, had already reapplied for the job and only last week accepted the BCCI’s offer to extend his contract to include the West Indies series. However, Anil Kumble, in light of the reservations he came to know about through the board, he could not continue.

The meetings were necessitated after the three-member CAC, comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, informed the BCCI that it had failed to resolve the impasse between Kohli and Kumble.

The BCCI had received six applications including that of Kumble for the fresh interview process.

But, considering it was the CAC that had recommended and shortlisted Kumble as the final choice last year, it still felt he remained the first choice for the head coach position going forward.

ANSWER: RIMYI, Pune

Explanation:
The Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI), Pune has been selected as the first recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for outstanding contribution for promotion and development of Yoga.

Established in 1975, Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute has contributed significantly in spreading yoga across the globe.

The institute has published books on yoga and these have been translated into multiple languages. The selection was done from among 85 nominations received and 15 more recommended by the screening committee, the government said in a statement.

On the occasion of the second International Day of Yoga celebrations at Chandigarh on June 21, 2016, PM Narendra Modi had announced the institution of awards for the promotion and development of yoga.

Nomination for the awards were invited through open advertisement.

The screening committee shortlisted 16 names from among the applications received, after detailed discussions and analysis of the contributions of the individuals and institutes, whose nominations were received.

In addition, the committee also recommended for consideration 15 names of eminent yoga individuals/ organizations who have long standing credibility in the field of promotion and development of yoga, but whose names did not figure in the applications received.

The jury chaired by the cabinet secretary, with the additional principal secretary to Prime Minister, the foreign secretary, secretary (AYUSH) and Dr. Veerendra Heggade as members, examined the recommendations of the screening committee, and also made its own analysis of the contributions made by the institutions and individuals shortlisted.

ANSWER: Indian Naval Material Management Service

Explanation:
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved constitution of an organized Group ‘A’ Engineering Service, namely Indian Naval Material Management Service (INMMS) and consequent changes in cadre structure of existing Group ‘A’ cadre of Naval Store Officers of the Indian Navy.

Constitution of an Organized Group ‘A’ Service would attract the best talents available and bring in technically qualified Material Managers. It will improve the functional efficiency of Material Management of Naval Stores and ensure operational readiness of the Navy at all times.

The proposed INMMS would attract the best talents available and will provide a reservoir of technically qualified Material Managers for handling the Materials Management functions of Indian Navy.

It will improve the functional efficiency of Material Management of Naval Stores and ensure operational readiness of the Navy at all times as well as provide better career prospects for the incumbents.

ANSWER: Survey of India

Explanation:
Survey of India has has met the challenges of surveying the indomitable Himalaya, blazing deserts and animal infested jungles.

The Department is continuously striving to keep abreast of modern technology and has successfully entered the era of Digital Mapping and Geographic Information Systems.A set of two commemorative postage stamps and a miniature sheet on “Survey of India” were released on 22nd June 2017 on the occasion of its 250th anniversary.

Survey of India, fondly called ‘the Department’ by its members is built on solid foundations, strong traditions and deep roots, keeps striving to keep India among the best surveyed countries in the world, adopting the latest technologies to meet new challenges and always living up to its motto: A Setu Himachalam i.e. 'From Setu to the Himalaya' (covering entire India).

Department of Posts issues Commemorative postage stamps on Institutions that have a national or International stature or have made national/international contribution.

The origin of Survey of India can be traced back to Year 1767, when Major James Rennell was appointed as the Surveyor General of Bengal. It is the oldest scientific department in India and one of the oldest survey establishments in the world.

Survey of India also has the distinct honour of printing the first Postage Stamp of India and the first copy of the Constitution of India.

Survey of India officers have to pioneer untrodden lands for others to follow and build upon.

The Survey of India acts as advisor to the Government of India on all survey matters, viz geodesy, photogrammetry, mapping and map reproduction.

Survey of India: Know More

• Headquarters: Dehradun
• Founder: East India Company
• Founded: 1767
• Key Subsidiaries: Geological Survey of India

ANSWER: Both of the above

Explanation:
Under the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G), rural Uttarakhand and rural Haryana have declared themselves as the 4th and 5th Open Defecation Free (ODF) States of India.

The two on 22nd June 2017 joined the league of Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala, which were the first three states to be declared ODF.

Nationally, the sanitation coverage has increased from 42% to over 64% in just two and a half years since the launch of SBM.

Uttarakhand has 13 districts, 95 blocks, 7256 gram panchayats and 15751 villages while Haryana has 21 districts, 124 blocks, and 6083 gram panchayats - all of which have declared themselves as ODF.

With the total number of ODF States now rising to 5, more than 2 Lakh villages and 147 districts have also been declared ODF across the country.

ANSWER: Kalamsat

Explanation:
On 21^st June 2017, India once again broke a global space record by launching the world's lightest satellite weighing a mere 64 grams, called Kalamsat.

It was designed and developed not by professional space scientists and engineers, but by 18-year-old Tamil Nadu student Rifath Sharook and his team.

The tiny satellite, named after Abdul Kalam, was flown by a Nasa sounding rocket and the lift-off was from the space agency's Wallop Island facility around 3pm (IST).

Kalam had his training in the sounding rocket programme at Wallops Island in the '60s. Kalamsat was the only Indian payload in the mission.

Mission director Srimathy Kesan announced total flight time of the rocket was 240 minutes and the satellite, assembled at her T.Nagar residence in Chennai, separated from the rocket 125 minutes after lift-off.

Kalamsat fell into the sea for safe landing.

It will be recovered and Nasa will be sending it back to India for decoding the data.

The previous Nasa mission from Wallops got postponed because of weather and India was able to launch successfully today.

This one-of-its kind satellite, which can be held in one's palm is a 3.8cm cube and its structure is fully 3-D printed with reinforced carbon fibre polymer.

It is equipped with a nano Geiger Muller counter which will measure radiation in space.

It is the only cube to be converted into a satellite in this mission.