Current Affairs Questions & Answers - June 08, 2017

ANSWER: 5

Explanation:
According to BMI Research, a Fitch group company, India is among the top five consumer markets in Asia offering retailers the strongest consumer spending growth of an average of 6.1% over the next five years.

The other four countries are China, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Indonesia. BMI Research was founded in 1984 Business Monitor International and later in 2014 was acquired by Fitch Group.

The firm performs industry and financial market analysis in 24 industries and 200 global markets.

According to the report, the real consumer spending growth in 2017 will be 6.2%. The factors responsible for increase in consumer spending in India include increase in access to consumer credit, lower inflation and favourable regulatory environment for foreign owned retailers.

These factors will continue to enhance India’s consumer sectors in the coming years. India’s thriving e-commerce segment is expected to grow at double-digit rates in the forecast period up to 2021.

The report has found that due to the limitations of activities for overseas retailers, e-commerce has been dominated by local firms like Flipkart and Snapdeal.

In India, bricks-and-mortar retailers have also began to foray into the e-commerce segment supported by the high mobile penetration in the country.

ANSWER: Animal Discoveries 2016 and Plant Discoveries 2016

Explanation:
According to the Animal Discoveries 2016, New Species and Records, brought out by the Zoological Survey of India and Plant Discoveries 2016, by the Botanical Survey of India, 499 new species have been discovered from various parts of the country last year.

Animals Of the new discoveries, comprise 258 are invertebrates and 55 are vertebrates.

Around 97 are insects, 27 are fish, 12 are amphibians, 10 are Platyhelminthes, nine are Crustacea, six species of reptiles, 61 species of moths and butterflies and 38 of beetles.

The new species are known to occur in the four biological hotspots of the country, namely, the Himalayas, the northeast, the Western Ghats and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

As per the Animal Discoveries 2016, the number of animal species in the country for the first time has crossed one lakh to number 1,00,693. Till last year, the number of animal varieties in India was 97,514.

India is one of the 17 mega diversity countries and is home to 6.42% of the global fauna.

As per Plant Discoveries 2016, 186 new varieties of plants have been discovered including seven new genera, four subspecies and nine new varieties taking the total number of varieties to 206.

The publication lists 113 new records from India. The new varieties of the plant were discovered in the Western Ghats (17%), followed by the Eastern Himalayas (15%), the Western Himalayas (13%), the Eastern Ghats (12%) and the west coast (8%).

Eight new varieties of wild balsams, five species of wild ginger and one species of wild amla has been discovered.

In addition, 39 varieties of mushrooms have been discovered. BSI The Botanical Survey of India (BSI) is the apex research organization under the MOEF for carrying out taxonomic and floristic studies on wild plant resources of the country.

BSI + ZSI: Know More

• BSI was established on 13th February, 1890 with the basic objective to explore the plant resources of the country and to identify the plants species with economic virtues.
• The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) was launched in 1916.
• It is India’s apex organization on animal taxonomy. It’s objective is to promote the survey, exploration, research and documentation on various aspects of animal taxonomy in the Indian subcontinent.
• It also seeks advancement of knowledge on animal taxonomy.
• It has been declared as the designated repository for the National Zoological Collection as per section 39 of the National Biodiversity Act, 2002.

ANSWER: Chandigarh

Explanation:
Chandigarh would become the first city in the country where all public parking lots would be managed by women.

A smart parking system would be launched in the second week of June under the joint initiative of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation and Arya Toll Infra Ltd, the company allotted the parking contract. The women attendants will manage all 25 parking lots in markets in different sectors of the city as well as multi-level parking in Sector 17 from 7.30 am to 9 pm.

After 9 pm, men would manage the parking lots.

There would be designated “pink parking spots” in parking areas reserved for women drivers. Arya Toll Infra, which is a Mumbai-based company, was allotted the parking contract for INR 14.78 crore.

For the last one year, the all public parking lots have remained without contractors, causing losses to the civic body.

Chandigarh is the best city to start this pilot in the country because it is comparatively safer than other cities.

Over 200 women would be hired by the company. In addition, some employees would be provided by the Urban Poverty Alleviation and Livelihood cell of the municipal corporation. W

The motorists would be able to book parking space in advance through a mobile app which would be launched a day before the new smart parking system starts.

The details of all the parking lots and the space available would be available on the app.

If no parking space is available in the nearest lot, the details of other parking lots would automatically come on the app.

A senior officer of the municipal corporation said that before rolling out the new system, all the women attendants would be imparted training that would be held next week.

The women-manned public parking lots will have designated slots for senior citizens and disabled drivers.

There are plans to have a system where slips issued for parking would automatically be generated in the name of the vehicle owner.

ANSWER: KELT-9b

Explanation:
Astronomers led by Ohio state university researchers discovered the hottest giant planet named KELT-9b.

This exoplanet is hotter than most stars - the finding was published on June 5, 2017

KELT 9b is regarded as a hybrid planet star - it has the mass of a planet and the atmosphere of a star.
KELT 9b was discovered in 2014 as astronomers spotted the shadow as it crossed the face of its host star 650 light years away from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus.

The planet was so close to the star that surface temperature reaches more than 4300C.
This makes it the hottest giant planet ever found.

Astronomers discovered this planet using two robotic telescopes Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope in Arizona and Sutherland to north of Cape Town in SA.

The twin telescopes focused on a star called Kelt-9 which at 10000 degrees C is nearly twice as hot as the sun. The observations revealed a regular dimming of starlight reaching Earth, the signature of a giant planet that was moving around it once every one-and-a-half days.

KELT 9b: Know More

• KELT-9b is estimated to be roughly 3777 degrees Celsius on the dark side and 4327 degrees C on the star-exposed side.
• This makes KELT-9b almost 20 per cent hotter than the next-most-boiling exoplanet WASP-33b. KELT-9b receives 700 times as much solar radiation as WASP-33b, which is similar to the glow of an entire K-type star, the second coolest type and is more than enough to break down molecules to their constituent atoms.
• The new planet’s scorching temperature is due its parent star KELT-9 which falls in the A-type bracket of stars, the third-hottest category.
• It is the seventh star of its classification to be found with an exoplanet and at roughly 300 million years old. KELT-9b is surprisingly puffy, given that its mass is almost three times Jupiter’s. KELT-9b is 2.8 times more massive than Jupiter, but only half as dense.
• For reasons no one fully understands yet, the planet also orbits its star from pole to pole, rather than around the equator as would be expected.
• The planet is tidally locked to its star as the moon is to Earth.
• One side of the planet is always facing towards the star, and one side is in perpetual darkness. Molecules such as water, carbon dioxide and methane can’t form on the dayside of the planet as it is bombarded by too much ultraviolet radiation.
• The discovery of KELT-9b might encourage more researchers to go into the depths of other planets on the opposite end of the typically researched spectrum.

ANSWER: Kerala

Explanation:
The Government of Kerala has initiated a green protocol to make auspicious occasions such as weddings more nature-friendly.

With the implementation of the protocol, the use of plastic and other non-degradable articles including disposable glasses, plates and thermocol decorations would be prohibited at marriage functions. Instead, people would be encouraged to use tumblers, plates and utensils made from glass and other environment-friendly metals.

To ensure proper implementation of the green protocol, inspections will be held at marriage halls, convention centres, hotels and other venues of the wedding ceremony.

Special squads, comprising officials of Suchitwa Mission and revenue department, have been formed to carry out inspections in wedding halls and record the ceremony.

Strict action would be taken in case of any violation based on the nature of utensils and articles found.

Suchitwa Mission: Know More

• Suchitwa Mission’, the state nodal agency for sanitation, has already launched the initiative on a pilot basis in some districts of the state including Kannur, Ernakulam, Kollam and Alappuzha.
• The government has sought cooperation of the owners of marriage halls and convention centres for effective implementation of the green protocol.
• The main objective behind the initiative is to reduce the use of plastic in daily life.
• Plastic articles including glasses and plates are used in large numbers during functions, especially marriage ceremonies in the state
• The green-protocol was launched as a part of the government’s anti-plastic drive and Green-Kerala Mission.
• The Mission has joined hands with district administration, panchayat authorities and socio-cultural and religious outfit for the green-protocol initiative.

ANSWER: Vijaya Bank

Explanation:
Vijaya Bank is going to develop 100 digital villages spread across various states of the country.

The step is being undertaken by the bank as a part of its initiative to promote digital banking among the rural population.

Vijaya Bank is the only public sector financial institution to develop digital villages with a focus on rural areas and it has already developed five villages including the one in Guntur district.

The project of 100 digital villages will be inaugurated within a month.

The digital villages will comprise services such as internet, Wi-Fi connectivity, mobile payment facilities, ATM cards and online banking among others.

The bank would also be running a door-to-door campaign to educate the villagers. It will also open bank accounts to all the eligible villagers including children and encourage them to make transactions digitally.

The bank’s digital villages project was developed even before the announcement of demonetisation.

Already, the bank has developed 5 villages into Digital Villages. Out of the 100, Andhra Pradesh will be getting 10 digital villages.

Vijaya Bank: Know More

• Vijaya Bank is a public sector bank with its corporate office in Bangalore.
• As on March 31 2017, the business worth of the bank is estimated to be ?229833 Cr. The bank has around 1900 branches across the country.
• It boasts of about 13 lakh mobile banking users and 8 lakh Internet banking users. It is the first public sector bank to take up such initiative.
• The bank is further working on financing the metro project of the city.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
Popular writer Anand Neelakantan, Odia poet Haraprasad Das and author Paramita Satpathy were on 6 June 2017 announced as the winners of the Kalinga Literary Awards.

Neelakantan was selected for the Kalinga International Literary Award, Haraprasad Das was chosen for the Kalinga Literary Youth Award and Satpathy was honoured with the Kalinga Karubaki Award.

They will receive the award during the Kalinga Literary Festival 2017 which will be held from 10 June to 12 June 2017.

Kalinga Literary Awards 2017: Know More

• This will be the fourth edition of Kalinga Literary Festival that will be inaugurated by Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
• Around 200 celebrities from the world of literature, cinema, media and politics will be present at the Kalinga Literary Festival in Bhubaneswar to deliberate on the theme ‘Literature for Peace and Harmony’

ANSWER: Aleksandr Pushkin

Explanation:
The United Nations Russian Language Day was observed on 6 June 2017. The day is observed yearly to maintain the equality of all six official UN languages.

These six official languages are English, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and French.

The decision to hold days of languages was adopted by the UN Department of Public Information on the eve of the International Mother Language Day.

This is celebrated annually on 21 February, at the initiative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The aim of the days of the UN languages is to raise awareness of the history, culture and the development of each of the six official UN languages among the staff of the Organization.

The UN Russian Language Day coincides with the birthday of Aleksandr Pushkin, a Russian poet who is considered the father of modern Russian literature.


Aleksandr Pushkin

• He was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.
• He is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. He published his first poem at the age of fifteen.
• While under the strict surveillance of the Tsar’s political police and unable to publish, Pushkin wrote his most famous play, the drama Boris Godunov.

ANSWER: Unchanged

Explanation:
The Reserve Bank of India has kept repo rate unchanged at 6.25% in its second bi-monthly monetary policy review.

Reverse Repo rate has been kept unchanged at 6%.

The RBI has cut the Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) by 50 basis points to 20%. RBI has projected the headline inflation in the range of 2.0-3.5% in the first half of 2017-18 and 3.5-4.5% in the second half.

According to the central bank, the implementation of GST is not expected to have material impact on overall inflation. It has observed that the 7th Pay Commission allowances, geo political, financial risk pose upside risk to inflation.

RBI has reduced the growth projection for the current fiscal to 7.3% from 7.4%. The monetary policy decision has been taken by the six-member monetary policy committee (MPC).

The RBI has also revised its target for gross value added (GVA) by 10 basis points to 7.3%.

Statutory Liquidity Ratio/SLR: Know More

• SLR is the portion of bank deposits that have to be invested in government bonds.
• Components of SLR include cash in hand, gold owned by the bank, balance with RBI, Net balance in current account & Investment in Government securities.
• SLR has to be maintained at the close of business on every day.

ANSWER: New Delhi

Explanation:
The ‘Vatsalya - Maatri Amrit Kosh’, a National Human Milk Bank and Lactation Counselling Centre was inaugurated at the Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) in New Delhi.

This centre would be the largest public sector human milk bank and lactation counselling centre available in North India.

“Vatsalya - Maatri Amrit Kosh” has been established in collaboration with the Norwegian government, Oslo University and Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI).

Vatsalya - Maatri Amrit Kosh will collect, pasteurize, test and safely store milk donated by lactating mothers and make it available for infants in need.

With the establishment of this donor human milk bank, all newborns in and around Delhi will have access to life saving human milk irrespective of the circumstances of their birth.

The centre will protect, promote and support breastfeeding by providing lactation support to mothers with the help of dedicated lactation counsellors.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has also launched Mothers Absolute Affection (MAA) programme to create awareness regarding breastfeeding among mothers for enhancing the child’s immunity.

The facility will act as a dedicated centre to support breastfeeding and improve infant survival.

The centre will serve as teaching, training and demonstration site for other milk banks that will be established under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.