Current Affairs Questions & Answers - June 17, 2016

ANSWER: 1.4 percent

Explanation:
CAD will widen to 1.4 percent of GDP in FY 2017 according to Nomura India which said the figure would widen from 0.9 percent in 2015-2016.

• The Japanese financial services firm has indicated that global demand is likely to remain sluggish but imports will rise towards year end
• Following this, country’s trade deficit is expected to widen
• Imports continued to rise towards end 2016.
• CAD narrowed to 1.4 percent in April-December 2016 from 1.7 percent in 2014-2015.
• Exports fell by 0.79 percent to USD 22.17 billion indicating an 18th straight month fall in May 2016
• Imports too fell by 13.16 percent to USS $28.44 billion in the month under review.

ANSWER: 14

Explanation:
National aviation industry is expected to see strong growth period with air traffic at 14 percent estimated by positive outlook for crude prices. Report by ICICI Securities held that growth rate of 14 percent is low considering average annual growth rate of passenger traffic in India has been greater than 18-20 percent since 2000 given a positive crude price outlook

• Report also noted that air fare connections on account of lower crude prices have played up with 15 percent dip in fares in 2015-2016
• Fares are likely to stabilize with increase in oil outlook

ANSWER: Antimicrobial Peptides

Explanation:
Researchers at a Kerala veterinary and animal sciences university have discovered antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) to counter MDR or multidrug-resistant microbes

• KVASU officials indicated emergence of multi drug resistant microbes and chemotherapy resistant cancer cells has caused massive damage in healthcare sector
• Antimicrobial peptides hold a promise to deal with the problem
• A messanger RNA has been isolated and developed with an anti microbial motif.
• Traditional antibiotics usually target particular physiological process of bacteria such as cell wall synthesisM DNA replication etc whereby AMP act without specific receptors and are ideal molecules to beat resistance
• AMP are short molecules comprising 12-100 animo acids of the immune system found in all forms of life from microbes to humans to deal with microbial challenge.

ANSWER: Tianhe-3

Explanation:
China is developing a supercomputer capable of billion billion calculations per second operationalised by 2020 according to top officials. As per the national plan for the next generation of high performance computers, China will come up with an excel computer during 2016-2020

• Government of Tianjin Binhai New Area, NUDT and the National Supercomputing centre in Tianjin were working on this project
• It will be called Tianhe-3
• In 2010, China’s first petaflop supercomputer Tianhe- capable of million billion calculations per second started functioning

ANSWER: Ost 65

Explanation:
The meteorite discovered in Sweden’s fossil meteorite packed Thorsberg quarry belongs to a kind never before found on earth

• New meteorite called Ost 65, is from a missing partner in a massive asteroid collision 470 million years back
• The collision led to debris falling on Earth over a million years and influenced great diversification of life in the Ordovician period lasting 45 million years commencing 488.3 million and ending 443.7 million years ago
• An object involved in the collision is the source of L-chondrites, the most common type of meteorite but the identity of the object it hit remains elusive

ANSWER: 4th

Explanation:
Kaspersky Lab investigates global forum where cyber criminals can purchase and sell access to compromised servers for close to USD 6 each. xDedic marketplace run lists 70,624 hacked RDP servers for sale. India ranks 4th in hacked servers with 3488 compromised servers listed on the site as of May 2016

• Research says many of the servers are for consumer websites and services and some have software installation for direct mail, financial accounting and PoS processing.
• India is among the top 5 countries attacked by ransomware
• These type of sites target owner infrastructure or serve as a launchpad for greater attacks
• Owners including government entities, universities and corporations need to be more alert

ANSWER: 29

Explanation:
Global shipments of wearable devices are expected to reach 101.9 million units towards the close of 2016 representing 29 percent growth over 2015 according to the International Data Corp.

• Research firm also said market for wearable devices will experience CAGR of 20.3 percent. This will lead to 213.6 million units shipped in 2020.
• Research firm also said wearables market is a collection of disparate devices
• Other factors driving the market include cellular connectivity and applications

ANSWER: USD 7 billion

Explanation:
Global data consultancy firm Gartner indicated Indian government will observe 3.1 percent uptick in the IT spend at USD 7 billion for 2016

• Government will spend USD 7 billion on IT products and services in 2016
• This includes spending on internal services, software, IT services, devices data centre and telecom services at all levels of the government
• IT services include consulting, software support, BPO, IT outsourcing, implementation and hardware support are set to grow at 8.8 percent in 2016 to USD 1.16 billion
• BPO segment will also grow at the rate of 22 percent.

ANSWER: Pinterest

Explanation:
Flrksy, a company known for its pioneering gesture based keyboard app has been acquired by content sharing website Pinterest and financial details of the deal are not yet known

• Acquisition comes in 4 months since standalone keyboard app maker Flexy launched an application for visually impaired users.

ANSWER: 10 million

Explanation:
India’s internet user is rising with over 10 million sellers expected to be online by 2020 to meet the demands of a huge consumer base, according to N. Bawankule, director at Google India.

• By 2020, internet users in India would double to 650 million from current 350 million and over 100 million shoppers are expected to grow exponentially.
• Of the 350 million internet users. close to 76 million are urban accounting or less than 20 percent.

ANSWER: Stayzilla

Explanation:
Online budget accommodation firm Stayzilla has appointed Chandramouli Gopalkrishnan as the vice president of products. This comes after naming former Twitter director Pankaj Gupta as Chief Product Officer.

• Chandramouli is the former director of products at Goibibo
• The company is currently headquartered in Chennai
• It is owned by Inasra Tech.

ANSWER: TATA

Explanation:
TATA Group on 16th June announced a tie-up with ride sharing company Uber Technologies to offer drivers and owners on Uber platform comprehensive vehicle purchase and financing solutions among other benefits

• As part of the partnership those looking to operate Uber cars can buy TATA Vehicles such as Indica and Indigo from TATA Motors and obtain access to customised and flexible financing solutions from TATA Capital and TATA Motor Finance.
• Car buyers will also be able to purchase insurance from TATA AIG. TATA Business Support Services will also provide operational support to drivers using the new vehicle solutions program.
• TATA Opportunity invested in Uber in 2015

ANSWER: Ashuganj

Explanation:
India and Bangladesh launched transshipment operations on June 16th at Ashuganj Port to facilitate trade and seamless movement of goods within the landlocked region with a cargo vessel unloading the maiden consignment to be transported through Tripura to Bangladeshi territory

• Operations were launched in Ashuganj port in central Bangladesh where 1000 tonnes of iron and steel sheets were unloaded to be transhipped to Tripura
• As part of the revised protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade as part of a bilateral agreement signed during Modi’s visit to Dhaka in June 2015
• India and Bangladesh agreed to let each other to use territories for transiting goods to a third nation
• Deal will enable Bangaldesh to use territory in India to transport goods to Nepal and Bhutan while India will access Myanmar by crossing through Bangladesh

ANSWER: Russia

Explanation:
Moscow is aiming to create “zone of influence” through military means according to NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg

• There has been large scale militarisation at NATO borders in Arctic, Baltic from the Black Sea to the Mediterraenean
• Large scale manœuvres are in place on the Russian side, NATO said
• Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and its support for Ukraine separatists has been viewed as an offensive by NATO

ANSWER: Ericsson

Explanation:
Swedish communication technology MNC Ericsson launched the 5G plug ins to meet 5G use cases.

• Ericsson 5G Plug ins include MIMO plug in, multiuser MIMO plug in, RAN virtualisation plug-in, intelligent connectivity plug in and latency reduction plug in.
• These plugins are supported by Ericsson Radio System and focused on capabilities that operators can leverage within current networks to encourage transition to 5G

ANSWER: Anjan Dutta

Explanation:
Anjan Dutta was a close confidant of former CM Tarun Gogoi

• He was a Cabinet Minister in the state in the past and passed away following cardiac failure
• He was 64 at the time of his death
• He leaves behind wife and three daughters
• Dutta had been appointed APCC President on December 13, 2014 and holding the post ever since

ANSWER: Supriya Sahu

Explanation:
Senior IAS officer Supriya Sahu was appointed DG of Doordarshan on June 15, 2016 and will be a full time DG of the state run broadcaster two years after the post was lying vacant since July 2014

• ACC approved Sahu’s appointment. She replaces acting head Aparna Vaish.
• Before that, Tripurari Sharan was the DG who stepped down in 2014
• Sahu is a 1991 batch TN cadre IAS officer
• She pioneered Project No and also worked as Joint Secretary for MIB

ANSWER: Arktika

Explanation:
Russia on June 16 2016 launched the new Project 22220 nuclear icebreaker dubbed Arktika launched from the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg which is the second largest city of Russia

• Project 22220 is the world’s biggest and most powerful vessel of this kind
• It has been built at the Baltic Shipyard of the United Shipbuilding Corporation of Russia
• The vessel is 189.5 years long and 37.1 yards wide

ANSWER: Ann Morgan Guilbert

Explanation:
Famous TV actress Ann Morgan Guilbert passed away on June 16, 2015 after battling cancer a the age of 87

• She started her TV career with popular sitcoms like “I Dream of Jeannie” and “My Three Sons”.
• She is most well known for her role in 5 season sitcom Dick Van Dyke Show
• She was also part of a James Brolin comedy “Life in Pieces”

ANSWER: Both a and b

Explanation:
The UN entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women on June 15, 2016 appointed Anne Hathaway as Global Goodwill Ambassador.

• The Academy award winning actor will adopt and implement policies worldwide- she had previously served as an advocate for Nike Foundation
• She also traveled to Africa to raise awareness on child marriage
• She has starred in several hit films like The Devil Wears Prada and Brokeback Mountain

ANSWER: Both a and b

Explanation:
First Meeting of National Committee on Ramayana Circuit & Krishna Circuit under Swadesh Darshan Scheme was held on 14 June 2016.

• The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Union Minister of Tourism & Culture Dr Mahesh Sharma.
• During the meeting proposal to set up 11 Ramayana Circuits and 12 Krishna Circuits were approved.

Destinations under Ramayana Circuit
Under Ramayana Circuit, 11 destinations spread across 6 states are proposed. These are:

• Ayodhya, Nandigram, Shringhverpur & Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh)
• Sitamarhi, Buxar & Darbhanga (Bihar)
• Jagdalpur (Chattisgarh)
• Bhadrachalam (Telangana)
• Hampi (Karnataka)
• Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu)

Destinations under Krishna Circuit
Under Krishna circuit, 12 destinations spread across 5 states are proposed. These are:

• Dwarka (Gujarat)
• Nathdwara, Jaipur & Sikar (Rajasthan)
• Kurukshetra (Haryana)
• Mathura, Vrindavan, Gokul, Barsana, Nandgaon & Govardhan (Uttar Pradesh)
• Puri (Odisha)

ANSWER: Bramble Cay melomys

Explanation:
This marks the first recorded extinction of a mammal in the world thought to be due to human induced climate change

• The Bramble Cay melomys was found only on a tiny Great Barrier Reef Island
• This meal is also known as the Australian Great Barrier Reef rodent or Bramble Cay Mosaic tailed rat
• It is a species of the rodent in family Muridae and Australia’s most isolated mammal

ANSWER: DBS Bank

Explanation:
DBS Bank India appointed Niraj Mittal as the MD and head of institutional banking for the nation replacing Surojit Shome, DBS India CEO

• He will report to Jeanette Wong Group Executive and head of institutional banking group in Singapore
• Prior to this, he worked with Royal Bank of Scotland
• DBS was earlier The Development Bank of Singapore Limited

ANSWER: Iceland

Explanation:
President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee has extended greetings and felicitations to GoI of the Republic of Iceland on the eve of national day on June 17, 2016

• Dr. Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, president of Iceland was congratulated by President Pranab Mukherjee on this occassion
• Foreign Minister of Iceland came to India in April 2016

ANSWER: Ashutosh Pednekar

Explanation:
One man’s passion for racket sports translated into a win as Cdr. A. Pednekar’s win at a Rackelton international tournament marked the victory of the first Indian at this sport

• Pednekar clinched the Gold Medal in men’s amateur and veteran categories at Denmark’s Nordic Racket Games
• Rackelton is a new sport modelled on Decathlon/Triathlon and combines 4 racket games namely lawn tennis, table tennis, squash and badminton

ANSWER: Vidyanjali

Explanation:
Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani dedicated ‘Vidyanjali’- a school volunteer programme to the nation at New Delhi on June 16.

• This aims to create an education ecosystem where community engagement in schools will lead to improved learning and knowledge
• The programme will be piloted across 21 States which committed to do so in the conference of State Ministers of Education held on 8th February, 2016.
• These States are Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, HP, Gujarat, Goa, J&K, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telengana, Tripura, Uttarakhand and UP.

ANSWER: Urban Jyoti Abhiyaan

Explanation:
Union Minister of State for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy launched Urban Jyoti Abhiyaan mobile app at South Goa’s Conference of Power Ministers

• This app is developed by Power Finance Corporation and increased consumer connect with urban power distribution
• Main focus of app is good governance
• The Union Minister also launched the Pradhan Mantri UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LED for all) Yojana in Goa with a target of replacing approximately 15 lakh LED bulbs, impacting nearly 5 lakh households.
• Under the scheme, consumers are entitled to 3 LED bulbs of 9W each at a subsidized rate of Rs.25/, as against a market price of Rs.300-350.
• Besides, the Union Minister also launched “Vidyut Pravah” App at the event
• The scope of DEEP or discovery of efficient electricity price was further expanded at the meet by covering banking mechanism.

ANSWER: Labour

Explanation:
Jo Cox Labour MP for Batley and Spen died after an attack in Birstall, West Yorkshire even as eyewitnesses said the attacker showed “put Britain first” before killing her

• She is survived by her husband and children
• She is the first sitting MP to be killed since 1991
• The death of the 41 year old MP was committed by Tommy Mair
• Vote Leave and Remain have suspended campaigning following the attack