Current Affairs Questions & Answers - June 24, 2016

ANSWER: Belarus

Explanation:
Belarus has signed a new potash supply contract with India.

• President Alexander Lukashenko has also said that cooperation with Uralkali was on the cards.
• Uralkali is a Russian potash producer

ANSWER: 3rd

Explanation:
India is the third largest coal producer in the world after China and the US and will reach production level of 1.5 billion tonnes by FY20, according to a PwC report

• According to the report, India has witnessed a two fold increase in total raw coal consumption in the past ten years
• Coal is mostly consumed for electricity generation in the country to the tune of 64 percent followed by steel at 8 percent and cement at 5 percent.
• Coal production in India has seen a massive increase from FY2010 to FY2016.
• Total domestic output is now estimated at 628 million tonnes
• Of this, 90 percent comes from public sector coal producers while the private sector contributed 10 percent
• Import of coal has also witnessed a rise of 25 percent from 2011 to 2016 as per the report
• In 2015, India imported 212 million tonnes of coal as against 193 a year later
• To attain production level of 1.5 billion tonnes by FY20, coal production must be increased to 1 billion tonnes by FY2020

ANSWER: Counterparty credit risk

Explanation:
A Reserve Bank draft was released on June 23 for computation of exposure to counterparty credit risk from derivatiev transactions and capital requirements for bank exposure to central counterparts or CCPs.

• Guidelines are framed on the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision according to the central bank
• Proposed revised guidelines will capture risks arising from OTC and centrally cleared derivative transactions
• Bimonthly policy statement announced by the Governor was first mentioned in the coming out of draft guidelines along with revision of securitisation framework
• The final guidelines will be implemented by the coming April against the BCB decision to have it moving from January 2017

ANSWER: Transient smartphone blindness

Explanation:
Using the device just prior to sleep can lead to a condition called transient smartphone blindness according to doctors who reported the case of UK women suffering from temporary vision impairment in one eye after looking at bright phones in an unlit room.

• In the first case, a 22 year old woman had trouble with her right eye at night while in bed
• In another case, a 40 year old woman reported not being able to see with one eye after waking up at sunrise
• In both cases, doctors found that the vision problem occurred only after smartphone viewing in the dark room.

ANSWER: 9000 years ago

Explanation:
Rice farming grew in China over 9000 years ago, as per new evidence found by archeologists. This pushes back earlier estimate of 8200 years made in 2011.

• Discovery was made by archeologists from University of Toronto Mississauga in Canada and China’s Zhenjiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology in China.
• Study sheds new light on origins of rice domestication and history of human agricultural practices
• Researchers found that ancient rice cultivation emerged in the lower Yangtze valley and 30 percent of the rice plant material-primarily bases, husks and leaf epidermis
• Rice plant also had characteristics of Japonica rice which is used in sushi and cultivated in Japan and Korea
• Digging 1.5 metres below the ground, team also unearthed artefacts such as well known pottery and stone tools as well as animal bones, charcoal and other plant seeds

ANSWER: John Ashe

Explanation:
Former UNGA President John Ashe of the twin island Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda passed away on 22nd June 2016 in the US after facing criminal charges in a bribery case

• He was a 61-year-old former UN Ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda who served the ceremonial post of president from 2013-2014 and accused the previous year by US fed authorities of turning the position into a platform for profit.
• Ashe holds a UPenn bioengineering doctorate and joined the Foreign Service in 1989 and was awarded Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St George by Queen Elizabeth II in 2007.

ANSWER: Jadavpur University

Explanation:
Focused on fostering research in futuristic technologies like robotics and unmanned vehicles, DRDO on 23rd June entered into a JV with Jadavpur University for establishment of a INR 100 crore research centre.

• Jagadish Chandra Bose Centre for Advanced Technology will act as the self accounting DRDO unit
• Centre will basically undertake research in areas such as secure systems, cognitive technologies, directed energy, unmanned and robotic technologies as well as other futuristic technologies
• DRDO will support and facilitate advanced research and use the outcome for creating futuristic defence systems

ANSWER: Staqu

Explanation:
Indian Angel Network has invested an undisclosed amount in AI focused research startup Staqu led by Ajay Gupta, Neeraj Singhal and Bikky Khosla of IAM

• This is a Gurgaon based startup
• It will use funding to build capabilities, lead to democratisation of technology and grow the team
• AI is a new concept in India and money will be utilised to expand the computational strength of VGrep Lab and fuel it with clusters of GPUs and other technical resources
• Staqu’s products have the capability to help e-commerce grow

ANSWER: NewsBytes

Explanation:
The app delivers new content based on user’s research history and FB data consumption pattern delivering the latest and most revenant news to the individual.

• The group of four has introduced the country’s first news-bot and it can work on three platforms including FB, Slack and Telegram
• There are 50,000 active users of this app

ANSWER: Times of India Group

Explanation:
New York based VICE Media and TOI group on 23rd June 2016 said they would form a JV for launching the world’s leading youth media brand in the country

• As per the alliance, Vice founder and CEO Shane Smith said the news and entertainment group is the next MTV, ESPN and CNN rolled into one
• It will create domestic content from India’s rich cultural fabric and bring the VICE network to the rest of the world
• MD of Times Group Vineet Jain has said India is an emerging global player with a massive captive youth audience
• VICE will open a new bureau and production hub in Mumbai to create original content to be distributed across TV, mobile, digital and linear platforms in the region
• VICELAND a paid TV network and Virtue India, VICE”s in house creative services agency will develop branded content for the Indian market

ANSWER: Prof Sanjay Mittal

Explanation:
The twenty-fifth G. D. Birla Award for Scientific Research for 2015 has been awarded to Prof. Sanjay Mittal from the Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.

• Prof. Mittal’s significant contributions have been in the area of Bluff Body Flows - flows past blunt bodies associated with large unsteady separation and leading to large fluid forces.
• He was instrumental in establishing the High Performance Computing (HPC) facility at IIT Kanpur and heads the National Wind Tunnel Facility.
• GD Birla award was constituted in 1991 by KK Birla Foundation

ANSWER: Aveek Sarkar

Explanation:
Aveek Sarkar on 22nd June 2016 resigned as editor-in-chief of Ananda Bazaar Patrika and The Telegraph and continue as chairman of the group.

• He is succeeded by Arup Sarkar
• Anirban Bhattacharya was appointed as the Editor of the Ananda Bazaar Patrika and R Rajagopalan was named as the Editor of The Telegraph.
• Aveek Sarkar will now play an advisory role as Editor (Emeritus) and Vice Chairman of the company.

ANSWER: 23rd June

Explanation:
The United Nations Public Service Day was celebrated by the United Nations (UN) on 23 June 2016.

• The day was celebrated to mark the invaluable contributions of public servants and administrators to build a better world for all.
• The 2016 United Nations Public Service Day was celebrated at the United Nations Headquarters in New York with a High-level Knowledge Sharing Panel on Leaving No One Behind: Innovative Institutional Approaches and Public Service Delivery.
• This is the first time that the Day is celebrated after the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by all United Nations Member States.

ANSWER: Only a and b

Explanation:
State governments have been asked to link Aadhaar with caste and domicile certificates to be issued to school students.

• It is linked as part of a first-of-its-kind initiative by the Centre.
• The States have been told to ensure that such certificates are issued within 60 days to the students when they are studying in Class V or VIII.
• The development assumes significance as there have been complaints of delay in grant of scholarship to students belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
• Besides, people have often complained of harassment allegedly by government officials in getting caste and domicile certificates issued.
• UIDAI number is a 12 digit unique number issued to all Indian citizens.

ANSWER: Jinan

Explanation:
Nagpur city and China’s Jinan city have become sister cities for exchange of ideas and technology. - Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and Jinan, Municipal People’s Republic of China, entered into an agreement on Monday to develop sister city relationship between the two cities.

The move is a part of agreement signed between union ministry of external affairs and ministry of foreign affairs, People’s Republic of China, for facilitating cooperation and linkages between cities of the two countries and states/provinces on May 20, 2013.

• This is for the first time city has developed sister city concept with any foreign city.

ANSWER: June 23

Explanation:
President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has extended his greetings and felicitations to the Grand Duke and people of Luxembourg on the occasion of their National Day (June 23, 2016).

• In a message to His Royal Highness Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg,the president extended greetings and felicitations
• India and Luxembourg enjoy friendly relations marked by goodwill, cooperation and mutual understanding

ANSWER: AYUSH

Explanation:
The two day ‘International Conference on Yoga for Body and Beyond’ came to a successful close in New Delhi on 23rd June 2016.

• The conference was organised by the Ministry of AYUSH as a part of International Day of Yoga celebrations.
• The International Conference was held to deliberate upon the benefits of yoga to the individual, community, the society and the world at large.
• It was attended by Yoga experts from India and more than 80 international delegates from 35 countries.

ANSWER: Solar Alliance

Explanation:
SIC oversees India-UK science technology and innovation cooperation meeting once in two years

• UK stands amongst the top three collaborating countries in science and technology with India.
• Dr. Harsh Vardhan informed that as a part of the commitment to the Solar Alliance, the India-UK networked Centre on Solar Energy would be established.
• It would be linked to India’s renewable energy mission and UK’s Supergens Programme. The research projects will focus on systems level design and development covering Solar energy generation, storage systems and grid integration particularly for micro-grid systems.
• India would be investing Rs.50 crores over a period of five years with matching contribution from Research Council UK (RCUK) under the Newton-Bhabha Programme.