Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Mar 03, 2016

ANSWER: 7,7

Explanation:
On Super Tuesday elections, the biggest day of any primary campaign, Trump and Clinton beat their respective rivals ahead of the presidential elections in November by winning 7 out of a total of 11 races in the different states. Trump won in Virginia, Arkansas, Alabama, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont and Georgia, while Clinton won in Massachusetts, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia.

ANSWER: Ratan Thiyam

Explanation:
Senior playwright and director Ratan Thiyam has been named for the Lifetime Achievement Award during the 11th edition of the Mahindra Excellence Theatre Awards. He won the award for creating a new language in theatre and enriching the art form in various roles as writer, director, designer, composer and choreographer. Currently, he is chairman of NSD. Previous winners of the award include Girish Karnad, Zohra Sehgal and Badal Sarkar.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
3 British scientists, Tim Bliss, Graham Collingridge and Richard Morris, on 1 March 2016 won the Greta Lundbeck European Research prize award for their seminal work on understanding what happens in the brain when humans make and lose memories. The Brain Prize (as it is also called) has been won entirely by a UK team for the first time. Researchers studied neurons in the hippocampus, the brain's learning portal that enables humans to store information, and recollect it. For their seminal work in memory specifically in the field of long term potentiation, they won the award.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
The Grete Lundbeck European brain research prize (also called the Brain Prize) is an international scientific award. Through a phenomenon called long term potentiation, scientists have described the mechanism behind human ability to navigate, learn and remember their surroundings. Connections between hippocampus brain cells can be strengthened through repeated simulation resulting from long term potentiation.

ANSWER: Jerry Pinto

Explanation:
Columnist and author Jerry Pinto on March 1st, 2016 was chosen for the 2016 Windhan Campbell Prize for his novel Em and the Big Hoom published in 2012 which tells the story of a narrators attempts to come to terms with his parent’s bipolar disorder and mood malfunctions as well as suicidal tendencies. 8 other writers have been chosen for the award in the following categories

Fiction

• Tessa Hadley
• CE Morgan
• Jerry Pinto

Nonfiction

• Hilton Als
• Stanley Crouch
• Helen Garner

Drama

• Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
• Hannah Moscovitch
• Abbie Spallen

ANSWER: Stevie Wonder

Explanation:
Veteran singer Stevie Wonder was honoured with Global Green Hero award at the 13th Annual Global Green US ceremony and was presented on stage with the award. The 65 year old musical icon also performed a nine-song set of his greatest hits also pointed out that climate change and its environmental impact are issues that he has always been invested in. Wonder also donated his harmonica to Global Green to auction off.

ANSWER: Both of the above

Explanation:
The Turing award institutionalised in 1960s is considered the Oscar of computer science and technology. Diffie and Hellman won the award for their famous Diffie-Helman public-key exchange protocol. Award carries cash prize of USD 1 million and is considered the Nobel prize for the computer science world.

ANSWER: www.ncst.gov.in

Explanation:
Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Shri Jual Oram has launched the revamped website www.ncst.gov.in. The new website is a storehouse of information and features data for media, readers and students. It also aims to create awareness and communication of constitutional provisions and safeguards provided to the Scheduled Tribes. It also aims to assist the various stake holders including petitioners/complainant to access to the findings of the Commission in respect of such petitions /complaints and reviews undertaken by the NCST of Central Ministries/State Governments/PSUs which are placed and updated, from time to time.The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) was established by amending Article 338 and inserting a new Article 338A in the Constitution through the Constitution (89th Amendment) Act, 2003.

ANSWER: March 3rd

Explanation:
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has extended his greetings and felicitations to the Government and people of the Republic of Bulgaria on their National Day (March 3rd , 2016).His Excellency Mr. Rosen Plevneliev is currently the President of the Republic of Bulgaria.

ANSWER: National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council

Explanation:
National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council has been wound up by PM Shri Narendra Modi led CCEA as it has fulfilled the mandate it was constituted for. NMCC was established as part of CMP and conceived in 2004.

ANSWER: 36th International Geological Congress

Explanation:
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval to set up of a Society, "36th International Geological Congress", under the Indian Society Registration Act, 1860 for organising 36th International Geological Congress (IGC) in year 2020 and promoting geoscience in Indian subcontinent. 36th IGC has the following theme: “Geoscience-the Basic Science for Sustainable Future”.

ANSWER: Huachuan No. 1

Explanation:
This dock called Huachan No.1 enables the navy to return damaged ships to fighting capability in short time and was designed for being taken into combat zones. Dock can handle cruisers, submarines and destroyers but not aircraft carriers. This low cost technology is extremely innovative.

ANSWER: 90

Explanation:
India has been ranked as 90th in a list of 126 nations compiled by World Economic Forum based on ability to deliver secure, affordable and sustainable energy. The Global Energy Architecture Performance Index Report of the WEF was topped by Switzerland followed by Norway. Sweden, France, Denmark, Austria, Spain, Colombia, New Zealand and Uruguay. Brazil was the top performer among BRIC nations followed by Russia, India and China.

ANSWER: Tamil Nadu

Explanation:
NASSCOM and TN state government have signed an agreement to establish the first startup warehouse in the state spread over an area of 8000 square feet. It will accommodate close to 50 startups and provide resources to the new companies. Information Technology Department and Electronics Corporation of TN have exchanged documents with NASSCOM for the warehouse which will be set up under the NASSCOM 10,000 startups initiative aimed at scaling up the startup ecosystem in the nation and funding the growth of 10,000 startups in the field of technology over the span of the next 10 years.

ANSWER: Both a and c

Explanation:
Astronauts Scott Kelly, Mikhail Komienko break American record for longest space flight. Both traveled 144 million miles through space and circled the world 5,440 times. They experienced 10,880 orbital sunrises and sunsets during the longest single spaceflight by an American. The next longest spaceflight is 125 days less. But when it comes to longest space flight, a Russian doctor holds the record with 438 days.

ANSWER: Nivruti Rai

Explanation:
The largest silicon chip maker Intel has named Nivruit Rai as its India GM to head the R&D centre in India apart from management of the Platform Engineering Group. The California based semiconductor company has key design sites at Pune and Bengaluru. Rai holds a MSc from University of Lucknow India and MS in Electrical Engineering from Oregon State University. Rai will partner Debjani Ghosh who heads the Intel sales and marketing unit of South Asia. Intel has close to 7500 employees and is the largest non manufacturing site outside of the US in India.

ANSWER: Japan

Explanation:
8 Indian academic institutions including 4 IITs have made a contribution to the world of science after assisting in the Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB accelerator in Japan.The project received a major boost after SuperKEKB, a particle collider located at the KEK laboratory in Tsukuba in Japan, achieved 'First Turns' and reached test operation stage recently. SuperKEKB is the first new "atom-smasher" since the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) - the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator - located at CERN laboratory in Switzerland. Belle II detector was built through an international collaboration of over 600 students, scientists and engineers from over 23 nations. Around four IITs (Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Madras), IISER Mohali, Panjab University, Punjab Agricultural University and TIFR, Mumbai are associated with the project.

ANSWER: Kerala

Explanation:
India’s first solar powered ferry will be launched at Aroor in Alappuzha district. The boat is to be commissioned within the next three months. It is being built by Nav Alt, a Kochi based venture in collaboration with the French company and the 20 m long, 7 m wide boat has maximum cruising speed of 7.5 knots and will be deployed in the backwaters of Alapuzha by the Kerala State Water Transport Department.

ANSWER: Savitri Jindal

Explanation:
The list has 190 women billionaires which constitutes around 10 percent of the total count. Savitri Jindal and her family was ranked at 453rd place in the list. Jindal has a net worth of USD 3.5 billion. Indu Jain who chairs media major Bennett, Coleman & Co, was placed at the 549 rank globally with a net worth stood at USD3.1 billion. Others on the list included Smita Crishna Godrej (rank 810 with net worth of USD 2.2 billion), Leena Tiwari (1067th position with net wealth of USD 1.7 billion) and Vinod Gupta (1577 with assets of around USD 1.1 billion). Gupta owns Havells while Tiwari chairs generic maker USV.