Current Affairs Questions & Answers - May 04, 2017

ANSWER: Apple

Explanation:
Apple has reported over $256 billion in cash and marketable securities.

In the previous year, Apple’s earnings report for the January-March quarter was $233 billion.

According to the rating agencies, the cash reserve possessed by the company is more than Google, Microsoft and Amazon’s total cash.

Compared to Apple’s $256 billion, Microsoft has $126 billion, Alphabet has $92 billion, Amazon has $22 billion and Facebook’s quarter one earnings stood at $29.45 billion.

The reported cash reserve is more than that of the big companies in the world like Verizon, Oracle, Walmart, and Visa among others.

Interestingly, Apple’s cash reserve is 70% more than that of India’s foreign exchange reserve.

As on April 28, India’s Foreign Exchange Reserves is equivalent to $371.13 billion

Apple has more cash than the foreign reserves of the United Kingdom and Canada combined.

However, Apple has reported a huge debt of $88 billion.

Experts hold that Apple might spend the cash to acquire entities like Tesla Motors, or Netflix or Walt Disney, and to other activities like paying off its debts, more R&D, advertising, constructing a plant in the US, compete with Amazon and Microsoft in cloud computing among others.

ANSWER: Rashtriya Swachhta Kendra

Explanation:
“Rashtriya Swachhta Kendra” will be set up by “Swachh Bharat Mission” Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation at Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti (GSDS), Rajghat by “Swachh Bharat Mission” Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

This is as per the vision of Prime Minister during the centenary year of Champaran Satyagraha and the Ministry of Culture is considering to provide space for the purpose.

This was announced at “Swachhata Pakhwada” of Ministry of Culture.

A total of 275 effort hours for cleanliness and awareness during Swachhata Pakhwada and A total of 82 activities/events were organised by the Ministry and its organizations during the Swachhata Pakhwada aimed to create awareness on “Swachhata”.

Ministry of Culture has developed “e-guide (Audio-Visual) App e3.eguide.net.in” to create awareness for the tourists visiting National Museum.

Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) is not only the top priority of the Government but it has become a national mission for the people of India and positive results are pouring in from every nook and corner of the country.

Since its launch on 2nd October, 2014, till date more than 4 crore individual household latrines have been built and one lakh, 94,000 villages and 135 districts have become Open Defecation Free, ODF.

Apart from Sikkim, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh which are ODF Sates, 6 to 7 more States will soon declare them ODF as the work is going on a rapid scale.

Budget for Swachh Bharat Mission is now INR 19,300 crore with a Central share of INR 14,000 crore and INR 5,300 crore is the budgetary provision declared by all government departments as they had been asked to make a special mention of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in their budget proposals, besides finalising their ‘Swachhta Action Plan’.

Swachhata Pakhwada

On completion of 3rd year of Swachhata Abhiyan, Ministry of Culture and Tourism organised “Swachhata Pakhwada” from 16th – 30th April, 2017.

During the period, they initiated various Swachhata activities namely;

(i) creating permanent mechanism of cleanliness for all organisations under Ministry of Culture and Tourism ;

(ii) to spread awareness through various cultural activities by involving all their organisations: and

(iii) spread of swachhata awareness through Music, Dance and Drama by its Academies and maintaining cleanliness at all ASI Protected Monuments etc.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for National Steel Policy (NSP) 2017.

The new Steel Policy enshrines the long term vision of the Government to give impetus to the steel sector. It seeks to enhance domestic steel consumption and ensure high quality steel production and create a technologically advanced and globally competitive steel industry.

Features of NSP

• Create self-sufficiency in steel production by providing policy support & guidance to private manufacturers, MSME steel producers, CPSEs
• Encourage adequate capacity additions,
• Development of globally competitive steel manufacturing capabilities,
• Cost-efficient production
• Domestic availability of iron ore, coking coal & natural gas,
• Facilitating foreign investment
• Asset acquisitions of raw materials & enhancing the domestic steel demand.

The policy projects crude steel capacity of 300 million tonnes (MT), production of 255 MT and a robust finished steel per capita consumption of 158 Kgs by 2030 - 31, as against the current consumption of 61 Kgs.

The policy also envisages to domestically meet the entire demand of high grade automotive steel, electrical steel, special steels and alloys for strategic applications and increase domestic availability of washed coking coal.

This is to reduce import dependence on coking coal from about 85% to around 65% by 2030-31.

Some highlights of New Steel Policy (source PIB):

• The Indian steel sector has grown rapidly over the past few years and presently it is the third largest steel producer globally, contributing to about 2% of the country's GDP. India has also crossed 100 MT mark for production for sale in 2016-17.
• The New Steel Policy, 2017 aspires to achieve 300MT of steel-making capacity by 2030. This would translate into additional investment of Rs. 10 lakh Crore by 2030-31.
• The Policy seeks to increase consumption of steel and major segments are infrastructure, automobiles and housing. New Steel Policy seeks to increase per capita steel consumption to the level of 160 Kgs by 2030 from existing level of around 60 Kg.
• Potential of MSME steel sector has been recognised. Policy stipulates that adoption of energy efficient technologies in the MSME steel sector will be encouraged to improve the overall productivity & reduce energy intensity.
• Steel Ministry will facilitate R&D in the sector through the establishment of Steel Research and Technology Mission of India (SRTMI). The initiative is aimed to spearhead R&D of national importance in iron & steel sector utilizing tripartite synergy amongst industry, national R&D laboratories and academic institutes.
• Ministry through policy measures will ensure availability of raw materials like Iron ore, Coking coal and non-coking coal, Natural gas etc. at competitive rates.

Steel in India

• Steel is one of the most important products in the modern world and forms the backbone to any industrial economy.
• India being one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and steel finding its extensive application right from construction, infrastructure, power, aerospace and industrial machinery to consumer products, the sector is of strategic importance to the country.
• The Indian steel sector has grown exponentially over the past few years to be the third largest producer of steel globally, contributing to about 2% of the country's GDP and employing about 5 lakh people directly and about 20 lakh people indirectly.
• Untapped potential with a strong policy support becomes the ideal platform for growth.

ANSWER: Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters

Explanation:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for re-structuring the schemes of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) under new Central Sector Scheme – SAMPADA (Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters).

This is for the period 2016-20 coterminous with the 14th Finance Commission cycle.

SAMPADA with an allocation of INR 6,000 crore is expected to leverage investment of INR 31,40

crore, handling of 334 lakh MT agro-produce valuing INR 1,04,125 crore, benefit 20 lakh farmers and generate 5,30,500 direct/ indirect employment in the country by the year 2019-20.

The objective of SAMPADA is to supplement agriculture, modernize processing and decrease agri-waste.

SAMPADA is an umbrella scheme incorporating ongoing schemes of the Ministry like Mega Food Parks, Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure, Food Safety and Quality Assurance Infrastructure, etc.

It also covers new schemes like Infrastructure for Agro-processing Clusters, Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages, Creation / Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities.

The SAMPADA is a comprehensive package to give a renewed thrust to the food processing sector in the country.

It includes new schemes of Infrastructure for Agro-processing Clusters, Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages and Creation / Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities aim at development of modern infrastructure to encourage entrepreneurs to set up food processing units based on cluster approach.

It seeks to provide effective and seamless backward and forward integration for processed food industry by plugging gaps in supply chain and creation of processing and preservation capacities and modernization/ expansion of existing food processing units.

SAMPADA: Implementation and Background

• The implementation of SAMPADA will result in creation of modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet.
• It will not only provide a big boost to the growth of food processing sector in the country but also help in providing better prices to farmers and is a big step towards doubling of farmers’ income.
• It will create huge employment opportunities especially in the rural areas. It will also help in reducing wastage of agricultural produce, increasing the processing level, availability of safe and convenient processed foods at affordable price to consumers and enhancing the export of the processed foods.
• Food Processing Sector has emerged as an important segment of the Indian economy in terms of its contribution to GDP, employment and investment.
• During 2015-16, the sector constituted as much as 9.1 and 8.6 per cent of GVA in Manufacturing and Agriculture sector respectively.
• The manifesto of NDA Government stresses upon incentivizing the setting up of food processing industry for providing better income for the farmers and creating jobs.
• Various measures have been taken by the government to give a boost to the food processing sector. With these measures food processing sector has grown at 7 per cent.

Initiatives For Food Processing

• In order to arrest post-harvest losses of horticulture & non-horticulture produce, the Ministry has accorded approval to 42 Mega Food Parks and 236 Integrated Cold Chains for creation of modern infrastructure for the food processing along the value chain from the farm to the market.
• Out of 42 Mega Food Parks, 8 are operational. Of this, 6 Mega Food Parks have been made operational during the last 3 years.
• Another 4 Mega Food Parks are targeted for operationalization in next three months.
• Similarly, out of 236 Cold Chains, 101 Cold Chains have been sanctioned recently in March, 2017.
• 100 Cold Chains have become operational. Of which, 63 Cold Chains have been made operational during last 3 years.

Government has taken various other measures to boost food processing sector as follows:

• To provide impetus to investment in food processing and retail sector, govt. has allowed 100% FDI in trading including through e-commerce, in respect of food products manufactured and / or produced in India. This will benefit farmers immensely and will create back – end infrastructure and significant employment opportunities.
• The govt. has also set up a Special Fund of INR 2000 crore in NABARD to make available affordable credit at concessional rate of interest to designated food parks and agro processing units in the designated food parks.
• Food and agro–based processing units and cold chain infrastructure have been brought under the ambit of Priority Sector Lending (PSL) to provide additional credit for food processing activities and infrastructure thereby, boosting food processing, reducing wastage, create employment and increasing farmers’ income.

ANSWER: Uttar Pradesh

Explanation:
Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya has flagged off an ambulance service that would cater to the needs of the cows.

Under the ‘Gauvansh Chikitsa Mobile Vans’ service, initially, 5 ambulances were flagged off to cover Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Mathura and Allahabad.

The ambulance will have a veterinary doctor along with an assistant to rescue ill or injured cows and transport them to ‘gau shalas’ or take them for treatment to the veterinary hospital.

In addition, a “gau seva toll-free number” has also been released to enable common people to come forward to help the cows.

The ambulance service will be run in collaboration with the MNREGA Mazdoor Kalyan Sanghathan.

Mazdoor Kalyan Sanghathan is an organization that claims to work for the welfare of the labourers and others employed in the informal sector.

The organization has a presence in 5 states. A similar initiative to save cows was initiated in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh a few days ago.

ANSWER: All the above

Explanation:
The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) in the last week of April 2017 announced the names of the recipient of the INSA Medal for Young Scientist 2017.

A total of 30 scientists have been chosen for the prestigious award.

The award, consisting of a bronze medal and cash award of INR 25000 will be given to the recipients during INSA’s anniversary meeting scheduled in December 2017.

The INSA Young Scientists Award is considered to be the highest recognition of promise, creativity and excellence in a young scientist.

The INSA award was instituted in 1974 by the Indian National Science Academy.

List of INSA award recipients

Name	Awarded For
Riddhi Datta, PhD, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Government College, Kolkata	Elucidating the molecular mechanisms of glutathione- salicylic acid- and ethylene interactions in plant defense signalling network
Srishti Dar, PhD, TIFR, Mumbai	Developing an elegant assay system of arrayed supported membrane tubes whose dimensions can be controlled to mimic the topology of tubular intermediates generated during membrane fission and for demonstrating the role of GTP hydrolysis and PH domain in membrane constriction and faster kinetics of dynamin catalyzed fission
Debraj Choudhury, PhD, Department of Physics, IITK, Kharagpur	His insights into the physics of multi-ferroics and oxide systems, and the discovery of exceptional dielectric properties in a series of compounds
Swetaprovo Chaudhuri, PhD, Department of Aerospace Engineering, IISc, Bengaluru	Outstanding contributions in turbulent combustion laser diagnostics and high performance CFD computation
Kunal Chakraborty, PhD, ESSO- INCOIS, Hyderabad	His outstanding contributions on modelling of marine ecosystem variability in the Indian Ocean
Anup Biswas, PhD, Department of Mathematics, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune	His study of the Dirichlet problem for stable-like operators and related probabilistic representations of solutions of stochastic differential equations with jumps
Vashist Bist, PhD, Texas Instruments India Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru	His outstanding contribution in the area of DC motor drives for low power applications
Sanchari Bhattacharyya, PhD, Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA	Designing minimal protein immunogens based on glycoprotein gp120 of HIV-1 as a potential future vaccine against HIV with reduced aggregation properties and higher stability
Priyoneel Basu, PhD, Department of Zoology, Institute of Science, BHU, Varanasi	Pioneering studies on the role of 5-HTP (a precursor of the neurotransmitter serotonin) in resetting the phase of the circadian activity-rest rhythm in mice
Md Mahiuddin Baidya, PhD, Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai	His contributions towards development of news protocols and for the synthesis of biologically important molecules
Dipak Gayen, PhD, National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi	Cloning the rice r9- LOX1 gene and showing increased viability and storage stability of nutritional components of golden rice seeds by its down regulation through RNAi and for studying regulation of iron transport in roots by miRNA
Vikram Vishal, PhD, Department of Earth Sciences, IIT-B, Mumbai	His outstanding contributions on hydro-dynamics of fluid flow in unconventional reservoirs
Jitendra Thakur, PhD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research, Washington, USA	Elucidating mechanisms of centromere and kinetochore formation in Candida species
Devanjan Sinha, PhD, Department of Zoology, Institute of Science, BHU, Varanasi	Delineating the complexity and substrate specificity of mitochondrial transport machines and for establishing their role in maintenance of mitochondrial function in diverse physiological states
Vikas Kumar Singh, PhD, Center of Excellence in Genomics, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Hyderabad	Developing large scale genetic and genomic resources, including sequencing–based mapping, for fusarium wilt resistance and sterility mosaic disease resistance in pigeonpea and for contribution to development of molecular breeding lines in rice
Sunil Shetty, PhD, Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland	Providing novel insights about roles of the 3GC pairs in initiator tRNA in translation
Sahana Holla, PhD, Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, USA	Providing novel insights into immune evasion and survival strategies of mycobacteria Dinesh Jagadeesan, PhD, Physical and Materials Chemistry Division, CSIR- National Chemical Laboratory, Pune His approaches towards development of new catalysts and activation of CO2
Smita Kumar, PhD, Centre of Biomedical Research, SGPGI Campus, Lucknow	Significant contributions in understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in detoxification of heavy metals like As and S in plants
Rucha Kiran Patil, PhD, Genetic Research Center, National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health, Mumbai	Identifying novel roles of cell derived micro particles in important clinical conditions like recurrent pregnancy loss and dengue fever complications
Ashutosh Pandey, PhD, Faculty of Biology, Chair of Genome Research & CeBiTec, University of Bielefeld, Germany	Metabolic engineering of flavonoid and carotenoid biosynthesis in higher plants
Joe Philip Ninan, PhD, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University, USA	His studies of outburst phenomena in young stellar objects, and development of necessary instruments
Bodhisatta Nandy, PhD, IISER, Behrampur	Comprehensive experimental evidence, using the Drosophila model system, for the major tenets of the theory of sexual selection and inter-sexual conflict
Kartik Prasad, PhD, Mechanical Behavior Group, Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad	His outstanding contributions in the development of indigenous instrumentation for thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) crack growth experiments, its utilization for studying TMF in aerospace grade Ti and Ni alloys, and subsequently for using such knowledge in enhancing the remaining life of aeroengines
Arnab Sen, PhD, Department of Theoretical Physics, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata	His outstanding contributions towards developing quantum Monte Carlo methods to probe quantum critical points
Uday Kumar B Reddy, PhD, Department of Computer Science and Automation, IISc, Bengaluru	His stellar work in automatic parallelization in high performance computing
Sanjay Pratihar, PhD, Department of Chemical Sciences, Tezpur University, Tezpur	His outstanding contributions to multi-metal complexes, theoretical understanding, selective sensing of Hg2+ ions and important applications in agriculture
Aravind Kumar Rengan, PhD, Department of Biomedical Engineering, IITH, Hyderabad	Devising a novel way of nano delivery using liposomes and gold nanoparticles, which is useful for both imaging and therapeutics

ANSWER: Padma Venkataraman

Explanation:
The Tamil Nadu government on 2 May 2017 conferred the 2017 Avvaiyar Award to Padma Venkataraman, a social worker.

She is also the daughter of former Indian President, the late R Venkataraman.

Padma was honoured with the award for her efforts in the field of women’s welfare and the rehabilitation of leprosy-affected people since the past 30 years by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami.

The prize carried a cheque of Rs 1 lakh, a gold medal weighing 8 gm and a certificate.

Padma Venkataraman who is the Chairperson of Women’s Indian Association (WIA) called the award a great honour and stated that it reflects the involvement of Tamil Nadu state’s government and CM in the advancement of women, children, the differently-abled and leprosy affected people. S

He further added that the award will only strengthen her resolve to serve the society as best as possible.

Avvaiyar Award: Know More

• The award was constituted by late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in 2012. It was named after the Tamil poetess Avvaiyar.
• It aims to honour women who have done excellent service in the areas of social reform, women’s development, culture, media, inter-faith harmony, and administration, among others.
• The award carries a cash prize of INR 1 lakh, 8 gram of gold and a certificate.
• In 2016, the award was conferred to M Sarada Menon, founder of Schizophrenia Care and research Foundation (SCARF) for the welfare of mentally challenged.
• Prior to that in 2015, the award was given to Shanthi Ranganathan, the founder of T. T. Ranganathan Clinical Research Foundation, for her service towards treatment and rehabilitation of drug and alcohol addicts.

ANSWER: 1949

Explanation:
The 44^th Daytime Emmy Awards was announced on 30 April 2017 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, in Pasadena, Los Angeles.

General Hospital was declared the Outstanding Drama Series at the 44th Daytime Emmy Awards, while Jeopardy! grabbed the Outstanding Game Show award.

Complete list of winners

Category	Winner
Outstanding Entertainment News Program	Entertainment Tonight
Outstanding Talk Show/Entertainment	The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Outstanding Talk Show/Informative	The Dr. Oz Show
Outstanding Morning Program	Good Morning America
Outstanding Culinary Program	Eat the World with Emeril Lagasse
Outstanding Game Show	Jeopardy!
Outstanding Drama Series	General Hospital
Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series	Lexi Ainsworth as Kristina Davis on General Hospital
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Steve Burton as Dylan McAvoy on The Young and the Restless
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Kate Mansi as Abigail Deveraux on Days of Our Lives
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	Scott Clifton as Liam Spencer on The Bold and the Beautiful
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Gina Tognoni as Phyllis Summers on The Young and the Restless
Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series	Bryan Craig as Morgan Corinthos on General Hospital
Outstanding Special Guest Performer in a Drama Series	Jim O’Heir as Matt Cannistra on The Bold and the Beautiful
Outstanding Game Show Host	Steve Harvey - Family Feud
Outstanding Informative Talk Show Host	Steve Harvey - Steve Harvey
Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host	Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Aisha Tyler, and Sheryl Underwood - The Talk
Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team	The Young and the Restless
Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team	General Hospital
Lifetime Achievement Award	Mary Hart, former long-running host of Entertainment Tonight

ANSWER: Esencia Technologies Inc

Explanation:
The board of L&T Technology Services (LTTS) has approved the acquisition of U.S.-based Esencia Technologies Inc, a provider of design services in digital signal processing for communications, video, security and networking.

A technology arm of engineering giant Larsen & Toubro, LTTS is also betting on big orders from multi-billion dollar global firms for double-digit growth in revenues in FY18.

This is above industry body Nasscom’s projections.

LTTL won a notable deal from a European OEM for design, development, implementation and standardisation of its digital engineering framework.

The company reported an 11.5% fall in net profits to INR 96.5 crore even as foreign exchange fluctuations weighed on profitability.

However, revenues rose 1.4% to INR 812.3 crore while in dollar terms the revenue grew by 3.4%.

Meanwhile, the acquisition will deepen LTTS’ offerings to global customers, in the realm of perceptual computing, Internet of Things, advanced silicon products and wireless networking technologies.

Esencia has a team of more than 100 embedded, ASIC design and semiconductor experts in Silicon Valley.

LTTS’ board also elevated A.M. Naik’s successor, S.N. Subramaniyan, at the EPC major parent to the position of vice-chairman from that of non-executive director.

LTTS: Know More

• Headquarters: India
• CEO: Keshab Panda (10 Jan 2015)
• Founded: 2012
• Parent organization: Larsen & Toubro
• Subsidiaries: L&T Thales Technology Services Private Limited

ANSWER: 7.4

Explanation:
The Indian economy will grow 7.4 per cent this fiscal and 7.6 per cent in the next as the bankruptcy and GST laws will help create a better business friendly environment.

This is as per the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Ahead of its 50th annual meeting to be attended by finance minister and central bank governors of member nations, ADB indicated new bankruptcy law will make it easier to do business in India.

The growth rate compares to 7.1 per cent of the previous fiscal.

Over 7 per cent growth rate is high if one compares it to other emerging market economies and also China.

Behind this is cyclical factor, improved terms of trade. The Indian government adopted new bankruptcy law that improved the business enabling environment.

That is the a short-term and medium-term factor behind the gross acceleration in India.

On the impact of demonetisation of old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes that took out 86 per cent of the currency in circulation, it obviously generated short-term decline in cash-based transactions and consumer sentiment.

ADB has not studied if the demonetisation had any consequences on black money.

The GST, the biggest indirect tax reform since independence, together with the new bankruptcy law are big positives for India.

The bankruptcy law and the GST will help in creating a better business enabling environment, which seems to be a factor behind this gross acceleration of India,.

The rupee strengthened to 64.2 against the US dollar and has been gaining strength as compared to other emerging economy currencies.

The rupee has appreciated by over 5 per cent against the US dollar since January.

ADB: Know More

• Headquarters: Mandaluyong, Philippines
• President: Takehiko Nakao
• Founded: 19 December 1966
• Membership: 67 countries
• Staff: 2997 employees
• Purpose: Economic development
• Motto: Fighting poverty in Asia and the Pacific