Current Affairs Questions & Answers - May 20, 2016

ANSWER: Credit Information Companies

Explanation:
Aiming to attract more foreign investment, RBI on May 19th laid down rules permitting FDI up to 100 percent in credit information companies if ownership of the investor company is well diversified.

• RBI also said it considered allowing higher FDI limits to entities with track record of running a CIC in a well regulated environment.
• FIIs/FPIs investing in CIC should not seek representation on the board of directors based on their shareholding according to RBI.

ANSWER: Infrastructure Investment Trusts

Explanation:
SEBI has received four applications for InvITs or Infrastructure Investment Trusts with two of the applications received for setting up such entities approved.

• No application has been received for REIT or Real Estate Investment Trust though regulator has been getting enquiries.
• These instruments will help to garner funds for further investment into infrastructure and real estate projects.

ANSWER: Tiger of Indian Rivers

Explanation:
Population of the golden mahseer, hunted for sport and food is falling in HP rivers leading to the formation of an artificial conservation programme for the rehab and conservation of this fish species also called the tiger of the Indian rivers.

• Hatchery-reared juveniles would be released into the rivers and reservoi.
• Studies conducted by the fisheries department say the population of the golden mahseer is declining in the state due to various reasons, including:
1. construction of dams, barrages,
2. pollution,
3. indiscriminate fishing of brood and juvenile fish,
4. introduction of exotic species and habitat deterioration.

ANSWER: Liquid wire

Explanation:

• Inspired by the liquid wire technique in spider webs, scientists have created novel composite fibres which extend like a solid and compress like a liquid.
• Pulling on a sticky thread in a spider's web and letting it snap back shows that the thread never sags but always stays taut - even when stretched to many times its original length.. This is because any loose thread is immediately spooled inside the tiny droplets of watery glue that coat and surround the core gossamer fibres of the web's capture spiral.

ANSWER: Philip Abraham

Explanation:
An Indian journalist has been unanimously elected Deputy mayor of Loughton town in the UK as announced on May 19th.

• Councillor Carol Davis, the newly-elected mayor presented the Deputy Mayor’s Badge to Mr. Philip Abraham. The Deputy Mayor normally goes on to become the Mayor for the following year.
• Mr. Abraham, a journalist from Kerala, had in 2012 won the election to the Loughton Town Council. Loughton is a vibrant town in Essex.

ANSWER: MS804

Explanation:
National carrier EgyptAir said MS804 carrying 69 passengers and crew on board from Paris to Cairo has been missing since May 19, 2016.

• It disappeared from radar over the Mediterranean sea and airline officials believed it crashed into the sea.
• There was no distress call from the plane and the last contact with the pilot was 10 minutes before the aircraft disappeared.
• The plane travelling at an altitude of 37,000 ft disappeared after entering Egyptian airspace
  According to Flight Radar 24 dot com, the plane’s last position was over the Mediterranean Sea.

ANSWER: Niki.ai

Explanation:
Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of TATA Sons has invested an undisclosed amount in Niki.ai, a AI based chatbot.

• A chatbot is a computer programme designed to simulate the chatter or conservation of human beings over the internet.
• UTV founder Ronnie Screwvala’s VC firm also participated in the round of funding.
• This firm was established by IIT- Kharagpur alumni Sachin Jaiswal, Keshav Prawasi, Nitin Babel and Shishir Modi.
• niki.ai said it uses technologies such as natural language processing and machine learning to converse with the customers over a simple chat interface.
• It then places their orders within seconds with the partner businesses.

ANSWER: Prime Minister

Explanation:
Turkey's governing party on May 19 formally tapped Binali Yildirim as its candidate to lead the party and become the country's next premier.

• The spokesman of the ruling Justice and Development Party, Omer Celik, made the announcement, saying the lawmaker from Izmir was chosen "with great consensus".
• Yildirim is Turkey's minister of transport, maritime and communication as well as a founding member of the AKP.
• The shake-up comes after Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced May 4 he was stepping down due to differences with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

ANSWER: Roanu

Explanation:
The cyclonic storm ‘Roanu’ over west central Bay of Bengal remained practically stationary and lay centred about 80 km south southeast of Machilipatnam, about 290 km south-southwest of Visakhapatnam and 160 km south-southwest of Kakinada.

• The system is likely to move initially north-northeastowards along and off Andhra Pradesh coast during the next 12 hours, thereafter north eastwards.
• It is likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by tonight, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
• Heavy to very heavy rain at a few places with isolated extremely heavy rain is very likely to occur in the districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East and West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and Nellore till Friday morning.
• The Cyclone Warning Centre (CWC), Visakhapatnam, has issued a warning to fishermen against venturing into the sea along and off AP coast during the next 48 hours.

ANSWER: BJP

Explanation:
Assembly election results of five states — Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry — were declared on May 19, 2016. BJP won in Assam while INC won 17 of 30 seats in Puducherry. BPS also emerged as a strong party with government in 9 states and power sharing in 4 states.

• Congress is in power in only 6 of 29 states.
• Pime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won power for the first time in the northeastern state of Assam.
• The Left Democratic Front (LDF) won 91 seats with the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) at 47 in a state that has stuck to its trend of not voting the same government in twice.
• Tamil Nadu has bucked a similar trend of yo yo politics, handing Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa a second successive term. The AIADMK won 134 seats, well past the half-way mark at 118, while the DMK-Congress got 98 seats.
• Mamata Banerjee has constructed another sweep, with her Trinamool Congress winning 211 of the state’s 294 seats. The Left-Congress alliance was far behind at 77.

ANSWER: Rajiv Bhalla

Explanation:
Barco on 18 May 2016 announced the appointment of Rajiv Bhalla as Managing Director for India.

• Rajiv will also be the legal representative of Barco India, fulfilling all legal, regulatory and statutory obligations.
• He will also ensure that all the obligations are complaint with local legal, safety, environmental regulations as well as company directives and guidelines.
• He holds more than 22 years of senior leadership experience in technology organizations like Thomson Consumer Electronics, Microsoft, NEC and Intel.

ANSWER: Both of the above

Explanation:
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated an Intelligent Operations Centre (IOC) in Rashtrapati Bhavan and launched a Mobile App ‘Monitor’ for transformation of President’s Estate into a smart township at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan (May 19, 2016).

• President’s Secretariat follows a value-oriented governance model that is based on the core civilizational values of compassion and service to others.
• Smart President’s Estate will work around the ‘4H’ theme of a Humane, Hi-tech, Heritage and Happy Township.

ANSWER: Neelam Sanjiva Reddy

Explanation:
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee paid homage to Shri Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, former President of India on his Birth Anniversary at Rashtrapati Bhavan (May 19, 2016). He paid floral tributes in front of a portrait of Shri Neelam Sanjiva Reddy at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Officers and staff of Rashtrapati Bhavan were present on the occasion.

ANSWER: Cameroon

Explanation:

• In his message to His Excellency Mr. Paul Biya, the President of the Republic of Cameroon, the President has extended greetings and felicitations on the occasion of their National Day.
• The Third India African summit was held in New Delhi and Cameroon was an active participant.

ANSWER: Slovenia

Explanation:
India and Slovenia have signed a Protocol amending the existing Convention and Protocol between the two countries for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income on 17th May, 2016 in Ljubljana.

• The Protocol will broaden the scope of the existing framework of exchange of tax related information which will help curb tax evasion and tax avoidance between the two countries.
• It will also enable mutual assistance in collection of taxes.