Current Affairs Questions & Answers - May 26, 2016

ANSWER: 6

Explanation:
Union Cabinet has approved six new IITs coming up at Tirupati, Bhilai, Dharwad, Palakkad, Goa and J&K. ISM Dhanbad will be upgraded to an IIT. Union Cabinet has given approval for amending the IIT Act 1961 for incorporating the new IITs.

• The approval will also bring six new Indian institutes of Technology within the ambit of the Institutes of Technology Act 1961 and declare them institutions of national importance

ANSWER: Hangul

Explanation:
The endangered hangul, also known as the Kashmir deer is in the throes of extinction, on account of human intrusion and domestic livestock grazing as the only habitat here.

• Wildlife experts and activists have raised the alarm calling for strict measures to protect the species against human intrusion
• The main habitat of this elk is the Dachigam National Park, the main concentration of endangered species
• Once found in the high altitudes of Northern India and Pakistan, the animal is now found in Dachigam forests
• Hangul population has been declining steeply since the last century when close to 5000 deers inhabited the Kashmiri valley.

ANSWER: Sudan

Explanation:
China has a long standing nuclear cooperation with Pakistan and has constructed numerous nuclear power reactors.

• It is currently building close to 1100 MW reactors in Karachi
• China has signed the agreement with Sudan, its closest ally in Africa to built 600 MW atomic reactor, the first such project in the African nation
• Framework deals have been signed by state owned China National Nuclear Corp and Sudan on nuclear power development including a 600 MW atomic reactor, according to official media China Daily.
• Agreements involve a blueprint for nuclear power development in the next decade for Sudan and construction of the first nuclear power station in the country

ANSWER: 4

Explanation:
Chinese capital city Beijing will implement the new strictest vehicle emission standards to reduce hazardous hydrocarbon emissions by 5 percent. Beijing took the lead in China in using unleaded gasoline 2007 and worked out the Beijing II gasoline standard in 2014

• Beijing also issued and implemented Beijing III, IV and V in 2005, 2008, and 2012
• Gasoline standards in Beijing are always one to two stages ahead of other Chinese cities
• Newest standards in Beijing were two or there stages ahead of other Chinese cities
• The newest standard Beijing VI will reduce vehicle hydrocarbon emissions by 5 percent.
• Beijing is expected to implement the new standard in December next year- the new strictest standard will lower emissions by 40 to 50 percent

ANSWER: 19

Explanation:
Greece has won an essential batch of bailout funds from global creditors following an agreement among 19 eurozone finance ministers and can look forward to debt relief in the future.

• The ministers approved current reform efforts and disburse 10.3 billion Euro in funds to see Athens through the next few months
• We now have global agreement opens the way for significant disbursement for much needed fun dinging for Greece and important measures
• First disbursement of 7.5 billion euros could begin by the middle of next month with other disbursements coming after summer.
• The global agreement opens the way for significant disbursement of much needed funding for Greece and important measures on debt relief
• Breakthrough comes after talks instead of easy approval

ANSWER: Akhundzada

Explanation:
The choice of Akhundzada as the Taliban leader was believed to have taken place in a meeting at Pakistan

• Afghan Taliban confirmed former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US drone strike in the past week and they have appointed a successor
• Pakistani authorities have given shelter to Taliban leaders over the Afghan border
• The insurgents have been fighting to overthrow the Kabul government since the year 2001
• Their own Islamist regime was overthrown by a US invasion

ANSWER: 2

Explanation:
Team of scientists have discovered two geologically young craters- one 16 million years old and the other between 75-420 million years in the darkest regions of the moon.

• Young impact craters are located in the darkest regions of the moon
• These craters are an exciting discovery according to senior research scientist D Kathleen Mandt from Southwest Research Institute in Texas
• Finding geologically young craters and hone in on their age to understand the collision history in the solar system
• Collision in space has played an important role in the formation of the solar system including the formation of the Moon.
• Impact craters tell the history of collisions between objects in the solar system
• As the moon is peppered with impacts, the surface serves as a record of the past

ANSWER: HL Tauri

Explanation:
This discovery suggests planets may form in shorter timescales than previously thought. In Novemeber 2014, Atacama Large Millimetre/sub millimetre Array in Chile released an image of young star HL Tauri and its dusk disk

• The image which is the sharpest for any kind of object shows numerous gaps in the dusk disk around the star
• As the disks are sites of planet formation, dark gaps carved by infant planets in the disk sweep away dust along the orbits
• HL Tauri is very young estimated to be only about a million years and classical studies suggest it takes tens of millions of years for planets to form from small dust
• Some researchers also hold that the mechanisms can be used to form gaps: changes in dust size through coalescene or destruction of dust due to gas molecules freezing.

ANSWER: UAE Space Agency

Explanation:
Government on 25th May gave a nod for signing an MoU between ISRO and UAE space agency which will lead to the setting up of a JWG for two agencies and help in cooperation in the exploration of outer space for peaceful purposes.

• Decision to sign the memo was taken by the Union Cabinet chaired by PM Modi and will assist in the exploration of outer space for peaceful purposes
• MoU will also result in setting up space cooperation and an 11th meeting of India-UAE Joint Commission for Economic and Technical Cooperation
• ISRO has achieved success on MOM and UAE sought Indian cooperation for its first inter-planetary expedition

ANSWER: 74%

Explanation:
CCEA approved Yes Bank’s request for increase in foreign investment to 74% from exist limit of 41.87 percent without any sublimit

• Attaining a total production in excess of INR 7.5 lakh crore by 2025 were among the objectives.

ANSWER: 21 million

Explanation:
This will envisage the creation of 21 million new jobs by 2025. The objective of the National Capital Goods Policy is to create an ecosystem for globally competitive capital goods sector and attain total production in excess of INR 7.5 lakh crore from 2.3 lakh crore in 2025.

• Production will go up from Rs. 2,30,000 crore in 2014-15 to Rs. 7,50,000 crore in 2025, jobs from 8.4 million to 30 million
• The policy aims to increase direct domestic employment from the current 1.4 million to at least 5 million and indirect employment from the current 7 million to 25 million by 2025, thus providing additional employment to over 21 million people.

ANSWER: Specially Designated Global Terrorists

Explanation:
US state department on May 25 put two more Pakistani extremist groups on a Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) list

• The two outfits designated global terrorist groups are the Tariq Gidar Group (TGG) and Jama'at ul Dawa al-Qu'ran (JDQ).
• They are determined to have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of US nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States, the state department said in its designation.
• TGG is a Pakistani Taliban (TTP) linked group based in Darra Adam Khel that is responsible for the massacre at the Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan, that left 132 schoolchildren and nine staffers dead - the deadliest terrorist attack in Pakistan's history.
• The group's leader, Umar Mansoor, is also known as the mastermind of the January 2016 attack on Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, Pakistan, that killed 20 and wounded between 50 and 60 others, it added.

ANSWER: Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order 1950

Explanation:
Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 May 2016 gave the ex-post facto approval to the amendments in the Constitution (Schedule Tribes) Order, 1950.

• The approval was given to modify the list of Scheduled Tribes in respect of five States, namely, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Tripura
• Besides, it also seeks to identify new communities in the Union Territory of Puducherry.

ANSWER: Japan

Explanation:
The Union Cabinet on 25 May 2016 gave ex-post facto approval to the MoU between Indian and Japan for promoting sustainable, stable and low-carbon thermal power development in India.

• The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will help India in formulating suitable policies and developing technologies involved in producing sustainable, stable and low-carbon thermal power.
• The agreement will support Clean Coal Technology (CCT) for thermal power plants such as Ultra Super Critical (USC) and other environmental technologies.
• It will also explore possibilities for acquisition of carbon credits with bilateral or multilateral offset schemes that are anticipated to be materialized in the future as a result of low-carbon power development.

ANSWER: Actions on Air Quality

Explanation:
United National Environment Programme on 24th may 2016 released the Actions on Air Quality report.

• The report was released during the second United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-2).
• As per the report, with the decline of the global air quality, action in some air quality areas points to political will to tackle this global public health emergency although current efforts still fall short
• Report said global urban air pollution levels increased by 8 percent between 2008 and 2013.

ANSWER: Ahmedabad

Explanation:
Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in May 2016 announced to open its first branch in India at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. IDB is headquartered at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

• The plans to set up the branch at Gujarat is part of MoU signed between India’s EXIM Bank and IDB during Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit to United Arab Emirates (UAE) in April 2016.
• As part of the MoU a 100 million dollar line-of-credit was to be given to facilitate exports to IDB's member countries.
• Besides, it also announced to provide 30 medical vans as part of IDB’s social sector initiatives.

ANSWER: Bharat Vaani

Explanation:
The Union HRD Minister, Smt Smriti Zubin Iani launched the multilingual knowledge portal www.bharatvani.in at Lucknow today.

• While launching the app the Minister said that under the Prime Minister Shri Modi’s Digital India Mission, Bharatavani App will perform the task of bringing about digital revolution in the county.
• The Government’s mission is to showcase the Indian culture and heritage to the world through the medium of technology.
• Given India’s diversity, Bharatavani is an attempt to bring the people of India under one portal, its goal being to bridge the Digital and language divide, with the idea to publish as well as involve people in the Open Knowledge movement.

ANSWER: Guyana

Explanation:
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has extended his greetings and felicitations to the Government and people of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana on the eve of their Independence Day (May 26, 2016).

• In a message to His Excellency Brig. (Retd) David Arthur Granger, the President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, the President has said relations between India and Guyana are based on the solid foundation of shared history and culture.
• These have been further strengthened through exchanges of high level visits and people-to-people contacts.

ANSWER: May 25

Explanation:
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has extended his greetings and felicitations to the Government and people of the Argentine Republic on the occasion of their National Day (May 25, 2016)

• In a message to His Excellency Ing. Mauricio Macri, the President of the Argentine Republic, the President has extended his greetings

ANSWER: National Institute of Technology

Explanation:
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on May 25th granted ex-post facto approval for establishment of NIT, Andhra Pradesh which has been registered as a Society under the Andhra Pradesh Societies Registration Act, 2001 with effect from 20th August 2015.

• The Cabinet also approved introduction of a Bill namely the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2016 for inclusion of the NIT, Andhra Pradesh in its First Schedule.
• The post- facto approval of the Cabinet for establishment of NIT, Andhra Pradesh as a society under the Societies Registration Act, 2001 would give a legal entity to NIT, Andhra Pradesh.

ANSWER: Myanmar

Explanation:
Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 25th May granted ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and the Ministry of Tourism, Government of Maldives for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism.

• The Memorandum of Understanding with Maldives will be instrumental in increasing arrival from this important source market. In recent years, Maldives has emerged as an important tourism generating market for India.

Objectives:

• To expand bilateral cooperation in the tourism sector
• To exchange information and data related to tourism
• To encourage cooperation between tourism stakeholders, including hotels and tour operators
• To establish exchange programme for cooperation in Human Resources Development
• To invest in the Tourism and Hospitality sectors
To exchange visits of Tour Operators/Media/Opinion Makers for promotion of two-way tourism
• To exchange experiences in the areas of promotion, marketing, destination development and management
• To participate in travel fairs/exhibitions in each other’s country an
• To promote safe honourable and sustainable tourism