Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Nov 06, 2016

ANSWER: Effective Education and Evacuation Drills

Explanation:
The first World Tsunami Awareness Day was celebrated worldwide on Nov 5, 2016.

• The theme for the year was Effective Education and Evacuation Drills.
• In December 2015, the UNGA designated 5th Nov as World Tsunami Awareness Day.
• World tsunami awareness can be traced to 1854, when the first tsunami early warning system was documented.
• A villager in Wakayama in Japan was concerned about the impending tsunami following a high intensity earthquake on Nov 5, 1854.
• Fire was set to the rice sheaves atop the hill and villagers who went to put off the fire were saved as their village was destroyed by the tsunami.
• To celebrate the day of Inamura no Hi (the burning of rice sheaves), a resolution was jointly prepared by 142 countries including Japan as a follow-up of the third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
• The United Nations designated 5th Nov as World Tsunami Awareness Day.
• Observing this day will spread awareness among people for dangers of tsunami.
• This will stress the importance of early warning systems to mitigate damage from devastating natural hazard.
• The day also aims at reviving traditional knowledge about tsunamis.
• Awareness raising activities will be organised throughout the Conference through thematic events, exhibitions and distribution of awareness materials.

ANSWER: Upma Virdi

Explanation:
26-year-old Upma Virdi, an Indian from Punjab settled in Australia received the Business woman of the Year award at the India Australia Business Community Awards.

• This award ceremony was held in Sydney.
• Virdi, a lawyer, has set up Chai Walli selling tea blended with different flavours.
• Art of Chai workshops are also held by her in Australia.
• She was inspired by her grandfather who was an Ayurvedic doctor and took to making tea for the family resulting in the perfect blend.
• She hails from Chandigarh in Punjab.
• Virdi aims to educate the Australian society about Indian culture through tea.

ANSWER: Meryl Streep

Explanation:
Meryl Streep has won the Golden Globes Lifetime Achievement Award 2016 to be given at the annual ceremony in January.

• Streep is a three time Oscar winner.
• She will be presented the Cecil B DeMille award for 40 years in the film industry.
• Streep was in a 2016 comedy Florence Foster Jenkins most recently.
• The 67-year-old actress has won the Oscar three times- for "The Iron Lady," "Sophie’s Choice" and "Kramer vs Kramer".
• She has received a record 19 Oscar nominations during her 4 decade career.
• Streep joins Denzil Washington, George Clooney, Jodie Foster and Woody Allen as recipients of this award.

ANSWER: Odisha

Explanation:
The first titanium project of India is being established by Saraf Group in Odisha’s Ganjam district.

• The project has started its test production.
• 1 of 4 functional furnaces of this project became operational and the plant is the first of its kind and the only one in the country.
• The plant is expected to produce 36,000 tons of titanium slag and 20,000 tons of pig iron each year.
• During the first phase, Saraf group has invested INR 350 crore in the project.
• It will produce titanium slag and the raw material called ilmenite will be proceeder from OSCOM.
• The company has also appointed those who lost their land in this project.
• The project was proposed in 2005.
• In 2007, Russian premier Viktor Ubkov had evinced interest in the project.
• Saraf Group has entered into an MoU with Odisha government in 2008, to take up a project of its own.
• The export based industry is expected to export around 75 percent of its produce to countries such as China and Japan.

ANSWER: Foreign

Explanation:
RBI has issued guidelines for forex hedging by global companies.

• The guidelines are on how Indian subsidiaries of MNC companies can hedge their currency exposure risk in the nation.
• RBI indicated on 4th Nov indicated that subsidiaries looking to hedge their exposure outside of exports and imports could use foreign exchange currency rupee derivatives, OTC and exchange-traded products.
• Profits and loss arises from hedging transactions in India as reflected in books of domestic subsidiaries of MNC among other guidelines.
• RBI is aiming to widen the scope of activities where hedging is permitted.
• Market participants and banks can submit their comments about the proposed guidelines by Nov 11, the RBI has said.

ANSWER: Feel

Explanation:
Disney Research has developed a 360 degree VR application using a chair to provide bodily sensations enabling users to add customisable feel effects.

• This includes the falling rain or the beating heart.
• VR has seen a renaissance in recent years as advancements in computer graphics, computing platforms and seamless flow of information between hardware and software in an effective way.
• Current VR systems provide buzz-like haptic sensations through hand controllers.
• Technology also exists for richer sensations and users can select from a wide range of sensations.
• The haptic playback and authoring plug-in developed by researchers connects the VR game engine to custom haptic devices.
• This allows users to create, customise and associate haptic feedback to events triggered in a VR video game engine.
• Haptic definition called VR360HD was developed and tested using a consumer headset and Disney Research’s haptic chair.
• The chair features a grid of six vibrotactile actuators in the back and two subwoofers or shakers in the seat and back.
• The grid produces localising moving sensations in the back, while the subwoofers shake two different regions of the body and create a sensation of motion.
• Users can select from a library of feel effects,assembled and tested by Disney Research.
• Feel effects are identified with rain, pulsing or rumbling, and can be adjusted to anywhere from light to heavy rainfall.

ANSWER: Highest altitude fix of GPS signal

Explanation:
Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission has set the Guinness World Record for the highest altitude fix of a GPS signal at 70,000 km above Earth’s surface.

• Working in a highly elliptical orbit around the earth, this spacecraft incorporates GPS measurements into tracking systems.
• This requires sensitivity position and orbit calculations to guide tight flying formations.
• MMS has achieved the closest flying separation of multi-spacecraft formation with 7.2 km between the 4 satellites.
• With closest satellites moving at 35, 405 km per hour, this makes them the fastest known operational use of a GPS receiver.
• MMS is providing scientists insight into Earth’s magnetosphere.
• Mission uses 4 individual satellites that fly in pyramid formation to map magnetic reconnection through the interaction between the magnetic fields of the sun and the Earth.

ANSWER: Sri Lanka

Explanation:
India and Sri Lanka have taken the decision to work towards ending bottom trawling by Indian fisherman, setting up procedures to repatriate arrested fishermen and patrolling together.

• Agreement was signed by MEA Union Minister Sushma Swaraj and Sri Lankan counterpart Mangala Samaraweera.
• A JWG and ministerial meeting every few months has been set up as well.
• The agreement involves a JWG comprising MEA reps, coast guards and navies of both countries.
• Coast guards of the two countries will set up hotlines for instant communication.
• The JWG will focus on expediting the transition towards the ending of practice of bottom trawling at the earliest, working out modalities for SOP for handing over apprehended fishermen.
• This is essential for ascertaining possibilities for cooperation on patrolling.
• Fisherman associations of the two nations will meet regularly every six months as well.

ANSWER: None of the above

Explanation:
Defence Research & Development Organisation has signed an MoU with IIT-Delhi for establishing a JATC or Joint Advanced Technology Centre w.e.f 4th Nov 2016.

• JATC will be located at the IIT-Delhi campus at the upcoming Science and Technology Park.
• The JATC will enable Directed, Basic and Applied Research and will engage with premier research institutes through multi-institutional collaboration.
• According to the MoU, DRDO will support JATC in equipping it with advanced and unique research facilities to transform the institution into a CoE.
• DRDO scientists and engineers will work with the academic research facility and scholars for scientific problems to find an innovative solution.

ANSWER: New Delhi

Explanation:
The 1st International Agrobiodiversity Congress - IAC 2016 will be held from 6-9 Nov 2016.

• It will gather 900 delegates from 60 nations in New Delhi, India.
• The IAC 2016 will initiate and encourage a dialogue among relevant stakeholders including farmers to better understand people’s roles in agrobiodiversity management and the conservation of genetic resources.
• Agrobiodiversity is the foundation of sustainable agricultural development.
• It is the essential natural resource for ensuring current and future food and nutrition security.
• From climate change to global malnutrition, falling agricultural productivity and reduced food security, there are many challenges to be addressed.
• India is the perfect venue for the IAC as a diverse country in the world occupying 2.4 percent of the land area and accommodating 16 percent of the world’s population.
• It also harbours 7-8 percent of all recorded species including over 45,000 species of plants and 91,000 species of animals.
• Discussion will centre around sharing knowledge and discussing strategies.
• The congress is co-organised by the Indian Society of Plant Genetic Resources and Biodiversity International, a CGIAR Research Centre in Rome, Italy.
• The IAC has received support from many national and international organisations.
• The Indian Society of Plant Genetic Resources was founded in 1987 as a scientific body with multidisciplinary approach to provide a forum for those interested in plant genetic resources to express their views.