Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Oct 01, 2016

ANSWER: 28

Explanation:
India’s highest decision making body- the Union Cabinet approved the country’s move to ratify the Paris Agreement, following which India became a signatory to the same on Oct 2, 2016.

• Decision to ratify the international climate deal was also taken by 28 EU nations on September 30
• Decision taken by the Environment Council in Brussels will now go to the European Parliament for approval in Oct 2016
• Once the European Parliament consents, the decision can be formally adopted by the Council
• This is the first ever universally binding climate change agreement with 61 countries accounting for 47.79 percent of the total global emission, have ratified the agreement adopted by 195 nations in Paris in December 2015
• Agreement will enter into force 30 days after close to 55 countries, responsible for at least 55 percent of global emissions, deposit their instruments of accession, acceptance, ratification with the UN Secretary General
• European Union countries account for 12.10 percent of the total global emission of GHG while India accounts for4.1 percent of the total international emission
• India has taken the decision to submit the instrument of ratification on October 2, the 147th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi
• According to a government statement: ”While agreeing to ratify the Paris Agreement, the Cabinet has also decided that India should declare that India will treat its national laws, its development agenda, availability of means of implementation, its assessment of global commitment to combating climate change, and predictable and affordable access to cleaner source of energy as the context in which the Agreement is being ratified”.

ANSWER: Finance Act 2016

Explanation:
The Reserve Bank of India Act 1934 has been amended by the Finance Act 2016 to provide for an institutionalised and statutory framework for price stability through the Monetary Policy Committee

• As per the provisions of the RBI Act, of the six members of the Monetary Policy Committee, three are from the RBI
• Other three members of the MPC will be appointed by the Central Government
• In exercise of the powers given by section 45ZB of the Reserve Bank of India Act 1934, the Union Government has constituted the Monetary Policy Committee of the RBI with the composition:
• The Governor of the Bank: Ex Officio Chairperson
• Deputy Governor of the Bank, in charge of Monetary Policy: Member,ex officio
• One officer of the Bank to be nominated from the Central Board: Member, ex officio
• Chetan Ghate, Professor ISI: Member
• Pami Dua, Director, DSE: Member
• Ravindra Dholakia, Professor, IIM-A: Member
• Members of the Monetary Policy Committee will hold office for 4 years
• Monetary Policy Committee has been appointed with the aim of fixing the benchmark policy rate or repo rate required to combat inflation within a specified target level.
• Committee based approach for determining Monetary Policy adds value and transparency to the monetary policy decisions.
• Meetings of the Committee will be held 4 times in a year and decisions will be published after each such meeting

ANSWER: Annu Rani

Explanation:
Javelin thrower Annu Rani smashed her own national record to become the first Indian woman to cross the 60m mark on the third and final day of the 56th Open National Athletics Championship on 29th Sept 2016

• She won bronze in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games as well
• Annu Rani threw the javelin to a distance of 60.01m to better her earlier national mark of 59.87m
• The earlier record was made during the National Inter State Championships in Hyderabad
• 24-year-old Annu representing railways secured her fourth national record in 2 years
• Poonam Rani of ONGC won silver with the effort of 56.73m while bronze went to K Rashmi from Indian railways with 51.56m
• In the men’s jump, for the first time in Indian athletics history, the top three finishers cleared 2.20m
• Tejaswin Shankar won gold with an effort of 2.22m while Chetan and Sreenith Mohan bagged silver and bronze by clearing 2.20m
• Commonwealth Youth Games champion Tejaswin added 5cm to his personal best to win gold and equalled Jithin Thomas’s 2.22m, a record since 2012

ANSWER: Czechoslovakia

Explanation:
Polish explorer Krzysztof Starnawksi has made the discovery. The world’s deepest under water cave, 404 m or 1325 feet down, is located near the easternCzech town of Hranice.

• The explorer found the cave in the Hranice Abyss, which he had been exploring since 1998
• He scuba dived to the narrow slot at 200m depth
• A specially made underwater robot then went to the depth of 404m
• Hranice Abyss which divers have explored for years now was 12m deeper than record holder Pozzo del Merro, a flooded sinkhole in Italy
• Czech Speleological Society believed that the cave was deeper than 404m
• Mud and the water temperature of 15 degree C or 59 degree F made diving in the cave tough
• The water’s mineral composition damaged equipment and exposed skin
• The limestone abyss beats the previous record holder

ANSWER: Titanosaur

Explanation:
One of the largest dinosaur footprints recorded has been unearthed in the Gobi Desert providing researchers clues about these massive creatures.

• A joint Japanese Mongolian team found the giant print
• The perfectly preserved print, one of the few of its kind, measures 106cm in length and 77cm in width
• The huge fossil was discovered in a geological layer formed 70-90 million years ago
• It was naturally cast, as sand flowed into the dents left by the creature stepping on muddy ground
• Foot print belongs to the long necked dinosaur Titanosaur, which according to some estimatlswas 20m tall and 30m long
• This rare, well deserved fossil footprint is greater than a metre in length and bears the imprint of the claws
• The plant eating Sauropod made the footprint, which is not an indention, but cast
• Similar footprints have been discovered in Morocco and France; but this is the clearest print ever and can help scientists understand how dinosaurs walked.

ANSWER: Both b and c

Explanation:
Snapchat announced a new pair of camera sunglasses called “Spectacles” which have a small camera at the edge of the frame

• The company also announced that it is changing its name to Snap Inc
• This is how the spectacles work: You tap the rim of the frame, and a flashing ring singles the camera begins recording
• One tap gets you 10 seconds of video while three taps gets the maximum i.e 30 seconds
• Once the video is taken, it is stored on a device that can be shared via Snapchat
• Snapchat is renaming its corporate self to Snap Inc, and launching its $130 Spectacles this fall in limited release.
• They’re one-size-fits all in black, teal, or coral colours. s, with a light on the front alerting people you’re recording.
• The video is captured with an 115-degree wide view lens in a circular format that can be watched full-screen on a smartphone in any orientation
• The video is stored on the device and can be wirelessly offloaded to a phone over Wifi or Bluetooth so users can edit and share via Snapchat later.