Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Oct 11, 2016

ANSWER: Polyvinylidene Fluoride

Explanation:
NASA has developed a new high-tech material that employs electricity to promote healing of injured woulds.

• Where there is non-Earth gravity, human blood displays behaviour quite differently from earth
• Wounds heal more slowly and considering the costly space missions and survival risks, healing of wounds as fast as possible is crucial
• The new material generates a small amount of electricity while interacting with another surface including human skin
• Material called polyvinylidene fluoride has numerous possible applications including wound healing
• Wounds tend to heal more quickly if small amounts of electricity are applied to the surrounding tissue
• The gauze pattern is also essential to the healing process
• If the PVDF fibres are aligned correctly, cells on a wound use it as a scaffold, helping faster healing of the wound
• The easiest way to align the fibres is to make gauze which creates an additional layer of protection against infection
• The invention is a simple and inexpensive means of producing fibres and mats of controlled fibre diameter, thickness and porosity.
• The device can be used by military personnel in the field, those undergoing surgery or those with serious injuries

ANSWER: Bigger

Explanation:
Scientists have found that a longer yawn may correlate to a bigger brain size as per a new study which found animals with bigger brains are more variable in terms of the length of their yawns

• Researchers from New York State University in the US observed 29 mammals yawning to calculate the average length of their yawns
• Animals then had their brain weight documented
• When the numbers were put together, researchers realised that brain weight and the number of neutrons in the outer layer of the brain called the cortex can reliably predict yawn length
• Studies showed that gorillas, horses, walruses and African elephants may have huge sizes, but the have shorter yawns as the size of their brains is smaller than that of humans.
• The research team also found that animals with bigger brains were more variable in the length of their yawns
• More intelligent animals have different types of yawn in response to different stimuli while less intelligent ones have only one type of yawn.
• Mean and variance in yawn duration are strong predictors of mammalian brain weight and cortical neuron number.

ANSWER: Chandigarh

Explanation:
Chandigarh International Airports Limited, a JV of Airports Authority of India and States of Punjab and Haryana has been conferred with the IBC award and trophy for excellence in built environment and infrastructure projects for the New Integrated Terminal Building of Chandigarh International Airport for 2014-2015 at the 21st Annual Convention Inaugural function held in Delhi

• Indian Building Congress or IBC is to build a living environment which is affordable, aesthetic and sustainable as well as energy efficient. It also aims at promoting eco-friendly, technology driven cost competitive environment conducive to healthy life meeting needs of the Indian population.

ANSWER: Foreign

Explanation:
As part of the initiative of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, to provide easy access to the public with regard to Indian export, import and balance of trade data in an analytical format over time and space, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a new enhanced Dashboard on Foreign Trade Data.

• The technology will be used for transparent decision making and reaching out to people using real time data
• This dashboard is an improved version of the earlier EXIM Analytics Dashboard developed with many added feature
• It is user friendly, intuitive and provides an accurate picture of the dynamics of foreign trade performance of India
• The new dashboard gives a graphical collection of imports, exports and balance of trade of India
• The new dashboard has an interface providing the user to study Exports, Imports and BOT views
• Import view gives a sharp perspective of how Indian imports have changed compared to the previous year
• Countries can be sorted by Import value and the corresponding value of export trade
• Digitisation of government records and tactic analytics is crucial for fast and effective evidence based planning and policy evaluation
• This plays an important role in effective and transparent governance
• Dashboard also provides an enabling environment to importers and exporters to identify and access international trade opportunities based on reliable and updated information accessible to the public through the government.

ANSWER: Delhi

Explanation:
The Second Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav 2016 will be held from 15-23rd Oct 2016 in the premises of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, Janpath New Delhi

• Fringe folk arts like Baazigars, Behroopiyas and Kacchi Ghori are set to take place
• The artists performing here are also known as Maidaani Kalaakar as they perform in the open without any need for stage
• Photo exhibitions will also be held
• The exhibition is part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan
• Folk, classical and contemporary art will be celebrated at this cultural event
• The 7 Zonal centres in the country for culture will be holding the RSM in Delhi
• They will also be taking the mahostav to different cities of the country under the banner Ek Bharat Shresth Bharat

ANSWER: Nanaji Deshmukh

Explanation:
MoC is celebrating the Birth Centenary of Nanaji Deshmukh during the period 11th Oct 2016 to 2017

• Various programs will be organised during this period
• As part of the activities under commemoration, an inaugural program will be organised at the Nehru Memorial Museum & Library New Delhi
• The social activist from RSS also supported Rajiv Gandhi’s government in 1984
• He retired from the Jana Sangh and politics in the 60s
• In Sept 2014, a six volume compilation of Deshmukh’s writings in the presence of RSS joint general secretary Dattatreya Posable was released.

ANSWER: 16^th

Explanation:
The 16th raising day was celebrated by the Andaman and Nicobar Command on Oct 8, 2016

• This is the only ti-service operational command of the Indian Armed Forces commemorating its raising.
• Several events were conducted over a three day period to celebrate this day
• The Commander-In-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command is Vice Admiral Bimal Verma
• The ceremony concluded with the presentation of the unit citation to 5 units in recognition of their operational excellence- 20 Grenadiers, INS Bitra, Command Diving Unit, Coast Guard Air Enclave, 151 Squadron.
• CINCAN also attended the Barakhana organised by Brichgunj at the 7th Oct 2016 event
• Celebrations lasted from 7th–9th Oct 2016.

ANSWER: Krishna Chandra Gandhi

Explanation:
This Vijaya Dashami marks the 95th birth anniversary of Krishna Chandra Gandhi, the RSS worker who played a vital role in starting the Saraswati Shishu Mandir in Lucknow.

• He worked in tandem with senior RSS functionaries Bahurao Devras and Nanaji Deshmukh
• Born in a Meerut family, he earned the sobriquet Gandhi for his humanitarian work.
• After completing the BA, he was initiated into the RSS.

ANSWER: Himalayan region

Explanation:
Himalayan region has the largest concentration of glaciers outside the polar caps as the region is known as the Water Tower of Asia

• It is the source of 10 major river systems providing irrigation, power and drinking water for over 700 million people living in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
• This is nearly 10 percent of the world population
• Understanding the behaviour of the glaciers and their contribution to the sustainable supply of water for mankind and agriculture is one of the grand challenges of the Indians scientific community
• As part of the government’s initiative to better study and quantify the Himalayan glacier responses towards climate change, the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Goa under the Ministry of Earth Sciences has established a high altitude research station in Himalaya called HIMANSH
• This means slice of ice
• The station is located above 13,500 feet at 4000m in the remote region in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh
• The station houses many instruments to quantify the melting glacier and its relation to climate change
• Some of the nutriments available at the research facility include Automatic Weather Stations for weather monitoring, water level recorder for quantifying the glacier melt, ground penetrating radar to know the thickness of glaciers, geodetic GPS system to study glacier movements, snow fork for studying snow thickness, steam rill, snow corer, temperature profiler and numerous glaciological tools
• Researchers would also use this as base for undertaking surveys using Terrestrial Research Scanners and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles that digitise the glacier motion and snow cover variations with exceptional precision
• Ongoing initiative by NCAOR will contribute to the integrated study of the glaciers in the upper Indus or Chandra basin in HP and contribute to their discharge
• As per the UN data, the contribution of snow/glacier melt in annual stream runoff is higher in the Indus basin as compared to Ganga and Brahmaputra basins
• Therefore, understanding the glacier mass balance and their contribution to the Indus River is more critical than other basins towards the understanding on the impact of glacier retreat on the water cycle in N. India and Pakistan
• Some of the benchmark glaciers being studied include Bada Shigri, Samudra Tapu, Sutri Dhaka, Batal, Gepang Gath and Kunzam.
• An integrated study using glaciological, geodetic, galcjio-hydrological methods will shed light on the glacier response to the changing climate in the region
• This will quantify the contribution from glacial melt water to the river discharge in the Indus basin
• Himansh will also provide support to the scientific research on Himalayan glaciers and its hydrological contribution

ANSWER: Territorial Army

Explanation:
The Territorial Army celebrated its 67th Raising Day on Oct 9, 2016

• For the occasion, Chief of Army staff Gen. Dalbir Singh reviewed the TA parade
• Territorial Army had 10 marching contingents, 15 bands and 3 tableaus
• Tableaus of the Railway Engineers, Oil Sector and Ecological Territorial Army was displayed
• Territorial Army soldiers in their regimental attire showcased the immense contribution of the Departmental Territorial Army units to the nation in the field of environmental conservation and maintenance of essential services like Oil Production and Railways