Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Oct 19, 2016

ANSWER: Saina Nehwal

Explanation:
Ace Indian shuttler, Saina Nehwal has been appointed as member of the International Olympics Committee’s IOC Athletes Commission.

• A letter to this effect was received by the badminton ace from IOC President Thomas Bach on 17th Oct 2016
• The Athletes Commission is chaired by Angela Ruggiero and it comprises 9 vice presidents and 10 other members
• Saina has been appointed to the panel days after she resumed practice following recovery from a knee injury
• The IOC Athletes Commission is a body maintained by the International Olympic Committee for representing athletes
• It was established in 1981 by the President of the IOC in that year, Juan Antonio Samaranch and its creation was codified by the IOC in Rule 21 of the Olympic Charter
• The commission is a consultative body whose function is the link between active athletes and the IOC
• It has made recommendations to the IOC’s executive bodies and its chair serves as member of the IOC Executive Board
• Commission meets once or twice in a year
• It organises an Athletes Forum once every two years
• It works in liaison with athletes commissions of the Continental Associations, Individual National Olympic Committees and the International Sports Foundation

ANSWER: Ashok Leyland

Explanation:
Ashok Leyland Ltd on 17th Oct 2016 launched its Circuit Series electric bus marking India’s first such indigenously made vehicle.

• Buses are designed and engineered in India
• They are specifically developed for Indian road conditions
• The zero emission vehicle will be offered on multiple platforms enjoying a subsidy under FAME or Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles scheme
• It can travel 150 km on a single charge
• Union Government has launched the FAME-India scheme on April 1, 2015
• Scheme was launched with an aim to boost sales of eco-friendly vehicles within the country
• It is part of the National Mission for Electric Mobility
• Scheme envisages providing 795 crore rupees worth of support till 2020 for the manufacturing and sale of electric and hybrid vehicles
• Ashok Leyland is headquartered in Chennai, India
• The company was founded in 1948
• This is the 2nd largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in India
• It is the 4th largest manufacturer of buses in the world
• It is the 16th largest manufacturer of trucks internationally.
• Ashok Leyland is the second largest vehicle company in India in the medium and heavy commercial vehicle segment

ANSWER: INS Arihant

Explanation:
India on 18th Oct 2016 completed its nuclear triad by inducting the nation’s first indigenously constructed nuclear submarine INS Arihant into service

• This submarine was formally commissioned by Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba in August 2016
• This is the lead ship of India’s Arihant class of nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines
• The 6000 tonne vessel is created under the Advanced Technology Vessel project at the Ship Building Centre in the port city of Vizag
• It was launched on 26th July 2009 the anniversary of Kargil War Victory Day/Vijay Diwas by the PM of India at that time, Manmohan Singh
• After fitting out and extensive sea trials on 23rd February 2016, Arihant was confirmed as ready for operations and was commissioned in August 2016
• it is the first of the expected five in the class of submarines designed and constricted as part of the Indian Naval ATV project
• A nuclear triad is the nuclear weapons delivery of a strategic nuclear arsenal consisting of three components: strategic bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine launched ballistic missiles
• Having a three pronged nuclear capability reduces the chance that the enemy could destroy nuclear forces of the nation in a first strike attack
• This trial ensures a credible threat of the second strike, increasing the nuclear deterrence of the nation

ANSWER: Robert De Niro

Explanation:
Hollywood actor Robert De Niro was selected as the recipient of the 44th Chaplin Award by the Film Society of Lincoln Centre

• De Niro will be presented with an award at the gala on May 8, 2017
• He is an Italian American actor and producer who has starred in over 100 films
• He was cast as Vito Corleone in the 1974 film The Godfather Part 2 for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
• He also won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the portrayal of Jake La Motta in the 1980 movie Raging Bull
• A recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2003, he has also won the Golden Globe Cecil B DeMille Award in the year 2010
• The Film Society of Lincoln Centre is one of the most prominent film presentation bodies
• It was founded by the following Lincoln Centre executives: William F. May, Martin E. Segal and Schulyer G Chapin
• American independent cinema as well as World Cinema and new filmmakers are supported through this centre
• The organisation holds a yearly gala tribute called Chaplin award Gala honouring stars and industry leaders
• Last year, the recipient of the award was Morgan Freeman

ANSWER: UN Conference on Disarmament Geneva

Explanation:

• Gill is an IFS officer of 1992 batch
• Gill’s diplomatic career includes assignments in Sri Lanka, Iran, Switzerland and Permanent Mission of India to the UN
• His professional areas of interest focus on international relations, disarmament, regional security in South and Southeast as well as Southwest Asia and human security issues
• In 2007-2008, he represented India on the UN Secretary General’s Panel on Missiles
• He was also a member of the Indian delegation to the Conference on Disarmament during the negotiations of the CTBT
• Before joining the Indian Foreign Services, Gill has also worked as a telecom engineer.

ANSWER: Irom Sharmila

Explanation:
Rights activist Irom Sharmila announced the name of her freshly launched party as People’s Resurgence Justice Alliance

• She launched the party in Imphal and aims to contest the Manipur Assembly elections in 2017
• She wanted to be a CM to further her demands
• On August 9, 2016 Sharmila broke her 16 year old hunger strike demanding repeal pf the AFSPA and announcing she would now aim to be CM of Manipur to meet her demands for the people
• Irom Chanu Sharmila also known as Iron Lady or Mengoubi is a civil rights activist, political activist and poet from India’s NE state Manipur
• On 2nd November 2000 she commenced a hunger strike which ended on 9th August 2016 after 16 years of fasting
• She carried out the world’s longest hunger strike, refusing wood and water for more than 500 weeks
• On International Women’s Day 2014, she was named the top woman icon of India by MSN Poll.

ANSWER: Snapdragon X50

Explanation:
San Diego based mobile chip giant Qualcomm announced it will be launching the world’s first 5G modem called Snapdragon X50

• The chip can support download speeds on the smartphone of up to 5GB per second
• The average 4G download speed in the US is 9 megabits per second short of the global average of 13.5 Mbps
• Once cellular networks start offering phones access to GB level download speeds, the devices will evolve in interesting manner
• They may be able to access data in cloud more faster than retrieving data from the flash storage of the device
• Qualcomm also indicated it will start sending samples to customers in the second half of 2017 and phones with the modem inside will start shipping in early 2018
• South Korean carrier KT will be the first to launch the 5G network for the 2018 Winter Olympics in India
• The LTE network might improve in time
• The company will also launch the world’s first gigabit speed device for an LTE network
• The LTE hotspot will provide users with download speeds of up to 1 Gbps
• The next generation mobile network called 5G or fifth generation many years from becoming a reality

ANSWER: Antarctica

Explanation:
More than 50 researchers from 30 nations will carry out full scientific circumnavigation of Antarctica to measure pollution and climate change. The global team will cruise on Russian research vessel Anaemic Treshnikov leaving Cape Town on December 20 and returning on March 18 next year, braving tough conditions to gain deeper understanding of mankind’s effect on the Southern Ocean

• The Antarctic Circumpolar Expedition will be the first scientific mission to study major islands in the vast ocean as well as the Antarctic land mass
• Adopted projects include mapping whales, penguins and albatrosses in the Southern Ocean measuring the effect of plastic pollution on the food change and logging the extent of phytoplankton – the base of the food chain– and its role in regulating climate
• ACE is the first project of the newly created Swiss Polar Institute – a JV comprising numerous Swiss research and educational institutions that aim to enhance international research and collaborations between nations

ANSWER: Oct 25

Explanation:
PM Narendra Modi will inaugurate the first National Tribal Carnival in New Delhi on Oct 25, 2016

• It will promote a sense of inclusiveness among the tribals
• Making this announcement. Union Tribal Affairs Minister Shri Jual Oram indicated that carnival will showcase and promote facets of tribal culture on a large scale
• Underlying idea is to preserve and promote various facets of the tribal life relating to culture, tradition, customers and skills and expose it to the general public for overall holistic development of the scheduled tribes
• Activities such as displaying documents on traditional sociocultural aspects, exhibition of art/artefacts, cultural performances, demonstration of skills such as sports, painting, traditional healing practices will be part of the 4 day event
• Workshops on issues such as Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act 1996- PESA– its implementation, benefit to the tribal community and its drawbacks, Forest Rights Act 2006 and its implications and reservation in politics and recruitment will be part of the carnival
• The carnival will be a mix of live musical and dance performances, exhibitions, display of craft, fashion show, panel discussion, book fair etc.

ANSWER: Jharkhand

Explanation:
The Jharkhand government will introduce a pension scheme for sportspersons who brought laurels to the country, but are still working as daily wagers.

• Chief Secretary R Verma directed the state government to prepare sportsperson pension scheme for players
• He also called for preparing a list of such sports persons from Jharkhand who participated or won in Olympics/Asian/National Games so that they could be recruited as coaches.
• Schools gave priority to sports so that children could be encouraged and directed to set up a diet food fund for sports persons selected for national events
• Jharkhand, an eastern India state is known for its waterfalls, Jain temples in Parasnath Hills and elephants and tigers of Betla National Park
• State capital Ranchi has the 17th century Jagannath Temple, a Hindu shrine and Jharkhand War memorial
• It also has Tagore Hill honouring Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore

ANSWER: 17-18

Explanation:
India’s plan to implement a nation-wide GST entered the final stage with the GST Council coming up with a formula to compensate states in the event of revenue loss after the new system is adopted

• On 18th Oct 2016, the council decided 2015-2016 will be taken as the base year for calculating revenue assuming secular and long term growth rate of 14 percent.
• States will be fully compensated for potential revenue loss up to 5 years
• GST Council has also finalised area based exemptions and 1 states including 8 NE states and three hilly states will be treated under the new tax regime.
• The tax exemption provided by the states as incentives to the industry will be counted in the definition of revenue for calculation of revenue loss
• Objective is to ensure rates will not be inflationary
• There could be four slabs of GST rates namely 6,12,18 and 26 percent
• The cess on the highest band could be for ultra luxury items and demerit items such as tobacco
• The panel under CEA has recommended a revenue neutral rate of 15- 15.5 percent with a standard rate of 17-18 percent levied on most goods and all services

ANSWER: Kigeli V

Explanation:
The last king of Rwanda Kigali V who ruled the east African nation for less than a year before being forced into exile settled in the US has died at the age of 80

• Born Jean-Baptiste Ndahindurwa, King Kigeli came to power in 1959 and was forced to leave the country the following year after clashing with the Belgian colonial power.
• In 1961, the monarchy was abolished.
• "He was a devout and dedicated believer and the last anointed African Roman Catholic king to reign over a full country,” the website of the late Rwandan king said
• King Kigali came to power after succeeding half brother Mutara III who died under unclear circumstances following the Hutu social revolution
• He was an ethnic Tutsi
• In Sept 1961. the monarchy was abolished by referendum and Rwanda gained independence in the following year
• Since 1994 and the rise of the current President Paul Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front emerged from a former Tutsi rebellion
• Every effort fell by the wayside though RPF authorities committed to their willingness for the king to return.