Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Oct 31, 2016

ANSWER: 31st Oct

Explanation:
World Cities Day was observed on 31st October 2016 with the following theme: Inclusive Cities, Shared Development.

• This year’s theme highlights the important role of urbanisation as a source of social inclusion and international development.
• Acknowledging the significance of urban basic services as a foundation for social and economic development, the UNGA by resolution 68/239 designated 31st October as World Cities Day.
• Planned urbanisation optimises the capacity of cities to generate jobs and money and foster social cohesion and diversity between different classes, cultures, ethnicities and religions.
• Cities designed to live together create opportunities, improve connection and interaction and facilitate sustainable use of shared resources.

ANSWER: Both of the above

Explanation:
The Supreme Court on 28th Oct 2016 indicated Armed Forces are answerable to the government, in the absence of which there would be martial law in the nation.

• Bench of justices Amitava Roy and U U Lalit observed this, while dismissing a plea seeking action against Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar for his alleged interference and claims regarding the surgical strikes conducted by the Indian army in PoK.
• Advocate ML Sharma had filed the plea.
• The plea indicated that Union Ministers including the Defence Minister claimed credit for surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army, for which they were not entitled.
• The plea also held that as per provisions of the Constitution, the President is the head of the armed forces.
• Armed forces action was being used for personal interests of a few, according to the plea.
• The apex court said the plea was not maintainable and it was dismissed.

ANSWER: 2nd

Explanation:
Indian tennis star Sania Mirza has retained the number one status in women’s doubles for the second consecutive year, despite failure to defend her WTA finals title with Swiss partner Martina Hingis in Singapore.

• Defending champions Hingis and Mirza lost to Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova in the semi-finals of the WTA Finals Singapore on 29th Oct 2016.
• Makarova and Vesnina defeated Mattek-Sands and Safarova to lift the doubles title on 30th Oct.
• Sania has won a slew of titles including Australian Open with HIngis, Cincinnati Masters with Barbora Strycova.
• Sania has split with Hingis following the WTA loss.
• Only three tennis players – Black, Huber and Navratilova have had a longer consecutive stint at the top of the history of women’s doubles tennis.
• Mirza celebrated her 80th consecutive week as the women’s doubles world number 1.

ANSWER: Only b and c

Explanation:
India has prevailed 3-2 over Pakistan to reclaim the Asian Champions Trophy hockey title.

• This was the title clash of the fourth edition of the tournament.
• This marks the first time the teams were meeting in the finals of the continental tournament since India dethroned Pakistan as the Asian Games champions in Incheon, South Korea in the year 2014.
• India has also won the inaugural edition of the Asian Champions Trophy, defeating Pakistan in 2011.

ANSWER: Myanmar

Explanation:
The first case of the mosquito borne virus in the SE Asian country, state owned Myanmar, a pregnant woman in Myanmar’s largest city Yangon has been diagnosed with Zika.

• The WHO has warned that Zika was likely to spread throughout Asia after being detected in 70 countries including at least 19 in the Asia Pacific region.
• Zika has spread to over 60 nations and territories since the present outbreak was identified in the previous year in Brazil, raising alarm over rare birth defects microcephaly and other neurological disorders that can be caused in infants and adults.
• This is the first Zika case confirmed in Myanmar.
• Two Myanmar students were identified with the virus in Sept 2016.
• Brazil has been hardest hit with 1900 cases of microcephaly, a condition associated with small heads leading to developmental problems.
• Singapore and Thailand are the most affected nations of SE Asia.
• There is no treatment or vaccine for Zika infection.
• Companies and scientists are racing to develop vaccines that are safe and effective for Zika.

ANSWER: Abstaining

Explanation:
A UN General Assembly committee has launched resolution to launch negotiations in 2017 on the new treaty outlawing nuclear weapons.

• India has abstained saying it was not convinced of the move leading to a comprehensive instrument on nuclear disarmament.
• GA’s First Committee which deals with disarmament and international security, adopted the draft resolution on nuclear disarmament negotiations.
• Following the resolution, the GA would reiterate the universal objective of taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations remains the achievement and maintenance of a world without nuclear weapons.
• Resolution emphasizes the importance of addressing issues pertaining to nuclear weapons in a comprehensive, interactive, constructive and inclusive way for advancing nuclear disarmament negotiations in a multilateral manner.
• The decision was also made to convene the United Nations conference in 2017 to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons leading to their complete elimination.
• Resolution was adopted by 123 votes against in favour, 38 against and 16 abstentions.
• India attached more priority to nuclear disarmament and share with the co-sponsors the widely felt frustration that the global community has not been able to take forward the multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations.
• India has asserted that there is no chance of it joining the Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear weapon state.

ANSWER: Fuel

Explanation:
Scientists have turned CO2 into a fuel, rather than methanol which they had set out to do

• The United States researchers have used complex nanotechnology methods to turn the dissolved gas into ethanol.
• As the materials used are relatively cheap, the process could be used in industrial processes to store excess electricity generated by wind and solar energy.
• The technique may turn CO2 into methanol, but instead ethanol was generated.
• CO2, a waste product of combustion was used to push the reaction backwards with high selectivity to a useful fuel.
• Ethanol can be used in the vehicles without any modifications.
• The team used a catalyst made from carbon, copper and nitrogen and an electric current was then used to trigger the reaction.
• The process is expected to be much more complicated.
• The scientists discovered by accident that this material worked.
• The solution of CO2 dissolved in water turned to ethanol with a yield of 63-70 percent.
• All of the CO2 and electricity goes into it – a majority of the CO2 gets changed to ethanol.
• Researchers are currently trying to find more ways to improve the efficiency of the process and find out more about the catalyst’s properties.

ANSWER: Pen Sovann

Explanation:
Former Cambodian PM Pen Sovann who was installed and imprisoned by the Vietnamese after the defeat of the Khmer Rouge regime has passed away.

• He died at the age of 80 on 29th Oct 2016 in his hometown in Takeo province.
• Pen Sovann was the first post Khmer Rouge PM of the country holding office from June to December 1981.
• In late 1981, Pen Sovann was removed from power by the Vietnamese in an ouster triggered by his calls for the withdrawal of Vietnamese forces from Cambodia.
• He was also imprisoned for 10 years in Hanoi.
• Pen Sovann founded the Cambodian National Sustaining Party which took place in the 1998 election but did not win a parliament seat.
• In the year 2012, he joined the Cambodia National Rescue Party and won the parliamentary seat in the 2013 general election.
• Pen Sovann was an exiled Cambodian communist who fled the nation after criticising the Khmer Rouge regime.