Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Sep 14, 2017

ANSWER: 2022

Explanation:
In order to improve the economic condition of the farmers, Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has set up an ambitious target in front of the nation.

The goal is to double the income of the farmers by 2022. It has been for the first time, a Prime Minister has put such a target in front of the compatriots for the welfare of the farmers.

Under the able guidance of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ministry has to achieve this target by 2022.

The Ministry is committed to making his dreams come true. Farmers and officers are implementing schemes to increase the income of the farmers.

Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) organised pledge taking ceremonies in 562 districts of the country between August 19 to September 11, 2017, as a clarion call to farmers to double their income by 2022 and a total of 47,08,47 farmers and agricultural workers participated in it.

• KVKs organised this program in the 562 districts of the country. The program saw the participation of the State Government and the Central Government officers, Agricultural Officers, Students and a large number of farmers in each district.
• 49 Central Ministers participated in pledge taking ceremonies at 79 locations (Districts).
• In 284 places (Districts), Members of Parliament attended the program.
• In 111 locations (Districts), State Ministers attended the program.
• In 350 locations (Districts), the MLAs attended the program.
• In 398 places (Districts), Chairman of District Panchayat attended the program.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
Google on Sept 12, 2017 unveiled several updates to its Translate App in an effort to bring down language barriers.

It said users in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati and Marathi can experience offline translations and instant visual translation in their preferred language.

The biggest application is that they are breaking language barriers.

Google Translate has also added support for conversation mode in regional languages including Tamil and Bengali.

This feature lets users have a bilingual conversation with someone, simply by talking to the Google Translate app.

Google Translate: Know More

• India is among the top four countries globally using Google Translate which translates over 140 billion words every day.
• More than 400 million people in India used the Internet.
• But the vast majority of India’s online content is in English, which only 20% of the country’s population speaks.
• The Translate app already lets the user use camera mode to snap a photo of English text and get a translation for it in these languages.
• Now, with Word Lens feature, Google has taken it to the next level, letting users instantly translate text using their camera.
• The company said now it was way easier for speakers of local Indian languages to understand English street signs in the city or decide what to order from a restaurant menu.
• Word Lens is powered by machine learning, using computer vision to distinguish between letters on an image.
• With the company's Google Translate, users can easily turn their phone into a powerful translation tool, whether for studies, business, travel or work.
• Offline support enables Indian language users to translate a word or sentence even when they are not connected to the Internet.

ANSWER: Both a and b

Explanation:
Brian Acton, co-founder of WhatsApp, now owned by Facebook Inc, will leave the messaging service company to start a new foundation, according to a Facebook post on 12th Sept 2017.

Acton spent eight years with WhatsApp, which Facebook bought in 2014 for $19 billion in cash and stock.

A Stanford alumnus, Acton co-founded WhatsApp with Ukrainian immigrant Jan Koum in 2009.

The duo worked at Yahoo before starting WhatsApp.

ANSWER: JNPCT

Explanation:
Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal (JNPCT) was awarded “Container Terminal of the Year” Award for the above 0.6 million TEUs category at The Gateway Awards 2017 held at Mumbai.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Port owned JNPCT won the award for its proactive strategies to ease congestion, smooth delivery of containers and revamping of infrastructure to support trade amidst adverse conditions.

JNPCT has been able to create growth momentum in the last few years as a result of various initiatives to increase the overall efficiency of the terminal and the Port.

These initiatives have now started showing positive results and we will continue to further increase our efficiency levels.”

The Gateway Award was instituted to recognise and promote best practices, innovation and motivation in the Indian Maritime industry.

The tenth edition of the Gateway Awards showcased the outstanding achievements and exceptional accomplishments of individuals and organisations in the Indian Maritime industry.

ANSWER: 2626

Explanation:
In a first, the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has published a compendium of animal species in the Indian Sundarbans, estimating that there are 2,626 of them in the fragile island ecosystem.

The listing includes a diverse 25 phyla, as they are biologically classified.

The Indian segment of the Sundarbans, part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, forms part of the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta across 9,630 sq. km, distributed among 104 islands.

The region hosts 2,487 species that come under the zoological kingdom of Animalia, and 140 under the more primitive Protista.

The publication titled Fauna of Sundarban Biosphere Reserve is the first consolidated and updated information of the faunal diversity of the Sundarbans.

It lists over 2,600 species, including the new species described from the mangrove ecosystem as well as threats faced by them due to climate change.

When we talk about Sundarbans we refer to only a few major species in the reserve forest area in about 4,260 sq. km.

The publication catalogues the entire faunal diversity of Sundarban Biosphere Reserve covering 9,630 sq. km spread over 19 blocks in South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas of West Bengal.

The researchers document the famous tigers of these islands, which have adapted to aquatic conditions around, the human-tiger conflict, and behaviour of the big cat.

The fortunes of 50 mammalian species including the Asian small-clawed Otter, Gangetic Dolphin, Grey and Marsh Mongoose and the wild Rhesus Monkey, the only primate here, are also documented.

Two Rhinos, Swamp deer, Barking deer and Hog deer and Asiatic Wild Water Buffalo are not found in Sundarbans anymore.

Other Species in Sunderbans: Know More

• There are 356 species of birds, the most spectacular being raptors, or birds of prey, that occupy the highest canopies of the forest.
• Osprey, Brahminy Kite and White-Bellied Sea Eagle are dominant, while Rose-ringed parakeets, flycatchers and warblers are also found in the middle tier, while in the lower tier, kingfishers abound - and the Sundarbans has nine of them.
• There are 11 turtles, including the famous Olive Ridley and Hawskbill sea turtles and the most threatened freshwater species, the River Terrapin.
• A crocodile, 13 lizards including three species of Monitor Lizards and five Geckos are found here. The rivers, creeks channels and the islands together harbour about 30 snake species, led by the King Cobra, considered vulnerable by IUCN.
• Others documented are the Monocellate or monocled cobra, Russell’s viper, common and banded kraits. Besides, ten species of frogs and toads are found
• The mangrove ecosystem covers about 350 species of fish. Cartilaginous fish, which have skeletons of cartilage rather than bone, make up 10.3%.
• The IUCN conservation status shows 6.3% fish are near-threatened and 4.85% are threatened. Also, there are 173 mollusks.
• In another indication of its richness, 753 insect species are encountered in the Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve. Of these, 210 are butterflies and moths. Moreover, Crustaceans - crabs, shrimp and prawns - constitute 334 species.

ANSWER: Mouse Deer

Explanation:
Mouse deer, which had become extinct in the Nalamala forests, has once again begun springing in the dense and thick bushes of the jungle after more than a decade.

Officials of the Amrabad Tiger Reserve on 12th Sept reintroduced eight mouse deer (2 males and 6 females), which were bred in captivity at the Nehru Zoological Park here for last seven years.

State forest department’s conservation breeding programme started at NZP in March 2010 with just six mouse deer (3 males and 3 females), which were brought from the Mangalore Zoo.

The numbers have swelled to 172, out of which 76 are female.

However, the animals were supposed to be released into the wild in 2013 itself.

In the last five years, many of them were dead in captivity and the lifespan of mouse deer is relatively short, with most living up to five or six years only.

The Nehru Zoological Park in association with Central Zoo Authority (CZA) and Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) has been taken up for the conservation programme.

In order to reintroduce the mouse deer, which are bred in the NZP, a suitable location was identified in Mannanur forest range of ATR duly creating a protected enclosure, which is spread over 2.14 hectares of forest.

The enclosure has been completely protected by providing solar fence, watering facility through solar powered bore and CCTV cameras to monitor animals.

ANSWER: Sept 14

Explanation:
Hindi Diwas is an annual day that celebrates all over India to mark the importance of most widely spoken the Hindi language.

In India, the Hindi language has the biggest history that belongs to the Indo-Aryan and the Indo-European language family.

It is an annual day that celebrated on 14th September in India because on this day in 1949 a Constituent Assembly of India adopted Hindi Devanagari Script as the official language of the Republic of India.

However, several stalwarts rallied and lobbied pan-India in favour of Hindi that includes notably Beohar Rajendra Simha along with Kaka Kalelkar, Maithili Sharan Gupt, Hazari Prasad Dwivedi and Seth Govind Das who all debated on the issue.

Later on, this decision was ratified by the Constitution of India that came into effect on 26 January 1950 and under the Article 343 of the Indian Constitution wrote that Devanagari script was the official language.

Hindi Diwas: Know More

• The celebration of Hindi Diwas mostly sponsored by the Central Government of India’s offices, schools, and other institutions.
• This day serves to promote and propagate the Hindi language.
• It is celebrated annually to pay tribute to mother language of India.
• It is celebrated by many government officials, private and government schools with a variety of activities and competitions.
• It is wholeheartedly event that gives an opportunity to Indians to promote the Hindi language.
• This day initiate enthusiasm among youths about the Hindi language.