Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Sep 15, 2016

ANSWER: 2

Explanation:
Devendra Jhajharia won the log medal at the men’s F46 event.

• He became the first Indian to clinch two gold medals at the Paralympics
• He broke his own world record to clinch the medal
• He also won a previous gold in the 2004 Athens Games
• His previous best was 62.15m which he had achieved in the 2004 Games
• In the 2016 Games, he improved the mark with an attempt of 63.97m
• World No.1 from China Chunking Guo won the silver while Sri Lanka’s Herath Priyantha grabbed the bronze
• India now has two gold, one silver and one bronze in the current edition of the Paralympics Games
• While Thangavelue Mariyappan struck gold in the men’s high jump, Varun Bhati secured bronze in the same event. Deepa Malik won the silver medal in the women’s short putt event.
• Jhajharia is currently being supported by the GoSports Foundation through the Para Champions Programme.

ANSWER: Ramesh Raskar

Explanation:
Indian American MIT Associate Professor Ramesh Raskar won the 2016 Lemelson-MIT Prize on 13th Sept, 2016.

• He is the co-inventor of radical imaging solutions such as femtophotography, an ultra-fast imaging system that observes corners, creating low cost eye-care solutions for the developing world.
• Camera invented by him also allows users to read pages of the book without opening the cover
• Raskar is head of the MIT Media Lab’s Camera Culture research group
• Born in Nashik, he finished his engineering education from Pune’s College of Engineering
• He finished his PnD at UNC chapel Hill
• He holds more than 50 patents
• The Lemelson Foundation awards prizes to inventors in the US
• The Lemelson-MIT prize endowed in 1994 by Jerome H. Lemelson is the largest
• It is administered through MIT.
• Winner receives USD 500000 making it the largest cash prize for inventors in the US

ANSWER: Both a and b

Explanation:
Task Force headed by the NITI Aayog Vice Chairman prepared a road map for eliminating poverty to the PMO on Sept 11, 2016..

• The other members of the task force were Aayog Member Bibek Debroy and ministry of rural development, housing and urban poverty alleviation secretaries
• The report asked for a constitution of a new committee that would participate with states and other stakeholders for defining the BPL population and identifying them
• It asked the State to continue with the Tendulkar poverty line
• It also asks to switch to Rangarajan or other higher rural and urban poverty lines
• It has called out for tracking progress over time of the bottom 30 percent of the population
• It also asks the Centre to track progress along specific components of poverty such as housing, nutrition, drinking water, sanitation, electricity and connectivity
• Task force was constituted in March 2015 with an initial mandate to finalise report by 30th June 2015
• The main task is to prepare a road map for eliminating poverty and suggesting strategies and anti poverty programmes
• In terms of reference, the report included a working definition of poverty and stresses the need for synergy between Centre and state to combat poverty

ANSWER: 14th Sept

Explanation:
The day was observed to promote the Matra Bhasha or mother tongue of India and show its importance as a language in the country and the world at large.

• As part of the Hindi Diwas Samaroh, a special function named Hindi Hain Hum was organised at PHD Chamber of Commerce, New Delhi
• On the occasion of Hindi Divas , the Indian President awarded the Rajbhasha award instituted by the Rajbhasha Vibhag, MHA to recognise the excellent contribution of Ministries, Departments and Nationalised Banks in the field of Hindi.
• National Hindi Divas is observed on 14th Sept annually in India because it was on this day in 1949 that CA of India adopted Hindi in Devanagari script as the Official language of the Union
• Hindi is the fourth most spoken language of the world
• In India it is used as a mother tongue by 258 million persons
• Outside Asia, Hindi is Fiji’s official language along with Fijian and English- the dialect of Hindi spoken here is Fiji Baat or Fiji Hindi.
• Official language policy of the Union has been explained in detail under A120 (Part 5) A210 (Part 6). A342, 355 and A348 to 351 prescribed the official language of Union and States

ANSWER: Both of the above

Explanation:
President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings to the following nations on their Independence Day (Sept 15, 2016): Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

• Mr. Luis Guillermo Solis Rivera is the President of the Republic of Costa Rica.
• The India-SICA Dialogue, to which India attaches great importance, adds yet another dimension to the mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation between the nation and Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador
• Mr. Daniel Ortega Saavedra is the current President of the Republic of Nicaragua
• Mr. Jimmy Morales Cabrera is the President of the Republic of Guatemala.
• The ties are further reinforced through platforms such as the Central American Integration System (SICA), the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) etc between India and Guatemala/Costa Rica/Nicaragua/Honduras/ El Salvador
• Mr. Juan Orlando Hernandez is the President of the Republic of Honduras
• Mr. Salvador Sanchez Ceren is the President of the Republic of El Salvador

ANSWER: Vietnam

Explanation:
China and Vietnam on 13th Sept 2016 agreed to manage their territorial differences over disputes in the South China sea and safeguard stability.

• Talks were held between Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Chinese premier Li Keqiang in Beijing.
• Phuc's visit to China is the first by a top Vietnamese leader after the tribunal verdict on 12 July 2016.
• The Chinese Prime Minister is known as Premier.
• Besides, the two leaders also saw the signing of agreements on economy and trade, production capacity, infrastructure and education.
• China is now persuading Malaysia and Brunei to settle disputes bilaterally without approaching global arbitration
• China earlier rejected the Hague tribunal’s ruling which concluded that China does not have legal basis to claim historic rights over a majority of the sea
• China did not have the right to resources within its nine dash line which extends hundreds of miles to the south and east of its island province of Hainan and covers 90 percent of the disputed waters
• Ruling said China has no evidence to suggest control over SCS or its resources

ANSWER: Both a and b are same

Explanation:
Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare has declared India free from Avian Influenza pr H5N1 on Sept 5, 2016

• India had notified outbreak of Avian Influenza (H5N1) at Humnabad, Bidar district, Karnataka.
• There has been no further outbreak reported in the country thereafter.
• Through stamping out of the entire poultry population from infected areas and post op surveillance, state has been freed from bird flu.
• Continued surveillance especially in vulnerable areas bordering infected areas and areas visited by migratory birds has been implemented

ANSWER: Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar

Explanation:
One Thousand Hockey Legs, an NGO which seeks to introduce the game of hockey to school kids in India, was given the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar by President Pranab Mukherjee.

• It is a volunteer based organisation, which welcomes volunteers and coaches to contribute to hockey and children’s development through this platform.
• Operating in the following Indian cities: Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Puducherry and Kanpur. the NGO trains students in 90 schools and provides free hockey kits, coaching and other facilities for the kids to excel in the sport.
• The NGO’s flagship project One Thousand hockey legs which seeks to introduce the game of hockey to at least 500 school kids every year, especially in schools where low profile and poor kids study came into limelight recently.
• When India failed to qualify for Olympics in 2008, IIT Bombay alumnus and sports writer, Mr. K. Arumugam started the NGO in 2008 after giving up his government job.

ANSWER: AK Sharma

Explanation:
Anoop Kumar Sharma took over as Chairman and Managing Director of Shipping Corporation of India for three years.

• SCI is government of India PSU with headquarters in Mumbai operating and managing vessels at national and international lines
• As the country’s premier shipping line, SCI owns and operates one third of the Indian tonnage
• It has interests in all aspects of shipping, serving both national and international trades
• SCI also has interests in segments of shopping trade and owns the following:
• bulk carriers,
• crude oil tankers,
• product tankers,
• container vessels,
• passenger-cum-cargo vessels,
• phosphoric acid/ chemical carriers,
• LPG/ammonia carriers and
• offshore supply vessels.
• SCI was established in 1961 by the amalgamation of Eastern Shipping Corporation and Western Shipping Corporation
• SCI started out with 19 vessels; in 2008, it was made a Navratna PSU by GoI

ANSWER: Samsung

Explanation:
American tech company HP Inc has agreed to purchase Samsung’s Printer Business for USD 1.05 billion to disrupt the USD 55 billion photocopying industry.

• HP will acquire 6500 patents pertaining to printing and Samsung’s team of 1500 researchers and engineers
• Deal is the first major move since it split into Hewlett Packard and HP Inc
• The printer business will permit the company to take control of lucrative professional and office printing market
• HP is the market leader in desktop printing
• It also announced 16 new multifunction printers for the A3 printer-copier market.
• HP’s move to buy Samsung’s printer business also sees it pick up the firm’s printing engines, something it previously relied on external suppliers for.
• The A3 market is currently dominated by Xerox and Canon.

ANSWER: Dharamshala International Film Festival

Explanation:
5th edition of Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF) will begin on November 3 in the mountain town of McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala.

• 4 day festival has announced 6 first films:
• South Korean drama “A Korean in Paris”, cinematographer
• Rajiv Ravi’s “Kammatipaadam”,
• Marathi film “Lathe Joshi”,
• “Sonita” based on Afghan rapper Sonita Alizadeh,
• British documentary “Syrian Love Story” and
• Thai film “The Island Funeral”.
• Festival directors, Ritu and Tenzing, are determined that the event will maintain its established momentum.
• DIFF is presented by White Crane Arts & Media, a trust founded by Ritu and Tenzing
• It aims to promote contemporary cinema, art and independent media practices in the Himalayan regions of India.
• It debuted in 2012 and showcases the best of Indian and world cinema