Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Sept 23, 2015

ANSWER: 23rd September

Explanation:
Ramdhari Singh Dinkar was a patriot, essayist and poet. He was born on 23rd September 1908 and passed away on 24th April 1974 aged 65. He was a freedom fighter and MP who won the following awards:

- Sahitaya Akademi Award-1959
- Padma Bhushan- 1959
- Bharatiya Jnanpith- 1972

ANSWER: Indian Sign Language Training and Research Centre

Explanation:
The Union Cabinet approved the setting up of Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) as a Society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. More than 5 million people in India are hearing impaired and this centre will help them. The Centre will be a Society consisting of a President and 12 Members in the General Council. There will be an Executive Council consisting of a Chairperson and nine Members and members from National Organisations of the Universities/Academic Institutions and independent experts in Indian Sign Language

ANSWER: 12

Explanation:
Indian Wushu team secured 12 medals-one gold, four silver and seven bronze medals- at 5th International Pars Wushu Cup held Tehran. India’s L. Budhachandra Singh won the gold medal after beating Masod Ansari of Iran in the final of the 56 kg category. Mukesh Choudhary and Rajani Deori fetched silvers for the country. The previous edition was held in Zenjan Iram and India had won 2 silver and 3 bronze medals here. Wushu is a Chinese martial arts contact and exhibition sports and IWUF/ International Sushi Foundation organises it.

ANSWER: New India Assurance Company

Explanation:
Trust Fund for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Department of Empowerment of People with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MOSJ&E), formed an MoU for this company aimed at providing an affordable health insurance, Swavlamban Health Insurance Scheme, for the Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and improving the general health condition and quality of life of persons with disabilities. Scheme can be availed by the beneficiary aged between 18 years and 65 years with family income of less than INR 300000 per annum and it will provide health insurance cover of up to INR 200000 per annum. National Institutes and Composite Regional Centres for Persons with Disabilities (CRC’s) under the DEPwD, MOSJ&E are some of the participants in this MoU’s implementation.

ANSWER: Nizam

Explanation:
Renowned Odia lyricist Nizam passed away on 22nd September 2015 in Odisha’s capital city following heart attack and kidney failure at the age of 62. Nizam was born in Cuttack in 1952. Starting his career as an All India Radio artiste, he joined Odia Film Industry as a lyricist in 1977 and created a niche for himself. He had written songs for over 100 films in his 35 years of career. Some of his famous works are Hrudayara Eei Sunyata Ku Aaji Pachari Mu Jebe Sune, Needa Bhara Rati, Madhu Bhara Janha, Mu Je Eka Pagala Bhanra etc.

ANSWER: The CANBANK Venture Capital Fund Ltd

Explanation:
The Electronic Development Fund (EDF) is set up as a Fund of Funds to participate in Daughter Funds that will provide risk capital to companies developing new technologies in the area of electronics, nano-electronics and Information Technology (IT).

With the appointment of CVCFL as the agency to implement EDF, the EDF is now operational and will start getting requests for participation from Seed Funds, Angel Funds and Daughter Funds. Beneficiaries of EDF policy are Daughter Funds registered in India and EDF will follow minority participation in Seed Funds, Angel Funds and Venture Funds.

ANSWER: Boeing

Explanation:
CCS (Cabinet Committee on Security) has approved the deal for Apache and Chinook helicopters. The deal has been valued over USD 2.5 bullion and pending since 2013.American companies have over the last 10 years bagged defence contracts from India worth around $10 billion, including for aircraft like P-8I maritime surveillance planes, C-130J Super Hercules and C-17 Globemaster-III in the transport category. Helicopter deal has survived 10 price extensions.

ANSWER: National Centre of Excellence in Technology for Internal Security

Explanation:
IIT-B and DeiTY has launched the NCETIS recently. Former RAW chief A. Joshi who heads National Technical Research Organisation launched the centre. NCETIS is a JV between IIT-B and DeitY to develop indigenous technology in electronic system design manufacturing in strategic security. Centre will also locate partners for commercialisation of developed technology. and focus on wireless communication system, social networking and internet, video surveillance and analysis, Ground Penetrative Radar (GPR) for landmine detection, unmanned vehicles, cyber and data security, biometric applications, sensors and detectors for explosives, landmines, chemical and biological warfare, thermal imaging, product design, product interaction design and prototyping.

ANSWER: Golden Jubilee celebrations of 1965 Indo-Park war

Explanation:
Eastern Command has organized series of commemorative events as part of ongoing Golden Jubilee celebrations of 1965 Indo-Pak war. An army band concert has been organized and a film on war was screened inside Fort William. Solemn martyrs homage ceremony was also held at Vijay Smarak.

ANSWER: Rad Guru dot net, e-learning portal for radiology education

Explanation:
Innovative e-teaching initiative Rad Guru Dot Net has been launched to offer online radiology education to post graduate radiology graduates across the nation. There is currently acute shortage of radiologists with only 10,000 for a population of 1.2 billion. Rad Guru Dot Net is a learning platform which includes guest lectures from eminent university professors from Yale, Harvard etc apart from live case studies and quizzes.

ANSWER: 53.9

Explanation:
Country’s manufacturing sector has grown on an annual basis in September, even as mining and electricity are acting as drag on economic activity. SBI composite index for measuring manufacturing stood at a 4 month high at 53.9 compared to 53.4 in the same period in 2014. But the monthly index declined to 48.4 in September from 53.1 in the month of August. Upturn has been boosted by manufacturing while mining and electricity are creating obstacles for economic growth. There are signs of growth in certain industries such as basic metals, petrochemicals and drugs and pharma.

ANSWER: Both of the above

Explanation:
Chemical and pharma firm Aarti Industries has received approval for amalgamation of 4 companies with itself. Merger aims to simplify and rationalise shareholding of promotes and increase public float of shares enhancing stock liquidity. Merger will result in elimination of associate companies and ensure shareholding structure is more investor friendly.

ANSWER: GST network system

Explanation:
IT company Infosys has garnered a INR 1320 crore contract for building the GST network system to be used for rollout of the GST tax in India. The 5 year contract will commence from October 1, 2015.Apart from Infosys, TCS Wipro, Tech Mahindra and Microsoft bid for the project. GoI is planning to implement single rate GST from April 1, 2016. Registration on GSTN will commence by January 31 according to GST network chairman Navin Kumar. GSTN seeks to assist in PAN based registration of traders, apart from filing tax returns and payment system.

ANSWER: Pompeii

Explanation:
Archeologists discovered a pre Roman era tomb in Pompeii on 19th September 2015. This tomb was buried in a AD 79 volcanic eruption. Tomb was unearthed by team of researchers from French Jean Berard Centre in Southern Italy. It dates back to Samnites era and is located at Pompeii’s Herculaneaum Gate. Samnites refer to tribals who engaged in fierce battles with Romans in 4th century BC. Tomb contains numerous vases and amphoras to give rare insight into funerary practices of that era. Excavations prove city of Pompeii is alive. The ancient city was suspended in time after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius on August 24, AD 79. This is the second most visited attraction in Rome after the Colosseum with 2.7 million visitors in 2014.

ANSWER: USD 43 trillion

Explanation:
Melting of Arctic permafrost and consequent release of CO2 and CH4 will add USD 43 trillion to the cost of climate change to the international economy according to the scientists. This represents a 13% rise in predicted economic impact of climate change by 2200. Arctic region is one of the fastest warming in the world. The permanent ice of land and under seabeds prevent GHG emissions to exacerbate greenhouse effect.

ANSWER: Lead Eastern of China

Explanation:
Lead Eastern of China will pick 10% stake in subsidiary Reliance company Zapak mobile games with valuation at USD 150 million. Reliance Games, Lead Eastern Investment and Creative Cultural has formed exclusive JV in China for operating and marketing mobile games associated with intellectual properties owned and acquired by Zapak. The percentage of stakes will be 40%, 51% and 9% respectively. Lead Holding group is a leading Chinese conglomerate and Lead Eastern is a listed entity with interests in entertainment, broadcasting and distribution. Reliance Games, claims more than 200 million downloads across popular subjects such as "Real Steel," "Pacific Rim," "Hunger Games -- Catching Fire Panem Run," "Dancing with the Stars" and "Shadow Strike" through iTunes, Google Play, Amazon and Windows across 40 countries. Creative Cultural is a Hong Kong based firm engaged in intellectual property associated entertainment. Strategic partnership between Lead and Reliance will enable the latter to enter the Chinese market. Reliance Games currently operates three studios worldwide.

ANSWER: Gautam Roy and Siddeque Ahmed

Explanation:
Assam CM Tarun Gogoi has expanded his cabinet by two former ministers taking total ministerial strength to 16. The oath of office and secrecy was administered to 2 ministers by Governor P. B. Acharya at Raj Bhawan. Gogoi has not allotted portfolios to newly inducted Ministers of Cabinet Rank hailing from Barak Valley in the state. This is the second time a Cabinet reshuffle has taken place over Gogoi’s third consecutive term. Roy was the Public Health and Engineering Department Minister till 2014. He represents the Katlicherra assembly constituency in Barak Valley’s Hailakandi distric. He has served as Ministers in all the three terms of the Congress rule led by Mr. Gogoi since 2001 and also earlier in the Hiteshwar Saikia government.Mr. Siddeque Ahmed served as the Border Areas Development and Cooperation Minister in the current term and represents the Karimganj (South) assembly constituency. Assam Cabinet can have maximum strength of 19 including CM. Total strength of MLAs in the 126 member state assembly is 78.

ANSWER: Dan Rawson, Ravi Byakod and Anand Lakshminarayanan

Explanation:
e-Commerce giant Flipkart has appointed three former Amazon, Google and Microsoft senior executives for different roles in the company on 22nd September 2015. The firm appointed Amazon's Dan Rawson as head of Customer Logistics and Supply Chain Ecosystems. Google’s Ravi Byakod is appointed as director of engineering and Accounting and Anand Lakshminarayanan from Microsoft as head of product management for Digital Goods and Services. Rawson is a former captain in the US Marines and worked as GM of Fulfilment in the US for Amazon. Ravi Byakod will oversee the company’s finances and Flipkart will leverage A. Lakshminarayanan’s expertise in the field of work digital offerings. He has previously worked in MSN and eBay.

ANSWER: New York Times

Explanation:
Local printer of International NYT has not published 22nd September’s edition in Thailand because of sensitive information regarding the royal family. The article in the issue discussed the declining health of 87 year old King Bhumibol Adulyadej published on front page of the Asia editions . Strict lese majeste laws have made criticism of the royal family punishable by close to a decade and half in prison. There have been significant increase in convictions in respect of this law since military seized power from civilian government in May 2014.

ANSWER: Chhattisgarh

Explanation:
Telangana government has entered into PPA for purchasing 1000 MW of power with Chhattisgarh. PPA will be in force for next 12 years. Transmission lines for bring power to state is currently under construction in Dichpally ( Telangana) and Wardha (Maharashtra). The power purchase agreement was formed on 22nd September 2015.

ANSWER: www.chiefministernagaland.in

Explanation:
CM T.R. Zeliang has launched the official website aimed at increasing contact between government and citizens. The introduction of an interactive page where the people can interact with the CMO is also on the anvil. State Cabinet also decided that all government departments would provide details and list of all government employees through the State Data Centre and the State Portal set up by the Department of Information Technology and Communication. All government depts have been asked to maintain separate website hosted by Nagaland State Data Centre and set aside 3% of budget allocation for IT related activities

ANSWER: Tourism

Explanation:
The Union Cabinet gave approval for signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Cambodia for cooperation in the field of tourism, promoting bilateral tourism between the two countries. Main objectives of the agreement are as follows:

The main objectives of this Agreement are:

i. Expansion of bilateral cooperation in the tourism sector.

ii. Exchange of information and data related to tourism.

iii. Encouraging Cooperation between tourism stakeholders including hotels and tour operators.

iv. Establishing exchange of programmes for cooperation in Human Resources Development.

v. Investment in the tourism and hospitality sectors.

vi. Exchange of visits of tour operators/media/opinion makers for promotion of two way tourism.

vii. Exchange of experience in areas of promotion, marketing, destination development and management.

viii. Participation in travel fairs/exhibitions in each other’s country.

ix. Promoting safe, honourable and sustainable tourism.

India has also extended ETV facilities (electronic tourist visa) for Cambodian Nationals