Current Affairs Questions and Answers - June 04, 2015

ANSWER: D. World Environment Day

Cricketer Virat Kohli and wrestler Sushil Kumar will participate in a function to plant saplings at Parvayvaran Bhawan. A new pilot project on Urban Forestry will be launched in Pune on 6th of this month to achieve the goal of more green. The project will be run through public participation in the form of a Memorial Garden.

ANSWER: A. Ashton Carter

He is scheduled to meet Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

ANSWER: B. Belarus.

These include agreement on Textiles, protocol to amend the agreement between two countries for avoidance of double taxation, MOU between Prasar Bharati and National State TV and Radio company of Belarus Broadcasting Corporation in the presence of Indian President and his Belarussian Counterpart.

ANSWER: C. USA Freedom Act

The US Senate has voted to limit the government's ability to collect phone data, a policy that had been in place since the attacks of 11 September 2001. The USA Freedom Act extends the government's ability to collect large amounts of data, but with restrictions. The bill, which replaces the Patriot Act, had been backed by President Obama as a necessary tool to fight terrorism. The new law replaces a National Security Agency program in which the spy agency collected personal data en masse.

ANSWER: B. 2001
The study by the Costs of War Project, based at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University says another one lakh and 62 thousand have been wounded since the US-led offensive that toppled the Taliban government in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks.

ANSWER: C. LIC

LIC will start business as the joint venture entity called LIC Bangladesh Ltd with a paid-up capital of 1 billion Takas with LIC holding half of it. Bangladesh has over 77 local insurance companies in the market, the only other foreign insurance company is a US-based company which operates as a branch office, and not as a registered company.

ANSWER: A. Askwar Hilonga.

A water filter which absorbs anything from copper and fluoride to bacteria, viruses and pesticides has won a prestigious African innovation prize. Its inventor, Tanzanian chemical engineer Askwar Hilonga, uses nano technology and sand to clean water.

ANSWER: B. 2 year

Scientists are waiting for the first new data to begin flowing from the underground particle smasher, paving the way to a new era in physics. Today, the vast machine clattered proton beams together at much higher energies than were achieved during its first run in 2010-2013. This should allow physicists to hunt for signs of new scientific phenomena.

ANSWER: A. Colombia

The bill was passed with 104 votes in support and three against. It still needs to be signed by the President to become law. It was named after Rosa Elvira Cely, a woman who was attacked, raped and murdered by a man in a park in the capital, Bogota, in May 2012. Under the new law, those found guilty could face up to 50 years in jail. It imposes longer sentences on crimes where women are targeted specifically because of their gender, including psychological, physical and sexual attacks.

ANSWER: D. Norway

Former US security contractor Edward Snowden has been awarded a Norwegian prize for freedom of expression and received yet another invitation to leave his exile and receive the award in person. The Norwegian Academy of Literature and Freedom of Expression said the 31 year old fugitive had won the Bjornson Prize, named after a Norwegian Nobel literature laureate, for his work protecting privacy and for shining a critical light on US surveillance of its citizens and others. Snowden was awarded Sweden's Right Livelihood Award in 2014 but chose to accept it by video link rather than leaving his exile in Russia. He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the second year in a row.

ANSWER: C. NASA

US space agency NASA will the largest parachute ever deployed during a flying saucer launch that will test new technologies for landing on Mars. The test flight of the flying saucer, known as the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator, was broadcasted live on NASA's website from 11 PM Indian time.

ANSWER: D. Bhutan

They smashed the previous record by almost 10,000 trees. It had been set by the Indian team three years ago. Bhutan's planters gathered in the capital, Thimphu, for their feat, which Guinness World Records confirmed. The government of the mountainous Himalayan kingdom lays great emphasis on protecting the environment. Bhutan has more than 75 per cent forest cover.

ANSWER: A. Jaipur

Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje inaugurated the Metro services. In the first phase, the metro will run on 9.6 kilometre stretch covering nine stations from Mansarovar to Chandpole.