Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Sept 16, 2015

ANSWER: By consensus

Explanation:
No voting was needed on decision to continue with UNSC reforms in the 70th session as the decision was adopted by consensus. UNGA unanimously adopted the negotiating text for UNSC reforms establishing the stage for long pending process at 70th session of the international body. The UNGA President, Sam Kutesa also circulated the position of key nations with respect to the negotiating text.

ANSWER: India

Explanation:
Pentagon has established first ever country special cell to boost defense ties with India and produce hi tech military equipment in the country. The Indian Rapid Reaction Cell is headed by Keith Webster, director, International Cooperation Office of the Under Secretary of Defence for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. It was established after Ashton Carter took charge and India is the only country to have a specific cell of its kind inside the Pentagon. Currently, 7 persons are working on this cell. Purpose of the cell is to boost initiatives under Indo-US DTTI.

ANSWER: Austria & Slovakia

Explanation:
Austria and Slovakia have announced the reinstatement of border controls to cope with refugees in a move echoing Germany. Berlin’s move struck at the EU passport free Schengen zone precipitating the crisis in Brussels. Austria has indicated it would deploy control of influx trying to leave Hungary as they tried to enter the Germany Austria border. Germany has admitted that this is Europe’s biggest migrant crisis since WWII with millions leaving Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.

ANSWER: Proton-M

Explanation:
Proton M took off at 19:10 GMT from the desert launch site according to Russian space agency Roscosmos. Russia had also successfully launched a Proton rocket, carrying a British satellite, in late August. In May, Russia lost a Mexican satellite after a Proton-M rocket crashed shortly after the launch.Based on a Soviet-era design, the Proton-M is viewed as a veteran workhorse of the space industry. Russia is developing a new generation of rockets to succeed it.

ANSWER: Polychlorinated biphenstye

Explanation:
Government has taken the decision to ban manufacturing, import as well as export of polychlorinated biphenyls and equipment containing this toxic chemical. PCBs are banned under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants otherwise known as the POPS Treaty. This was ratified in 2006 to ban use of PCBs by 2025 and adopt measures to lower or remove releases from stock piles and waste by 2028.

Government proposes to regulate manufacture, trade, use, import or export of PCBs equipment with these and contaminated with this chemical and dispose of PCB waste. Import as well as export of PCB-contaminated equipment will be regulated as per the provisions of the Hazardous Wastes Rules, 2008.

ANSWER: Australia

Explanation:
World’s longest chain of continental volcanoes put together in the past 33 million years stretch over 2000 km in eastern Australia. Active volcanic chain is running from central Queensland coast’s Cape Hillsborough to New South Wales and Cosgrove in Victoria. This volcanic chain ws created as Australia moved north-northeast over a mantle plume hotspot now located in Bass Strait.

This kind of volcanic activity occurs away from tectonic plate boundaries where most volcanoes are located. Newly discovered volcanic chain is westerly of 3 volcanic chains running across eastern Australia. The fastest moving continent on Earth is Australia currently.

ANSWER: Nitin Misra

Explanation:
Paytm has hired former Airtel and Samsung senior executive Nitin Misra to head its product pipeline for core payments business. The firm is looking to build a second tier of leaders to strengthen critical operations through this move.

ANSWER: John Krafcik

Explanation:
Google has hired former auto industry Hyundai honcho and auto industry veteran John Krafcik to run the self driving car program at Google. He is credited with the huge sales release following the Great Recession at Hyundai. Towards the start of his career as a mechanical engineer, he brought forth a JV between Toyota and GM when be became the proponent of lean manufacturing. Krafcik will take over as autonomous car CEO later in the month.

Traditional automakers have also worked towards complete automation and this is a new field for Google. To learn the tricks of driving, its cars have driven more than 1 million miles on highways or city streets. Krafcik is a Stanford trained mechanical engineer who has worked at Toyota, Ford and Lincoln Navigator. With this hire, Google has set the stage for a separate autonomous car company under the new holding company called as Alphabet.

ANSWER: Embryos

Explanation:
Argentinian scientists have produced embryos of endangered species such as Bengal cat, tiger and Asiatic cheetah to avoid the extinction of the species. Indigenous as well as exotic species are produced to prevent extinction of the species. Agreement with zoo however, restricts the scientists to only work on embryos.

ANSWER: IISc Bengaluru & IIT-B

Explanation:
Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru has obtained the top spot among Indian counterparts bagging 147th rank in the QS University Rankings. Another institute to make it to the top 200 is IIT-D ranked 179th this year. As per QS World University Rankings 2015, there are 14 Indian institutions in the World University Rankings and half of them are among the global 400. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is the world's top university, followed by Harvard.

The University of Cambridge has along with Stanford University tied for the third place. London is the only city in the world with four universities in the top 50, more so than Boston and New York (3) Paris, Sydney, Hong Kong and Beijing (2), with the LSE making the top 40 for the first time. 34 countries are represented in the top 200 with US being the dominant nation with 49 institutions.

ANSWER: Newborn babies

Explanation:
Scientists have found viruses in intestines of new born babies dispelling the notion that only bacteria invade and colonise the baby's gut after birth. The study was carried out by Washington University of Medicine on 8 healthy infants. Researchers noted that some of the viruses they identified are known to infect cells of the human host, but others actually infect the bacteria.They also found that the kinds of viruses that infect bacteria, not human cells, were the most rich and diverse earliest in an infant's life and then their numbers fell.

They also showed that strains of bacteria did the opposite, starting out with low numbers early and becoming more diverse as the babies grew into toddlers. The researchers also observed a relatively large diversity of a kind of virus that infects human cells called anellovirus which seems to reflect a person's immune status, with more viruses present when the immune system is weaker. Nearly all of the anelloviruses identified in this study were previously unknown.

ANSWER: 2014, 2015, 2016

Explanation:
It looks likely that globally 2014, 2015 and 2016 will all be amongst the very warmest years ever recorded, National Centre for Atmospheric Science, which contributed to the report, announced. The rate at which global temperatures are increasing is also on track to pick up in the coming years, ending a period of more than a decade in which the pace of warming worldwide had appeared to slow down.

An El Nino weather pattern centred in the tropical Pacific Ocean is "well underway", the report says and this is likely to result in dry conditions in parts of Asia and Australia, as well as southern and sub-Saharan North Africa. By contrast, the southwestern US has a strong chance of seeing greater than-average rainfall. El Ninos also affect tropical storms, making them less likely in the North Atlantic and more intense in the West Pacific.

ANSWER: -4.95%

Explanation:
Wholesale prices dropped for the tenth consecutive month, while retail inflation remained at positive level, raising prospects of an interest rate cut when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reviews monetary policy. The annual rate of inflation, based on wholesale price index, stood at -4.95% in August, compared to -4.05% for the previous month and 3.85% during the corresponding month of the year 2014. Sharp slide in global crude oil prices and vegetable prices contributed significantly to the dip in wholesale price pressures.Retail inflation in August rose an annual 3.66% compared to the previous month's 3.69%, well below RBI's comfort level while food and beverages inflation stood at 2.9% in August, sharply below the double digit levels seen in the past.

However, prices of pulses and some vegetables remain issues of concern.Core wholesale inflation (excluding food and fuels) decelerated to 4.1% in August 2015 from 4.3% in July 2015 and thereby , continuing the momentum of decelerating core inflation. Both categories of inflation indicate that they are moderating and under control.

ANSWER: Novak Djokovic

Explanation:
Djokovic won 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 against Roger Federer, it being the Serb’s third major title of the year and 10th of his career. Djokovic has reached 16 of the last 21 majors, winning four of the last six.Conversely Federer dropped a third consecutive major final to Djokovic, having lost in the Wimbledon final in 2014 and again this year.

ANSWER: Indian Kalarippayattu Federation

Explanation:
Kalarippayattu sport is promoted by IKF in India. This is a martial art sports performed in Kerala and TN. Kalari is derived from Sangam literature. It means combat arena and battlefield. This is considered one of the oldest combat arts dating back to 2rd century BC to 2nd century AD.

ANSWER: Swetha Prabhakaran

Explanation:
Indian American teen entrepreneur Swetha Prabhakaran who has founded Everybody Code Now! will receive the Champions of Change award from the White House. She founded the non profit to empower youth to become entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers. She has formulated a mentorship program for STEM/Science Technology Engineering and Math activities in school. She is among 11 young women who are selected for this award.

ANSWER: Cairn India

Explanation:
Mining and metals company Vedanta Ltd has received approval for its proposed merger with oil and hydrocarbon unit Cairn India. It has received NOC for the same from BSE and NSE. NOCs are issued by the tock exchanges following comments from SEBI. In June 2015, Vedanta Ltd, India’s largest private miner announced its acquisition of Cairn India in a USD 2.3 billion all share deal. London based Vedanta Resources has a debt of USD 7.7 billion while its Indian arm has USD 4.57 billion in debt. Cairn India which is zero debt has a USD 2.85 billion cash reserve.

ANSWER: It has permitted foreign investments through partly paid shares and warrants

Explanation:
Government has permitted foreign investments through partly paid shares and warrants in a move to facilitate FDI in the country. "The government has reviewed the provisions of the extant FDI policy...and it has been decided to allow partly paid shares and warrants as eligible capital instruments for the purposes of FDI policy," the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) announced in a notification. Nature of these instruments is said to be in equity and facility sharing agreements between group companies through leasing/sub-leasing arrangements for the larger interest of business will not be treated as 'real estate business' within the provisions of the Consolidated FDI policy circular of 2015.

Government has relaxed FDI norms for sectors such as medical devices, defence and construction activities. During April-June quarter of 2015, FDI into the country grew by 31 percent to USD 9.50 billion.

ANSWER: Alcatel Lucent

Explanation:
Finnish telecom group Nokia announced receipt of US regulatory approvals needed for its proposed acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent, moving to become world's biggest supplier of mobile phone network equipment. Following its previous anti-trust clearance from the US Justice department, the acquisition of the French-American company has now also been cleared by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), Nokia announced in a statement. In the month of April, Nokia formed a 15.6 billion euro ($17.6 billion) deal to buy its troubled competitor Alcatel-Lucent, which only had one year of profit since the company was created in 2006.The tie-up was approved by the European Commission in July.

ANSWER: Nepal Rastra Bank

Explanation:
The MoU was signed by Meena Hemchandra, ED of RBI and Nepal Rastra Bank’s ED Narayan Prasad Paudel in New Delhi. Through this agreement, RBI will promote greater co-operation and share supervisory information among the authorities. The apex bank has so far entered into MoU with supervisors of 27 countries and Letter for Supervisory Co-operation and Statement of Co-operation with supervisors of one country. This is to promote greater co-operation and share supervisory information.