Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Jan 16, 2017

ANSWER: Sumit Bose

Explanation:
The expert group set up to prepare Socio Economic and Caste Census has submitted the report to the Ministry of Rural Development.

Expert group was headed by former Finance Secretary Submit Bose.

Objective of the group is to study criteria for allocation of resources to states and identify beneficiaries under several programmes using SECC data.

The MoRD will use the SECC data for identifying beneficiaries and generating priority list of beneficiaries under the programmes.

In association with this, appropriate guidelines for inter state allocation to cover households were issued

Households will be covered under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana/National Rural Livelihood Mission.

Use of SECC data and TIN number enables the government to improve the efficacy of interventions and result in improved outcome.

SECC can function like a Social Registry Information System, and use of its daya will lead to better budgetary planning and allocation of resources.

ANSWER: 1 lakh

Explanation:
According to the World Employment and Social Outlook for 2017, number of unemployed people is set to rise in India by 1 lakh in 2017.

The ILO report has further stated a rise by another 2 lakh in 2018.

The report was based on projections of econometric modelling in Nov 2016.

Report found India to be in the category of emerging nations.

Key Statistics: ILO Report

India

• Number of jobless in India will increase from 17.7 million in 2016 to 18 million by 2018.
• India's unemployment rate is expected to go down from 3.5% to 3.4% in 2017.
• India performed slightly well in terms of job creation in 2016, as majority of the 13.4 million new employment were created.

Global


• Globally, the number of jobless people will increase by 3.4 million in 2017.
• The global unemployment rate is expected to rise slightly from 5.7 to 5.8% in 2017.
• It is held pace of labour force growth will outstrip job creation.
• The rise in unemployment levels and rates in 2017 will be driven by deteriorating labour market conditions in emerging countries.
• Vulnerable forms of employment, which include own account workers and contributing family workers are expected to stay above 42% of total employment.
• About 1.4 billion people are likely to be engaged in such employment in 2017, with the number rising by 11 million per year.
• Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia will be the most affected.
• In developing countries, the number of workers earning less than US$3.10 per day is even expected to increase by more than 5 million over the next two years.
• Global uncertainty and the lack of decent jobs are, among some of the other factors influencing social ecosystems.

ANSWER: 2.4 million

Explanation:
As many as 2.4 million new dematerialized (Demat) accounts were opened in India in 2016 - the highest since 2008.

Experts are stating that a string of initial public offerings (IPO) and increased demand for mutual funds had attracted investors to financial assets,

Investors from retails sector had chosen to invest in stocks, and reforms such as the upcoming goods and services tax (GST) had encouraged people to open demat accounts.

Indians traditionally prefer gold, real estate and bank deposits.

In 2016, initial public offerings (IPOs) garnered INR 26,493.84 crore in 2016, data from Prime Database showed.

Meanwhile, mutual fund folios in India rose 4.47 percent quarter-on-quarter in the three months ended December 2016 to a fresh record.

As per Association of Mutual Funds of India, mutual funds added 1,64 million folios between October and December last year to touch 50.6 million.

Nearly 3 million Demat accounts opened in 2008, according to data from National Securities Depository Ltd, and Central Depository Services Ltd.

In India, less than 1% of the population invests in stocks either directly or through mutual funds.

ANSWER: 123456

Explanation:
It is none other than 123456 followed by 123456789 and qwerty according to scientists who reviewed 10 million security codes becoming public following data breach.

In the top 10 list, 4 passwords were six characters or shorter namely '12345678', '111111', '1234567890', '1234567', 'password', '123123', '987654321.'

Brute force cracking software and hardware can beat these passwords in seconds!

Nearly 17 per cent of users are safeguarding their accounts with '123456'.

What really perplexed scientists is that so many website operators are not enforcing password security best practices.

The study found that the list of most-frequently used passwords has changed little over the past few years, which means that user education has limits.

The presence of passwords like '1q2w3e4r' and '123qwe' indicates that some users attempt to use unpredictable patterns to secure passwords,.

Dictionary-based password crackers know how to look for sequential key variations and can crack such passwords in seconds.

ANSWER: MCC

Explanation:
The Indian ministry of external affairs has joined hands with the US government's Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to strengthen regional integration and connectivity.

This is more so particularly in the areas of energy, trade and investment in third countries.

The agreement is to promote economic growth, development, regional cooperation and connectivity. Proposed cooperation between MCC and MEA's Development Partnership Administration was in line with that spirit.

MCC is a US government agency. It provides eligible countries with grants to fund country-led solutions. It works for reducing poverty through sustainable economic growth.

DPA concerns implementation of India's development cooperation programmes with partner countries.

The two agencies will pursue a range of activities designed for:

• Promoting sustainable economic growth,
• Identifying and developing strategic opportunities and
• Cooperating at the country or regional level in mutually-identified countries or regions (partner countries).

The two agencies will also look to facilitate site visits to cross-border projects.

The partnership is also significant in the context of the US-India Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region which the two countries signed in 2015.

MCC: Know More

• Formed: January 2004
• Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
• Employees: Around 300 (2011)
• CEO: Dana J. Hyde
• Website: www.mcc.gov

ANSWER: Navjot Singh Sidhu

Explanation:
INC on 15th Jan 2016 announced that cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu will formally join the party.

Sidhu will run for the Amritsar East seat previously held by his wife and a part of his former Lok Sabha seat of Amritsar.

Congress announced that former CM and state unit chief Amarinder Singh and Sidhu would visit Darbar Sahib on January 19.

Sidhu's wife Navjot Kaur joined the party on November 28 along with former India hockey captain Pargat Singh, an Akali Dal legislator.

Pargat collaborated with Sidhu to form the Awaaz-e-Punjab outfit which has dissolved with its other component.

Ever since he resigned from Rajya Sabha and quit BJP, Sidhu and his associates have been looking to explore political options.

ANSWER: SEZ India

Explanation:
A Mobile app named “SEZ India” has been launched by the Commerce Secretary, SEZ Division, Department of Commerce under its broader e-Governance initiative.

SEZ Online System, has developed mobile app for Special Economic Zones (SEZs).

Commerce Secretary launched the app and mentioned that the App would help the SEZ Units and Developers to find information easily and track their transactions on SEZ Online System.

SEZ Developers & Units can file all their transactions digitally through SEZ Online system and track the status on the go through the SEZ India mobile app.

The app is available on Android Platform for use by SEZ Developers, Units, officials and others.

Sections of App

The app has four sections

• SEZ Information: This is a compendium of the SEZ Act, 2005, SEZ Rules, 2006, MOCI Circulars, details of SEZs and Units etc. It gives up to date comprehensive details on all the above aspects.
• Trade Information: This provision gives access to important information / tools such as Foreign Trade Policy, Hand Book of procedure , Duty Calculator , Customs & Excise Notification and MEIS Rates.
• Contact Details: See all the contact details of all Development Commissioners Office, DGFT, DG System, DGCI & S and SEZ online.
• SEZ online Transaction This is a dynamic submenu that tracks the Bill of Entry / Shipping Bill processing status and also does verification.

The app also helps the Importers / Exporters to track the status of 'Bill of Entry / Shipping Bill” integration and processing in the EDI system of the ICEGATE.

ANSWER: Alia Bhatt

Explanation:
It honored the best Indian films of 2016.

The ceremony was held on 14 January 2017 and was co-hosted by Kapil Sharma, Karan Johar and Shahrukh Khan.

Aamir Khan bagged the best actor honour, while his movie “Dangal” was adjudged as the best film at the 62nd Jio Filmfare Awards.

The best director award went to Nitesh Tiwari for “Dangal”, which is based on the life of Haryana wrestler Mahavir Phogat and his daughters.

The best actress title was won by Alia Bhatt for her performance in “Udta Punjab” while Sonam Kapoor bagged the critics choice award for “Neerja”.

The Ram Madhvani-directed biopic also bagged the critics award for best film.

Ashwini Iyer Tiwari took home the best debut director for “Nil Battey Sannata” which starred Swara Bhaskar in the lead.

The complete list of 62nd Jio Film fare Awards 2017.

Best Actor (Male)	Aamir Khan for ‘Dangal’
Best Actor (Female)	Alia Bhatt for ‘Udta Punjab’
Best Film	‘Dangal’
Best Director	Nitesh Tiwari for ‘Dangal’
Filmfare Critics Award for Best Film	‘Neerja’
Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor (Male)	Shahid Kapoor for ‘Udta Punjab’ and Manoj Bajpayee for ‘Aligarh’
Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor (Female)	Sonam Kapoor for ‘Neerja’
Best Actor (Male) in a short Film	Manoj Bajpayee for ‘Taandav’
Best short Film People’s Choice	Khamakha
Best Short Film (Fiction)	‘Chutney’
Best Short Film (Non-fiction)	‘Matitali Kusti’
Best Actor (Female) in a Short Film	Tisca Chopra for ‘Chutney’
Best Debut Director	Ashwini Iyer Tiwari for ‘Nil Battey Sannata’
Best Male Debut	Diljit Dosanjh for ‘Udta Punjab’
Best Female Debut	Ritika Singh for ‘Saala Khadoos’
Best Dialogue	Ritesh Shah for ‘Pink’
Best Screenplay	Shakun Batra and Ayesha Devitre Dhillon for ‘Kapoor & Sons (Since 1921)’
Best Story	Shakun Batra and Ayesha Devitre Dhillon for ‘Kapoor & Sons (Since 1921)’
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male)	Rishi Kapoor for ‘Kapoor & Sons (Since 1921)’
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female)	Shabana Azmi for ‘Neerja’
Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award	Shatrughan Sinha
Best Music Album	Pritam for ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’
Best Lyricist	Amitabh Bhattacharya for ‘Channa Mereya’ from ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’
Best Playback Singer (Male)	Arijit Singh for ‘Ae dil hai mushkil’ from ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’
Best Playback Singer (Female)	Neha Bhasin for ‘Jag Ghoomeya’ from ‘Sultan’
Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent	Amit Mishra for ‘Bulleya’ from ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’
Best Visual Effects	Red Chillies for ‘Fan’
Best Editing	Monisha Baldawa for ‘Neerja’
Best Costume	Payal Saluja for ‘Udta Punjab’
Best Action	Shyam Kaushal for ‘Dangal’