Current Affairs Questions & Answers - June 20, 2016

ANSWER: Willy Mutunga

Explanation:
Willy Mutunga, former Chief Justice of Kenya has now been made Commonwealth Secretary General’s Special Envoy to Maldives.

• This was done following the request of the Maldives government against the backdrop of the Commonwealth’s concern over the political situation following arrest and detention of senior political figures
• Foreign Affairs Ministry of Maldives acknowledged that the development was in response to the request of the government
• At an extraordinary meeting of CMAG (Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group) sending a special envoy to Male for review of the Constitution of Maldives to strengthen the separation of powers was mooted
• Mutunga while emitting office as the Chief Justice of Kenya said that political leadership in Madlives would aid in the process of constitutional and political transition
• Commonwealth has stated Dr. Mutunga would act on behalf of the Secretary General and regain independence of the Maldives government in a consultation with relevant stakeholders

ANSWER: Eukaryotic

Explanation:
Cells leading to the rise of most complex forms of life on earth including multi-cellular organisms such as animals or plants, indicating result of growing intimacy between single celled relatives

• First living beings on earth were single cell organisms- these were simple cells which during the course of evolution have rise to eukaryotes or cells with a nucleus
• First eukaryote arose when prokaryotes joined forces.
• Prokaryotes are single celled organisms lacking a cell nucleus
• Researchers now hold that molecular machinery essential to eukaryotic life were borrowed
• This proposal is associated with new genomic evidence associated with deep sea vents on the ocean floor.
• Eukaryotic cells differ from that of single celled relatives, archaea and bacteria
• Genome of the archaean known as Lokiarchaeum contain eukaryotic signature proteins than any other prokaryote
• Genome of this organism is now primed for eukaryogenesis with the acquisition of key genes and lipids from a bacterial symbiont

ANSWER: Cilllia

Explanation:
Scientists have created a new software that rapidly and efficiently models and prints thousands of hair like structures which takes a huge amount of computational time and power through conventional software.

• 3D printers can print anything from a sports car to human skin
• Researchers at MIT have now developed a new technique to bypass a massive design step in 3D printing
• Team created a new software platform called Cilllia that determines the angle, thickness, density and height of thousands of hairs in just a few minutes
• Using Cilllia, researchers designed arrays of hair like structures with resolution of 50 microns about the width of a human hair
• New technology can be used to print wigs and hair extensions, adding 3D printed hair could perform critical tasks such as sensing, adhesion and actuation.
• Work inspired by hair like structures in nature provide benefits in case of human hair and movement in case of cilia which removes dust from lungs

ANSWER: Ganymede

Explanation:
Discovery marks a milestone accomplished by Hubble, which in 25 years in orbit has made scientific discoveries in the solar system. Deep ocean under the icy crust of Ganymede opened up exciting possibilities of life on earth.

• NASA’s Hubble Space telescope revealed the best evidence for underground saltwater ocean on Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon
• Subterranean ocean is thought to have more water than all water on Earth’s surface
• Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system and the only moon with its magnetic field

ANSWER: 1000

Explanation:
US scientists have created the world’s first microchip that has 1000 processors and is currently the fastest chip designed in the university laboratory

• Energy efficient microchip designed by University of California researchers is called the KiloCore chip and has maximal computation rate of 1.78 trillion instructions per second and close to 621 million transistors.
• This is the world’s first 1000 processor and is the highest clock rate processor ever designed in a university
• Fabricated by IBM using the 32nm CMOS technology, KiloCore chip’s each processor core can run its own small programme independently of others
• Multiple processor chips have now been created that exceed the previous limit of 300 processors

ANSWER: Both a and b

Explanation:
Scientists have combined 3D printed polymers with methane eating bacteria to create the first reactor that can produce methanol from the green house gas, advancement leading to efficient energy production.

• Researchers removed enzymes from methanotrophs, bacteria that consume methane and mix then with polymers printed or molded into innovative reactors.
• The enzymes retain close to 100 percent activity in the polymer
• Large volume of methane leaks or flares during the operations because the gas is difficult to store and transport compared to more valuable liquid fuels

ANSWER: Maxwell

Explanation:
To achieve more efficient, quieter and environment friendly aircraft compared to a conventional one, the US space agency has unveiled for an electric powered airplane designated as X-57.

• With 14 electric motors turning propellors and integrated into uniquely designed wings, NASA’s reaction will test the new propulsion technology using X-57 nicknamed Maxwell.
• The name Maxwell is to honour James Clerk Maxwell, a 19th century Scottish physicist who did groundbreaking work in electromagnetism
• NASA’s scalable convergent electric propulsion operations research project will build the X-57 by modification of recently obtained, Italian designed Tecnam P2006T twin engine light aircraft.

ANSWER: 20

Explanation:
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle will lift off at 9.25 am on June 22nd from Sriharikota an important mission for ISRO.

• This vehicle has placed 20 satellites into the same orbit- the highest number of satellites to be put into orbit by a PSLV- it will perform experiments as well
• Fifty minutes after the satellites are injected into the orbit from the fourth stage of the vehicle, the engine will be reignited for five seconds
• It will then be shut down for 50 minutes and reignited for another 5 seconds

ANSWER: Langtang

Explanation:
A nearly 10 km wide crater on Mars has been named after one of the villages worst hit by the devastating earthquake in Nepal in the previous year

• International Astronomical Union has named the crater after Langtang which is also a popular trekking site
• Close to 215 people were killed in Langtang where a quake triggered avalanche submerged the village

ANSWER: Gamesa

Explanation:
Siemens of German and Gamesa of Spain have decided to come together to form the world’s biggest wind power company

• As part of the agreement initialled, the wind power business of Siemens including wind services will be merged with Gamesa
• Siemens will receive newly issued shares of the combined company and hold 59 percent of the share capital
• Existing shareholders of Gamesa will hold 41 percent

ANSWER: Microsoft

Explanation:
Microsoft on 17th June was selected as technical partner to build mobile app for the HRD SWAYAM platform (Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds)

• Platform will launch 2000 MOOC courses for 3 crore students in 2016
• Microsoft has signed a deal of INR 38 crore rupees with AICTE to build and run the app for 3 years
• The app will be taken over by AICTE after that
• UGC Regulation 2016 was finalised in a credit framework for online learning through SWAYAM.

ANSWER: Fintech

Explanation:
SBI on 16th June 2016 floated a 200 crore rupee fund for startups in the fintech space. Fund will consider assistance of INR 3 crore rupees to a firm registered for promoting business innovation using technology in financial services

• Traditional banks around the world are working with fintech firms to promote business innovations using technology in financial services
• Suitable regulatory framework will also be set up to address the associated risks like cyber security risk, data theft risk and technology risk.

ANSWER: Australia

Explanation:
Australia won the trophy defeating India 1-0 in a shoot-out. Australia claimed the Champions Trophy title for the 14th time. Germany defeated Great Britain to win the bronze medal.

• Leading 4 countries were Australia, India, Germany and Great Britain

ANSWER: 20

Explanation:
Six central universities have full fledged yoga departments from 2016-2017 and the number would be raised by 20 within one year. Six universities are Hemwati Nandan Bahugana Garhwal University, Uttarakhand (North), Viswa Bharti, West Bengal (East), Central University of Rajasthan (West), Central University of Kerala (South), Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh,(Central) and Manipur University (North East).

• Physical, mental, emotional and other aspects of the individual are honed through yoga.

ANSWER: Korea Plus

Explanation:
Commerce and Industry Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman and Joo Hyunghwan, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Government of Republic of Korea launched a special initiative to facilitate Korean investments in India

• It is called Korea Plus
• MoU for the same was signed between Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Govt. of the Republic of Korea and Invest India, the National Investment Promotion & Facilitation Agency of India in January 2016. This MOU came as an outcome of the visit of the Indian Prime Minister to South Korea in May 2015.
• Korea Plus was operationalised on June 18, 2016

ANSWER: Pashmina Promotion Programme

Explanation:
5 Solarised Community Centre and 100 shelter homes for the benefit of the nomads (wool-growers) involved in Pashmina sheep rearing, in very hard conditions; were launched in Ladakh on 19th June

• Average pashmina yield has done up by 9.3 percent in the past two years
• The P-3 program called the Pashmina Promotion Programme was launched by Minister of State for Textiles (Independent Charge).
• As part of this programme, financial assistance is being provided under different components such as Creation of Common Pashmina Facilitation Centre for Wool Testing, Portable Electric Units for Handloom Spinning and Weaving etc.