Current Affairs Questions & Answers - June 27, 2016

ANSWER: Rural areas

Explanation:
India will soon launch an INR 1800 crore or USD 265 million Digital Literacy Mission for 60 million people in rural areas.

• This is another initiative to bridge the gap between those who can access computers and Internet and those who cannot
• Government will spend INR 300 each on training 60 million people
• CSC a-Governance India will be funding and monitoring the common services centre scheme
• This company has been promoted by Department of Electronics and Information Technology
• This will also implement the National Digital Literacy Mission which will ensure IT training for 52.5 million people

ANSWER: Arjuna Mahendran

Explanation:
Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Arjuna Mahendran has decided to resign following a long and sustained campaign by civil society activists and political parties

• Mahendran who was made Governor after the current government took over is also serving the reminder of the term of his predecessor
• Ajith Nivard Cabraal was the predecessor for this post
• Governor has informed the Monetary Board of the CBSL that he would not seek reappointment till the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises will make its findings known on issuance of treasury bonds in 2015, 2016.

ANSWER: Missile Technology Control Regime

Explanation:
Marking the first entry into multilateral export control regime, India will join MTCR or Missile Technology Control Regime as a full member, three days following the NSG membership on account of stiff opposition from China and some other nations.

• Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar will sign the document of accession into MTCR in the presence of French, Netherlands and Luxembourg ambassadors
• China is not a member of the 34 nation NTCR
• Following the civil nuclear deal with the US, India is being able to enter this export control regime
• Other such regimes include Australia Group, Wassenaar Agreement and NSG
• India’s aim to enter MTCR was boosted after agreement to join Hague Code of Conduct dealing with ballistic missile non proliferation arrangement.

ANSWER: Operation Nirbheek

Explanation:
An online facility permitting children to complain about abuse (sexual or physical) without revealing their identities is on the anvil

• WCD is working on an e-dropbox which will help children to lodge a complaint against abuse, molestation, harassment in everyday situations across school, home and other settings
• Officials say simple language, pictures and icons will be used to ensure even young children can use this facility
• WCD Minister Smt. Maneka Gandhi said this was another step in the fight against abuse and the attempt to increase the Laxman Rekha across children
• The e-dropbox will be hosted on the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights website and the icons and response system are being designed by the commission
• Project was inspired by Operation Nirbheek launched by the Delhi Police where complaint boxes were placed in different schools allowing girls to complain about any abuse and many of the complaints were made into FIR (First Information Reports).

ANSWER: 94

Explanation:
The National Sample Survey Organisation founded in 2014 held that 94 percent people in rural India do not own a computer. Shri Arun Jaitley has proposed to address this issue whereby 8000 boundary pillars along the Indo Nepal border will be equipped by positioning system using Global Navigation Satellite System.

• This marks the first time that the authorities will be managing the 1700 km long porous boundary
• Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has indicated that the Nepal-India Boundary Global Navigation Satellite System will be used for Nepal-India boundary pillars

ANSWER: Russia

Explanation:
China and Russia have signed a draft of agreements from food and energy security to military with over 30 such agreements being signed during Russian President Putin’s whirlwind visit to Beijing

• Agreements covered joint development of long range civilian aircraft
• The two nations are also developing a heavy lift helicopter in relation to Chinese specifications and it will have maximum take off weight of 38.2 tonnes and fly at speeds of 300 km/hour.
• During the talks, a discussion for dovetailing China’s Belt and Road connectivity initiative with Russian led EEU plan was also explored
• Two leaders signed a joint statement on strengthening global strategic stability and promoting development of cyberspace.

ANSWER: Squeezed vacuum

Explanation:
Researchers have developed a fresh technology to make the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory to become more sensitive to gravitational waves which are faint ripples in space time.

• MIT and Australian National University team of researchers report on improvements in what is called the squeezed vacuum source
• Injecting the new squeezed vacuum source into the LIGO detector could help to double sensitivity
• Scientists announced the first ever observation of g-waves earlier this year 100 years after Einstein predicted their existence in his general theory of relativity
• In case this is implemented, it will boost the sensitivity of gravitational detectors specifically at higher frequencies vital for understanding the composition of neutron stars

ANSWER: Republic of Djibouti

Explanation:
President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee greets Djibouti on their eve of their Independence Day on June 27, 2016.

• The president of the Republic of Djibouti is currently His Excellency Mr. Ismail Omar Guelleh
• India will work with Djibouti for strengthening cordial relations between the two countries

ANSWER: Fifth

Explanation:
India’s men hockey team has jumped to fifth position ahead of Belgium, New Zealand and Argentina after the team lodged a protest against the penalty shootout before settling for historic silver after the jury announced a 1-3 result against Australia.

• India will now have 1689 points at the close of the Champions Trophy, 56 points ahead of sixth placed Belgium and just eight away from Great Britain on the fourth
• India was ranked fifth in 2004 last.
• This marks the first time in more than a decade that India Hockey Team has made it to the top 5 in the world rankings since the International Hockey Federation started the system in 2003

ANSWER: Both b and c

Explanation:
Vegetables grown on soil in Mars have been found safe for human consumption according to Dutch scientists.

• In the greenhouses at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, scientists have worked on growing crops in Mars and Moon soil simultants since 2013
• The first experiment demonstrated that crops could grow on soil simulants with researchers mixing indelible parts of the 2013 plants into the simulant and succeeded to grow 10 different crops
• Heavy metals such as copper, lead and cadmium present in soils could contaminate the crops
• In case there are too high levels of heavy metals from the soil absorbed in edible plant parts, crops can become poisonous
• Wamelink indicated that radishes, peas, rye and tomatoes grown here can be eaten as no dangerous level of Copper, Zn, Fe or lead were found indicating the crops were safe to eat

ANSWER: Both a and c

Explanation:
Number of missing cases of microcephaly epidemic country in Zika prone countries has raised questions about the assumed link between the two

• Epidemic of microcephaly- a birth defect where baby’s heads become smaller- has raised serious questions about the assumed link with Zika virus
• Prenatal Zika virus infection has been linked to both birth outcomes and adverse pregnancy namely brain anomalies such as microcephaly
• A new study in Colombia found total number of pregnancies with Zika infection is larger with 11,944 cases of symptoms in clinical settings yet no microcephaly occurred in these pregnancies
• An alternative case of microcephaly in Brazil could be pesticide pyriproxyfen, which is cross-reactive with retinoic acid and is being used in drinking water, the researchers said

ANSWER: Bill Cunningham

Explanation:
Bill Cunningham, street style photographer whose photo essays for the NYT memorialised trends from fanny packs to Birkin bags passed away on Saturday 25th June at the age of 87 following hospitalisation for a stroke.

• He was known for over 4 decades of interesting and iconic fashion photography

ANSWER: Asha Kumari

Explanation:
Congress has appointed Asha Kumari as party in-charge of Punjab replacing Kamal Nath who stepped down from the post following criticism by opposition parties over alleged role in 1984 anti Sikh riots.

• She is a member of the HP assembly
• The 52 year old is currently out on bail in a land grab case
• Ms. Kumari hails from Chhatisgarh and belongs to the royal family of Chamba in HP and is known for her had work and political skills

ANSWER: Sanjay Malik

Explanation:
Nokia has appointed Sanjay Malik as the new head of the India market taking over from current India head Sandeep Girotra recently promoted as head of Asia Pacific and Japan market for the company

• Malik will be based in Gurgaon and will lead customer operations driving business growth strategy and consumer engagement services
• It will be effective w.e.f. August 1 2016
• He is currently vice president and head of the global network implementation services part of the company’s Global Services business
• Malik has over 25 years of experience in IT, Telecom and Technology Industry in India and APAC market

ANSWER: Dutee Chand

Explanation:
Dutee Chand has qualified for Rio Olympics in the women’s 100m event after meeting the qualification mark at XXVI international meeting G. Kosanov Memorial in Almaty Kazakhstan

• She clocked 11:30s in the 100m heat at the memorial tournament since beating the Rio Olympics qualification mark of 11.32 secs
• She became the first women to qualify from India for the event since qualification started for it.
• PT Usha, a star Indian track and field athlete from India qualified for the event in 1980s Olympics.
• She is called the “queen of Indian track and field” and the “Payyoli Express.”

ANSWER: Su-30 MKI

Explanation:
Brahmos, the world’s most formidable supersonic cruise missile has been integrated and test flown with IAF’s Su-30MKI frontline strike fighter.

• This is a leading cruise missile capable pf hitting targets beyond radar horizons
• This world class missile has the capacity to take on targets by flying combined high-low trajectory thereby evading enemy defence systems

ANSWER: Mahasthangarh

Explanation:
Mahasthangarh, a 3rd century BC archaeological site in Bangladesh close to 11 km north of Bogra has been declared the SAARC cultural capital for 2016-2017

• It will host cultural festivals from 2016 to 2017 as a result of this
• This is one of the earliest sites discovered for urban archaeology in Bangladesh
• 2016-2017 has been declared the SAARC year of cultural heritage
• It was the ancient capital of Pundravardhana i.e. home of the Pundra, a group of people not speaking languages of the Indo-European family.

ANSWER: Deepika Padukone

Explanation:
Bollywood stars Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone bagged the Best Actor (Male) and Female trophy at the 17th IIFA extravaganza for their performance in Piku and Bajirao Mastani.
Here is the list of winners:

• Best Film: Bajrangi Bhaijaan
• Best Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali - Bajirao Mastani
• Best Actor (Male): Ranveer Singh - Bajirao Mastani
• Best Actor (Female): Deepika Padukone - Piku
• Best Actor in Supporting Role (Male): Anil Kapoor - Dil Dhadakne Do
• Best Actor in Supporting Role (Female): Priyanka Chopra - Bajirao Mastani
• Best Actor in Negative Role: Darshan Kumar - NH10
• Best Performance in Comic Role: Deepak Dobriyal - Tanu Weds Manu Returns
• Best Debut Actor (Male): Vicky Kaushal - Masaan
• Best Debut Actor (Female): Bhumi Pednekar - Dum Laga Ke Haisha
• Best Debut Couple: Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty - Hero
• Best Story: Juhi Chaturvedi - Piku
• Best Playback Singer (Female): Monali Thakur - Moh Moh Ke Dhaage (Dum Laga Ke Haisha)
• Best Playback Singer (Male): Papon - Moh Moh Ke Dhaage
• Best Lyrics: Varun Grover - Moh Moh Ke Dhaage
• Special Award: Woman of the Year- Priyanka Chopra