IAS Current Affairs is more tended towards the Current Affairs Analysis and their Backgrounders. The current event is only the tip of the iceberg and the UPSC Civil Services Exam asks about the background of that event. The Political, Economical and the Sociological dimensions of the current affairs are also important for the IAS Exam. These Current Affairs questions are framed keeping in view the pattern of IAS Exam.
1. Recently India got the membership of which of the following international groups?
a. NSG
b. MTCR
c. EU
d. Custom Union
Answer: b
Explanation:
It became the first multilateral export control group that India will join. Its request for membership of MTCR into the 48-nation NSG was recently stonewalled. China and other countries raised "procedural issues" during its plenary meeting on 23 and 24 June. Its acceptance into MTCR is reported to have become easier as China is not part of the 34-nation club.
After joining MTCR, India can now sell the BrahMos missile - a joint venture with Russia - to countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, Chile, Brazil, among several others, who have all shown interest in purchasing it.
India formally applied for MTCR membership in June 2015. Italy had initially expressed its disapproval as India was not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), but the opposition was mainly due to the detaining of its marines by India. Later, Italy softened its opposition after the detained marines, who were arrested for killing two Indian fishermen in 2012, were freed.
2. Consider the following statements regarding the MTCR and its membership:
I. The Missile Technology Control Regime is an informal and voluntary association of countries which share the goals of non-proliferation of unmanned delivery systems capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction, and which seek to coordinate national export licensing efforts aimed at preventing their proliferation.
II. The MTCR was originally established in 1987 by Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
III. MTCR partners hold an annual Plenary Meeting chaired on a rotational basis and the plenary host becomes the Chair of the MTCR for the period extending to the next Plenary.
Which of the following statement(s) is/are correct?
a. Only I
b. I and II
c. II and III
d. All of the above
Answer: d
Explanation:
The MTCR was originally established in 1987 by Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Missile Technology Control Regime is an informal and voluntary association of countries which share the goals of non-proliferation of unmanned delivery systems capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction, and which seek to coordinate national export licensing efforts aimed at preventing their proliferation.
MTCR partners hold an annual Plenary Meeting chaired on a rotational basis and the Plenary host becomes the Chair of the MTCR for the period extending to the next Plenary.
The MTCR was initiated partly in response to the increasing proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), i.e., nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The risk of proliferation of WMD is well recognized as a threat to international peace and security, including by the UN Security Council in its Summit Meeting Declaration of January 31, 1992.
3. Who of the following were named as the members of Khelo India, a national programme launched by the Union Government for the development of sports in the country?
a. PT Usha and Pullela Gopichand
b. PT Usha and Karnam Malleswari
c. Anju Bobby George and PT Usha
d. Anju Bobby George and Pullela Gopichand
Answer: c
Explanation:
Anju Bobby George, India's lone athletics World Championship medal winner and Pullela Gopichand, the chief national badminton coach have been appointed as members of national programme i.e., Khelo India, for the development of sports in the country, an initiative by the Government.
Khelo India is a seven-member committee, in which Anju and Gopichand are the two sportspersons. The committee will be headed by Sports Secretary Rajiv Yadav.
4. Who among the following has been awarded with the GD Birla Award for Scientific Research for 2016?
a. Dr Viswanathan Shanta
b. Sanjay Mittal
c. Dr Vasudev Kalkunte Aatre
d. Vinod Rai
Answer: b
Explanation:
Sanjay Mittal is a Professor of computational fluid dynamics in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India. After completion of B.Tech from IIT Kanpur in 1988, he got enrolled at University of Minnesota, Twin Cities for M.S. program. He then received his Ph.D. and worked as a research associate under Prof. Tayfun E. Tezduyar. After working for 2 years at Army High Performance Computing centre he returned to India and joined IIT Kanpur in the year of 1994 as an Assistant Professor.
For his contribution in the area of Mechanics, he has been awarded the GD Birla Award for Scientific Research for 2016.
5. Which of the following day is observing as the United Nations (UN) Public Service Day every year?
a. 15 June
b. 19 June
c. 23 June
d. 26 June
Answer: c
Explanation:
The UN General Assembly, in its resolution, designated 23 June as Public Service Day.
The UN Public Service Day intends to celebrate the value and virtue of public service to the community; highlight the contribution of public service in the development process; recognize the work of public servants, and encourage young people to pursue careers in the public sector.
Since the first Awards Ceremony in 2003, the United Nations has received an increasing number of submissions from all around the world.
6. Which of the following historical site has been declared SARRC cultural capital for 2016-17 recently?
a. Gaya
b. Mahashangarh
c. Bamiyan
d. Maynamati
Answer: b
Explanation:
Mahashangarh is one of the earliest urban archaeological sites so far discovered in Bangladesh. The village Mahasthan in Shibganj thana of Bogra District contains the remains of an ancient city which was called Pundranagara or Paundravardhanapura in the territory of Pundravardhana.
A limestone slab bearing six lines in Prakrit in Brahmi script, discovered in 1931, dates Mahasthangarh to at least the 3rd century BC. The fortified area was in use till the 18th century AD.
7. An expert committee was constituted to examine the Specific Relief Act 1963 headed by who among the following?
a. Anand Desai
b. Vinod Rai
c. JS Verma
d. KG Balakrishnan
Answer: a
Explanation:
The Expert Committee headed by Anand Desai was set up to examine the Specific Relief Act, 1963 on 20 June 2016 has submitted its report to Union Law & Justice Minister DV Sadananda Gowda.
In its report the committee has recommended modifications in the Specific Relief Act, 1963, which will help in ensuring the ease of doing business.
The committee has recommended that the courts’ intervention in public works should be minimal, specific performance of contracts be made the rule and damages or compensation be the exception and a separate class of contracts for public utility contracts should be created.
8. Which of the following country hosted the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit 2016?
a. China
b. Russia
c. Uzbekistan
d. Kazakhstan
Answer: c
Explanation:
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit 2016 has been concluded on 23rd - 24th July 2016 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and India and Pakistan on 10 July 2015 were accepted as the full members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a six-member regional grouping, including China and Russia. India that has had on the observer status of the group for past 10 years will become a full member of SCO by 2016.
9. As per the world investment report 2016, India ranked in FDI?
a. 7th
b. 8th
c. 9th
d. 10th
Answer: d
Explanation:
The World Investment Report 2016, examines international production by multinational enterprises (including sales, exports, employment and value added), as well as their ownership structures and control of affiliates.
Globally, India was at the top tenth position in terms of FDI inflows in 2015. Compared to 35 billion US dollars in 2014, it received 44 billion US dollars of investments in 2015. India’s and Bangladesh’s FDI performance pushed inflows to South Asia to 50 billion US dollars, an increase of 22 per cent from 2014.
India became the fourth largest recipient of investment in developing Asia. Outward FDI from India, South Asia’s dominant investor, dropped by more than one third which resulted in an overall 36 per cent decline of outflows from the region to 8 billion US dollars in 2015.
10. Who of the following Indian bankers has received the Green Economy Visionary Award 2016?
a. Chanda kochhar
b. R Seetharaman
c. KV Kamath
d. Raghuram Rajan
Answer: b
Explanation:
Raghavan Seetharaman, Qatar-based Indian banker has been awarded with the Green Economy Visionary award 2016. Seetharaman was honoured for his contribution in environment-friendly activities and for promoting green economy for nearly two decades.
The banker was presented with the award at the 2016 Union of Arab Banks International Banking Summit held in Rome. Mohammed Jarrah Al-Sabah, Chairman of Union of Arab Banks, presented the award to Seetharaman.
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