Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2021

Notes:
The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) of India, Noida won the prestigious UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize 2021. This organization is run by the education ministry and has bagged global recognition from UNESCO for its innovative approach towards education. The recognition is for educating differently-abled people through technology-enabled inclusive learning material with a specific focus on Indian Sign language-based. The UNESCO International Literacy Prizes focus on a specific theme. This year, the focus was on inclusive distance and digital literacy learning. Along with NIOS, this year’s UNESCO International Literacy Prizes was awarded to other five outstanding literacy programs from Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Guatemala, Mexico, and South Africa.

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American Rajeev Ram and British Joe Salisbury overcame a slow start to beat Bruno Soares and Jamie Murray 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the US Open men’s doubles final.

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India has handed over Dornier Aircraft to Mauritius as part of Vision SAGAR for enhanced maritime cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region. SAGAR stands for Security and Growth for All in the Region. Through this India seeks to enhance security and economic cooperation with its maritime neighbours.

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In a rare discovery, teeth of new species of hybodontshark of Jurassic age have been reported for the first time from Jaisalmer, Rajasthan by a team of officers comprising of Krishna Kumar,Pragya Pandey, Triparna Ghosh and Debasish Bhattacharya from the Geological Survey of India (GSI), Western Region, Jaipur. This finding has been published in Historical Biology, Journal of Palaeontology of International repute.

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Union Minister for Road Transport Nitin Gadkari launched iRASTE — a two-year pilot project aimed to enhance road safety in Nagpur and reduce fatality. This project is a collaborative initiative developed by Intel India, IIIT Hyderabad, Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), Mahindra & Mahindra and Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). iRASTE is an acronym for Intelligent Solutions for Road Safety through Technology and Engineering and it leverages the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to achieve the desired goal. This unique initiative will try to bring down fatality on Nagpur roads by 50 per cent. The drive would then be extended to other cities of India.

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China has launched the 24th Gaofen-series Earth-observation satellite in a bid to monitor environmental protection efforts and boost its natural resources surveillance. The satellite was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province on a Long March 4C carrier rocket. China has mounted seven imagers and sensors on that spacecraft that are capable of obtaining spatial, spectral and radioactive data.

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NITI Aayog, with US-based RMI (Rocky Mountain Institute) and RMI India’s support, launched Shoonya—an initiative to promote zero-pollution delivery vehicles by working with consumers and industry. The campaign aims to accelerate adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in the urban deliveries segment and create consumer awareness about the benefits of zero-pollution delivery. Industry stakeholders such as e-commerce companies, fleet aggregators, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and logistics companies have been scaling up their efforts towards final-mile delivery electrification.

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India’s largest floating solar photovoltaic system (PV) plant has been successfully commissioned by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) at NTPC Simhadri in the state of Andhra Pradesh. This 25 MW project covers an area of 100 acres. The project will not only generate clean electricity, but will also reduce water evaporation by shielding the covered area. Due to the cooling effect, it will also have a higher yield compared to traditional open space projects.

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The Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) to install public charging stations for electric vehicles in Punjab. ESL is a subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. (EESL). ESL is a subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. (EESL). Through cooperation with PEDA, CESL plans to expand its electric vehicles product portfolio. Additionally, CESL will provide convenient and affordable charging infrastructure in the state.

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The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has partnered with Cordelia Cruises, a private company operated by Waterways Leisure Tourism, to launch, market and promote India’s first local luxury cruise ship. This is another luxury travel which is provided to the public under the railway PSU’s travel services.