Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2021

Notes:
The world’s largest plant designed to suck carbon dioxide out of the air and turning it into rock started running in Iceland. The plant, named Orca, after the Icelandic word “orka” meaning “energy”, consists of four units, each made up of two metal boxes, similar in appearance to the containers used for maritime transport. World’s Largest Plant Capturing Carbon Dioxide From Air Starts In Iceland A facility for capturing carbon dioxide from air. (Reuters File) 3 Reykjavik: The world’s largest plant designed to suck carbon dioxide out of the air and turning it into rock started running on Wednesday, the companies behind the plant said. The plant, named Orca, after the Icelandic word “orka” meaning “energy”, consists of four units, each made up of two metal boxes, similar in appearance to the containers used for maritime transport. Constructed by Switzerland’s Climeworks and Iceland’s Carbfix, when operating at capacity the plant will draw 4,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the air every year.

 

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Tata AIA Life Insurance has announced Indian athlete and Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra, as its brand ambassador. This association also marks the very first brand partnership to be signed with the gold medallist javelin thrower.

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The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) has been adjudged the best higher educational institution in 2021 followed by Indian Institute of Science Bangalore (IISc) and IIT Bombay. The rankings were announced by education minister Dharmendra Pradhan as part of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), an initiative of the government to rank top Indian institutions. Several key parameters, including research output, teaching learning environment, outreach and inclusivity, resource, graduate outcome, and perception, among others, were considered for preparing the exhaustive list.

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The National Mission for Clean Ganga organised Himalayan Diwas in association with Naula Foundation on September 9, 2021. This year’s theme is ‘Contribution of Himalayas and our responsibilities’. Himalaya Diwas is celebrated every year on 9th September in the state of Uttarakhand. It is celebrated with the aim to conserve Himalayan ecosystem and region. It was officially declared as Himalaya Day in 2015 by the then Chief Minister.

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Minister of State of Jal Shakti Ministry, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, launched the “Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2021” under Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase -II. It was launched at an event organized by Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) on September 9, 2021. Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2021 will be undertaken by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) across the country.

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Bank of Baroda has launched its digital banking platform ‘bob World’, aimed at providing all banking services under one roof. bob World’ will offer a wide gamut of banking products and services, to be rolled out in phases, under four key pillars — Save, Invest, Borrow and Shop.

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Paytm has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Paytm Money, is launching a wealth and investment advisory marketplace on its platform to offer curated advisory services and products to retail investors. Paytm Money has partnered with start-up WealthDesk to offer investment portfolios called ‘WealthBaskets’ as the first step to build up the advisory ecosystem.

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The South Korean military has conducted its first successful underwater test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLMB). This test was conducted by Dosan Ahn Chang-ho submarine that was inducted in service in August 2021. This submarine has launched a Hyunmoo-2B ballistic missile which has a 500km range. Dosan Ahn Chang-ho is the country’s first 3000 ton class submarine which is equipped with six launch tubes. This launch makes South Korea the 8th country capable of SLMB joining United States, India, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom.

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A new government has been announced in Lebanon over a year after the previous administration quit following the devastating Beirut port explosion. Najib Mikati – Lebanon’s richest man – becomes Prime Minister, a position he has held twice before. Lebanon had been without a proper functioning government since then-Prime Minister Hassan Diab resigned days after a massive blast on August 4, 2020 destroyed Beirut port and the surrounding area. The explosion, caused by improperly stored ammonium nitrate, killed 203 people, injured at least 6,000 others and left billions of dollars of damage.

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The release of three dreaded terrorists in exchange of hijacked Indian Airlines passengers in Afghanistan’s Kandahar in 1999 is the “worst capitulation” to terrorists in India’s modern history, says BJP MP Subramanian Swamy. He has come out with a book ‘Human Rights and Terrorism in India’ which traces how the combating of terrorism can be harmonised with human and fundamental rights within reasonable restrictions that is permitted by the Constitution and upheld by the Supreme Court.