Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2021

Notes:

• Slovenia currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union.
• External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Slovenian President Borut Pahor and discussed the challenges facing India and the European Union.
• The Minister is set to visit Slovenia, Croatia and Denmark to boost bilateral ties and strengthen India’s cooperation with the EU.
• Slovenia has invited Jaishankar to attend the informal meeting of the foreign ministers of the EU states.
• Jaishankar will also attend the Bled Strategic Forum (BSF) being held in Slovenia.

Notes:

• The New Development Bank (NDB) set up by the BRICS group of nations had admitted the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay and Bangladesh as members in its first expansion push.
• Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, known as BRICS, launched the bank in 2015 and started formal talks with potential new members.
• NDB has initiated its membership expansion and started formal negotiations with prospective members recently.
• NDB has an authorised capital of USD 100 billion, which is open for subscription by members of the United Nations.

Notes:

• NASA’s Mars rover have successfully collected its first rock sample for return to Earth.
• The rock sample, which is about the thickness of a pencil, could have slipped deeper into the tube during a series of planned vibrations.
• Perseverance arrived in February at Mars’ Jezero Crater, in search of rocks to find evidence of ancient life.
• The crater is believed to be the home of a lakebed and river delta, billions of years ago.
• NASA plans to launch more spacecraft to retrieve the samples collected by Perseverance.

Notes:
Indian private sector life insurer HDFC Life is set to acquire 100 per cent stake Exide Life Insurance for a sum of Rs. 6,687 crore. This deal is seen as one of the biggest deals in Indian insurance sector.

This deal would enhance HDFC Life’s agency business by 40 per cent and agent base by 30%. Also, it would raise the assets under management of the company to over Rs 2 trillion.

Notes:
The Government of Karnataka has proposed and planned to reintroduce ‘Industrial Adalats’ (Industrial courts) from September 2021. This is aimed to resolve industry related problems on the spot and serve as a platform to get long pending pleas.

The state earlier had such a system of Industrial courts between the years 2008 and 2013.

Notes:
The Tamil Nadu government has decided to celebrate every year the birth anniversary of reformist leader E. V. Ramasamy Periyar on September 17 as Social Justice Day. Periyar (September 17, 1879–December 24, 1973) was instrumental in the enactment of the first Constitutional Amendment Act (that safeguarded reservation for backward classes).

Notes:
5th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament is being held in Vienna on Sept 7th and 8th. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla reached Vienna to attend the 5th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament by the Austrian Parliament, Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations. The two-day conference will begin on Sept 7. The World Conference of Speakers of Parliament is held regularly every five years with the goal to reinforce the Parliamentary dimension of global governance.

Notes:
Government of Tamil Nadu recently announced its plan to set up India’s first Dugong Conservation Reserve in the Palk Bay on the southeast coast. Dugong or sea cow is an endangered marine mammal. It is facing extinction because of habitat loss, sea pollution, and loss of sea grass. Dugong is found in Gulf of Mannar and at Palk Bay in Tamil Nadu. With the help of community participation, Government will also construct a Dugong Marine Conservation Reserve in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay area to protect the species.

Notes:
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, launched Vidyanjali Portal and several other initiatives in the education sector on September 7, 2021. Vidyanjali portal was launched to enable community or volunteers to contribute by connecting with the government and government-aided schools of their choice directly. He also addressed the inaugural conclave of ‘Shikshak Parv’ through video-conferencing. He launched the Indian Sign Language Dictionary (audio and text embedded sign language video for the hearing impaired, in conformity with Universal Design of Learning) and Talking Books (audio books for the visually impaired). School Quality Assurance and Assessment Framework of the Central Board of Secondary Education were also launched. PM also launched NISHTHA, a teachers’ training programme for NIPUN Bharat.

Notes:
Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal, has been appointed as India’s Sherpa for G20. G20 is an influential grouping which brings together the major economies of world. Next G20 Summit is scheduled to take place from October 30 to 31, 2021 under Italian Presidency. India will hold the G20 Presidency from December 1, 2022 and will also convene G20 Leaders’ Summit in 2023 for the first time. India will also be part of the G20 Troika (preceding, current, and incoming G20 Presidencies) from December 1, 2021 to November 30, 2024.