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.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB), a public sector bank, has entered into a strategic co-lending alliance with Indiabulls Commercial Credit and Indiabulls Housing Finance (IHFL) for MSME and Priority Sector Housing Loans respectively. This co-lending model will improve the flow of credit to the unserved and underserved sector of the economy and make available funds to the ultimate beneficiary at an affordable cost. This co-lending model would also help the bank to enhance its Retail and MSME portfolio and boost lending to MSME sector.

Notes:
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MoS for electronics & information technology has inaugurated three National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT) centres. One of the NIELIT centres was inaugurated in Churachandpur district of Manipur while, two other centres were inaugurated in Tezpur and Kokrajhar districts of Assam. These NIELIT centres will soon become job creation centres in partnership with the Centre and the states. These centres will not only be training centres, but also centres for improving the qualifications of young people and providing them with new opportunities and jobs.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
Sirarakhong Chilli and Tamenglong Orange which are famous and found in the state of Manipur have received the Geographical Index (GI) tag. Manipur’s CM N. Biren Singh made this announcement.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
‘Ease of Doing Business’ reports which are published by the World Bank Group will be discontinued. It added that it will study a new method to assess the business and investment environment in various countries. After ethical matters irregularities were raised involving former bank employees and board members, the World Bank will study a new method to assess the business and investment environments of countries.

Notes:
IIFL Home Finance Ltd. has signed an agreement on co lending with Punjab National Bank (PNB). IIFL plans to increase its loan portfolio by 25% with the association. The goal of this partnership is to increase the penetration of affordable housing loans and loans to MSMEs. The main target states of this partnership are Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.80% of the loans will be provided by PNB, while IIFL Home Finance Ltd. will manage documentation collection, loan sourcing and servicing work.

Notes:
The Sikkim government has declared “Cooper Mahseer” which is locally named “Katley” as a state fish to emphasize the importance of the fish and emphasize its protection measures. “Neolissochilus Hexagonolepis” is the biological name of this fish.