Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2021

Notes:
The Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has jointly launched the Meghalaya Enterprise Architecture Project (MeghEA). The MeghEA initiative is divided into 6 pillars, namely governance, human resources, entrepreneurship, primary sector, infrastructure and environment, and aims to make Meghalaya a high-income state by 2030. The project aims to improve people’s service delivery and governance through the use of digital technology.

 

Notes:
Every year on the third Saturday of September The International Red Panda Day (IRPD) is celebrated to increase public awareness and support for the protection of red pandas. In 2021, the IRPD was observed on September 18, 2021. This day was initiated by Red Panda Network in 2010. On September 18, 2010, the first International Red Panda Day was celebrated.

Notes:
Pew Research Centre recently released a report on the country’s religious composition, following a survey by the using data from the Census and the National Family Health Survey (NFHS).
As per the report, population growth rates have declined for all of India’s major religious groups. The slowdown is more among religious minorities. The survey also says India’s religious composition has remained unchanged, except the Northeast.

Notes:
The annual “Freedom on the Net” report was released by the US think-tank Freedom House. As per the report of this year’s edition, Iceland topped the ranking, followed by Estonia and Costa Rica, the world’s first country to declare internet access a human right.
The report also found that people had been arrested or convicted for their online activities in 56 out of the 70 countries covered by the report. Internet shutdowns in Myanmar and Belarus show that online rights declined globally for the 11th year in a row.

Notes:
Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution issued uniform specifications for Fortified Rice Kernels (FRK).
The specifications are for the FRK for grade ‘A’ and common rice and it says that 1% of FRK should be blended with normal rice stock. The fortified rice is to be distributed under various government schemes, including the public distribution system (PDS) and midday meals in schools, by 2024.

Notes:
The state assembly of Karnataka has recently passed Karnataka Religious Structures (Protection) Bill, 2021. The bill was introduced by the state Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, with an aim to protect the religious constructions on public places.
As per the bill, a religious structure is defined as a “temple, church, mosque, gurudwara, Budh Vihar, Majar etc, constructed on a public place without authority of law”

Notes:
The World Health Organization (WHO) lowered acceptable thresholds for several pollutants, including ultrafine PM2.5 particles.
The average 24-hour exposure to PM2.5 must remain below 15µg/m³, down from 25µg/m³. In case of PM10 particles, the safe threshold is lowered from 50 to 45µg/m³. In terms of exposure over a year-long period, the threshold for PM2.5 is brought down from 10 to 5µg/m³ and for PM10, from 20 to 15µg/m³.

Notes:
The Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL) has become the first-of-its-kind institute in the Union Territory of Ladakh to have an internet connection using Light Fidelity (LiFi) technology.

SECMOL is India’s highest altitude educational organisation. Li-Fi involves transmitting data with a light beam spectrum through open space, in outdoor and indoor environments. Li-Fi systems provide ultra-fast data connections.

Notes:
The Government of India has recently launched the “National single-window system for investors and businesses”. This portal is designed to act as a single point of contact for obtaining all approval and clearance for business enterprises and investors. This would enhance Ease of Doing Business, transparency, and accountability.
Presently, approvals across 18 central departments and nine states have been onboarded to the portal and another 14 departments would be onboarded by December 2021.

Notes:
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Government of India has revised and eased the rules pertaining to storage and handling of ammonium nitrate and calcium carbide, for improved safety.
This revision comes at the backdrop of the deadly Beirut (capital of Lebanon) explosion which occurred due to storage of 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate at the port for 6 years.