Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2021

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:
The Intergovernmental Group of 24 on International Monetary Affairs and Development, or the Group of 24 was established in 1971 at Lima, Peru. It is headquartered at Washington D.C. It is a chapter of G-77, to coordinate developing countries on monetary and development finance issues.
India, along with other Group of 24 (G24) member countries, has objected to the withdrawal of measures like the Equalisation levy (EL). India is worried that the proposed global digital tax deal covering only top 100 companies may not lead to sufficient revenue for developing countries.

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 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, former United Nations under-secretary-general and executive director of UN Women, as the winner of the 2021 Global Goalkeeper Award.
Fairooz Faizah Beether of Bangladesh has been chosen for the 2021 Changemaker Award for her work promoting good health and well-being. The 2021 Progress Award recognizes Jenifer Colpas of Colombia for her work to improve access to clean water and sanitation. The 2021 Campaign Award, recognizes Satta Sheriff of Liberia for her work to promote gender equality.

Notes:
The Ladakh police, in association with the Cycling Federation of India has organised the second edition of Ultimate Ladakh Cycling Challenge. This has been organised under the “Fit India Movement” and “Azadi Ka Amrit Mohatsav”.
The event was flagged off by the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Shri Anurag Thakur.

Notes:
The Bangabandhu-Bapu digital exhibition was recently inaugurated for public viewing in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The exhibition showcases the lives of the father of the nation of Bangladesh- Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Mahatma Gandhi. The exhibition has been specially designed by the two governments to commemorate Mujib Boarsho, birth centenary of Bangabandhu and 150 years of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi and the golden jubilee of India-Bangladesh bilateral relations.

Notes:
Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur addressed the Summit for Information and Democracy on the sidelines of the UNGA organised in New York. He participated in the discussion, by joining from Leh, Ladakh.
The ‘International Partnership for Information and Democracy’ was launched in New York on 26 September 2019. It aims to promote freedom of opinion and expression and access to free, pluralistic and reliable information. The partnership has been signed by 43 States, till date.

Notes:
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has created the Academic Block-Chain Documents (ABCD) software.
CBSE has collaborated with the Centre of Excellence for Blockchain Technology of National Informatics Centre under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to create the software. It is a blockchain-based system to go paperless and deliver secure, transparent result certificates to students. In 2016, CBSE was the first to develop its own academic repository named ‘Parinam Manjusha’.

Notes:
The Military Engineer Services (MES) is a construction agency and one of the pillars of Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army.
It provides engineering support to the Armed Forces and associated organisations of the Ministry of Defence (MoD). It is one of largest construction and maintenance agencies in India with a total annual workload of approximately ₹ 30000 crore. The 99th Military Engineer Services Raising Day was celebrated on 26th September.

Notes:
Sania Mirza, along with her Chinese pair Shuai Zhang won the final match of the Ostrava Open WTA 500 tournament in Czech Republic.
The second seeded pair won the match against the third seeds in straight sets- 6-3, 6-2. It was Sania Mirza’s 43rd WTA doubles title on the tour. It was also Sania’s first title of 2021 and her first big title since Brisbane in 2017. The Indian player had reached the final of WTA 250 Cleveland event last month.