Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2022

Notes:
Global Fintech Fest is being organized by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the Payments Council of India (PCI) and the Fintech Convergence Council (FCC).
It was attended by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. The Finance Minister called upon fintech industry to take advantage of opportunities in green finance for building a sustainable financial environment.

Notes:
Jezero crater is a 45-km-wide crater in the Syrtis Major quadrangle present on Mars. It has a delta, which is an ancient fan-shaped feature formed about 3.5 billion years ago.
NASA’s Perseverance rover is currently investigating the delta’s sedimentary rocks. Recently, the analysis of samples of ‘Wildcat Ridge’ rock indicated they feature a class of organic molecules that are correlated with those of sulfate minerals.

Notes:
The Ethereum crypto-currency has announced a shift of its consensus algorithm from proof-of-work (PoW) to environment-friendly proof-of-stake (PoS).
With this event called ‘The Merge’, the energy used to maintain the whole Ethereum network will drop by 99.9 percent, which will result in a 0.2 percent decrease in world electricity use.

Notes:
US Senate recently ratified Kigali Amendment to the 1987 Montreal Protocol on ozone pollution, to limit use of refrigerants.
The international agreement requires participating nations to phase down production and use of hydrofluorocarbons, also known as HFCs, by 85% over the next 14 years. More than 130 countries, including China, India and Russia, have formally ratified the agreement.

Notes:
‘Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan’ is an autonomous organization under Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
Union Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Thakur launched a capacity building training programme for 14,000 youth volunteers of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan. The Online Training Programme is aimed at enhancing the life skills of Youth volunteers so that they can effectively contribute towards national development.

Notes:
India’s Public sector lender UCO Bank is the first bank to receive the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) approval for rupee trade.
The Kolkata-based bank will open a special vostro account with Gazprombank of Russia for trade settlement in Indian rupees. In July, RBI announced its decision to allow Indian banks to settle trade in Indian currency in July. RBI also allowed trade settlements between India and other countries, including Sri Lanka and Russia.

Notes:
Edible oil trade associations from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal announced the setting up of Asian Palm Oil Alliance (APOA).
These are the five major palm oil importing countries in South Asia. Atul Chaturvedi, President, Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) has been named the first chairman of APOA. The aim of the association is to gain bargaining power and make imports sustainable.

Notes:
India has exported the first consignment of plant-based meat products from Kheda district of Gujarat to California in the United States.
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Authority (APEDA) facilitated the export of the first consignment of plant-based meat products under the Vegan Food category. APEDA has planned to promote a variety of vegan food products to Australia, Israel, New Zealand, and others.

Notes:
The report titled ‘Food Barons 2022, Profiteering, Digitalization and Shifting Power’ was released recently.
The report says that the geographic center of power of the food barons is shifting east. It reports that the China-based Syngenta Group is the world’s largest agrochemical input firm.

Notes:
To commemorate the birth anniversary Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya , September 25 is celebrated as Antyodaya Diwas in India since 2014.
Deendayal Upadhyaya mobilised the concept of ‘Antyodaya’ which literally means, “the rise of the last person.” He stressed on Antyodaya to target the extreme poverty existed in India during and after the independence.