Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2023

Notes:
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Fourth Partner Energy Private Limited signed a long-term loan of up to 1.2 billion Indian rupees to construct and operate a 25-megawatt solar photovoltaic-based power plant in the state of Tamil Nadu in India.
It is expected to generate about 50.7 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually and increase clean and low-cost energy supply to commercial and industrial customers.

Notes:
Terry Gou, who founded Apple supplier Foxconn, has announced that he will run as an independent candidate in Taiwan’s presidential election.
The country’s Presidential elections are scheduled to take place in September this year. Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., is a major supplier to Apple and has many factories in China that manufacture iPhones.

Notes:
Madhya Pradesh is found to be the lightning hub of India with maximum flashes of 987,095 in 2022- 23 and highest deaths of 340 per year, according to the fourth annual lightning report.
It highlights that the country recorded more than 20 million lightning strikes in 2022-23, 60% increase in cloud-to-ground lightning from 2019-20. The Lightning Resilient India Campaign is a collaborative endeavour between the climate resilient observing systems promotion council (CROPC) and the India meteorological department (IMD).

Notes:
Australia is set to hold a landmark national referendum in October to recognize the country’s Indigenous people in its constitution.
More than 17 million registered voters across the country will vote on October 14, to decide whether to amend the Constitution, in order to establish a new advisory body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The historic referendum called “Voice to Parliament”, if approved, would recognize Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the country’s constitution.

Notes:
The Government of India and the Government of New Zealand have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost cooperation in civil aviation.
This will cover the scheduling of new routes, code share services, traffic rights and capacity entitlement. An Air Services Agreement was signed between New Zealand and India in 2016. The New Zealand and India have reviewed the existing arrangements relating to air service between the two countries.

Notes:
NITI Aayog and UNDP India have signed, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalise a framework of cooperation on a range of areas, including SDG localisation, data-driven monitoring, Aspirational Districts and Blocks, among others.
The MoU was signed for a period of five years. NITI Aayog is the nodal Institution for coordinating the adoption and monitoring of SDGs at the national and sub-national levels. UNDP plays the integrator role in coordinating efforts to fast-track progress on the SDGs within the UN system.

Notes:
SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages Abadi and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) Scheme of Ministry of Panchayati Raj has been conferred with the prestigious National Award for e-Governance 2023 (Gold) for Application of Emerging Technologies for Providing Citizen Centric Services.
It was granted at the 26th National Conference on e-Governance (NCeG) organized by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Government of India in Indore.

Notes:
In preparation for the 18th G20 Summit, a Conference titled Transnational GridInterconnections for One Sun, One World, One Grid (OSOWOG) took place in New Delhi.
Organized by Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID), this event highlighted the significance of cross-border grid interconnections in the context of global energy sustainability.

Notes:
The Directorate of Prisons in Odisha has submitted a proposal to attach GPS-enabled tracking/monitoring devices to the ankles of undertrial prisoners (UTPs).
The potential first-of-its-kind policy in India aims to ease overcrowding in prisons, a long-standing issue in the country. The proposal focuses on attaching tracking devices to undertrial prisoners accused of non-heinous crimes to allow them to lead normal lives outside of jail while being monitored.

Notes:
During the annual ASEAN-India summit in Jakarta, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced India’s decision to establish an embassy in Timor-Leste.
Timor-Leste, having joined ASEAN as an Observer in 2022 before becoming a full member, has gained importance in regional diplomacy. The move to open an embassy in Timor-Leste signifies India’s strategic engagement in Southeast Asia, strengthening ties in line with its ‘Act East’ policy.