Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2023

Notes:
In the Satkosia Tiger Reserve, two highly decomposed elephant carcasses were recently discovered. This reserve is situated in the Odisha, spanning across four districts: Angul, Cuttack, Boudh, and Nayagarh. The reserve covers a vast area of 1136.70 sq km, with 523.61 sq km designated as the core area. It’s also part of the Mahanadi Elephant Reserve and serves as the confluence of two significant bio-geographic regions in India: the Deccan Peninsula and the Eastern Ghats. Satkosia’s terrain is characterized by hills, moderate to steep slopes, and narrow valleys. The forest primarily consists of North Indian tropical moist deciduous forests and Moist peninsular low-level sal. Sal trees dominate the landscape, often growing in dense clusters, alongside species like Asan, Dhaura, Bamboo, and Simal. The reserve is home to a variety of wildlife, including tigers, leopards, elephants, spotted deer, sambar, chowsingha, barking deer, bison, wild dogs, sloth bears, jackals, giant squirrels, and porcupines. It also provides a natural habitat for two endangered species: the freshwater crocodile and the gharial.

Notes:
Recently, scientists from IIT Roorkee made a discovery by characterizing dinosaur fossils from the Middle Jurassic period, unearthed in the Thar Desert near the Jaisalmer Basin, by the Geological Survey of India. The fossils belong to a species known as Tharosaurus indicus, a member of the Dicraeosauridae family within the superfamily Diplodocoidea. These fossils represent the first dicraeosaurid sauropods ever found in India and are approximately 167 million years old, making them the world’s oldest known diplodocoid fossils.
The scientists coined the name Tharosaurus indicus, drawing from “Tharo” (referring to the Thar desert), “sauros” (Greek for lizard), and “indicus” (indicating its Indian origin). These dinos were distinct within their family, characterized by smaller size and shorter necks and tails compared to their long-necked sauropod counterparts. Sauropods originated during the Jurassic period around 200 million years ago and were a dominant group of dinosaurs, surviving until the late Cretaceous period, when dinosaurs met their demise. While dicraeosaurid fossils have been found in other parts of the world, this discovery sheds new light on prehistoric India’s biodiversity.

Notes:
The COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) has secured three new licensing agreements via the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP). Launched in May 2020 with WHO and Costa Rica’s collaboration, backed by 44 Member States, UN agencies, and partners like MPP, C-TAP operates under the Solidarity call to action. Its mission is to facilitate the voluntary sharing of intellectual property, knowledge, and data among developers of COVID-19 treatments, diagnostics, vaccines, and health products. This initiative aims to expedite technological advancements and enhance global production capacity to combat the pandemic.

Notes:
SEBI issued guidelines to strengthen cyber security and cyber resilience framework for stock exchanges and other market infrastructure institutions (MIIs).
As per the guidelines, MIIs shall maintain offline, encrypted backups of data and shall regularly test these backups at least on a quarterly basis to ensure confidentiality, integrity and availability.

Notes:
Divya Deshmukh recently clinched the women’s rapid title at the Tata Steel Chess India tournament.
The 17-year-old chess player from Nagpur earned the title of woman grandmaster in the year 2021 at the age of 15. She won the Asian Women’s Chess Championships title this year. She is currently ranked 7th in the list of the nation’s women’s players.

Notes:
Hitachi Payment Services, a subsidiary of Japan-based Hitachi, introduced India’s first UPI-ATM in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) during the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai.
This UPI-ATM allows customers to withdraw cash without the need for a debit or credit card. The United Payments Interface (UPI) is a mobile payment method operated by NPCI that enables instant and free fund transfers between bank accounts.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently announced the phased discontinuation of the Incremental Cash Reserve Ratio (I-CRR), which was introduced on August 10, 2023.
The I-CRR was implemented to absorb surplus liquidity caused by various factors, including the return of Rs 2,000 notes to the banking system. The RBI aims to release I-CRR funds gradually to avoid shocks to system liquidity and ensure orderly money market functioning.

Notes:
Paris Mayor has recently revoked the prestigious Medal of the City of Paris awarded to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in 2015, due to his recent comments denying the Holocaust’s historical truth.
In an open letter, Paris Mayor has expressed strong condemnation for Abbas’ remarks and emphasized that they were contrary to our universal values and the historical truth of the Holocaust.

Notes:
The Odisha State Transport Authority (STA) has made it mandatory for all commercial vehicles, excluding three-wheelers, to install Vehicle Location Tracking (VLT) devices with panic buttons.
This decision, aimed at enhancing passenger safety, particularly for women and children, applies to all categories of new commercial vehicles, including buses, taxis, goods vehicles, and ambulances. The deadline for new vehicles to have these devices is October 1, with installation required at the time of registration. Older vehicles have until December 31 to comply.

Notes:
The West Bengal Legislative Assembly passed a resolution declaring ‘Poila Baisakh’, the first day of the Bengali calendar, as ‘Bangla Dibas’ or West Bengal Foundation Day.
The resolution was passed after a debate in the Assembly, with 167 MLAs voting in support of the resolution and 62 MLAs opposing the motion.