Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2023

Notes:
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered a ban on cruise ships operating on Madhya Pradesh’s (MP) water bodies, including the Upper Lake of Bhopal, citing environmental concerns.
Cruise ships in Madhya Pradesh were found to have environmental issues, including noise pollution, inadequate waste disposal, and sewage contamination.

Notes:
As a part of ‘Amrit Brikhya Andolan, 2023’, the Assam government, along with public support, attempted nine world records during a drive to increase the State’s green cover.
The world records attempted during the movement included the largest spiral of saplings, the largest number of seedlings distributed in one day at one venue, most trees planted by a team in 24 hours, most trees planted in an hour, largest planted tree mosaic, most trees planted by a team of 100 in an hour among others.

Notes:
The European Commission President vowed a 10-point EU action plan to help Italian island of Lampedusa, which includes using the EU’s external borders agency to identify migrants arriving and repatriate those not eligible for asylum.
Nearly 126,000 migrants have arrived in Italy just this year, which is almost double the figure by the same date in 2022.

Notes:
The European Parliament has approved the Critical Raw Materials Act with a significant majority, aiming to reduce the European Union’s dependence on China for critical minerals and metals essential for green technologies.
The EU seeks to increase its domestic capacity for these materials used in manufacturing solar panels, windmills, and electric car batteries. The regulation aims to diversify imports and ensure secure and sustainable supplies by 2030.

Notes:
Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Singh Thakur felicitated players under Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons (PDUNWFS).
The fund was formulated to help sportspersons who play well but are from poor and needy family. It helps in procurement of sports equipment and training and till date 270 sportspersons have been provided support of around 8 crore 15 lakhs rupees.

Notes:
The Indian Navy has submitted a proposal to the government for the construction of its second indigenous aircraft carrier, known as the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier-2 (IAC-2).
Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) delivered the first indigenously built Aircraft Carrier (IAC-1) INS Vikrant to the Indian Navy in July 2022.

Notes:
India reaches a significant sanitation milestone with 75% of its villages now declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus under the Swachh Bharat Mission – Grameen.
The declaration of over 4.4 lakh villages as ODF Plus represents the efforts toward accomplishing the objectives of Phase II of the Swachh Bharat Mission – Grameen by 2025.

Notes:
PhonePe announced the launch of Indus Appstore developer platform, as a Made-in-India app store. At present, the app developers work with only the Google Playstore.
For startups and new app launches, Indus Appstore will have a dedicated destination called ‘Launch Pad’ to provide these new apps with better visibility.

Notes:
Archaeologists have unearthed what is claimed to be the most ancient wooden construction ever found close to the border of Zambia and Tanzania.
Located on the banks of a river in Zambia, this basic structure comprises two connected logs from a sizeable willow tree.

Notes:
Megamonodontium mccluskyi is the largest fossil of a trapdoor spider in Australia. This is the first fossil ever discovered from the Barychelidae family, which consists of large brush-footed trapdoor spiders.
It’s only the fourth spider fossil ever to be found in Australia. The spider was discovered among a rich assemblage of Miocene fossils.