Answer: A

• For the first time, India, Iran and Uzbekistan held a trilateral dialogue on joint use of the strategically located Chabahar port which is being increasingly seen as a fulcrum of connectivity to Central Asia.

About Chabahar Port

• Chabahar Port is a seaport in Chabahar located in southeastern Iran, on the Gulf of Oman.
• It serves as Iran’s only oceanic port, and consists of two separate ports named Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti, each of which has five berths.
• It is only about 170 kilometres west of the Pakistani port of Gwadar

Answer: B

• Bank of Baroda and bob World has joined hands with National Payments Corporations of India (NPCI) to launch bob World Wave, a wearable line of products for payments, integrated with a complete health ecosystem.

About bob World Wave

• Its core features include:
• The bob World Wave wearable device will allow customers to monitor their Sp02, body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure.
• With bob World Wave, the Bank is providing an exclusive 3-months free wellness package along with a personal health coach, doctor tele-consultation and interactive video coaching.
• The device will provide contactless payments of up to Rs.5000 in all NFC enabled PoS devices. Customers can do contactless payment above Rs. 5000 using a PIN.
• The Bank will also provide a dummy plastic card (with the same card number printed as that of the wearable device along with expiry date and CVV) to enable customers to do e-commerce transactions at ease.

Answer: C

• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar participated in the 6th edition of Global Technology Summit 2021.

About the 6th edition of Global Technology Summit (GTS)

• It discussed various topics including cryptocurrencies, encryption, vaccine supply chains, cloud computing, green technology, digital payments, cyber security, and science & tech cooperation in the Quad.
• According to the MEA statement, this year the Summit is organized in a hybrid format but due to the exceptional circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, physical attendance is on an invite-basis only.
• Global Technology Summit is the flagship event on geotechnology, held annually since 2016.
• It is jointly organized by the Ministry of External Affairs and Carnegie India.
• The Summit convenes policymakers and domain experts to discuss policy aspects of trending technology topics.
• The theme of the 2021 Global Technology Summit is ‘Global Meets Local’.

Answer: C

• Recently, the 6th Edition of the India Water Impact Summit based on theme for River Resources Allocation- Planning and Management at the Regional Level
• The valedictory session was conducted in a hybrid mode by National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), New Delhi and Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga), Kanpur.

About 6th India Water Impact Summit

• The session had adopted a regional level approach for the Summit and was categorized into overall basin and subsequently in upper, middle, lower and deltaic region of the Ganga basin.
• The various sessions organized included the need for identification and conducting systematic assessment and valuation of river resources, potential impact of water efficient solutions in maintaining the overall water balance of the country, implementation challenges of the river resources allocation plans, the need to inculcate a scientific understanding of rivers for developing sustainable policies and encourage the creation of circular water economy through water recycling and establishing a water trading market, amongst others.
• The summit days also had dedicated session for international collaborations. These include countries such as Norway, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and EU and its member states.
• The 5-day Summit also witnessed the signing of an MoU between C-Ganga and Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO) for the development of a sludge management framework.
• Similarly, two MoUs have also been signed with Innovation Centre Denmark and UPS Hungary to encourage the sharing of knowledge and increase participation of Hungarian industry in the Ganga River Basin Restoration and Conservation Program.
• An MoU between C Ganga and British water was also signed to promote the development of 21st century infrastructure in water and the environment sector.

Answer: C

• The Odisha government has signed an agreement with the United Nations Capital Development Fund to empower women economically and drive gender equality in the state.

About agreement between Odisha government and UNCDF

• Under the joint initiative, the launch of Mission Shakti Living Lab was announced.
• This partnership will address barriers that limit women’s access to financial security, autonomy and financial freedom with use of digital technologies and rising e-commerce industry in India.
• It will help 3.5 million self-help groups (SHG) women members and low income individuals to have access to digital financial services and improved financial health.
• The initiative will also help 10,000 women-led micro-enterprises get better access to affordable market opportunities, capital for business promotion, and market solutions for better linkages.
• The programme will improve the ability of SHG members and households to plan, save, borrow or spend better thereby improving their women’s financial wellbeing.

Answer: B

• Apart from identifying & protecting the product’s Geographical Indications (GI) rights, the Geographical Indications Registry (GIR) under the Central Ministry of Commerce has accepted the petition to rename Bihar Makhana as Mithila Makhana and has also suggested further changes to the brand logo to better reflect its origins.

About GI Tag to Mithila Makhana

• The development has put an end to the debate over the branding of one of the Mithila region’s most famous Makhana or Fox nut products.
• Following a review of the application for a name change, a consultation panel of experts led by Prashanth Kumar S Bhairappanavar, a senior examiner at Geographic Indication Registry (GIR), ruled that certain post-registration conditions must be completed.

What is GI Tag?

• A geographical indicator (GI) is a name or sign that appears on certain items and refers to a specific geographic area of origin.
• The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 protects products having a GI tag.