Daily Current Affairs Quiz: September 21,2021

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

• India is set to host the first-ever Global Buddhist Conference on November 19 and 20, 2021, in Nava Nalanda Mahavihara campus, in Nalanda, Bihar. The academic conference, being organised by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), will become an annual feature.
• Four regional conferences in India (Telangana, Saranath, Gangtok and Dharamshala) and abroad (Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Cambodia) will be organised, in the run-up to the conference. The reports of these regional conferences will be presented at the inaugural Global Buddhist Conference.
• Global Buddhist Conference focuses on making India the center of Buddhism, by promoting Buddhist activities, like academic, cultural, seminars, people travelling for festivals like Buddha Purnima, Vesak.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

• Infosys, a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, launched Infosys Equinox to help enterprises securely deliver hyper-segmented, personalized omnichannel commerce experiences for B2B and B2C buyers.
• The platform’s future-ready architecture offers unprecedented flexibility for enterprises to pick and choose out-of-the-box microservices and pre-built experiences to build curated digital journeys that enhance their digital commerce or launch it grounds-up in a matter of weeks.
• Infosys Equinox also brings together best-of-breed service, product, platform and industry capabilities from Infosys, and its partners, in an integrated ecosystem.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

• The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved a number of structural and process reforms in the Telecom sector, to provide relief to ailing telecom service providers, struggling with high levels of debt.
• A total of 9 structural and 5 process reforms have been approved by the Union Cabinet. Some major reforms announced are as follows:
• Change in the definition of AGR: The definition of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) has been changed and now all non-telecom revenue will be removed from AGR.
• Rationalised Spectrum Usage Charges: The monthly compounding of interest on spectrum usage charges is replaced by annual compounding and the interest rate will come down, based on the formula MCLR + 2%. Penalty on payment of licence fees, spectrum user charges and all kinds of charges have been completely scrapped.
• Four-year Moratorium on dues: Moratorium has been announced on statutory dues of the telecom sector for four years. It will be applicable from October 1, 2021
• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): The government has increased the FDI in the Telecom sector under the automatic route from 49% to 100%.
• Auction calendar fixed: Spectrum auctions will henceforth be held in the last quarter of every financial year.

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

• The Ministry of Defence has constituted a High-Level Expert Committee, for a comprehensive review of the National Cadet Corps (NCC). Former Member of Parliament (MP) Baijayant Pandawill be the Chairperson of the Committee.
• The 15-member committee will also include Cricketer MS Dhoni and Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra as members.
• Suggest measures to empower NCC cadets to contribute more effectively towards nation building.
• Propose ways for gainful engagement of NCC Alumni for the betterment of the organisation
• Recommend best practices of similar international youth organisations for inclusion in the NCC curriculum.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

• The leading power sector NBFC, Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC), successfully issued its maiden Euro Green Bond. The 7-year Euro 300 million Bond has been priced at 1.841 per cent.
• This Euro Green Bond is the first-ever Euro denominated Green bond issuance from India. It is also the first-ever Euro issuance by an Indian NBFC. With the issuance, PFC has also forayed into the European market for its international fundraising.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

• A 12-year-old environmental activist from Mumbai, Maharashtra, Ayaan Shankta has been named as “2021 International Young Eco-Hero”.
• He won the 3rd prize under the Age Group: 8-14 for his project “Conservation and Rehabilitation of Powai Lake” and became one of the 25 global winners of the Young Eco-Hero Award 2021.
• The award presented by “The Action for Nature”, San Francisco based NGO, recognize young people (8 to 16 years old) for their environmental achievements.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

• Noted writer and former secretary of Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages Aziz Hajini passed away. Hajini, born as Abdul Aziz Parray in north Kashmir’s Bandipora, was appointed Secretary J&K Academy of Art Culture and Languages in 2015.
• He has over twenty books in Kashmiri to his credit including poetry and criticism. Hajini won the Sahitya Akademi Award (criticism) in 2016 for his book ‘Aane Khane’ written in Kashmiri. He has also won the Sahitya Akademi Translation Award in 2013 for Za Gaz Zameen, Kashmiri translation of Abdul Samad’s Urdu novel Do Gaz Zameen.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

• Alka Nangia Arora has been appointed as the Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) of the National Small Industries Corporation Ltd. (NSIC). She has taken the additional charge of the post on September 14, 2021.
• She is a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises. The National Small Industries Corporation Limited (NSIC) is a Mini Ratna company established in 1955. It falls under the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises of India and serves as a nodal agency for several schemes of the Ministry of MSME.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

• The 15th edition of Indo–Nepal Joint Military Training Exercise Surya Kiran will be held from September 20, 2021, at Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand.
• The previous edition of the Exercise Surya Kiran was conducted in Nepal in 2019. The exercise was called off in 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• The Indian Army and Nepali Army would share their experiences of various counter-insurgency operations, and familiarise themselves with each other’s weapons, equipment, tactics, techniques and procedures of operating in a counter-insurgency environment in mountainous terrain.
• The joint military training will help in improving bilateral relations and further strengthen the traditional friendship between the two nations.