current affairs 24 September 2021 (In English)

The official motto for the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics is "Together for a Shared Future".

• The Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee has announced the official motto of the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics as Together for a Shared Future.
• The slogan reflects the power of sports to address global challenges as a community, with a shared future for mankind and work together towards a better tomorrow, especially given the difficulties faced throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics are scheduled to take place from February 04 to 20, 2022, followed by the Paralympics from March 4-13.
• Beijing will be the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Games in the same year.
• The Mascot of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games- Bing Dwayne Dwayne.
• The mascot of the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympic Games - Shue Ron Ron.

Two more Indian beaches received International Blue Flag certification.

• Two new beaches in India have received Blue Flag certification by the Environmental Education Foundation (FEE) in Denmark in 2021.
• There are two beaches – Kovalam in Tamil Nadu and Eden in Puducherry.
• There are now a total of 10 beaches in India with the coveted international eco-label Blue Flag.
• Also, 8 Beach who got the certificate in 2020 have been given re-certification.
• The Blue Flag program is a world-renowned award, administered by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, that benchmarks beaches as clean and hygienic.

Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi is among the four new SDG advocates appointed by the UN Secretary General.

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed four new Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) advocates ahead of the 76th United Nations General Assembly.
• The four newly appointed advocates are: Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi, STEM activist Valentina Munoz Rabnal, Microsoft president Brad Smith and K-pop superstar Blackpink (a South Korean girl group).
• With this, there are now a total of 16 SDG advocates in the United Nations.
• SDG Advocates are world leaders who work to take action to deliver 17 SDGs by 2030, using their considerable areas of influence.

Yes Bank partnered with Visa to offer credit cards.

• Private sector lender Yes Bank has partnered with Visa to offer credit cards to its customers, following the regulatory ban on Mastercard by RBI.
• The Visa co-branded cards come with nine credit card variants, covering all segments of Yes First, Yes Premia and Yes Prosperity, consumer cards, business cards and corporate cards.
• Yes Bank has achieved the transition to Visa as a payment network within a record time of less than 60 days, after the bank hooked on Mastercard with effect from July 22, 2021.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal launched the National Single Window System for investors and businesses.

• NSWS is a single window portal that will act as a one-stop-shop for investors or entrepreneurs to obtain necessary approvals and clearances from the government.
• It will free up the legacy of investors, entrepreneurs and businesses in India running into government offices for necessary approvals and registrations.
• The new system aims to bring transparency, accountability and accountability in the ecosystem.
• Presently the portal hosts approvals in 18 central departments and 9 states.
• The remaining 14 central departments and five states will be added by December 2021.
• The portal has been jointly developed by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) along with Invest India.