Test: November 2020 Weekly Current Affair - 2 - UPSC MCQ

The Government of India renamed the Ministry of Shipping as Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. It was announced by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi during the virtual inauguration of Ro-Pax Ferry service between Hazira in Surat district in south Gujarat and Ghogha in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat.

National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Sirius, Russia launched a 14 days long (from 7–21 November 2020) virtual programme named “AIM–Sirius Innovation Programme 3.0” for Indian and Russian school children.
This is the first virtual innovation programme of this series amid COVID-19.
AIM–Sirius Innovation Programme is a first Indo-Russian bilateral youth innovation initiative to develop technological solutions (both web- and mobile-based) for the two countries.

Bank of Baroda (BoB) in association with EAP-India introduced an ‘Employee Assistance Program’, a Well-being Programme for its employees and their family members 24×7.
Aim of the Program is to help its employees to tackle their personal and professional problems through psychological counselling and consulting. BoB has entered into partnership with EAP India Pvt Ltd to provide this counselling.

Airtel Payments Bank, India’s first payments bank partnered with Bharti AXA General Insurance Co Ltd to offer ‘Smart Drive Private Car Insurance’, a comprehensive car insurance for its customers. Purpose of Partnership is to offer car insurance to the customers of Airtel Payments Bank

Joe Biden of Democratic Party passed the 270 vote Electoral College required to claim victory in the 2020 United States (U.S.) Presidential election, making him President-elect of the U.S. and Senator Kamala Harris as Vice President-elect. Joe Biden defeated Incumbent U.S. President, Donald Trump & Vice President, Mike Pence of Republican Party in the 2020 elections.
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is set to become the 46th President of the United States.
Kamala Devi Harris will become the First Woman, The First Black American and the first American of Asian descent to serve as Vice President of the U.S.
Vice-President elect Kamala Harris is set to become the 49th Vice President of the United States.

In its first mission of 2020, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on November 7, 2020 has launched its latest earth observation satellite EOS-01 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) or Sriharikota Range (SHAR), Andhra Pradesh (AP) along with 9 international customer satellites from Lithuania (1), Luxembourg (4), and the US (4).
These were carried off by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C49. It should be noted that this was PSLVs 51st mission, 76th launch mission from SDSC SHAR, and 110th Spacecraft mission of ISRO. EOS-01 is intended for applications in agriculture, forestry and disaster management support with all-weather and day-and-night observation capability.

The Fifteenth Finance Commission (XVFC) led by Chairman Nand Kishore (NK) Singh submitted its Report titled “Finance Commission in Covid Time” for the period of five years from 2021-22 to 2025-26 to the President of India Ram Nath Kovind. It should be noted that this is the first time that a chapter on the health care scenario of the country is introduced along with recommendations in order to boost public-health spending in a post-pandemic era.
The target is that the Centre alone should be able to spend at least 2.1% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) on health in the next five years.

Dara Singh Chauhan, Uttar Pradesh Minister of Forest and Environment announced that the International Bird Festival will be organised in Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh (UP) in February 2021.
He also informed that Gorakhpur is developing in the tourism and ecotourism sector and it is set to have a zoological park in 2021. The International bird festival will attract international level tourists for Gorakhpur Lake and bird watching. The forest department of Uttar Pradesh has been instructed to materialize this bird festival.

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) issued an order for scale-up and expansion of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) Scheme for farmers for installation of solar pumps and grid connected solar and other renewable power plants in India.  It has set a target of enhanced solar capacity of 30.8 GigaWatt (GW) by 2022 with revised Central Financial Support of INR 34, 035 crores. Previously It aimed to add solar and other renewable capacity of 25, 750 MW by 2022 with a Financial support of INR 34, 422 Crores.

Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance Company Limited launched, ‘Covid Shield+’, India’s First Individual Covid-19 Life Insurance Policy. The comprehensive solution provides financial protection against the impact of COVID-19 diagnosis.

Tamil Nadu won first place in the Union ministry of Jal Shakti’s 2nd National Water Awards for 2019 under the best state (normal) category for the conservation and management of water. K Manivasan, PWD Secretary will receive the Best State Award on behalf of Tamil Nadu Government. The Awards will be presented during the 2-day virtual ceremony on 11th and 12th November 2020. Around 98 awards in 16 different categories will be presented during the virtual event.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has set up a 9 member working group headed by R Chandrasekaran to revisit the product structures of engineering tariffs relevant to the retail businesses and provide suitable recommendations to revise them. The committee will submit the report within 3 months.

The Mumbai (Maharashtra) based research non-profit India Migration Now has released “Interstate Migrant Policy Index (IMPEX) 2019” stating integration of interstate migrants. In accordance to this, the states of Kerala, Goa, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh (AP) have been most successful in integrating migrant workers. India’s average IMPEX 2019 score for 28 states and the Union Territory (UT) of National Capital Territory (NCT) Delhi is 37 out of 100.
The IMPEX is a regional adaptation of the international Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX). India Migration Now is a venture of the South East Migration Foundation.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) signed an agreement with Deutsche Bank AG, under which TCS will acquire a 100% of the shares of Postbank Systems AG (PBS) from Deutsche Bank AG. The value of the deal was not disclosed. PBS is the IT(Information and Technology) service provider of  Deutsche Bank. Deutsche Bank is an existing IT services partner of TCS.

United Nations (UN)’s World Science Day for Peace and Development is annually celebrated across the globe on 10th November to highlight the role of Science in society and the need to engage the public on the discussion on the emerging scientific issues.
The first World Science Day for Peace and Development was observed on 10 November 2002 under United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) auspices. The theme of the World Science Day for Peace and Development 2020 is “Science for and with Society” with the focus on the “Science for and with Society in dealing with the global pandemic”.

Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in the second phase of its survey of the entire main stem of Ganga river (Main river without its tributaries) found that 49% of the river has high biodiversity and increased biodiversity sightings. Scientists have stated that this indicated reduction of pollution levels and a healthier state of the river. The study was initiated by WII on behalf of the National Mission for Clean Ganga. This is the first ever study done in India on the entire Ganga river, and first of all its biodiversity.

China has successfully launched the world’s first 6G satellite namely “UESTC” satellite (Star Era-12)” into orbit with an aim to test communications from space using high-frequency terahertz (THz) spectrum. It was one of the 13 satellites aboard the Long March-6 rocket, which launched on November 6, 2020 at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in Shanxi province of China.
The UESTC is named after the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and will test the performance of the 6G frequency band in space which is expected to be over 100 times faster than 5G which is already expected to be ultra-fast. This 70kg test satellite will also verify a number of smart city, environmental protection and disaster prevention applications, such as crop and forest fire monitoring.

The Second World Health Expo is being held in Hubei’s Capital City, Wuhan in China from November 11-14, 2020. The World Health Expo will showcase the Latest Technology in Fitness Sports and the most realistically restored anti-epidemic Scenes. It will feature 12 different venues for audiences to experience the most frontier health technology. 1st World Health Expo was also held in Wuhan,China from April 7 to 10, 2019.

HDFC Bank in Partnership with Visa launched ‘SmartHub Merchant Solutions 3.0’, India’s first comprehensive banking and payment solution for merchants.  This first-of-its-kind solution offers the ideal platform for merchants and self-employed professionals to open a current account instantly and to accept payments in-store and online.

The 13th Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference 2020 was held virtually on the theme “Emerging Trends in Urban Mobility” from New Delhi which was inaugurated by Minister of State-MoS (Independent Charge-IC) Hardeep Singh Puri, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
This was the first virtual UMI conference amid COVID 19 and was also held for a day as against the usual format of three days without any exhibition. During the Conference the Award of Excellence was conferred upon Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT), Bhubaneswar (Odisha) and Agartala Smart City Limited (ASCL), Tripura.
The 14th Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference and Expo 2021 will be held on October 29-31, 2021 in Kochi, Kerala.
AIM of UMI: To disseminate information to the cities in order to keep them up-to-date with best urban transport practices.

The Hurun India and EdelGive Foundation released the 7th edition of the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2020. Azim Premji & Family, the founder and Chairman of Wipro topped the 2020 list.  Azim Premji became India’s Most Generous man with a donation of Rs.7904 crores.
The list featured the individuals who have donated Rs.5 crores and more during the review period (from 1st April 2019 to 31st March 2020).
Azim Premji is followed by Shiv Nadar, Founder-Chairman of HCL Technologies and Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries at 2nd & 3d position respectively.

Indian Astronomers had worked closely with 2020 Physics Nobel Laureate Professor Andrea Ghez for designing of back-end instruments and possible science prospects of the ‘Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project’ which is being installed at Maunakea in Hawaii. The project will revolutionize the understanding of the universe and mysteries surrounding it.
The TMT Project is worth $ 2 Billion Project and is a joint venture involving Five Countries (China, Canada, Japan, India and United States). India has committed $200 Million, which is about tenth of proposed cost. The telescope needs 492 precisely polished mirrors and India has contributed 83 of them.

The 13th Edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) officially known as Dream11 Indian Premier League 2020 took place from 19th September-November 10, 2020 at the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Consequently, The Third Season of the Women’s T20 Challenge 2020 officially known as Jio Women’s T20 Challenge took place simultaneously in UAE from November 4-9,2020. The tournament was administered by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The venue of the IPL was shifted from India to UAE due to Pandemic.
Due to the Pandemic, the entire tournament was played in a Bio-secure environment.
Winners of Dream11 Indian Premier League 2020 (Men’s Title) – Mumbai Indians (5th Title)
Winners of Jio Women’s T20 Challenge (Women’s Title) – IPL Trailblazers (1st Title)

Prince Khalifa bin Salman al Khalifa, Prime Minister (PM) of Bahrain passed away at the age of 84 at Mayo Clinic hospital, United States. He is the World’s Longest Serving PM. He has been serving as PM since 1971. He was born on November 24, 1935 in Jasra, Bahrain.
He has played a vital role in the political and economic affairs of Bahrain for over 3 decades.

India’s first Sandalwood Museum is being established in Aranya Bhavan in Ashokapuram, Mysuru, Karnataka. The museum is set up by the Regional Forest Department to educate farmers about the significance of cultivation of sandalwood. This will also provide technical support, information on availability of saplings, marketing facilities, pest control measures, incentives and schemes provided for sandalwood growers by the government. On 9th November 2020, ST Somashekar, Karnataka’s Minister in-charge of Mysuru district, inspected the museum, which will be inaugurated by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.