Current Affairs Quiz- November, 2019

Notes:
Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli has been named People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India’s ‘Person of the Year for 2019’ for his animal advocacy efforts.  also reportedly visited an animal shelter in Bengaluru to check on injured and formerly neglected dogs there, sending a message to his fans to adopt animals rather than buying them. The PETA is an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. 

Notes:
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has installed first of its kind high-end Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) machines in India for quick detection of diseases like dengue, tuberculosis and swine flu. These machines are to serve as a Third Umpire in situations when medical reports and blood tests reveal contradictory results. The purpose of these machines is to give accurate DNA report on blood tests in order to ascertain the exact cause of illness. Through these machines, the tests will be conducted free of cost

Notes:
The United States has recently declared that Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land “West Bank “ donot violate international laws. The US declaration marks the rejection of a 2016 UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution that settlements on the West Bank are a “flagrant violation” of international law and the US legal position on the issue since 1978. It is also a rejection of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which outlaws transfers of population by an occupying power, and a new rift with US allies in Europe and in the Islamic world.

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The 2019 World Conference on Access to Medical Products- Achieving the SDGs 2030 was held in New Delhi from 19-21 November 2019. It was jointly organized by the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The conference provided a platform for discussions focused on creating an enabling legal and trade environment for public health which are critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 Agenda.

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The first-ever pink ball Test match between India and Bangladesh is being held at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on 22nd November 2019. Pink balls will be used in place of red balls for better visibility under lights. BCCI President Sourav Ganguly unveiled the official mascots of the event “Pinku-Tinku”. Its also India’s first Day-Night Test against Bangladesh. The Eden Gardens has a capacity of 67,000.

Notes:
On the occasion of World Fisheries Day (WFD-2019), Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister  Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has launched  a welfare scheme – YSR Matsyakara Bharosa – for fishermen. Under this scheme, 1,32,332 fishermen in the 21-60 age group will get an enhanced monetary relief of Rs 10,000 each during the marine ban and lean period every year between April and June. Also, the subsidy on diesel has been increased from Rs 6.03 to Rs 9 per litre, applicable to the mechanised (3000 Ltrs) and motorized boats (300 Ltrs) for 10 months every year.

Notes:
The Delhi Assembly along with the Lok Sabha will host a 3-day Commonwealth Youth Parliament (CYP) from 25th November 2019. About 47 participants from 24 countries will participate in the event. The CYP  is an annual gathering hosted by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA). It brings together young people aged 18–29 from across the Commonwealth of Nations to discuss issues of democracy and governance.

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India’s first largest biotechnology stakeholders conglomerate – the Global Bio-India (GBI) Summit, 2019 was held in New Delhi on 24th November. The 3-day summit provided an opportunity to showcase the potential of India’s biotech sector to the international community, identify, create opportunities and deliberate on the key challenges in the areas of Bio-pharma, Bio-Agri, Bio-Industrial, Bio-Energy and Bio-Services and allied sectors.

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The Indian Navy will host multi-nation military drill ‘Milan 2020’ at Visakhapatnam in March 2020 & will witness the participation of 41 nations from South Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe. The areas of cooperation include capacity building, marine domain awareness, training, hydrography, technical assistance, operational exercise.

Notes:
Top US diplomat Alice Wells has strongly criticized China’s international development projects and lending practices under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). He also questioned the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on its commercial viability. China does not report on its overall lending despite being the largest lender globally. Hence, neither rating agencies nor the Paris club nor IMF are able to monitor those financial transactions. The lack of transparency was a means to hide risks to countries that borrowed from China to finance the development projects. It leads to a surrender of strategic assets and it diminishes sovereignty. The case of Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka and a runway in the Maldives were among the projects cited as examples of China financing projects of questionable commercial viability.