Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

Notes:
The 15th Finance Commission (FFC) has announced that it is set to submit its report to Indian President Ram Nath Kovind on 9 November, this year.
The report will have recommendations for next five years beginning the financial year 2021-22. The report may be tabled in the Parliament along with action taken report by the government, during the next budget session.

Notes:
The Indian Railways has launched an initiative named “Meri Saheli” which will focus on security of women. Its main objectives are to provide safety and security to lady passengers travelling by trains.
Under this initiative, a team of lady officer and staff will visit all of the passenger coaches including ladies’ coaches to identify women passengers. The details of the journey will be noted down by the team, especially if a lady is travelling alone.

Notes:
Food Corporation of India and other Government agencies are set to procure 742 Lakh Metric tonnes of paddy during the ongoing Kharif season.
This is seen as a record high paddy procurement. The paddy procurement made by the Government last year was 627 Lakh Metric Tonnes. The number of purchase-centres this year have been increased from 30,791 to 39,122.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated a seaplane service that connects Statue of Unity in Kevadia with Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
The sea plane service is being operated by Spice jet. Earlier, he inaugurated a cruise service near the Statue of Unity. The 40-minute cruise will cover a distance of six kilometres.

Notes:
India’s premier think tank Niti Aayog has recently released a draft model Act and rules on conclusive land titling, to be used by the states. The draft rules aim to reduce litigations and ease the land acquisition process for infrastructure projects.
The draft provides state governments with power to order for establishment, administration and management of a system of title registration of immovable properties.

Notes:
Students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have developed a digital game to create awareness about Covid-19.
The online one-minute game has been created as part of an elective course. The game which aims to create awareness among the children, is available for free in 12 languages. The game has derived inspiration from the popular game Super Mario.

Notes:
The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad has recently launched an on-site COVID-19 testing laboratory.
As per the GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), the air passengers will have an option to get themselves tested on their arrival. GHIAL has collaborated with the ICMR certified agency and Mapmygenome.

Notes:
As per the recent statement from the Earth Sciences Ministry, the Economic benefits from the use of weather forecasting services to farmers and fishermen since 2015 amounted to Rs 19,000 crore.
The Ministry cited a study it had commissioned from the research firm National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). The Ministry also stated that this can record Rs 5000 crore, when extrapolated to the next five years.

Notes:
Two secure and flexible services have been created by the Interpol to facilitate cybercrime related communication among law enforcement agencies.
One of them is the Cybercrime Knowledge Exchange workspace and the other is Cybercrime Collaborative Platform-Operation. The former handles general, non-police information and is open to all relevant users whereas the latter is restricted to select few agencies only.

Notes:
The United States of America (USA) has become the first nation in the world to formally withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.
This decision was made by the President Donald Trump in June 2017, but has been formalized now. USA can re-join the agreement any time in future. The Paris deal was drafted in 2015 to strengthen the global response against climate change.