Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

Notes:
India has recently signed reached landmark agreements on financial services, infrastructure and sustainable finance.
These were signed at the 10th Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) between the UK and India. It was jointly chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak. This is expected to boost jobs and investments in both countries.

Notes:
A scheme named SERB POWER (Promoting Opportunities for Women in Exploratory Research) has been launched by the Ministry of Science and Technology, designed exclusively to encourage Women Scientists to work in the field of science and technology.
The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India is implementing the scheme.

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:
The Government of Bangladesh has launched massive scheme to dredge 10,000 kilometres of riverways in the country. This is done to improve the inland water navigation system in the country.
The dredging work would be done on 178 rivers of Bangladesh and would be carried out by the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) at a cost of Taka 4371 crore.

Notes:
The Government of India has proposed to import 10 lakh tonnes of potato, out of which 30,000 tonnes would be imported from Bhutan without license.
The import is being made in order to control the rise in prices of potato in India. The Centre has also planned to import 25,000 tonnes of onions before Diwali.

Notes:
The percentage of Goods and Service Tax (GST) is decided by GST Council, headed by the Union Finance Minister.
Ministry of Finance has recently published that the GST revenue that has been collected for the month of October 2020 has crossed Rs 1 lakh crore, which is a highest collection after 8 months. The GST revenue collection for the month of Oct 2020 stood at Rs.1,05,155 crore.

Notes:
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has recently issued notice to seek response from Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and four State Governments regarding the ban on use of fire crackers from November 7 to 30 in the interest of public health and environment.
The NGT has also appointed a senior advocate Raj Panjwani and advocate Shibhani Ghosh to assist the tribunal as amicus curiae in the matter.

Notes:
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has been signed by Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA). The MoU sets key targets for IRDAI to be achieved in the year 2020-21.
IREDA is a “Mini Ratna” Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. It is categorized as a Public Financial Institution and NBFC by Reserve Bank of India.

Notes:
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is set to invest Rs 9,555 crore (USD 1.29 billion) for 2.04 per cent equity stake in Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL).
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is the chairman of PIF. It had previously invested in several giant companies including Facebook, Boeing, and Disney.

Notes:
Every year the World Tsunami Awareness Day is observed on November 5.
This is done to create awareness about this deadly disaster which has claimed more than a million lives in the past 100 years. The highest number of deaths took place during the December 2004 Tsunami in Indian ocean.