Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

Notes:
The 8th India-Mexico Joint Commission Meeting was recently held through Video-Conference. The Meeting was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Mexican counterpart Marcelo Ebrard.
Both the countries agreed to promote economic strengths and work on strengthening their ‘Privileged Partnership’.

Notes:
Alphabet Inc’s Google has recently announced that it is set to launch a virtual private networks (VPN) service for its consumers.
The VPN service would be available for its Google One cloud storage services. VPN is used by individuals in countries where access to certain sites and services have been banned by governments.

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:
The First Phase of Malabar Naval Training Exercises would be held in the Bay of Bengal, off the Vishakhapatnam coast from 3rd November to 6th November.
Navies of India, USA, Japan and Australia would participate in the maritime exercise. The second phase is expected to be held from 17th to 20th November in Arabian Sea.

Notes:
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has recently launched a scheme for distribution of fortified rice through Public distribution System (PDS).
The scheme, which was launched virtually on the statehood day, aims at helping in checking malnutrition and anaemia. The fortified rice is a mixture of iron, vitamin B-12 and folic acid enriched fortified rice kernel (FRK).

Notes:
As per the CEO of NITI Aayog, the number of Unified Payments Interface (UPI)-based transactions crossed the 2 billion mark in October 2020.
The UPI transactions grew 80 per cent from 1.14 billion transactions that were recorded in October 2019. This has signified that the digital mode of payments has been widely accepted by the people.

Notes:
On November 1, several Indian states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka were formed.
The day is recognised as Statehood Day or State Formation Day. Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala were formed in 1956. Punjab and Haryana were formed in 1966.

Notes:
British Racing Driver Lewis Hamilton has recently won the Formula One Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix Tournament.
Mercedes officially clinched the 2020 constructors’ championship. Another Racing Driver Max Verstappen came second while Valtteri Bottas came at the third spot. Hamilton won his third straight race.

Notes:
Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson has recently announced retirement from all forms of Cricket.
The 39-year-old had already retired from international cricket in 2015. He announced this after the Chennai Super Kings’ final IPL match. He has played 59 Tests, 190 ODIs, and 58 T20s at the international level.

Notes:
Kerala has recently become a part of the “Padhna Likhna Abhiyan” programme and is ready to receive the central funds for literacy programmes, after ten years.
Padhna Likhna Abhiyan is the reading and writing campaign launched by the Central Government. IT aims to achieve the goal of complete literacy in the country by 2030.