Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

Notes:
As per the Public Affairs Index-2020 released by the Public Affairs Centre, Kerala was adjudged the best governed State in the large States category.
States were ranked on governance performance based on a composite index in sustainable development. Kerala is followed by Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Uttar Pradesh is ranked at the bottom of the list.

Notes:
The people of New Zealand, in a recent referendum have voted to legalise euthanasia. Preliminary results of the referendum showed that 65.2% of voters supported the End of Life Choice Act coming into force as a new law.
The proposed law will permit terminally ill people with less than 6 months of life to choose assisted dying, if approved by 2 doctors.

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:
The United Nations General Assembly designated 2 November as the ‘International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists’.
As per the United Nations, during the past fourteen years (2006-2019), around 1,200 journalists have been killed for reporting the news to the public. It also reveals that in nine out of ten cases the killers go unpunished.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Labour and Employment has notified draft rules for the Industrial Relations Code, 2020. This is expected to enhance the flexibility to employers to retrench workers.
It also mandates that Labour Unions should give a prior notice before a strike. The Government has aimed to implement the labour codes from April 1, 2021.

Notes:
BRICS Business Forum, which is an important annual event of the BRICS Business Council was hosted by Russia from October 20 to 28, 2020. President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia is the current Chairman of the BRICS Business Council.
BRICS Business Forum was held in via Video Conferencing under the title “BRICS Business Partnership: Common Vision for Sustainable Inclusive Development”.

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:
The 23rd edition of Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS) is to be held virtually between November 19 and 21, this year.
The summit will be organised by the Department of Electronics, Information Technology, Bio Technology and Science and Technology of the State Government of Karnataka. Several Technology Leaders are expected to participate in the summit.

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.

Notes:
The Naval Forces of Bangladesh and USA have launched ‘Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Bangladesh-2020’.
The naval training would be held in an inline manner due to the prevailing COVID pandemic, while the sea phase of the exercise would take place in Bay of Bengal. The events of the training are designed to enhance interoperability between the two navies.