Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

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:
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 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:
The nation’s central bank Reserve Bank of India has launched the latest round of Inflation Expectations Survey of Households (IESH). The survey would give vital inputs to RBI for framing the monetary policy.
The survey is conducted regularly in 13 cities namely Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna and Thiruvananthapuram.

Notes:
The World Bank has stated that remittances to India would fall this year by 9% to USD 76 billion, but India will continue to be the top destination for remittance.
The fall in remittance to India would be on account of COVID 19 and the global economic recession. As per the report, India, China, Mexico, Philippines, and Egypt would to be the top five countries in 2020 to receive foreign remittances.

Notes:
The government has announced that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has been asked to tie up with rice mills for increasing supply of fortified rice.
The state-run organisation is asked to supply fortified rice through ration shops and other welfare schemes. Out of the 15 states identified for ‘Central scheme on fortified rice and its distribution via public distribution system (PDS)’, five states are implementing it in one district each.

Notes:
A first of its kind in the country, a solar energy-driven miniature train has been inaugurated at the Veli Tourist Village in Thiruvananthapuram.
The miniature rail has all the features of a fully-equipped rail system like a tunnel, a station and a ticket office. The train has three compartments that can accommodate around 45 people at a time. This children attraction train was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan.

Notes:
WhatsApp has received the National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) approval to enter Unified Payment Interface (UPI) in phased manner.
The Social-media giant, owned by Facebook has over 400 million users in India. The UPI payments service is expected to be launched to 2 crore WhatsApp users initially. NPCI stated that a 30% cap will be implemented on total payment volumes via every third-party payment app.

Notes:
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar recently virtually addressed the first India -Nordic – Baltic Conclave.
The Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) co-operation framework includes eight countries namely Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden.

Notes:
As per the recent statement from the Oil India Limited (OIL), it has brought in a snubbing unit from Calgary, Canada.
The snubbing unit is a special technology, which is to be deployed to tackle the Baghjan oilfield blow-out. The OIL-owned well erupted on May 27 and has been burning for over five months now.