Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

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:
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:
Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru has entered into an MoU with R&D Centre of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL).
The partnership aims to develop biomass gasification-based hydrogen generation technology for producing fuel cell-grade hydrogen. The testing and development would take place in IOCL’s R&D Centre in Faridabad.

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:
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:
Indian Tennis player Rutuja Bhosale won a singles title in the final of the $15,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
In the final, she won Anna Siskova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5. The 24-year-old sportsperson is a former Asian junior champion and National women’s champion. She played a significant role to help India qualify for the Fed Cup World Group playoff in Dubai.

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:
Saudi Arabia has recently announced a new plan to ease foreign workers’ contractual restrictions in the country. This would pave way to improvement of a sponsorship system known as Kafala, which is highly controversial.
The new plan is expected to take effect from March 2021 and would make Saudi Arabia more labour attractive.

Notes:
Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has recently launched a challenge named “Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge”. It aims to develop and implement initiatives that would improve the quality of life of young children, caregivers and families.
It is a 3-year challenge that would be open for 100 Smart Cities, cities with population of more than 5 lakh and State/Union Territory capitals.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has recently constituted a committee to review guidelines on Television Rating agencies in India. The committee would be chaired by Prasar Bharti CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati.
The committee has been constituted keeping in view the recent recommendations from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, TRAI and other technological advancements in the industry.