Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

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:
Duarte Pacheco of Portugal has been elected as the new President of Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU). He would hold the office for the period from 2020 to 2023.
The Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) is an international organisation of various nations’ parliament. It was established in 1889 and is head quartered at Geneva, Switzerland.

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:
Visa has recently partnered with Indian leading private sector bank HDFC Bank and Digit Secure, to deploy PCI certified Tap to Phone card acceptance solution.
DigitSecure has become the first company based in Asia-Pacific to receive PCI security certification for deploying this technology. India has also joined a list of over 15 markets that provide Visa Tap to Phone technology for merchants.

Notes:
The state government of Kerala has recently decided to withdraw the general consent accorded to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe cases in the state.
Kerala becomes the 5th in the list to withdraw the general consent after Maharashtra, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. From now on, CBI can make investigations of cases in necessary situations, only with the permission of the state government.

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.

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:
‘International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict’ is observed every year on November 6.
The UN General Assembly declared the observance of this day, in the year 2001. As per the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), at least 40 percent of all internal conflicts are linked to the exploitation of natural resources.

Notes:
Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha has been recently appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) as per the statement from the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Prior to this appointment the post of CIC was held by Bimal Julka, who completed his term in August. President Ram Nath Kovind has also administered the oath of office to Uday Mahurkar, Heera Lal Samariya and Saroj Punhani as Information Commissioners.

Notes:
Uttar Pradesh has launched an awareness campaign regarding the burning of Crop remains in many parts of the state.
The Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked the farmers of the state not to burn remains of their crops (known as Parali) but to make compost with it. Several volunteers are also involved in creating awareness about pollution.