Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

Notes:
Election Commission of India is organizing a three-day International Virtual Election Visitors Programme.
In the context of the ongoing Bihar Legislative Assembly Elections, the programme is being organised for Foreign Election Management Bodies and Organizations. Delegates from over 40 countries across the world are invited.

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:
A number of welfare schemes for the refugee and the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) population have been announced by the state Government of West Bengal.
One among them is providing land pattas to refugee colonies. The state has decided to give a total 1,25,000 land pattas to the refugees, of which 25,000 pattas were given by the Chief Minister recently.

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:
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.

Notes:
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has conducted a Virtual Bilateral Summit with his Italian counterpart Giuseppe Conte, recently.
The two leaders comprehensively reviewed the bilateral relationship and exchanged views on major regional and global issues of mutual concern. Several Government and Private Sector agreements are said to have concluded on the occasion.

Notes:
Tata Medical and Diagnostics Ltd. (TataMD), the healthcare arm of the Tata Group, has recently launched ‘TataMD’s CHECK’.
It is the world’s first CRISPR Cas-9 based diagnostic tool. Tata has also collaborated with the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) and other research bodies to develop the diagnostic solution.

Notes:
Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev has clinched his maiden Paris Masters title. This is also his career’s eighth title.
He has registered his victory against the German star Alexander Zverev. It was the first time that the two players were in the finals of any international tournament.

Notes:
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has recently announced relaxations to Islamic laws. These relaxations allowing unmarried couples to cohabitate, lifts some restrictions on alcohols and on criminalising honour killings.
This is seen as a major step towards westernisation of the nation and aims to improve personal freedom.

Notes:
As per a first of its kind assessment of coral reefs in U.S. waters by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Maryland, the reefs off the Florida coast are the most degraded, with 2% remaining.
The sensitive underwater ecosystems are said to have recorded a continued decline. These ecosystems are essential to the health of the world’s oceans, as per the researchers.