Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

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:
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:
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:
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:
The 5th Joint Working Group (JWG) on Coal between India and Indonesia was hosted by India, through video conference mode. It was co-chaired by Vinod Kumar Tiwari, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Coal and its counterpart of Indonesia.
During the meeting, India’s Ministry of Coal made presentations on Indian Coal Policy reforms, Coking Coal Exploration and Commercial Mining which was followed by presentations by the Indonesian side

Notes:
Technology Major Facebook has recently announced that it has launched an offline to online small and medium businesses (SMB) guide.
The company has also launched other new resources to help small and medium businesses. The guide will be publicly available for free while the platform is to be made accessible to 9 million small businesses across the country, which needed it the most.

Notes:
The eighth tranche of sovereign gold bonds scheme of current financial year 2020-21 will be open for subscription from 9th November to 13th November.
The issue price for the 8th series of the Sovereign gold bond scheme has been fixed at Rs.5,177 per gram of gold. The bond is issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on behalf of Government of India.

Notes:
A Ro-Pax ferry service between Hazira and Ghogha in Gujarat is going to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India.
The Ro-Pax Ferry Vessel named ‘Voyage Symphony’ would connect Hazira and Ghogha. It can carry 30 trucks on the main deck, 100 passenger cars on the upper deck and 500 passengers plus 34 crew on the passenger deck.

Notes:
Russia’s SIRIUS and Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) has recently launched ‘AIM–Sirius Innovation Programme 3.0’.
It is a 14-day virtual programme for Indian and Russian schoolchildren. It is also the first Indo-Russian bilateral youth innovation initiative, which envisages to develop technological solutions for both countries.