Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

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:
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has been signed by Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA). The MoU sets key targets for IRDAI to be achieved in the year 2020-21.
IREDA is a “Mini Ratna” Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. It is categorized as a Public Financial Institution and NBFC by Reserve Bank of India.

Notes:
The Indian Naval Ship Airavat carrying 100 tonnes of food aid has reached Sudan. This is a part of the “Mission Sagar-II” under which Indian Navy would deliver food aid to Sudan, South Sudan, Djibouti and Eritrea.
Earlier in May – June 2020, Mission Sagar was undertaken by the Indian Navy to provide food and medicines to Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar and Comoros.

Notes:
An enhanced version of the Pinaka Mk-1 missile has been successfully test fired from the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur, off the coast of Odisha.
The Pinaka Mk-1 missile system has been developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). This enhanced version is set to replace the existing Pinaka systems deployed by the Indian Army along boarders of China and Pakistan.

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:
‘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:
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has decided to hold a meeting on December 1, 2020 to commemorate all victims of World War II. The resolution in this regard was drafted by Russia and has been adopted based on a voting.
Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world’s countries forming two opposing military alliances namely the Allies and the Axis.

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:
As per the recent statement from the Ministry of Earth Sciences, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) is set to issue forecast for malaria outbreaks from next monsoon.
India has also planned to increase the high-performance computing (HPC) facility from the current capacity of 10 petaflops to 40 petaflops. India is at fourth place after the US, the UK and Japan in HPC, at present.

Notes:
The Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed has recently launched military operations in the region of Tigray, in the country.
The Air Force of Ethiopia has recently bombed and destroyed military artillery in the northern Tigray region. The campaign has been launched against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).