Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

Notes:
American messaging app Snapchat has recently rolled out a new short-video making feature called ‘Spotlight’.
It would allow users to share short-form videos publicly in its Snapchat app. By the launch of the new feature, Snap Inc. is expected to compete with ByteDance-owned TikTok and Instagram Reels launched by Facebook.

Notes:
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Invest India has recently launched the SDG Investor Map for India.
UNDP highlighted 18 investment opportunities areas (IOAs), which are in 6 important SDG (sustainable development goals) enabling sectors including education, healthcare, agriculture among others. This is expected to bridge the SDG financing gap occurred due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Notes:
The construction arm of Larsen and Toubro (L&T), L&T Construction has bagged the contract to build India’s longest river bridge.
The 19-km long bridge, which is to be built across the Brahmaputra river, will connect Dhubri in Assam to Phulbari in Meghalaya. It will also improve connectivity of the North Eastern states with the rest of the country.

Notes:
As per the recent report released by ‘Transparency International’, as many as 74 per cent of the respondents said corruption is one of the biggest problems in their country.
The report also highlighted that around 19 % paid a bribe in the last 12 months, to access public service and youngsters are more likely to pay a bribe or use personal connection to avail public service.

Notes:
‘International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women’ is observed every year on November 25, led by the United Nations General Assembly.
This year, the theme for the International Day is “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!”, to focus on bridging the funding gaps to serve the survivors of violence. UN observed that violence against women and girls has increased during the pandemic, terming it ‘Shadow Pandemic’.

Notes:
New Zealand’s Greg Barclay has been elected as the new independent Ahairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
He is also the second independent chairman of the international body, after Shashank Manohar of India. Greg Barclay served as the Director of New Zealand Cricket Team since 2012. He had also been the Director of 2015 Men’s World Cup, held in Australia and New Zealand.

Notes:
Under a new law approved by the Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority will be renamed to Saudi Central Bank.
However, the Central Bank will continue to use its acronym “SAMA” due to its historic significance and relevance. The new law also mandates the objectives of the Central Bank to maintain monetary stability, support economic growth and to directly report King of Saudi Arabia.

Notes:
Several groups of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and other parts of the country, demanding the repeal of the new agriculture reform laws passed by the Union Government, are holding protests under the name of ‘Delhi Chalo’.
The farmers were granted permission to hold peaceful protests at Nirankari Ground in North west Delhi. As per the farmers, the new agriculture laws will dismantle the minimum support price (MSP) system.

Notes:
Faqir Chand Kohli, the founder and the first CEO of Tata Consultancy Services, has recently passed away at the age of 96.
He was also called as the ‘Father of Indian IT Industry’, for his contribution towards the development of IT industry and for pioneering the country’s ‘Technology Revolution’. He received several honours including the Padma Bhushan.

Notes:
The Government of India has recently reduced the import tax on crude palm oil from 37.5% to 27.5%. This step has been made by the Government to bring down food inflation.
India is the world’s largest importer of palm oil and it imports nearly 9 million tons of palm oil every year from Indonesia and Malaysia predominantly.