Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

Notes:
The 49-year-old billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has become the world’s second-richest person, after passing Bill Gates.
The CEO of SpaceX recorded a net worth of USD 127.9 billion, by adding USD 100.3 billion to his net worth this year, which is the highest addition by anyone on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His increase in wealth is largely driven by Tesla, whose market value is approaching USD 500 billion.

Notes:
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) with the Tamil Nadu government to develop the ecosystem for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the state.
Under the MoU, Sidbi will deploy a project management unit (PMU) in the government of Tamil Nadu. It will undertake the process of designing the training and capacity-building programmes to be taken up by the state government in areas.

Notes:
The United Nations Humanitarian Chief has released 25 million US dollars from its emergency fund to support women-led organisations fighting gender-based violence.
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will receive USD 17 million and UN Women will get USD 8 million. The funding was announced at the beginning of the ‘16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence’, from November 25 to December 10.

Notes:
Argentina’s Football legend Diego Maradona, regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, passed away due to a cardiac arrest, the age of 60.
The country is to observe three-day mourning for the legendary footballer, who helped Argentina life the World Cup in 1986. Maradona made his debut in the country’s football team before the age of 16. He has won several awards including FIFA Player of the Century.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently chaired the PRAGATI meeting. This marked the thirty-third interaction through the multi-modal platform.
The PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation) involving Central and State governments. Prime Minister along with the Secretaries of the Union and State review various projects and schemes. Grievances registered in various sectors are also taken up.

Notes:
The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 has been amended by the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act, 2019 to include the definition of the term ‘Aggregator’.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines 2020, to regulate shared mobility services. The ride hailing services require permission from the state governments to start operations, and states will follow the norms specified by the Centre.

Notes:
Odisha is set to celebrate International Sand Art Festival, at its Chandrabhaga Beach starting from December 1, 2020.
The five-day Sand Art Festival festival also coincides with the Konark Festival that is held in the backdrop of the Sun temple in Konark. On account of Covid-19 restrictions, only Indian sand artists will showcase their art using sand, bronze or wood.

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:
The Government of Madhya Pradesh has made a change in “Draft Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Bill 2020”. As per the revised draft, marriages for forcible religious conversions would be a punishable offence with a jail term of 10 years.
Earlier, the proposed bill contained that the term of jail would be 5 years. The Government is expecting to table the bill in the state assembly session to be held in December.

Notes:
The Government of France has decided to re-introduce tax on big Digital firms like Facebook, Amazon, Google etc.
In the early 2020, France suspended the tax on such big digital firms in exchange for a promise by USA to reduce taxation on French products. Since the US administration pulled out of the negotiation, France has decided to reintroduce levy of tax on digital firms.