Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

Notes:
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan has signed an ordinance amending the Kerala Police Act. It is expected to empower the law enforcement to prosecute persons who exploit social media to target women and children.
In October, the State cabinet had decided to amend the Act to recommend five years of imprisonment and a fine of ₹10,000 for those convicted of producing, publishing or disseminating derogatory content to intimidate any person through social media.

Notes:
The G-20 countries approved the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) to temporarily suspend the government-to-government debt payments to 73 countries. It was extended till June 30, 2021.
The G-20 Finance Ministers virtual meeting was recently held and India’s Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman participated in it. She highlighted about the DSSI initiative under the G20 Saudi Arabian Presidency.

Notes:
The Twitter account of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reached 1 million followers. The bank also became the first monetary authority in the world to reach this mile stone on its official Twitter handle.
RBI created its official Twitter account only in January 2012 and in the current financial year, as many as 2.5 lakh new followers joined the RBI handle. Central bank of Mexico is in the second place with 7.74 lakh followers, followed by Bank of Indonesia with 7.57 lakh. US Federal Reserve is at the fourth place.

Notes:
Technology Giant Google has paid Rs 33,737 crore to Reliance Industries Limited’s (RIL) digital subsidiary, Jio Platforms Ltd.
Google will now hold 7.73% stake in Jio Platforms and has joined the list of global investors including Facebook, Silver Lake, General Atlantic among others. This is also the biggest-ever investment of Google in an Indian company.

Notes:
Veteran Indian-American physician Ajay Lodha has passed away due to complications from Covid-19, at the age of 58, in the United States.
He is the former President of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI). The physician has received several honours including the Ellis Island Medal of Honour in 2016. He was known for his contribution to the diaspora in the U.S, especially the Rajasthani community.

Notes:
India and the United States of America has recently extended the Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation on nuclear energy for 10 more years.
In a joint statement issued by the two countries, this is the tenth year of cooperation between them at the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP). The MoU was signed at New Delhi in the year 2010.

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:
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:
The promoter of the Sputnik V vaccine candidate – Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has entered into an agreement with Hyderabad based company named “Hetero Biopharma”.
Under the agreement, the Sputnik V vaccine candidate would be produced in India from beginning of 2021. The Sputnik V vaccine is recently claimed to have reached an efficiency of 91.4% in Phase 3 trials.