Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

Notes:
The Booker Prize 2020 has been awarded to Scottish-American writer Douglas Stuart for his debut novel ‘Shuggie Bain’.
The shortlist for the coveted award consisted of five more titles which also included Avni Doshi’s book ‘Burnt Sugar’, which was published in India as ‘Girl in White Cotton’. Last year the Prize was won jointly to Atwood for ‘The Testaments’ and Evaristo for ‘Girl, Woman, Other’.

Notes:
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has launched a new rural housing project named “Maha Awas Yojana”.
Under the new scheme, as many as 8.82 lakh rural houses will be built in a period of 100 days. The outlay of the project is estimated to be Rs 4000 crore. The state’s Department of Rural Development will undertake this project.

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:
Retired Major General R N Chibber, who had participated in 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars, recently passed away.
The 86-year-old veteran officer had worked in Afghanistan from 1972 to 1975 as a military attache. He also commanded the 8 Jat Regiment. He was awarded Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) for his distinguished service.

Notes:
The 59th National Pharmacy Week (NPW) is celebrated throughout the country from November 16-22, 2020.
This year, the theme of the National Pharmacy Week (NPW) is “Pharmacists: Frontline Health Professionals”. The Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA) is the national professional body of pharmacists, which leads the celebrations.

Notes:
The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, also known as Europol, is the law enforcement agency of the European Union. It is headquartered at the Hague, Netherlands.
Recently, the Europol, Interpol and the Basel Institute on Governance organised the virtual 4th Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies. Over 2,000 representatives from 132 countries attended the conference.

Notes:
Life Insurance Corporation of India has launched a digital application named ‘ANANDA’, which is an acronym for Atma Nirbhar Agents New Business Digital Application.
Using the Digital application, life insurance policy can be applied through a paperless module with the help of the agent or intermediary. The application is developed based on paperless KYC process using Aadhaar-based e-authentication.

Notes:
The Chairman of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has recently flagged off the first heavy weight torpedo, Varunastra.
The torpedo was delivered to the Indian Navy at a ceremony held at Bharat Dynamics Limited, Visakhapatnam Unit. It has been designed and developed by Naval Science & Technological Laboratory (NSTL), Visakhapatnam.

Notes:
On 26 November 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Constitution of India, and it came into effect on 26 January 1950.
To commemorate the event, Constitution Day (Samvidhan Diwas) is observed every year on 26 November. This year, ‘All India Presiding Officers’ Conference’ has been organised in Gujarat. The President participated in ‘Reading of Preamble to the Constitution’ event, held every year.

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.