Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

Notes:
Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad launched the UMANG’s international version in coordination with Ministry of External Affairs for select countries including USA, UK, Canada, Australia, UAE, Netherlands, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.
An online conference was organized to mark the occasion of 3 years of UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) and a milestone of 2000 plus services. The app will help Indian international students, NRIs and Indian tourists to avail the services of the Government.

Notes:
As per a recent survey conducted by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Ernst & Young, Multi-national Companies regard India as their first option, in terms of investments across the globe.
Out of the total key decision makers of those MNCs, 82 per cent of them said that they have plans to expand their business in the next 2 to 3 years. After India, the second most favourable place is North America followed by the rest of Asia-Pacific.

Notes:
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has declared the Indian Financial services company Karvy Stock Broking Ltd as a defaulter.
The membership of Karvy was also terminated by NSE under NSEIL Rules. In November 2019, Karvy had transferred securities worth Rs 2,300 crore into its account by misusing power of attorney given by its clients. SEBI has also found that Karvy indulged in trades that were not authorized by clients.

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:
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:
Union Cabinet has recently approved the merger of Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) with DBS Bank India. The Reserve Bank of India had earlier proposed the merger of the private sector lender with the Indian arm of Singapore’s DBS Bank.
It also placed LVB under one-month moratorium and capped withdrawals for depositors. As a part of the amalgamation, DBIL will infuse fresh capital of Rs 2,500 crore into LVB.

Notes:
Malayalam film Jallikattu, directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery, has been selected as India’s official entry for the 93rd Academy Awards, 2021.
It is also the third Malayalam film to be shortlisted for the Oscar Award. This film is based on writer S. Hareesh’s acclaimed story titled ‘Maoist’. As of now, only three Indian films Lagaan, Mother India and Salaam Bombay! have won the coveted award.

Notes:
The Uttar Pradesh government has approved the 594-km Ganga Expressway project worth Rs 36,402 crore.
The project will have Expressway running along the river Ganga from Haridwar to Allahabad. The state Cabinet also approved a district-wise alignment of the Expressway. The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority will implement the project.

Notes:
The Honey FPO Programme of National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited. (NAFED) has been inaugurated by Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar.
Beekeeping will be promoted as an occupation for unemployed women and tribal populations, through these Honey FPOs. A new Central Sector Scheme for Formation & Promotion of new 10,000 FPOs was launched and 2200 FPO clusters for 2020-21 are already allocated.

Notes:
As per the recent study conducted by the Central Pollution control board and IIT- Delhi, Indo-Gangetic plains continue to be the most polluted region in the country, in terms of PM 2.5 levels.
The study also revealed that the rate of increase in pollution levels southern and eastern India is greater than the Indo-Gangetic plains, between 2000 and 2019. It also found that air pollution in rural areas of the country increased similar to that of urban areas.