Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

Notes:
Union Food Processing Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has recently inaugurated a mega food park (MFP) at Phagwara of Kapurthala district in the state of Punjab.
The Mega Food park has been built at a cost of Rs 107.83 crores and spread over 55 acres of land. It is expected to benefit over 25000 farmers and create employment opportunities for more than 5000 people. 37 MFPs have been sanctioned in our country as on date, and 20 of them are functioning.

Notes:
A cow shelter based in Assam’s Dibrugarh named Shree Gopal Gaushala inaugurated Northeast’s first-ever cow hospital.
The hospital is called Surbhi Aarogyashala, is set up at a cost of Rs 17 lakhs. It is expected to provide services in a radius of 30 kilometers. Presently, there are over 350 cows in the shelter.

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:
NITI Aayog has formed a high-level panel to explore the technological and commercial viability of the Virgin Hyperloop technology in India.
NITI Aayog member VK Saraswat has been named as the Chairman of the panel and Sudhendu Jyoti Sinha as its convener. The panel also includes Railway Board Chairman & CEO VK Yadav, DRDO Head, Director of IIT- Delhi among others.

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 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:
India and Finland recently signed an MoU for developing cooperation in the field of Environment protection and biodiversity conservation.
The MoU also seeks to exchange best practices in areas like prevention of air and water pollution, waste management, and promotion of circular economy. Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar signed the MoU virtually with his Finnish counterpart.

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 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.