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:
Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ inaugurated 46 online AICTE Training and Learning (ATAL) Academy Faculty Development Programmes (FDPs), organised by AICTE.
The programmes would be conducted in 22 Indian states, to train teachers of higher education institutions. Book of World Records, London has acknowledged the training of over one lakh people in 1000 programs under ‘FDP’, as a world record.

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:
Indian army has successfully test fired the land-attack version of the surface-to-surface supersonic cruise missile BrahMos, in the Andaman and Nicobar.
The range of the new version of the missile has been extended to 400 km from the original 290 km. The Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy will carry out separate test-firing of the new version of the air-launched and naval versions of the missile.

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:
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:
University of Lucknow, a public University in Uttar Pradesh, became the third University in India to have a commemorative coin of Rs 100 issued on its centenary year.
Prior to this, only Mysore University and Banaras Hindu University had received the honour. Prime Minister attended the celebration of Centennial Foundation Day of the University virtually and released special stamp and Rs 100 coin

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 Government of Scotland has passed a bill making sanitary products free to all women in the country. This makes the country the first nation in the world to take such a step.
The Period Products (Free Provision) Scotland Bill was passed unanimously in the Scotland assembly and the government sees it as an important policy for women and girls in the country.

Notes:
Japan’s spacecraft named ‘Hayabusa2’ is approaching the Earth after a year-long journey from an asteroid Ryugu, about 300 million kilometers from earth.
As per the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the spacecraft will bring soil samples and data that could provide clues to the origins of the solar system and life on Earth. The agency would drop the capsule containing the samples, in southern Australia.