Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

Notes:
Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have developed a solar-powered Unmanned Autonomous Survey Craft for Indian ports and inland waterways.
It would help to conduct autonomous hydrographic and oceanographic surveys and provide real-time data transmission over long distances. It had a successful field-test recently off the Chennai coast at Kamarajar port.

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:
The web series title ‘Delhi Crime’ has won the Best Drama Series award at the 48th International Emmy Awards, held virtually this year.
The show becomes the first Indian programme to win an International Emmy. The series was streamed in the OTT platform Netflix and was written and directed by Richie Mehta. The programme narrates the story of investigation in the aftermath of the Delhi gang-rape of December 2012.

Notes:
Air India One is the call sign for the Air India One-B777 VVIP aircraft used by the President, Vice President and Prime Minister.
Recently, the first flight of the Air India One-B777 aircraft was inaugurated with the Indian President Ramnath Kovind onboard. The aircraft is more fuel efficient and has a longer range than the previous B747-400 aircraft. It also has state-of-the-art missile defence systems.

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 tenth edition of the National Science film festival has been inaugurated in the state of Tripura. The festival will be held in virtual mode.
VigyanPrasar, an autonomous agency under the Department of Science and Technology, has been organizing this festival. This year, Vigyan Prasar is collaborating with the Tripura State Council of Science and Technology. As many as 372 films in different languages have been received.

Notes:
Veteran Congress leader and eight-time parliamentarian Ahmed Patel recently passed way due to Covid related complications, at the age of 71.
He had been the political adviser of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and is known for driving the party out of difficult situations. He was serving as the Congress treasurer. At a very young age, he was selected by the then PM Rajiv Gandhi to lead the Gujarat Congress.

Notes:
India and Vietnam recently signed an agreement for cooperation in the field of hydrography. The agreement is signed during the virtual conference held between India’s Defence minister Rajnath Singh and his Vietnamese counterpart.
The agreement also enables sharing of data between the countries and assist in production of navigational charts. Hydrography includes measurement of physical features of oceans and seas.

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.

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.