Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

Notes:
The Indian Navy is participating in the two-day exercise SITMEX-20, along with the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and Royal Thai Navy (RTN).
The exercise is being conducted as a ‘non-contact, at sea only’ exercise, in the Andaman Sea, on account of Covid-19. Indian Navy to Host Exercise SIMBEX-20 with Singapore Navy in Andaman Sea.

Notes:
China has successfully launched the Chang’e-5 lunar probe, to collect samples from the moon’s surface and return to earth.
In the country’s first attempt to retrieve materials from an extra-terrestrial body, the unmanned space mission was launched from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern province of Hainan. The spacecraft was launched by a Long March-5 rocket.

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:
As per the recent report released by ‘Transparency International’, as many as 74 per cent of the respondents said corruption is one of the biggest problems in their country.
The report also highlighted that around 19 % paid a bribe in the last 12 months, to access public service and youngsters are more likely to pay a bribe or use personal connection to avail public service.

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:
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has recently launched a portal that will enable transgender persons to apply online for certification of their self-perceived gender identity.
Transgender persons can upload declaration of their gender identity, which will be the basis for their identity certificates to be issued by the district magistrate. The Minister opened ‘Garima Greh: A Shelter Home for Transgender Persons’ in Gujarat. The Ministry will open such homes in all states.

Notes:
The World Health Organisation has released ‘Guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour’.
As per the guidelines, at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic activity per week is recommended for all adults. It also highlights that one in four adults, and four out of five adolescents, do not get enough physical activity, which causes a significant loss in productivity.

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 India has recently reduced the import tax on crude palm oil from 37.5% to 27.5%. This step has been made by the Government to bring down food inflation.
India is the world’s largest importer of palm oil and it imports nearly 9 million tons of palm oil every year from Indonesia and Malaysia predominantly.