Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Goa has launched an exclusive WhatsApp helpline number, to help women in distress in the state.
The dedicated WhatsApp number 7875756177 will be functional round the clock at the State Police Control Room, Panaji. Union Minister of State for Defence and AYUSH Shripad Naik handed over a medically well-equipped ambulance to Chief Minister for the use of Goa Police.

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:
HDFC Bank became the first bank in the Indian history to cross the Rs 8-trillion market capitalisation milestone.
The stock price has also surpassed its previous lifetime high and stood at Rs 1464 apiece on the BSE. The private sector bank now stands at third position in the overall market-cap ranking of listed companies, after Reliance Industries and Tata Consultancy Services that have crossed Rs 10 trillion.

Notes:
‘International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women’ is observed every year on November 25, led by the United Nations General Assembly.
This year, the theme for the International Day is “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!”, to focus on bridging the funding gaps to serve the survivors of violence. UN observed that violence against women and girls has increased during the pandemic, terming it ‘Shadow Pandemic’.

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 Fit India School week program was launched in November last year, to inculcate the awareness of physical activity and sports to school children.
The schools, after registering themselves on the Fit India website, will select a week in the month of December. It will then make the children follow the activities listed by the Sports Ministry for the program. Last year, over 15000 schools participated in the program.

Notes:
Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports has restored the government recognition to Archery Association of India as a National Sports Federation.
In the year 2012, the Government recognition of AAI was withdrawn, on failure to conduct its elections in accordance with the National Sports Code. In 2020, AAI conducted elections again and elected Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda as President. AAI now has the recognition of Indian Olympic Association and the World Archery.

Notes:
Odisha is set to celebrate International Sand Art Festival, at its Chandrabhaga Beach starting from December 1, 2020.
The five-day Sand Art Festival festival also coincides with the Konark Festival that is held in the backdrop of the Sun temple in Konark. On account of Covid-19 restrictions, only Indian sand artists will showcase their art using sand, bronze or wood.

Notes:
The Cabinet of Pakistan has approved two anti-rape ordinances which includes chemical castration of rapists, with the consent of the convict.
The ordinance also envisages setting up of Special Courts for rape trials and appointing Special prosecutors. The proposed laws include in-camera trials, witness protection, legal assistance to victims and speedy trials of rape cases. It also prohibits unscientific examination of survivors.

Notes:
The promoter of the Sputnik V vaccine candidate – Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has entered into an agreement with Hyderabad based company named “Hetero Biopharma”.
Under the agreement, the Sputnik V vaccine candidate would be produced in India from beginning of 2021. The Sputnik V vaccine is recently claimed to have reached an efficiency of 91.4% in Phase 3 trials.