Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

Notes:
An Internal Working Group (IWG) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recommended raising the cap on promoters’ stake in private sector banks to 26% in 15 years.
At present, the percentage of stake is mandated at 15% of the equity share capital of the bank. The group also suggested to allow large corporate or industrial houses, as promoters of banks after necessary amendments to the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

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:
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 Airports Authority of India (AAI) is a statutory body working under the Ministry of Civil Aviation. It was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in New Deli.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) commenced Aviation Safety Awareness Week 2020 from 23rd November to 27th November 2020. It is being observed at all airports and Airport Navigation Service (ANS) locations managed by AAI across India.

Notes:
Uttar Pradesh government has passed an ordinance to ban unlawful religious conversions for marriage.
As per the ordinance, unlawful conversion for the sake of getting married through force, deceit, undue pressure will be considered a non-bailable offence and can lead to imprisonment of a maximum of 10 years and penalty of 50 thousand rupees.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently chaired the PRAGATI meeting. This marked the thirty-third interaction through the multi-modal platform.
The PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation) involving Central and State governments. Prime Minister along with the Secretaries of the Union and State review various projects and schemes. Grievances registered in various sectors are also taken up.

Notes:
Under a new law approved by the Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority will be renamed to Saudi Central Bank.
However, the Central Bank will continue to use its acronym “SAMA” due to its historic significance and relevance. The new law also mandates the objectives of the Central Bank to maintain monetary stability, support economic growth and to directly report King of Saudi Arabia.

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:
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.