Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2021

Notes:
The Governor of Georgia, Brian P. Kemp, has announced that November 1 will be observed as ‘Kannada Language and Rajyotsava Day’.
Georgia had become the first state in the U.S. to issue such a proclamation for Kannada. Karnataka is set to celebrate Kannada Rajyotsava. Georgia houses one of the biggest Indian diaspora in the U.S. Kannada is one of the longest-surviving classical languages, with a rich literature and inscriptions dating back to 450 BCE.

Notes:
India has launched its first manned ocean mission, ‘Samudrayan’, joining six other nations engaged in exploring Deep Ocean for research. While launching the mission, Union minister Jitendra Singh
The Samudrayan project will be a part of the Deep Ocean Mission. It is being undertaken by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT). The National Institute of Ocean Technology in 1993 is an autonomous society under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

Notes:
India has applied a USD 2 billion loan to purchase COVID-19 vaccines, from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) along with the Asian Development (ADB).
Manila-based ADB is expected to finance USD 1.5 billion and Beijing-based AIIB is considering to provide USD 500 million. About 667 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines were expected to be procured through the loan.

Notes:
The Finance ministry has approved an 8.5% return on employees’ provident fund (EPF) deposits for 2020-21.
This move will impact over 6.4 crore subscribers. The rate was the same for the year 2019-20 also. The Labour ministry will now notify the interest rate before the EPFO starts crediting the interest into individual accounts.

Notes:
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution on the protection of education in armed conflict named ‘Resolution 2601’.
The resolution won the unanimous support of the 15-member council. It strongly condemns all violations of international law involving the recruitment and use of children by parties to armed conflict, their killing, sexual violence and abductions. It also condemns attacks against schools and hospitals as well as denial of humanitarian access by parties to armed conflict.

Notes:
River Mandakini, a tributary of the Yamuna, starts in Madhya Pradesh’s Satna district and flows into the Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh Chitrakoot district.
The river flows through Sati Anusuiya, a perennial trough where many springs feed into it. It was seen in the news recently, as encroachment, concretisation and pollution are causing severe damages to the river.

Notes:
The UK will provide an “India Green Guarantee” to the World Bank, to unlock 750 million pounds for green projects across India.
This was announced at the COP26 summit in Glasgow. The green guarantee financing will support clean and resilient infrastructure in sectors including clean energy, transport and urban development. UK committed over 210 million pounds at the UN climate summit under Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG).

Notes:
The National Mission for Clean Ganga is registered as a society under the Societies Registration Act 1860, and it is the implementation arm of National Ganga River Basin Authority.
The Mission has set a Guinness World Record for the highest number of photographs of handwritten notes uploaded on Facebook in one hour.

Notes:
Panchamrita concoction is a five-fold strategy proposed by the Prime Minister of India at the 26th Conference of Parties (CoP26) held at Glasgow. The strategy would help the world achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
The Panchamrita concoction includes 500 GW non-fossil energy capacity by 2030, 50% renewable energy capacity by 2030, reduce carbon emission by one billion tonnes by 2030, reduce the carbon intensity by 45% by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2030.

Notes:
A 20-member Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS) has been constituted by the Government of India, to monitor the development and implementation of the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan.
The Group would be headed by the Cabinet Secretary and its members would include Chairman of Railway Board, Secretaries of Dept. of Road, Ports, Civil Aviation, Petroleum, Telecommunication etc.