Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2021

Notes:
Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry presented the 14th edition of Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference 2021.
Surat won the award for the city with the best public transport system, and Kochi was judged the city with most sustainable transport system. The awards were presented by Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri at Urban Mobility India conference. Nagpur’s multi-modal integration with Metro rail, Delhi’s Metro also won awards.

Notes:
India and Italy have agreed to explore development of green hydrogen, set up renewable energy corridors, and projects in the natural gas sector.
A joint statement was issued after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held the first in-person meeting with his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rome. The Action Plan for an enhanced Partnership between India and Italy (2020-2024) was signed in 2020.

Notes:
A glacier in Antarctica has been formally named Glasgow Glacier in honour of the city hosting the UN climate summit which formally opened recently.
The 100-km long body of ice, which has been experiencing rapid melting, was named by a team of researchers at the University of Leeds to mark the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Notes:
The Union Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports announced the National Sports Awards 2021 recently. 12 sports persons have been announced for the ‘Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award’ 2021, which is awarded to the spectacular and most outstanding performance in sports over a period of the previous four years.
35 number of Sports persons will receive Arjuna Awards this year.

Notes:
UK medicines regulator has recently approved the first antiviral pill designed to treat symptomatic Covid.
The tablet named Molnupiravir will be given twice a day to vulnerable patients recently diagnosed with the disease. The pill which was originally developed to treat flu, is claimed to cut the risk of hospitalisation or death by about half.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently published its ‘Statement of Commitment to Support Greening India’s Financial System – NGFS.
RBI joined the Central Banks and Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) as a Member on April 23, 2021. On the occasion of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), NGFS agreed to contribute to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

Notes:
The Assam cabinet approved the Industrial Relation Rules, 2021 aiming at safeguarding the rights of employers and employees.
The cabinet has approved a scheme for providing ration to migrant workers, who faced hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic. The rules have been framed with a view to simplify and rationalise the provisions of three central labour codes relating to industrial relations.

Notes:
Britain Based oil and gas explorer Cairn Energy PLC has stated that it has changed its name to Capricorn Energy PLC and the same could come into effect from December 2021.
The company has been involved in a USD 1 billion retrospective tax dispute with the Government of India, and the case has come to a point of closure.

Notes:
The Cabinet of Punjab has given approval to the “Punjab Tissue Culture Based Seed Potato Rules-2021”, which aims to develop Punjab as a standard potato seed center. This is expected to boost potato cultivation in the state.
With these rules, Punjab will be the very first state in the country to have the facility of tissue culture-based certification. The cabinet also approved amending ‘Punjab Learning of Punjabi and Other Languages Act, 2008’ to implement Punjabi as a compulsory subject up to class 10.

Notes:
Ministry of Science and Technology launched the first-ever mentorship programme for young innovators to mark the 75th year of India’s independence.
Named the ‘DBT-Star College Mentorship Programme’, it aims for a ‘Star College’ in every district of the country supported by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), under the science and technology ministry. It also aims to organise workshops and meetings every month, handhold colleges particularly in the rural areas and outreach activities with government schools.