Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2021

Notes:
The Government of India had enacted the Panchayat (Extension of the Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA Act) in the year 1996, with an aim to ensure self-governance through gram sabhas in scheduled areas.
The state Government of Chhattisgarh has recently released draft rules under PESA Act, 1996 under the name Chhattisgarh Panchayat Provisions (Extension of the Scheduled) Rules, 2021.

Notes:
As per a recent air quality report by IQAir, India has the most number of cities in top 100 polluted cities across the globe. India has 46 of the world’s 100 most polluted cities followed by China with 42 cities and Pakistan with 6 cities.
Hotan, in China’s Xinjiang, had the worst air quality in 2020.  Among the top 10 most polluted cities of the world, 9 are located in India

Notes:
Senior journalist Tamal Bandyopadhyay won the Tata Literature Live! Award for his book Pandemonium: The Great Indian Banking Tragedy.
Pandemonium was selected under the business book of the year category. He had earlier received an award at Kalinga Literary Festival for the same book, which is said to be an insider story of the India’s banking system.

Notes:
JP Morgan Chase has become the world’s most systemically important bank according to the latest annual ranking of the Financial Stability Board (FSB).
FSB, made up of regulators from G20 countries, published its latest table of the world’s 30 most systemic banks. BNP Paribas and Goldman Sachs were also deemed more systemic.

Notes:
The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) is an intergovernmental forum founded in 1996, which acts as a platform for the countries in Asia and Europe to exchange views and enhance cooperation among the countries. Presently, it has 53 members.
The ASEM 2021 was conducted virtually on 25th and 26th November, hosted by Cambodia. India was represented by the Vice President.

Notes:
The Fifth World Congress on Disaster Management (WCDM-2021) was organised in New Delhi from 24 to 27 November 2021. 3 critical issues namely Technology, Finance, and Capacity (TFC), which pose the most serious challenges to overcoming disasters, were deliberated in the meeting.
The WCDM-2021 was jointly organized by the Government of Delhi, IIT Delhi and Disaster Management Initiatives and Convergence Society (DMICS) Hyderabad.

Notes:
Indian Railways launched Bharat Gaurav trains that will be operated by private players and run on theme-based circuits.
According to the Bharat Gaurav policy, any operator or service provider, or virtually anyone, can lease trains from Indian Railways to run on a theme-based circuit as a special tourism package. The operator has the freedom to decide the route, the halts, the services provided, and, most importantly, the tariff.

Notes:
The United Kingdom recently unveiled its ‘Future Soldier’ modernisation plan, in order to increase its military presence in the world.
The country has released plans to improve manpower serving the military and future investments in weapons. The country’s defence ministry also announced an additional investment in the military equipment worth 8.6 billion pounds ($11.46 billion), during the next decade.

Notes:
India held a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) conference with Israel. In the conference, experts from India and Israel highlighted the importance of gender parity in STEM.
They also discussed the need introducing flexible work times and gender-neutral pays to enhance women participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Notes:
Minister of State for Ayush-Munjpara Mahedrabhai virtually inaugurated the Ayurveda Parv-2021 in New Delhi.
It is a three-day event, which has been organised to promote Ayurveda. An exhibition has been arranged with participation of Pharmaceutical companies. It aims for coordination and better utilization of Ayurvedic research, education and manufacturing of medicines.