Current affairs notes on November 2020- Part 2

 1.we celebrate National Education Day on November 11, the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad to honor his contributions to education in India.

2.Indian astronomers collaborated with Nobel laureate on Thirty Meter Telescope Project. 2020 Physics Nobel Laureate Prof. Andrea Ghez had worked closely with Indian astronomers. It is an astronomical observatory with an extremely large telescope (ELT). It is an international project being funded by scientific organisations of Canada, China, India, Japan and USA.

3. Birth anniversary of Birsa Munda was observed on November 15th. In recognition of his impact on the national movement, the state of Jharkhand was created on his birth anniversary in 2000.

4. Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar has been elected as Chief Minister of the State for the fourth consecutive term. The Chief Minister is appointed by the governor. 164 of the Constitution provides that there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at its hand to aid and advise the governor.

5. Kerala Fibre Optic Network Project: Kerala aims to provide free Internet for poor families, public offices by December. The project seeks to fulfil the government’s aim of making internet access a ‘citizen’s right’.

6. The European Space Agency (ESA) has formally adopted Ariel. Ariel (Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey) will be launched in 2029.  Ariel is the first mission of its kind dedicated to measuring the chemical composition and thermal structures of hundreds of exoplanets.

7. PM Narendra Modi unveils `Statue of Peace` in Rajasthan. To mark the 151st Birth Anniversary celebrations of Jainacharya Shree Vijay Vallabh Surishwer Ji Maharaj.

8. Hurricane Iota has made landfall in Nicaragua in Central America and has developed into a category five storm. Hurricanes that reach category three or higher are called ‘major hurricanes’ because of their potential to cause devastating damage to life and property.

9. A Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde has observed that it is “trying to discourage” individuals from filing petitions under Article 32 of the Constitution. Article 32 deals with the ‘Right to Constitutional Remedies’, or affirms the right to move the Supreme Court by appropriate proceedings for the enforcement of the rights conferred in Part III of the Constitution.

10. QRSAM is a canister-based system, which means that it is stored and operated from specially designed compartments. It is a short range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, primarily designed and developed by DRDO to provide a protective shield to moving armoured columns of the Army from enemy aerial attacks.

11. The Lilavati Award is an initiative of the technical education regulator, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and it aims to recognise efforts by AICTE-approved institutions to treat women with ‘equality and fairness’.

12. Madhya Pradesh government has decided to set up a ‘Gau Cabinet’ for the protection and promotion of cattle.

13. The first meeting between India and Luxembourg in 20 years was held recently. The meeting resulted in three new bilateral agreements.

14. The latest Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum was held online this year because of the pandemic. APEC: It is a regional economic forum established in 1989 to leverage the growing interdependence of the Asia-Pacific. APEC’s 21 members totally.

15. Global information technology service provider Atos has announced that PARAM Siddhi – AI has been ranked 63 on the TOP500 ranking. This makes it India’s largest and fastest Supercomputer.

16. The Government is preparing for the nationwide launch of the National Digital Health Mission. It is a digital health ecosystem under which every Indian citizen will now have unique health IDs, digitised health records with identifiers for doctors and health facilities.

17. scientists have now discovered another deadly virus, known as the Chapare virus, in Bolivia. The Chapare hemorrhagic fever (CHHF) is caused by the same arenavirus family that is responsible for illnesses such as the Ebola virus disease (EVD).

18. Scottish author Douglas Stuart has been awarded the 2020 Booker Prize for his acclaimed debut novel Shuggie Bain.

19. Kerala Government has introduced Section 118A in the Kerala Police Act, to penalise ‘offensive,’ ‘abusive,’ and ‘threatening’ social media posts.

20. SITMEX-20: It is a trilateral naval exercise between India, Thailand and Singapore.

21. National Newborn Week 2020: Observed every year from 15 to 21 November. India became the first country to launch the India Newborn Action Plan (INAP).

22. To commemorate the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G), which aims to provide “Housing for All” by 2022, it was decided to celebrate 20th November every year as “Awaas Diwas”.

23. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued an order under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act blocking access to 43 mobile apps. Section 69A of the IT Act, empowers the Central Government to order that access to certain websites and computer resources be blocked in the interest of the defense of the country, its sovereignty and integrity, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of an offence.

24. Mega Food Park inaugurated in Punjab. Ministry of Food Processing Industries is implementing Mega Food Park Scheme in the country since 2008. It aims at providing a mechanism to link agricultural production to the market by bringing together farmers, processors and retailers.

25. France is keen on joining the India-Australia bilateral naval exercise AUSINDEX.

26. Constitution day which is also known as the Samvidhan Divas is celebrated every year on November 26 to mark the day on which the Constitution of India was adopted. While the adoption of the Constitution took place on November 26, 1949, it came into effect on January 26, 1950.

27. PM recently again pitched for ‘One Nation, One Election’. It refers to holding elections to Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, Panchayats and Urban local bodies simultaneously, once in five year.

28. 3rd Global Renewable Energy Investment Meeting and Expo (RE-Invest 2020) was inaugurated recently. The summit is organised by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. The theme for 2020 is ‘Innovations for Sustainable Energy Transition’. India’s renewable power capacity is the 4th largest in the world .

29. Scotland becomes first nation to make sanitary pads, tampons free.

30. India’s first Member of Parliament to have been disqualified from the Lok Sabha has now been disqualified as an MLA in Mizoram. Mizoram Assembly Speaker disqualifies Zoram People’s Movement MLA Lalduhoma. The Tenth Schedule (Anti defection law) was inserted in the Constitution in 1985 by the 52nd Amendment Act. It lays down the process by which legislators may be disqualified on grounds of defection by the Presiding Officer of a legislature based on a petition by any other member of the House.

31. Fiscal deficit reaches 120% of annual target,Fiscal Defecit,                                   

It is the difference between the Revenue Receipts plus Non-debt Capital Receipts (NDCR) and the total expenditure. In other words, fiscal deficit is “reflective of the total borrowing requirements of Government”.

32. Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Uttar Pradesh has bagged the first international award, TX2, among the 13 tiger ranging countries for having doubled the number of tigers in less than the stipulated time.

33. India set to build Shahtoot Dam in Afghanistan, provide drinking water for 2 million residents of Kabul. The dam would come upon the Maidan river tributary of Kabul river.