Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

Notes:
India’s leading private sector bank ICICI Bank has recently announced the launch of India’s first comprehensive banking programme for millennials.
The programme is named as ‘ICICI Bank Mine’ and it offered an instant savings account. As per the bank, any millennial aged up to 35 years can apply digitally for an ‘ICICI Bank Mine’ account. The package also offers investment guidance, customised credit and debit card and many features.

Notes:
WhatsApp has received the National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) approval to enter Unified Payment Interface (UPI) in phased manner.
The Social-media giant, owned by Facebook has over 400 million users in India. The UPI payments service is expected to be launched to 2 crore WhatsApp users initially. NPCI stated that a 30% cap will be implemented on total payment volumes via every third-party payment app.

Notes:
As per the Schmidt Ocean Institute, its research vessel ‘Falkor’ has discovered a massive coral reef in Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
The research vessel has been undertaking a 12-month exploration mission of the ocean surrounding Australia. The 500-meter-high reef has been discovered for the first time in 120 years. ‘SuBastian’, the underwater robot of the institute is deployed to explore the new reef.

Notes:
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is set to invest Rs 9,555 crore (USD 1.29 billion) for 2.04 per cent equity stake in Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL).
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is the chairman of PIF. It had previously invested in several giant companies including Facebook, Boeing, and Disney.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India has announced a Co-Lending Model (CLM) scheme for priority sector lending. Under the new scheme, Banks can enter into a prior agreement with NBFCs for co lending of Priority Sector Loans.
The CLM is an improvement over the co-origination of loan scheme announced by the RBI in September 2018.

Notes:
Mizoram is set to withdraw a section of its forces from the border with Assam. In their place, the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel will be deployed.
This decision was taken at a meeting between the chief secretaries of Assam and Mizoram, chaired by the Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla. Three companies of the Border Security Force (BSF) have arrived in the state.

Notes:
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has recently announced relaxations to Islamic laws. These relaxations allowing unmarried couples to cohabitate, lifts some restrictions on alcohols and on criminalising honour killings.
This is seen as a major step towards westernisation of the nation and aims to improve personal freedom.

Notes:
Gold and silver coins in the name of the Vaishno Devi shrine have been released by the Lt. Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha.
The coins have been released ahead of Diwali festival. The Vaishno Devi shrine board has decided to make the coin available in Jammu as well as in Delhi.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will co-chair the virtual 17th India-ASEAN summit, along with the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
The leaders are expected to note the adoption of ASEAN-India Plan of Action (2021-2025). The Prime Minister attended the 16th ASEAN-India Summit in Bangkok in November last year.

Notes:
Researchers have recently discovered a new hidden gene in the novel coronavirus named ORF3d.
The new overlapping gene is expected to contribute to the unique biology and pandemic potential. This may also lead to the development of new vaccines against the virus. The study has been published in the journal ‘eLife’.