Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2020

Notes:
Two entities namely Natural Support Consultancy Services, based at Jaipur Ltd and Nucleus Software Exports Ltd based at New Delhi commenced the testing of their products in Reserve Bank of India’s regulatory sandbox on Retail Payment.
“e-Rupaya” is the product being developed by Natural Support Consultancy Services which is a Near-Field Communication (NFC) based prepaid card. “Payse” is the product being developed by Nucleus Software Exports.

Notes:
The International Crops Research Institute of Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) headquartered at Hyderabad, Telangana. It was founded in 1972 by a group of international organisations.
Recently, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has permitted the ICRISAT to use Drones for agricultural research activities. It was founded in 1972 by a consortium of organisations convened.

Notes:
High Commission of India has launched Special Edition wrist watches to commemorate the Centenary year of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Bangladesh is celebrating the birth centenary year of its founder president and Father of Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as Mujib Centenary year ‘Mujib Borsho’. The wristwatches in the limited-edition series bear the image and the signature of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Notes:
Leading Private lender ICICI Bank has launched a ‘Card-less EMI’ facility for its customers which can be used at retail stores.
Instead of using cards, the pre-approved customers of the bank can use their registered mobile number, PAN number and OTP (One Time Password) on the PoS machine at the retail outlets. The bank has launched the facility in partnership with Pine Labs.

Notes:
The Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy (AYUSH) Ministry celebrates the Naturopathy Day on November 18.
It was first celebrated in the year 2018, with the aim of promoting drug-less system of medicine. It seeks to prevent diseases by modifying the diet and lifestyle. Ayurveda Day is marked on November 5, Unani Day on February 11, Siddha Day on January 4. World Homeopathy day is marked on April 10.

Notes:
A virtual counter-terrorism dialogue was recently held between India and the Belgium-headquartered European Union.
As per the joint statement, both India and the EU condemned terrorism in all forms, including the “Use of terrorist proxies for cross-border terrorism”. The dialogue also called on all countries to ensure no region under their control is used for terrorist attacks on other countries.

Notes:
The Five Eyes is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
It was first formed during the post-World War II times. Under the coalition, there have been joint signals intelligence collection and sharing. The 5 countries hold ministerial consultations regularly on various security issues.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to attend the two-day virtual 15th G20 Summit, which is being chaired by Saudi Arabia.
The theme of the summit is “Realising the Opportunities of the 21st Century for All”. This summit is the second meeting of the G20 Leaders, this year. The last G20 Extraordinary Leaders’ summit was held in March 2020.

Notes:
India’s first moss garden has been developed at Khurpatal, Nainital district, Uttarakhand. It was inaugurated by renowned water conservation activist Rajendra Singh.
The moss garden was approved under the CAMPA scheme by the Uttarakhand Forest Department, last year. It aims to conserve various species of moss and other bryophytes. Two of the moss species found here- Hyophila involuta (Cement Moss) and Brachythecium Buchanani are in IUCN red list.

Notes:
A MoU was signed between the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and leading oil & gas marketing companies and technology providers to set up Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) plants across India.
The CBG plants are to be set up under the Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative. The Union Government has set a target to set up 5000 CBG plants by 2023-24 with production target of 15 MMT.