November 2020 Current Affairs

The Jal Jeevan Mission aims for providing piped drinking water to all rural households by 2024. The Jal Shakti Ministry is the nodal ministry for the implementation of the scheme.

G20 summit, 2020:
 The G20 summit of 2020 was hosted by Saudi Arabia.
 The main focus of the Summit was on resilient, inclusive and sustainable recovery from covid-19 crisis.
 The theme of the 15th G20 Summit is “Realizing the Opportunities for All in the 21st Century”.
 The subsequent G20 summits are to be held in Italy in 2021 and India in 2023.

The Union Cabinet, in November 2019 approved the extension of the term of the 15th Finance Commission, which had to submit two reports.

The term was extended till October 30, 2020 (11 months). The first report, for the financial year 2020-21, was submitted on January 30, 2020, before the Union Budget, and the second report for the period 2021-26 was presented on November 9, 2020.
This effectively means that the 15th Finance Commission’s recommendations will be applicable for six years and not the conventional five-year period.

India is placed at 77th position in the TRACE Bribery Risk Matrix 2020.India has achieved the score of 45 in a global list that measures business bribery risks of 2020. India’s rank stood 78 position in 2019.

Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA):
 Japan and Australia signed a landmark defence deal an attempt to counter China’s growing influence in the South China and Indo Pacific region.
 This Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) was being worked upon by these two countries for the past six years.
 The pact provides the legal framework for the Australian forces in Japan and Japanese forces in Australia.

IPL 2020:
Mumbai Indians won the IPL 2020 Trophy for the fifth time. The team has so far won the title in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. Rohit Sharma was the captain of the team.
 Maximum Runs: KL Rahul (KXIP)- 670 Runs
 Maximum Wickets: Kagiso Rabada (DC)- 30 Wickets
 Player of the Series: Jofra Archer (RR)
 Man of the Match (Final): Trent Boult (MI)- 30/3
 Most Valuable Player: Jofra Archer (RR)

Vatayan Lifetime Achievement Award:
 The Vatayan International Awards are presented by the Vatayan-UK organization in London to honor poets, writers, and artists for their works in the respective fields.
 Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has received Vatayan Lifetime Achievement Award for his immense contribution in the field of literature.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled “Statue of Peace”. The statue is being unveiled to mark the 151st birth anniversary of Jain Acharya Shree Vijay Vallabh Surishwer Ji Maharaj.
 The ‘Statue of Peace’ was unveiled in Pali district of Rajasthan via video conference.
 The statue is made of Ashtadhatu. Ashtadhatu is an octo-alloy.
 Statue of Unity: The world’s tallest statue in Gujarat stands at 182 metre. The statue is a memorial to the contributions of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in the country’s freedom struggle

The Crew Dragon is a class of reusable spacecraft developed and manufactured by American aerospace manufacturer SpaceX.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon, including the Falcon 9 rocket and associated ground systems, is the first new, crew spacecraft to be NASA-certified for regular flights with astronauts since the space shuttle nearly 40 years ago.

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft will lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying a crew of four people to the International Space Station (ISS) on a six-month-long mission on Nov 14.

India will host the Summit of the G20 Group in 2023.

India’s first moss garden has been developed at Khurpatal, Nainital district, Uttarakhand.
It aims to conserve various species of moss and other bryophytes.

Cow Cabinet:
 Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced that the State Government is to constitute ‘Cow Cabinet’ to conserve and promote cow cattle in the state.

The Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR), situated in the Pilibhit district and Shahjahanpur District of Uttar Pradesh has won the first-ever international award, TX2, along with the state Forest department, for doubling the number of tigers.

SAANS’ campaign:
Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) launched SAANS: ‘Social Awareness and Action to Neutralise Pneumonia Successfully’ campaign to reduce child mortality due to pneumonia

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, recently announced that the Lonar Lake in Maharashtra and Sur Sarovar lake in Uttar Pradesh have been added to the Ramsar sites.
 The Lonar lake is the only crater lake in the country. The Sur Sarovar lake is also called the Keetham lake.