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General Awareness November 2020

1- Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s first seaplane service in Gujarat on October 31, the 146th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

2- The Indian Air Force successfully test-fired an air-launched version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from a Sukhoi MKI-30 aircraft in the Bay of Bengal.

3- The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) will be establishing incubation centres at its units in the financial capital, Indore and Kalpakkam near Chennai, to help entrepreneurs develop nuclear products for the society based on nuclear technologies.

4- Indian wrestler-turned-Mixed Martial Arts fighter Ritu Phogat won her third consecutive MMA championship title in Singapore.

5- Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has said that the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh has now been declared a UNESCO biosphere reserve.

6- The Ladakh administration will be setting up a snow ski institute along with other adventure sports facilities in Kargil district similar to Gulmarg’s Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering (IISM) to promote winter sports in the Union Territory.

7- Veteran director Hariharan has been honoured with the prestigious JC Daniel Award for his “outstanding contribution” to Malayalam cinema.

8- Enhanced PINAKA rocket, developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has been successfully flight tested from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the coast of Odisha.

General Awareness November 2020

9- In a landmark step, India’s public broadcaster Prasar Bharati entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-Informatics, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

10- Indian Army chief General M. M. Naravane was conferred the honorary rank of General of the Nepali Army by President Bidya Devi Bhandari at a special ceremony.

11- The Airports Authority of India (AAI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with an NTPC subsidiary to promote usage of electric vehicles and set up solar power plants at its airports.

12- Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh has topped the rankings of aspirational districts by government think-tank Niti Aayog for September.

13- In order to give more flexibility to mutual funds, markets regulator Sebi introduced a new category — Flexi cap fund — within equity schemes.

14- Amazon Web Services (AWS) will be investing $2.77 billion (Rs 20,761 crore) in Telangana to set up multiple data centres, Telangana Minister for IT and Industries K.T. Rama Rao said.

15- WhatsApp is rolling out its payments services in India after receiving a nod from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

16- India’s latest Earth Observation Satellite EOS-01 launched successfully; nine satellites of foreign countries also put into orbit.

General Awareness November 2020

17- Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued a notification making FASTags mandatory for all four-wheel vehicles from 1st January 2021.

18- Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha was sworn in as the country’s new Chief Information Commissioner.

19- Indian diplomat Vidisha Maitra was elected to the U.N. Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ).

20- In Manipur, the new MLA of Kakching Assembly Constituency Mayanglambam Rameshwar Singh has been sworn-in as Member of the Manipur Legislative Assembly.

21- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh unveiled a model of Anti-Satellite (A-SAT) missile at the DRDO Bhawan premises.

22- Swiss banking major UBS announced the elevation of Uday Odedra as the country head of its India operations, which employ over 6,700 people.

23- Smriti Mandhana-led Trailblazers beat Supernovas by 16 runs to win the Women’s T20 Challenge 2020 final and clinch their maiden title.

24- India’s largest IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will acquire 100 per cent shares of Postbank Systems AG (PBS) from Deutsche Bank AG.

General Awareness November 2020

25- Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) System has achieved a major milestone by a direct hit on to a Banshee Pilotless target aircraft at the medium range & medium altitude.

26- Punjab has set the target to provide household tap water to all rural households by 2022.

27- NTPC Ltd, India’s largest power producer and a PSU under Ministry of Power, has successfully developed Geo-polymer coarse aggregate from fly ash.

28- Maharashtra has become the second-best state in water conservation efforts in the country and has bagged six awards in different categories of National Jal Shakti Awards for the year 2019.

29- Janata Dal (United) supremo Nitish Kumar has been sworn in as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the fourth straight term.

30- BJP leaders Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi took oath as the Deputy Chief Ministers of Bihar.

31- The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, unveiled ‘Statue of Peace’ to mark the 151st Birth Anniversary celebrations of Jainacharya Shree Vijay Vallabh Surishwer Ji Maharaj, via video conferencing.

32- Lonar lake in Maharashtra and Keetham lake in Uttar Pradesh added to Ramsar sites.

General Awareness November 2020

33- First Solar-powered Textile Mill in Asia to come up in Parbhani district of Maharashtra.

34- The BCCI formally announced MPL Sports apparel and accessories as the official kit sponsor and merchandise partner of both the national men”s and women”s sides as well as the U-19 team, replacing Nike.

35- Walmart-owned Flipkart has acquired Bengaluru-based augmented reality company, Scapic, a move that will help the e-commerce major enhance its immersive shopping experience capabilities.

36- Senapathy (Kris) Gopalakrishnan, co-founder and former co-chairman, Infosys, has been appointed as the first Chairperson of the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub.

37- Bengaluru, Faridabad, Indore and Hyderabad figure among the 36 cities across the world that have agreed to pioneer a roadmap for safely adopting new technology as part of the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance.

38- The second flight test of Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile System (QRSAM) was successfully conducted from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur off the coast of Odisha.

39- The government placed Lakshmi Vilas Bank under a one-month moratorium, superseded its board and capped withdrawals at Rs 25,000 per depositor.

40- Param Siddhi, the supercomputer established under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM), has achieved 63rd rank in the list of 500 most powerful supercomputers in the world.

General Awareness November 2020

41- Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti celebrated ‘World Toilet Day’ i.e. November 19, 2020, under ‘Swachh Bharat Mission – Grameen (SBMG)’ for promoting awareness on access to Safe Sanitation and felicitating districts/states for making a significant contribution towards Swachhata.

42- S N Rajeswari, Chairman and Managing Director of Oriental Insurance Company Limited, has been appointed a whole-time member (distribution) of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India.

43- The Rail Coach Factory (RCF) Kapurthala rolled out a semi high-speed double-decker coach that can run at a top speed of up to 160 kilometres per hour.

44- India crossed a landmark milestone with the operationalisation of more than 50,000 Ayushman Bharat Health & Wellness Centres (HWCs).

45- National Highways Authority of India(NHAI) Collaborates with 200 Premier Institutes to Leverage Local Expertise.

46- In continuation of the ongoing humanitarian mission ‘Sagar-II’, Indian Naval Ship Airavat arrived at Port of Mombasa, Kenya.

47- Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that two lakh crore rupees will be invested for setting up 5000 Compressed Bio-Gas Plants in the country by 2023-24.

48- Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) has been accepted as a component of the World Wide Radio Navigation System for operation in the Indian Ocean region by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

General Awareness November 2020

49- The Comptroller & Auditor General of India Girish Chandra Murmu has been elected as External Auditor of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Geneva for three years.

50- The JAT Regiment celebrated its 225 years of distinguished and illustrious service to the nation on 19 & 20 Nov.

51- Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated work on the second phase of Chennai metro rail and other infrastructure projects in Tamil Nadu.

52- The government has approved 28 Food Processing Projects worth over 320 crore rupees.

53- Assistant Professor Imran Pancha of SRM University-AP here has been placed among the top two per cent scientists and researchers in the world in biotechnology by the prestigious Stanford University.

54- India’s first moss garden has been developed at Khurpatal in Nainital district.

55- Union Education Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ inaugurated 46 online AICTE Training and Learning (ATAL) Academy Faculty Development Programmes (FDPs) to train teachers of higher education institutions associated with All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) in thrust and emerging areas in technology.

56- The Union Home Minister, Amit Shah inaugurated a mobile COVID-19 RT-PCR Lab at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in New Delhi, jointly launched by SpiceHealth and the ICMR.

General Awareness November 2020

57- Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati have developed a novel free-space optical communication system for information transfer.

58- Coimbatore”s Suriya Varatan and Bangalore duo Ruhaan Alva and Ishaan Madesh emerged champions in the Meco-FMSCI National Karting Championship (X30 Classes).

59- President of India, Ram Nath Kovind Inaugurated The 80th All India Presiding Officers’ Conference at Kevadia.

60- Govt blocked access to 43 mobile apps engaging in activities prejudicial to sovereignty & defence of the country.

61- India announced the launch of Phase-IV of High Impact Community Development Projects in Afghanistan.

62- JSW Steel has launched a dedicated website for MSMEs to help them purchase steel even in smaller quantities.

63- Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a book on the life and ideals of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

64- Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the University’s Centennial Commemorative Coin on the occasion of Centennial Foundation Day of University of Lucknow.

General Awareness November 2020

65- All Fixed to Mobile calls will be dialled with prefix ‘0’ from 15th January 2021.

66- Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has been conferred with Platinum Partner Award for registering more than 25 lakh transactions on UMANG App.

67- Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot e-launched a ‘National Portal for Transgender Persons’ and e-inaugurated a ‘Garima Greh: A Shelter Home for Transgender Persons’ in Vadodara, Gujarat.

68- Union Minister Dr Thawar Chand Gehlot, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment e-released a Documentary titled “Illustrations and Calligraphy in the Constitution of India” in New Delhi.

69- NITI Aayog released a compendium of practices from states and union territories that details information about various initiatives implemented by states, districts, and cities in India for containing and managing the Covid-19 outbreak.

70- New Zealand’s Greg Barclay has been elected as the new independent chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

71- MV Iyer assumed charge as Director (business development) of state gas utility GAIL (India) Limited.

General Awareness November 2020

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Vivek Nair