Top Current Affairs 22 and 23 November 2020

Top Current Affairs 22 and 23 November 2020

Top Current Affairs 22 & 23 November 2020: This post contains the latest current affairs for 22 & 23 November 2020 that are important for all competitive exams like Bank, SSC, IBPS, SBI exams. You can also attempt our Current Affairs Quiz after reading our daily current affairs.

Summit

Two-day 15th G20 Summit Held under the chairmanship of Saudi Arabia

• The 15th G20 Summit was held on 21-22 November 2020 under the chairmanship of Saudi Arabia.
• King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia chaired the Summit through video-conferencing, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The two-day Summit was held under the theme “Realising the Opportunities of the 21st Century for All”. 
• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, participated in the Summit along with the respective Heads of State/ Government of 19 member countries, EU, other invited countries and international organizations.
• The focus of the G20 Summit was on an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 and the leaders discussed pandemic preparedness and the ways and means to restore jobs.
• Italy will take over the Presidency of the 16th G20 on 1st December 2020.

National

India becomes 4th nation to have navigation satellite system as IRNSS Gets IMO Recognition

• The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) has been recognised by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) as a part of the World Wide Radio Navigation System (WWRNS) for operation in the Indian Ocean Region.
• With this, India has become the only fourth country in the world to have its independent regional navigation satellite system recognised by IMO.
• The other three countries that have its navigation systems recognised by the IMO are the US [Global Position System (GPS)], Russia and China.
• The IRNSS will  now be officially used to provide accurate position information services to assist in the navigation of ships in Indian ocean waters within the area of approximately 1,500 km from the Indian boundary.

PM lays the foundation stone of rural drinking water supply projects in Vindhyachal region of Uttar Pradesh

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of rural drinking water supply projects in Mirzapur and Sonbhadra districts of Vindhyachal region in Uttar Pradesh on 22 November 2020 via video conference.
• The total estimated cost of the projects is around Rs 5,555.38 Crore.
• The projects are planned to be completed in 24 months.
• It will provide household tap water connections in all rural households of 2,995 villages and will benefit about 42 lakh population of these districts.

Department of Fisheries presents Fisheries Sector Awards for the first time on World Fisheries Day

The Department of Fisheries under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying awarded best performing States for 2019-20 on 21 November 2020 on the occasion of the ‘World Fisheries Day’, to recognise their accomplishments in the field and their contribution into the growth of the sector. 

 

Top States

1. Marine states – Odisha
2. Inland states – Uttar Pradesh
3. Hilly and NE states – Assam 

Top Organisations

1. Tamil Nadu Fisheries Development Corporation Ltd. (for Marine)
2. Telangana State Fishermen Cooperative societies Federation Ltd (for Inland)
3. Assam Apex Cooperative Fish Marketing and Processing Federation Ltd. (for Hilly region)

Top Districts

1. Best Marine District – Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh
2. Best Inland District – Kalahandi, Odisha
3. Best Hilly and NE District – Nagaon, Assam

International

NASA-ESA successfully launches Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite to monitor global sea levels

• The US space agency NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) successfully launched ‘Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite’ on 21 November 2020, to monitor the rising global sea level.
• The joint US-European satellite lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
• The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite will help to enhance weather forecasts and provide detailed information on large-scale ocean currents to support ship navigation near coastlines.
• The US-EU collaboration for the monitoring of sea level record began in 1992 with the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite and followed by Jason-1 (2001), OSTM/Jason-2 (2008), and eventually, Jason-3 (2016).
• This Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite will be followed in 2025 by its twin, Sentinel-6B.

Loans & Agreements

Government of India & NDB sign USD 500 mn agreement for ‘Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System Project’

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, National Capital Region (NCR) Transport Corporation Limited and the New Development Bank (NDB) has signed a loan agreement worth $500 million for the ‘Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System Project’.
• The project aims to provide fast, reliable, safe and comfortable public transport system in the National Capital Region (NCR).
• The total cost of the project is estimated at $3,749 million.
• This includes financial support by the NDB (USD 500 million), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank  ($500 million), Asian Development Bank  ($1,049 million), Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction ($3 million), and Government and Other sources ($1,707 million). 
• The RRTS system will help in achieving the goal of sustainable urban development in the NCR region by reducing the total emissions from the transport sector in NCR.
• It will enable carrying many times more people at high speed (average speed 100 Kmph) while occupying just 3 m space on land thus reducing congestion on the roads. 

Defence Exercise

Second Trilateral Maritime Exercise SITMEX-20 held in Andaman Sea

• The 2nd edition of India, Singapore and Thailand Trilateral Maritime Exercise SITMEX-20 was conducted from 21 to 22 November 20 in Andaman Sea.
• The 2020 edition of the exercise is being hosted by Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN).
• Indian Navy (IN) Ships including indigenously built ASW corvette Kamorta and missile corvette Karmuk participated in the exercise.
• The SITMEX series of exercises are conducted to enhance mutual inter-operability between IN, RSN and Royal Thai Navy (RTN) and also strengthen mutual confidence and develop common understanding and procedures towards enhancing the overall maritime security in the region.  
• The first edition of SITMEX was hosted by Indian Navy in 2019 off Port Blair.

Ranking

Hong Kong, Zurich, and Paris most expensive cities in EIU’s Worldwide Cost of Living (WCOL) Index

• The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released its biannual ‘Worldwide Cost of Living (WCOL)’ report of the World’s Most Expensive Cities in 2020, based on their cost of living .
• Hong Kong, Paris and Zurich shares the top spot as the most expensive cities in the list, which comprises of 133 cities.
• The report took into account the price of 138 items, used in every day for survival, and the falling or rising value of that country’s currency due to Covid to rank the cities accordingly. 

      

Awards

Education Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ conferred with Vatayan Lifetime Achievement Award

• Union Education Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ was conferred with the 2020Vatayan Lifetime Achievement Award on 21 November 2020 at a virtual ceremony for his excellent contribution to the literary works of India.
• Vatayan International Awards are given by the Vatayan-UK organization in London to honour poets, writers and artists for their exemplary work in their respective fields.
• Past recipients of the award includes Prasoon Joshi, Javed Akhtar for their literary contribution.

Naseeruddin Shah Felicitated with 2020 Aditya Vikram Birla Kalashikhar Puraskar

• Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah has been honored with the 2020 Aditya Vikram Birla Kalashikhar Puraskar at annual Sangit Kala Kendra Awards.
• Apart from this, Neel Choudhary and Irawati Karnik, were awarded the Aditya Vikram Birla Kalakiran Puraskars.
• The Aditya Vikram Birla Kalashikhar and Kalakiran Puraskar awards, were instituted in 1996 by the Sangeet Kala Kendra (SKK), which was founded in 1973 by Aditya Vikram Birla (former Chairman of Aditya Birla Group), to honor excellence in theatre and performing arts.