Current Affairs - November 16, 2020 Current Affairs

Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), has acquired 96% of equity shares of Urban Ladder Home Decor Solutions Private Ltd. for a cash consideration of 182.12 crore. RRVL has the option of acquiring the balance stake, taking its shareholding to 100% in the acquired company. RRVL will make a further investment of up to 75 crore in Urban Ladder and this investment is expected to be completed by December 2023, the company said in a filing with stock exchanges.

Sadat Rahman from Bangladesh has been awarded the prestigious International Children's Peace Prize 2020. The award was presented to 17-year-old Sadat by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai on 13 November 2020, during a ceremony in the Netherlands. He was selected out of 142 applicants from 42 countries. The International Children's Peace Prize is given annually since 2005 by the International children's rights organization KidsRights based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The prestigious Prize is annually awarded to a child who has made a special effort to promote children's rights and better the situation of vulnerable children.

The Lonar Lake in Buldhana district of Maharashtra has been chosen as a wetland site of international importance under the Ramsar conservation treaty. A Ramsar Site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. The name Ramsar comes from Ramsar City of Iran, where this treaty was signed. The Convention on Wetlands is also known as the Ramsar Convention. It is an intergovernmental environmental treaty established in 1971 by UNESCO and came into force in 1975.

Science and Technology Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan attend 8th BRICS Ministerial Meeting. The 8th BRICS Science, Technology and Innovation Ministerial meeting unanimously has adopted BRICS STI Declaration 2020. The meeting was held yesterday through a virtual platform. Science and Technology cooperation among the member countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa was discussed in the meeting. During the meeting, Science and Technology Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan highlighted that the COVID 19 pandemic has been a test, demonstrating that multilateral cooperation is the key to overcoming such global challenges.

World Kindness Day is observed globally on 13th November every year. The day is celebrated to highlight good deeds in the community focusing on the positive power and the common thread of kindness which binds us. World Kindness Day was first celebrated in 1998 by The World Kindness Movement. The theme for the 2020 World Kindness day is Kindness: The World We Make - Inspire Kindness.

Delhi's Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Satyendar Jain launched the Jeevan Seva app to aid Delhi's COVID patients and their families for their safe commute to hospitals and health care facilities in the city. The app, launched in collaboration with EVERA will use electric vehicles as an ambulance to transfer non-critical cases to health care facility within Delhi free of cost.

The Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), carried out a successful test of Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile system on Friday. The missile hit its target directly during the test. The missile launch took place from ITR Chandipur off the Odisha coast. The missile is propelled by a single-stage solid-propellant rocket motor and uses all indigenous subsystems.

7 year-old prodigy becomes the world's youngest author and Grand Master in writing. Abhijita Gupta has been recognized as the world's youngest author by the International Book of Records, while the Asia Book of Records has conferred on her title of 'Grandmaster in Writing. 'According to the India Book of Records, she is the youngest author to write poetry and prose. Her book, titled "Happiness All Around," is an anthology of short stories and poems with illustrations acclaimed globally. The book gives insight into the cognitive ability and interests of a 7 year- old child. The illustrations reflect her fertile imagination.

The External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar represented India at the 15th East Asia Summit (EAS) on 14 November 2020 on behalf of PM Modi. All the 18 EAS countries participated in the virtual Summit. The 8th BRICS Science, Technology and Innovation Ministerial meeting was held on 13 November 2020 through a virtual platform for Science and Technology cooperation among the member countries, which are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil the "Statue of Peace" in Rajasthan's Pali district via video-conferencing on Monday to mark the 151st birth anniversary celebrations of Jain monk Acharya Shree Vijay Vallabh Surishwer Ji Maharaj. The 151-inch-tall statue is made of "ashtadhatu" (eight metals with copper being the major constituent) and is being installed at the Vijay Vallabh Sadhana Kendra, Jetpura, in Rajasthan's Pali.

Tropical Storm Iota was brewing in the Caribbean Sea on Saturday, threatening a second tropical strike for Nicaragua and Honduras, countries recently clobbered by a Category 4 Hurricane Eta. The National Hurricane Centre in Miami said Iota could bring dangerous wind, storm surge and as much as 76 centimetres of rainfall to the two Central American countries, approaching their coasts as early as Monday. Iota could wreak more havoc in a region where people are still grappling with the aftermath of Eta. That system hit Nicaragua last week as a Category 4 hurricane, killing at least 120 people as torrential rains brought flash floods and landslides to parts of Central America and Mexico.

It is marked every year on 14 November, the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin along with Charles Best in 1922. WDD is the world's largest diabetes awareness campaign reaching a global audience of over 1 billion people in more than 160 countries.

By reaching the final, Sabalenka will enter the top 10 of the WTA rankings for the first time, overtaking Serena Williams. Top-seeds Aryna Sabalenka and Elise Mertens had three-set wins to advance to the final of the season-ending Upper Austria Ladies Linz on Saturday. The 11th-ranked Sabalenka outlasted Barbora Krejcikova 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, and Mertens rallied to defeat Ekaterina Alexandrova 2-6, 6-1, 7-5. Sabalenka and Mertens are regular doubles partners on the tour.

The 15th East Asia Summit (EAS) on 14 November 2020. The Summit was chaired by the Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc because Vietnam is ASEAN Chair in 2020 (ASEAN holds the central role and leadership in the forum). The meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Russian Federation. (Russia is the Chair for 12th BRICS Summit). The Union Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Harsh Vardhan represented the Indian delegation at the meeting. The meeting concluded with the adoption of BRICS STI Declaration 2020

Jharkhand- the land of forests is celebrating its 19th year of constitution on November 15. The State celebrates its foundation day on the occasion of the birth anniversary of tribal leader Birsa Munda also known as Bhagwan Birsa who played a vital role in India's struggle for freedom.