Daily Current Affairs,DCA-CS,November 2020,
- World – Islamist terror attack in Vienna leaves four dead – Austria was grappling Tuesday (November 3) with a brutal attack in which a gunman, whom officials described as an Islamic State sympathiser and who was wearing a fake explosive device, opened fire on Monday (November 2) night in the heart of Vienna, the capital, killing at least four people. By Tuesday morning, around 1,000 police officers had fanned out across the city. Austrian police raided 18 locations and detained 14 people associated with the assailant who are being questioned. Later in the day, IS claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement from the group’s Amaq News Agency posted on Telegram. The statement was accompanied by a picture of a bearded man, named Abu Dagnah Al-Albany, saying he attacked crowds in Vienna with a gun and a machine gun, before he was killed himself by Austrian police.
- Economy – Exports fall again on global trade woes – India’s merchandise exports slid back into contraction mode in October as struggling global trade continued to face headwinds from the COVID-19 pandemic. Outbound shipments declined 5.4% from a year earlier to $24.82 billion, after a brief respite in September when exports had expanded 6% to snap a six-month-long contraction. Imports of goods also declined by 11.5% in October, taking the overall imports between April to October to $182.29 billion, 36.3% lower than the same period in 2019. Merchandise exports in the first seven months of the current financial year amounted to $150.07 billion, a 19.1% contraction from the year-earlier period.
- Economy – PM to meet twenty large global investors – PM Modi will chair a virtual meeting with twenty large global investors managing assets of more than dollar six trillion, on November 5, to reiterate India’s attractiveness as an investment destination. The virtual conference with the investors, which include several sovereign wealth funds and pension funds, will be followed by one-on-one interactions for each of them with the PM over the next two weeks. Some of the prominent funds that have confirmed attendance are CDPQ, CPP Investments, GIC, Japan Bank for International Co-operation, Mubadala, New York Life, Qatar Investment Authority, Temasek and U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.
- Polity & Governance – More children to get fortified rice – Children in anganwadis and government schools could soon be eating rice infused with iron, folic acid and vitamin B-12. In a bid to combat chronic anaemia and undernutrition, the government is planning to distribute fortified rice through the Integrated Child Development Services and Mid-Day Meal schemes across the country from next year, with a special focus on 112 aspirational districts. However, an existing pilot scheme to distribute fortified rice through the Public Distribution System in 15 districts has only been implemented in five districts so far, although more than half the project duration is over.
- COVID-19 – At 46k, new Covid cases show slight rise for 3rd day – For the third straight day, India reported slightly higher number of coronavirus cases than on the corresponding days of the previous week, in what could be early signs of a flattening of the Covid curve, which had been falling sharply for seven weeks running. The country recorded 46,333 fresh Covid-19 cases on Tuesday (November 3), the highest in the past three days, and higher than the count reported last Tuesday (43,107). Covid-19 case counts on the previous two days, were also slightly higher than the tallies recorded on the same days of the previous week. Covid-19 cases usually follow a cyclical weekly pattern, with the lowest counts always coming on Mondays, and cases generally rising gradually through the week thereafter. Chhattisgarh posted the second highest number of fatalities at 58 after Maharashtra. Kerala had the highest number of new cases at 6,862, followed by Delhi with 6,725.
- Economy – High home loan demand triggers interest rate war – A surge in demand for home loans in October has triggered a rate war. Kotak Bank is now offering home loans at 6.75% — the second reduction in less than a month. A host of banks are offering loans at 6.8% to 7%, resulting in the spread between these and government bonds narrowing down to 80 basis points (100bps = 1 percentage point). Banks say that home loans are a safe bet and this is the only segment growing in double digits. Demand has been triggered because of work from home (WFH) needs, discounts by builders, reduction in stamp duty rates and interest rates being at an all-time low. The frequent changes in pricing among lenders seem to indicate that a rate war is brewing.
- COVID-19 – India may opt for rolling reviews to fast-track vax nod – India may also consider rolling reviews for Covid-19 vaccine, particularly the Oxford-AstraZeneca developed candidate which is already under accelerated review of the UK health regulator, to further fast-track the approval of the shots in the current pandemic situation. A rolling review will enable the regulator to examine the data generated through clinical trials on a real-time basis instead of waiting for the trial to be over and full data to be available for evaluation at once. While the option of emergency authorisation is open, the rolling review can speed this up as the regulator may not need to wait till the end of the Phase 3 trials and data collated thereafter. Serum Institute is conducting immunogenicity trials in India primarily to check the presence of antibodies and their duration.
- Economy – Business sentiment rises from record low, up 41% during July-September, says NCAER survey – Business sentiment shot up by 41% during the July-September quarter from a record low in the previous quarter. The think tank’s Business Confidence Index (BCI) rose to 65.5 in the second quarter after recording a massive drop to 46.4 in the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal. However, this was still 36.5% below last year’s levels and the 77.3 seen in the final quarter of FY20. The survey found positive growth in sentiments on three aspects, with the largest improvement in capacity utilisation. About 58% stated that levels were either close to or above optimal in September as compared to 37% in July. On the other hand, the share of respondents who felt that the investment climate was better compared to the past six months marginally dropped to 14% from 15% in the previous quarter.
- Defence – Indian Navy matches skills with three foreign fleets off Vizag – Phase I of the Malabar 2020 naval exercise by India, Australia, Japan and the U.S. began off the coast of Visakhapatnam in the Bay of Bengal on November 3. This is the 24th edition of the exercise that began in 1992 and this time, it is being held in two phases, in the Bay of Bengal and from November 17 to 20 in the Arabian Sea. The four Navies would conduct a range of high-end training, including air-defence and anti-submarine exercises, aviation, communications and at-sea replenishment between ships.
- Economy – PNB halves loan recast target to ₹20,000 crore – Punjab National Bank (PNB) has lowered the debt recast target by 50% to ₹20,000 crore as there was not enough demand for restructuring approved by RBI a couple of months ago. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has permitted one-time restructuring of corporate and personal loans to help entities amid the COVID-19 crisis.
Important Exam Notifications |
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S. No |
Institution |
Exam or Post Name |
Vacancies or Seats |
Qualification |
Last Date to Apply |
Link for Details |
1 |
THDC India Limited |
ITI Trade Apprentice |
120 |
10th Class & ITI |
DEC-1-2020 |
http://www.freejobalert.com/thdc/15783/ |
2 |
Modern Coach Factory, Raebareili |
Act Apprentice |
110 |
10th Class with ITI |
DEC-1-2020 |
https://www.mcfrecruitment.in/images/MCF_Notification_2020.pdf |
3 |
South East Central Railway |
Trade Apprentice |
413 |
10th Class & ITI |
DEC-1-2020 |
http://www.freejobalert.com/south-east-central-railway/16395/ |
4 |
A&N Administration |
A&N Administration |
14 |
Matric, ANM, MBBS, Degree |
NOV-15-2020 |
https://www.andaman.gov.in/admin-pannel/whatsnew/1-222-IRCAs.pdf |
5 |
AP Police |
Scientific Assistant |
58 |
M.Sc |
NOV-22-2020 |
http://www.freejobalert.com/ap-police-recruitment/36407/#Scientific-Asst |
6 |
AIIMS, Patna |
Senior Resident |
6 |
MS |
NOV-11-2020 |
https://aiimspatna.org/advertisement/sr_urology_02112020.pdf |
7 |
CMHO, Surajpur |
Lab Technician |
8 |
BMLT/ DMLT |
NOV-17-2020 |
https://cdn.s3waas.gov.in/s345645a27c4f1adc8a7a835976064a86d/uploads/2020/11/2020110279.pdf |
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- SECTION 2 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS
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- 1. CONSTITUTION AND LAW (Prelims, GS Paper 2, Essay paper)
- The International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists is a UN-recognized international day observed annually on 2 November.
- The day draws attention to the low global conviction rate for violent crimes against journalists and media workers, estimated at only one in every ten cases.
- As these individuals play a critical role in informing and influencing the public about important social issues, impunity for attacks against them has a particularly damaging impact, limiting public awareness and constructive debate.
- On 2 November, organizations and individuals worldwide are encouraged to talk about the unresolved cases in their countries, and write to government and intra-governmental officials to demand action and justice.
- UNESCO organizes an awareness-raising campaign on the findings of the UNESCO Director-General's biennial Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity, which catalogues the responses of states to UNESCO’s formal request for updates on progress in cases of killings of journalists and media workers.
- UNESCO and civil society groups throughout the world also use 2 November as a launch date for other reports, events and other advocacy initiatives relating to the problem of impunity for crimes against freedom of expression.
- International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), a global network of civil society organizations that defend and promote the right to freedom of expression, declared 23 November as the International Day to End Impunity in 2011.
- The anniversary was chosen to mark the 2009 Ampatuan massacre (also known as the Maguindanao massacre), the single deadliest attack against journalists in recent history, in which 57 individuals were murdered, including 32 journalists and media workers.
- In December 2013, after substantial lobbying from IFEX members and other civil society defenders of freedom of expression, the 70th plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly passed resolution 68/163, recognizing November 2 as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.
- The date of the UN day marks the death of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, two French journalists killed while reporting in Mali earlier in 2013.
- IFEX now coordinates the No Impunity Campaign, which advocates year-round for all individuals violently targeted for their free expression.
- Protect Journalists, Protect the Truth.
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- 2. ECONOMY (Prelims, GS Paper 3, Essay paper
- A contract of insurance is of utmost good faith and a proposer who seeks to obtain life insurance policy is duty bound to disclose all material facts bearing upon the issue, the Supreme Court has said. While setting aside a verdict of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) awarding compensation against an insurance company, the court said the policy holder failed to disclose pre-existing illness.
- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on October 20, 2020 unveiled a new version of the procurement manual of DRDO featuring simplified procedures for involvement of the private sector in various R&D projects. Some of the salient features of the new manual include increase of threshold limit for advance payment, placement of order on second lowest bidder (L2) in case lowest bidder L1 backs out and ‘bid security declaration option’ for depositing earnest money.
- Government eMarketplace (GeM) has completed work towards creation of a Unified Procurement System by integrating GeM with the Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP) and consolidating the entire public buying of goods and services onto a single platform, GeM CEO Talleen Kumar said.
- Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar on October 22, 2020 released the new series of Consumer Price Index for industrial workers (CPI-IW) with 2016 Base Year. Earlier the base year for the CPI-IW was 2001. The CPI-IW is used primarily for measuring Dearness Allowance payable to workers in the organized sector including Public Sector Undertakings, Banks and Insurance companies besides government employees.
- Shipping Minister Mansukh Mandaviya e-launched the development of Indigenous Software solution for Vessel Traffic Services and Vessels Traffic Monitoring Systems in New Delhi on October 20, 2020. The objective is to end reliance on high-costing foreign made software solutions for Traffic Managements of the Indian Ports.
- The minister of state for agriculture Parshottam Rupala on October 19, 2020 launched ‘Ayushman Sahakar’ scheme to help cooperatives contribute to creation of healthcare infrastructure in the country under National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), which would lend Rs 10,000 crore for the purpose.
- The Centre on October 23, 2020 imposed limits on the extent of onion stocks that traders and wholesalers can hold invoking a provision of the newly amended Essential Commodities Act of 1955. The stock holding limits will be in force till December 2020. Retailers won’t be allowed to hold more than two tonnes of onions with them while for wholesalers this limit will be 25 tonnes.
- The government on October 21, 2020 relaxed import norms till December 15 to facilitate the early shipment of onion to boost the domestic supply and check the retail prices of the key kitchen staple.
- The government on October 24, 2020 further extended the deadline for filing returns by individual taxpayers for FY 2019-20 by a month till December 31. Also, the due date of furnishing Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for taxpayers whose accounts require to be audited has been extended till January 31, 2021.
- The government-controlled Canteen Stores Department (CSD), which operates canteens for the defence forces, is set to ban all ‘direct imported’ items. The hardest hit will be companies that sell premium products such as imported liquor, high-end smartphones and consumer durables.
- The government has banned natural gas and coal-bed methane (CBM) producers from buying their own produce in the newly notified gas marketing freedom guidelines. The government on October 15 notified the Natural Gas Marketing Reforms that give producers the freedom to discover the market price of gas through a standard e-bidding process.
- Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister on October 21, 2020 launched the ‘e-Dharti Geo Portal’ that will integrate legacy drawings such as maps and lease plans in the management information system and make it geographic information system (GIS)-enabled. The land & development office (L&DO) is dealing with around 60,000 properties that are commercial, residential, industrial as well as institutional. The L&DO has devised a property certificate incorporating details and the outline map of the property which is available online on the portal. This certificate, which will give all the relevant details about the property to the lessee as well as prospective purchaser, will be available by paying a nominal fee of Rs 1,000 and can be accessed by the public by visiting the L&DO website – www.ldo.gov.in. This measure will benefit the general public and also help in avoiding unnecessary litigations. Through the certificate, the lessee of the property will be able to get the basic details of his/her property along with the map showing its location. This measure will also help a prospective purchaser to ascertain the details of the property as well as whether any suit or proceeding is pending in respect of the property.
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- 3. ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY (Prelims, GS Paper 3, Essay paper)
- 3. ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY (Prelims, GS Paper 3, Essay paper)
- Tamil Nadu has notified 100 per cent motor vehicle tax exemption for battery-operated vehicles (Electric Vehicles).
- The State has been taking various initiatives to boost the EV system in the state.
- It is planning to set up the country's first park exclusively for the electric vehicle production eco-system.
- The state is targeting investments of about Rs 50,000 crore in the EV segment and has announced a series of incentives to attract investments in this space.
- As per the reports, the vision of the state government is to attract Rs 50,000 crore investment and to create 150,000 jobs with a comprehensive EV ecosystem in the state.
- In 2019, Tamil Nadu announced a comprehensive EV policy, which gives incentives and subsidies for both supply side and demand side.
- The policy covers the EV ecosystem with incentives to EV charging stations developers and to tap components including battery and cell manufacturing, electric motors, EV powertrains, battery management among others.
- The automobile and tech sector have invested abundantly in Tamil Nadu. The state accounts for 35 per cent of the country's auto component production and nearly 30 per cent of four-wheeler manufacturing is from the state.
- Presently, Tamil Nadu is home for nearly 20 OEMs covering all auto segments and over 350 auto component players and over 4,000 SMEs under Tier-IV in the state.
- The state has got installed production capacity to produce 1.71 million passenger vehicles and 4.82 million two-wheelers every year.
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- 4. FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Prelims, GS Paper 2, Essay paper)
- 4. FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Prelims, GS Paper 2, Essay paper)
- Priyanca Radhakrishnan has become New Zealand’s first-ever Indian-origin minister after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern inducted five new ministers into her executive.
- Born in India, Radhakrishnan, 41, went to school in Singapore before moving to New Zealand to further her education.
- She has spent her work life advocating on behalf of people whose voices are often unheard women survivors of domestic violence, and migrant workers who have been exploited.
- She was elected first as a Member of Parliament belonging to the Labour Party in September 2017.
- In 2019, she was appointed the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Ethnic Communities.
- Apart from this, she has become the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector and Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment.
- Radhakrishnan, who is from the 2017 intake of new MPs, is a minister outside of the Cabinet.
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- 5. GOVERNMENT SCHEMES (Prelims, GS Paper 2, GS Paper 3)
- The Ministry of AYUSH and M/s Invest India will form a collaboration to set up a Strategic Policy & Facilitation Bureau to facilitate planned and systematic growth of the Ayush sector.
- This is among the several steps which the Ministry has initiated to chart future directions along which the stake-holding groups of the Ayush Sector can move.
- Setting up of the Bureau is a forward-looking step which is expected to make the Ayush systems future-ready.
- The Bureau will support the Ministry in strategic and policy making initiatives that shall help pave the way to reach the full potential of the Sector and stimulate growth and investment.
- As a partner in the project, M/S Invest India is to collaborate extensively with the Ministry to frame the work plan of the Bureau and define its short-and long-term targets.
- Invest India is to deploy highly trained and expert resources to implement and execute the plans of the Ministry of AYUSH.
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- 6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)
- Commodity bourse MCX on October 19, 2020 launched futures trading in real-time Base Metals Index ‘METLDEX’. The Index will track real-time performance of a basket of MCX Base Metal (near month) futures that includes zinc, copper, nickel, lead, and aluminium.
- PSU NTPC on October 19, 2020 said it has awarded contracts for installation of flue-gas desulphurisation (FGD) technology for its 50 GW thermal power generation capacities. FGD is used to remove harmful sulphur dioxide from exhaust flue gases of fossil fuel-based power plants.
- Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) is launching two high-grade synthetic lubes lubricants for premium cars and bikes. The company is launching Mak TitaniumCK4, which is an ultra-low emission diesel engine lube for BS-VI cars, and Mak BlazeSynth for high-end bikes.
- SBI Card on October 23, 2020 launched credit card 'Delhi Metro SBI Card' in partnership with Delhi Metro that can function as a credit card as well as a metro smart card.
- Vodafone Idea (VI) and Nasscom Foundation on October 22, 2020 launched MyAmbar an app-based solution for women safety in India. Developed under the ‘Connecting for Good program’, the app aims to help women understand and raise their voice against violence.
- IT company Tech Mahindra on October 23, 2020 said it will acquire complete stake in New Zealand-based Tenzing Group and Australian IT firm Momenton for a cumulative amount of around Rs 293 crore.
- The Delhi High Court has granted an interim injunction in favour of Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL) on October 23, 2020, restraining Arnab Goswami’s Republic TV from using ‘News Hour’ or anything deceptively similar to it. BCCL, which owns Times Network and The Economic Times, claimed exclusive ownership over the trademarks ‘News Hour’ and ‘Nation Wants to Know’.
- Karnataka High Court has asked Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund to not proceed with the winding up of its debt schemes without obtaining the consent of investors. Franklin Templeton MF shut down six of its debt mutual funds on April 23. These schemes cumulatively managed assets worth Rs 26,000 crore.
- NITI Aayog on October 19, 2020 announced the establishment of a Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Centre (CIC) with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to address societal challenges through digital innovation. This CIC is part of the AWS CIC Global Programme which provides an opportunity for government agencies, non-profits and educational institutions, to access the technology expertise of AWS.
- PayPal Holdings Inc said on October 21, 2020 it will allow customers to hold bitcoin and other virtual coins in its online wallet and shop using cryptocurrencies at the 26 million merchants on its network. The new service makes PayPal one of the largest US companies to provide consumers access to cryptocurrencies, which could help bitcoin and rival cryptocurrencies gain wider adoption as viable payment methods.
- Sweden on October 20, 2020 banned on security grounds the use of telecom equipment from China’s Huawei and ZTE in its 5G network ahead of a spectrum auction scheduled for next month, joining other European nations that have restricted the role of Chinese suppliers.
- The Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) has appointed Sushil Matey as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO). In his last assignment, Matey served as CEO at Livpure Smart Homes and Director Marketing at Livpure.
- ‘Show Me the Monet’, a painting by British artiste Banksy, was sold to an unidentified bidder at Sotheby’s in London on October 21, 2020 for 7.6 million pounds ($9.8 million). Th real name and identity of Banksy is not known.
- Lee Kun-hee, Chairman of South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, died in Seoul on October 25, 2020 at the age of 78. Lee is credited with growing his father Lee Byung-chull's noodle trading business into a global powerhouse in smartphones, semiconductors and televisions.
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- 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)
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- 8. SOCIAL ISSUES (Prelims, GS Paper 1, GS Paper 2)
- 8. SOCIAL ISSUES (Prelims, GS Paper 1, GS Paper 2)
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- 9. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (Prelims, GS Paper 3)
- Billed as the country's first of its kind, a solar energy-driven miniature train has been inaugurated at the Veli Tourist Village in Thiruvananthapuram by Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan.
- The train, which would be an attraction for children especially, was part of a string of projects totally worth ₹ 60 crore taken up to improve the facilities at the panoramic destination to international standards.
- The CM has also dedicated an "Urban Park" and a swimming pool at the eco-friendly tourist village, located on the outskirts of the state capital where the Veli Lake meets the Arabian Sea.
- The miniature rail has all the features of a fully- equipped rail system, including a tunnel, station and a ticket office. The train has got three bogies that have the capacity to accommodate around 45 people at a time.
- Artificial steam spouted by the engine of the train, modeled after the vintage steam locomotive, is believed to stir nostalgic feelings.
- The station house has also been designed in a traditional style. The surplus energy generated by the system will be routed to the Kerala State Electricity Board's grid.
- A tourist facilitation centre, convention centre and Art Cafe will also be opened at Veli soon. The convention centre will have an art gallery, digital display facility to feature major tourism and cultural centres of the state and an open air theatre.
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- 10. FACTS, CHARTS, RANKINGS and EDITORIALS (Prelims + GS Mains)
- With a view to providing a reliable measure and benchmark of the growth and strength of the MSME sector in India, TransUnion CIBIL in partnership with Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has launched MSME Credit Health Index.
- The ongoing monitoring of the index will provide insights for aligning strategies and policies towards efficient implementation of funds and resources for sustained development of the MSME sector and thereby the socio-economic growth.
- The MSME Credit Health Index is expected to provide government, policy makers, lenders and MSME market participants, a unique and reliable numeric indicator for measuring and benchmarking the health of the MSME sector.
- This measurement model is set to facilitate better MSME credit risk management, formulation of strategies and policies to support the revival and resurgence of the MSME sector and the economy.
- The MSME Credit Health Index is built using credit data submitted by lending institutions to TransUnion CIBIL. The index measures the credit health of India’s MSME industry on two parameters: Growth and Strength.
- Growth is measured by plotting increase in exposure value (outstanding balances) over time and strength is measured by decrease/ increase in credit risk in terms of non-performing assets (NPA).
- Both the growth and strength indices follow the principle of higher the better – it means that an increasing Growth Index indicates improvement in credit growth; and an increasing Strength Index implies better asset quality and therefore denotes an improvement in the structural strength of the sector.
- The first version of the MSME Credit Health Index is based on data from March 2018 to June 2020.
- October 2 to 8, 2020 was observed in India as Wildlife Week.
- Padma Shri award winner Shekhar Kapur was appointed President of Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).
- The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has banned blending of Mustard oil with any other cooking oil with effect from Oct. 1.
- Ratanbala Devi plays for the Indian women’s team in Football.
- Bandhan Bank has set up a new vertical called Emerging Entrepreneurs Business (EEB).
- We offer you 7 excellent editorials from across 10 newspapers we have scanned.
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- SECTION 3 - MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions)
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