Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 07-11-2020

Daily Current Affairs,DCA-CS,November 2020,

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. World – Pennsylvania lead gets Biden closer to victory – As the counting of mailed-in ballots continued across the U.S., Democratic candidate Joe Biden appeared to be on the edge of victory, as he pushed past incumbent President Donald Trump in the crucial swing State of Pennsylvania on Friday (November 6) morning. A win would make Mr. Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris, the first woman Vice-President of the U.S. and the first Indian American and African American person in that position. In addition, Mr. Biden had also moved ahead in Georgia. Mr. Trump has addressed the media, making several unsubstantiated claims that procedural irregularities and fraud were responsible for his precarious electoral position. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger has announced that there would be a recount due to the slim margin between the candidates. Candidates can request a recount as per State law if the margin is within 0.5%.
2. Science & Technology – WhatsApp introduces payment services in India – WhatsApp unveiled payments services in India following approval by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) after a wait that extended for more than two years. However, not all users in India — one of the biggest markets for the unit of Facebook — would be able to access the feature as NPCI had mandated expansion of WhatsApp’s UPI user base ‘in a graded manner starting with a maximum registered user base of 20 million.’ The NPCI approval also follows another recent direction imposing a cap of 30% of the total volume of transactions processed in UPI, applicable to all third-party app providers, effective January 1, 2021.
3. Constitution & Law – No automatic renewal of work permit for H-1B spouses: Court – A US district court has observed that H-4 visa holders are not entitled to automatic renewal of their employment authorisation document (EADs). To mitigate difficulties arising from decades-long green card backlog for immigrants from certain countries such as India, the Barack Obama administration had introduced the EAD programme in 2015. This enabled spouses of certain categories of H-1B visa holders (such as those on track for a green card) to apply for an EAD, which enabled them to work. According to latest available official data, up to December, 2017, nearly 84,360 Indian spouses held an EAD (this was 93% of the total EADs issued). The number of such Indian spouses is now estimated to be over a lakh.
4. Economy – U’khand may reserve 70% industrial jobs for locals – To help local residents find more job opportunities, the state has decided to come up with a law which will ensure that 70% of jobs in industries would be kept for locals. The issue was recently raised in a labour and employment department review meeting, after which, CM Trivendra Singh Rawat has directed the industry department to draft a proposal, which would be later presented before the cabinet for approval. Notably, during the tenure of N D Tiwari as CM from 2002 to 2007, the then-Congress government had also brought a proposal under which giving 70% jobs to locals in the industrial sector was mandated. However, in the absence of a proper policy, it could not be implemented.
5. Constitution & Law – SC stays US court order to Antrix to pay $1bn to Devas – The Supreme Court has stayed execution of an award passed by a US court which asked Antrix Corporation, commercial arm of Isro, to pay compensation of $1.2 billion to Devas Multimedia, a Bengaluru-based company, for cancelling a 2005 satellite deal. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices L Nageswara Rao and Indu Malhotra stayed the execution of the award till the objection against it is not decided by the Delhi HC where the case is pending. The court passed the order after Attorney General K K Venugopal ruled out possibility of mediation on the ground that the government discovered a serious fraud in the entire series of transactions leading up to the disputes, including the arbitration agreement.
6. Economy – Debt MFs must invest 10% in liquid assets, says Sebi – In a ruling that will impact most debt funds, markets regulator Sebi has mandated that these schemes hold at least 10% of their assets in liquid instruments like cash, government securities (G-Secs), treasury bills and repo on GSecs. The move is aimed at making debt funds less risky, especially during times of unusual falls in turnover in the bond market. However, overnight, liquid and gilt schemes have been exempted from this rule since a major part of the portfolio of these schemes are invested in liquid assets. Effective February 1, 2021, the rule change come a little over six months after Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund decided to close down six debt funds, mainly due to its inability to sell bonds from its portfolio to meet increasing redemption pressure. On April 23, the fund house had announced the closure of six debt schemes, which then had assets worth about Rs 26,000 crore and over three lakh investors.
7. Business – Amazon Web Services to invest $2.77 bn in second India region – U.S.-headquartered cloud services provider Amazon Web Services (AWS) will be investing $2.77 billion (₹20,761 crore) in India to set up its second region in Hyderabad, comprising multiple data centres. The new AWS Asia Pacific (Hyderabad) Region will be available by mid-2022, and will consist of three availability zones (data centres) at the start. AWS currently has nine regions and 26 availability zones across Asia in India, Australia, Greater China, Japan, Korea and Singapore. It opened its first region in India in Mumbai in June 2016.
8. World – ‘U.K. to face Brexit trade disruption’ – The National Audit Office (NAO) has said that Northern Ireland will not be ready on January 1 to implement the systems needed to keep trade moving with the rest of the United Kingdom as required by the Brexit divorce deal. The audit office, which reviews government spending, said that all U.K. borders would face widespread disruption when Britain finally leaves the European Union’s orbit, whether or not it strikes a deal with the bloc. From January 1, exporters will need to file customs and safety declarations, even if Britain does secure an agreement.
9. Economy – Smartphone market grew 17% in Q3: IDC – The Indian smartphone market saw a record shipment of 54.3 million units in July-September 2020. However, the strong growth is unlikely to fully make up for the losses in the first half of the year, with research firm IDC forecasting a low single-digit year-on-year decline for the industry after several years of annual growth. The market grew 17% during the third quarter, while those such as China and the U.S. witnessed a y-o-y decline. It is believed that this growth was driven by the reopening of the country with fewer curbs, fueled by pent-up demand in July and August.
10. Defence – India won’t accept shifting of LAC: CDS – Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat has said that India will not accept any “shifting” of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the possibility of unprovoked tactical military actions “spiralling into a larger conflict cannot be discounted”, as India and China held the 8th round of Corps Commander-level talks at Chushul in an attempt to resolve the ongoing stand-off. Speaking on the situation in eastern Ladakh, Gen. Rawat said it remained tense and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was facing “unanticipated consequences” of its “misadventure” because of the firm and strong response by the Indian forces. Following the developments on the south bank of Pangong Tso (lake) in August, when the Indian Army occupied several dominating features that were lying vacant, China has been pressing for discussing the south bank first and other friction areas later.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	Municipal Coop Bank Ltd	Dy General Manager, Asst General Manager	8	M.Com, MBA, CA/ ICWA/ CS	NOV-13-2020	https://municipalbankmumbai.com/files/vacancy/201013160206_0001.pdf
2	Institute for Plasma Research	Graduate & Technician Apprentice	18	Diploma, B.Tech/ B.E (Engg.)	NOV-22-2020	http://www.ipr.res.in/documents/Advt-07-2020_Apprentice.pdf
3	NIEPMD	Consultant, Jr. Consultant, DEO	6	Any Degree, PG, Typing	NOV-13-2020	http://www.niepmd.tn.nic.in/documents/Employment_not_3420_041120.pdf
4	NIVEDI	SRF, JRF, Young Professional-II, Laboratory Assistant	7	Degree, PG with CSIR, UGC, NET	NOV-8-2020	https://www.nivedi.res.in/sites/default/files/2020-11/ADDENDUM%20%282%29.pdf
5	ITI, Raipur	Guest Lecturer	29	10+2, ITI	NOV-18-2020	https://cdn.s3waas.gov.in/s30584ce565c824b7b7f50282d9a19945b/uploads/2020/11/2020110436.pdf
6	Goa Medical College	Jr Resident, Sr Resident, Lower Division Clerk, Pharmacist	13	Higher Sec., Dip. (Pharma), MBBS, PG Deg/ Dip	10 & 11-11-2020	http://www.gmc.goa.gov.in/images/Site_Images/photos/public_noticies/vacancy/Recruitment_Cell/04-11-2020/WalkinInterview_Adv_No_04-11-2020.pdf
7	SDAU	Field Investigator	8	Degree (Agriculture)	NOV-18-2020	http://www.sdau.edu.in/Content/sdau.edu.in/Download/743Field%20Investigator.pdf

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• SECTION 2 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

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• 1. CONSTITUTION AND LAW (Prelims, GS Paper 2, Essay paper)

1.1 SC commands Centre to to ban use of disinfectants, UV rays on humans

 

 

 Highlights –

• The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to ban within a month the use of disinfectant tunnels, fumigation, sprays, and ultraviolet rays on human beings as part of tackling COVID-19.
• The order came as a response to a public interest litigation filed by law student Gursimran Singh Narula who sought a complete ban on usage, productions, advertisement, and installation of the sanitisation tunnels. These tunnels involve spraying of disinfectants on people who pass through it.
• The Centre had earlier informed the court that using disinfectant tunnels was not advised, and it was clinically and psychologically harmful for humans.
• On September 7, the SC had asked the Centre as to why it had not banned their use despite this stand.
• Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had informed the court that the Health Ministry had not issued any advisory or guidelines on the use of ultraviolet lights for disinfection of humans for COVID-19 management.
• The Centre argued that as public health and hospitals are a state subject, it is for the states/Union Territories to implement the guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry, and the role of the Government of India was limited to providing necessary guidance and financial support.
• It had said that a June 9 expert committee meeting had reiterated that spraying of individuals with disinfectants is not recommended as it will not diminish the infected person's ability to spread the virus through droplets or contact.

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• 2. ECONOMY (Prelims, GS Paper 3, Essay paper

2.1 Co-lending scheme for banks, NBFCs

 

 Highlights –

• With a view to improving the flow of credit to the underserved sections of the economy, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued guidelines under the co-origination model so that non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and banks can jointly lend.
• The model envisages a joint lending process such that risks and rewards are shared.
• As per the guidelines, NBFCs have to retain a minimum of 20% share of the loans on their books.
• The regulator has also prohibited banks from entering into a co-lending arrangement with an NBFC belonging to their promoter group.
• RBI had earlier permitted housing finance companies (HFCs), along with other NBFCs to adopt co-lending model with banks. Lenders expect that co-lending will bring down interest rates for HFCs.

Important details –

• The regulator has given special attention to grievance redressal for borrowers in the co-lending model.
• As far as grievance redressal is concerned, suitable arrangement must be put in place by the co-lenders to resolve any complaint registered by a borrower with the NBFC within 30 days.
• After the deadline, the borrower would have the option to escalate the same with the concerned banking ombudsman or ombudsman for NBFCs.
• The borrower can also reach out to the customer education and protection cell (CEPC) in RBI, after the deadline.

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• 3. ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY (Prelims, GS Paper 3, Essay paper)

3.1 Not Available Today

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• 4. FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Prelims, GS Paper 2, Essay paper)

4.1 CARAT Bangladesh 2020

 

Key points – 

• The Bangladesh and US Navies have launched the ‘Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Bangladesh-2020’ to expand relationships and broaden maritime awareness between the two countries.
• As per reports, the exercise demonstrates US’s continuing commitment to work with the Bangladesh military to address shared maritime security concerns in the region and strengthen partnership to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
• Highlights –
• Historically, the CARAT exercises involve people to people interactions and a variety of professional exchanges.
• All these will take place online this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The sea-phase of the exercise will take place in the Bay of Bengal with ships from both countries.
• The events have been designed to enhance interoperability between the two navies.
• US and Bangladesh will work through coordinated deployment of surface ships, to include tactical maneuvers among other activities. 

4.2 India eyes partnership with Nordic, Baltic nations for green and digital future

 

 

Highlights –

• India has increased engagement with Nordic and Baltic countries of North European and sees the partnership with them for a green and digital future.
• Nordic countries are a group of five nations in Northern Europe--Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland, while Baltic countries are three countries--Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania who share a coastline with Baltic sea.
• India has increased engagement with these countries and 2018 saw first India-Nordic summit in Sweden during which PM Modi and all five Nordic leaders were present.
• Denmark will see the second India Nordic summit and this was one of the key outcomes of the India-Denmark virtual summit that took place earlier in 2020.

India-Nordic-Baltic Conclave –

• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar attended the India-Nordic-Baltic Conclave 2020 on November 05.
• The theme of the conclave was ‘An Innovation-Driven Partnership for Growth in New World’.

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• 5. GOVERNMENT SCHEMES (Prelims, GS Paper 2, GS Paper 3)

5.1 Not Available Today

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• 6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

6.1 World Tsunami Awareness Day 2020

 

 

Highlights – 

• Every year, the World Tsunami Awareness Day is observed on 5 November with an aim to create ways to save lives in view of future disasters.
• The United Nations, through a resolution adopted on 22 December, 2015, designated the day to be World Tsunami Awareness Day.
• It aligns with the International Day for Disaster Reduction (October 13) and the seven targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.
• The day is based on a practice known in Japan known as 'Inamura-no-hi' or the burning of rice sheaves that took place on 5, November, 1854 when a tsunami occurred due to the 1854 Ansei Nankai Earthquake.
• The tsunami struck a little village called Hiromura, where a farmer Hamaguchi Goryo noticed the lowering of the tide and decrease in water level (a tsunami warning sign) and guided fellow villagers to evacuate to higher ground by setting fire to his precious sheaves of rice as a signal of warning.
• According to the UN website, after the deadliest Tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004, the UN General Assembly decided to declare November 5 as World Tsunami Awareness Day.

Important details –

• In 2020, The aim of World Tsunami Awareness Day was to promote targets of the Sendai Seven Campaign, which encourages communities and countries to have national and local disaster risk reduction strategies in place to save more lives against disasters by end of 2020.
• In the past 100 years, 58 tsunamis have caused over 2,60,000 fatalities with the highest number of casualties being caused during the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, which alone led to the death of at least 2,27,000 people across 14 nations.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 Weekly Round-up - Polity

 

• Using the Facial Recognition System, CBSE will enable students, to download their digital academic documents of class X and XII. This computer application matches human face from a digital image already stored in the database. A live image of the student will be matched with the photograph on the CBSE admit card already stored in repository, and once successful, the certificate will be emailed to the student. This application is now available on “Parniaam Manjusha” and Digi Locker at https://digilocker.gov.in/cbse-certificate.html for all 2020 records.
• The government has decided to supply fortified rice in schools covered under the mid-day meal programme as part of its effort to fight malnutrition, Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said on October 23, 2020. The rice will be fortified with three micronutrients -- vitamin B12, iron and folic acid, he said while addressing a seminar organised by industry body PHDCCI.
• The Central Vigilance Commission has amended the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on adoption of “Integrity Pact” in government organisations for procurement activities, and restricted the maximum tenure of Integrity External Monitors (IEMs) to three years in an organisation. Such officials who retired as Chairman and Managing Directors (CMDs) of PSUs — Schedule ‘A’ companies and CMD/Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer levels in the Public Sector Banks (PSBs), insurance companies and financial institutions — should be at least of the level of Additional Secretary or its equivalent.
• The poll spending limit for candidates contesting Lok Sabha and Assembly elections has been enhanced by 10%. The maximum expenditure a candidate can incur for campaigning in Lok Sabha polls has been hiked from Rs. 70 lakhs to Rs. 77 lakhs while for Assembly election, it has been hiked from Rs. 28 lakhs to Rs. 30.80 lakhs. The last time the expenditure ceiling was enhanced was ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2014.  
• The Election Commission on October 21, 2020 said it had set up a committee “to examine the issues concerning expenditure limit for a candidate in view of the increase in number of electors and rise in the Cost Inflation Index and other factors.” The committee comprises former IRS officers Harish Kumar and Umesh Sinha.
• The Supreme Court has agreed to examine the question as to whether an educational institution or university can be sued under the consumer protection law for deficiency in services. The court has admitted an appeal filed by students of a medical course against Vinayaka Mission University at Salem in Tamil Nadu, alleging deficiency in services.  
• The Northern Railways’ Delhi Division on October 23, 2020 announced the ‘App-Based Bags on Wheels’ service through which passengers’ luggage will be transported to their homes from the railway station upon their arrival in trains and vice versa. Passengers travelling from Delhi, Ghaziabad and Gurugram will be the first to avail of this service.
• The Union Cabinet on October 21, 2020 approved productivity linked bonus and non-productivity linked Bonus for the non-gazetted central government employees for 2019-2020. More than 30 lakh employees will get the bonus and total financial implication will be Rs. 3,737 crores.
• India-assisted Mangdechhu hydroelectric project in Bhutan has been awarded the prestigious Brunel Medal for excellence in civil engineering by the UK-based Institute of Civil Engineers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the 720 MW project on August 17, 2020 during his visit to Bhutan. The run-of-river power plant, built on the Mangdechhu River in Trongsa Dzongkhag district of central Bhutan at a cost of Rs 4,500-crore, is seen as a symbol of friendship between the two countries.
• The Punjab Assembly on October 20, 2020 passed three Bills that seek to negate the impact of the controversial farm laws passed by Parliament in September. Among other things, the three state farm bills make MSP — the minimum support price for different products, meant to guarantee farmers a certain price for their produce — a legal provision. They also give powers to the state to impose stock limits.
• Uttar Pradesh attracted the highest number of domestic tourists in the country in 2019 with a share of 23.1 per cent travellers visiting the state, an official statement said on October 19, 2020. According to the Indian Tourist Statistics 2020, 53,58,55,162 domestic tourists visited the state in 2019. UP was 3rd in terms of the arrival of foreign tourists. As many as 47,45,181 foreign tourists visited the state in 2019.
• The Centre on October 22, 2020 agreed in-principle to sanction an additional fund of Rs 262.49 crore to Uttarakhand to reduce man-animal conflict, minimise forest fires and generate employment for migrants who returned to the state following the COVID-19 pandemic. A proposal in this regard was submitted by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat to Union Minister for Forest, Environment and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar. The migrants will be given employment under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA).
• AYUSH Minister Shripad Yesso Naik inaugurated the Regional Raw Drug Repository at All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) in New Delhi virtually on October 22, 2020. This RRDR is the second in the series of repositories proposed by National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB).
• The Union Cabinet on October 21, 2020 approved the extension of Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for apple procurement in Jammu & Kashmir for the current season on the same terms and condition as was done during last season. The procurement will be done by National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation Limited (NAFED).
• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India on October 19, 2020 signed a $346 million loan pact to help provide efficient and reliable power supply to rural agriculture customers in Maharashtra. The loan is for Maharashtra Rural High Voltage Distribution System (HVDS) Expansion Program.

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• 8. SOCIAL ISSUES (Prelims, GS Paper 1, GS Paper 2)

8.1 Not Available Today

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• 9. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (Prelims, GS Paper 3)

9.1 Third phase of the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) will kickstart in Jan

 

• The third phase of the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) will kickstart in January, taking computing speed to around 45 petaflops, the Department of Science and Technology said on October 21, 2020. The NSM is jointly steered by MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and IT) and DST (Department of Science and Technology) and implemented by C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing), Pune and IISc (Indian Institute of Science), Bengaluru.
• The NSM is rapidly boosting high power computing in the country through its various phases to meet the increasing computational demands of academia, researchers, medium, small and micro enterprises and start-ups in areas like oil exploration, flood prediction as also genomics, and drug discovery.
• The Rs 4,500 crore-National Supercomputers Mission (NSM) envisages nearly 50 supercomputers across the country in three phases.
• As the infrastructure planned in NSM phase I has already been installed and much of Phase II is in place, the speed of supercomputers in the country will soon reach to around 16 PF.
• The NSM is jointly steered by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) and Department of Science and Technology (DST) and implemented by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.

9.2 Weekly Round-up – Science and Technology

• A new coronavirus diagnostic method, using a low-cost portable unit called COVIRAP developed by researchers at IIT, Kharagpur, has been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The COVIRAP method requires very little equipment and can be operated by rural youth with minimal training.
• Kochi-based TCM Ltd, a chemical manufacturer till recently, has rolled out on a commercial basis 'Covi-DetecT' brand RT-PCR test kits based on technology developed by IIT-Delhi.
• Union Science & Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan on October 20, 2020 launched an online portal that provides information about CSIR ushered repurposed drugs and their current stage of trials. Apart from information about CSIR repurposed drugs, the website -- CuRED -- also provides details about clinical trials of diagnostics and devices in which the scientific body is involved.
• Farmers of the remote Lahaul Valley in Himachal Pradesh have started taking up cultivation of asafoetida (hing), mainly due to the efforts of Palampur-based Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, using the vast wasteland in the cold desert conditions of the region.
• NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft touched the surface of asteroid Bennu with its robotic arm and collected samples. Launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida in 2016, the spacecraft is expected to return in 2023. Bennu is more than 321 million kilometers away from earth.
• A trio of space travellers safely returned to Earth on October 22, 2020 after a six-month mission on the International Space Station (ISS). The Soyuz MS-16 capsule carrying NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, and Roscosmos’ Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner landed in the town of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan.

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• 10. FACTS, CHARTS, RANKINGS and EDITORIALS (Prelims + GS Mains)

10.1 Not Available Today

 

10.2 Daily dose of  FIVE Facts -

• Dinesh Khara has been appointed as the Chairman of State Bank of India in Oct 2020.
• Bayern Munich won the UEFA Super Cup football title in Sept 2020.
• Former Army man and Union Minister Jaswant Singh died in Sept 2020.
• Yoshihide Suga was appointed as the new Prime Minister of Japan in Sept 2020.
• ACMA  stands for Automotive Component Manufacturers Association.

10.3 Today's best editorials to read

• We offer you 7 excellent editorials from across 10 newspapers we have scanned. 

CLICK HERE TO OPEN AND READ!

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• SECTION 3 - MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions)

Solve the online quiz given, right now. Check scores, and relative performance!

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