Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 28-11-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 28-11-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Indian Society – Farmers stay camped on Delhi border – Tens of thousands of farmers were still camped on the Delhi-Haryana border on their way to the national capital for a protest against the Centre’s three new farm laws. After tense clashes with the police, who used tear gas and water cannons in an effort to disperse the crowd, the barricades were opened, and farmers invited to enter the city limits and be escorted to a designated protest site in Burari. However, most farmer groups had decided to stay put at the various border crossings overnight, and take a decision by Saturday morning on whether to head to the Burari grounds or demand a more visible and high-profile protest location. The farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have mobilised under the Samyukt Kisan Morcha banner for this ‘Dilli Chalo’ agitation. They are demanding a repeal of three agricultural marketing reform laws, which they fear will affect the system of government procurement of crops at minimum support prices.
2. Economy – GDP contracts 7.5% in second quarter – India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted 7.5% in the second quarter of 2020-21, following the record 23.9% decline recorded in the first quarter, as per estimates released by the National Statistical Office. The country has now entered a technical recession with two successive quarters of negative growth. However, the economy’s performance between July and Sept when lockdown restrictions were eased is better than most rating agencies and analysts anticipated. While most estimated a contraction of around 10%, the RBI projected a 8.6% decline in the second quarter. Agriculture, which was the only sector to record growth between April and June this year, grew at the same pace of 3.4% in the second quarter, while manufacturing gross value-added (GVA) staged a sharp recovery to record 0.6% growth between July and September after collapsing 39.3% in the first quarter.
3. India Politics – Have been put under house arrest again - Mehbooba – Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti alleged that she and her daughter had been placed under house arrest and stopped from meeting the family of incarcerated youth leader Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra in south Kashmir. Police said Ms. Mufti was not under house arrest, she was requested to postpone her visit to Pulwama purely for security reasons. Ms. Mufti said she had been illegally detained yet again. The move comes just a day ahead of the first phase of the District Development Council (DDC) elections in J&K.
4. Polity and Governance – PM pitches for ‘One Nation, One Election’ – PM Modi again pitched for ‘One Nation, One Election’, saying it is the need of the country as elections taking place every few months hamper development works. Mr. Modi was addressing the concluding session of the 80th All India Presiding Officers Conference via videoconference. He also said there should be a single voter list for all polls in the country. The Prime Minister asked the presiding officers attending the meet to apply their mind to simplify the language of statute books and allow for an easier process to weed out redundant laws.
5. Indian Society – Five elderly Covid +ve patients die in Rajkot hospital blaze – Five coronavirus patients, all of them senior citizens and male, died in a massive fire that broke out in the ICU of a designated Covid-19 hospital on Mavdi Road. A short-circuit in one of the ventilators is suspected to have triggered the fire, which spread so fast that the Mavdi fire brigade, which is barely 300 metres from the hospital, could not save their lives. The fire began at around 12.40 am at the 54-bed Uday Shivanand Hospital. There were four staff in the ward, including a doctor, but they could not use the fire extinguishers, despite being trained to, because the blaze spread so rapidly.
6. Environment and Ecology – Prakash Javadeker launches India Climate Change Knowledge Portal – Minister of Environment,Forest and Climate Change  Prakash Javadekar launched the India Climate Change Knowledge Portal. The portal will have all the major steps the Government is taking at both national and international levels to address  the climate change issues. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Javadekar said, it will be a single-point information resource that provides information on the different climate initiatives taken by various Line Ministries enabling users to access d status on these initiatives.
7. World – Ethiopian PM rejects Tigray conflict talks in AU meeting – Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed again ruled out dialogue with the leaders of the defiant Tigray region but said he was willing to speak to representatives “operating legally” there during a meeting with three African Union special envoys trying to end the deadly conflict between federal troops and the region’s forces. The meeting came as the Ethiopian News Agency reported the military’s capture of several key towns around the Tigray capital of Mekele, and as more people fled the city ahead of a promised “final phase” of the offensive. Meanwhile, the number of people managing to cross the border into Sudan has slowed to a trickle, raising concerns they are being blocked from leaving.
8. World – UK, other nations press on with Astra’s Covid vaccine amid data row – Britain asked its regulator to assess AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine for a possible rollout, while the Philippines and Thailand secured millions of doses, giving the shot a vote of confidence after experts raised questions about trial data. The UK government, which has secured 100 million doses of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford, has targeted a rollout to begin before Christmas. “We have formally asked the regulator to assess the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, to understand the data and determine whether it meets rigorous safety standards,” UK health secretary Matt Hancock said. This letter is an important step towards deploying a vaccine as quickly as safely possible.
9. World  – India, Vietnam hold bilateral discussions – Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Vietnamese counterpart General Ngo Xuan Lich discussed collaboration in defence industry capability building, training and cooperation in United Nations peacekeeping operations during bilateral talks via video-conferencing. In a further step towards deeper bilateral cooperation, both sides signed an implementing arrangement for cooperation in the field of hydrography between National Hydrographic Office, India and Vietnam Hydrographic Office in the presence of the two Ministers. The arrangement will assist in production of navigational charts.
10. Corporate World – Professional CEOs see avg pay rise by 7% to ₹13 crore in FY20 - Professional CEOs got a raise in 2019-20 even as average salaries of their promoter counterparts dropped due to the slowdown before the pandemic. However, promoter CEOs, on an average, took home a 62% higher compensation than their professional counterparts. According to the ‘milliondollar CEO club’ study by EMA Partners, the average salaries of professional CEOs rose 6.5% to Rs 13 crore in 2019-20 and that of their promoter counterparts declined by about 9% to Rs 21 crore. The study is based on a sample of BSE 200 companies and it does not include stock options. 

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	Min. of Envi., Forest & Climate Change	Legal Asst, MTS, LDC/ UDC, Technical Officer, Scientist C, D	7	Matriculation, 12th Class, Degree, PG	NOV-26-2020	http://moef.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/NIC_Contractual-Staff_IRO_19.11.2020.pdf
2	NTPC Limited	Diploma Engineer	70	Diploma	DEC-12-2020	https://www.freejobalert.com/ntpc-recruitment/17710/#DiplomaEngineer
3	Indian Air Force	Airmen (Group Y – Non-Technical Trades)	-	Intermediate / 10+2	NOV-27-2020	https://airmenselection.cdac.in/CASB/img/upcoming/rally/PUDUCHERRY%20RALLY%20GP%20'Y'.pdf
4	Min. of Env., Forest & Climate Change	Legal Asst, MTS, LDC/ UDC, Technical Officer, Scientist C, D	7	Matriculation, 12th Class, Degree, PG	DEC-26-2020	http://moef.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/NIC_Contractual-Staff_IRO_19.11.2020.pdf
5	Dr. YSR Aarogyasri HCT, Nellore	Aarogya Mithra & Team Leader	8	B.Sc, M.SC (Nursing), B Pharma, B.Sc	NOV-25-2020	https://cdn.s3waas.gov.in/s39c82c7143c102b71c593d98d96093fde/uploads/2020/11/2020112141.pdf
6	Dr. YSR Aarogyasri HCT, Krishna	Aarogya Mithra & Team Leader	13	B.Sc, M.SC (Nursing), B Pharma, B.Sc	NOV-28-2020	https://cdn.s3waas.gov.in/s3c399862d3b9d6b76c8436e924a68c45b/uploads/2020/11/2020112115.pdf
7	Indian Air Force	Airmen (Group Y – Non-Technical Trades)	-	Intermediate / 10+2	DEC-22-2020	https://airmenselection.cdac.in/CASB/img/upcoming/rally/PUDUCHERRY%20RALLY%20GP%20'Y'.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 Not Available Today

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

2.1 Core sector output falls 2.5% in Oct on oil woes

• Core sector output contracted by a higher than expected 2.5% during October, due to a sharper fall in refinery output and lower steel production, although coal and electricity reported a double-digit rise after a resumption in economic activity.
• With the September reading revised to a 0.1% decline, compared to the earlier estimated 0.8% decrease, this is the eighth straight month of falling output.
• Core sector has a bearing on the overall industrial production data as it carries a weight of 40%.
• Despite a low base and improvement in business activities amid unlocking of the economy, the fall in core sector output in October does show some volatility on the production side.
• Further unlocking of the economy could push this growth into positive territory in the next month.
• However, certain localised curfews imposed in a few states could weigh on production activity to some extent.
• IIP growth for this month may be expected to be between -1to 0%.
• While ICRA appeared more optimistic on industrial production, projecting a 4-7% rise due to stocking up across several sectors in anticipation of festival demand, it was cautious going forward.

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

3.1 ‘Sea sparkle’ has affected marine food chain - CMFRI

 

• Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute  - CMFRI

News –

• The bloom of Noctiluca Scintillans, commonly known as “sea sparkle” that the Karnataka coast has been witnessing since about a month, has displaced microscopic algae called diatoms, which form the basis of the marine food chain.

Effects -  

• This has deprived food for the planktivorous fish.
• The bioluminescent Noctiluca Scintillans also brightened the sea water during night.
• The toxic blooms of N. Scintillans were linked to massive fish and marine invertebrate kills.

How it is harmful? -

• Though the species does not produce a toxin, it was found to accumulate toxic levels of ammonia, which is then excreted into the surrounding waters, possibly acting as the killing agent in blooms.
• The ammonia makes N. Scintillans unpalatable for most creatures.
• Only jellyfish and salps were known to prey on it.

Both plant and animal -  

• N. Scintillans grazes on other micro-organisms such as larvae, fish eggs, and diatoms. But the unicellular phytoplankton that live inside it can photosynthesise, turning sunlight into energy.
• They help their host cell survive even when food was scarce. Thus, N. Scintillans acts as both a plant and an animal.
• Plankton bloom - Plankton bloom was reported when the density of plankton would be more than 1,00,000 cells per m3. Bioluminescence was the production and emission of light by a living organism and occurs due to a chemical reaction, involving a light-emitting molecule and an enzyme, called luciferin and luciferase.

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

4.1 Weekly Round-up – Foreign Affairs II

• Fifteen Asia-Pacific economies on November 15, 2020 signed an agreement to set up the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world’s largest free trade bloc, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam. RCEP groups the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. It aims in coming years to progressively lower tariffs across many areas.
• Hong Kong’s pro-democracy lawmakers have resigned en masse following a move by the city’s government to disqualify four pro-democracy legislators. The disqualifications came after China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee passed a resolution stating that those who support Hong Kong’s independence or refuse to acknowledge China’s sovereignty over the city, as well as commit acts that threaten national security or ask external forces to interfere in the city’s affairs, should be disqualified.
• Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia said they have signed a deal with to end the military conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region after more than a month of bloodshed. Under the deal, Azerbaijan will hold on to areas of Nagorno-Karabakh that it has taken during the conflict. Russian peacekeepers would be deployed along the frontline in Nagorno-Karabakh and the corridor between the region and Armenia.
• The US, China and other G20 countries on November 13, 2020 agreed for the first time on a common approach for restructuring government debt as the coronavirus crisis leaves some poorer nations at risk of default. Major creditors will be expected to follow the joint guidelines agreed by the G20, which lays out how debt deemed to be unsustainable can be reduced or rescheduled.
• Judges from Japan, China, Germany, Slovakia and Uganda won seats on November 12, 2020 on the International Court of Justice, the UN’s top judicial organ. Eight countries were vying for five seats on 15-member world court based in The Hague, Netherlands whose job is to settle disputes between countries.
• The ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, secured an absolute majority in general elections held in Myanmar. Results announced by the election commission on November 13, 2020 showed the NLD had won 346 seats -- more than 50% of parliament.
• Typhoon Vamco caused extensive flooding that sent people fleeing to their roofs and killed at least 39 people in the Philippines on November 12-13, 2020.
• The World Science Day for Peace and Development was celebrated on November 10, 2020. The day underlines the importance and relevance of science in our daily lives. This year’s theme is: “Science for and with Society in dealing with the global pandemic.”
• The World Diabetes Day was observed on November 14, 2020. This year’s theme is “The Nurse and Diabetes.” The campaign aims to raise awareness around the crucial role that nurses play in supporting people living with diabetes. The day is birth anniversary of Frederick Banting who discovered insulin.
• World Pneumonia Day was observed on November 12, 2020. Pneumonia is a respiratory infection. According to WHO, pneumonia accounts for 15% of all deaths of children under 5 years old.
• World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims was observed on November 15, 2020. The Day offers an opportunity for drawing attention to the scale of devastation caused by road crashes and for giving recognition to the work of support and rescue services.
• Saeb Erekat, a veteran peace negotiator and prominent international spokesman for the Palestinians for more than three decades, died on November 10, 2020 at the age of 65 from coronavirus.
• Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s prime minister since the country’s independence in 1971, died at the age of 84 on November 11, 2020. Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (70) is the King of Bahrain and the country is the home base of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
• Mario Molina, who shared a Nobel Prize for work showing the damage that chemicals used in hair spray and refrigerators wreak on the ozone layer, which led to one of the most successful international efforts to combat environmental risk, died on October 7, 2020 in Mexico City at the age of 77.
• Jerry Rawlings, who seized power twice in military coups in 1979 and 1981 but is now credited as a driving force behind Ghana’s emergence as a stable democracy, died in Accra on November 12, 2020 at the age of 73. Rawlings went on to oversee Ghana’s transition to democracy, winning presidential election in 1992 and 1996 before stepping down in 2001.
• US President Donald Trump has sacked Defence Secretary Mark Esper. Trump said Director of National Counterterrorism Center Christopher Miller will assume the charges of the Acting Defence Secretary immediately.

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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 Weekly Round-up – Corporate World

• Instagram revamps home screen with Reels, Shops tabs - Instagram announced a makeover to its home screen by placing ‘Reels’ and ‘Shops’ tab at the bottom of the page. The two features will appear alongside the ‘home’, ‘search’ and ‘profile’ buttons at the bottom of the page, Instagram said in a statement. The ‘new post’ button has been moved to the top of the home screen.
• WhatsApp rolls out shopping button - WhatsApp has launched a new shopping button on its app that will allow users to browse through a business’ catalogue, the Facebook-owned messaging service said. With the new feature, people will be able to see a storefront icon, right next to the business’ name.
• Paytm launches ‘Payout Links’ for businesses - Fintech company Paytm launched ‘Payout Links’ for businesses, enabling them to instantly process payouts to customers, employees and vendors without collecting their bank details.
• TCS launches Digital Sustainability Index - Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) said it has partnered with the Centre of Digital Enterprise (CODE) at the University of Auckland Business School to develop a world-first APAC Digital Sustainability Index. The main goal of the index is to raise awareness on the role that technology is playing in transforming companies, governments and communities
• ‘TataMD CHECK’, diagnostic testing for COVID-19, launched - Tata Medical and Diagnostics Ltd (TataMD) on November 9 launched new diagnostic testing for COVID-19 — claiming it to be more efficient and simpler than the existing ones — with the ability to scale up test on a large scale across the country. The company’s test ‘TataMD CHECK’ was developed in partnership with CSIR-IGIB (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology).
• Godrej group enters housing finance - The Godrej Group announced its foray into the financial services space with a housing Finance company. It will offer fast and flexible home loans across the country starting with customers in Mumbai, NCR, Pune
• CMS Info Systems acquires ATM business of Logicash Solutions - Reflecting consolidation in the payments and cash management space, CMS Info Systems (CMS) has acquired the ATM business of Logicash Solutions (Logicash) in India. After the acquisition, the number of its ATMs is 72,000 from 62,000 earlier.
• TCS to acquire Postbank Systems - India’s largest IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) said it will acquire 100 per cent shares of Postbank Systems AG (PBS) from Deutsche Bank AG. PBS has been the internal IT provider for Postbank AG, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank, catering for the German retail banking market.
• Virgin Hyperloop completes first-ever human trial - Virgin Hyperloop on November 9, 2020 said it has “successfully” completed the first-ever human trial in the hyperloop pod at the DevLoop test facility in the US. Two passengers, both company staff, travelled 500 metres in 15 seconds.
• Google Photos to end its free unlimited storage - Google has announced that it will soon start charging for Google Photos storage once users upload more than 15GB onto their accounts starting June 1, 2021.
• Collins Dictionary picks ‘lockdown’ as Word of the Year - Collins Dictionary said on November 10, 2020 that “lockdown” is its Word of The Year in 2020 following a dramatic increase in usage during the spread of Covid-19. Collins defines “lockdown” as “the imposition of stringent restrictions on travel, social interaction, and access to public spaces”.
• Akshay Kumar Singh appointed CEO of Petronet LNG Ltd - Indian Oil Corp (IOC) director-pipelines Akshay Kumar Singh will be the new managing director and chief executive of the country’s biggest gas importer, Petronet LNG Ltd. He will replace Prabhat Singh who completed his 5-year term. Petronet is a joint venture of IOC, GAIL, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and BPCL.
• Azim Premji tops Hurun India Philanthropy list 2020 - Azim Premji, the 75-year-old former chairman of Wipro has been the most generous philanthropist in India for 2020 with a donation of Rs 7,904 crore, as per EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2020 unveiled on November 10, 2020.

6.2 WWeekly Round-up - Sports

• Mumbai Indians win 2020 Indian Premier League - Rohit Sharma led Mumbai Indians defeated Delhi Capitals captained by Shreyas Iyer by five wickets in the final played at Dubai to win the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League title on November 10, 2020. The Delhi Capitals scored 156 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in their 20 overs. The Mumbai Indians chased down the target with 8 balls and 5 wickets to spare, scoring 157 runs. Trent Boult of Mumbai Indians was player of the match for taking 3 wickets for 30 runs in four overs.  This was the fifth IPL title for the Mumbai Indians, having appeared in the finals for six times. This was the first IPL final appearance for the Delhi Capitals.
• Trailblazers wins Women’s T20 Challenge trophy - Trailblazers defeated Supernovas by 16 runs to win the Women’s T20 Challenge trophy in Sharjah on November 9, 2020. In response to Trailblazers’ 118 for eight, Supernovas could only manage 102 for seven in 20 overs.
• 500 private academies to be funded through Khelo India Scheme - The Sports Ministry has introduced a incentivisation structure to extend monetary support to 500 private academies, through the Khelo India Scheme over the next four years starting FY 2020-21. Private academies shall be graded into different categories based on achievement of players trained by the academy, level of coaches available at the academy, quality of infrastructure and staff. The 14 priority disciplines identified for excellence in 2028 Olympics will be eligible for receiving support in the first phase.
• Lewis Hamilton wins 2020 Formula One World Drivers Championship - Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of UK won the Turkish Grand Prix and the 2020 Formula One World Drivers Championship at Istanbul on November 15, 2020. Sergio Pérez of Racing Point finished second while Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari was third. This is Hamilton’s seventh Formula One world title equalling the world record of former champion Michael Schumacher of Germany.
• New world record created in men’s 100m breaststroke - Britain’s Adam Peaty set a world record for the short course 100m breaststroke at the professional International Swimming League on March 15, 2020, finishing in 55.49 seconds to better the 55.61s set by South Africa’s Cameron van der Burgh 11 years ago. Azim Premji, the 75-year-old former chairman of Wipro has been the most generous philanthropist in India for 2020 with a donation of Rs 7,904 crore, as per EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2020 unveiled on November 10, 2020.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 Not Available Today

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

8.1 Women Empowerment - Only 35% CAT applicants women

 

• Just over one in three CAT (common admission test) aspirants this year are girls. Again.
• While the premier IIMs have been making efforts to increase the representation of girls on their campuses, the selection pool has not increased significantly over the last few years. In fact, the number of applications from girl candidates has remained at 35% over the last three years.
• Overall 2.3 lakh candidates will appear for one of the most competitive B-school entrance exams in the country, amidst the pandemic.
• The numbers of girl candidates may have stabilised for now, but going forward there is scope for an increase.
• Two-year MBA programme in Liberal Arts & Management, started this year, has over 60% girls in the classroom. On the contrary, girls’ enrollment in MBA finance, also launched this year, was just 20%.
• Main selection pool right now is from the engineering profile, which has more boys than girls.
• To follow the Covid-19 social distancing norms, CAT organisers reduced the duration of the paper by an hour to conduct the exams in three sessions.

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

9.1 Eleventh Indian Organ Donation Day observed 

• Indian organ donation day is being observed on the 27th of November 2020 by National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO), Government of India.
• This is the 11th event following the commiseration of it in the calendar of events by NOTTO.
• KMCH, a major center for organ donation is well reflected with TRANSTAN awarding us year after year, the year 2020 awards for best performing hospital for organ donation along with awards for best renal transplant unit and best transplant coordinators.
• KMCH observed the Indian organ donation day in the week of 26th November 2020 along with Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN).

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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 -

• Rashtriya Janata Dal won highest number of seats (75) in Assembly elections in Bihar recently.
• Former Gujarat chief minister Keshubhai Patel passed away in Ahmedabad in Oct 2020.
• World Osteoporosis Day was observed on October 20.
• Knesset is the Parliament of Israel.
• Noumea is the capital of New Caledonia.

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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