Latest Current Affairs For December, 2021

RBI extends restrictions on PMC Bank for 3 months till March 2022

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended restrictions on Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank for another three months till the end of March 2022.

The move has been taken as further action on the draft scheme for the takeover of the crisis-hit bank by Delhi-based Unity Small Finance Bank (USFB) is in process.

RBI had superseded the board of PMC Bank in September 2019 and placed it under regulatory restrictions, including a cap on withdrawals by its customers. 

Maharashtra passed Shakti Criminal Laws (Maharashtra Amendment) Act

Maharashtra Assembly passed Shakti Criminal Laws (Maharashtra Amendment) Act unanimously. 

With this, Maharashtra became the second state in India after Andhra Pradesh to approve death penalty for heinous offences of rape and gangrape.

The Act has amended existing criminal laws to include death penalty as punishment in cases of rape and gangrape. 

Existing law on rape had provisions for death penalty only in cases of repeated offences. 

NITI Aayog releases Northeastern Region District SDG Index 2021-22

Minister of Tourism, Culture and Development of Northeastern Region (MDoNER) with NITI Aayog releases Northeastern Region District SDG Index and Dashboard 2021-22. 

Index measures the performance of the district of the 8 NE States. 

This is the first time, District wise index is being prepared. 

SDG Index will be used as a base for planning of development and welfare activities, education, health care.

Top performer: East Sikkim district. 

Worst: Kiphire district of Nagaland. 

Union Minister releases science magazine in Hindi, Urdu, and English

Union Minister Jitendra Singh has released science monthly magazine in Hindi, Urdu and English and announced that Dogri and Kashmiri versions of the same, along with other vernacular versions, will be released soon.

While Hindi and English versions are based on the theme ‘Dream 2047’ referring to the 100th year of India’s independence, Urdu version is named Tajassus (Curiosity) and was prepared in association with Central University of Kashmir.

NITI Aayog to organize National Workshop on Bamboo Development

NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar and Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh is organizing day-long National Workshop on Bamboo Development.

It will have four technical sessions:

Production, Value Addition and International Experience of Bamboo. 

Government Policies, Programmes and Opportunities in Different Sectors. 

Circular Economy in Bamboo. 

National and International Best Practices. 

Several stakeholders from India and abroad will attend the workshop.

Indian Army Establishes Quantum Laboratory at Mhow (MP)

Indian Army with support from National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) has recently established Quantum Lab at Military College of Telecommunication Engineering, Mhow (MP) to spearhead research and training in this key developing field.

It has also established Artificial Intelligence Centre at the same institution with 140 deployments in forward areas. 

Key thrust areas: Quantum Key Distribution, Quantum Communication, Quantum Computing and Post Quantum Cryptography

Japan and China agreed to launch military hotline by the end of 2022

Japan and China have agreed to establish military hotline by 2022 to put in place a system to defuse potential crises over disputed islands and Taiwan Strait.

It has been established to improve the effectiveness of the maritime and aerial communication mechanism, system established in 2018 to avert unintended clashes.

They should strengthen high-level exchanges and practical co-operation, further expand the content of the sea and air liaison mechanism, etc. 

Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) announced

Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) has been announced.

Top ranked Indian Institutions: IIT, Madras followed by the IITs in Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur and Roorkee, IISc, IIT Hyderabad and Kharagpur, National Institute of Technology (NIT), Calicut, and Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Uttar Pradesh. 

ARIIA is an initiative of the Union Education Ministry to rank all major higher education institutions in India on different indicators. 

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance launches ICICI Pru iProtect

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has launched new term plan, ICICI Pru iProtect return of premium, offering 105% return of the premium paid at age of 60 or 70 or on policy maturity as the policy auto-adjusts the life cover based on life-stages.

It also offers an option to take cover against 64 critical illnesses.

It offers 2 variants: life stage cover and level cover.

It automatically reduces life cover as responsibilities come down in the later life stages.

Egypt added as 4th member of BRICS New Development Bank

Egypt added as the fourth new member of BRICS New Development Bank.

Bangladesh, UAE, and Uruguay joined BRICS New Development Bank in September 2021.

Membership expansion enables New Development Bank to position itself as a premier development institution for emerging economies.

It will mobilize resources for development projects in BRICS, emerging economies, and developing countries. 

Headquarters: Shanghai, China.

President: Marcos Prado Troyjo.

AIM, NITI Aayog releases 2nd edition of 'Innovations for You'

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and NITI Aayog has released second edition of ‘Innovations for You’ and ‘The Ingenious Tinkerers’. 

Innovations for You: It is a compendium of innovations focused on agriculture featuring 70 start-ups supported by Atal Incubation Centres of Atal Innovation Mission. 

The Ingenious Tinkerers: It is a compendium on the innovations in technology featuring 41 innovations from Atal Tinkering Lab. 

Baldev Prakash appointed as MD & CEO of J&K Bank

Baldev Prakash has been appointed as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) of Jammu & Kashmir Bank for three years.

His appointment will be effective from the date of taking charge or April 10, 2022, whichever is earlier.

Apart from him, R K Chhibber has been appointed as an additional director on the board of the bank. 

He has over 30 years of experience in banking in various roles at small and large size branches at SBI.

Vasudevan PN re-appointed as MD & CEO of Equitas Small Finance Bank

Vasudevan Pathangi Narasimhan (PN) has been appointed as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) of Equitas Small Finance Bank Limited.

His appointment has been approved by board of directors of the bank.

His tenure is for three years, with effect from July 23, 2022, up to July 22, 2025. 

Headquarters of Equitas Small Finance Bank: Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Equitas Small Finance Bank is founded in 2016 as a microfinance lender.

DRDO hand over technology for extreme cold weather clothing systems

Defence Research and Development Organisation Chairman, G Satheesh Reddy has handed over technology for indigenous extreme cold weather clothing systems to five Indian companies.

This clothing will be beneficial for the soldiers of the Indian Army who works in difficult terrains like glacier. 

Presently, Army imports extreme cold weather clothing and several Special clothing and mountaineering equipment items for the troops deployed in high altitude regions. 

ICRA: India's GDP expected to grow at 9% in FY22 and FY23

Credit rating agency ICRA has announced that India's GDP is likely to maintain a 9% growth rate in fiscal 2022 and 2023, amid concerns over Omicron variant of COVID-19.

India's economy grew at 8.4% in the second quarter of the current fiscal, as against a growth of 20.1% in the April-June quarter.

Net loss to economy from pandemic estimated at ₹39.3 trillion during 2021-23.

CEO of ICRA: Ramnath Krishnan.

MSD launches project to upskill the cane and bamboo artisans of Nagaland

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has digitally launched a pilot project for upskilling the cane and bamboo artisans of Nagaland under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), component of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY). 

Aim: to upskill the local weavers and artisans to enhance their productivity through RPL and certification in traditional handicrafts. 

Under the initiative, each batch shall run for 12 days with 12 hours orientation and 60 hours Bridge Module. 

PM inaugurates Kanpur Metro Rail Project

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated Kanpur Metro Rail Project and undertook a metro ride from the IIT metro station to Geeta Nagar.

Entire length of the Metro Rail Project in Kanpur is 32 Km, and is being built at a cost of around ₹11,000 crore.

After including Kanpur Metro in UP, length of the metro in the state has now exceeded 90 km.

It will improve urban mobility and will complete 9 Km long section from IIT Kanpur to Moti Jheel.

PM inaugurates Bina (MP)-Panki (UP) Multiproduct pipeline project

PM Narendra Modi has inaugurated Multiproduct pipeline from Bina Refinery (MP) to POL Terminal at Panki, Kanpur (UP). 

It is a 356 Km long project and has a capacity of 3.45 million metric tonne per annum. 

It also includes augmentation of Tankage capacity and construction of Rail Loading Gantry. 

Total cost of the project: Rs.1524 crore. 

It will cover 5 districts of UP: Lalitpur, Jhansi, Jalaun, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar and 2 of MP: Sagar and Tikamgarh. 

Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2021

Minister of State for Education, Subhas Sarkar has virtually announced Atal Rankings of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2021. 

ARIIA-2021 ranks will be announced in 9 separate categories: Centrally funded technical institutions (eg IITs, NITs, etc), State Universities, Technical colleges, Private universities, non-technical government and private universities and institutions.

First edition of the ARIIA was launched in 2018.

Violet Baruah becomes first woman IG of Assam Police

IPS officer Violet Baruah became the first-ever woman to get promoted to the rank of Inspector General in Assam Police with effect from January 1, 2022. 

She received President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service this year and also in 2012.

She is currently posted as the Deputy Inspector General of Police (BTAD) in Kokrajhar district. 

She joined police force in 1992 as an Assam Police Services officer and got nominated to IPS in 2004.

Mohammed Shami becomes fifth Indian pacer to take 200 Test wickets

Mohammed Shami has become fifth Indian pacer to take 200 Test wickets, after achieving the feat on Day 3 of first India-South Africa Test match in Centurion.

He has joined Kapil Dev, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, and Ishant Sharma in the elusive list.

He reached the milestone in 55 Test matches and is the third quickest Indian after Kapil, Srinath to join the list.

His exceptional bowling effort helped India bowl South Africa out for a score of 197 in the first innings.

CEBR का कहना है कि भारत 2031 में तीसरी सबसे बड़ी अर्थव्यवस्था बन जाएगा

Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) has predicted that India will become the third-largest economy in 2031 in its annual World Economic League Table. 

CEBR also predicted that China will overtake the US in 2030, two years later than forecast a year ago.

India will also see an improvement in its ranking in the World Economic League Table (WELT), rising from 7th place in 2021.

Overall, economy is estimated to have grown by 8.5% in 2021, with output in 2021. 

Japan introduces world's first dual-mode vehicle

Japan has introduced world's first dual-mode vehicle that can run on roads and tracks. 

It can carry up to 21 passengers and runs at a speed of 60km/h on rail tracks and can go as fast as around 100km/h on public roads. 

This feature of effectively changing into train-like module easily on a rail track is the first of its kind.

It runs along part of coast of Shikoku island in southern Japan, connecting several small towns and offering passengers attractive seaside scenery. 

Alia Bhatt conferred with PETA India’s 2021 ‘Person of the Year’

Alia Bhatt has been conferred with 2021 ‘Person of the Year’ by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India. 

She was awarded this prestigious title to celebrate her work in support of an animal-friendly fashion industry and her advocacy for dogs and cats in need. 

Her vegan kidswear line, Ed-a-Mamma, also won 2021 PETA India fashion award. 

She is actively involved in animal welfare activities and regularly voices out the need for stronger animal protection laws. 

Atul Kumar Goel appointed as MD & CEO of Punjab National Bank

MD & CEO of UCO Bank, Atul Kumar Goel has been appointed as the MD & CEO of Punjab National Bank (PNB) with effect from 1st February 2021.

He will serve as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in PNB, until January 31, 2022 and PNB chief until December 31, 2024.

He succeeded Mallikarjuna Rao.

In his place, Soma Sankara Prasad has been appointed as MD & CEO of UCO Bank.

HQs of Punjab National Bank: New Delhi.

Former England Test Captain Ray Illingworth passes away

Former England captain, Ray Illingworth has passed away. He played 61 Tests for England between 1958 and 1973 and captained the country 31 times, winning 12 matches and an Ashes series in Australia in 1970.

He was an all-rounder who scored 1,836 Test runs at an average of 23.24 and claimed 122 wickets with his off-spin bowling at 31.20. He was chairman of the England selectors between 1993 and 1996 and coached the team in 1995-96.

South African campaigner Archbishop Desmond Tutu passes away

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and veteran of South Africa`s struggle against white minority rule, has died aged 90. He was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his non-violent opposition to apartheid.

A decade later, he witnessed the ends of that regime and he chaired a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, set up to unearth atrocities committed during those dark days.

A new book titled “The Modi Gambit: Decoding Modi 2.0” by Sanju Verma

Sanju Verma, an economist and the BJP National Spokesperson, has authored a new book titled “The Modi Gambit: Decoding Modi 2.0”. The book features the various achievement in the last 2 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2nd term as PM of India.

The foreword of the book is written by Padma Shri Mohandas Pai and the Afterword is written by ace journalist, Anand Narasimhan, Managing Editor at CNN News 18.

Pankaj Advani won National Billiards Title 2021

Pankaj Advani has defended his National Billiards Title by winning his 11th tournament, after defeating his PSPB teammate Dhruv Sitwala in a 5-2 game final that was held in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

He represented the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) team in the National Billiards Championship. The 88th National Billiards and Snooker Championships 2021, organised by Cue Sports India at Bhopal, MP.

HDFC Bank won CII Dx award for ‘Most Innovative Best Practice’ 2021

HDFC Bank has been named under ‘Most Innovative Best Practice’ at the coveted Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Digital Transformation Award 2021 or CII DX Award 2021.

It will be recognized for the HDFC’s efforts in world-class financial inclusion in Village Level Executive (VLE) centres along with the Government of India’s Common Service Centres (CSC).

Viral Desai bagged “Global Environment And Climate Action Citizen Award 2021”

Viral Sudhirbhai Desai, an industrialist from Surat, who is popularly known as the Greenman or green man of Gujarat has been honoured with the Global Environment and Climate Action Citizen Award 2021.

Among the 28 personalities from 11 countries (which includes the United Kingdom(UK), the United States(US), New Zealand, France, and Malaysia,) who were honoured with this award, Viral Desai was the only Indian to win the honour for climate change.

SEBI named Aarati Krishnan as a member of MF advisory panel

Aarati Krishnan, Editorial Consultant with BusinessLine, has been inducted as a member of the Securities & Exchange Board of India’s Advisory Committee on Mutual Funds.

The committee, chaired by Usha Thorat, former Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India, advises SEBI on matters related to mutual fund regulation to ensure investor protection, development of the industry and disclosure requirements.

It suggests measures required to be taken to render the legal framework for mutual funds transparent and simple for investors and constituents.

The committee has 24 members comprising CEOs of leading mutual fund houses as well as representatives from academia, exchanges, consumer interest groups, fund trustees, rating agencies, distribution firms and media.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Securities and Exchange Board of India Founded: 12 April 1992.

Securities and Exchange Board of India Headquarters: Mumbai.

Securities and Exchange Board of India Agency executive: Ajay Tyagi.

RBI imposed penalty on payment operators One Mobikwik & Spice Money

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed monetary penalties on two payment system operators, One Mobikwik Systems Private Limited and Spice Money Limited, for violation of norms.

Both the payment companies have been slapped with a fine of Rs 1 crore, as per the order issued by the central bank.

In a statement, the RBI said it has imposed the penalty on the two payment system operators for “committing offences of the nature referred to in Section 26 (6) of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSSAct).”

Indian-origin judge appointed to South Africa’s highest judicial bench

Indian origin, Narandran ‘Jody’ Kollapen has been appointed to South Africa’s highest judicial bench, the Constitutional Court. The appointment of 64-year-old Kollapen & Rammaka Steven Mathopo as the latest additions to the Constitutional Court after a lengthy process of public interviews.

Both will take office from January 1, 2022. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the appointment of Rammaka Steven Mathopo and Kollapen to the Constitutional Court after lengthy public interviews.

Eishin Chihana named as new chairman of Yamaha Motor India Group

India Yamaha Motor (IYM) Pvt Ltd. has announced that Eishin Chihana has taken charge of the Group’s India operations as its new Chairman.

He has replaced Motofumi Shitara. Chihana has been associated with Yamaha Motor Company and its group companies across the globe since 1991.

Rajnath Singh inaugurates Brahmos missile manufacturing unit in Lucknow

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has laid the foundation stone of the BrahMos Aerospace cruise missile manufacturing unit in Lucknow. He also laid the foundation of DRDO Defence Technology and Test Centre in Lucknow. BrahMos Project will help in creating 5,500 fresh job opportunities.

BrahMos is a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of India and the NPOM of Russia. BrahMos missile derives its name from the Brahmaputra river of India and the Moskva river of Russia.

All the three wings of the Indian defence forces have already inducted the BrahMos advanced weapon

system.

Recently, India successfully test-fired the air version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from the integrated test range of Chandipur.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Uttar Pradesh Capital: Lucknow;

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath;

Uttar Pradesh Governor: Anandiben Patel.

Tamil Nadu CM launched ‘Meendum Manjappai’ scheme

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has launched the ‘Meendum Manjappai’ scheme to promote the use of cloth bags by the public and discourage the use of plastic bags.

This awareness campaign on using ‘yellow’ cloth bag or ‘manjapai’ as it is called in Tamil, is aimed at encouraging the people to return to the use of this eco-friendly bag and discard the plastic bags.

The state government had enforced a ban on the production, use, storage, distribution, transportation or sale of 14 types of plastics with effect from January 1, 2019.

Japan launches Inmarsat-6 F1 Communications Satellite

Japan has launched Inmarsat-6 F1, a communication satellite, through a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) H-IIA204 rocket from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center that will enter geostationary orbit, about 22,240 miles (35,790 kilometres) above the earth.

It is developed by the London-based company Inmarsat as a part of its next-generation satellite broadband service. The satellite is 12,060-pound (5,470 kilograms) and is the first of two ‘I-6’ spacecraft.

Designated H-IIAF45, Inmarsat-6 F1 launch is Japan’s third orbital flight of 2021 and H-IIA’s second mission of the year, marking the 45th flight of the H-IIA vehicle overall.

It is dual-payload satellite featuring both L-band (ELERA) and Ka-band (Global Xpress).

It is the world’s largest and most sophisticated commercial communications satellite ever launched.

H-IIA is Japan’s longest-serving liquid-fueled rocket (since 2001) and currently largest rocket operated by MHI for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Important For All Exam 2021:

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Founded: 1 October 2003;

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Headquarters: Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan.

Seven-term Rajya Sabha MP Mahendra Prasad passes away

Seven time Rajya Sabha MP from the Janata Dal (United) and industrialist Mahendra Prasad passed away in New Delhi.

Prasad was a seven-term Rajya Sabha MP from Bihar and was also elected to the Lok Sabha once.

Prasad was first elected to the Lok Sabha on a Congress ticket in 1980.

He remained associated with the party for a long time and shifted his loyalties later as its fortunes declined in the state.

Centre sets up panel to look into withdrawal of AFSPA in Nagaland

The center has instituted a high-level committee to examine the possibility of withdrawing the AFSPA in Nagaland.

Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India Vivek Joshi will head the 5-member committee and Additional Secretary in the Home Ministry Piyush Goyal will be its Member-Secretary.

The Chief Secretary and DGP of Nagaland and the DGP of Assam Rifles will be the other members of the committee.

The committee will submit its report within 45 days.

RBI imposes ₹30 lakh penalty on MUFG Bank

The RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of ₹30 Lakh on MUFG Bank Ltd for non-compliance with its directions on ‘Loans and Advances – Statutory and Other Restrictions’.

MUFG Bank has the largest network amongst Japanese banks in India, with a presence in five locations.

MUFG Bank caters to the banking needs of Japanese and global corporates that are establishing or growing their businesses in India.

PNB enters into co-lending arrangement with Lendingkart

PNB has entered into a co-lending arrangement with Lendingkart Finance Ltd. 

This partnership is part of its efforts to improve the flow of credit to the unserved and underserved sector of the economy. 

This arrangement will focus on digital underwriting and cashflow based lending. 

The ultimate beneficiaries would be MSME borrowers who will get the funds at an affordable rate with greater outreach considering the lower cost of funds from banks and greater reach of the NBFC. 

Moyuka Uchijima of Japan wins ITF W25 Pune title

Japanese tennis player Moyuka Uchijima has won her maiden 20th edition of the NECC Deccan $25,000 Women’s ITF Championships.

the 20-year-old outlasted Diana Marcinkevica of Latvia 6-2, 7-5 in the singles final.

With junior Sara Saito winning two back-to-back ITF junior events earlier in December, Uchijima capped the hattrick for Japan with her victory.

Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan and Valeriya Strakhova of Ukraine claimed the doubles title.

Radiant beats Challengers to win Pro Tennis League 2021

Team Radiant won the Pro Tennis League 2021 beating Bangalore Challengers in the final of the Centena Pro Tennis League. Davis Cupper Saketh Myneni led the Team Radiant.

Saketh outclassed reigning National champion Niki Poonacha 5-0 in the third rubber to gain a four-point lead for the team which proved decisive in the eventual analysis.

Four-time National champion Prerna Bhambri was equally responsible in Radiant shining as she won both her mixed doubles matches. 

Himachal Pradesh create history, win Vijay Hazare Trophy

Himachal Pradesh clinch their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy beating Tamil Nadu in the final in Jaipur.

Himachal Pradesh skipper Rishi Dhawan won the toss and put Dinesh Karthik-led Tamil Nadu to bat.

Youngster Shubham Arora came out all guns blazing with his maiden List A century as Himachal downed five-time champions Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu have been the best domestic side in the country in white-ball cricket since the 2019-20 season.

'He-Man' artist and toy designer T. Mark Taylor passes away

Mark Taylor, artist and toy designer for the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe franchise as well as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles passed away.

He-man was the muscled front man for toy manufacturer Mattel’s Masters of the Universe franchise. 

He-Man was the epitome of hulking superhero warrior but also became an icon within the LGBTQ+ community.

Taylor began his career with El Segundo-based Mattel in 1976 as a packaging designer.

Greece’s former president Karolos Papoulias passes away

Former Greek president Karolos Papoulias, who served two terms between 2005 and 2015 passed away.

Papoulias, who was also foreign minister in 1985-89 and 1993-96, was a high-ranking member of socialist PASOK party and a close associate of its late leader and former prime minister Andreas Papandreou.

He served as President during the crisis that plunged the country into the most grave political and economic turmoil of recent decades.

IndusInd Bank, NPCI partner to offer cross-border payments through UPI

IndusInd Bank has partnered with the National Payments Corporation to offer real-time cross-border remittances to India using UPI IDs, for its Money Transfer Operator (MTO) partners.

It is the first Indian bank to go live on UPI for cross-border payments/NRI remittances.

Under this arrangement, the MTOs will be using the IndusInd Bank channel to connect with NPCI’s UPI payment systems for validation and cross-border payment settlement into beneficiary accounts.

RBI appoints Yogesh Dayal as additional director on RBL board

The RBI has appointed Yogesh Dayal as an additional director on the board of RBL Bank.

The private sector lender’s MD and CEO Vishwavir Ahuja has proceeded on leave with immediate effect.

The central bank invoked Section 36 AB contained in Part 2A (Control over Management) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

The gross NPA of the bank rose 106 basis points to 5.40 per cent of gross advances as at September-end 2021 against 4.34 per cent as at March-end 2021.

PM Modi to lay foundation stone of 4 hydro power projects in HP

PM Modi will be visiting Mandi, Himachal Pradesh to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of hydropower projects worth over ₹11,000 crore.

He will lay the foundation stone of Renukaji Dam project which is lying pending for around three decades.

Also, he inaugurated the Sawra-Kuddu Hydro Power Project.

The 111 MW Project has been built at a cost of around ₹2,080 crore. 

Other Projects are: Luhri Stage 1 Hydro Power Project and Dhaulasidh Hydro Power Project.

World Sangeet Tansen festival to begin today in Madhya Pradesh

In Madhya Pradesh, the World Sangeet Tansen festival (97th edition) is going to start in Gwalior.

The festival will be organised till 30th December 20201.

The stage of the program has been constructed on the theme of the Siddhanath temple situated in Omkareshwar.

A total of nine musical concerts will be held at the function.

BoB subsidiary and India Navy launch co-branded credit card

BOB Financial Solutions Limited (BFSL) — a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of Baroda and Indian Navy have launched a co-branded credit card for Indian Navy personnel.

The card, offered on the RuPay platform, has contactless features, said a joint statement put out by BFSL and NPCI.

Indian Navy personnel can choose from 3 variants of the co-branded credit card.

the credit cards will offer uninterrupted payment convenience to the personnel of the Indian Navy.

Govt extends Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana till March 2022

Under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana, the Centre is providing five-kilogram food grains per person per month free of cost to all beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act.

The scheme is a food security welfare scheme that was envisaged by PM Modi to provide assistance and help mitigate the economic impact of Covid-19. 

The government will be incurring an expenditure of nearly two lakh 6000 crore rupees on Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. 

NMCG and TERI launch Centre of Excellence on Water Reuse

Director-General of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and Director General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) launched Centre of Excellence, CoE on Water Reuse in New Delhi.

The Center of Excellence will be set up to design and foster research and innovation including identification of knowledge gaps for research and need for new ideas, supporting targeted research and spurring and nurturing needed Innovation. 

Good Governance Day: 25th December

In India, Good Governance Day is observed annually on 25th December.

On this day nation celebrates the birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna and former-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Good Governance Day was established in 2014 to honour former PM A B Vajpayee by fostering awareness among the Indian people of accountability in government.

In 2015, Mr Vajpayee was conferred the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award.

Veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh retires from all forms of cricket

Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (41-years) announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

He became the first Indian bowler to grab a Test hat-trick in a memorable international career,

Mr Singh took 417 wickets in 103 Tests, 269 wickets in 236 ODIs and 25 scalps in 28 T20Is in his illustrious career.

He last played for the country in March 2016 during a T20I against the UAE at Dhaka.

INS Khukri decommissioned after 32 years of service to nation

The Sun has finally set on INS Khukri (Pennant number 49), the first of the indigenously built missile corvettes,  at Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam.

It had the distinction of being part of both the Western and Eastern Fleets.

The corvette was built by the Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders and commissioned on August 23, 1989.

During her service, the ship was commanded by 28 commanding officers and traversed a distance of over 6,44,897 nautical miles.

Indian skier Aanchal Thakur wins Bronze medal in Montenegro

Ace Indian skier Aanchal Thakur has bagged a Bronze medal at the FIS Alpine Skiing Competition in Montenegro.

She finished 3rd with an overall timing of 1:54:30.

Georgia Epiphaniou, who won the Silver medal was just 2 seconds ahead of Anchal.

With this, Aanchal has become the first Indian Ski athlete to win two medals at the international level.

She has previously won a bronze medal in the 2018 FIS Alpine 3200 Cup held in Turkey.

Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Rogers passes away

Pritzker Prize-Winning British-Italian Architect, Richard Rogers has passed away at his residence in London, United Kingdom. He received the Pritzker Prize, known as the Nobel Prize of Architecture, in 2007. 

He received the Knight Bachelor in 1991 and he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. He was the architect of the new World Trade Center (3 World Trade Center) in New York City, United States, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France and the Millennium Dome in London, UK.

National Consumer Rights Day 2021

National Consumer Rights Day is observed every year on December 24. On this day in 1986, the Consumer Protection Act 1986 received Presidential assent and thus came into force. The Act aims to provide consumers with effective safeguards against different types of exploitation, such as defective goods, deficiency in services and unfair trade practices.

People often get confused between World Consumer Rights Day and National Consumer Rights Day. While both have the same purpose, they are observed on different dates. World Consumer Rights Day is celebrated annually on March 15.

The National Consumer Rights Day was observed for the first time in 1986 under the Consumer Protection Act. It’s different from World Consumer Day, which is celebrated annually on March 15. The Consumer Protection Act came into force in 1986.

In 2019, the Consumer Protection Act 1986 was revised. Later, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution announced the CPA 2019 bill put to effect on July 20, 2020.

SAFF U 19 Women’s Championship: Bangladesh defeat India

Bangladesh women team has won the SAFF U 19 Women’s Championship by defeating India in the finals. Shaheda Akter Ripa of Bangladesh scored the maximum number of goals in the tournament. She received the ‘most valuable player’ award.

The 2021 SAFF U-19 Women’s Championship was the 2nd edition of the SAFF U-19 Women’s Championship. The tournament was organized from 11 to 22 December 2021 at BSSS Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Dhaka.

Five countries have participated in the 2021 SAFF U-19 Women’s Championship. Pakistan Football Federation was suspended by FIFA in April 2021 so it didn’t participate in this competition.

Asian Champions Trophy: India win bronze, Korea lift title

India defeated Pakistan 4-3 to secure the bronze medal, while Korea defeated Japan 4-2 to emerge Asian Champions Trophy men’s hockey tournament held in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The five-nation tournament came to an end with two matches being played on the last day of the game.

Kanta Tanaka of Japan was declared the best player of the tournament while Suraj Karkera of India was adjudged the best goalkeeper. Jang Jonghyun of Korea was the top scorer with 10 goals in the tournament.

Anahat Singh becomes first Indian girl to win Jr Squash Open in US

Indian teenager Anahat Singh has scripted history by winning the U-15 girls category of the prestigious Junior US Open Squash tournament in Philadelphia.

The 13-year-old girl from Delhi overcame powerhouse Egypt’s Jayda Marei in the final match 11-9, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5 played at the Arlen Spectre Centre. More than 850 squash junior players, representing 41 countries, participated in the World’s largest junior individuals squash tournament.

Padma Bhusan Anil Prakash Joshi wins Mother Teresa Memorial Award

Environmentalist Dr Anil Prakash Joshi, who was conferred upon the Padma Bhushan this year, has been awarded the Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice 2021. Vidyut Mohan, the winner of the Earth shot Prize, and Ridhima Pandey, a young environmental activist from Uttarakhand, were also the recipients of the award.

The Harmony Foundation identifies a theme each year for the Mother Teresa Memorial Awards and felicitates individuals and organisations who work in the realm of augmenting environmental sustainability. The awardees were felicitated by Dr Abraham Mathai, the founder chairman of the foundation.

India replace the UK to be 3rd top country hosting unicorns

Adding 33 “unicorns” in a single year has helped India displace the United Kingdom to be third in the list of countries that are home to such enterprises valued at over $1 billion each. The US and China, who occupy the first two ranks, are way ahead, according to the data compiled by Hurun Research Institute.

US and China are home to 74 per cent of the unicorn universe. The US added 254 unicorns and now totals 487 companies in the coveted list, while China added 74 to take its tally to 301 start-ups having a valuation of over $1 billion. The UK added only 15 unicorns to take its total to 39, and hence got displaced by India.

IAF deployed the first S-400 air defence system in Punjab

Indian Air Force (IAF) has deployed the first squadron of the S-400 air defence missile system in the western Punjab sector which will take care of aerial threats from Pakistan and China.

The S-400 air defence system was contracted for by India from Russia in a deal worth around Rs 35,000 crores and five squadrons would be provided to India for tackling air threats from up to 400 km.

The surface-to-air missile system would give India an edge in South Asian skies as they would be able to take out enemy aircraft and cruise missiles from a 400 km distance.

The S-400 Triumf air defence system is equipped with four different missiles which can engage enemy aircraft, ballistic missiles, and AWACS planes at 400 km, 250 km, the medium-range 120 km and the short-range 40 km.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Indian Airforce founded: 8 October 1932;

Indian Airforce Headquarters: New Delhi;

Indian Airforce Chief of Air Staff: Vivek Ram Chaudhari.

Oriental Insurance categorised as public shareholder in Axis Bank

Axis Bank has announced the approval to reclassify Oriental Insurance Company Ltd (OICL) from promoter category to public category shareholder in the bank. In October, applications were made to BSE and NSE for reclassification of The New Oriental Insurance Co to the public category from the promoter category.

At present, OICL holds a 0.16 per cent stake in Axis Bank. Currently, BSE & NSE gave approval for the reclassification of New Oriental Insurance Company to the public category from the promoter category.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Axis Bank Founded: 3 December 1993;

Axis Bank Headquarters: Mumbai;

Axis Bank MD & CEO: Amitabh Chaudhary;

Axis Bank Chairperson: Rakesh Makhija;

Axis Bank Tagline: Badhti Ka Naam Zindagi.

Central Bank of India signed a co-lending agreement with U GRO Capital

Central Bank of India and U GRO Capital has signed a co-lending agreement and plans to disburse up to Rs 1,000 crore to medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs) over the next 12 months.

The disbursement will be to U GRO Capital’s varied MSME segments under its programs – Pratham, Sanjeevani, Saathi, GRO MSME and machinery financing.

Central Bank of India will provide co-lending support through the GRO-Xstream platform with the loans originated by U GRO Capital’s distribution network. The arrangement will ensure the availability of credit to MSMEs at an affordable cost.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Central Bank of India Founded: 21 December 1911;

Central Bank of India Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra;

Central Bank of India MD & CEO: Matam Venkata Rao.

CSB Bank has been impaneled as Agency Bank by RBI

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced the empanelment of CSB Bank, a private sector lender as an ‘Agency Bank’. Through this appointment, the CSB Bank will undertake the general banking business of the central and state governments under the guidelines set by the RBI.

As an Agency bank, CSB Bank will work with different state governments and central government departments for businesses such as tax collections, pension payments, collection of stamp duty, etc. CSB Bank Limited, formerly Catholic Syrian Bank Limited, is an Indian private sector bank with its headquarters at Thrissur, Kerala, India. The bank has a network of over 450 branches and more than 319 ATMs across India.

Important For All Exam 2021:

CSB Bank Headquarters: Thrissur, Kerala;

CSB Bank CEO: C.VR. Rajendran;

CSB Bank Founded: 26 November 1920, Thrissur.

IFFCO-TOKIO General Insurance appoints HO Suri as MD & CEO

IFFCO-TOKIO General Insurance has announced the appointment of HO Suri as its new managing director and chief executive officer. He was the financial advisor, head, internal audit & legal, at the company and the new position took effect from October 1.

IFFCO-Tokio General Insurance Company Limited is a 51:49 joint venture between IFFCO and Japan’s Tokio Marine Group. The firm offers retail products like motor, health, travel, home and personal accident insurance and corporate insurance products.

HO Suri began his professional journey in 1982 with Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO). A chartered accountant by profession, he is one of the founder-members of IFFCO-TOKIO General Insurance Company in 2000.

Important For All Exam 2021:

IFFCO-TOKIO General Insurance CEO: Anamika Roy Rashtrawar (27 Mar 2020–);

IFFCO-TOKIO General Insurance Headquarters: Gurugram;

IFFCO-TOKIO General Insurance Founded: 2000.

Maharashtra launched Chalo mobile app & smart card for bus travel

Maharashtra Tourism and Environment Minister, Aaditya Thackeray has launched the Chalo mobile application (app) and Chalo smart cards to facilitate digital and advance purchase of Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus tickets.

He also launched the NCMC compliant smart card of BEST as well as new fare schemes for the passengers, one that provided 10 trips at Rs 70 and another called ‘Flexifare’.

Chalo mobile app will allow passengers to buy online bus tickets and have access to bus passes through an e-wallet. A contract worth Rs 85 crore has been given for the maintenance of the Chalo mobile application for six years.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Maharashtra Capital: Mumbai;

Maharashtra Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari;

Maharashtra Chief minister: Uddhav Thackeray.

Atal Innovation Mission Unveils Vernacular Innovation Programme

Niti Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission has unveiled Vernacular Innovation Programme, which will enable innovators and entrepreneurs in India to have access to the innovation ecosystem in 22 scheduled languages by the Centre.

This will help in overcoming the barriers of language & empower innovators. To get the program rolling, AIM NITI Aayog is launching a train-the-trainer program where it will collaborate with the Design Department of IIT Delhi to coach the VTF in design thinking and entrepreneurship and the adaptation of these subjects in the 22 languages and cultures.

Indian National Farmer’s Day : 23 December

Kisan Diwas or National Farmers’ Day is celebrated across the nation on December 23 to commemorate the birth anniversary of the fifth Prime Minister of India, Chaudhary Charan Singh.

He brought farmer-friendly policies and worked towards the welfare of the farmers. He was the fifth Prime Minister of India and served the country as Prime Minister from 28 July 1979 to 14 January 1980.

In 2001, the government of India declared December 23, the day Chaudhary Charan Singh was born, to be celebrated as National Farmers’ Day and for all the right reasons. Chaudhary Charan Singh breathed his last on January 14, 1980.

Tusshar Kapoor released his debut book ‘Bachelor Dad’

Tusshar Kapoor has written his first book titled ‘Bachelor Dad’. The actor became a single father to son Laksshya Kapoor via surrogacy in 2016. He has shared his journey of being a single father in the new book.

The actor has shared his journey of the ‘slightly unconventional road to fatherhood’ in his debut book, Bachelor Dad. On the cover of the book, he can be seen carrying his son.

WADA report: India among world’s top three dope violators country

India is among the world’s top three dope violators country in the world. Indian athletes were involved 152 times in dope-related activities in the year 2019.

The report has revealed the latest report published by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), which has put India into the top-three of the world’s biggest violators behind Russia (167) and Italy (157). Brazil (78) is at fourth and Iran (70) fifth positions.

In 2019, 152 (17 per cent of the world total) Anti-doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) were reported in India. The maximum dope offenders are from bodybuilding followed by weightlifting (25), athletics (20), wrestling (10), and boxing.

Important For All Exam 2021:

World Anti-Doping Agency Headquarters: Montreal, Canada;

World Anti-Doping Agency President: Craig Reedie;

World Anti-Doping Agency Founded: 10 November 1999.

Advance tax collection rises 54% to Rs 4.60 lakh crore

According to the finance ministry, advance tax collection increased by 53.50 per cent to Rs 4.60 lakh crore so far this fiscal year, indicating a recovery in the economy.

Direct tax collections for 2021-22, as of December 16, show that net collections are at Rs 9.45 lakh crore compared to Rs 5.88 lakh crore over the year-ago period, representing an increase of 60.8 per cent.

The cumulative advance tax collections for the primary, second and third quarter of 2021-22 stand at Rs 4,59,917.1 crore as on December 16, 2021, towards advance tax collections of Rs 2,99,620.5 crore for the corresponding interval of 2020-21, displaying a development of about 53.5 per cent.

Bank of Baroda grabbed top spot in Digital Payments

Bank of Baroda has announced it has won the #1 position in overall digital transactions amongst large banks for FY20-21. The bank showed the exceptional growth of digital payment transactions achievement and was felicitated by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Govt. of India at the Digital Payments Utsav.

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Independence of India, MeitY is celebrating “Digital Payments Utsav”. As a part of the celebration, the Bank of Baroda has been conferred with 5 DigiDhan awards for FY 2019-20 & 2020-21 in various categories. BoB has been conferred with five DigiDhan awards for FY 2019-20 & 2020-21 in various categories.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Bank of Baroda Founded: 20 July 1908;

Bank of Baroda Headquarters: Vadodara, Gujarat;

Bank of Baroda Managing Director & CEO: Sanjiv Chadha;

Bank of Baroda Tagline: India’s International Bank;

Bank of Baroda Amalgamated Banks: Dena Bank & Vijaya Bank in 2019.

State Bank of India acquired minority stake in JSW Cement for INR 100 crore

State Bank of India(SBI) acquired a minority stake (less than 50 per cent) in JSW Cement Limited for an investment of INR 100 crore through Compulsory Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS).

The SBI is working as a strategic investor at JSW Cement and has invested in the company through CCPS. The conversion of such CCPS into common equity of the company will be linked to the JSW Cement’s business performance and valuation at the time of the proposed initial public offering.

The SBI transaction with JSW Cement comes close on the heels of the Rs 1,500 crore investments made by two global private equity investors, Apollo Global Management Inc. (through its investment entity in Singapore) and Synergy Metals Investments Holding Ltd earlier this year.

Important For All Exam 2021:

SBI Founded: 1 July 1955;

SBI Headquarters: Mumbai;

SBI Chairman: Dinesh Kumar Khara.

Wipro to acquire Edgile in USD 230-million deal

Wipro has signed an agreement to acquire Edgile, a transformational cyber security consulting provider, for $230 million. Founded in 2001, Edgile is recognised by security and risk leaders for its business-aligned cyber security capability, deep understanding of the changing regulatory environment and enabling cloud transformations that help secure the modern enterprise. It has an onsite workforce of 182 employees.

Together, Wipro and Edgile will develop Wipro CyberTransform, an integrated suite that will help enterprises enhance boardroom governance of cyber security risk, invest in robust cyber strategies, and reap the value of practical security in action.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Chairman of Wipro Limited: Rishad Premji.

Wipro Headquarters: Bengaluru;

Wipro MD and CEO: Thierry Delaporte.

Mastercard and Google Pay tie-up for tokenisation for card-based payments

Mastercard and Google announced a tokenization method that enables Google Pay users to safely transact using their Mastercard credit cards and debit cards.

With this collaboration, Google Pay Android users can scan and pay across all Bharat QR-enabled merchants, tap-and-pay, and make in-app transactions through their Mastercard debit and credit card.

For a convenient registration, users will have to do a one-time setup by entering their card details and their OTP to add their card on the Google Pay app.

Mastercard said this initiative is an extension of Mastercard’s long-standing collaboration with Google and will go a long way towards enabling India’s digital economy.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Mastercard Founded: 16 December 1966;

Mastercard Headquarters: New York, United States;

Mastercard CEO: Michael Miebach;

Mastercard Executive Chairman: Ajay Banga.

IOCL acquired 4.93% stake in Indian Gas Exchange

Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) has announced that it has acquired a 4.93 per cent equity share in Indian Gas Exchange Limited – the country’s first automated national level gas exchange.

The Board of Indian Oil at its meeting held on 20 December 2021 has accorded approval for the acquisition of 36,93,750 equity shares of the face value of Rs. 10/- each equivalent to 4.93 per cent of the share capital in Indian Gas Exchange Limited (IGX).

The acquisition of an equity stake in IGX is a strategic opportunity for the country’s top oil refiner to become part of India’s natural gas market. IGX is a subsidiary of the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX).

Indian Gas Exchange is the country’s first automated national level gas exchange, that ensures transparent price discovery in natural gas and facilitates the growth of natural gas in India’s energy basket.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Indian Oil Corporation Limited Chairperson: Shrikant Madhav Vaidya;

Indian Oil Corporation Limited Headquarters: New Delhi;

Indian Oil Corporation Limited Founded: 30 June 1959.

India successfully tests ‘Pralay’ missile off Odisha coast

India successfully conducted the maiden flight test of the indigenously-developed, surface-to-surface missile ‘Pralay’ off the Odisha coast. The solid-fuel, battlefield missile developed by the Defence Research Development Organisation is based on Prithvi Defence Vehicle from the Indian ballistic missile programme. The missile, launched from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island.

The new missile followed the desired quasi ballistic trajectory and reached the designated target with high degree accuracy, validating the control, guidance and mission algorithms. With a range of 150 to 500 km, ‘Pralay’ is powered with the solid propellant rocket motor and other new technologies. The missile guidance system includes state-of-the-art navigation and integrated avionics.

NPCI partners with Udemy Business to encourage skill employees

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has signed a partnership agreement with Udemy Business, to encourage innovative learning and skill development for employees of NPCI.

The 3-year partnership with Udemy Business will offer courses on in-demand skills such as tech, domain, behavioural, and leadership skills to all NPCI employees.

Through the mission ‘Talent Development for All’ of NPCI, it provides capacity-building programmes in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Blockchain, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), etc.

Important For All Exam 2021:

National Payments Corporation of India Founded: 2008;

National Payments Corporation of India Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra;

National Payments Corporation of India MD & CEO: Dilip Asbe.

Jharkhand Assembly passes Bill to prevent mob violence, lynching

Jharkhand Assembly has passed the Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021, which aims at providing “effective protection” of constitutional rights and the prevention of mob violence in the state.

After including one amendment, the Bill was passed and sent to the Governor for his assent. Once notified, Jharkhand will become the fourth state to bring in such a law after West Bengal, Rajasthan and Manipur.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Chief Minister of Jharkhand: Hemant Soren;

Governor: Ramesh Bais.

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik inaugurates ‘T-Setu’ over Mahanadi

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has inaugurated T-Setu, which is state’s longest bridge over Mahanadi in Cuttack district.

It is a 3.4 km long bridge, connecting Gopinathpur in Badamba, Baideswar in Banki to Singhanath Pitha located in the middle of the river, has been built in the shape of English alphabet ‘T’ at a cost of Rs 111 crore.

The bridge has a footpath of 1.5 metre width on its both sides, will benefit people of Cuttack and Khurda.

World Bank unveils 93 billion support aid for poorest nation

World Bank's has unveiled $93 billion support aid to help scale up aid for pandemic recovery and other programs for poorest nation. 

It was the biggest replenishment ever for the International Development Association (IDA), which provides grants for 74 countries. 

The package includes $23.5 billion of contributions from 48 high and middle-income countries as well as financing raised in the capital markets. 

It will help countries better prepare for future crises. 

Centre to amend Multi State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002

Centre has decided to amend Multi State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002 to plug the loopholes in the Act.

There are many Cooperatives societies like those for sugar and milk, banks, milk unions etc whose members and areas of operation are spread across more than one state.

Act was passed to govern such cooperatives.

Since the law was enacted, 1,479 such societies have been registered. 

Maharashtra has the highest number at 567, followed by UP (147), Delhi (133).

British architect Richard Rogers passes away

British architect Richard Rogers (88 years) passed away in London, England.

He was known for designing some of the world's most famous buildings including Paris' Pompidou Centre in 1977.

He changed London skyline with distinctive creations such as Millennium Dome and 'Cheesegrater', that won a series of awards for his designs, including the 2007 Pritzker Prize, and is one of the pioneers of the 'high-tech' architecture movement. 

GIS based ‘Automatic Water Supply System’ launched

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has been launched GIS based ‘Automatic Water Supply System’ for citizens of Cantonment Boards on Defence Estates Day 2021. 

Its module has been developed by Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geo informatics. 

It is completely automated which provides facility to its citizen to identify location of water supply connection. 

It automatically determines nearest water pipeline. 

It is first of its kind in country.

Technical Conference cum Exhibition on 24x7 Water Supply Systems held

Technical Conference cum Exhibition on 24x7 Water Supply Systems has been held in New Delhi to disseminate knowledge on the planning, design, implementation, Operation and Maintenance of 24x7 water supply system. 

Organized by: Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO). 

It will ensure prevention of water contamination, control of NRW, equitable water supply and bring efficiency in terms of financial sustainability by attracting PPP funding. 

Divya Hedge won UN Women’s Award for Leadership Commitment

Divya Hegde from Udupi, Karnataka, has won UN Women’s Award for Leadership Commitment at the 2021 Regional Asia-Pacific Women’s Empowerment Principles Awards Event. 

She has been recognized for her sustained efforts in advancing gender equality through climate action efforts with her organization, Baeru Environmental Services. 

She worked in the areas of waste management, creation of livelihoods for rural women, and developing a circular economy in the region.

DPIIT is conducting workshop on Next Phase for Reducing Compliance Burden

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is conducting National Workshop on ‘Next Phase of Reforms for Reducing Compliance Burden’ to realize nation’s goals. 

It will witness wide participation from across Central Ministries. 

It will have three sessions with theme:

Breaking Silos and Enhancing Synergies among Government Departments. 

National Single Sign-on for Efficient Delivery of Citizen Services. 

Effective Grievance Redressal. 

Open Acreage Licensing Programme Bid Round-VII launched

Govt has launched Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP) Bid Round-VII for International Competitive Bidding in continuation of its aggressive programme for exploration. 

It can be submitted through a dedicated online e-bidding portal till 15th Feb 2022. 

They are likely to be assigned completely by March 2022. 

Successful award of Round-VII Blocks would add further 15,766 sq. km of exploration acreage and cumulative acreage under OALP will be increased to 207,692 sq. km.

LS develops mobile app to access important parliamentary documents

Lok Sabha has developed mobile app that will enable members of the House to access important parliamentary documents, papers, information related to legislative committees and bills.

LS Speaker Om Birla informed the House about the app and urged the members to download this in their mobile sets and tab.

It will also allow people to watch the live proceedings of the House.

NITI Aayog signs SoI with United Nations World Food Program (WFP)

NITI Aayog signed Statement of Intent with United Nations World Food Program (WFP), recognizing the importance of millets. 

It focuses on mainstreaming of millets, using opportunity of 2023 as an International Year of Millets.

It also focuses on strategic and technical collaboration between NITI Aayog and WFP, to strengthen the climate resilient agriculture.

Outcome will be achieved in 4 phases:

Phase I

Phase II

Phase III

Phase IV

Indigenously developed Armoured Engineer Reconnaissance Vehicle inducted

First set of indigenously developed next generation ‘Armoured Engineer Reconnaissance Vehicle’ has been inducted into Corps of Engineers of Indian Army. 

It has been designed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and manufactured by Ordnance Factory Medak & Bharat Electronics Ltd, Pune. 

It is capable of carrying out reconnaissance of water obstacles and boggy patches for execution of engineer tasks with capabilities to carry out reconnaissance.

Atul Dinkar Rane appointed as DG of BrahMos Aerospace

Outstanding DRDO Scientist, Atul Dinkar Rane has been appointed as Director General of BrahMos Aerospace with effect from 20th December 2021. 

He joined DRDO in 1987 and started his initial career at Defence Research and Development Laboratory as System Manager and established modular real-time simulation test mechanisms for Surface to Air Akash Missile System. 

BrahMos Aerospace: Indo-Russian multinational aerospace and defense corporation, with Headquarters in Delhi. 

International Arbitration and Mediation Centre inaugurated in Telangana

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice NV Ramana, and Chief Minister of Telangana K Chandrasekhar Rao has inaugurated India’s First International Arbitration and Mediation Centre (IAMC) at Phoenix VK Tower at Nanakramguda, Hyderabad, Telangana.

Those who empanel the centre include internationally acclaimed arbitrators and mediators from countries such as Singapore and the UK.

IAMC has been established to quickly resolve the issues that arise due to the Lack of sufficient judges. IAMC will settle commercial disputes and it will also look into the disputes of ordinary people.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Telangana Capital: Hyderabad;

Telangana Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan;

Telangana Chief minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao.

Former SC Judge Justice GT Nanavati Who Headed ‘2002 Godhra Riots’ passes away

Former Supreme Court judge, Justice Girish Thakorlal Nanavati who headed two inquiry commissions formed to probe into the 2002 Godhra Riots & 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, passed away.

Justice Girish Thakorlal Nanavati was 86. He was elevated as the Judge of the Supreme Court of India with effect in March 1995 and he retired as an SC Judge in February 2000.

BWF World badminton championship : K Srikanth won silver

Shuttler Kidambi Srikanth became the first Indian man to win a silver medal at BWF World Championships. In the final, Kidambi was defeated by Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew by 21-15, 22-20.

This was the first time that a men’s player from Singapore won gold at BWF World Championships. The badminton tournament was held from December 12 to 19, 2021 in Huelva, Spain.

2021 BWF World Championships is officially known as “TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2021” for sponsorship purpose. The badminton tournament was held from December 12 to 19, 2021 in Huelva, Spain. Huelva was awarded this event in November 2018, when the announcement was made for 18 major badminton event hosts from 2019 to 2025.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Badminton World Federation Founded: 5 July 1934;

Badminton World Federation Headquarters: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;

Badminton World Federation President: Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen.

India won 16 medals in Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship 2021

India concluded the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships 2021 with 16 medals – 4 Gold, 7 Silver, and 5 Bronze, held at Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Bindyarani Devi was India’s only medallist at the World Weightlifting Championships 2021, that was also held parallelly at Tashkent.

India’s Medal Winners:

Gold medal

Jeremy Lalrinnunga (67kg) (Men). 

Achinta Sheuli (73kg) (Men). 

Ajay Singh (81kg) (Men). 

Purnima Pandey (+87kg) (Women). 

Silver medal

Guru Raja (61kg) (Men). 

Lovepreet Singh (109kg) (Men). 

Jhili Dalabehera (49kg) (Women). 

S Bindyarani Devi (55kg) (Women). 

Hazarika Popy (59kg) (Women). 

Harjinder Kaur (71kg) (Women). 

Punam Yadav (76kg) (Women). 

Bronze medal

Vikas Thakur (96kg) (Men). 

Gurdeep Singh (+109kg) (Men). 

Lalchhanhimi (71kg) (Women). 

R Arockiya Alish (76kg) (Women). 

Anuradha Pavunraj (87kg) (Women). 

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade launches LogiXtics

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has launched the Unified Logistics Interface Platform’s (ULIP) hackathon – ‘LogiXtics’ to crowdsource more ideas that will benefit the logistics industry.

The Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) Hackathon – LogiXtics is being organised by NITI Aayog and Atal Innovation Mission.

It is supported by National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (NICDC) and NICDC Logistics Data Bank Services Limited (NLDSL).

ULIP has been designed to enhance efficiency and reduce logistics costs in India by creating a transparent platform that can provide real-time information to all stakeholders.

The cost of logistics in India is about 14% which is higher than in other countries in the world. National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (NICDC) was mandated by NITI Aayog in January 2021 to develop ULIP.

SAIL honoured Golden Peacock Environment Management Award 2021

Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL), under the Ministry of Steel, has been awarded with the prestigious Golden Peacock Environment Management Award 2021 for successive three years.

The Award is given to organizations for significant achievements in Environment Management by Environment Foundation (WEF) since 1998.

The company’s environmental protections measures are focused on adopting various environmental measures including, upgrading of pollution control facilities, water conservation efforts with the aim to achieve Zero Liquid Discharge, efficient handling of different solid wastes (viz. process waste, hazardous waste, canteen/township waste), carbon sequestration through afforestation, eco-restoration of the mined-out area and etc.

Important For All Exam 2021:

SAIL Founded: 19 January 1954;

SAIL Headquarters: New Delhi;

SAIL CEO: Soma Mondal.

India registers highest-ever annual FDI inflow of 81.97 bn dollars in 2020-21

India has registered the highest ever annual Foreign Direct Investment inflow of $ 81.97 bn in 2020-21. FDI inflows in the last seven financial years is over $ 440 bn, which is nearly 58 % of the total FDI inflow in the last 21 financial years.

The top five countries from where FDI Equity Inflows were received during 2014-2021 are Singapore, Mauritius, USA, Netherland & Japan.

GACL, GAIL team up to establish bioethanol plant in Gujarat

Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited (GACL) and GAIL (India) Limited has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for setting up a bioethanol plant with a production capacity of 500-kilo litre per day (KLD) in Gujarat.

This MoU was signed on the lines of the roadmap launched by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi for 20% Ethanol Blending in Petrol by 2025 in order to reduce the import of crude oil.

The estimated project cost is Rs. 1,000 crores and it is expected to generate annual revenue of approximately Rs. 1500 crores. An estimated savings of USD 70 million per year in Foreign Exchange is also expected through this project.

Important For All Exam 2021:

GAIL (India) Limited Founded: August 1984;

GAIL (India) Limited Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi;

GAIL (India) Limited CMD: Manoj Jain.

Rishabh Pant named as Uttarakhand’s brand ambassador

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has announced that Indian wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant has been appointed as the brand ambassador of the state.

The 24-year Pant, who was rested for the New Zealand Tests, is currently in South Africa as the Indian Team is all set to face Proteas in the three-match Test series, starting December 26.

Rishabh Rajendra Pant is an Indian cricketer who plays as a middle-order wicket-keeper batsman for India, Delhi, and the Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League. In December 2015, he was named in India’s squad for the 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Uttarakhand Capitals: Dehradun (Winter), Gairsain (Summer);

Uttarakhand Governor:  Lt Gen Gurmit Singh;

Uttarakhand Chief minister: Pushkar Singh Dhami.

Nagaland creates 3 new districts Niuland, Tseminyu, Chumukedima

Nagaland government has announced the creation of three new districts, namely Tseminyu, Niuland and Chumoukedima. This comes less than a year after the 12th district of the state—Noklak—was inaugurated.

With the addition of the three new districts, Nagaland will now have 15 districts. While the Tseminyu sub-division in Kohima district has been upgraded to a district, Niuland and Chumukedima have been carved out of Dimapur district.

Though there were demands from at least 11 tribes for the creation of new districts, the Cabinet could consider only three of them as some districts are inhabited by only one tribe and those cannot be divided.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Chief Minister of Nagaland: Neiphiu Rio;

Governor of Nagaland: Jagdish Mukhi.

Haryana launches new Integrated Command and Control Center in Karnal

Haryana chief minister, Manohar Lal Khattar has opened the new Integrated Command and Control Center (ICCC) under the Karnal Smart City project.

The new Command and Control Center will enable the functioning of advanced systems such as adaptive traffic control, automatic number plate recognition, detection of red-light violation and speed violation.

With the inauguration of ICCC, a slew of smart traffic management systems in the city went alive. Over 500 CCTV cameras at various locations now enable the functioning of advanced systems such as adaptive traffic control, automatic number plate recognition, detection of red-light violation and speed violation.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Haryana Capital: Chandigarh;

Haryana Governor: Bandaru Dattatreya;

Haryana Chief Minister: Manohar Lal Khattar.

Karl Nehammer sworn in as Chancellor of Austria

Karl Nehammer was sworn in as new Austria’s chancellor by Alexander Van der Bellen, President of Austria in a ceremony in Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Austria. He is succeeding the career diplomat Alexander Schallenberg who took charge as chancellor in October 2021.

He is the 3rd person to hold the role of Austria’s Chancellor in the last two months. Nehammer, from the ruling conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), was formerly the country’s interior minister.

The Vienna-born Nehammer worked in the army for several years. He then started working as a communications adviser before becoming a politician in 2017. He was made interior minister in January 2020. While he was in office, Austria experienced its first Islamist terrorist attack, in which four people were killed last November.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Austria Capital: Vienna;

Austria Currency: Euro;

Austria President: Alexander Van der Bellen. 

The Monk Who Transformed UP: Book on Yogi Adityanath's journey released

A book on Yogi Adityanath titled "The Monk Who Transformed Uttar Pradesh" was released. 

The book has been authored by the Shantanu Gupta and published by Garuda Prakashan.

The book chronicles how Yogi Adityanath transformed the state in various aspects like law and order, connectivity, education, health infrastructure, and overall growth.

The author has previously written, "The Monk Who Became Chief Minister: The definitive biography of Yogi Adityanath. 

Avani Lekhara Bags 'Best Female Debut' Honour At 2021 Paralympic Awards

Indian shooter Avani Lekhara won the "Best Female Debut" award at the 2021 Paralympic Awards for her record-breaking gold medal at the Tokyo Games. 

The 20-year-old from Jaipur won the gold in the women's 10m Air Rife Standing SH1 event earlier this year.

She also won a bronze in the 50m Rifle Three Positions Standing SH 1 event. 

She was also awarded Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honour, for the achievement.

Dr Rekha Chaudhari authors the book “India’s Ancient Legacy of Wellness”

The book titled “India’s Ancient Legacy of Wellness” has been authored by Dr Rekha Chaudhari.

The book was released by the Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

It was launched on the occasion of World Digital Day (15th Dcember). 

The book highlights how important it is for human beings to be close to nature which helps to revive and recharge to do productive work.

The book is dedicated to her father and his emphasis on Health and Education.

Veteran Congress leader and former Union minister R L Jalappa passes away

Veteran Congress leader and former Union Minister R.L. Jalappa passed away.

He was founder and Chairman of Devaraj Urs Medical College in Kolar.

In 1979 he quit Congress to form the Karnataka Kranti Ranga  and he again joined congress in 1998.

In 1996, He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Chikballapur constituency, representing Janata Dal.

He has served as the Union Minister of Textiles (1996 to 1998) under the premiership of HD Deve Gowda and Inder Kumar Gujral.

India, Germany Development Bank sign Euro 442.26 mn loan pact

The Government of India and the Germany Development Bank - KfW (Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau) signed a 442.26 mn euros loan pact for Surat Metro Rail project.

The total cost of the project is 1.5 billion euros, of which KfW is financing 442.26 million euros.

The project is being co-financed by French Development Agency, AFD (Agence Francaise de Developpemet).

The Agreement with AFD for 250 million euros was signed on January 28, 2021.

IFSCA sets up panel for creating framework for transfer of stressed loan

The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) sets up a committee headed by Former executive director of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) G Padmanabhan. 

The committee will creating a framework for transfer of stressed loans from domestic lenders to financial institutions in IFSC.

It will examine the provisions of the RBI directions that require further clarification for transferring stressed loans, for identifying areas or issues of the directions from RBI. 

Haryana launches 'khel nursery scheme'

Haryana state govt has started 'Khel Nursery Scheme 2022-23' to promote sports in the state.

Under which sports nurseries would be started in government, private educational institutions and private sports institutions.

With this scheme, sports talent would get an opportunity to emerge at the grassroots level.

Under the scheme, sports nurseries are being opened for the sports included in the Olympic, Asian and Commonwealth Games.

Governor: Bandaru Dattatreya. 

Edelweiss General Insurance and PhonePe partner for digital motor insurance

Edelweiss General Insurance has partnered with PhonePe for digital motor insurance products.

PhonePe customers can now purchase EGI’s motor insurance policy in just a few clicks with zero paperwork.

EGI has launched on-demand, need-based, bite-sized insurance products, and is co-creating propositions in partnership in the digital ecosystem.

The partnership will help EGI reach out to PhonePe’s vast and growing network of customers to offer them digital motor insurance.

Equitas Small Finance Bank becomes banking partner for Govt of Maharashtra

Equitas Small Finance Bank has been empanelled as a banking partner to the Govt of Maharashtra with a view to offer its services to the state government employees.

The agreement will enable the SFB to distribute salaries and allowances to the existing employees apart from making provision of pension to pensioners.

The other 3 banks assigned the role of distributing salaries and allowances to govt employees are Bandhan Bank, Karur Vysya Bank and The South Indian Bank.

SpaceX launches 52 Starlink satellites from California base

A SpaceX rocket carried 52 Starlink internet satellites into orbit from California.

The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from coastal Vandenberg Space Force Base.

The Falcon’s first stage returned and landed on a SpaceX droneship in the ocean.

It was the 11th launch and recovery of the stage.

Starlink is a satellite-based global internet system that SpaceX has been building for years to bring internet access to underserved areas of the world.

Good Governance Week 2021 being celebrated from 20th-25th December

The Centre is all set to launch a nationwide 'Good Governance Week' from December 20 to December 26.

Celebrated by: Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG). 

Moto: to redress and dispose of public grievances and improvise service delivery down to the village level.

Theme: “Prashasan Gaon Ki Aur”. 

A film on “Prashasan Gaon Ki Aur” will also be screened.

“Good Governance Day will be celebrated on December 25, 2021.

Kdambi Srikanth bags silver in BWF World Championships, Spain

Kidambi Srikanth won silver medal in the BWF World Badminton Championships, Spain.

A former world no. 1, Srikanth lost Loh Kean Yew of Singapore.

He becomes the first Indian men Badminton player to won a silver in BWF World Championships.

The maiden silver placed Srikanth alongside P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, who had finished runner-up in the past.

Akane Yamaguchi of Japan clinched the women’s title beating World No. 1 and top seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei.

World Arabic Language Day: 18 December

World Arabic Language Day is observed globally on 18th December every year. The Arabic language is one of the pillars of the cultural diversity of mankind. It is one of the most widely used languages ​​in the world, spoken daily by more than 400 million people.

The purpose of this day is to raise awareness of the history, culture and development of the language by preparing a program of special activities and events.

The theme of this year’s World Arabic Language Day is “The Arabic Language and Civilizational Communication”, and it is considered as a call to reaffirm the important role that the Arabic language plays in building bridges of connection between people on the rise of culture, science, literature and many other fields.

National Minorities Rights Day 2021

Every year, December 18 is observed as the Minorities Rights Day to uphold the right to freedom and equal opportunities for the ethnic minorities in India and create awareness about the respect and dignity of the minorities.

India has faced many obstacles since the British Rule regarding basic human rights. However, these rights were safeguarded after the independence and people must be made aware of it. Thus we celebrate Minorities Rights Day on 18th December every year.

The Minority Rights Day 2021 aims to uplift all the minority sections of society and back them to voice their opinion. Considering the COVID-19 pandemic, all the sessions, seminars, and debates are likely to take place digitally.

International Migrants Day 2021: 18th December

The International Migrants Day is observed globally on 18 December every year. The day is marked by the United Nations, through the UN-related agency International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The day is observed to highlight the contributions made by the  272 million migrants, which includes more than 41 million people who are internally displaced persons, and the challenges they face. The theme of International Migrants Day 2021 is Harnessing the potential of human mobility.

Important For All Exam 2021:

International Organization for Migration Headquarters: Grand-Saconnex, Switzerland;

International Organization for Migration Founded: 6 December 1951;

International Organization for Migration Director General: António Vitorino.

A book title “Rewinding the first 25 years of MeitY! by SS Oberoi

The book titled ‘Rewinding of First 25 years of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’ authored by S S Oberoi, the former adviser at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) was launched by Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary of MeitY.

The book consists of life experience, challenges working as an advisor under the MeitY. He was the first head of the Software Development Agency and the first adviser of Information Technology.

Union cabinet approves Rs 76,000 crore push for semiconductor manufacturing

Union Cabinet approved a Rs 76,000-crore production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for boosting semiconductor and display manufacturing in India. With this, the total amount of production linked incentive (PLI) announced for the electronics sector increase to Rs 2.30 lakh crore.

This scheme was approved in order to position India as a global hub for hi-tech production, as well as to attract large chip makers. It would also strengthen India’s ambitions to be self-reliant in electronics manufacturing and bring huge investments.

The government will also set up an independent ‘India Semiconductor Mission (ISM)’, for driving the long-term strategies to develop a sustainable semiconductor and display ecosystem in India.

Kumar Mangalam Birla receives Global Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Aditya Birla Group’s chairman, Kumar Mangalam Birla has received the Global Entrepreneur of the Year Award- Business Transformation from The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) based out of Silicon Valley.

Birla is the first Indian Industrialist to receive the award for global entrepreneurship along with top global business leaders Satya Nadella, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos.

The awardees were selected by an independent jury chaired by Venture Capitalist, Tim Draper, Founder, Draper University.

YouGov: PM Modi world’s 8th most admired man in 2021

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ranked 8th on the list of the world’s top 20 most admired men, in a survey carried out by data analytics company YouGov. PM Modi is ahead of Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Virat Kohli. The list has been compiled taking feedback from 42,000 people in 38 countries.

Apart from PM Modi, the other Indian men who, according to the survey, were the most admired in 2021 include Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Virat Kohli.

The list also includes the most admired Indian women of 2021 has Priyanka Chopra, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Sudha Murty.

ISRO signed six agreements with four countries for launching foreign satellites

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has signed six agreements with four countries for launching foreign satellites during 2021-2023. About 132 million Euros would be earned through the launching of these foreign satellites on a commercial basis.

The ISRO-Indian space agency, founded in 1969 to develop an independent Indian space program. Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space Dr Jitendra Singh has said that ISRO has launched a total of 342 satellites from 34 countries since 1999.

ISRO through its commercial arm, New Space India Limited (NSIL), has been launching satellites belong to other countries from Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Total 124 indigenous satellites have been put into Earth’s orbit including 12 student satellites.

Important For All Exam 2021:

ISRO Chairman: K.Sivan;

ISRO Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka;

ISRO established: 15 August 1969.

RBI imposes penalty on PNB and ICICI Bank

A penalty of Rs 1.8 crores has been imposed on Punjab National Bank (PNB) by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), while ICICI Bank has been fined Rs 30 lakh for deficiencies in regulatory compliances.

According to a statement issued by the central bank, PNB was found guilty of contravening provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, related to pledge of shares by it. In the case of ICICI Bank, the RBI said that after conducting a statutory inspection for supervisory evaluation of the bank, it found non-compliance with directions related to levy of charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance in saving accounts.

The RBI however made it clear that in both the cases, penalties were levied on deficiencies in regulatory compliances and it was not a pronunciation on the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the banks with their respective customers.

Jharkhand CM launched SAHAY scheme for maoist-hit areas

The Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren has launched a Sports Action toward Harnessing Aspiration of Youth (SAHAY) scheme aimed at nurturing young sporting talents in Maoist-hit districts of the state.

This scheme has been launched to curb the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) which affected 19 of the state’s 24 districts.

Boys and girls in the 14-19 age group from villages to ward level will be registered under the scheme and will be given opportunities to display their skills in basketball, volleyball, hockey and athletics.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Chief Minister of Jharkhand: Hemant Soren;

Governor: Ramesh Bais.

PM Modi inaugurates All India Mayors’ Conference in Varanasi

PM Narendra Modi will inaugurate and address All India Mayors’ Conference in Varanasi via video conferencing. 

It is being organized by Dept of Urban Development, UP. 

Theme: New Urban India.

Govt has launched multiple schemes and initiatives to address the issues of dilapidated urban infrastructure and lack of amenities. 

A 3-day exhibition is also being organized to showcase achievements of Centre and UP govt in the sphere of urban development. 

Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurates first direct flight on Guwahati-Pune route

Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M. Scindia flagged off the first direct flight of Indigo airlines on Guwahati (Assam) to Pune (Maharashtra) route. 

Guwahati is connected with 24 cities of the country with 885 aircraft movements.

Commencement of the flight operations on this route will assist people of Guwahati and its adjoining areas as well as passengers from Pune with seamless movement. 

People can travel between two cities in 3 hours 15 minutes.

MeitY organizes 25th CISO Deep Dive Training program

National e-Governance Division under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is conducting six-day deep dive training program for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and frontline IT officials. 

It is a part of a series of workshops under Cyber Surakshit Bharat initiative.

It will help CISOs and other participants to equip themselves with better understanding of the emerging cyber threat landscape, understand best practices in cyber security. 

M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurates Conference on Tuberculosis among Women

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has inaugurated National Parliamentary Conference on Tuberculosis among Women. 

Conference underlined that undernutrition along with its engendered pattern is an important and established risk factor for the progression of latent TB infection to active TB.

TB: It is one of the major public health challenges for India. Each year, over 24.8 lakh new TB cases emerge in India with more than 4 lakh people succumbing to the disease annually.

Railway starts to run 4 Rajdhani Express trains with Upgraded Tejas Rakes

Indian Railways has introduced new era of train travel experience with enhanced comfort with the conversion of Rajdhani Express coaches with new upgraded Tejas Trains. 

Introduction of modern Tejas Sleeper type train for long distance journey is another paradigm shift by Indian Railways for enhancing the travel experience for the passengers.

The upgraded coaches has Automatic Entrance Doors, PA/PIS, Fire and Smoke Detection Suppression system, CCTV, LED Lights, etc. 

Union Minister launches MIS portal for rankings in Land Acquisition

Union Minister Giriraj Singh has launched MIS (Management Information System) portal for rankings of States/UTs in Land Acquisition Projects under Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, 2013. 

As per the ranking and performance, top 3 States and districts will be awarded. 

Portal is developed by  NIC team of Dept of Land Resources with zero cost. 

Link of the portal is larr.dolr.gov.in. 

PM addresses farmers at National Conclave on Natural Farming

PM Modi virtually addressed valedictory function of national conclave on agriculture and food processing held during 3-day pre-Vibrant Gujarat Summit at Anand. 

It will focus on natural farming and providing information to farmers on its benefits and issues of agriculture and food processing including Zero budget natural farming.

It will be attended by over 5000 farmers, apart from those farmers connected Live through ICAR, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and ATMA network. 

MEA to organize second Atal Bihari Vajpayee Lecture on 24th Dec

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will be organizing second Atal Bihari Vajpayee Lecture on 24th December 2021. 

The lecture will be delivered by Dr. Michael Fullilove, Executive Director of Lowy Institute of Australia.

The lecture will be based on ‘Australia, India and the Indo-Pacific: The need for strategic imagination’.

It is the second edition of this lecture series, which was instituted in memory of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

S Jaishankar to host third India Central Asia Dialogue in New Delhi

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be hosting third meeting of India Central Asia Dialogue in New Delhi from 18th to 20th December.

Participants: Foreign Ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. 

Second meeting was organized by India in October 2021 via video conferencing. 

The dialogue discuss further strengthening of relations with particular focus on trade, connectivity, and development cooperation.

Rajnath Singh gives Raksha Mantri Awards for Excellence 2021

Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh gave away Raksha Mantri Awards for Excellence 2021 on the 96th Raising Day of Directorate General Defence Estates in New Delhi.

Recipients were awarded for innovation and digital achievements in the fields of health, education, and sanitation along with public service and land management.

New categories of award: Swachh Chhawani Swasth Chhawani, Digital Accomplishments, Innovation in Public Services, Land and Record management, etc.

Union Minister addresses DST-CII Technology Summit 2021

Union Minister Jitendra Singh addresses the 27th edition of DST-CII Technology Summit 2021 in New Delhi. 

Partner countries: Brazil, Canada, Russia and the Netherland. 

Organized by: Dept of Science & Technology in partnership with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). 

It will be attended by global pool of technology experts, government leaders, eminent academicians, industry stalwarts, and startups to engage in high-level technology leadership dialogues. 

MM Naravane appointed as Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee

Chief of Army Staff, General MM Naravane has been appointed as the Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee (CoSC) by the government. 

He succeeded Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, who expired in a helicopter crash. 

Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee is the most senior and highest ranking officer of the Indian Armed Forces.

He is the principal military advisor to the president of the republic, the Minister of Defence and the prime minister.

UNESCO recognises Kolkata’s Durga Puja as Intangible Cultural Heritage

UNESCO has added Durga Puja in Kolkata to its 2021 list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, giving international recognition to the biggest religious festival of the 331-year-old city and the state of West Bengal.

The UNESCO’s announcement was welcomed by Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) as chief minister Mamata Banerjee is widely recognized as the biggest patron of the festival.

US Fashion Brand “Patagonia” selects Khadi Denim for its Apparels

US-based world’s leading fashion brand, Patagonia, is now using handcrafted Khadi Denim fabric for making Denim apparels. Patagonia, through textile major Arvind Mills, has purchased nearly 30,000 meters of Khadi Denim Fabric worth Rs 1.08 crore from Gujarat.

The purchase of Khadi Denim by Patagonia has created additional 1.80 lakh man-hours, i.e. 27,720 man-days of work for Khadi artisans. In July 2017, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) signed an agreement with Arvind mills Limited, Ahmadabad, to trade Khadi Denim products around the world.

Since then, Arvind Mills has been purchasing a large quantity of Khadi Denim fabric every year from KVIC-certified Khadi institutions of Gujarat.

Nation Observes 50th Vijay Diwas on 16 December 2021

In India, Vijay Diwas (also called Victory Day) is celebrated every year on December 16. The country is celebrating the 50th Vijay Diwas in 2021.

Vijay Diwas is observed to commemorate the service, valour, and sacrifices of the gallant men of the Indian Armed Forces’ victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war.

On this day, we pay homage to all the soldiers who had defended the nation in the war. The Indo-Pakistan war of 1971 which began on December 3 lasted for 13 days and officially ended on December 16, after which Pakistan surrendered to India.

It was on this day in 1971, the chief of the Pakistani forces, General AA Khan Niazi, along with 93 thousand troops, had surrendered unconditionally to the allied forces consisting of the Indian Army and Mukti Bahini. The end of the war also resulted in the subsequent secession of East Pakistan into Bangladesh.

A Book titled ‘Pride, Prejudice and Punditry’ by Dr Shashi Tharoor

Former union minister and Lok Sabha Member of Parliament Dr. Shashi Tharoor‘s 23rd book titled ‘Pride, Prejudice and Punditry’ was launched in Hyderabad, Telangana.

There are ten sections in this book, each devoted to a particular topic such as modern Indian history, Indian Politics, etc. He has won ‘Sahitya Akademi Award’ for 2019, awarded to his book – ‘An Era of Darkness.

India inducts 148 athletes in list of TOPS athletes for 2024 Olympics

A total of 148 athletes, including 20 new inductees, in seven Olympic disciplines and six Paralympic disciplines, have been identified for support under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme at a meeting of the Mission Olympic Cell of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

The TOP scheme which is an attempt to provide assistance to India’s top athletes. This scheme was started in 2014.

The Mission Olympic Cell approved lists in Cycling, Sailing, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Weightlifting and Wrestling as well as Para Sports (Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis). Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Boxing, Equestrian, Fencing, Golf, Gymnastics, Judo, Rowing and Tennis will be taken up in the next meeting later this month.

Paytm launches EdTech Platform “Paytm Wealth Academy”

Paytm, which got listed in bourses last month, has announced the launch of Paytm Wealth Academy, a tech-powered educational platform. The launch of the wealth academy is initially on the Paytm Money app, the wealth management app owned by Paytm’s wholly-owned subsidiary Paytm Money. Paytm Wealth Academy will initially be available to select users, followed by a complete rollout.

The Paytm Wealth Academy will allow users to learn trading and financial concepts at their own pace at their level of comfort. The platform offers a wide catalogue of courses and webinars along with personalized recommendations for users, curated to complement their existing knowledge.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Paytm Founded: August 2010;

Paytm Headquarters: Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India;

Paytm CEO: Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

Wholesale inflation surges to 14.23% in November

Producers’ inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) has reached an all-time high in the current series at 14.23 per cent in November.

This is the eighth successive month of double digits WPI (mainly due to the hardening of prices of mineral oils, basic metals, crude petroleum and natural gas).

Wholesale Price-based Index (WPI) inflation base year is 2011-12. Also, the spike is highest since April 2005.

ADB projected growth forecast for 2021-2022 for India at 9.7%

Asian Development Bank has trimmed its 2021 growth forecast for India to 9.7 per cent from 10 per cent but left the 2022 growth forecast unchanged at 7.5 per cent.

The inflation forecast of developing Asia was revised to 2.1 per cent for 2021 and unchanged at 7 per cent for 2022.

In its Asian Development Outlook Supplement Report of December 2021, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has trimmed the growth forecasts for developing Asia for 2021-2022 to reflect the economic impact and uncertainty caused by the new Omicron COVID -19 variant.

Axis Bank tied up with Swift to provide digital banking solution

Axis Bank is working with new digital services from provider Swift to provide a comprehensive digital solution to clients.

The bank is integrating with different digitization initiatives by government bodies and service providers to extend an end-to-end service to business clients.

Axis bank’s B2B (business-to-business) digitization efforts are being supported by Swift, a cooperative of global banks that acts as an intermediary between banks and sets standards.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Axis Bank Founded: 3 December 1993;

Axis Bank Headquarters: Mumbai;

Axis Bank MD & CEO: Amitabh Chaudhary;

Axis Bank Chairperson: Shri Rakesh Makhija.

Odisha tie-up with UNCDF to launch “Mission Shakti Living Lab”

Odisha inked an agreement with United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) to launch “Mission Shakti Living Lab” for the financial empowerment of women. A Global Centre for Financial Health, to launch Mission Shakti Living Lab empowering women economically and drive gender equality.

With the use of digital technologies and e-commerce, it will increase the income and financial well-being of women, self-help groups (SHGs) and households by helping them in the factors of planning, saving, borrow or spending better. It will address the barriers related to the autonomy and financial freedom of women.

Mission Shakti was launched in 2001 to enhance the holistic development of women, there are 6.02 lakh self-help groups (SHGs) comprising 70 lakh members across rural and urban areas of Odisha under the initiative. This initiative led to an increase in the income of SHG members from Rs 3,000 to 15,000 per month in Odisha.

Important For All Exam 2021:

UN Capital Development Fund Founded: 1966;

UN Capital Development Fund Headquarters: New York, United States;

UN Capital Development Fund Executive Secretary: Preeti Sinha.

IIT-Delhi tie-up with IAF to improve indigenisation efforts

IIT-Delhi signed an MoU with Indian Air Force (IAF) to support requirements towards indigenous solutions in various weapon systems.

Under the MoU, The IAF has identified key focus areas involving the development of technology and finding indigenous solutions towards the sustenance of various weapon systems.

The partnership between IIT Delhi and IAF will also boost the efforts by Base Repair Depots (BRDs) of Maintenance Command IAF.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Indian Air Force Establishment: 8 October 1932;

Indian Air Force Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi;

Indian Air Force Chief of the Air Staff: Vivek Ram Chaudhari;

Indian Air Force Motto: Touch the Sky with Glory.

Govt laid foundation stone for Maa Umiya Dham Development Project in Gujarat

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has laid the foundation stone of Umiya Mata Dham temple and temple premises under Maa Umiya Dham Development Project at Umiya Campus in Sola in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

They will be developed at a cost of Rs 1,500 crore on 74,000 square yards of land. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has virtually attended and addressed the foundation stone laying of the project. He stated the Project as an example of the notion of ‘SabkaPrayas’ (Efforts of everyone).

Important For All Exam 2021:

Gujarat Capital: Gandhinagar;

Gujarat Governor: Acharya Devvrat;

Gujarat Chief minister: Bhupendrabhai Patel.

7th edition of India International Science festival begins in Panaji

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated the seventh edition of the India International Science Festival at Panaji, Goa.

The theme of the 4-day science festival is ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ – “Celebrating Creativity, Science, Technology and Innovation for a prosperous India”.

First India International Science Festival was held in 2015 at IIT Delhi. The main aim of the Science Festival is to bring into use the innovations by the people and develop technology that is affordable to the masses.

Adani signs agreement with SECI for green power

Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) has signed an agreement with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to supply 4,667 MW of green power.

It is the world’s largest-ever green power purchase agreement.

The agreement is part of a manufacturing-linked solar tender of 8,000 MW awarded to AGEL by SECI in June 2020.

So far, AGEL has signed PPAs with SECI for a total generation capacity of close to 6,000 MW of the 8,000 MW awarded in 2020.

International Tea Day: 15th December

International Tea Day is observed every year on December 15 in countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Uganda, India, and Tanzania.

It was first observed in New Delhi in India in 2005.

Tea is the second most used drink in the world after water.

Aim: to draw global attention of governments and citizens to impact of global tea trade on workers and growers, and has been linked to requests for price supports and fair trade. 

Life Insurance Corporation of India rolls out Dhan Rekha plan

LIC has introduced new Dhan Rekha plan with effect from December 13, 2021.

LIC’s Dhan Rekha is a Non-Linked, Non-Participating, Individual, Savings, Life Insurance Plan that offers an attractive combination of protection and savings.

Sum assured: 2,00,000

Maximum amount: Nil

Survival benefits:

20 years- 10% of Basic Sum Assured at the end of each of 10th and 15th policy year.

30 years- 15% of Basic Sum Assured at the end of each of 15th, 20th and 25th policy year. 

Askot wildlife sanctuary declared as eco-sensitive zone

Uttarakhand Pithoragarh’s Askot Wildlife Sanctuary has been finally declared as an Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ).

Sanctuary area has been reduced stretch of 146 square kms along which over 111 villages are located has been kept out of the ESZ ambit to make the flagship species habitat safe from human interferences.

It is known as ‘Green Paradise on the Earth’. 

Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) are areas in India notified by Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC). 

Ravinder Bhakar assume charge of NDFC and CFSI

CEO of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), Ravinder Bhakar has assumed charge of National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), Films Division, and Children Films Society of India (CFSI). 

He is 1999-batch officer of Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS). 

He has been assigned these charges in addition to his present duties as CEO of the film certification body.

Anjalli Ravi Kumar appointed as CSO of Zomato

Ex-Unilever executive Anjalli Ravi Kumar has been appointed as Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) of Zomato.

Prior to this, she worked with Unilever as Global Sustainability Director. She is a recipient of the Unilever Global Heroes Award in 2017 for launching a unique mobile skilling programme. 

Apart from her, Nitin Savara has been appointed as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer of the company. 

He was earlier a Partner at EY, will work with Zomato CFO Akshant Goyal.

Haiderpur wetlands becomes 47th Ramsar site of India

Uttar Pradesh’s Haiderpur wetland has been added to the list of Ramsar sites/wetlands of international importance. 

It is 47th Ramsar site of India. 

Haiderpur is human-made wetland that spreads over an area of 6,908 hectares in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh.

It is formed in 1984 on a floodplain of the River Ganga on Madhya Ganga Barrage within the boundaries of Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary.

It is home to more than 30 species of plants, over 300 species of birds.

Pawan Kumar appointed as Director (Commercial) of IGL

Pawan Kumar has been appointed as Director (Commercial) of Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) with effect from December 1, 2021. 

His tenure will be of three years subjects to approval by shareholders of the company. 

He replaced Amit Garg who has been repatriated to BPCL. 

IGL is a joint venture company between GAIL (India) Limited, BPCL and Govt of NCT of Delhi. It was established in 1998 and operates primarily in Delhi.

Five Indian brands in top 100 global powers of luxury goods list

Five Indian brands are placed in the top 100 global powers of luxury goods list, according to Deloitte Global 2021 edition of Global Powers of Luxury Goods.

Tata group firm Titan is ranked 22nd and is among 20 fastest-growing luxury companies. 

Kalyan Jewellers, Joyalukkas, PC Jewellers, and Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri Ltd, have been ranked 37th, 46th, 57th, and 92nd, respectively. 

Top luxury brands featured leading players from EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa). 

Dubai govt becomes world's first 100% paperless government

Dubai has become world's first government to turn 100% paperless, savings 1.3 billion Dirham (USD 350 million) and 14-million-man hours.

All internal, external transactions and procedures in Dubai Government are now 100% digital and managed through comprehensive digital government services platform.

The move also reinforces Dubai's status as a world-leading digital capital and as a role model in designing govt operations and services that enhance customer happiness. 

RBI introduces tough PCA framework for large NBFCs

RBI has introduced prompt corrective action (PCA) framework for large non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) with effect from October 2022. 

It will put restrictions on para-banks whenever vital financial metrics dip below prescribed threshold.

The move will bring NBFCs almost on a par with banks in terms of supervision and regulatory reach.

This follows scale-based regulations and revision in non-performing asset norms brought in by the regulator for the sector.

Leena Nair appointed as global CEO of ‘Chanel’ Fashion House

Leena Nair (52 years) has been appointed as the new global Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of French fashion house 'Chanel'.

She will assume the office with effect from January 2021.

She was working with Unilever for over 30 years, most recently as the chief of human resources and a member of the company's executive committee.

Chanel was founded in 1910 by fashion legend Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel as a hat boutique on rue Cambon in Paris.

Gothic novel author Anne Rice passes away

American gothic-fiction writer Anne Rice, best known for The Vampire Chronicles novel series, passed away.

Anne Rice’s debut novel, published in 1976, Interview with the Vampire revolves around a vampire named Louis de Pointe du Lac, who narrates the story of his life to a reporter. Her other works: Pandora, Violin, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, The Witching Hour etc.

National Energy Conservation Day 2021

Every year on the 14th of December, National Energy Conservation day is celebrated in India. This occasion has been celebrated since 1991 when is led by the Ministry of power.

This day is celebrated to raise awareness regarding the conservation of energy as it is the best way to have a greener and brighter future.

Back in 2001, the Indian bureau of energy efficiency implemented the Indian energy conservation act which focused on formulating policies regarding energy conservation.

“Watershed: How We Destroyed India’s Water And How We Can Save It” authored by Mriduala Ramesh

Mriduala Ramesh, the founder of Sundaram Climate Institute, which works on water and waste solutions and the angel investor in cleantech start-ups, has authored a new book titled “Watershed: How We Destroyed India’s Water And How We Can Save It”.

Mriduala Ramesh is the author of “The Climate Solution” and she writes regularly on climate issues.

She is also a member of the board of trustees of World Wildlife Fund (WWF), India, and chairperson of the board of governors at the National Institute of Technology, Andhra Pradesh (AP).

Uttar Pradesh holds the top position in Total Registered EVs

Winter Session of the Parliament, Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways, informed the Rajya Sabha on the state of Electric Vehicles (EV) in India.

As per the data, India has a total of 870,141 registered EVs, with Uttar Pradesh (UP) holding the top spot with 255,700 registered EVs. UP is followed by Delhi (125,347), Karnataka (72,544), Bihar (58,014) and Maharashtra (52,506) in successive positions.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Uttar Pradesh Capital: Lucknow;

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath;

Uttar Pradesh Governor: Anandiben Patel.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurates Swarnim Vijay Parv

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has inaugurated Swarnim Vijay Parv commemorating 50 years of India’s victory in the 1971 war. He inaugurates ‘Wall of Fame -1971 Indo-Pak War’ at the inaugural ceremony.

Swarnim Vijay Parv is an event commemorating the valour & professionalism of the Armed Forces and their contribution to the liberation of Bangladesh in the Indo-Pak 1971 war, at India Gate Lawns in New Delhi on December 12, 2021.

The event marks the culmination of year-long celebrations of 50 years of India’s victory in 1971. The event will be opened to the public after the inauguration. Many dignitaries, including those from Bangladesh, will be present.

Karnataka & UNDP signed LoU as a part of ‘Code-Unnati’

Department of Youth Empowerment & Sports, Government of Karnataka has signed a Letter of Understanding (LoU) with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a part of the State-level initiative ‘Code-Unnati’ to improve the access to entrepreneurship and employment opportunities among the youths, including women.

The initiative involves United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and is supported by SAP India Lab’s CSR Strategies will be implemented in 4 districts of Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara, Dakshina Kannada and Raichuru.

Important For All Exam 2021:

United Nations Development Programme Founder: 1965;

United Nations Development Programme Headquarters: New York, United States;

United Nations Development Programme Administrator: Achim Steiner.

Madhya Pradesh govt organised first drone Mela at Gwalior

In Madhya Pradesh, the first drone fair in the country was organised at Gwalior. Gwalior Drone Mela was organised jointly by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Government of India, the Government of Madhya Pradesh, and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).

Addressing the youths and farmers present at the “Drone Mela” in Gwalior, MP Chief Minister said that Madhya Pradesh will be made a leading state by using drone technology. Mr Scindia said that five Drone Schools will be opened in Gwalior, Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and Satna in Madhya Pradesh.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Madhya Pradesh Capital: Bhopal;

Madhya Pradesh Governor: Mangubhai C. Patel;

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister: Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Indian-American Gautam Raghavan elevated to key White House position

US President Joe Biden has elevated Indian-American political advisor Gautam Raghavan as the head of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel.

White House Presidential Personnel Office (PPO), also written as Office of Presidential Personnel, is the White House office tasked with vetting new appointees. The PPO is one of the offices most responsible for assessing candidates to work at or for the White House.

A first-generation immigrant, Raghavan was born in India, raised in Seattle and graduated from Stanford University. He is the editor of the book ‘West Wingers: Stories from the Dream Chasers, Change Makers, and Hope Creators Inside the Obama White House’.

UAE becomes first country to transition to 4.5-day Work Week

The United Arab Emirates has announced to change its existing five-day workweek to a four-and-a-half day starting January 1, becoming the world’s first country to make the employee-friendly transition as part of its efforts to improve productivity and work-life balance.

According to the new schedule, Monday to Thursday the work timings would be from 7.30 am to 3.30 pm, followed by a half-day on Friday from 7.30 am to 12.00 pm. Saturdays and Sundays are full-day holidays under the new rule.

The government’s move is expected to make it come closer to the timings of the US, the UK, and Europe, boosting commerce. The Emirati govt of Dubai and Abu Dhabi have already announced the four-and-a-half day workweek.

Important For All Exam 2021:

UAE Capital: Abu Dhabi;

UAE Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham;

UAE President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Centre to launch National Helpline against atrocities on SCs, STs

Union Minister Social Justice and Empowerment, Dr Virendra Kumar has launched National Helpline against atrocities on SCs, STs.

The objective of the helpline, reportedly, is to build awareness about the provisions of the Act that are aimed at ending discrimination and providing protection to all. The Helpline will be available 24-7 on toll-free number – 14566.

This Service will be available in Hindi, English, and Regional languages of the States. The objective of this helpline is to spread awareness about the provision of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

All registered complaints will be investigated and all charge sheets filed are prosecuted in the Courts for decision within the given timelines in the Act. A docket number will be given for each complaint received from Victim/Complainant/NGOs regarding non-compliance with The Protection of Civil Rights (PCR) Act, 1955 and the Prevention of Atrocities (POA) Act, 1989.

IMO: India re-elected to International Maritime Organisation Council

India has been re-elected to International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Council for the 2022-2023 biennium under category B states.

The Assembly of the International Maritime Organization has elected the Members of its Council for the 2022-2023 biennium.

The Council is the executive organ of IMO and is responsible, under the Assembly, for supervising the work of the Organization.

Important For All Exam 2021:

International Maritime Organisation Headquarters: London, United Kingdom;

International Maritime Organisation Founder: United Nations;

International Maritime Organisation Founded: 17 March 1948.

PM Modi inaugurates Kashi Vishwanath Dham in Varanasi

PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the first phase of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham project.

The project is spread over 5 lakh square feet and connects the temple premises to the River Ganga.

Project is constructed at a cost of ₹339 crore and is done with a vision to create an easily accessible pathway connecting the temple to the banks of river Ganga.

23 new buildings have been constructed and will provide diverse facilities to pilgrims and devotees.

Mandiant appoints Balaji Rao to head India, SAARC markets

Mandiant Inc has appointed Balaji Rao as the new country manager for India and SAARC markets.

It is a Nasdaq-listed cyber security solutions company.

Mandiant knows more about threat actors than any other company in the security industry and responds to more than 1,000 cyber security breaches each year.

An industry veteran with over 25 years’ experience Balaji will be spearheading the team to help organisations in India gain their cyber security advantage. 

Federal Bank and Star Health Insurance tie-up for bancassurance

Federal Bank has partnered with Star Health and Allied Insurance Co Ltd as a corporate agent to provide health insurance products to the bank customers. 

The bank’s customers can avail benefits of Star Health’s retail products and group affinity products through the bank’s various distribution channels.

Through this partnership, the will be in a position to offer our customers a wide range of affordable health insurance products. 

Federal Bank CEO: Shyam Srinivasan. 

Karnataka Bank bags two DigiDhan award from MeitY

Karnataka Bank has been conferred with two DigiDhan awards instituted by the MeitY.

 The bank received these awards for achieving the target with the highest percentage in BHIM-UPI transactions under the private sector bank category consecutively for two years – 2019-20 and 2020-21.

The bank has always stood ahead of the time in adopting the latest digital technology to its products in order to provide the best in class service to its customers.

ADB approves Rs 2,645-crore loan to improve urban services in India

ADB has approved a Rs 2,644.85 crore (USD 350 million) loan for India to help improve its urban services.

The loan supports the policies established by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to accelerate universal coverage of piped water supply and improved sanitation.

This is part of the recently launched national programme AMRUT 2.0 and to provide affordable housing to all, including poor, urban migrant and industrial workers, under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. 

Saudi Arabia bans Tablighi Jamaat, calls it ‘gate of terror’

Saudi Arabia has banned the Tablighi Jamaat, terming it a "danger to society" and "one of the gates of terrorism".

The govt made an announcement on social media directing the mosques to warn people against associating with them. 

Government has also warned people against associating with the Tablighi Jamaat which has been banned in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi government also asked mosques to inform people about the danger that Tablighi Jamaat pose to society.

Max Verstappen wins maiden F1 World Drivers' Championship

Red Bull's Max Verstappen won maiden F1 title by beating Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes in the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP.

Mercedes bagged another World Constructor's Championship title but were denied the double they would have wanted.

Verstappen ended the season with 10 wins to Hamilton's eight, having also led more laps and taken more poles and podiums.

Hamilton's team mate Valtteri Bottas was 6th in his last race for the team. 

Himachal Govt constitutes 'Samanya Varg Aayog'

Himachal Pradesh govt announced setting up Commission for upper castes, on the lines of Madhya Pradesh.

The Commission, to be named as ‘Samanya Varg Aayog’, will be formalised through a legislative enactment in three months. 

A Scheduled Caste Commission is already in operation in Himachal Pradesh and is chaired by former Shimla MP Virendra Kashyap.

The Commission is being formed considering the long-pending demand of the people belonging to the general category. 

IPPB, NPCI tie up to launch doorstep bill payments service

IPPB has tied up with NPCI's bill payments system Bharat BillPay to facilitate cash-based bill payments service at customer’s doorstep.

Payments for various utility bills can be done on the Bharat BillPay platform. 

The aim is to provide access to payment solutions to millions of unbanked and underserved customers in remote locations at their doorstep. 

The service will enable payments of mobile postpaid, D2H recharge, school fees, and other utility services. 

ISRO, Oppo India collaborate to ramp up messaging service in oceans

To strengthen the R&D of NaVIC or the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) messaging service, the ISRO has signed a pact with Oppo India.

NavIC is a messaging service platform, which provides regional navigation services covering the entire country. 

As per the MoU, ISRO and Oppo India will exchange technical information of NavIC messaging services to build rapid, ready-to-use, end-to-end application-specific solutions.

Naftali Bennett Marks First Ever Visit by Israeli PM To UAE

Israeli PM Naftali Bennett visited UAE, marking the 1st-ever visit by a Jewish PM to the Arab state.

UAE, part of the Arab League, had boycotted Israel but a normalization deal inked last year has established economic and diplomatic ties between the two.

Bennett is poised to meet UAE Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed al-Nahyan. 

Israel had earlier signed the "Abraham Accords," to normalize relations b/w Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.

India ends Asian Rowing Championship with a total of 6 medals

India won total of six medals, including two gold and 4 silver medals in the Asian Rowing Championship in Thailand.

Senior rower Arvind Singh bagged a gold in the lightweight Men's single sculls event while his compatriots won three silver medals.

India bagged silver medals in Men's Lightweight Double Sculls, Men's Quadrapul Sculls and in Men's Coxless Four.

In Lightweight Men's Double Sculls, India's Ashish Phugat and Sukhjinder Singh won the silver. 

India's Harnaaz Sandhu crowned Miss Universe 2021

India's Harnaaz Sandhu crowned as the 70th Miss Universe 2021.

The event was held in Eilat, Israel.

The 21-year-old from Punjab claimed the crown edging out Paraguay's Nadia Ferreira and South Africa's Lalela Mswane.

Ms Sandhu was presented the crown by Andrea Meza, former Miss Universe 2020 from Mexico.

Previously, only two Indians have worn the crown – Sushmita Sen in 1994, and Lara Dutta in 2000.

Previous Crown: Miss Diva 2021, Femina Miss India Punjab 2019.

India Skills Report 2022: Maharashtra Retains Top Position

The 9th edition of India Skills Report (ISR) 2022, released by Wheebox, Maharashtra has retained the top position in the list of states with the highest poll of employable talent followed by Uttar Pradesh and Kerala.

The theme of ISR 2022 – ‘Rebuilding and Reengineering the Future of Work’.  India Skills Report is a full-fledged report about the future of work, education, and skilling to match the talent demand and supply in a growing India.

Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu are the 3 states that have a higher job demand.

Pune is the city with the most highly employable resources with 78% of the test takers scoring above 60 per cent.

Fortune India’s Most Powerful Women in India 2021 announced

Fortune India released the list of most powerful women in India 2021 in which Union Minister, Ministry of Finance & Ministry of Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman ranked 1st.

She is followed by Reliance Foundation Chairperson and Goodwill Ambassador Nita Ambani in 2nd position, and Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist, World Health Organization (WHO) at 3rd.

International Mountain Day observed on 11 December

International Mountain Day is observed globally on December 11 every year. The day is celebrated to create awareness about the importance of mountains to life, to highlight the opportunities and constraints in mountain development and to build alliances that will bring positive change to mountain peoples and environments around the world.

The theme of this year’s International Mountain Day (IMD) on 11 December will be sustainable mountain tourism. Sustainable tourism in mountains can contribute to creating additional and alternative livelihood options and promoting poverty alleviation, social inclusion, as well as landscape and biodiversity conservation.

The day was established by the UN General Assembly in 2003 to encourage the sustainable development of mountains. United Nations had declared 2002 as the UN International Year of Mountains.

India won 41 medals at Asian Youth Para Games 2021

India claimed 41 medals (12 Gold, 15 Silver, 14 Bronze) at the 4th Asian Youth Para Games (AYPG), Asia’s biggest event held at Riffa city, Bahrain. The event is organized by the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) of Bahrain with the support of the local government.

Over 700 athletes from around 30 countries participated in the event from 2ndto 6th December 2021. The 5th edition of the Asian Youth Para Games 2025 will be hosted by Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Balkrishna Doshi Awarded 2022 RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced that Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi will be the recipient of the 2022 Royal Gold Medal.

The distinction, approved by Her Majesty The Queen and awarded each year since 1848, is given to architects or practices in recognition of a lifetime’s work and the impact on the evolution of the field and the built environment.

Airtel, Invest India launch ‘Startup Innovation Challenge’

Bharti Airtel and Invest India, National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency jointly launched ‘Airtel India Startup Innovation Challenge’ for Startups to develop solutions in 5G, IoT.

Under the Startup Innovation Challenge, early-stage technology companies are being invited to demonstrate differentiated solutions in areas such as 5G, Cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), and digital entertainment.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Airtel Founded: 1995;

Airtel Headquarters: New Delhi, India;

Airtel Chairman: Sunil Bharti;

Airtel MD & CEO: Mittal Gopal Vittal.

PM Modi participates in ‘Summit For Democracy’

US President Joe Biden is hosting the first of two Summits for Democracy, which takes place virtually between December 9–10.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually addressed the summit saying that ‘democratic spirit’ and ‘pluralistic ethos’ are ingrained in Indians. A total of 100 nations participated in this ‘Summit for Democracy’.

Even Ukraine and Taiwan were invited to the summit but Russia and China were not. Both these countries released a joint statement in which they said that the US is displaying a “Cold-War mentality” that will “stoke up ideological confrontation and a rift in the world”.

Federal Bank and Star Health Insurance tie-up for bancassurance

Federal Bank has entered into a Bancassurance partnership with Star Health and Allied Insurance Co Ltd as a corporate agent to provide health insurance products for the Bank’s 8.90 million customers across India.

The Bank’s customers can avail benefits of Star Health’s retail products and group affinity products through the bank’s various distribution channels which help the customers to address their complete financial needs under one roof.

It is a partnership between a bank and an insurance company that would enable them to offer insurance products to the bank’s customers.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Federal Bank Establishment: April 23, 1931;

Federal Bank Headquarters: Aluva, Kerala;

Federal Bank Managing Director & CEO: Shyam Srinivasan;

Federal Bank Tagline: Your Perfect Banking Partner.

Haiderpur wetland in Uttar Pradesh recognised as Ramsar Site

The Haiderpur Wetland abutting the Madhya Ganga barrage, about 10 km from Bijnor in western Uttar Pradesh, has been recognised under the 1971 Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Uttar Pradesh is now home to 9 Ramsar wetlands.

The wetland has also been identified under Namami Gange, a central flagship, as a model wetland along the Ganga. With this, there are now a total of 47 such designated areas in the country.

Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami launched ‘Milk Price Incentive Scheme’

Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami has launched the ‘Milk Price Incentive Scheme‘ in Dehradun. The scheme is aimed to provide incentives benefiting around 53,000 people of Uttarakhand.

The state government is targeting to spend INR 444.62 crore to open 500 milk sales centres in Uttarakhand. It is a Direct Bank Transfer (DBT) scheme, the amount under the scheme would go directly into the accounts of the beneficiaries through their linked bank accounts.

In the Dehradun district, milk production and consumption are completely contradictory. On one hand, the government is making many attempts to enhance milk production, all government claims of promoting products are proving to be fictitious. Despite thousands of hours of labour, milk is not produced in accordance with demand.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Uttarakhand Capitals: Dehradun (Winter), Gairsain (Summer);

Uttarakhand Governor:  Lt Gen Gurmit Singh;

Uttarakhand Chief minister: Pushkar Singh Dhami.

Sanket Mahadev Sargar won gold in men’s Weightlifting Championships 2021

Sanket Mahadev Sargar has won the gold medal in the Men's 55kg snatch category at the ongoing Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships 2021 in Tashkent.

For the top-podium finish, Indian lifted the weight of 113kg.

With this lift, Sargar also created the new snatch national record.

Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships 2021 is currently being held concurrently in Tashkent along with World Weightlifting Championships 2021 from December 7 to 17. 

Jhilli Dalabehera won gold at Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships

Indian weightlifter Jhilli Dalabehera has won gold medal in the women's 49kg category at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. 

Dalabehera lifted total weight of 167kg with 73kg in snatch and 94kg in clean and jerk to win the yellow metal in the 49kg category.

Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships 2021 is currently being held concurrently in Tashkent along with World Weightlifting Championships 2021 from December 7 to 17. 

China is world's biggest captor of journalists: RSF Report

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has published a report titled titled 'The Great Leap Backwards of Journalism in China'.

As per the report, China is the world's biggest captor of journalists with at least 127 reporters currently detained.

China has justified the arrests of reporters and citizen journalists by accusing them of provoking trouble.

RSF ranks China 177th out of 180 in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index, just two places above North Korea.

Nirmala Sitharaman participates in G-20 Seminar virtually

Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman has participated virtually in the G20 International Seminar from New Delhi. 

The seminar is hosted in Bali by the G20 Presidency of Indonesia.

G20’s theme 2021: Recover Together, Recover Stronger. 

During this, FM underlined the importance of Inclusion, Investment, Innovation, and Institutions to support the path of global recovery.

IMO Award for exceptional bravery at sea to Indian Navy, ICG and Master

IMO council awarded Certificate of Commendation to Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and Master along with crew members of tugboat Ocean Bliss for exceptional and courageous efforts towards rescue operation of M/T New Diamond, which caught fire and was drifting towards the coast, laden with inflammable cargo. 

International Maritime Organization (IMO) award is conferred for exceptional bravery at sea annually to individuals or groups who, at the risk to their own lives.

BoM ties-up with NPCI to launch RuPay credit card

Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has tied up with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch its first RuPay credit card titled as ‘BOM Platinum RuPay Contactless Credit Card’. 

It offers 100 reward points as a welcome benefit to users on their first retail spending worth ₹1,000 or more and a complimentary annual membership fee for the first year. 

It also offers a fuel surcharge waiver of up to ₹200 on fuel transactions between ₹500 and ₹4,000. 

US hosted Summit for Democracy virtually

Summit for Democracy is being hosted by United States to renew democracy at home and confront autocracies abroad. 

It is a virtual summit, which is being held on December 9 to 10, 2021.

Three themes: defending against authoritarianism; addressing and fighting corruption; and advancing respect for human rights.

A total of 111 nations are participating in the summit across the world. 

India's maiden space mission ‘Gaganyaan’ to be launched in 2023

India's maiden space mission, Gaganyaan will be launched in 2023, making the country the fourth nation in the world to launch a human spaceflight mission after US, Russia, China.

Test vehicle flight for validation of Crew Escape System performance and first uncrewed mission of Gaganyaan are scheduled at the beginning of the second half of 2022.

It will be followed by 2nd uncrewed mission at the end of 2022 carrying ‘Vyommitra’ spacefaring human-robot developed by ISRO. 

Paytm Payments Bank gets RBI approval to operate as scheduled bank

Paytm Payments Bank has received RBI’s approval to operate as a scheduled bank, that will help it to expand its financial services operations. 

It has been included in the second schedule of RBI Act, 1934. 

After this, Paytm’s share price rose 2.62% to close at Rs 1,594.55 apiece. 

Apart from Paytm, Fino Payments Bank and India Post Payments Bank have also been included in the second schedule.

It can now participate in government- and other large corporations-issued requests.

Human Rights Day: 10th December

Human Rights Day is being observed every year on 10th December to mark the anniversary of the adoption of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by United Nations General Assembly in 1948.

UDHR is a milestone document, which proclaims the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being and is available in more than 500 languages. 

2021 Theme: EQUALITY - Reducing inequalities, advancing human rights. 

NASA launches X-ray space telescope to unlock secrets of black hole

NASA has launched its new X-ray Mission titled as Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) to unlock the secrets of extreme cosmic objects.

It was launched through SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

It is built to study some of the most energetic objects in the universe like the remnants of exploded stars, powerful particle jets spewing from feeding black holes.

The mission is a collaboration between NASA and Italian Space Agency.

Padma Shri awardee Nanda Kishore Prusty passes away

Padma Shri awardee who is a well-known teacher from Odisha, Nanda Kishore Prusty (Nanda Sir), passed away. On 9th November 2021, he was conferred with the Padma Shri award for his contributions in the field of education. He belonged to Kantira village in Jajpur district, Odisha.

Nanda Kishore Prusty, a Class 7 pass out has dedicated several decades of his life in providing free education to children and adults in Jajpur and thus best known for his selfless dedication towards eradicating illiteracy in Odisha .

SAARC Charter Day 2021: 8th December

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Charter Day is observed annually on 8th December to commemorate the adoption of the SAARC Charter. This year marks the 37th anniversary of the regional group.

The charter was signed by the Leaders of SAARC Countries Heads of State or Government of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the First SAARC Summit held in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Important For All Exam 2021:

SAARC Chairmanship: Nepal;

SAARC Secretary-General: Esala Ruwan Weerakoon (Sri Lanka);

SAARC Secretariat: Kathmandu, Nepal.

Remember the Victims Prevent Genocide: 9 December

The International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime is observed annually on December 9.

The purpose of the day is to raise awareness of the Genocide Convention and its role in combating and preventing the crime of genocide, as defined in the Convention, and to commemorate and honour its victims.

9 December 2021 marks the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime, as well as the 73rd anniversary of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the “Genocide Convention”), the first human rights treaty adopted by the General Assembly.

International Anti-Corruption Day: 09 December

International Anti-Corruption Day is observed annually on 9 December to raise public awareness for anti-corruption. The day is observed since the passage of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption on 31 October 2003.

The 2021 International Anti-Corruption Day seeks to highlight the rights and responsibilities of everyone – including States, Government officials, civil servants, law enforcement officers, media representatives, the private sector, civil society, academia, the public and youth – in tackling corruption.

The theme of International Anti-Corruption Day 2021: “Your right, your role: say no to corruption”.

Indian Shuttler PV Sindhu won Silver at BWF World Tour Finals 2021

Indian Shuttler and 2-time Olympic medalist Pusarla V Sindhu, world’s number 7, won the silver at the 2021 Badminton World Federation(BWF) World Tour Finals, officially known as the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2021.

The reigning world champion PV Sindhu has won the BWF World Tour finals in 2018 and became the only Indian to achieve the feat.

Ram Nath Kovind Presented ‘President’s Standard’ to Indian Navy Squadron

President of India, Ram Nath Kovind has presented the ‘President’s Standard’ to the 22nd Missile Vessel Squadron of the Indian Navy, which is also known as the Killer Squadron at the ceremonial parade held at the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai, Maharashtra.

To mark this occasion, the postal department has released a special day cover and a commemorative stamp. The year 2021 also marks the 50 years of inception of the Missile Vessel Squadron, also known as Killers.

President’s Standard is the highest honour bestowed by the President, the Supreme Commander, to a Military unit in recognition of the Service rendered to the nation. President’s Standard is the equivalent to that of President’s colours, but this is awarded to relatively smaller military formations or units.

IIT-Kanpur Scientist Ropesh Goyal bags “Young Geospatial Scientist” Award

Ropesh Goyal from IIT-Kanpur won the ‘Young Geospatial Scientist’ award in recognition of his unique contribution to developing the Indian Geoid Model and computation software.

Member of Space Commission, Government of India, and former ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar presented the award to Goyal during the inaugural event of the DigiSmart India 2021 conference hosted by the Geospatial World.

The ‘Young Geospatial Scientist’ award and a gold medal have been presented every year since 2011 to promising scientists below 35 years of age in memory of Rachapudi Kamakshi, a strategic analyst with a strong inclination towards geography and geospatial studies.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman Ranked 37th on Forbes’ 2021 World’s 100 Most Powerful Women

Finance Minister(FM) of India, Nirmala Sitharaman has ranked 37th on the Forbes’ list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women 2021 or 18th Edition of Forbes’ list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.  She has been featured on the list for the 3rd year in a row. She was ranked 41st on the list in 2020 and 34th in 2019.

India’s seventh woman billionaire and the wealthiest self-made billionaire, Falguni Nayar, founder and CEO, Nykaa was ranked 88th on the list.

Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson of the HCL Technology, the first woman to lead a listed IT company in India was ranked 52nd on the list.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, executive chairperson and founder of Biocon was ranked 72nd on the list. She founded India’s largest listed biopharmaceutical firm in India in 1978.

The 3rd richest woman in the world, MacKenzie Scott, philanthropist, author and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was topped Forbes’ 2021 World’s 100 Most Powerful Women replacing the outgoing German chancellor Angela Merkel who topped the 15 out of 17 iterations of the list.

World Inequality Report 2022 announced

France-based World Inequality Lab published its report titled “World Inequality Report 2022”. This report was authored by Lucas Chancel, who is the co-director of World Inequality Lab. It was coordinated by famed French economist Thomas Piketty.

In 2021 the top 10 per cent and top 1 per cent of the Indian population holds 57 per cent and 22 per cent of total national income respectively, whereas the share of the bottom 50 per cent has gone down to 13 per cent.

The report notes that the top 1 % of India’s population owns more than one-fifth of the total national income in 2021.

The bottom half of the population earns just 13.1 per cent.

It highlights that economic reforms and liberalization that India has adopted, have mostly benefited the top 1 per cent.

Asia Power Index 2021: India Ranked as 4th

According to Lowy Institute Asia Power Index 2021, India has ranked 4th most powerful country in the Asia-Pacific region for comprehensive power out of 26 countries, with an overall score of 37.7 out of 100.

India’s overall score declined by 2 points compared to 2020. India again falls short of the major power threshold in 2021. India is one of 18 countries in Asia to trend downward in its overall score in 2021.

The top 10 countries for overall power in the Asia-Pacific region are the United States, China, Japan, India, Russian, Australia, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Lowy Institute Chairman of the Board: Frank Lowy AC;

Lowy Institute Headquarters: Sydney, Austr alia.

RBI imposed restrictions on Nagar Urban Co-operative Bank

The Reserve Bank of India has imposed several restrictions on Nagar Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, including restrictions on withdrawals up to Rs. 10,000 for customers.

RBI has issued the directions in the exercise of powers vested in it under subsection (1) of Section 35 A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 for six months.

The bank shall not, without prior approval of RBI, grant or renew any loans and advances, make any investment, incur any liability, disburse any payment, transfer or otherwise dispose of any of its properties or assets. The bank will continue to undertake banking business with restrictions till its financial position improves.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Nagar Urban Co-operative Bank Headquarters: Ahmednagar, Maharashtra;

Nagar Urban Co-operative Bank Acting CEO:  V. Rokde;

Nagar Urban Co-operative Bank Slogan: ‘One Family….. One Bank’.

Fitch Ratings cuts India’s FY22 GDP Growth Forecast to 8.4%

Fitch Ratings has slashed India’s economic growth forecast in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) to 8.4 per cent and raised the growth projection to 10.3 per cent for FY23, compared to October 2021 rating projections of 8.7 per cent (FY22) and 10 per cent (FY23).

Important For All Exam 2021:

Fitch Ratings President: Ian Linnell;

Fitch Ratings Headquarters: New York, United States.

PayPhi launches tokenization service that supports RuPay cards

Phi Commerce’s API (Application programming interface) first digital payments platform, PayPhi has become the first certified tokenization service for NTS supporting tokenization of RuPay cards.

Tokenization of cards as an alternate to storing card details with merchants. NPCI’s NTS platform enables PayPhi Tokenization service to provide partner merchants and aggregators with TROF.

Token Reference On File (TROF) turns sensitive cardholder data into randomly generated 16 digit numbers called “token” with no meaningful value if breached.

On the lines of the guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in September 2021 regarding tokenization of cards during online transactions, NPCI announced the launch of the NPCI Tokenization System (NTS).

Important For All Exam 2021:

NPCI Founded: 2008;

NPCI Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra;

NPCI MD & CEO: Dilip Asbe.

Shivalik SFB with indiagold launches loan against digital gold

Shivalik Small Finance Bank (SSFB) signed a partnership agreement with fintech firm, Indiagold to launch India’s first Loan against Digital Gold.

This agreement will enable customers to use their digital gold balance to avail of instant and digital loans up to Rs. 60,000 and also seamlessly access gold loans starting at a monthly interest of just 1%.

To provide access to secure and affordable credit to the customers looking for quick liquidity against their gold assets.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Shivalik Small Finance Bank Headquarters: Noida, Uttar Pradesh;

Shivalik Small Finance Bank MD & CEO: Suveer Kumar Gupta.

Kazhuveli Wetland declared as 16th Bird Sanctuary of Tamil Nadu

The Kazhuveli wetland situated in Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu has been declared as the 16th Bird Sanctuary by Surpiya Sahu, Environment and Forest Secretary, at the Minister of Environment Forest and Climate Change.

The declaration was made under subsection (1) of section 18 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The Kazhuveli wetlands is referred to as the 2nd largest Brackish Water Lake in South India, only after Pulicat lake.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Tamil Nadu Capital: Chennai;

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister: MK Stalin;

Tamil Nadu Governor: R.N.Ravi;

Tamil Nadu State Dance: Bharathanatyam.

Canada, Australia and UK join US boycott of Beijing Olympic

Canada will join the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights concerns.

The announcement came after the White House, the Australian government and the UK government confirmed diplomatic boycotts of the Winter Games in February to protest Chinese human rights abuses. China has vowed to react with “firm countermeasures.”

The diplomatic moves by Canada, the U.S., Britain and Australia do not affect their athletes’ ability to compete in the games. The 2022 Winter Olympics are an upcoming international winter multi-sport event.

This event is scheduled to take place from February 4 to 20, 2022 in Beijing, China. It will be the first Winter Olympics in China as well as the last of three consecutive Olympics which is to be held in East Asia, after the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan.

Olaf Scholz is sworn in as new German chancellor

German lawmakers officially elected Social Democrat, Olaf Scholz as the new chancellor, putting an end to 16 years of conservative rule under Angela Merkel.

He will lead a government composed of his Social Democrat Party, the business-friendly Free Democrats and the Greens, a coalition of parties never tried before at the federal level in Germany.

The 63-year-old, Scholz previously served as vice-chancellor and finance minister during the Merkel administration, was then sworn in as Germany’s next chancellor. Olaf Scholz has achieved the necessary majority of at least 369 votes. Based on article 63, paragraph 2 of the German Constitution he is elected chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Germany Capital: Berlin;

Germany Currency: Euro;

Germany President: Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

NITI Aayog launches ‘e-Sawaari India e-bus Coalition’

The National Institution of Transforming India (NITI) Aayog launched the ‘e-Sawaari India Electric Bus Coalition’ in partnership with Convergence Energy Service Ltd (CESL) and World Resources Institute, India (WRI India) and with the support from Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI).

The objective of the initiative is to share knowledge of various stakeholders – Central & State Govt. agencies, transit service providers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), on accelerating the process towards seamless adoption of e-bus services in India.

Through, e-Sawaari India Electric Bus Coalition, the central-, state-, and city-level government agencies, transit service providers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), financing institutions, and ancillary service providers will be able to share knowledge and their learnings on e-bus adoption in India.

Important For All Exam 2021:

World Resources Institute, India CEO: O P Agarwal;

World Resources Institute, India Establishment: 2011;

World Resources Institute, India Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Indonesia to displace India as world’s No 2 stainless steel producer

Indonesia is set to displace India as the world’s second largest producer this year with stainless steel production of 4.5 mt.

Despite being the world’s largest producer by far, China’s production is seen constrained by State regulations; but elsewhere in the world production is set to rise.

As a result, in 2022, world stainless steel production is forecast to set a record of 58.2 million tonnes (mt) registering a growth of 2.5 per cent.

SBI to sign MoU with Kendriya Sainik Board

State Bank of India (SBI) will sign an MoU with Kendriya Sainik Board to support and educate the children of war veterans, ex-servicemen, and war widows.

India’s largest bank said it will provide a grant of ₹1,000 per month to 8,333 war veterans’. 

The bank has contributed ₹10 crore to the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund.

The Armed Forces Flag Day is celebrated on December 7.

Microsoft launches cybersecurity skilling program in India

In a bid to address this skills gap and empower India’s workforce for a career in cybersecurity, Microsoft, launched a cybersecurity skilling program that aims to skill over one lakh learners by 2022.

The program is designed to provide a hands-on experience to learners in the fundamentals of security, compliance and identity.

Microsoft will conduct these courses along with its strategic consortium of partners, including Cloudthat, Koenig, RPS, and Synergetics Learning.

KVG Bank signs agreement with Liberty General Insurance

Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank , an RRB headquartered in Dharwad, has signed an MoU with Liberty General Insurance for selling general insurance products through 629 branches of KVGB.

The company will provide a variety of general health insurance products to the customers with reasonably affordable cost.

The bank has consistently enhanced its portfolio to meet the diverse financial needs of its customers and alliance in this regard is a step in that direction.

RIL inks $736 mn green loan pact to fund REC Solar acquisition

Reliance Industries has signed a $736 mn green loan agreement with 5 banks to fund its acquisition of REC Solar Holdings.

ANZ, Credit Agricole, DBS Bank, HSBC and MUFG were the lenders on the borrowing.

Reliance had announced the acquisition of 100% shareholding of REC Solar from China National Bluestar for $771 mn.

Singapore-incorporated REC Solar is the borrower on the loan, while Reliance New Energy Solar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL is the guarantor.

UAE becomes first country to transition to 4-and-half day work week

The UAE announced to change its existing five-day workweek to a four-and-a-half day starting January 1, 2022.

Becoming the world's first country to make the employee-friendly transition as part of its efforts to improve productivity and work-life balance.

The government's move is expected to make it come closer to timings of the US, the UK and Europe, boosting commerce.

The Emirati govt of Dubai and Abu Dhabi have already announced the four-and-a-half day workweek.

Three Indian companies among top 100 in arms sales globally

According to a report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), three Indian companies are among the world’s top 100 for combined arms sales in 2020.

The three are: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Indian Ordnance Factories, and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).

The three were ranked among the top 100 in arms sales in 2019 as well.

In the latest rankings, HAL is at number 42 with US$ 2.97 billion, up 1.5 per cent from 2019 sales.

Indian Army to hold multi-nation exercise PANEX-21 in Pune

The Indian Army is organising a multi-nation disaster management exercise with a special focus on relief in the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The exercise has been called PANEX 21 and will involve Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and India—BIMSTEC countries.

The aim of the exercise is to foster joint planning and build regional cooperation for responding to natural disasters.

PANEX 21 is planned to be conducted at Pune from Dec 20-22.

Piramal Realty ropes in Farhan Akhtar as brand ambassador

Piramal Realty, the real estate arm of the Piramal Group, has roped in actor Farhan Akhtar as a brand ambassador for its portfolio of residential projects in Mumbai and Than. 

In September, the company had appointed cricketer Rahul Dravid as a brand ambassador for its portfolio of residential projects.

India replaces Brazil as top food supplier to Arab League countries

India has become the top food exporter to the 22-nation League of Arab States for the first time in 15 years, replacing Brazil.

A Reuters report from Sao Paulo said India accounted for 8.25% of the total agribusiness products imported by the 22 Arab League members last year, higher than Brazil’s 8.15%, ending a 15-year advantage for Brazil.

Now, India is capable of shipping fruits, vegetables, sugar, grains and meat to the Arab nations in about a week’s time.

NASA picks Indian origin doctor for future astronauts mission

Indian-origin physician Anil Menon (45) has been selected by NASA along with nine others to be astronauts for future missions. 

Menon was SpaceX's first flight surgeon, helping to launch the company's first humans to space during Nasa's SpaceX Demo-2 mission.

Till now, Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma is the only Indian citizen to travel in space.

Earlier, Sirisha Bandla in July became the third Indian-origin woman to fly into space after Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams.

Sanket Mahadev Sargar wins gold medal in Men's 55 kg snatch category

Sanket Mahadev Sargar won the gold medal in the Men's 55kg snatch category at the ongoing Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships 2021 in Tashkent.

For the top-podium finish, the Indian lifted the weight of 113kg.

With this lift, Sargar also created the new snatch national record.

The Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships 2021 is currently being held concurrently in Tashkent along with World Weightlifting Championships 2021 from December 7 to 17. 

Govt inks Rs 1,132 Cr loan pact with ADB for afford. housing in Tamil Nadu

India and Asian Development Bank signed a 150 million dollar loan agreement to provide affordable housing for the urban poor in Tamil Nadu.

The project is aligned with the Government’s development priorities and policies on urban sector development, particularly the flagship program Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Housing for All.

Headquarters: Mandaluyong, Philippines

President: Masatsugu Asakawa

India successfully test-fires Short Range Surface to Air Missile for Navy

India successfully test-fired Short Range Surface to Air Missile from integrated test range, Chandipur, Odisha.

According to Defence Research and Development Organisation, DRDO, the launch was conducted from a vertical launcher against an electronic target at a very low altitude.

The first trial was conducted on the 22nd of February this year and this is a confirmatory trial to prove the consistent performance of the configuration and integrated operation.

MPC decides to keep the Repo Rate unchanged at 4%

RBI Governor Shaktikant Das announcing the Bi-monthly Policy.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to keep the policy repo rate at four per cent to keep the stance accommodative.

Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and bank rate will remain unchanged at 4.25 per cent.

The reverse repo rate will also remain unchanged at 3.35 per cent.

The projection for real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is retained at 9.5 per cent in 2021-22.

India’s 1st Woman Psychiatrist Sarada Menon passes away

Padma Bhushan Dr Mamballaikalathil Sarada Menon, India’s 1st woman Psychiatrist and the longest-serving head of the Institute of Mental Health has passed away.

She was born in a Malayali family in Mangaluru, Karnataka. She was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 1992 for social works.

National Armed Forces Flag Day celebrated on 7th December

National armed forces day is also known as the National flag day of India. The day is every year celebrated and observed on 7th December.

The aim to observe this day as the national armed forces day is to collect funds from the people for the betterment of armed forces. To know more about the national armed forces day, candidates are advised to read the article below.

A committee was set up on August 28, 1949, under the then Defense Minister of India. The committee decided to observe a Flag Day annually on December 7.

International Civil Aviation Day: 7 December

International Civil Aviation Day is celebrated every year on December 7 to recognize the importance of aviation to the social and economic development of the world.

The purpose of International Civil Aviation Day is to help generate and reinforce worldwide awareness of the importance of international civil aviation to the social and economic development of States, and of the unique role of ICAO in helping States to cooperate and realize a truly global rapid transit network at the service of all mankind.

The Council has decided that from now until 2023, the theme will be: “Advancing Innovation for Global Aviation Development”.

Important For All Exam 2021:

International Civil Aviation Organization Headquarter: Montreal, Canada.

International Civil Aviation Organization Council President: Salvatore Sciacchitano.

International Civil Aviation Organization Founded: 7 December 1944.

VP launched book ‘The Midway Battle: Modi’s Roller-coaster Second Term’

Vice President (VP) M. Venkaiah Naidu launched a book titled ‘The Midway Battle: Modi’s Roller-coaster Second Term’ authored by Gautam Chintamani and published by Bloomsbury India at Upa-Rashtrapati Nivas, New Delhi.

The book mentioned the political scenario of India. It marks the second tenure of the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Midway Battle shed light on the various legislations like the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, triple talaq, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act as well as farming laws.

A new book titled “1971: Charge of the Gorkhas and Other Stories” released

A new book that unearths true stories of the 1971 Indo-Pak war, ’1971: Charge of the Gorkhas and Other Stories, written by Rachna Bisht Rawat, was released.

The book includes, from the story of the flight lieutenant who went missing after his plane crashed inside Pakistan to the ‘last khukri attack’ in modern military history.

Rachna Bisht Rawat is the author of six books by Penguin Random House India, including the bestsellers The Brave and Kargil.

PM Modi inaugurated thought Leadership Forum on FinTech ‘InFinity Forum’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated a thought leadership forum on FinTech, ‘InFinity Forum’.

The event was hosted by International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), under the aegis of the Government of India in collaboration with GIFT City and Bloomberg. Indonesia, South Africa and the United Kingdom were the partner countries in the 1st edition of the Forum.

The Forum focused on the theme of ‘Beyond’ with various sub-themes. The sub-themes include FinTech beyond boundaries, FinTech beyond Finance, and FinTech Beyond Next, with a focus on how Quantum Computing could impact the nature of the Fintech industry in the future and promote new opportunities.

Argentina beat six-time champions Germany to lift Junior hockey world cup

Argentina showcased its organised game with great composure to beat six-time champion German side 4-2 and win the title after 16 years in the men’s Hockey Junior World Cup at the Kalinga Stadium.

Argentina has become the only third team after Germany (six wins) and India (2001, 2016) to win multiple Junior Hockey WC titles. Defending champions India finished fourth in the junior hockey world cup 2021 after losing 1-3 to France in the third-place match.

Other Awards:

Best Player of the Tournament: Timothée Clément (FRANCE). 

Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Anton Brinckman (GERMANY). 

Hero Top Scorer of the Tournament: Miles Bukkens (NETHERLANDS) (18 goals). 

Odisha Fair Play Award: Team Chile. 

Odisha Fans Choice Award for Best Goal of the Tournament: Ignacio Nardolillo (ARGENTINA). 

Hockey India Maximum Team Goals: NETHERLANDS (45 goals). 

Hockey India Best Goal Saved of the Tournament: Mahmoud Seleem (EGYPT). 

AM/NS India Best Coach of the Tournament: Johannes Schmitz (GERMANY). 

Lewis Hamilton wins inaugural edition of Saudi Arabian GP

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton (Britain) won the inaugural edition of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (GP), by surpassing Max Verstappen (Netherlands) in the event held at the 30-kilometre (18.6-mile) coastal resort area in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Reema Juffali, has been appointed as an ambassador for the first edition of the Saudi Grand Prix, under the Formula 1 (F1) World Championship. Reema Juffali is the 1st Female F1 driver of Saudi Arabia.

Mathematician Nikhil Srivastava selected for inaugural AMS’s Ciprian Foias Award

Indian-American mathematician, Nikhil Srivastava, who teaches at the University of California, Berkeley along with Adam Marcus and Daniel Spielman were awarded the First Ciprian Foias Prize in Operator Theory by the American Mathematical Society (AMS).

Adam Marcus holds the Chair of Combinatorial Analysis at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland.

Daniel Spielman is a Sterling Professor of Computer Science, a professor of statistics and data science, and a professor of mathematics.

The award recognises their highly original work that introduced and developed methods for understanding the characteristic polynomial of matrices, namely the iterative sparsification method (also in collaboration with Batson) and the method of interlacing polynomials.

GRSE launches first large survey vessel Sandhayak for Indian Navy

Indian shipbuilder Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) has achieved a new milestone with the launch of the first large survey vessel for the Indian Navy.

Called Sandhayak, the vessel is the first in the series of four ships being built under the Survey Vessel Large (SVL) project. It has been built at GRSE.

Indian State Defence Minister Ajay Bhatt, who was present at the launch ceremony, said that the ship’s launch is a new milestone for the country’s vision of ‘New India’ by 2030.

In October 2018, the Indian Ministry of Defence and GRSE signed the contract to build the four survey ships. Featuring over 80% indigenous content by cost, the ships are fully designed by GRSE and are being built using ‘Integrated Construction’ concepts.

Important For All Exam 2021:

GRSE Chairman & Managing Director: Rear Admiral V K Saxena.

GRSE Headquarters: Kolkata, West Bengal.

Ravindra Jadeja ropes as Brand Ambassador of Kinara Capital

Bangalore based innovative, fast-growing fintech, Kinara Capital signed the Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja, as its official brand ambassador on the occasion of the company’s 10th anniversary.

Kinara Capital provide loan service to India’s MSMEs. Till date, Kinara Capital has disbursed 70,000 collateral-free loans. With this partnership, Kinara aims to boost its outreach in financing the MSME sector in the country. With a current AUM of INR 1000 crores, Kinara Capital plans to grow 500 per cent by the year 2025.

Unix signs Jasprit Bumrah as Brand Ambassador

Unix, an Indian Mobile Accessories manufacturing brand, has signed Indian Cricket Fast Bowler, Jasprit Bumrah as its Brand Ambassador to increase the visibility of their products.

The products include wearable mobile electronics such as Chargers, Earphones, Data Cables, Power Banks, Wireless Speakers, Smartphone Batteries, Bluetooth neckbands and TWS are mostly manufactured and marketed across India through distributors.

RBI: Gujarat became India’s Largest Manufacturing Hub

Gujarat has left behind Maharashtra to become the country’s leading manufacturing hub, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Gujarat saw its Gross Value Addition (GVA) in manufacturing grow by 15.9 per cent annually between FY12 to FY20 to stand at Rs 5.11 lakh crore, data shows. GVA is an economic metric that measures the supply of goods and services in an economy.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra’s annual growth rate stood at nearly half of Gujarat’s at 7.5 per cent for the same time period and its GVA for manufacturing stood at Rs 4.34 lakh crore in FY20. Maharashtra is still the leading provider of services in India, with the state’s services GVA growing by 12.6 per cent annually, standing at Rs 15.1 lakh crore in FY20.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Gujarat Capital: Gandhinagar;

Gujarat Governor: Acharya Devvrat;

Gujarat Chief minister: Bhupendrabhai Patel.

Adama Barrow wins second term as Gambia’s President

The President of Gambia, Adama Barrow, won the second term as President during Gambia’s presidential election by achieving over 53% votes from 50 of 53 constituencies. He defeated his main challenger Ousainou Darboe who won 27.7% of vote.

The results of the election were declared by Electoral commission Chairman Alieu Momarr Njai. Adama Barrow’s assumption as President 5 years ago ended more than 20 years of the dictatorship of former dictator Yahya Jammeh.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Gambia Capital: Banjul;

Gambia Currency: Gambian dalasi.

PM Modi inaugurated multiple projects worth Rs 18,000 crore in Uttarakhand

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of multiple projects worth Rs 18,000 crore at Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

The 11 projects for which the foundation has been laid include the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor which will be built at a cost of Rs 8,300 crore. It will have Asia’s largest wildlife elevated corridor (12 kilometres) for unrestricted wildlife movement. The expressway will reduce the distance between the two cities from 248 km at present to 180 km.

PM Modi laid the foundation stone for the Dehradun – Paonta Sahib (Himachal Pradesh) road project, being constructed at a cost of around Rs 1700 crore.

The 120 MW Vyasi hydro-electricity project, a 38-km long stretch between Devprayag and Shrikot on NH-58 and a widened 33 km stretch between Brahmapuri and Kaudiyala on Rishikesh-Badrinath national highway were among the other crucial projects inaugurated by PM Modi on Saturday.

He also announced that the services of three new medical colleges would soon be available in the state.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Uttarakhand Capitals: Dehradun (Winter), Gairsain (Summer);

Uttarakhand Governor:  Lt Gen Gurmit Singh;

Uttarakhand Chief minister: Pushkar Singh Dhami.

Veteran Journalist Vinod Dua Passes Away

Veteran journalist Vinod Dua (67) passed away.

Dua was a pioneer in broadcast Hindi journalism with stints in Doordarshan and NDTV.

He lived an inimitable life, rising from the refugee colonies of Delhi to the peak of journalistic excellence for over 42 years, always, always speaking truth to power.

He was an integral part of NDTV’s journey as well. His much-loved food show ‘Zaika India Ka’ saw him crisscrossing the whole country just for the best taste.

Yes Bank, NPCI launch RuPay credit cards

Yes Bank, in collaboration with NPCI has launched new RuPay-branded credit cards for its customers on the indigenously developed payment platform.

NPCI has developed the RuPay card payment network.

Yes Bank has launched the Yes Prosperity Rewards Plus credit card variant on RuPay platform for its Yes Prosperity segment customers.

The new credit card comes with multiple benefits for customers.

The Yes Bank-NPCI partnership was announced at the Digital Payments Utsav. 

Bajaj Allianz Life launches Bajaj Allianz Life Assured Wealth Goal

Bajaj Allianz Life launched a guaranteed income-cum-life insurance plan Bajaj Allianz Life Assured Wealth Goal. 

It comes in two variants for policyholders to choose from based on their financial goals.

Bajaj Allianz Life’s Assured Wealth Goal is designed to provide guaranteed tax-free income for up to 30 years.

For the year to date till October 2021, Bajaj Allianz Life registered a 34 per cent growth in gross written premium and a 23 per cent rise in renewal premium.

FICCI appoints HUL’s Sanjiv Mehta as President-Elect

Hindustan Unilever Chairman & Managing Director, Sanjiv Mehta, will be appointed as the President of FICCI next week.

He will be taking over the position at its Annual General Meeting on December 18.

He will be succeeding media industry veteran Uday Shankar, who is the current President.

Mehta is also the President of Unilever South Asia and is a member of the ‘Unilever Leadership Executive’. 

He is also a Director on the Board of Indian School of Business.

IIT Madras to launch global consortium aimed at low carbon future

IIT Madras will launch a Global Energy Consortium to boost the transformation towards a low carbon future.

Over 50 global faculty will work in areas such as carbon capture and storage, gas hydrates and renewable energy systems.

The consortium will be launched at the IIT Madras Energy Summit to be held from December 14 to 16.

These initiatives will form the core of the Global Energy Consortium.

Oppo, IIT-Delhi sign MoU for scholarship programme

Oppo India has launched a ‘Genius+’ program to provide scholarships to students pursuing engineering in India.

Under this Oppo has inked an MoU with IIT-Delhi to offer scholarships covering academic expenses for the shortlisted students.

Program is aimed at connecting with youth at renowned institutes in India and reach out to the best talent who can further build India’s innovation portfolio.

The program will be further extended to Masters and Ph.D. students. 

Viktor Axelsen and An Seyoung wins BWF World Tour title

The world number one Viktor Axelsen has won the 2021 BWF World Tour Finals in men’s category in Bali, Indonesia.

He defeated Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand by 21-12, 21-8 in just 43 minutes to wrap up the men's singles title.

South Korea's An Seyoung has won BWF World Tour Finals in women’s category by defeating India’s PV Sindu.

Earlier in men's doubles, Japan's Hoki Takuro and Kobayashi Yugo beat Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo from Indonesia.

Malaysia won the Asian team squash championships 2021

Malaysia has won the men’s final of the Asian team squash championships in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia defeated Indian in the final by 2-1.

India had lost in the summit clash before in 1981 and 2012 also.

Malaysia has also won the women’s final of the Asian team squash championships defeating Hong Kong 2-1 in the final.

The last time Malaysian men’s and women’s teams won was in the 2008 championships in Kuwait.

Argentina wins Junior men’s hockey World Cup 2021

Argentina has won the won the men’s Junior hockey World Cup at the Kalinga Stadium, Odisha.

They defeated six-time champion Germany by 4-2 and won the title after a 16-year gap.

Argentina sealed their second men’s Junior World Cup title when Franco Agostini fired into an empty net in the final minute. 

France has defeated India to claim the 3rd place in the tournament.

France captain Timothée Clément was named Player of the Match.

Nikhil Srivastava among 3 selected for inaugural Ciprian Foias Prize

Indian-American mathematician Nikhil Srivastava, has been jointly selected for the inaugural $5,000 Ciprian Foias Prize.

They were selected for the "highly original work" in Operator Theory by the American Mathematical Society (AMS).

Other winner are Adam Marcus and Daniel Spielman.

The award recognises their "highly original work" that introduced and developed methods for understanding the characteristic polynomial of matrices.

Public Service Ethics’ authored by former Governor of Jharkhand Prabhat Kum

The book titled ‘Public Service Ethics’ has been authored by Prabhat Kumar, former Governor of Jharkhand. 

The book was released by the VP M Venkaiah Naidu.

The book is published by IC Centre for Governance.

It deals with ethics in governance and public service and proposes a collective quest for ethical India. 

It doesn’t just talk about the problems and the crisis of ethics – it gives practical and positive solutions and tells you how to head in the right direction.

India-Maldives Joint Military exercise ‘EKUVERIN’ begins today

The 11th edition of Exercise EKUVERIN-21 between India and Maldives will be conducted at Kadhdhoo Island, Maldives.

The exercise will enhance synergy and inter-operability between Armed Forces of both the nations conducting Counter-Terrorism and Counter-Insurgency Operations. 

They will share best military practices and experiences.

The joint military excercise will also include cultural and sports activities to enhance defence cooperation and bilateral relations.

India's Ananya Bansal wins Silver at Asia Youth Paralympic Games in Bahrain

India's Ananya Bansal won the country's first silver medal in shotput in the F-20 category at the Asia Youth Paralympic Games in Manama, Bahrain.

Ananya Bansal is an athlete with an intellectual impairment.

Deepa Malik, the President of the Paralympic Committee of India lauded Ananya for her performance in the showpiece event.

Former Andhra Pradesh CM Konijeti Rosaiah passes away in Hyderabad

Former Governor of Tamil Nadu and former Chief Minister of the unified State of Andhra Pradesh Konijeti Rosaiah (89-years) passed away in Hyderabad.

Rosaiah had served as MLA, MLC, Lok Sabha members.

He held several key portfolios including finance, transport, energy in the cabinets headed by Kotla Vijayabhaskhara Reddy, Channa Reddy and YS Rajasekhara Reddy.

DRI celebrates 64th Founding Day today

Union Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the DRI’s 64th Founding Day celebrations in New Delhi.

She unveiled 'Smuggling in India Report 2020-21'.

The report highlights the performance of DRI over the last year and captures issues related to national security, foreign trade policy, gold smuggling, environmental violations, narcotics, import and export frauds, violations of allied Acts, international cooperation, public health and safety.

Indian Navy Day : 4th December

The Indian Navy Day is observed on December 4 every year to recognise the efforts and achievements of the Indian Navy in Operation Trident conducted during the Indo-Pakistan war in 1971.

The Indian Navy was established in 1612 by the East India Company.

This year, the Navy plans to celebrate the theme Swarnim Vijay Varsh to celebrate the 50th anniversary of India’s victory in the 1971 war.

Ratan Tata to get Assam's highest civilian award

Assam government will confer its highest civilian award ‘Assam Baibhav’ on Tata Trusts' chairman Ratan Tata for his contribution towards building cancer treatment facilities in the state.

Earlier known as ‘Assam Ratna’, the award was renamed as ‘Assam Baibhav’ by the Sarma-led government in September this year.

The Assam government and Tata Trust are collaborating for setting up 19 Cancer Care Units in the state.

ADB approves $500-million loan to improve quality of school education

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $500 million loan to the Government of India to help improve the quality of the country’s school education and mitigate the impact of the Covid-19) pandemic on students’ learning. 

About 1,800 government schools will be transformed into exemplar schools in Assam, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand. 

The loan will help scale up foundational learning for primary students and enhance the relevance of secondary education. 

PhonePe offers health insurance for first-time buyers

Digital payments major PhonePe has launched a health insurance plan, Health@999, for first-time health insurance buyers.

The product has a three-step process requiring users to share information such as name, age, gender, and email ID to buy the policy.

The plan will cover expenses including in-patient and ICU hospitalisation, daycare procedures, Ayush treatment, and ambulance charges.

The cashless network for the plan stretches across 7,600 hospitals in the country.

Gita Gopinath to become IMF's First Deputy Managing Director

Indian-American Gita Gopinath is set to become  International Monetary Fund (IMF’s) First Deputy Managing Director.

She will become the second-ranking official, replacing First Deputy Managing Director Geoffrey Okamoto who plans to leave the Fund early next year.

Gopinath has served as the IMF’s chief economist for three years.

She was scheduled to return to her academic position at Harvard University in January 2022.

IMF member countries: 190

MD: Kristalina Georgieva

DARPG organizes Regional Conference on Good Governance

Dept of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) in collaboration with Govt of Odisha is organizing Regional Conference on the theme: Replication of Good Governance Practices, on 3rd and 4th Dec 2021 at Bhubaneswar. 

Aim: to bring national and state level public administration organizations on the same platform to share experiences and innovations in public administration, for improving quality of life, e-Governance and Digital Governance, etc.

Mahendra Nath Pandey to be Chief Guest at Round Table Conference 2021

Union Minister of Heavy Industries, Mahendra Nath Pandey will be the Chief Guest at the Round Table Conference, that will be held on 4th December, 2021 at Goa.

Aim: to work out strategies to promote adoption of EVs in India and attract investment in manufacturing of EVs, batteries and high technology automotive components in India. 

Automobile sector is a key driver of India’s economic growth. 

It contributes to nearly 6.4% of India’s GDP and 35% of manufacturing GDP. 

India and EU to set-up Clean Energy and Climate Partnership

India and European Union (EU) have agreed to step up Clean Energy and Climate Partnership at India-EU Energy Panel met. 

The meet was co-chaired by Reenat Sandhu from India and Mechthild Wörsdörfer from European Commission.

They jointly agreed on a detailed work programme until 2023 to implement the 2016 India-EU Clean Energy and Climate Partnership.

They agreed on increased technical cooperation in energy efficiency, renewable energy, green hydrogen, etc. 

Shashi Shekhar Vempati flags off fleet of 23 Electric Vehicles in New Delhi

Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharati Shashi Shekhar Vempati and Director General All India Radio N Venudhar Reddy has flagged off fleet of 23 Electric Vehicles at Akashwani Bhawan in New Delhi. 

It is second largest Electric Fleet in national capital Delhi and electric vehicles will be brought in for other stations of All India Radio. 

All India Radio (AIR) has hired all the Electric Vehicles on wet-lease basis from Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL). 

Govt to launch SRESHTA scheme for development of SC students

Government will launch Scheme for Residential Education for Students in High Schools in Targeted Areas (SRESHTA) for socio economics upliftment and overall development of Scheduled Castes students.

It will be launched on 6th December on Mahaparinirvan Diwas of Dr B R Ambedkar.

It will enable bright SC students to have a better future by getting a high-quality education.

It will also aid in controlling dropout rates of SC students from class 9th to 12th.

Union Minister inaugurates Earth Station of Doordarshan Kendra Gorakhpur

Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Singh Thakur and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurates Earth Station of Doordarshan Kendra Gorakhpur. 

Apart from this, 3 FM stations of All India Radio will also be inaugurated virtually.

It will be the second earth station of Doordarshan in UP and it is being built at a cost of Rs. 7 crores. 

It will enable programmes generated at the local level to be telecast live. 

It will be a boon to local Bhojpuri artists. 

EIU releases Worldwide Cost of Living Index 2021

Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released Worldwide Cost of Living Index, that list world’s most expensive cities to live in 2021.

The 2021 index explored cost of living in 173 cities, 40 more than last year.

Most expensive cities: Tel Aviv, followed by Paris, Singapore, Zurich, and Hong Kong. 

Paris was the most expensive city according to the 2020 index.

Lowest rankings: Africa, Middle East and less wealthier parts of Asia.

Indira Gandhi International Airport adjudged ‘Best Airport in India'

Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi has been adjudged as the ‘Best Airport in India and Central Asia’ this year by Skytrax.

Delhi airport along with the others in Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Bengaluru feature in the World To 100 airports list published by Skytrax.

Rs 36,000 crores worth investments are being planned to develop new greenfield airports across the country under Public-Private Partnership mode.

Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurates Competence Examination for Seafarers

Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal has virtually inaugurated Remote Competence Examination for Seafarers in New Delhi.

It is a fully digital Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning powered online exam system which uses remote proctoring and powerful security and surveillance tools for fair, transparent and secure examination system. 

It is first ever written examination for certificate of competency using Remote Digital Proctoring mechanism.

Bihar wins gold award in 40th International Trade Fair held in Delhi

Bihar has bagged gold medal in 40th India International Trade Fair (IITF) held at Pragati Maidan in Delhi for 'excellence in display' in state government/union territory pavilion category.

Bihar Pavilion comprised of 41 stalls exhibiting the finest products from the state to reflect the traditional folk-art culture.

Bihar’s resident commissioner Palka Sahni and director of Upendra Maharathi Craft Research Institute, Ashok Sinha received the award.

Sambit Patra named as chairman of India Tourism Development Corporation

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra has been appointed as the Chairman of India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) by Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).

Earlier, he had served as an independent Director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

ACC has approved Tourism Ministry's proposal to split the post of chairman and managing director of ITDC into chairman, ITDC, and managing director (MD), ITDC.

Managing Director of ITDC: GKV Rao.

PM Modi inaugurates InFinity Forum virtually

PM Modi has virtually inaugurated InFinity Forum, a thought leadership Forum on FinTech through video conference.

Aim: to achieve financial empowerment of every single citizen of the country. 

Hosted by: International Financial Services Centres Authority in collaboration with GIFT City and Bloomberg. 

Partner countries in the first edition of the Forum: Indonesia, South Africa and U.K.

InFinity Forum theme: ‘Beyond.’

It will witness participation from over 70 countries.

Bangladesh and US Navy kicks off CARAT maritime exercise

Bangladesh Navy (BN) and US military personnel has kicked off annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) maritime exercise.

It will be carried out virtually as well as in the Bay of Bengal. 

It is a 9-day event that focuses on a full spectrum of naval capabilities and features Cooperative activities that highlight ability of US and Bangladesh to work together toward the common goal of ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific. 

It was first introduced in 2011.

GIS Substation inaugurated in Ramganj, Jaipur

GIS Substation has been inaugurated in Ramganj, Jaipur city as a part of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ to improve supply of electricity for people of Jaipur. 

Nodal agency: Power Finance Corporation, (Maharatna CPSE and India’s leading power sector focused non-banking financial company) under IPDS scheme. 

Implementing agency: UP Rajkiya Nirman Nigam Limited (UPRNN). 

It was built at a cost of `7.50 crores and will benefit close to 4000 consumers.

Global trade likely to hit $28 trillion in 2021, grow 23% YoY: UNCTAD

Global trade is expected to reach about $28 trillion in 2021, growing 11% over pre-pandemic levels, according to the global trade update report by UNCTAD.

UNCTAD outlook for 2022, remains very uncertain, due to slowing economic recovery, disruptions of logistics and rise in shipping costs, etc. 

India’s goods exports shows rise of 27% and 5%, and services increased by 7% and 17% in Q3 of the current fiscal compared to 2019 average and Q2 2021, respectively.

LS passed Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation Bill), 2020

Lok Sabha has passed Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation Bill), 2020, moved by Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya.

Bill is for the regulation and supervision of assisted reproductive technology (ART) clinics and ART banks.

It help prevent misuse of the technology and ensure safe and ethical ART practices.

Under the Bill, ART Registry is being envisaged providing a legal framework for the whole sector.

GST revenue collection rises 25 percent in November 2021

GST revenues collection for November 2021 is recorded to be 25% higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year and 27% over 2019-20.

It is the second-highest ever estimation since the introduction of GST. 

Gross GST revenue collected in November 2021: Rs 1,31,526.

For the second straight month, Gross GST collection has crossed 1 lakh 30 thousand crore. 

During the month, revenues from import of goods were 43% higher as compared to November last year.

India beats Belgium by 1-0 to enter semi-finals

Defending champions India beat Belgium by a solitary goal (1-0) to enter semifinals in the FIH Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup, held at Kalinga Stadium, Odisha.

India won due to Shardananad Tiwari’s penalty corner conversion in the 21th minute. 

Apart from India, Germany, Argentina, and France have also qualified for semi-finals.

India will take on last edition’s bronze medallist Germany in the semifinals on 3rd Dec 2021.

In 2016 edition India defeated Belgium in the final.

WHO confirms 'Omicron' Covid-19 variant in 23 countries

World Health Organization (WHO) DG Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has confirmed 'Omicron' Covid-19 variant in 23 countries.

As per WHO, mix of low vaccination coverage and low testing rates are creating fertile breeding ground for new Covid variants.

blanket travel bans will not prevent the spread of Omicron variant of coronavirus and they place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods.

BSNL to roll out its 4G services by September 2022

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will roll out its 4G services by September 2022.

Govt has approved revival plan for BSNL and MTNL with administrative allotment of spectrum for providing 4G services with funding through budgetary allocation.

BSNL has already begun necessary processes to go for 4G tender.

Incremental revenue of Rs 900 crores to BSNL is expected in the first year of pan India 4G operations.

Nagaland’s Hornbill Festival begins

Biggest cultural extravaganza of Nagaland, Hornbill Festival has kicked off with colorful renditions of traditional music, dances and contemporary in one roof at Naga Heritage village Kisama.

It is the 22nd edition of the Hornbill festival and will be celebrated in 6 districts of Nagaland.

It was held for the first time in 2000.

The opening ceremony culminated with the flight of the Hornbill- A musical presentation by Task Force for Music and Arts Nagala nd.

India joined the G20 ‘Troika’ with Indonesia and Italy

India has joined ‘G20 Troika’ and will work closely with Indonesia and Italy to ensure consistency and continuity of G20’s agenda.

Apart from India, Troika consists of Indonesia and Italy.

Troika: It refers to the top grouping within G20 that consists of the current, previous and incoming presidencies (Indonesia, Italy and India).

India will assume G20 Presidency in December 2022 from Indonesia and will convene the G20 Leaders’ Summit for the first time in 2023.

DoT and ITU commences India-ITU Joint Cyberdrill 2021

Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have commenced 4-day long ‘India-ITU Joint Cyberdrill 2021’.

It is intended for Indian entities especially Critical Network Infrastructure operators.

It is being held from 30 November to 3 December 2021.

Experts from ITU, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), INTERPOL, National Security Council Secretariat, CERT-In and eminent organizations participated in the session.

Sanjeev Kaushal appointed as new Chief Secretary of Haryana

Sanjeev Kaushal (1986-batch IAS officer of Haryana) has been appointed as the new chief secretary of Haryana. 

He succeeded Vijai Vardhan. 

Prior to this, he worked with Centre as Joint Secretary of two state governments, two large PSUs as Managing Director, and also the largest Municipal Corporation of Haryana as the Chief Administrator of Faridabad Complex. 

P K Das (1986 batch IAS) has also been appointed as Additional Chief Secretary and Financial Commissioner (Revenue). 

National Award-winning Choreographer Shiva Shankar Master passes away

The renowned National Award-winning choreographer and actor, Shiva Shankar Master passed away in Hyderabad, Telangana.

He was born on 7 December 1948 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He was an Indian dance choreographer, worked in South Indian movies.

He received the National Award for ‘Best Choreographer’ for the movie ‘Magadheera’.

BSF celebrates 57th Raising Day on December 01, 2021

The Border Security Force (BSF) is celebrating its 57th Raising Day on 01 December 2021. BSF was formed on December 1, 1965 as a unified central agency after the Indo-Pak and India-China wars for ensuring the security of the borders of India and for matters connected therewith.

It is one of the five Central Armed Police Forces of the Union of India and stands as the world’s largest border guarding force. BSF has been termed as the First Line of Defence of Indian Territories.

Important For All Exam 2021:

BSF Director General: Pankaj Kumar Singh;

BSF Headquarters: New Delhi.

World AIDS Day 2021 Celebrates on 01st December

World AIDS Day is observed across the globe on 1st December every year since 1988.

The day provides an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, to show support for people living with HIV and to commemorate those who have died from an AIDS-related illness.

This year the theme of World AIDS Day is End inequalities. End AIDS and End Pandemics. With a special focus on reaching people left behind, WHO and its partners are highlighting the growing inequalities in access to essential HIV services. The day was first marked in 1988 and was also the first-ever international day for global health.

Venkaiah Naidu released a Book “‘Democracy, Politics and Governance’

Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu on the 72nd anniversary of the adoption of the ‘Constitution of India’ released a book titled “Democracy, Politics and Governance” in English and ‘Loktantr, Rajniti and Dharm’ in Hindi at an event in the Central Hall of Parliament, New Delhi. The book was authored by Dr A. Surya Prakash.

This book is a collection of articles about the social, political, and economic issues that impacted India’s politics and governance. Dr A. Surya Prakash is a Vice Chairman, Executive Council of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, and also a veteran journalist.

Centre appoints Committee to revisit criteria for determining EWS

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has formed a three-member committee to review the criteria for reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category in terms of the provisions of the explanation to Article 15 of the Constitution.

The committee has been asked to complete its work within three weeks. Former Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey will head the committee.

The announcement to appoint a committee and revisit the EWS reservation criteria has come after the Supreme Court intervention. The SC is hearing petitions challenging the government notice issued in July which provides for a 10 per cent EWS quota in NEET admissions.

The members of the committee are former:

Ajay Bhushan Pandey – former finance secretary, GOI (Chairman). 

Prof. V K Malhotra – Member secretary of Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR). 

Shri Sanjay Sanyal – Principal economic advisor to GOI (Member Convenor). 

Lionel Messi Wins A Seventh Ballon d’Or

Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’Or for a seventh time after being named as the best player in 2021 by France Football.

Messi scored 41 goals and registered 17 assists in 56 appearances in all competitions for club and country and led Argentina to a long-awaited Copa America win in the summer.

Ballon d’Or 2021 Winners:

Ballon d’Or (Men): Lionel Messi (PSG/Argentina). 

Club of the year: Chelsea Football Club. 

Yashin Trophy for best goalkeeper: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy). 

Ballon d’Or (Women): Alexia Putellas (Barcelona/Spain). 

Striker of the year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich/Poland). 

Kopa Trophy for best young male player: Pedri (Barcelona/Spain). 

White-label ATMs : India1 Payments installed 10,000 white-label ATMs

India1 Payments has crossed a milestone on deploying 10000 white-label ATMs, which was called as “India1ATMs”. India1 Payments is IPO-bound and is promoted by the Banktech Group of Australia.

It was formerly known as BTI Payments. India1 ATM has become the second-largest white label ATM brand on semi-urban and rural areas. With the deployment of 10000 ATMs, India1 Payments has become the largest player in this segment.

The Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) which are set up, owned and operated by non-bank entities are known as “White Label ATMs” (WLAs). Non-bank entities which are incorporated in India, under the Companies Act 1956, are allowed to run WLAs.

Important For All Exam 2021:

India1 Payments Limited Founded: 2006;

India1 Payments Limited Headquarters location: Bengaluru.

Lt Gen Manoj Kuma Mago appoints to head National Defence College

Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Mago has taken over as the Commandant of National Defence College (NDC), New Delhi.

He hails from Ludhiana, was commanding the 10 Corps at Bathinda before being given the assignment at NDC that entails evolving a strategic culture among the country’s senior-most officials of the military, the civilian bureaucracy and the Indian Police Service.

Lt Gen Mago, who passed out of Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, was commissioned into the 7th Battalion of the Brigade of Guards in 1984. He later commanded 16 Guards.

Kerala Tourism launched STREET project for experiential tourism

Kerala Tourism launched the ‘STREET’ project to promote and take tourism deep into the interiors and rural hinterland of Kerala. The project would help visitors experience the diversity of offerings in these locales.

The STREET is an acronym for Sustainable, Tangible, Responsible, Experiential, Ethnic, Tourism hubs. 

The STREET project aims to present the unique identity of the state of Kerala before to travellers. It also offers a huge potential for growth in the tourism sector and would bring in significant changes.

The project will foster mutually beneficial organic relationships between tourism development and the ordinary lives of people in the state of Kerala.

The project, conceived by the Responsible Tourism Mission, is inspired by the ‘Tourism for Inclusive Growth’ slogan of The United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Kerala Capital: Thiruvananthapuram;

Kerala Governor: Arif Mohammad Khan;

Kerala Chief Minister: Pinarayi Vijayan.

Varanasi became 1st Indian city to start Ropeway Service

Varanasi, a city in Uttar Pradesh is all set to become the first Indian city to start ropeway service as a mode of public transport in order to ease the traffic congestion.

The proposed ropeway will be constructed between Cantt Railway Station (Varanasi Junction) to Church Square (Godauliya) covering an aerial distance of 3.45 km.

Its outlay is over Rs 400 crore which is divided between Central Government and State Government at 80:20. India will be the third country in the world after Bolivia and Mexico to use a ropeway for public transport.

Important For All Exam 2021:

UP Capital: Lucknow;

UP Governor: Anandiben Patel;

UP Chief minister: Yogi Adityanath.

Nagaland Police launches ‘Call Your Cop’ mobile app

Nagaland DGP T. John Longkumer officially launched the ‘Call your Cop’ mobile App at Police Headquarters in Kohima. The App was developed by Excellogics Tech Solutions Pvt Ltd.

The App will enable all citizens of the state especially those in distress to get in touch directly with the police as easily available with just one click away.

The features in the App include a directory, alerts, tourist tips, SOS, nearest police station and search. Citizens can download the app from the google store on any android phone. One can download the app from the google store. With this app, you can also receive notifications like news, updates, advisory, etc.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Chief Minister of Nagaland: Neiphiu Rio;

Governor of Nagaland: Jagdish Mukhi.

Barbados becomes the World’s newest republic

Barbados has become the World’s newest republic, around 400 years after it became a British colony. Barbados is said to have been made a ‘slave society by the British.

It first became an English colony in 1625. It gained its independence in 1966.  Barbados, the Caribbean Island nation, removed Queen Elizabeth II as the head of the state.

Dame Sandra Prunella Mason took over as the President of Barbados. He was selected to become the first president of Barbados in October 2021.

He was selected as President of Barbados, at a joint meeting of both the Houses of Parliament of Barbados. His name was announced by Speaker of the House of Assembly, Arthur Holder.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Barbados Capital: Bridgetown;

Barbados Currency: Barbados Dollar.

All India Radio launches youth programme AIRNxt

All India Radio has decided to begin a new programme called AIRNxt to offer youth a platform to air their voices as part of the ongoing Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.

AIR stations will allow youngsters from local colleges, universities to take part in programming, allowing them to discuss and curate youth-centric shows.

This way, the youth can air their big dreams and define the future of India. It is the biggest single theme show on All India Radio involving thousands of youth and hundreds of Educational Institutions across the country. This talent hunt show #AIRNxt will be broadcast in all major Indian languages and dialects.

Important For All Exam 2021:

All India Radio Founded: 1936;

All India Radio Headquarters: Sansad Marg, New Delhi;

All India Radio Owner: Prasar Bharati.

1st Indian Young Water Professionals Programme launched

The First Edition of the Indian Young Water Professionals Programme was launched virtually.  The program was taken up under National Hydrology Project.

The India Young Water Professional Programme is unique and different from typical capacity building and training programs. It focuses on the engaged Training and Learning Model.

70% of this program is focused on project-based learning by means of Situation Understanding and Improvement Projects (SUIP).

It also focuses on gender equality and diversity, since sustainable water management can only benefit from the skills and views of all members of society.

For the first edition of the programme, about 20 participants have been selected, comprising of 10 men and 10 women, from central & state implementing agencies of the National Hydrology Project.

Prasoon Joshi awarded IFFI ‘Indian Film Personality of the Year’ award

Renowned lyricist and creative writer Prasoon Joshi has been conferred with the ‘Indian Film Personality of the Year’ award at 52nd International Film Festival in Goa.

He has been conferred for his contribution to cinema, popular culture and socially significant artistic work.

He entered Indian cinema as a lyricist in 2001 with Rajkumar Santoshi’s Lajja, and then went on to Taare Zameen Par, Rang De Basanti, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Neerja, Manikarnika, Delhi 6 and many more.

All India Radio launches #AIRNxt programme

All India Radio has launched new programme #AIRNxt, as part of the celebrations under ongoing Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav for the voices that represent Young India, starting from November 28, 2021.

Under this, AIR stations, in all States and UTs across India, will give opportunity to youngsters from local colleges, universities to take part in AIR programming. 

It is the biggest single theme show in all major Indian languages and dialects.

Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare: 30 November

Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare is observed every year on 30th November as recognized by United Nation. 

It was first observed in 2005.

This day marks tribute to the victims of chemical warfare, as well as to reaffirm the commitment of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to the elimination of the threat of chemical weapons, thereby promoting the goals of peace, security, and multilateralism.

Saurav Ghosal becomes 1st Indian to win Malaysian Open Squash Championship

Indian Squash star Saurav Ghosal has become the first Indian squash player to win Malaysian Open Championships.

He defeated Miguel Rodriguez of Colombia by 11-7, 11-8 and 13-11 in the men’s singles final in Kuala Lumpur to win 2021 Malaysian Open Squash Championships title. 

His runners-up performance in the 2003 edition was India's previous best result in men's singles. 

Women’s single title of 2021 Malaysian Open squash championships has been won by Malaysia’s Aifa Azman. 

Japanese film ‘Ring Wandering’ bags top honour at IFFI

Japanese director Masakazu Kaneko’s Ring Wandering has bagged the coveted Golden Peacock Award at 52nd edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa. 

It captures the story of a laborer and an aspiring manga artist, whose search for bones to complete his art piece unearths war-time memories. 

The movie has won the award for being beautifully photographed combination of fantasy and manga-inspired reality, reflecting echoes of the past and present-day Japan. 

‘Lingui, The Sacred Bonds’ wins ICFT-UNESCO Gandhi Medal at 52nd IFFI

Internationally co-produced drama film Lingui: The Sacred Bonds has won ICFT-UNESCO Gandhi Medal at IFFI 52 in Goa.

Lingui was co-produced by Belgium France Germany and was made in Arabic and French.

It reflects the story of the sacred relationship between a mother and daughter and their survival against the harsh laws set by men. 

ICFT-UNESCO Gandhi Medal award: It is given to the IFFI film that best reflects Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals of peace, tolerance and non-violence.

NDTV & The Week honoured with International Press Institute Award

Sreenivasan Jain and Mariyam Alavi of NDTV, and Lakshmi Subramanian and Bhanu Praksh Chandra of The Week have been jointly awarded with International Press Institute (IPI) India Award for Excellence in Journalism 2021. 

IPI India Award for Excellence in Journalism 2020 has been conferred to Ritika Chopra of The Indian Express.

The awardees will be felicitated in New Delhi in Dec 2021 or Jan 2022.

This award comes with cash prize of Rs 1 Lakh, trophy and citation. 

Merriam-Webster Dictionary declares ‘Vaccine' as Word of the Year 2021

American publishing company Merriam-Webster has declared the word ‘Vaccine’ as its Word of the Year for 2021.

Vaccine word saw a 601% increase in definition lookups over the year, compared to 2020.

The term ‘vaccine’ was used as an adjective in 1799 by British general practitioner Edward Jenner and vaccination was introduced Richard Dunning in 1800.

Merriam-Webster is America’s most trusted online dictionary for English word definitions, meanings, and pronunciation.

Parag Agrawal takes over as CEO of Twitter

Indian tech wizard Parag Agrawal takes over as the CEO of social media platform Twitter, after the departure of its co-founder CEO.

He succeeded Twitter’s co-founder Jack Dorsey, who will continue to serve on the board of Twitter until his term expires in 2022 to help with the transition, before moving on.

Parag Agrawal is an IIT alumnus and joined Twitter in 2011 and became the CTO in 2017.

Headquarters of Twitter: San Francisco, U.S.

Admiral R. Hari Kumar assume charge as 25th Chief of the Naval Staff

Admiral R. Hari Kumar has assumed charge as the 25th Chief of the Naval Staff and received Guard of Honour at the South Block lawns in New Delhi.

He succeeded Admiral Karambir Singh. 

He was commissioned on 1st January 1983 into the Executive Branch of the Indian Navy. 

During his 39 years long and distinguished service, he has served in a variety of Command, Staff and Instructional appointments. 

Awards: Param Vishist Seva Medal, Ati Vishist Seva Medal, Vishist Seva Medal.

Indian Railways to come up with World’s Tallest Pier Bridge in Manipur

Indian Railways is constructing the tallest pier railway bridge of the world in the state of Manipur.

It is being built at a height of 141 metres.

Currently, tallest pier bridge record is of Mala-Rijeka viaduct built at Montenegro in Europe with 139 metre height.

The ambitious bridge project of Indian Railways in Manipur is part of Jiribam-Imphal railway line, which is a part of broad-gauge line.

It will enable passengers to cover 111 km of distance in 2-2.5 hrs. 

Harshwanti Bisht appointed as President of Indian Mountaineering Foundation

Noted mountaineer Harshwanti Bisht (62 years) has been elected as the first woman President of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF).

She won 60 out of a total of 107 votes to get elected to the post IMF’s President. 

She scaled Nanda Devi peak in 1981 for which she was honored with the Arjuna award.

IMF: It is an apex national body to organize and support, mountaineering and rock-climbing expeditions at high altitudes in Himalayas. It was founded in 1958.

Dhanush wins Best Actor award at 6th BRICS Film Festival

Veteran actor Dhanush has bagged Best Actor Award at the sixth edition of BRICS Film Festival for his fim ‘Asuran’.

The 6th BRICS Film Festival was held in India, alongside 52nd IFFI in Goa from November 20 to 28, 2021.

Other winners:

Best Film: South African film ‘Barakat’ and Russian film ‘The Sun above Me Never Sets’.

Best Actor (Female): Lara Boldorini for On Wheels (Brazil).

Special Jury Mention Award: Director Yan Han for A Little Red Flower (China).