Latest Current Affairs For Wednesday 8th December, 2021

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.

PM Narendra Modi to be awarded prestigious Lokmanya Tilak Award 2023

The Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust (Hind Swaraj Sangh) would confer the prestigious Lokmanya Tilak National Award 2023 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Pune on August 1, 2023.

Reason: This award recognizes PM Modi's supreme leadership under which India has climbed the ladder of progress

It is presented annually on the occasion of Lokmanya Tilak's death anniversary.

Other awardees: Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sharad Pawar, Cyrus Poonawalla, and Manmohan Singh. 

J&K Bank wins award for Best Performance in CASA

Jammu & Kashmir Bank has been felicitated for the Best Performance in CASA-India (1st Runner up in Small Bank Category) at ICC Emerging Asia Banking Conclave & Awards 2022.

The event was participated by banks from India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka & Myanmar.

The function was organized by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Goa.

Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group headquartered in Calcutta.

India poised to become world’s 2nd-largest economy by 2075: Goldman Sachs

According to the Investment Bank Goldman Sachs, India is poised to become the world’s second-largest economy by 2075.

As per the report, India would cross Japan, Germany, and the US With a population of 1.4 billion people.

India’s GDP is estimated to expand remarkably, reaching 52.5 trillion dollars surpassing the US GDP projection.

The labour force participation set to make India the second-largest economy in the world by 2075.

L&T and Spain's Navantia sign agreement for submarine project

L&T has signed a teaming agreement with Spanish-based Navantia for the submission of a techno-commercial bid for the Indian Navy’s prestigious P75 (India) submarine program.

P75 (India) Submarine Project is expected to be valued at €4.8 billion.

Navantia would carry out the design of P75(I) submarines based on its S80 class of submarines.

The first S80 class submarine was launched in 2021 and is undergoing sea trials prior to its delivery to Spanish Navy. 

India overtakes China as most attractive emerging market for investing

According to a study by Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management, India has overtaken China to become the most attractive emerging market for investing in sovereign wealth funds this year.

Reason: This is due to its solid demographics, political stability, and proactive regulation. 

Positives for the nation also include the rapidly expanding demography, strong regulatory actions, and a welcoming climate for sovereign investors.

World Population Day 2023: 11 July

World Population Day is observed every year on July 11 in order to raise awareness about global population issues, including population control.

2023 theme: Unleashing the power of gender equality: Uplifting the voices of women and girls to unlock our world’s infinite possibilities. 

It was established by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1989, after the day the world approximately reached a population of five billion, which was observed on 11 July 1987.

MoHUA conducts SBM-U 2.0 Planning & Implementation Review-cum-Workshop

The Housing Ministry organized a review-cum-workshop to evaluate and accelerate the planning and implementation of the SBM-Urban 2.0.

PM Modi launched the 2.0 versions of SBM-U and AMRUT on October 1, 2021.

SBM-U 2.0: Achieving 100% waste segregation in all households and premises and 100% door-to-door collection of segregated waste from each. 

AMRUT 2.0: To provide complete coverage of water supply to all households and sewerage and septage in 500 AMRUT cities. 

Gujarat CM launches pilot project of ‘Antyodaya Shramik Suraksha Yojana’

Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel launched the Antyodaya Shram Suraksha Accident Insurance Scheme from Kheda

All those registered under the e-Shram portal from Nadiad will benefit from the scheme.

It is being implemented through the Indian Postal Department, the IPPB, and the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Under this scheme, insurance with a premium of Rs. 289 and Rs. 499 per year will be a big support to workers in the event of death or partial disability.

OCA elects Sheikh Talal as the new President

Kuwait’s Sheikh Talal Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah has been elected as the new President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).

He replaced his older brother Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, who led the OCA for 30 years until 2021.

The OCA was founded in 1982 by his father Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who led it until 1990.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees.

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance wins Insurer Innovation Award 2023

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance has won the Insurer Innovation Award 2023 for the APAC region at the 8th World Digital Insurance Awards, hosted by TDI - The Digital Insurer.

Recognition: Bajaj Allianz Life's ground-breaking WhatsApp Conversational Platform - empowering customers to digitally services their policies seamlessly. 

The award entries were shortlisted by industry experts and the winner was selected by the community through pre-voting and live event voting.