Latest Current Affairs For Saturday 11th December, 2021

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.

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.