Latest Current Affairs For Sunday 26th December, 2021

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.

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.