Important Weekly Current Affairs PDF Download (Dec 01st to 08th Dec 2021)

Dear Readers, Here we have given the list of Important Weekly Current Affairs of Dec 01st to Dec 08th 2021. Candidates those who are preparing for Upcoming SBI Clerk 2021 and other competitive exams can make use of it.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

World AIDS Day -Dec 1

• World AIDS Day is observed across the world on 1st December every year.
• This year the theme of World AIDS Day is End inequalities. End AIDS and End Pandemics.

57th Border Security Force (BSF) Raising Day Celebrated on December 01, 2021

• The Border Security Force (BSF) is observing its 57th Raising Day on 01 December 2021.
• The Border Security Force (BSF), India’s central armed police force, was established on December 1, 1965.

Note:

The first Director-General of Border Security Force (BSF) was K F Rustamji IPS who served from July 21, 1965, to September 30, 1974.

Border Security Force Act – 1968

About BSF:

• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Director General : Pankaj Kumar Singh
• Founder: Khusro Faramurz Rustamji
• BSF is one of the five Central Armed Police Forces of the Union of India and stands as the world’s largest border guarding force.
• It comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

International Day for the Abolition of Slavery Observed on 2 December 2021

• Every year, the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery is observed on December 2 since 1986 by the United Nations General Assembly.
• Theme of 2021 International Day for the Abolition of Slavery is Ending Slavery’s Legacy of Racism: A Global Imperative for Justice.As per the International Labour Organisation (ILO), over 40 million people are suffering from modern slavery across the world.

About ILO:

• Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
• Director-General; Guy Ryder

International Day of Persons with Disabilities- Dec 3

• International Day of Persons with Disabilities is an international observance on December 3 promoted by the United Nations since 1992
• The theme of the day is ‘Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible, and sustainable post-COVID-19 world‘ Every year.

About UN:

• Secretary general: António Guterres
• Founded: 24 October 1945,
• Headquarters: New York, United States

Indian Navy Day Observed on Dec 04

• Indian Navy Day is observed annually on 4 December to recognise the achievements and role of our naval forces.
• The theme of Indian Navy Day 2021 is ‘Swarnim Vijay Varsh’ signifying 50 years of India’s victory in the Indo-Pakistan war that took place in 1971.

Significance of the day:

• The day gives an opportunity to educate children and Indian citizens about the victory of India in the 1971 war.

About Operation Trident:

• Operation Trident was an offensive operation launched by the Indian Navy on Pakistan’s port city of Karachi during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
• Countering the attack, the Indian navy had sent 3 missile boats INS Veer, INS Nipat and INS Nirghat.

Facts About Indian Navy:

• The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the Indian Armed Forces which is led by the President of India as the Commander-in-Chief.
• Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Maratha Emperor is considered to be the Father of the Indian Navy.
• The Indian Navy was established in 1612 by the East India Company.

About Indian Navy:

• Founded: 26 January 1950
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Chief of Naval Staff: Admiral R Hari Kumar

International Day of Banks: 04 December

• The United Nations General Assembly decided to keep December 4 as International Day of Banks and it was celebrated for the first time in 2020.
• It is also observed in recognition of the vital role of banking systems in Member State in contributing to the improvement of the standard of living.
• The day is celebrated to the recognition of the significant potential of multilateral development banks and other international development banks in financing sustainable development and providing know-how, and also in recognition of the vital role of the banking systems in the Member States in contributing to the improvement of the standard of living.

World Soil Day- 5 December:

• World Soil Day (WSD) is held annually on 5 December as a means to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and to advocate for the sustainable management of soil resources.
• An international day to celebrate soil was recommended by the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) in 2002.
• “Halt soil salinization, enhance soil production” is the theme for World Soil Day 2021.
• The day aims to raise awareness about soil degradation. Industrialisation or poor management of agricultural land worsens the condition of the soil.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

Government forms 5-member panel to monitor Central Vista project

• The Union government has formed a five-member committee to ensure timely completion of various projects executed under the Central Vista Redevelopment Plan.
• To directly oversee the Rs 20,000 crore project for a period of two years includes Rs 971 crore’s a new Parliament building and Rs 13,450 crore’s new residences of the prime minister and the vice president.
• Former Finance Secretary Ratan P Watal has been appointed the Chairman of the five-member Central Vista Oversight Committee.

Prasar Bharati enters into MoU with IIT, Kanpur to develop Next Generation Broadcast solution

• Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, has announced that, Prasar Bharati has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with IIT, Kanpur to develop Next Generation Broadcast solution for digital terrestrial broadcasting consistent with emerging standards such as 5G broadcast.

PM Modi to inaugurate InFinity Forum thought leadership Forum on FinTech

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate InFinity Forum, a thought leadership Forum on FinTech, on 3rd of December via video conferencing.
• The event is being hosted by International Financial Services Centres Authority under the aegis of Government of India in collaboration with GIFT City and Bloomberg. 
• Indonesia, South Africa and the U.K. are partner countries in the first edition of the Forum.

Farm Laws Repeal Bill 2021 passed in Parliament as Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha approve it on Day 1 of Winter Session

• Parliament passed the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021, with the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha approving it on the first day of the Winter Session.
• The bill seeking to withdraw the three farm bills was moved in Lok Sabha by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar amid ruckus by the Opposition.
• The three Laws sought to be repealed include the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

Government approved strategic disinvestment of Central Electronics Ltd

• Government has approved the strategic disinvestment of Central Electronics Limited. 
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA empowered Alternative Mechanism comprising Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Science and Technology Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, has approved the highest price bid of M/s Nandal Finance and Leasing Private Limited for sale of 100 percent equity shareholding of Government of India in Central Electronics Limited.

NITI Aayog releases report on Online Dispute Resolution policy for speedy access to justice

• NITI Aayog has pushed for Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) for speedy access to justice.
• NITI Aayog has released the report Designing the Future of Dispute Resolution: the ODR Policy Plan for India, to scale dispute avoidance, containment, and resolution online.
• The rollout of the recommendations in the report can help make India a world leader in using technology and innovation through ODR, for effective access to justice for every individual.
• The report is a culmination of the action plan made by a committee constituted at the peak of the Covid crisis by NITI Aayog on ODR in 2020 and chaired by Supreme Court Justice A K Sikri.

Production Linked Incentive of Rs. 120 crore is provided for Indian manufacturers of drone and drone components

• The Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for drones and drone components has been notified on 30 Sep 2021 to push the production of drones.
• An incentive of Rs. 120 crores has been provided for Indian manufacturers of drone and drone components on the basis of their value addition in India.
• The incentive shall be provided over three financial years commencing from 2021-22.
• The PLI that can be claimed by a manufacturer is 20% of the value addition by such manufacturer. The PLI rate is constant at 20% for all three years.
• Minimum value addition is specified as 40% of net sales
• Eligibility norm for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and startups is specified as Rs. 2crore of annual sales revenue for drone manufacturers and Rs. 50 lakhs of annual sales revenue for drone component manufacturers.
• PLI for a beneficiary is capped at 25% of the total annual outlay to allow widening of the number of beneficiaries.

21.52 crore loans extended to women borrowers under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY)

• As 21.52 crore loans have been extended to women borrowers by Member Lending Institutions (MLIs) under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) since inception of the Scheme.
• This was stated by Union Minister of State for Finance Dr Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha
• As per the existing guidelines, any individual who is otherwise eligible to take loan and has a business plan for non-farm income generating activities in sectors such as manufacturing, trading, services and activities allied to agriculture and whose credit need is up to Rs.10 lakh is eligible to avail credit under the Scheme.

About PMMY:

• Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) is a scheme launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on April 8, 2015 for providing loans up to 10 lakhs to the non-corporate, non-farm small/micro enterprises
• These loans are given by Commercial Banks, RRBs, Small Finance Banks, MFIs and NBFCs.

NITI Aayog organises knowledge sharing workshop on Natural Farming

• As a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of progressive India, NITI Aayog is organizing a series of events from November 2021 to April 2022.
•  In this connection, a national workshop on Natural Farming was organized by Agriculture vertical, NITI Aayog on 30th November 2021 involving Krishi Vigyan Kendras across India under the Chairmanship by Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog

Centre forms three-member committee to review criteria for EWS quota : Ex-Finance Secretary Ajay Bhusan Pandey to Head Panel

• On November 30, The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment announced the Centre has formed a three-member committee to review the criteria for reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category.

About Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment:

• Cabinet Minister: Virendra Kumar Khatik
• Minister of State : Ramdas Athawale, Pratima Bhowmik, A. Narayanaswamy

PM Narendra Modi inaugurate InFinity Forum  

• On Dec 03, 2021, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate InFinity Forum, a thought leadership Forum on FinTech via video conferencing.
• The two-day event is being hosted by International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), under the aegis of Government of India in collaboration with GIFT City and Bloomberg.
• Indonesia, South Africa and the U.K. are partner countries in the first edition of the Forum.

‘Bijli Utsav’ organized by REC in Assam as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav

• As part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ – to celebrate 75 years of Independence, REC Limited, a public infrastructure finance company under the Ministry of Power organized a ‘Bijli Utsav’ in Sonapur village of Kamrup district and adjoining villages in Assam.
• REC Limited is a Navratna NBFC focusing on Power Sector Financing and Development across India. Established in 1969, REC Limited has completed over fifty years in the area of its operations.

President of India has inaugurated ceremony of fifth International Ambedkar Conclave

• The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, has inaugurated the fifth International Ambedkar Conclave, being organised by the Forum of SC and ST Legislators and Parliamentarians and Ambedkar Chamber of Commerce, (December 2, 2021) in New Delhi.
• This Forum is constantly highlighting issues of social and economic justice and playing an important role in spreading the thoughts and ideas of Dr Ambedkar.
• Article 46 of the Constitution directs that the State shall develop the educational and economic interests of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes with special care

Ministry of Culture implements Scheme of Financial Assistance for the Development of Buddhist/Tibetan Culture and Art under “Kala Sanskriti Vikas Yojna (KSVY)

• The Ministry of Culture implements a financial grant scheme known as Scheme of Financial Assistance for the Development of Buddhist/Tibetan Culture and Art for the purpose of strengthening the voluntary Buddhist/Tibetan Organizations including the monasteries engaged in propagation and the scientific development of Buddhist/Tibetan Culture and tradition and in research in related fields.
• The quantum of funding is Rs.30.00 lakhs per year for an organization.
• The Expert Advisory Committee (EAC) on the scheme is empowered to recommend the amount beyond the maximum limit but not exceeding Rs.1.00 crore from this scheme.

IIIT-Hyderabad’s incubation centre bags ₹5 cr grant from Start-up India

• The Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) of IIIT Hyderabad has won a ₹5-crore grant under the Start-up India Seed Fund Scheme run by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Government of India.
• by providing financial assistance up to ₹25 lakh to each of the start-ups
• They are targeting to support 20-25 start-ups in the next three years through this scheme.

U.S. Senate passes bill to avert government shutdown             

• The Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate passed a bill to fund the government through mid-February, averting the risk of a shutdown after overcoming a bid by some Republicans to delay the vote in a protest against vaccine mandates.
• The 69-28 vote leaves government funding at current levels through Feb. 18, and gives Democratic President Joe Biden plenty of time to sign the measure before funding was set to run out at midnight
• The Senate acted just hours after the House of Representatives approved the measure, by a vote of 221-212, with the support of only one Republican.

Ola to launch its first electric car in 2023

• Ride-hailing company Ola has received 1 million reservations for its electric scooter, Chief Executive Officer Bhavish Aggarwal, with first deliveries on track for December 15.
• Aggarwal also Ola’s first electric car will be out in 2023 as the company, backed by Japan’s Softbank Group, aims to make India a global electric vehicle hub.

Govt to launch SRESHTA Scheme 2021 for development of Scheduled Castes students 

• The Centre is set to launch the Residential Education for Students in High Schools in Targeted Areas (SRESHTA) scheme.

Purpose:

• To work for socio-economic upliftment and overall development of Scheduled Castes students.
• The scheme will be launched on 6th December on Mahaparinirvan Diwas in remembrance of Dr. B R Ambedkar as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

About Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment:

• Union Minister : Virendra Kumar
• Minister of State : Ramdas Athawale, Pratima Bhowmik, A. Narayanaswamy

Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2021 introduced in Lok Sabha:

• The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was introduced in the Lok Sabha.
• N.K. Premachandran of RSP opposed the introduction of the Bill.
• The legislation is in violation of Article 21.
• BJD leader Bhartruhari Mahtab also asked government to redraft the legislation.

1st ever India – Russia 22 Ministerial Dialogue underway in New Delhi:

• The first-ever India Russia 22 Ministerial Dialogue is underway in New Delhi.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar are representing the Indian side in the 22 Dialogue and the Russian side is being represented by their Foreign Affairs Minister and Defence Minister.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive in New Delhi on an official visit to India for the 21st India-Russia Annual Summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The leaders will review the state and prospects of bilateral relations and discuss ways to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries.
• The Summit will be an opportunity to exchange views on regional, multilateral and international issues of mutual interest. Both leaders will also hold one-on-one talks.
• The Annual Summit meeting between India and Russia is the highest institutionalized dialogue mechanism in the strategic partnership between India and Russia.
• So far, 20 Annual Summit meetings have taken place alternately in India and Russia.

EAM S Jaishankar has addressed 5th Indian Ocean Conference in Abu Dhabi:

• External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has stressed on the importance of respecting and facilitating freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded commerce in a globalised world, while addressing the fifth Indian Ocean Conference in Abu Dhabi.
• As a result of this, there is now an ongoing debate on the changed nature of power and influence whether it is connectivity, technology or trade.
• The Minister pointed out that two developments have significantly heightened uncertainties that the Indian Ocean countries contemplate.
• One is the American withdrawal from Afghanistan and the second is the impact of Covid on a region that is particularly vulnerable to health and economic stresses.
• Quad has developed a robust agenda covering many areas including maritime security, cyber security, climate action, vaccine collaboration, critical and emerging technologies, higher education, and resilient supply chains.
•  The Minister held a meeting with his UAE counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the sidelines of the conference in Abu Dhabi.

About UAE:

• Capital: Abu Dhabi
• Currency: dirham
• President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh attends MSME Conclave organised by Ministry of Defence & SIDM:

• Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has called upon Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to invest more in research & development and manufacture new products & technologies and thereby contribute to the security and progress of the country.
• In the inaugural address at the MSME Conclave, organised by Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence in partnership with Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) in hybrid mode, in New Delhi.
• Rajnath Singh urged MSMEs and SIDM to create an industrial base in India, on the lines of ‘Mittelstand’ (Mittel-Stunt) of Germany, which has been recognised by the whole world for manufacturing metal equipment.
• These schemes extend financial assistance for development of defence technology and hand-holding by user services, thus providing necessary impetus to MSMEs, startups and individual innovators.
• The scheme will provide financial assistance to around 300 start-ups/MSMEs/individual innovators and about 20 partner incubators through Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO).

NCC launches ‘Azadi ki Vijay Shrankhla’ and ‘Sanskritiyon ka Maha Sangam’ to honour bravehearts of 1971 War:

• National Cadet Corps (NCC) is conducting ‘Azadi ki Vijay Shrankhla aur Sanskritiyon ka Mahasangam’ event as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
• ‘Azadi ki Vijay Shrankhla’ is being conducted from November 28 to December 10, 2021 wherein bravehearts of 1971 War are being honoured at 75 locations throughout the country.
•  Out of these 75 locations, five have been earmarked for live webcast on Gallantry Awards portal (https://ift.tt/3sV0XMz).
• ‘Sanskritiyon ka Maha Sangam’, a special national integration camp will be conducted in Delhi wherein candidates from all over the country will participate in cultural exchange.

AZADI KA DIGITAL MAHOTSAV:

• As the nation celebrates 75 years of independence with Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, MyGov has lauded the citizens who actively participated in the MyGov challenges, shared their logo ideas, and helped the government in formulation of policies and programmes.
• Innovation Challenge on e-waste Management was won by Amit Sharma, and Aruna Kumari; Drug Discovery Hackathon was won by Dr KaliRajan Rajagopal

Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurates DRI’s 64th Foundation Day Celebrations:

• The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), the apex anti-smuggling intelligence and investigation agency functioning under the aegis of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), celebrated its 64th Founding Day
• The celebration commenced with Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurating a function at the Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi.
• The Founding Day celebrations were also followed by 7th Regional Customs Enforcement Meeting (RCEM) for effectively engaging with partner Customs organisations and International agencies like World Customs Organisation, Interpol, UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Regional Intelligence Liaison Office – Asia Pacific (RILO AP).
• The RCEM was attended by representatives of six countries physically and more than 10 Countries virtually.

Union Minister for Tourism Shri Kishan Reddy inaugurates Tourist Facilitation Center and Public Utilities on Colva Beach:

• Union Minister for Tourism Shri G Kishan Reddy inaugurated tourist facilitation center and public utilities and changing room on Colva Beach in South Goa.
• It was constructed as part of Development of Coastal Circuit II projects under the Swadesh Darshan scheme by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.
• Swadesh Darshan Scheme: is a Central sector scheme launched by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, for the integrated development of theme-based tourist circuits.

MeitY Start-up Hub celebrates the Iconic week of “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” with its Tech-Start-up Summit:

• As part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” celebrations, MeitY Start-up Hub held its Tech-Start-up Summit earlier this week.
• MeitY Start-up Hub (MSH), an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY), focussed on promoting technology innovation, start-ups, and creation of intellectual properties.

President’s standard to be awarded to 22 killer squadron:

• Shri Ram Nath Kovind, the Honourable President of India, will award the President’s Standard to the 22nd Missile Vessel Squadron, also known as the Killer Squadron at a ceremonial parade to be held at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai on 08 Dec 21.
• To mark the occasion, a Special Day Cover along with a commemorative stamp will also be released by the Postal Department.

Lok Sabha passes National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2021

• The Lok Sabha has passed the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2021
• The Government is taking all out efforts to make the country the pharma capital of the world. Pointing out the export of vaccines and medicines for Covid to over 80 countries.
• More than 40 percent of the generic medicines being made available in the US are made in India and also 60-percent of all vaccines in the world have been manufactured in India.

AAI to spend around INR 25,000 crores in next five years for expansion and modification of existing terminals

• The aviation sector in India has been affected due to severe disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The estimated losses incurred by airlines and airports in India in the financial year 2020-21 is approximately Rs.19,564 crore and Rs. 5,116 crores respectively.
• Airports Authority of India (AAI) has taken up a development programme to spend around INR 25,000 crores in next five years for expansion and modification of existing terminals, new terminals, expansion or strengthening of existing runways, aprons, Airport Navigation Services (ANS), control towers, technical blocks etc.
• Three Public Private Partnership (PPP) airports at Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru have undertaken major expansion plan to the tune of INR 30,000 Crores by 2025. Additionally, INR 36,000 Crores have been planned for investment in the development of new Greenfield airports across the country under PPP mode.
• Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate has been reduced from 18% to 5% for domestic Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) services.

Union Budget 21-22 provided capital outlay of Rs. 5.54 lakh crore, an increase of 34.5% over Budget Estimate of FY 2020-21, to boast economy after COVID-19 pandemic

• To initiate infrastructure development to boost the economy after COVID-19 pandemic, Union Budget 2021-22 has provided a capital outlay of Rs. 5.54 lakh crore, an increase of 34.5% over Budget Estimate of FY 2020-21.
• The Government has also made provision of more than Rs. 2 lakh crores for States & Autonomous Bodies towards their Capital Expenditure. 
• National Monetization Pipeline was also prepared to unlock the value of investments in public sector assets by tapping private capital and efficiencies for delivering infrastructure services.
• The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) was launched with projected infrastructure investment of around Rs. 111 lakh crores during FY 2020-2025 to provide world-class infrastructure across the country, and improve the quality of life for all citizens.

Scheduled Commercial Banks recover Rs 90 crore from financial frauds in last 5 years

• Cyber financial frauds in banking primarily relate to frauds that have taken place on ATM/ debit cards, credit cards and internet banking platforms.
• This was stated by Union Minister of State for Finance Dr Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad.
• As per RBI data on frauds reported by Scheduled Commercial Banks in the category “Card/Internet – ATM/Debit Cards, Credit Cards and Internet Banking Fraud” for the last five financial years, based on the date of occurrence of frauds, state-wise and bank-wise

Swachh Technology Challenge launched to Create an Innovations’ Ecosystem in Waste Management

• Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 (SBM-U 2.0), under the aegis of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), has launched the Swachh Technology Challenge.
• The Challenge seeks to harness the entrepreneurial potential of the waste management sector in India and promote an enabling environment for enterprise development under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0.
• Recently, the integrated SBM-Urban MIS portal Swachhatam and the state-of-art GIS platform were launched under SBM-U 2.0 which will not only take the Mission closer to citizens but will also enable smart data driven decision making, transparency and robustness in Mission implementation.
• The Swachh Technology Challenge is another step towards ensuring smart governance in SBM-U 2.0 by incentivizing the innovations’ ecosystem to help realize the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Garbage Free Cities’.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

4th Foreign Office Consultations between India and Uruguay held at Montevideo

• The 4th Foreign Office Consultations between India and Uruguay were at Montevideo. Secretary (East), Riva Ganguly Das led the Indian delegation.
•  Reviewing the ongoing bilateral cooperation, both sides identified steps to strengthen and boost trade and investment, access to pharmaceuticals products, cooperation in Information Technology sector and strengthening people-to-people ties.

South Korea to get world’s first floating city by 2025

• South Korea to get the world’s first floating city by 2025, it will be built off the coast of South Korea, and work on it will likely be completed as early as 2025.
• The project has been backed by the United Nations, and the city will be built off the coast of Busan to deal with the problem of rising sea levels. 
• The floating city will be a self-sufficient city, which is a joint effort by the UN Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habit) and OCEANIX. 

Global trade likely to hit $28 trillion in 2021, grow 23% YoY: UNCTAD report

• Global trade is expected to reach about $28 trillion in 2021, growing 11 per cent over pre-pandemic levels, according to the global trade update report issued by UNCTAD.
• The outlook for 2022, however, remains very uncertain, due to slowing economic recovery, disruptions of logistics and rise in shipping costs, global semiconductor shortage, regionalization of trade flows, debt burden and governmental policies affecting international trade
• India’s trade growth accelerated in Q3 CY2021 — both in goods and services — while that of China remained relatively constant although at already high levels

India joins G20 ‘Troika’ with Indonesia and Italy

• India has joined the G20 Troika, apart from India, Troika consists of Indonesia and Italy.
• External Affairs Ministry, India will assume the G20 Presidency in December 2022 from Indonesia and will convene the G20 Leaders’ Summit for the first time in the country in 2023. 
• Indonesia has assumed the G20 Presidency and will convene various G20 meetings throughout the year culminating with the G20 Leaders’ Summit in October next year under the overall theme of Recover Together Recover Stronger.

11th edition of Exercise EKUVERIN between India and Maldives to be conducted at Kadhdhoo Island:

• The 11th edition of Exercise EKUVERIN between India and Maldives will be conducted at Kadhdhoo Island, Maldives.

World Cooperative Monitor report 2021- IFFCO Topped:

• The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) has been ranked ‘number one Cooperative’ among the top 300 cooperatives in the globe.
• The 2021 edition of the 10th Annual World Cooperative Monitor (WCM) report, withholding its position from the 2020 edition.
• The 2021 WCM report is published by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises.

Bangladesh-India partnership has taken a dynamic, comprehensive and strategic shape

• Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh has called for recommitting the two countries towards further strengthening the long-standing dynamic partnership between Bangladesh and India. 
• It is not confined to the treaties, MoUs, bilateral agreements that provide the formal structure to the working relations between Bangladesh and India.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS

Asian Paints signed MoU with Gujarat government

• Asian Paints has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Gujarat, commencing the proposed expansion of manufacturing capacity at its Ankleshwar facility at a total investment of about ₹960 crore at the current prices.
• The company, in an exchange filing, said the manufacturing capacity of paint will go up from 130,000 KL to 250,000 KL, and resins and emulsions from 32,000 MT to 85,000 MT.

Nagaland police launches ‘Call your Cop’ mobile App for citizens

• Nagaland DGP T. John Longkumer officially launched the ‘Call your Cop’ mobile App at Police Headquarters in Kohima.

Chennai-headquartered ICT Academy partners with UiPath

• The Chennai-headquartered ICT Academy, an initiative of the Government of India in collaboration with the State governments and industries, has partnered with UiPath, an enterprise automation software company, to take the UiPath Academic Alliance programme to over 1,000 ICT Academy partner institutions across India.
• According to a recent Deloitte survey, 78 per cent of organisations are already implementing RPA, while Gartner predicts 90 per cent of large organisations globally will have adopted some form of RPA by 2022.

Hemantha Biswa sarma  launches Assam MicroFinance Incentive and Relief Scheme 2021

• Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma inaugurated the ambitious Assam Micro Finance Incentive and Relief Scheme-2021 at Collegiate High School playground in Tezpur in Sonitpur district, Assam.
• He ceremonially distributed cheques to five women beneficiaries during the programme.
• The scheme would benefit 24 lakh women in the state, while 59,468 women would receive reliefs amounting to Rs 16,000-Rs 25,000 in the Sonitpur district.

Union Ministry of Electronics & IT, Govt of Andhra Pradesh and NASSCOM launch ‘Centre of Excellence of IoT and AI’ in Visakhapatnam

• National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), in a joint partnership with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Government of AndhraPradesh, has inaugurated the ‘Centre of Excellence on IoT and AI’ at Andhra University Campus, Visakhapatnam, aimed at promoting innovation in emerging technologies of IoT, AI, robotics, etc.
• The new centre advances Prime Minister Shri Modi’s Digital India vision by providing open labs and infrastructure to create and validate solutions from design to prototype to democratise innovation. 
• It also promotes entrepreneurship by providing an incubation facility for peer-to-peer learning and the benefit of an industrial environment.

Drinking water supply schemes worth Rs. 1,816 Crore approved for Rajasthan

• Drinking water supply schemes worth Rs 1,816 Crore were approved for Rajasthan in the State-level Scheme Sanctioning Committee (SLSSC) meeting held.
• These schemes will provide tap water connection in 2,348 villages spread over 20 districts of the State. It will provide tap water connections to over 3.8 lakh rural households.
• Under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), there is provision for constitution of State Level Scheme Sanctioning Committee (SLSSC) for consideration and approval of schemes to be taken up for provisioning tap water supply to rural households.
• The SLSSC acts as a State-level Committee to consider water supply schemes/ projects, and a nominee of the National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM)

PM to inaugurate and lay foundation stone of multiple projects worth around Rs 18,000 crore in Dehradun

• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will visit Dehradun and inaugurate & lay the foundation stone of multiple projects worth around Rs 18,000 crore 
• Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of eleven development projects. This includes the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor (from Eastern Peripheral Expressway Junction to Dehradun) which will be built at a cost of around Rs 8300 crore.
• The greenfield alignment project from Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor, connecting Halgoa, Saharanpur to Bhadrabad, Haridwar will be constructed at a cost of over Rs 2000 crore.

2-day Regional Conference on ‘Replication of Good Governance Practices’ to be held in Bhubaneswar

• The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) in collaboration with Government of Odisha is organizing a Regional Conference on the theme: “Replication of Good Governance Practices,” at Bhubaneswar in a semi-virtual mode.
• The main objective of the Conference is to bring national and state level public administration organizations on the same platform to share experiences and innovations in public administration, transforming future public solution for improving quality of life, e-Governance and Digital Governance.

Nagaland celebrates 59th Statehood Day

• Nagaland observed the 59th Statehood Day at the Nagaland Civil Secretariat Plaza in Kohima on 1st December 2021.

Significance of the day:

• To remember the struggle and sacrifice of Naga leaders who contributed in the formation of Nagaland as the 16th state of India.

Sarbananda Sonowal has announced AYUSH Development packages for Manipur:

• Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and AYUSH Sarbananda Sonowal has announced AYUSH Development packages for Manipur.
• The Ministry of AYUSH has decided to construct fifteen AYUSH Dispensaries, seven 10 bedded hospitals and fifty Health and Wellness Centres in Manipur.
• Manipur is resourceful in medicinal plants and the AYUSH ministry has decided to develop sixteen nurseries in every district of the State and another hundred schools of herbal gardens.

Himachal Pradesh becomes first state in country to vaccinate its entire eligible population:

• Himachal Pradesh government will organize a mega event at AIIMS Bilaspur to mark the achievement of hundred percent COVID vaccination of second dose for its eligible population.
• BJP National President Jagat Prakash Nadda will also inaugurate OPD at AIIMS Bilaspur.
• LED screens have been installed at prominent places across the state to watch the live telecast of the function.
• Union Health minister will also review the progress of AIIMS Bilaspur.

Central grant of Rs. 1,667 Crore released to Maharashtra under Jal Jeevan Mission:

• With a focus to expedite the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in Maharashtra, the Government of India released 1,666.64 Crore to the State.
• Top priority is accorded by the Union Government to Jal Jeevan Mission as evidenced by the massive increase in budgetary allocation to Rs. 92,309 Crore in 2021-22, from Rs. 23,022 Crore in the preceding year.
• Further in 2021-22, Rs 2,584 Crore is allocated to Maharashtra as 15th Finance Commission grant for water & sanitation to Rural Local Bodies/ PRIs and there is an assured funding of Rs 13,628 Crore for the next five years i.e., up to 2025-26 to the rural local bodies.

KVIC Rolls Out Project RE-HAB in Assam to Prevent Elephant – Human Conflicts Using Tiny Bees:

• Buoyed by the success of its innovative Project RE-HAB (Reducing Elephant-Human Attacks using Bees) in Karnataka, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has now replicated the project in Assam.
• Chairman KVIC, Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena launched Project RE-HAB at Village Mornoi in Goalpara district of Assam which severely grapples with elephant-human conflicts.
• The project has been implemented in Assam with the support of the local forest department. Surrounded by dense forests, a large part of Assam is infested by elephants with 332 human deaths reported between 2014 and 2019 due to elephant attacks.
• Under Project RE-HAB, “Bee-fences” are created by setting up bee boxes in the passage ways of elephants to block their entrance to human territories.

Drinking water supply schemes of Rs. 267.66 Crore approved under Jal Jeevan Mission in Uttarakhand:

• Drinking water supply schemes of Rs 267.66 Crore were approved under Jal Jeevan Mission in Uttarakhand in the State-level scheme sanctioning committee (SLSSC) meeting held on 2nd December, 2021.
•  All 13 water supply schemes sanctioned are multi-village schemes. It will provide tap water connection to more than 23,000 rural households.
• Thus, in the past one week drinking water supply scheme worth Rs 492.90 Crore for 681 villages spread across 9 districts benefitting 42,000 households have been approved for Uttarakhand.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND ECONOMY

RBI appoints additional director on board of Ujjivan SFB

• The Reserve Bank of India has appointed P.N. Raghunath, General Manager, Reserve Bank of India, as an Additional Director on the board of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank for a period of two years.
• Previously, the RBI had on September 16 appointed a special committee of directors, with three independent directors as members, to oversee the day-to-day operations.
• The bank has been facing some amount of turmoil in recent months. Its Managing Director and CEO, Nitin Chugh, resigned earlier this year.
• The lender has also had problems with asset quality as gross non-performing assets surged to Rs 1,712.65 crore or 11.8 per cent of gross advances as on September 30, 2021.

About USFB:

• Headquarters: Bengaluru
• Founder: Samit Ghosh
• Founded: 1 February 2017

NBFC Agri wise FinServ partners Central Bank of India for agri loan disbursals

• Agri wise FinServ Limited, an Agri-focussed NBFC, has entered into a co-lending agreement with Central Bank of India for Agri-loan disbursal.
• The co-lending agreement will ensure that the farmer, Agri and allied community get finance at affordable rates in a simple, transparent and speedy manner. 
• The loan will be disbursed at a blended interest rate, as per the RBI directive on co-lending of loans

RBI imposes ₹1 crore penalty on Union Bank of India

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of ₹1 crore on Union Bank of India (UBI) for non-compliance with certain provisions of its directions relating to fraud classification and reporting and sale of stressed assets.
• The central bank, in a statement, said its inspection of UBI revealed, inter alia, non-compliance with the above-mentioned directions to the extent of

1. failure to classify an account as Red Flag Account despite presence of Early Warning Signals and
2. failure to disclose ageing of and provisioning for Security Receipts (SRs) in its Annual Report.

Regional Rural Banks surpass prescribed lending target to Small & Marginal Farmers & SCs/STs

• Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) have been playing an important role in purveying agricultural credit, particularly to Small and Marginal Farmers (SF/MF) and weaker sections of the society.
• The RRBs have surpassed the prescribed target of lending to the SMFs & Weaker Sections during the years 2018-2019 to 2020-21 as can be seen in the table below:

• Government of India implements an interest subvention scheme under which short term crop loans up to Rs.3.00 lakh is provided to farmers at a reduced interest rate of 7% p.a.
•  The scheme provides interest subvention of 2% per annum to Banks on use of their own resources.
•  Besides, additional 3% incentive is given to the farmers for prompt repayment of the loan, thereby reducing the effective rate of interest to 4%.
• The Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme was introduced in 1998 for issue of KCC to farmers.
• The scheme aims at providing adequate and timely credit support from the banking system under a single window with flexible and simplified procedure to the farmers to meet their short-term credit requirements for cultivation of crops, investment credit requirement for agriculture and allied activities and other needs.

RBI forms three-member Advisory Committee to assist Administrator of Reliance Capital

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted a three-member Advisory Committee to assist the Administrator of Reliance Capital.

• The members of the Advisory Committee include Sanjeev Nautiyal, former Deputy Managing Director, State Bank of India, Srinivasan Varadarajan, former Deputy Managing Director, Axis Bank and Praveen P Kadle, former Managing Director and CEO, Tata Capital
• The RBI had on November 29 superseded the board of directors of Reliance Capital and appointed Nageswara Rao Y, ex-Executive Director, Bank of Maharashtra, as the Administrator of the company.
• Shares of Reliance Capital were locked at the five per cent lower circuit and closed at ₹18.10 apiece on BSE.

Max Life Insurance extends ‘Buy Now, Pay at Approval’ facility to wider modes of online transactions

• Max Life Insurance Company Ltd has enhanced its ‘Buy Now – Pay at Approval’ feature available on term insurance purchases for customers to include more modes of online transactions.
• Launched last year for policies purchased online, the feature allows customers to apply for a policy through a digital payment method. 

India’s GDP grows at 8.4 per cent in second quarter of current fiscal

• India’s Gross domestic product, GDP, for the second quarter of the current fiscal logged fastest growth among major economies in the world.
• According to the government data released, GDP of the country grew by 8.4 percent from a year ago. 
• As per the National Statistics Office, NSO, data, Manufacturing output increased 5.5 percent during the period while construction segment grew 7.5 percent in the second quarter.
• The NSO data suggest that household consumption rose in the second quarter, July-September, of FY22 despite the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, boosting hopes of a quicker recovery in consumer demand in the months ahead.
• Economy of the country has gained momentum during the quarter as demand in the economy gradually came back to normalcy after coronavirus related disruptions.
• The economy had contracted 7.5 percent in the same period last year.

ADB inks pact for $250 Mn loan to support National Industrial Corridor program

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the central government have signed a $ 250 million loan to support the National Industrial Corridor Development Program (NICDP) to boost the country’s manufacturing competitiveness and generate high level employment.
• Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Finance, inked for the government of India the agreement for first of the two sub-programmes, each of USD 250 million, of the Industrial Corridor Development Program, while Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, signed for ADB.

SBI signs master agreement with Adani Capital for co-lending to farmers

• State Bank of India (SBI) has signed a master agreement with Adani Capital for co-lending to farmers for purchase of tractor and farm implements, to increase efficiency in farm operations and productivity of crops.
• Adani Capital is the non-banking finance company (NBFC) arm of Adani Group.

About SBI:

• Chairperson: Dinesh Kumar Khara
• Founded: 1 July 1955
• Headquarters: Mumbai
• Tagline: The Nation banks on us; Pure Banking Nothing Else; With you all the way

DBS revises India’s FY2023 growth forecast by 100 bps to 7%

• DBS has revised India’s FY23 growth forecast upwards to 7 percent year-on-year from 6 per cent earlier.
• The Singapore-based Bank’s economic research team observed that the 7 per cent growth rate in FY23 will be amongst the fastest in its Asia-10 universe.
• The MNC bank-maintained India’s full-year FY22 forecast at 9.5 per cent. It noted that with a receding Covid case count, India’s recovery is turning more broad-based.

Paytm signed an MoU with Skill Development Ministry to train youngsters in fintech

• Paytm has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Directorate of General Training (DGT) in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to train 6,000 individuals over a period of three years in the rapidly growing fintech industry.
• The selected individuals will undertake a six-month programme, designed by Paytm, in consultation with the DGT.

• Headquarters: Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

SBI listed USD 650-million Green Bonds on India INX and LuxSE:

• State Bank of India (SBI) listed its USD 650-million green bonds simultaneously on the India International Exchange (India INX) and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE).
• This dual listing is in line with 2021’s topic of the World Investor Week (WIW), ‘sustainable finance’, as indicated by the regulatory body International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).
• The listing of green bond with the Luxembourg Stock Exchange will open up new avenues for market development and fundraising opportunities in the green bond space.

Yes Bank launches credit cards on RuPay platform

• Private sector lender Yes Bank has launched credit cards on the RuPay platform.
• Yes Bank has partnered National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to offer RuPay branded credit cards to its customers on the indigenously developed payment platform
• The partnership is aligned with our ongoing efforts to expand and diversify our credit offering to customers, ensuring that their payment journeys are contactless, enjoyable and more rewarding.
• The private sector lender previously had an exclusive tie up with Mastercard but its credit card issuances had been impacted after the Reserve Bank of India had barred Mastercard from onboarding new customers on its domestic card network.
• In September this year, it had also announced a partnership with Visa to offer credit card to customers.

About YES Bank:

• CEO: Prashant Kumar
• Headquarters: Mumbai
• Founded: 2004
• Tagline: Experience Our Expertise

Karnataka Bank signed pact with Toyota for vehicle financing:

• Karnataka Bank Ltd has signed a memorandum of understanding with Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd (TKM) to introduce financing options for its customers to purchase Toyota vehicles.
• The tenure of the loan will be up to 84 months.
• The bank offers car loans through its extensive branch network with an indigenously developed end-to-end digital platform for existing as well as new customers.
•  The platform is enabled with simplified and faster processing capabilities.

About Karnataka Bank:

• Headquarters: Mangalore
• CEO: Mahabaleshwara M. S
• Founded: 18 February 1924
• Tagline: Your Family Bank Across India

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

Bajaj FinServ kicks off the second phase of ‘Savdhaan Rahein. Safe Rahein’

• Bajaj Finserv, one of the largest financial conglomerates in India, has kicked off the second phase of ‘Savdhaan Rahein. Safe Rahein’. a public awareness campaign focusing on Life Insurance Frauds.

Aim:

• To educate its customers and the wider public on how to stay safe from such frauds.
• Through this awareness initiative, Bajaj Finserv aims to convey a very important message to consumers opting for Life insurance policies to check policy documents carefully and verify the details from the insurers’ websites only.
• The campaign has a catchy jingle ‘Na Ji Na Ji’ with an endearing character named ‘Gupta Ji’ who goes around spreading these awareness messages.

About Bajaj Finserv Ltd:

• Founded: May 2007
• Founder: Jamnalal Bajaj
• Headquarters: Pune, Maharashtra
• Chairman: Rahul Bajaj
• CEO: Sanjiv Bajaj
• Bajaj FinServ Limited, a part of Bajaj Holdings & Investments Limited, is an Indian financial services company focused on lending, asset management, wealth management and insurance.

OECD slashes India growth forecast to 9.4% for FY22

• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) decreased India’s growth forecast to 9.4% for FY22 from 9.7% estimated in September 2021.
• In September, while paring India’s FY22 growth projection from 9.9% to 9.7%, OECD had citied still persisting risk of lasting costs from the pandemic.

India, Russia set target of trade worth 30 billion dollars, investment worth 50 billion dollars by 2025:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has the first 2 Plus 2 dialogues between defence and foreign ministers which took place earlier, starts a new mechanism to improve behavioural cooperation.
• Russia is adopting a long-term vision to strengthen bilateral partnership in economic affairs.
• Also, they have set a target of trade worth 30 billion dollars and investment worth 50 billion dollars by 2025.
• Four agreements were signed after this meeting, including contract for procurement of over six lakh AK-203 Assault Rifles and agreement on Program for Military Technical Cooperation from 2021 to 2031.
• AK-203 Assault Rifles will tremendously augment the operational capability of our soldiers. Hence, this contract ends the long quest of Indian Army to replace aging INSAS Rifle with a modern weapon.
• AK-203 Rifle, having an effective range of 300 meters is a light weight and easy to use Modern Assault weapon with proven technology.
• This will enhance the combat potential of our soldiers to meet the operational challenges. On the other hand, the unit located in Korwa, in Amethi will boost the manufacturing eco-system in Uttar Pradesh Defence Corridor.
• It will also generate local employment opportunities and the economic growth will see an upswing.

British Airways becomes first airline to use sustainable aviation fuel:

• British Airways signed a multi-year agreement with Phillips 66 Limited becoming the first airline to use sustainable aviation fuel produced on a commercial scale in the UK.
• It had reached the agreement with a refinery in north Lincolnshire to purchase thousands of tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which would add up to the equivalent of 700 transatlantic flights on a Boeing 787 with net zero carbon emission.
• Thousands of tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) will be produced for the first time in the UK at the Phillips 66 Humber Refinery near Immingham and will be supplied to British Airways to power a number of its flights from early 2022.

Central grant of ₹170 Crore released to Meghalaya under Jal Jeevan Mission:

• With a focus to expedite the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in Meghalaya, the Government of India released 169.60 Crore to the State. Central fund of ₹678.39 Crore has been allocated to the State for 2021-22 for the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission, which is nearly four times the allocation for 2020-21.

Central Grant Of ₹402 Crore Released to Punjab Under Jal Jeevan Mission:

• With a focus to expedite the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in Punjab, the Government of India released 402.24 Crore to the State.
• Central fund of ₹1,656.39 Crore has been allocated to the State for 2021-22 for the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission, which is nearly four times the allocation for 2020-21.
• There are 34.41 lakh rural households in the State, out of which 31.55 lakh rural households (91.68%) have tap water connection.
• Further in 2021-22, Rs. 616 Crore is allocated to Punjab as 15th Finance Commission grant for water & sanitation to Rural Local Bodies/ PRIs and there is an assured funding of Rs 3,246 Crore for the next five years i.e., up to 2025-26 to the rural local bodies.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION

Indian tech wizard Parag Agrawal takes over as CEO of Twitter

• Indian tech wizard Parag Agrawal takes over as CEO of the social media platform Twitter following the departure of its co-founder CEO.
• Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has stepped down as chief executive of the company paving way for the current chief technical officer, Parag Agrawal, to take over.
• Mr Dorsey has been serving as chief executive of both Twitter and payment firm Square.

Admiral R Hari Kumar assumes charge as 25th Chief of the Naval Staff

• Admiral R. Hari Kumar has assumed charge as the 25th Chief of the Naval Staff. 
• He received Guard of Honour at the South Block lawns in New Delhi as the new Chief of Naval Staff. Admiral Hari Kumar succeeds Admiral Karambir Singh who superannuated.

Petr Fiala has been appointed as new the Prime Minister of Czech Republic

• Petr Fiala has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of the Czech Republic by President Milos Zeman. Fiala succeeds Andrej Babis.
• The alliance narrowly defeated the ANO movement led by billionaire Babis.

Gita Gopinath to take on new role at IMF as First Deputy Managing Director

• Indian-American Gita Gopinath, the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, is being promoted as IMF’s First Deputy Managing Director, the fund announced.
• She would replace Geoffrey Okamoto who plans to leave the Fund early next year. Gopinath, who was scheduled to return to her academic position at Harvard University in January 2022, has served as the IMF’s chief economist for three years.

Sanjeev Kaushal becomes Chief Secretary of Haryana

• Haryana’s 1986-batch IAS officer, Sanjeev Kaushal, has been appointed as the state’s new chief secretary after the superannuation of his predecessor 1985-batch officer, Vijai Vardhan.
• Additional chief secretary, power, PK Das was posted as additional chief secretary, revenue and disaster management in place of Kaushal.
• Sanjeev Kaushal will be the 35th Chief Secretary of Haryana since it was carved out as a separate state in 1966.

Pradip Shah appointed NARCL Chairman; Sanjay Jain made IDRCL chief      

• Pradip Shah, founder of IndAsia Fund Advisors, has been appointed chairman of National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL) while Aditya Birla Asset Reconstruction Company managing director Sanjay Jain will be the chief executive of India Debt Resolution Company (IDRCL).
• Also, Diwakar Gupta, former managing director of State Bank of India, is selected as chairman of IDRCL.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOUR

IFFI honours renowned lyricists Prasoon Joshi with ‘Film Personality of the Year’ Award

• Lyricist and CBFC Chairperson Prasoon Joshi was honoured with the ‘Indian Film Personality of the Year’ award at the 52nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
• “IFFI has been more than an award show, it has been a festival, veteran actress Hema Malini received the similar honour. The festival is being held in Goa.

Kerala based start-up wins two prestigious awards at National level

• A Kerala-based medical technology start-up has been adjudged the winner of Startup India Grand Challenge 2021 in the medical device category of the Government of India.
• Sascan Meditech, the start-up incubated at the SCTIMST-TIMed the Technology Business Incubator of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for MedicalSciences & Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, received a Cash grant of INR 15,00,000 at the Grand Challenge organized by Department of Pharmaceuticals, Govt of India along with Startup India and Investindia.org.

ITC chief Sanjiv Puri is ‘Impact Person of the Year 2020’

• Sanjiv Puri, Chairman and Managing Director, ITC Ltd, was named the ‘Impact Person of the Year 2020’. Smriti Irani, Minister of Women and Child Development, announced the winner, chosen from a wide field of business achievers.

Ratan Tata To Be Conferred Assam’s Highest Civilian Award – Asom Bhaibav’ 

• On the occasion of Asom Divas, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma conferred its highest civilian award ‘Assam Baibhav‘ on Tata Trusts chairman Ratan Tata for his contribution to build cancer treatment facilities in the state.

V Praveen Rao wins 7th Dr. M.S. Swaminathan Award for 2017-19

• V Praveen Rao, Vice-Chancellor of Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU), has been selected for the Dr M S Swaminathan Award for the period 2017-19.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOUS AND AGREEMENT

DA and BVFCIREL sign MoU for Green Energy collaborations

• Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Limited (BVFCL) for providing its techno-financial expertise in developing Renewable Energy projects and fund raising.
•  The two companies are PSUs under Ministry of New & Renewable Energy and Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers respectively.

• The MoU was signed by Shri Pradip Kumar Das, Chairman & Managing Director (CMD), IREDA and Dr. Siba Prasad Mohanty, CMD, BVFCL in the presence of Shri Chintan Shah, Director (Technical), IREDA, Dr. R. C. Sharma, CFO, IREDA, and other senior officials.

Flipkart Inks MoU with Ministry of Rural Development Under National Rural Livelihood Mission.

• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Ministry of Rural Development and Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd. to allow the Self-Help Groups (SHGs) producers including the artisans, weavers and craftsmen to access national markets through the Flipkart Samarth programme.
• The partnership is aligned with the DAY-NRLM’s goal of strengthening the capabilities of rural communities for self-employment and entrepreneurship, thus providing further impetus to the Prime Minister’s vision of an “Atmanirbhar Bharat”.

• The four States of Assam, Bihar, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh have developed e-commerce platforms to support SHGs; the details are provided below.

S.No	State	Name of Site
1	Assam	Asomi
2	Bihar	Jeevika Shop
3	Kerala	Kudumbashree Bazaar
4	Madhya Pradesh	Madhya Pradesh Aajeevika Mart

Oppo, IIT-Delhi sign MoU for scholarship programme:

• Aimed at strengthening its commitment towards empowering young minds of the country, Oppo India on Monday introduced the Genius+ programme to provide scholarships to outstanding students pursuing engineering courses at premium institutes.
• To start with the programme, the smartphone maker has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IIT Delhi to offer scholarships covering academics expenses for the shortlisted students.
• Oppo will also be extending the programme for Masters and PhD students to invest in the future of technological leaders in the industry

ONGC inks MoU with SECI to develop renewable, ESG projects:

• To realize its green energy objectives, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).
• The MoU was signed by ONGC CMD Subhash Kumar and SECI MD Suman Sharma on behalf of the two national energy companies, 2 December 2021, in New Delhi.
• The MoU provides a broad, overarching framework for ONGC and SECI to collaborate and cooperate for undertaking renewable energy projects including solar, wind, solar parks, EV value chain, green hydrogen, storage, etc.

IREDA and THDCIL sign MoU for Green Energy collaborations:

• To provide its techno-financial expertise in developing Renewable Energy projects, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with THDC India Ltd (THDCIL).
• The MoU was signed by Shri Pradip Kumar Das, Chairman & Managing Director (CMD), IREDA and Shri Rajeev Kumar Vishnoi, CMD, THDCIL

NMPB and CSIR-CIMAP Lucknow Signed MoU to promote the production of Medicinal Plants:

• The National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, (CSIR-CIMAP), Lucknow signed an MoU for extending joint collaborative efforts to promote the production of quality planting material (QPM) of medicinal plants.
• Working under the Ministry of Ayush, NMPB is mandated to coordinate all matters relating to medicinal plants and support Policies and Programs for growth of trade, export, conservation and cultivation of medicinal plants.

Tata Power and IIT Madras signed an MoU, to work on R&D projects, tech solutions

• Tata Power and Indian Institute of Technology Madras have entered into an agreement to collaborate in research and development, consultancy, policy advocacy, advisory, training, and commercialization of technologies and solutions.
• As a part of the MoU, Tata Power and IIT Madras will aim to pursue advanced research in areas of future technology.
• A few objectives agreed upon by Tata Power and IIT M as a part of the tie-up are collaborative research projects including research-based and consulting projects supported by the Center for Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (IC&SR), IIT Madras.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMITS & CONFERENCES

Tribes India Conclave organised by TRIFED and Ministry of External affairs.

• A Tribes India Conclave is organised in association with TRIFED and the Ministry of External Affairs at the “Tribes India Adi Mahotsav”.
• It was arranged in line with the Prime Minister’s vision for Vocal for Local to build a self-reliant India and introduce rich tribal heritage to international audiences.

India-ITU Joint Cyberdrill 2021

• The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have commenced India-ITU Joint Cyberdrill 2021 starting from 30 November to 3 December 2021 virtually.

Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey to be the Chief Guest at the Round Table Conference

• Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey, Union Minister of Heavy Industries will be the Chief Guest at the Round Table Conference to Promote Electric Vehicles organized by Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) on December 4, 2021 at Goa.

Policy Initiatives to increase EV penetration:

• Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India II (FAME India II) scheme (outlay of Rs 10,000 crore)
• National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) (outlay of Rs 18,100 crores)
• Productivity Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for Automobile and Auto Components (outlay of Rs 25,938 crore)

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE NEWS

India, Sri Lanka, Maldives Conduct Joint Exercise On Maritime Security

• The ships and aircraft of the Indian Navy participated in the first-ever Colombo Security Conclave (CSC) Focused Operation to enhance maritime security in the Indian Ocean region, along with Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
• The two-day conclave witnessed the participation of ships and aircraft of the Indian Navy (IN), Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) and the Sri Lankan Navy (SLN). 
• They operated over a vast area in the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of the three countries in the Southern Arabian Sea.

Russian navy test-fires hypersonic missile in the White Sea

• Russia’s navy has successfully test-fired a prospective hypersonic missile Zircon cruise missile in the White Sea.
• The Admiral Gorshkov launched the Zircon cruise missile, hitting a practice target 400 kilometres (215 nautical miles) away.
• The launch was the latest in a series of tests of Zircon, which is set to enter service in 2022.

India to develop jet engines for aircrafts with foreign collaboration

• India is set to develop jet engines for aircrafts like Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) in association with the International Engine House.
• It is proposed to develop indigenous engines for powering aircraft such as LCA variants and Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).

Indian Bio-Jet Fuel Technology Receives Formal Military Certification

• CSIR-IIP Dehradun’s home-grown technology to produce bio-jet fuel has been formally approved for use on military aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
• The technology, developed by the Indian Institute of Petroleum (CSIR-IIP), a constituent laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.

Bangladesh, U.S. Kick Off bilateral maritime exercise CARAT 

• Bangladesh Navy (BN) and the US military personnel kicked off the annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) maritime exercise in the Bay of Bengal Virtually.
• The nine-day engagement focuses on a full spectrum of naval capabilities and features Cooperative activities that highlight the ability of US and Bangladesh to work together toward the common goal of ensuring a free and open Indo-pacific.

About Exercise CARAT:

• The Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training is a series of annual bilateral military exercises conducted by the United States Pacific Fleet with several member nations of ASEAN in Southeast Asia.
• Currently, the navies of Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand participate.
• CARAT exercise is observing its 27th anniversary.
• It is designed to address shared maritime security concerns and strengthen partnerships between regional navies.

BDL sign Rs 471.41-crore contract with Indian Army

• Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) had signed a Rs 471.41-crore contract with the Indian Army for the refurbishment of IGLA-1M missiles.
• The refurbishment will increase the life of the missiles by 10 years.
• The Company is leveraging emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence to develop futuristic weapons for the Armed Forces.

‘Indian Army Receives New Israeli Heron Drones For Deployment In Ladakh’

• The Indian Army’s surveillance capabilities have received a major boost as Israel has delivered advanced Heron drones under the emergency procurement clause to keep an eye on the Chinese activities in the Ladakh sector.

Indian Navy – Innovating towards Nation Building

• On the occasion of Navy Day Dec 04, 2021, The Innovation Pavilion, set up at the Navy House, was inaugurated by Hon’ble Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh.
• The pavilion showcased how Indian Navy has synergised innovation and Indigenisation efforts and collaborated with Academia and Industry, in keeping with the theme for this year’s Navy Day “Indian Navy – Innovating towards Nation Building”, towards larger emphasis on Nation Building whilst keeping its focus on own Self-Reliance.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

China launches new communications satellite – Zhongxing-1D 

• China successfully launched a new communications satellite Zhongxing-1D or ChinaSat-1 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest Sichuan Province.
• The satellite was launched by a Long March-3B carrier rocket and entered the planned orbit successfully.
• It was developed under the China Academy of Space Technology, the country’s main, state-owned spacecraft maker.

DBT-NBRC develop world’s first Multimodal Brain Imaging Data and Analytics, SWADESH

• Department of Bio-Technology and National Brain Research Centre (DBT-NBRC) in Haryana has developed the world’s first Multimodal Brain Imaging Data and Analytics called SWADESH.
• The unique brain initiative has been developed by the DBT-National Brain Research Centre (DBT-NBRC), Gurgaon, Haryana.
• SWADESH was inaugurated by Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Purpose:

• To strengthen Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research and help the scientific community come up with promising treatments.

About SWADESH:

• SWADESH is a unique brain initiative focusing on certified neuroimaging, neurochemical, neuropsychological data and analytics that are made accessible to researchers for managing brain disorders.

Indian Navy launches large survey ship ‘Sandhayak’

• Indian Navy, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd. (GRSE) a Defence PSU and a leading warship building company of India launched its first indigenously built Survey Vessel – ‘Sandhayak’ in the presence of Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt.
• It was formally launched by Pushpa Bhatt, wife of Ajay Bhatt, ‘Sandhayak’ is the first in the series of four ships under the Survey Vessel (Large) project for the Indian Navy.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: ENVIRONMENT

Kyhytysuka sachicarum- Extinct swordfish-shaped marine reptile discovered.

• A team of international researchers from Canada, Colombia, and Germany has discovered a new extinct marine reptile Kyhytysuka sachicarum.

About Kyhytysuka :

• Kyhytysuka was a mid-sized ophthalmosaurian with heterodont dentition.
• The animal was previously assigned to the genus Platypterygius.
• Kyhytysuka has a large body size & robust skull & it was mostly found in shallow waters.
• It has several adaptations suggesting that it was a macropredatory vertebrate hunter.
• The dentition is the unique feature of the species as the teeth are seated in continuous grooves.
• The longest bone of the species is the dentary, which measures 720 mm & the teeth are slightly curved posteriorly.

New Butterfly Species ‘Chocolate-Bordered Flitter’ Discovered in Sikkim

• The new butterfly species Zographetus dzonguensis was founded in the Namprickdang area, Noom Panang Village in upper Dzongu, North District, Sikkim.
• A study on the new species was published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Zootaxa.
• This is the second butterfly species new to science from the Northeast after 2015.
• The team of researchers who discovered the species have proposed the English name ‘Chocolate-bordered Flitter’ as it has a chocolate coloured border around both the wings.
• The team of researchers included Krushnamegh Kunte, Sonam Wangchuk Lepcha, Tarun Karmakar, and Dipendra Nath Basu.
• The chocolate-brown spots on the hindwing of the Sikkim species are smaller, and the white spots on the forewing are also more sharply defined.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING & INDEX

Tel Aviv ranked world’s costliest city – The world’s most expensive cities in 2021

• Tel Aviv the Israeli city has become the world’s most expensive city to live in 2021, Paris and Singapore are jointly ranked second, followed by Zurich and Hong Kong at the fourth and fifth spots according to the annual Worldwide Cost of Living index released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
• Tel Aviv climbed from 5th place to the top in 2021 due to the rising value of the Israeli currency shekel against US Dollar and the increase in the price of grocery and transport.
• The Syrian capital Damascus was ranked the world’s cheapest city to live in.

List of world’s top 10 expensive cities

• Tel Aviv, Israel
• Paris, France
• Singapore
• Zurich, Switzerland
• Hong Kong
• New York, US
• Geneva, Switzerland
• Copenhagen, Denmark
• Los Angeles, US
• Osaka, Japan

IFFCO ranks first among top 300 cooperatives of the world

• According to the 2021 edition of the 10th Annual World Cooperative Monitor (WCM) report, The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) has been ranked ‘number one Cooperative’ among the top 300 cooperatives in the world.
• The ranking is based on the ratio of turnover over the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.
• It signifies that IFFCO is contributing significantly to the GDP and economic growth of the nation.
• The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises (Euricse) launched the 2021 edition of the World Cooperative Monitor during an international webinar.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

PNB to pick up 9.5% stake in Open Network for Digital Commerce Ltd

• Public sector Punjab National Bank (PNB) will invest as a promoter in Open Network for Digital Commerce by picking up over 9.5 percent stake in the company.
• As the acquisition of shareholding is below 10 per cent, regulatory approval is not required.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS & AUTHORS

New Book Titled The Ambuja Story: How a Group of Ordinary Men Created an Extraordinary Company by Narotam Sekhsaria

• Indian businessman and philanthropist Narotam Sekhsaria authored a book titled The Ambuja Story: How a Group of Ordinary Men Created an Extraordinary Company.
• The Book will be Published by HarperCollins Publishers India & it is set to be released in December 2021.

About the Book:

• The book vividly captures that engaging story, the determination and perseverance that went into building one of India’s finest companies.
• The Ambuja Story provides a new perspective on business and life, inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs to scale greater heights.

Rachna Bisht Rawat’s New Book titled 1971: Charge of the Gorkhas and Other Stories

• A New Book Titled 1971: Charge of the Gorkhas and Other Stories written by author Rachna Bisht Rawat.
• The Book will hit the stands on December 10 & it is published by Penguin Random House India (PRHI).

Vice President releases book on ‘Public Service Ethics’ by Prabhat Kumar

• The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, released the book, titled ‘Public Service Ethics’ written by Shri Prabhat Kumar, former Governor of Jharkhand and former Cabinet Secretary to the Government of India, & published by IC Centre for Governance at Upa-Rashtrapati Nivas.

Venkaiah Naidu launches Gautam Chintamai’s book ‘The Midway Battle: Modi’s Roller-coaster Second Term’                                                     

• Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu launched Gautam Chintamani‘s book ‘The Midway Battle: Modi’s Roller-coaster Second Term’ at Upa-Rashtrapati Nivas in New Delhi.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPS & SERVICES

Union Minister Giriraj Singh launches BanAdhikar App & NGDRS

• Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh launched the National Generic Document Registration System (NGDRS) and Banadhikar App.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS NEWS

India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan wins maiden singles tennis title at ATP Challenger tournament in Bahrain

• Indian tennis player Ramkumar Ramanathan won his maiden Challenger level singles title 12 years after turning a Pro, after he defeated Evgeny Karlovskiy of the Russian Tennis Federation in the final of the ATP Challenger tournament in Manama, Bahrain.

Saurav Ghosal becomes the first Indian to win Malaysian Open squash championships

• On Nov 27, 2021, Squash star Saurav Ghosal made history as he became the first Indian to win the Malaysian Open Championships after beating Miguel Rodriguez 11-7, 11-8 and 13-11 in the men’s singles final in Kuala Lumpur to win the 2021 Malaysian Open Squash Championships title.
• It was Ghosal’s first PSA Tour title in three years.
• He last won a PSA title in the 2018 Kolkata International Open.
• In the women’s single title of the 2021 Malaysian Open squash championships has been won by Malaysia’s Aifa Azman.

About Saurav Ghosal:

• Saurav Ghosal born 10 August 1996, in Kolkata, West Bengal.
• In 2013, Saurav became the first Indian to reach the Quarter finals of the World Squash Championship at Manchester, England. 
• In 2004, he became the first Indian ever to win the coveted British Junior Open Under-19 Squash title, defeating Adel El Said of Egypt in the final at Sheffield, England.
• Saurav won the bronze medal at the Asian Games 2006 Doha and was awarded the Arjuna Award by the President of India in August 2007 thus becoming the first Squash player from the country to get the award.

About Malaysian Open Squash Championships:

• The Malaysian Open Squash Championships is an annual squash tournament that takes place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• The event is organised by the Squash Racquets Association Of Malaysia.
• The event was established in 1975.

About Professional Squash Association:

• Founded: 1975
• CEO: Alex Gough
• Chairman: Ziad Al-Turki
• President : Ali Farag (Men),  Jenny Duncalf (Women)
• Directors : Daryl Selby, John Nimick, Mike Puertas, Pablo Serna, Claudia Schurmann
• The Professional Squash Association (PSA) is the governing body for the men’s and women’s professional squash circuit.

Indian athlete Anju Bobby George wins World Athletics’ Woman of the Year award

• Legendary Indian athlete Anju Bobby George has been bestowed with the Woman of the Year Award by World Athletics for grooming talent in the country and for her advocacy of gender equality.

About Anju Bobby George:

• Anju was born 19 April 1977 , Changanassery, Kottayam, Kerala, India.
• She was a gold medallist in 2005 IAAF World Athletics Finals.
• The 44-year-old Anju is India’s only medallist at the IAAF World Championships (Paris, 2003), a gold medallist in the IAAF World Athletics Finals (Monaco, 2005).
• Currently, Anju is the Chairperson of TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) and also the Executive member of Khelo India project.
• She is also the chairperson of the Athletes Commission of the Indian Olympic Association.

Awards & Honours:

• Anju Bobby George received the Arjuna award in 2002–2003 for eminent sports persons from the government of India
• She received the country’s highest sporting honour, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 2003–2004 after her success in the World Athletic meet.
• She was conferred Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award in 2004

Junior Hockey World Cup:  India beat Belgium by 1-0 to enter semi finals 

• Defending champions India beat European giants Belgium by a solitary goal 1-0 to progress to the semifinals in the FIH Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar in odisha.
• Shardananad Tiwari’s penalty corner conversion in the 21th minute was enough for India to seal their place in the last four.
• India will take on last edition’s bronze medallist Germany in the semifinals on Dec 03, 2021.

About Junior Hockey World Cup: 

• The Hockey Junior World Cup is an international field hockey competition organized by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
• The tournament was started in 1979 & since 1985 it has been held every four years.
• Most titles: Germany (6 Titles)
• India, having won the tournament two times & Argentina, Australia and Pakistan have each won the tournament once.
• The 2016 edition was held in Lucknow, India, with India defeating Belgium 2–1 in the final.
• India also became the first host nation to win the Junior World Cup & also the first and only nation to win any type of medal in the junior world cup as a host.

Ajaz Patel becomes third bowler to take 10 wickets in an innings

• New Zealand’s Mumbai-born spinner Ajaz Patel claimed all 10 Indian wickets in the second Test, becoming only the third bowler in cricket history to achieve the feat.
• He achieved the feat against India in the ongoing second Test here at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
• The left-armer spun a web around India’s batting order and bowled 47.5 overs, conceding 119 runs.
• Patel is currently playing his 11th Test match for the Kiwis.
• Earlier, Australia’s Jim Laker was the first cricketer to scalp 10 wickets in a Test innings in 1956 and that was followed by India’s Anil Kumble in 1999 against

About Ajaz Patel:

• Ajaz Patel was born in Mumbai in October 1988
• He made his international debut for the New Zealand cricket team in October 2018.
• In May 2020, New Zealand Cricket awarded him with a central contract, ahead of the 2020–21 season.

India’s Ananya Bansal Wins Silver at Asian Youth Paralympic Games

• India’s Ananya Bansal won the country’s first silver medal in shot put in the F-20 category at the Asia Youth Paralympic Games in Manama, Bahrain.
• Ananya Bansal is an athlete with an intellectual impairment.
• Also, Varsha Sannuthi from India has participated in the 2021 Asia Youth Para Games as the first International Paralympic Committee Trainee Classifier for Intellectual Impairment – Athletics.

About Bahrain 2021 Asian Youth Para Games:

• This is the fourth edition of the Asian Youth Para Games which was held in Manama, Bahrain from December 2-6, 2021.
• An estimated 800 athletes under 23 years of age are expected to compete at the Games.

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton wins

• Mercedes Driver Lewis Hamilton won the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Saudi Arabia.
• He has eight wins in the F1 season who ties up with Max Verstappen.
• The Top position shared by Max Verstappen & Lewis Hamilton with 369.5 points each.

F1 Saudi Arabian GP 2021:

1. L. Hamilton (D) Mercedes
2. M. Verstappen (M) Red Bull
3. V. Bottas (M) Mercedes
4. E. Ocon (D) Alpine
5. D. Ricciardo (M) McLaren
6. P. Gasly (D) AlphaTauri
7. C. Leclerc (D) Ferrari
8. Carlos Sainz (M) Ferrari
9. A. Giovinazi (D) Alfa Romeo

10.L. Norris (D McLaren

About Lewis Hamilton:

• Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton was born on 7 January 1985 in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England.
• He is a British racing driver & so far he is the only, black driver to race in the series.
• In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers’ Championship titles (tied with Michael Schumacher), and holds the records for the most wins (103), pole positions (103), and podium finishes (181), among others.

About Saudi Arabian Grand Prix:

• The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is a Formula One motor racing event which took place for the first time in 2021.
• The inaugural edition of the race was held in Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia.

Argentina beat Germany in FIH Men’s Junior Hockey World Cup 2021

• On Dec 05, 2021, Argentina defeated six-time winners Germany 4-2 in the FIH Men’s junior hockey world cup 2021 final at the Kalinga Stadium in Odisha.
• Argentina has become the only third team after Germany (six wins) and India (2001, 2016) to win multiple Junior Hockey WC titles.
• France and the Indian hockey team finished third and fourth, respectively.
• This was Argentina’s second title, after their maiden win in 2005.

Award	Player
Player of the tournament	Timothée Clément
Goalkeeper of the tournament	Anton Brinckman
Top goalscorer	Miles Bukkens
Fair play award	Chile

CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARIES

National Award-Winning Choreographer K Sivasankar Passes away

• On Nov 28, 2021, National Award-winning choreographer & actor Sivasankar Passed away at the age of 72.

About Sivasankar:

• Sivasankar was born on 7 December 1948 in Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.
• Sivasankar master has worked as a choreographer in over 800 films over a period of four decades.
• He worked in more than 10 languages but majorly with South Indian films, including Tamil films & Telugu films.

Awards & Honours:

• He won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award under the Best Choreographer category in 1996, 2003, 2006 and 2008, for the films Poove Unakkaga, Vishwa Thulasi, Varalaru and Uliyin Osai respectively.
• He also won the National Award in 2008 for his work in the SS Rajamouli directorial Magadheera, and gained wide popularity for the song Dheera Dheera Dheera from the film.

Founder of Williams Racing F1 team, Sir Frank Williams Passes away

• On Nov 28, 2021, the founder and former chief of the Williams Formula One team , Sir Frank Williams Passed away at the age of 79.

About Sir Frank Williams:

• Sir Francis Owen Garbett Williams was a British businessman, racing car driver.
• He was the team principal from its foundation in 1977 until 2020.

Renowned Telugu lyricist Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry passes away

• On Nov 30, 2021, Renowned Telugu lyricist ‘Sirivennela’ Seetharama Sastry passed away at the age of 66.

About Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry:

• Chembolu Seetharama Sastry was born on 20 May 1955 in Anakapalle in Andhra Pradesh, India.
• He was an Indian poet and lyricist known for his works in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre.
• He has penned lyrics for over 3000 songs until 2020.
• He acquired the name Sirivennela after writing the lyrics for Viswanath‘s directorial film of the same name in 1986.
• The veteran lyricist also worked with legendary playback singer S P Balasubrahmanyam and gave a lot of hits songs.

Awards & Honours:

• In January 2012, he was honored with a Lifetime achievement award.
• Seetharama Sastry won accolades and innumerable awards that include 11 Nandi awards given by the government of Andhra Pradesh and four Filmfare awards.
• In 2019, he was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award in India, for his contributions towards the field of arts and aesthetics.

Renowned scholar Rafiqul Islam passes away

• Renowned scholar and national professor of Bangladesh Professor Rafiqul Islam passed away at the age of 87.

About Rafiqul Islam:

• Rafiqul Islam was a Bangladeshi educationist, scholar, writer and cultural activist.
• Prof. Rafiqul Islam was one of the greatest scholars on the national poet of Bangladesh Kazi Nazrul Islam.
• He was inducted as a National Professor by the Government of Bangladesh in July 2018.
• He was the President of the Bangla Academy from May 2021 until his death.
• He served as the chairman of the Nazrul Institute Trustee Board.
• Islam wrote 30 books on the language, literature, history and culture of Bangladesh.

Awards & Honours:

• He was honoured with Swadhinta Padak and the Ekushey padak, which is the highest civilian award of Bangladesh. 
• He was a recipient of the Bangla Academy Literary Award.
• In 2021, he received International Mother Language Award

Former AP CM Konijeti Rosaiah passes away

• Former Chief Minister of Undivided Andhra Pradesh, Konijeti Rosaiah passed away at the age of 88.

About Konijeti Rosaiah :

• Konijeti Rosaiah was Born on July 4, 1933 at Vemuru village of Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh.
• He served as the 15th chief minister of erstwhile united AP from September 3, 2009 to November 25, 2010.
• In the 2009 elections, he won from the Chirala assembly constituency and became the finance minister in the YSR cabinet.
• He had also served as the Governor of Tamil Nadu from 2011 to 2016 and Karnataka (additional charge) for two months in 2014.

Veteran Indian Journalist Vinod Dua Passes Away

• On Dec 04, 2021, Vinod Dua, a veteran journalist and father of comedian Mallika Dua, passed away on Saturday at the age of 67.

About Vinod Dua:

• Vinod Dua was born on 11 March 1954, New Delhi, India.
• Mr Dua was a pioneer in Hindi journalism, with stints at Doordarshan and NDTV & he was the host of ‘Khabardar India’ and ‘Vinod Dua Live’.

Awards & Honours:

• In 1996, he became the first electronic media journalist to win the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award.
• He was also awarded the Padma Shri for Journalism in 2008 by the Government of India.
• In June 2017, for his lifetime achievement in the field of journalism, Mumbai Press Club awarded him the RedInk Award, which was presented to him by Devendra Fadnavis, former Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

Sarada Menon, India’s First Woman Psychiatrist Passes away

• On Dec 05, 2021, India’s first woman psychiatrist and the longest-serving head of the Institute of Mental Health, Sarada Menon passed away at the age of 98.

About Sarada Menon:

• Mambalikalathil Sarada Menon born on 5 April 1923 in Mangalore, Karnataka.
• Menon joined the Institute of Mental Health (then known as Government Mental Hospital) in Kilpauk in 1959 and superannuated from the institution in 1978.
• She became its first woman Superintendent in 1961.

About SCARF:

• Headquarters: Chennai
• SCARF is a non-governmental organization that works towards rehabilitating people with Schizophrenia and other mental disorders.

Awards & Honours:

• For her work and contribution towards the field of mental health research, Dr Sarada Menon was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 1992.
• In 2016, she was given the prestigious Avvaiyar award.
• She was also a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of Madras Neuro Trust.

The Chief Justice of India proposed creation of a National Judicial Infrastructure Authority of India (NJIAI):

• Chief Justice of India N V Ramana pressed for establishing a new body to improve judicial infrastructure.
• The government has received a proposal from him to set up the National Judicial Infrastructure Authority of India (NJIAI)
• According to the proposal, there will be a governing body with CJI as patron-in-chief, the other salient features in the proposal are that NJIAI will act as a central body in laying down the roadmap for planning, creation, development, maintenance and management of functional infrastructure for the Indian court system, besides, identical structures under all the (25) high courts

MSDE launches ASEEM portal to help skilled people:

• In an endeavour to improve the information flow and bridge the demand-supply gap in the skilled workforce market, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has launched ‘Aatamanirbhar Skilled Employee Employer Mapping (ASEEM)’ portal to help skilled people find sustainable livelihood opportunities.

Benefits of ASEEM portal:

• Envisaging the rapidly changing nature of work and how it impacts the workforce is crucial in restructuring the skilling ecosystem with the new normal settling post-pandemic.
• It will provide real-time granular information by identifying relevant skilling requirements and employment prospects.

 Features:

• The portal consists of three IT based interfaces
• Employer Portal – Employer onboarding, Demand Aggregation, candidate selection ​
• Dashboard – Reports, Trends, analytics, and highlight gaps ​
• Candidate Application – Create & Track candidate profile, share job suggestion ​
• For workers/candidates: The portal and App will have provision for registration and data upload for workers across job roles, sectors and geographies. The skilled workforce can register their profiles on the app and can search for employment opportunities in their neighbourhood.
• Employers: Through ASEEM, employers, agencies and job aggregators looking for skilled workforce in specific sectors will also have the required details at their fingertips.
• Policy makers: It will also enable policymakers take more objective view of various sectors.

Olaf Scholz to be nominated as Germany’s next Chancellor by Parliament:

• In Germany, Social Democratic Party of Germany leader Olaf Scholz will be nominated as the country’s next Chancellor by Parliament, bringing the curtain down on Angela Merkel’s 16-year reign.
• Olaf Scholz has cleared the final hurdle on his path to majority after Green Party members approved their coalition deal with his Social Democrats, SPD, and the Free Democrats, FDP.

UNION GOVERNMENT SCHEMES

1) The Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Programme – DHRUV  

About DHRUV:

 The name of the scheme, DHRUV, is based on the pole star called “Dhruv Tara”

 This Innovative Program was launched at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

headquarters in Bengaluru in the presence of the union HRD minister; Dr K Sivan, ISRO

Chairman

 The programme focusses on encouraging young and talented students in the field of their interest be

its science, performing arts, creative writing.

Launched on:

 The programme was launched on October 10, 2019 by the then union HRD Minister Ramesh

Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’.

Ministry involved:

 the scheme is under administrative control of ministry of human resource development.

 Current HRD minister: Dharmendra Pradhan.

Objectives of DHRUV Programme:

 To encourage talented and gifted children to enrich their skills and knowledge.

 In centres of excellence across the country, children will be mentored and nurtured by renowned

experts in different areas, so that they can reach their full potential.

 To boost the confidence of young students and encourage them to learn new and innovative

things as per their potential.

 The programme will help students to grow and work for the betterment of the society and the

country.

 Two areas will be the main focus: Arts and Science.

 Around 60 students will be selected from all over the country, studying between classes 9 to 12

About the first batch of DHRUV:

 The first batch of DHRUV programme was implemented during October 2019.

 60 outstandingly talented students were selected in the first batch of DHRUV programme. To

begin with, two areas i.e., Science and Performing Arts were covered.

 There were 60 students in all, 30 from each area. The 60 students came from across the

country.

 The students have been broadly chosen from classes 9 to 12, from all schools including

government and private.

 A 14 days programme was organized for these students in which the science and performing arts

students were separated into two groups.

 The science students were further divided into 3 groups of 10 each and also the performing arts

students into 3 groups of 10 each. Each group from science stream were required to produce a

project under the mentorship of experts from the field of science.

 Similarly, each group in performing arts were mentored by icons from the field of culture and

were required to choreograph a programme. All the six teams were given themes relevant to

issues being faced globally like environment change, pollution, terrorism, etc.

Target group:

Target group of the scheme is the talented children across the country having skills and knowledge .

Benefits:

 The Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Programme has been started to identify and encourage

talented children to enrich their skills and knowledge.

 In centres of excellence across the country, gifted children will be mentored and nurtured by

renowned experts in different areas, so that they can reach their full potential.

 It is expected that many of the students selected will reach the highest levels in their chosen fields

and bring laurels to their community, State and Nation.

2) PM-CARES for Children’ scheme:

 Launched on – march 2020

 It aims to support children who have lost both the Parents or legal Guardian or Adoptive Parents

or Surviving Parent to COVID-19 pandemic during the period starting from 11th March 2020.

 The objective of the Scheme is to ensure comprehensive care and protection of Children in a

sustained manner, and enable their wellbeing through health insurance, empower them through

education and equip them for self-sufficient existence with financial support on reaching 23 years

of age.

3) One nation one ration card scheme

• The ONORC scheme is implemented by the Department for the nation-wide portability of ration cards under National Food Security Act (NFSA).
• According to the scheme all eligible ration card holders/beneficiaries covered under NFSA can access their entitlements from anywhere in the country.

Launched on:

• The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution launched a pilot scheme titled, One Nation One Ration Card Scheme in four states on a pilot basis in 2019.
• The One Nation One Ration Card scheme was initially started in four states in August 2019. Now, two years later, it is enabled in 34 states and UTs covering almost major per cent of the NFSA population (about 690 million NFSA beneficiaries) in the country.

Ministry involved:

• One nation one ration card scheme is under administrative control of ministry of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.

Objectives:

• The main objective of the scheme is to introduce nation-wide portability of ration card holders under National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA), to lift their entitlement food grains from any FPS in the country without the need to obtain a new ration card, by integrating the existing PDS systems/portals of States/UTs with the Central systems/portals, etc.
• The basic objective of this scheme is to provide adequate food grains to the poor sections of the country across the country at very meager rates.
• To create Reforms in the public distribution system.
• To provide access of food grains to each beneficiary
• To enable migrant workers and their family members to access PDS benefits from any Fair Price Shop in the country.

Eligibility:

• Any citizen, who is declared under Below Poverty Line (BPL) category will be eligible to get the benefit of this scheme across the country.

What is BPL:

• Below Poverty Line is a benchmark used by the government of India to indicate economic disadvantage and to identify individuals and households in need of government assistance and aid. It is determined using various parameters which vary from state to state and within states.
• Internationally, an income of less than ₹150 per day per head of purchasing power parity is defined as extreme poverty. By this estimate, about 12.4% of Indians are extremely poor.
• Income-based poverty lines consider the bare minimum income to provide basic food requirements; it does not account for other essentials such as health care and education.

Target group:

• One Nation One Ration Card allows all the NFSA beneficiaries/ration cardholders, particularly the migrant NFSA beneficiaries/ration cardholders, for claiming either whole or part of the foodgrains from any FPS situated anywhere in the country through an existing ration card with biometric or Aadhaar authentication

The target group on which the scheme’s main focus is people below poverty line

Need of scheme:

• Owing to the defined coverage of beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 in each State/UT,
• It was difficult for migrant beneficiaries to get a new ration card issued. Even if they were able to get one issued, it introduced the ‘duplicity’ of ration cards/beneficiaries in the country’s Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), thereby potentially depriving many other left-out and genuinely deserving beneficiaries from getting included under the fold of NFSA.
• Now problems of getting a new ration card and duplicity of beneficiaries are solved and the government is enabling the inclusion of all genuine beneficiaries of State/UT through portability under the fold of NFSA.
• This mechanism can plug the leakage/diversion of un-lifted foodgrains in FPSs, as they can now be lifted by their rightful beneficiaries through portability and gets adjusted between States/UTs, thereby minimizing the chances of diversion.

Benefits:   

• This system allows all NFSA beneficiaries, particularly migrant beneficiaries, to claim foodgrains from any Fair Price Shop (FPS) in the country through existing ration card with biometric/Aadhaar authentication in a seamless manner.
• The system also allows their family members back home, if any, to claim the balance foodgrains on same the ration card.

Characteristics:

• Existing ration cards will be converted in one nation one ration card.
• New card will be a universal ration card allotted to each beneficiary registered under NFSA.
• A beneficiary who migrates from one place to another can buy subsidized food grains from the fair price shop located in the destination city regardless of the origin of the beneficiaries.
• The beneficiaries will be cheched through biometric authentication on electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) devices.
• These devices will be installed at each fair price shop.The national portability will work using the:
• Integrated Management of Public Distribution System (IM-PDS) portal – It will provide the technological platform for the ration cards portability.
• Annavitran portal – It will host the data of the food grains distribution through ePoS devices within a state. This will help a beneficiary to access subsidized food grains within a state (inter-district.)
• ration card will be seeded with adhar card which will help beneficiaries get the ration using the same ration card.

4)About “Mera Ration Mobile App”:

• The central government has launched the “Mera Ration Mobile App” in the country on March 12, 2021. This app was launched in order to facilitate the ‘One Nation-One Ration Card’ system. About Mera Ration Mobile App The app was developed by the government in association with the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

Outcomes of schemes till November 2021:

• The broad-based reform of portability covering nearly 81 Crore NFSA beneficiaries in all States/UTs is being achieved with minimal outlay of just 127 Crore, over a period of 4 years.
• This is a one-of- its-kind Citizen-Centric initiative in the country, swiftly implemented in34 States/UTs in a short-span of time (as of August 2021), after being sanctioned in 2018-19 and implemented from August 2019.
• ONORC was helpful to NFSA beneficiaries in availing food grains from any location during COVID pandemic/ lockdown period.
• During the period between 01-April-2020 and 30-September-2021, about 32 crore portability transactions under NFSA were carried out across States/UTs, benefiting large number of NFSA beneficiaries, mostly migrants, at the Fair Price Shops (FPS) near to their location of work/temporary stay.
• Under the NSFA, almost 6crore Ration cards have been digitized to cover 80 crore beneficiaries of all states/UTs.
• Almost 1 % Ration Cards and 90.1 % beneficiaries are Aadhar-seeded at a national level.
• Online allocation orders for food grains for all FPS has been implemented in all states/UTs, besides Chandigarh and Puducherry.
• Supply Chain Management of food grains is computerized in 31 States/UTs for online management of stocks in godowns and its in-and-out movement.

5)PM- SVANIDHI (PM Street Vendor’s AatmaNirbhar Nidhi)

• This is a Central Sector Scheme to facilitate street vendors to access affordable working capital loan for resuming their livelihoods activities, after easing of lockdown.
• The urban street vendors can avail of a Working Capital (WC) loan of up to 10,000 with a tenure of 1 year repaid in monthly instalments.
• No collateral is required to avail of this loan.

Launched On:

• The PM Street Vendor’s AatmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme was launched on June 01,2020.

Ministry involved:

• The scheme is under the ministry of housing and urban affairs
• Current minister of housing and urban affairs –Hardeep Singh Puri.

Objectives:

• To provide working capital loan up to `10,000 at subsidized rate of interest;
• To incentivize regular repayment of loan; and
• To reward digital transactions.

Target group:

• The scheme aims to benefit over 50 lakh street vendors, who had been vending on or before 24 March, 2020 in urban areas.
• As beneficiaries, the street vendors belonging to the surrounding peri-urban or rural areas are also included under the urban livelihoods programme for the first time.

Eligibility:

The eligible vendors are identified as per following criteria:

• Street vendors in possession of Certificate of Vending/Identity Card issued by Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)
• The vendors, who have been identified in the survey but have not been issued Certificate of Vending/Identity Card; Provisional Certificate of Vending would be generated for such vendors through an IT based Platform. ULBs are encouraged to issue such vendors the permanent Certificate of Vending and Identification Card immediately and positively within a period of one month
• Street Vendors, left out of the ULB led identification survey or who have started vending after completion of the survey and have been issued Letter of Recommendation (LoR) to that effect by the ULB/Town Vending Committee (TVC)
• The vendors of surrounding development/peri-urban/rural areas vending in the geographical limits of the ULBs and have been issued Letter of Recommendation (LoR) to that effect by the ULB/TVC.

Benefits:

• Initial working capital of up to `10,000/-
• Interest subsidy on timely/ early repayment @ 7%
• Monthly cash-back incentive on digital transactions
• Higher loan eligibility on timely repayment of the first loan.
• The vendors, availing loan under the scheme, are eligible to get an interest subsidy at 7%. The interest subsidy amount will be credited into the borrower’s account

About street vendors:

• They are known as vendors, hawkers, thelewala, rehriwala, theliphadwala etc. in different areas/ contexts.
• The goods supplied by them include vegetables, fruits, ready-to-eat street food, tea, pakodas, breads, eggs, textile, apparel, footwear, artisan products, books/ stationary etc.
• The services include barber shops, cobblers, pan shops, laundry services etc. The COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdowns have adversely impacted the livelihoods of street vendors.
• They usually work with a small capital base and might have consumed the same during the lockdown.

Implementation:

• SIDBI impalements the PM SVANidhi Scheme under the guidance of ministry of housing and urbam affairs.

SIDBI (Small industries development bank of India)

Headquarter – Lucknow, chairman – S. Raman

• It will also manage the credit guarantee to the lending institutions through Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE).

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