Current Affairs December 26th & 27th 2021| Current Affairs News

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CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

Good Governance Day- Dec 25:

• Good governance day is observed annually on December 25.
• The day aims to let the citizens, the students, who are the future of the country know about the government’s responsibilities and duties that it needs to fulfill.
• The day is also celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of India’s former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
• On December 23, 2014, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya (posthumously) were announced as recipients of India’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna.
• Following the announcement, the Modi government announced that the birth anniversary of the former Prime Minister would be treated as Good Governance Day.
• Since then, the day is celebrated throughout the country every year on December 25.

About Atal Bihari Vajpayee:

• Atal Bihari Vajpayee served as the Prime Minister of India for three times.
• His first term was for only 13 days in 1996.
• His first entry into parliament was in 1962 through the Rajya Sabha.
• He was elected to the Lok Sabha seven times.
• In 2015, Mr Vajpayee was conferred the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award
• He served his second term for a period of thirteen months from March 1998 to April 1999 and then a full term from 1999 to 2004.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

MoHUA launches roadmap to make Urban India ‘Garbage Free:

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India has launched the ‘Azadi@75 Star Rating Protocol of Garbage Free Cities- Toolkit 2022′, the most important governance tool of waste management – the Star Rating Protocol for Garbage Free Cities.
• Hon’ble Prime Minister launched Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, with the overall vision of creating “Garbage Free Cities” (GFC), thereby placing India on a new trajectory of growth towards an ecosystem of holistic sanitation and waste management.
• With the vision of making cities ‘Garbage Free’, SBM-U 2.0 is focused on achieving 100% waste processing along with remediation of legacy dumpsites, construction and demolition waste and plastic waste management.
• The new protocol combined with the continuous assessment through-out the year will further encourage cities to participate and realise the vision of “Garbage Free Cities”

Click here to read more;

Mansukh Mandaviya chairs a high-level meeting to promote domestic production of P&K Fertilisers:

• Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Shri Mansukh Mandaviya has chaired a high-level meeting in which it was decided to continue support to domestic industry for production of P&K fertilizers
• And propose additional provisions in the present NBS Policy to promote domestic production of P&K fertilizers in the country.
• This decision will help in utilizing the unutilized domestic production capacity of these fertilizers and promote Atmanirbhar Bharat.

NMCG & TERI Launch Centre of Excellence on Water Reuse:

• The Director General of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and the Director General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) launched the NMCG-TERI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) on Water Reuse at the TERI Headquarters in New Delhi.
• The CoE on Water Reuse is the first of its kind to be established in the country through a collaboration between NMCG and TERI.
• The Centre is a quadripartite alliance between NMCG, TERI, industry partners and industry representative bodies, to come up at the TERI campus in Gwal Pahari, Gurugram, will be meeting the objectives of the Ganga Knowledge Centre (GKC) to design and foster research and innovation, including identification of knowledge gaps for research and need for new ideas, supporting targeted research and spurring and nurturing needed innovation.
• Hence this CoE is also the first of its kind that will match the activities envisaged under GKC.
• The idea behind cleaning the Ganga, or a river or a city is to make them sustainable in the long run; sustainability from the point of view of looking at it not as wastewater, but as a resource that can be reused.
• We need to have dialogues with industries that are working in the area of wastewater treatment, establishing treatment plants, enhancing water reuse and going to provide treated water for safe reuse.

Click here to read more;

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS

Drinking Water Supply Schemes Of Rs. 164.03 Crore Approved Under Jal Jeevan Mission In Uttarakhand:

• Drinking water supply schemes of Rs. 164.03 Crore were approved under Jal Jeevan Mission by Uttarakhand in the State-level scheme sanctioning committee (SLSSC) meeting held on 23rd December, 2021.
• Of the eight water supply schemes sanctioned, all are multi-village schemes.
• It will provide tap water connection to more than 9,200 rural homes.
• These eight schemes will benefit 140 villages in Almora, Bageshwar, Dehradun, Nainital and Uttarkashi districts.
• It is expected that by December, 2022 when these schemes will complete, more than 48 thousand people living in these 140 villages will get adequate clean tap water supply for next 30-40 years on regular basis.
• 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 making provision of 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), Government of India is a member of the committee.

About Uttarkhand:

• Governor: Gurmit Singh
• Chief minister: Pushkar Singh Dhami
• Capitals: Dehradun

AYUSH Ministry gives major boost to healthcare facilities in Uttar Pradesh; to invest ₹553.36 crore:

• The Ministry of AYUSH announced a slew of major initiatives to push healthcare facilities in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
• A total amount of ₹553.36 crore has been released by the Government of India to Uttar Pradesh for various activities under the National AYUSH Mission.
• In an effort towards building a sustainable, effective and affordable healthcare in the country, eight new 50 bedded integrated AYUSH hospitals were inaugurated.
• These are located in Deoria, Koushambi, Sonbhadra, Lucknow, Kanpur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Kanpur Dehat, and Lalitpur. These were built with a total capital outlay of ₹72 crores.
• A total of 500 new AYUSH Health & Wellness Centres (HWCs) were also inaugurated in different parts of the state.
• The Union Cabinet has also approved the operationalization of 12,500 AYUSH Health & Wellness Centers (AYUSH Health & Wellness Centers) component under Ayushman Bharat for implementation through National AYUSH Mission for the period up to 2023-24.
• The objective of this component is to provide the services of a holistic health model based on AYUSH principles and practices to reduce the burden of disease and empower the public for “self-care”.
•  Now, through the implementation of the National AYUSH Mission in the second phase which will continue till 2025-26, it is also proposed to launch a targeted AYUSH public health program involving States and Union Territories.

About UP:

• Governor: Anandiben Patel
• Capital: Lucknow
• Chief minister: Yogi Adityanath
• WLS: Bakhira Sanctuary, Chandra Prabha Wildlife Sanctuary, Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary, Kachhua Sanctuary, Kaimoor Sanctuary, Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary, Lakh Bahosi Sanctuary.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND ECONOMY

RBI imposes ₹30 lakh penalty on MUFG Bank:

• The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a monetary penalty of ₹30 Lakh on MUFG Bank Ltd for non-compliance with its directions on ‘Loans and Advances – Statutory and Other Restrictions’.
• MUFG Bank has the largest network amongst Japanese banks in India, with a presence in five locations.
• Inspection of the bank revealed, inter alia, non-compliance with the aforesaid direction to the extent that it had sanctioned loans and advances to companies whose board of directors included person(s) who were director(s) on boards of other banks, without such sanctions being accorded at the level of its management committee.
• RBI emphasised that its action is based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.
• MUFG Bank caters to the banking needs of Japanese and global corporates that are establishing or growing their businesses in India.

About RBI

• Governor: Shaktikanta Das
• Headquarters: Mumbai
• Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata

About MUFG:

• Headquarters: Chiyoda City, Tokyo, Japan
• CEO: Hanzawa Junichi
• Founded: 1 January 2006

CURRENT AFFAIRS : ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

HSBC arm buys L&T Investment for ₹3,187 cr

• HSBC Asset Management, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc, has acquired L&T Investment Management (LTIM) for $425 million (about ₹3,187 crore) from L&T Finance Holdings.
• The acquisition will help HSBC widen asset management business in India.
• The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, will help HSBC’s asset management business in India and serve the wealth needs of the growing non-resident Indian customer base.
• HSBC intends to merge the operations of LTIM with its existing asset management business in India.

Note :

• LTIM is the investment manager of the L&T Mutual Fund.
• LTIM is currently ranked as the 12th largest mutual fund management company with assets under management of ₹80,300 crore and over 2.4 million active folios.
• This will be a third merger and acquisition in the Indian asset management space in 2021.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : DEFENCE NEWS

INS Khukri decommissioned at Visakhapatnam

• Indian Navy Ship (INS) Khukri, the first of the indigenously-built missile corvettes, has been decommissioned after 32 years of service at Visakhapatnam.
• The national flag, naval ensign, and the decommissioning pennant were lowered at sunset in the presence of Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta and some of the serving and former commanding officers of the ship.
• During her service in the Indian Navy, the ship was commanded by 28 commanding officers and traversed a distance of over 6,44,897 nautical miles (a measurement used to measure distance in open sea), which is equivalent to navigating around the world 30 times or three times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
• The Indian Naval Ship, Khukri was affiliated with the Gorkha Brigade of the Indian Army and Lieutenant General PN Ananthanarayan, president Gorkha Brigade, attended the decommissioning ceremony.

About Indian Navy :

• Founded: 26 January 1950
• Headquarters : New Delhi
• Commander-in-Chief: President Ram Nath Kovind
• Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee : General Manoj Mukund Naravane
• Chief of the Naval Staff : Admiral R. Hari Kumar
• Vice Chief of the Naval Staff : Vice Admiral Satish Namdeo Ghormade
• Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff : Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh

CURRENT AFFAIRS : RANKING & INDEX

India ranks 3rd in WADA’s doping violators list : Russia Tops

• In the latest report published by the World Anti-Doping Agency, India ranked third in the list 152 (17% of the world total) Anti-doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) were reported in India in 2019.
• While Russia recorded 167 violators, having the top violators followed by Italy with 157
• Brazil with 78 ADRVs is at fourth position and Iran with 70 ADRVs is at fifth position.
• In India 57 cases alone from bodybuilding, Weightlifting recorded 25, 10 from wrestling, 20 from athletics while 4 were recorded from boxing and judo.
• A total of 278,047 samples were collected by Anti-Doping Organisations worldwide in 2019, and subsequently, analyzed by WADA-accredited laboratories. Of these samples, 2,701 (1 percent) were reported as Adverse Analytical Findings.
• Based on a compilation of the information received by WADA till January 31, 2021, 1,535 samples (57%) were confirmed as ADRVs (sanctions).

Note :

• In the 2018 WADA report meant for anti-doping violations , India was placed fourth with 107 ADRVs, behind Russia (144), Italy (132) and France (114).

About WADA :

• Headquarters: Montreal, Canada
• President: Craig Reedie
• Founder: Dick Pound
• Founded: 10 November 1999
• Key Activities : Scientific research, education, development of anti-doping capacities, and monitoring of the World Anti-Doping Code

Click here to read more;

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BOOKS & AUTHORS

VP Venkaiah Naidu released autobiography Titled The Turnover Wizard

• Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu released the autobiography of former NTPC and NBCC chief Arup Roy Choudhury, titled ”The Turnover Wizard”.
• The book is published by HP Hamilton.
• The launch ceremony, that took place at the vice-president’s residence, was attended by Shekhar Dutt, former governor of Chhattisgarh; P K Gupta, chairman and MD of NBCC Ltd; Gireesh Tripathi, director, NTPC School of Business; and A K Mittal, former CMD of NBCC Ltd.

About the Book :

• The book encourages professionals and novices across tiers in the corporate world to hold the turf and tackle every crisis.
• It is also endorsed by Metro Man E Sreedharan.

About Arup Roy Choudhury :

• Arup Roy Choudhury born 29 December 1956 is a business executive and professor.
• Choudhury was appointed chairman of the National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC), making him the youngest CEO ever of a public sector enterprise.
• He has also been the chairman and MD of NTPC, a Maharatna central public sector company, from September 2010 till August 2015.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SPORTS NEWS

BWF World Championship 2021  : Loh Kean Yew becomes Singapore’s first badminton world champion

• Loh Kean Yew has become Singapore’s first ever badminton world champion at the BWF 2021 World Championships after beating India’s Kidambi Srikanth 21-15, 22-20 in Huelva, Spain.

BWF 2021 World Championships Medal Winners :

Category	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Men’s Singles	Loh Kean Yew (Singapore)	Srikanth Kidambi (India)	Lakshya Sen (India)   Anders Antonsen (DenmarK)
Women’s Singles	Akane Yamaguchi (Japan)	Tai – Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei)	He Bingjiao (China)   Zhang Yiman (China)
Men’s Doubles	Takuro Hoki & Yugo Kobayashi (Japan)	He Jiting & Tan Qiang (China)	Ong Yew Sin &  Teo Ee Yi   Kim Astrup & Anders Rasmussen
Women’s Doubles	Chen Qingchen & Jia Yifan (China)	Lee So-hee & Shin Seung-Chan (South Korea)	Mayu Matsumoto & Wakana Nagahara   Kim So-yeong &  Kong Hee-yong
Mixed Doubles	Dechapol Puavaranukroh & Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Thailand)	Yuta Watanabe & Arisa Higashino (Japan)	Kyohei Yamashita & Naru Shinoya   Tang Chun Man &  Tse Ying Suet

About 2021 BWF World Championships :

• The 2021 BWF World Championships officially known as the TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2021.

SAFF U-19 Women’s Football Championship 2021: Bangladesh defeat India

• Bangladesh women team has won the SAFF U 19 Women’s Championship defeated India by 1-0.
• Shaheda Akter Ripa of Bangladesh scored the maximum number of goals ( 5 goals) in the tournament & she received the ‘most valuable player’ award.

About 2021 SAFF U-19 Women’s Championship :

• The 2021 SAFF U-19 Women’s Championship was the 2nd edition of the SAFF U-19 Women’s Championship.
• It is an international football competition for women’s under-19 national teams organized by SAFF.
• The tournament was held from 11–22 December 2021 at BSSS Mostafa Kamal Stadium, Dhaka in Bangladesh.

Note :

• Five countries ( Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan ) have participated in the 2021 SAFF U-19 Women’s Championship.
• The Pakistan Football Federation was suspended by FIFA in April 2021 so it didn’t participate in this competition.

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

• 13-year-old girl Anahat Singh from Delhi became the first Indian to win the prestigious US Junior Squash Open at the Arlen Spectre Centre in Philadelphia.
• Anahat won the title in the Under-15 category, beating Jayda Marei from Egypt 11-9, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5.
• The World’s biggest junior Squash tournament attracted more than 850 junior Squash players from 41 different countries.

About Anahat Singh :

• Anahat Singh has won a bronze at the Asian Juniors and silver in the Malaysian Junior Open in 2018.
• She has won two European superseries titles (the European Junior Squash Open and the DPD Dutch Junior Open in 2019).
• In December 2019, she won the Scottish Junior Open and reached the finals to clinch the silver at the British Junior Open.
• She is currently the No. 1 in India, Asia and Europe in the girls Under-13 category and No. 4 in the Under-15 category
• So far, she has won 40 national circuit titles including two-time national championships.

Click here to read more;

Veteran Spinner Harbhajan Singh Announces Retirement From All Forms of Cricket

• Veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

About Harbhajan Singh :

• Harbhajan Singh born on 3 July 1980, Punjab, India.
• He is an Indian former cricketer and cricket commentator who played for the Indian national cricket team.
• The 41-year-old from Punjab took 417 wickets in 103 Tests, 269 wickets in 236 ODIs and 25 scalps in 28 T20Is in his illustrious career.
• Harbhajan picked 32 wickets, becoming the first Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in Test cricket.
• He, who made his India debut during an ODI against New Zealand at Sharjah in 1998, last played for the country in March, 2016 during a T20I against the UAE at Dhaka.
• He was an integral member of the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup winning team.

Awards & Honors :

• Singh was conferred the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honor, in 2009.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : OBITUARIES

Renowned Malayalam film director KS Sethumadhavan passes away

• On Dec 24, 2021, Legendary filmmaker KS Sethumadhavan passed away at the age of 90.

About KS Sethumadhavan :

• KS Sethumadhavan was born on 15 May 1931 in Palakkad, Kerala, India.
• He was an Indian film director and screenwriter who worked predominantly in Malayalam cinema
• He Started his career as an assistant of director K Ramanathan in 1951
• His most acclaimed movies are Odayil Ninnu based on a novel by P Kesavadev, Daham, Sthanarthi Saramma, Koottukudumbam Vazhve Mayam, Ara Nazhika Neram, Anubhavangal Palichakal, Karakanakadal, Achanum Bappayum, Punarjanmam, Chattakari, Oppol, Marupakikam and Kannada movie Manini.
• He has directed nearly 60 films in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, and Malayalam, among other languages.

Awards & Honors :

• He won numerous awards including ten National Film Awards and nine Kerala State Film Awards including Four for Best Direction.
• His film Achanum Bappayum had won the Nargis Dutt Award for best film on national integration in 1973.
• He received J C Daniel Award, the Kerala government’s highest honor in the film industry, in 2009.
• In 2011, he was honored with the Chalachitra Ratnam Award by the Kerala Film Critics Association.

UNION GOVERNMENT SCHEME

Rashtriya Gokul mission

Launched on:

‘Rashtriya Gokul Mission’ was launched in December 2014 to conserve and develop indigenous bovine breeds, under the National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development (NPBBD).

Ministry involved:

Rashtriya Gokul mission is under the ministry of fisheries, animal husbandry & dairying

Minister of fisheries, animal husbandry & dairying – Parshottam Rupala (Gujrat)

Objectives

To enhance productivity of bovines and increasing milk production in a sustainable manner using advance technologies.

To propagate use of high genetic merit bulls for breeding purposes.

To enhance Artificial insemination coverage through strengthening breeding network and delivery of Artificial insemination services at farmers doorstep.

To promote indigenous cattle & buffalo rearing and conservation in a scientific and holistic manner.

Target group :

Main benificiaries of the scheme are rural farmers in the country.

This programme will also benefit women in particular since over 70% of the work involved in livestock farming is undertaken by women.

Corpus:

The scheme is continued under umbrella scheme Rashtriya Pashudhan Vikas Yojna from 2021 to 2026 with a budget outlay of Rs.2400 crore

Benefits:

The Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM) is being implemented for development and conservation of indigenous bovine breeds since December 2014.

The scheme is important in enhancing milk production and productivity of bovines to meet growing demand of milk and making dairying more remunerative to the rural farmers of the country.

The RGM will result in enhanced productivity and benefit of the programme, percolating to all cattle and buffaloes of India especially with small and marginal farmers.

This programme will also benefit women in particular since over 70% of the work involved in livestock farming is undertaken by women.

Funding Pattern:

All the components of Scheme will be implemented on 100% grant-in-aid basis except the components of:

accelerated breed improvement programme under the component subsidy of Rs 5000 per IVF pregnancy will be made available to participating farmers as GoI share

promoting sex sorted semen under the component subsidy upto 50% of the cost of sex sorted semen will be made available to participating farmers.

establishment of breed multiplication farm under the component subsidy upto 50% of the capital cost maximum upto Rs.2.00 crore of the project will be made available to entrepreneur.

Components of RGM:

1. Availability of High genetic Merit Germplasm:

1. Bull Production Programme

Progeny Testing

Pedigree Selection

Genomic Selection

Import of Germplasm

1. Support to semen stations: Strengthening of existing semen stations.
2. Implementation of IVF Technology

IVF Laboratories

Implementation of In Vitro Embryo Production Technology

Implementation of IVF technology for getting assured pregnancy

1. Breed Multiplication Farms
2. Extension of Artificial Insemination Network
3. Establishment of MAITRIs
4. Nationwide AI programme
5. Using sex sorted semen for getting assured pregnancy
6. Implementation of National Digital Livestock Mission (Livestack)
7. Development and Conservation of indigenousBreeds
8. Assistance to Gaushalas, Gosadans and Pinjarapoles
9. Administrative expenditure/ operation of Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog
10. Skill Development
    5. Farmers Awareness
    6. Research Development and Innovation in Bovine Breeding

Daily CA On Dec 26th & 27th  :

• Good governance day is observed annually on December 25 & the day is also celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of India’s former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India has launched the ‘Azadi@75 Star Rating Protocol of Garbage Free Cities- Toolkit 2022′, the most important governance tool of waste management – the Star Rating Protocol for Garbage Free Cities.
• Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Shri Mansukh Mandaviya has chaired a high-level meeting in which it was decided to continue support to domestic industry for production of P&K fertilizers
• The Director General of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and the Director General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) launched the NMCG-TERI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) on Water Reuse at the TERI Headquarters in New Delhi.
• Drinking water supply schemes of Rs. 164.03 Crore were approved under Jal Jeevan Mission by Uttarakhand in the State-level scheme sanctioning committee (SLSSC) meeting held on 23rd December, 2021.
• The Ministry of AYUSH announced a slew of major initiatives to push healthcare facilities in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
• The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a monetary penalty of ₹30 Lakh on MUFG Bank Ltd for non-compliance with its directions on ‘Loans and Advances – Statutory and Other Restrictions’.
• HSBC Asset Management, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc, has acquired L&T Investment Management (LTIM) for $425 million (about ₹3,187 crore) from L&T Finance Holdings.
• Indian Navy Ship (INS) Khukri, the first of the indigenously-built missile corvettes, has been decommissioned after 32 years of service at Visakhapatnam.
• In the latest report published by the World Anti-Doping Agency, India ranked third in the list 152 (17% of the world total) Anti-doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) were reported in India in 2019 & While Russia recorded 167 violators, having the top violators followed by Italy with 157
• Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu released the autobiography of former NTPC and NBCC chief Arup Roy Choudhury, titled ”The Turnover Wizard”.
• Loh Kean Yew has become Singapore’s first ever badminton world champion at the BWF 2021 World Championships after beating India’s Kidambi Srikanth 21-15, 22-20 in Huelva, Spain.
• Bangladesh women team has won the SAFF U 19 Women’s Championship defeated India by 1-0.
• 13-year-old girl Anahat Singh from Delhi became the first Indian to win the prestigious US Junior Squash Open at the Arlen Spectre Centre in Philadelphia.
• Veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
• On Dec 24, 2021, Legendary filmmaker KS Sethumadhavan passed away at the age of 90.