Daily Current Affairs December 09 2021 | Latest News | Download PDF

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CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) scheme

• In order to address the key constraints faced by extension system in the country with respect to reducing capacity of public extension services, its lack of decentralized and demand driven focus, the Innovations in Technology Dissemination component of National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) was implemented in seven States in the country namely, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Maharashtra and Punjab through four project districts in each State.

• This Scheme was approved on 29th March, 2005.
• The purpose of NATP’s innovation in Technology Dissemination Component is to pilot test new organizational
  arrangements and operational procedures not merely strengthen the existing extension system.

Objectives:

• To strengthen research – extension – farmer linkages
• To provide an effective mechanism for co-ordination and management of activities of different agencies involved in technology adaption / validation and dissemination at the district level and below.
• To increase the quality and type of technologies being disseminated.
• To move towards shared ownership of the agricultural technology system by key shareholders.
• To develop new partnerships with the private institutions including NGOs.

Salient Features of ATMA:

• Creating Farmer Advisory Committee to improve feedback.
• Using NGOs to organize farmers.
• Encouraging private sector involvement in technology transfer.
• Validation and refining technologies through research units in the district.
• Bottom-up planning procedure.
• Increased use of Information Technology (ARIS, WWW)
• In-service training to increase staff competence.
• Developing new Public-Private partnerships.
• Formation and strengthening of farmer’s interest group

Click here to read more;

National Food Security Mission

• The National Development Council (NDC) in its 53rd meeting held on 29th May, 2007 adopted a resolution to launch a Food Security Mission comprising rice, wheat and pulses to increase the annual production of rice by 10 million tonnes, wheat by 8 million tonnes and pulses by 2 million tonnes by the end of the Eleventh Plan (2011-12).
•  Accordingly, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, ‘National Food Security Mission’ (NFSM), was launched in October 2007.
• The Mission met with an overwhelming success and achieved the targeted additional production of rice, wheat and pulses.
• The Mission continued during 12th Five Year Plan with new targets of additional production of food grains of 25 million tonnes of food grains comprising of 10 million tonnes rice, 8 million tonnes of wheat, 4 million tonnes of pulses and 3 million tonnes of coarse cereals by the end of 12th Five Year Plan.
• Considering the experience and feedback received from the State’s major changes were made in approach, norms of financial assistance and programme implementation strategy which are reflected in the revised operational guidelines.
• Based on past experience and performance of 12th Plan, it has been decided to continue the programme beyond 12th plan i.e. 2017-18 to 2019-20, which is co-terminus with Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC) period with new targets to achieve 13 million tonnes of additional food grains production comprising of Rice – 5 million tonnes, Wheat- 3 million tonnes, Pulses- 3 million tonnes and Coarse Cereals- 2 million tonnes by 2019-20.

Click here to read more;

PM inaugurates mega projects in Gorakhpur, UP

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated three mega projects worth ₹9,600 crore in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.
• The projects are set to develop eastern Uttar Pradesh.
• The mega projects include a fertiliser plant in Gorakhpur, revived after remaining shut for more than 30 years, to achieve self-sufficiency in production of urea.
• The project has been set up under Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (HURL).
• The Prime Minister also unveiled AIIMS Gorakhpur besides ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC), Gorakhpur.
• AIIMS Gorakhpur, which was built at a cost of ₹1,000 crore and established under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana, consists of 750 beds, a medical college and facilities for staff and students.
• The ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre will help tackle Japanese encephalitis or Acute encephalitis syndrome in the region.

About UP:

• Governor: Anandiben Patel
• Capital: Lucknow
• Chief minister: Yogi Adityanath

CURTAIN RAISER PANEX-21

• A Curtain Raiser Event for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief exercise, PANEX-21, for the member nations of BIMSTEC countries, was held at Kothari Auditorium DRDO Bhawan, New Delhi on 07 Dec 2021. 
• The exercise is planned to be conducted from 20-22 Dec 21 at Pune and will witness participation from subject matter experts and delegates from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
• The event was presided over by Mr. Ajay Bhatt, hon’ble Raksha Rajya Mantri in the august presence of many distinguished civilian and military guests.
• Shri Ajay Bhatt drew attention of the participants to the significance attached by India to the BIMSTEC, as part of our “Neighborhood First” policy”.
• The success of the last two BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercises (DMEx-2017 at Delhi and DMEx-2020 at Puri) speak of the close coordination mechanism that the BIMSTEC nations share
• The exercise will witness conduct of a Seminar, Table Top Exercises & Multi Agency Exercise planned from 20 Dec to 22 Dec 21 at Pune.
•  The culmination of the event will be with the capability demonstration by Indian Industries in association with FICCI to showcase their capabilities, innovations and range of products available to assist government agencies in planning, preparation and conduct of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations.

Click here to read more;

Permanent Mission of India to the WTO in Geneva signs tripartite MoU with Centre for Trade and Investment Law, New Delhi

• The Permanent Mission of India to the WTO in Geneva (PMI), the Centre for Trade and Investment Law, New Delhi (CTIL), Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, and the Centre for Trade and Economic Integration of The Graduate Institute, Geneva (CTEI) signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Geneva to begin collaboration towards research and capacity-building in the field of international trade law and policy. 
• The MOU was signed by India’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative H.E. BrajendraNavnit, Prof. James J. Nedumpara, Head, Centre for Trade and Investment Law, and Joost Pauwelyn, Professor of International Law at The Graduate Institute.

• The MOU seeks to provide valuable academic and research opportunities to the professional staff of CTIL and the officials of the Government of India in the field of international trade and investment law.
• The tripartite MoU establishes collaboration channels between CTIL and CTEI while the PMI will play a key facilitative role for activities under the MoU.
• For the next three years, various capacity-building programmes and activities will be carried out under the MoU to enhance the understanding of the government officials and CTIL’s research staff and academics on contemporary issues of international trade and build support for India’s positions on international trade and investment law. 
• CTIL and CTEI will undertake joint research projects, conferences and workshops in the field of international trade and investment law.

Ministry of Civil Aviation mandates Air Suvidha Portal for Ease of Travelling

• The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has mandated contactless self-declaration at Air Suvidha Portal, to ensure the smooth passage of international travellers arriving in India.
• The Air Suvidha portal was launched in August 2020 and now has been strengthened to accommodate travel guidelines issued on 30 November 2021.

About Air Suvidha Portal:

• Air Suvidha is first of its kind digital portal for easing international passenger arrival in India.
• The portal is developed by MOCA to aid passengers in providing their details of travel and final stay along with RTPCR, Vaccination status etc.
• The implementation of the Air Suvidha intends to provide hassle-free, queue free, and convenient air travel to all international passengers arriving in India.
• All international passengers arriving in India are mandated to declare their current health status prior to boarding on the Air Suvidha Portal along with the required documents:

1. Submit self-declaration form on Air Suvidha portal
2. Upload negative RT-PCR report (conducted within 72 hrs. before the journey)
3. Post-arrival COVID-19 test at arriving Airport (self-paid)
4. Home quarantine for 7 days
5. Re-test on the 8th day and if negative, self-health monitoring for next 7 days

About Ministry of Civil Aviation:

• Cabinet Minister: Jyotiraditya Scindia
• Minister of State: V.K. Singh
• Civil Aviation Secretary: Pradeep Singh Kharola

About Ministry of Health & Family Welfare:

• Founded: 1947
• Union Minister : Mansukh Mandaviya
• Minister of State :  Bharati Pawar,  Faggan Singh Kulaste

NITI Aayog and CSE release Waste-wise Cities: Best practices in municipal solid waste management 

• NITI Aayog Vice Chairperson Dr Rajiv Kumar, CEO Amitabh Kant, Special Secretary Dr K Rajeswara Rao, and Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) Director General Sunita Narain jointly released the report titled “Waste-wise Cities: Best practices in municipal solid waste management,” a comprehensive knowledge repository of how Indian cities are managing their solid waste.
• The report documents best practices from 28 cities in 15 states of India.
• The repository is the result of five months of extensive on-ground collective research that was initiated in July 2021.
• These thematic aspects range from source segregation, material recovery and technological innovations to the management of different kinds of wastes and systems such as biodegradables, plastics, e-waste, C&D waste and landfills.

About NITI Aayog:

• Formed: 1 January 2015
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Chairperson: Narendra Modi
• Vice Chairperson: Rajiv Kumar
• CEO: Amitabh Kant

Click here to read more;

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

NASA selects Indian-origin physician Anil Menon as one of astronauts for future missions

• Indian-origin physician Anil Menon has been selected by NASA along with nine others to be astronauts for future missions, the American space agency has announced.
• 45 years old Menon, a lieutenant colonel at the US Air Force, was SpaceX’s first flight surgeon, helping to launch the company’s first humans to space during Nasa’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission.
• Nasa announced that it has chosen 10 new astronaut candidates from a field of more than 12,000 applicants to represent the US and work for humanity’s benefit in space.
• Menon previously served Nasa as the crew flight surgeon for various expeditions taking astronauts to the International Space Station.
• Earlier, aeronautical engineer Sirisha Bandla in July became the third Indian-origin woman to fly into space after Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams.
• Till now, Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma is the only Indian citizen to travel in space.
• The former Indian Air Force pilot flew aboard Soyuz T-11 on April 3, 1984, part of the Soviet Interkosmos programme.

About NASA:

• Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
• Founder: Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Founded: 29 July 1958, United States

India-Japan Science and Technology Seminar highlights need to evolve to bigger missions

• India and Japan to evolve to bigger missions between the two countries for addressing the demands of the entire planet and the region, at the India-Japan Science and Technology Seminar
• Focusing on handling of data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, S&T has a very important role to play to address ever emerging global challenges as we go forward and the cooperation between India and Japan need to scale up based on the cooperation.
• Prof K Vijay Raghavan pointed out while delivering the keynote addresses at the seminar titled Nobel Laureate S&T Seminar Series -India-Japan Science and Technology Seminar
• The two-day seminar was jointly organized in hybrid mode by the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology, an autonomous institution of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India, and Indian JSPS Alumni Association (IJAA) to commemorate the 70th anniversary of India Japan diplomatic relations and the 75th anniversary of Indian Independence –Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.

About Japan:

• Capital: Tokyo
• Currency: Japanese yen
• Prime minister: Fumio Kishida

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS

India, ADB sign $125 million loan to improve water supply and sanitation in Uttarakhand

• The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a $125 million loan to improve access to safe and affordable drinking water supply and citywide inclusive sanitation services in Dehradun and Nainital cities in the state of Uttarakhand.
• Mr. Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, signed for the Government of India the agreement for the Uttarakhand Integrated and Resilient Urban Development Project while Mr Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, signed for ADB.
• The project will construct 136 kilometers (km) of water pipe system to replace defective water networks in South Dehradun to ensure reliable and continuous water supply to benefit an estimated 40,000 people, including 4,000 urban poor and vulnerable groups.
• Water meters will also be installed in about 5,400 households to support efficient water use and consumption billing.
• In addition, the project will establish sewage treatment plants in Dehradun, supported by 256 km of enclosed underground sewer networks and 117 km of storm water drainage networks benefiting an estimated 138,000 residents, including 15,000 urban poor and vulnerable people
• ADB will provide a $250,000 technical assistance (TA) grant from its Technical Assistance Special Fund and another $750,000 grant from its Climate Change Fund to further strengthen climate-resilient urban planning and development of the state by carrying out a thorough assessment, supporting science-based decision making, developing smart climate resilient urban planning tools, and capacity-building activities.

About ADB:

• Headquarters: Mandaluyong, Philippines
• President: Masatsugu Asakawa
• Membership: 68 countries
• Founded: 19 December 1966

About Uttarakhand:

• Governor: Gurmit Singh
• Chief minister: Pushkar Singh Dhami
• Capitals: Dehradun.
• WLS & NP: Jim Corbett National Park & Tiger Reserve, Gangotri National Park, Govind National Park, Nanda Devi National Park, Rajaji National Park, Valley of Flowers National Park, Askot Musk Deer Wildlife Sanctuary, Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary.

India, ADB sign $150 million loan to provide affordable housing for urban poor in Tamil Nadu

• The Government of India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a $150 million loan to provide access to inclusive, resilient, and sustainable housing for the urban poor in the state of Tamil Nadu.
• The signatories to the loan agreement for Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable Housing for Urban Poor Sector Project in Tamil Nadu were Shri Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, signed for the Government of India, and Mr. Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, who signed for the ADB.
• Through the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board, the project will construct housing units in nine different locations and relocate about 6,000 households vulnerable to natural hazards to safer locations.
•  It will also help Tamil Nadu’s Directorate of Town and Country Planning develop regional plans to map the state’s economic and infrastructure development including affordable housing, environmental protection, disaster risk management, and gender.
• A portion of ADB’s assistance will be invested by the state government as equity into the Tamil Nadu Shelter Fund to catalyze private sector financing and support investments mainly in industrial housing and working women’s hostels for low-income and migrant workers.
• In addition, ADB will provide a $1.5 million technical assistance (TA) grant from its Technical Assistance Special Fund to support the capacity building of government agencies responsible for delivering affordable housing and regional planning in Tamil Nadu.
• The TA will document successful approaches to affordable housing delivery, including the graduation programme for vulnerable relocated beneficiaries, that can be adopted in other cities and countries.

About TN:

• Governor: R. N. Ravi
• Capital: Chennai
• Chief minister: M. K. Stalin
• WLS: Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary, Avalanche Lake / Sanctuary , Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Annamalai Tiger Reserve

Central Grant of Rs. 2,345 Crore Released To Rajasthan Under Jal Jeevan Mission

• The Union Government led by Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi is according top priority to make provision of tap water connection in every rural household across the country, for which since August, 2019, Jal Jeevan Mission is under implementation in partnership with States.
• With undivided focus to expedite the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in the State of Rajasthan, the Government of India released Rs. 2,345 Crore of Central grants to the State.
• Central fund of Rs. 10,180.50 Crore has been allocated to the State for 2021-22 for the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission, which is nearly four times the fund allocation made during 2020-21.
• Rajasthan plans to make provision of tap water supply to every rural household of the State by 2024. As on date, out of 101.32 lakh rural households in the State, 21.71 lakh (21.4%) households have tap water connections.
• Since the announcement of Jal Jeevan Mission in 2019, about 9.97 lakh households have been provided with tap water supply.
• The State has a huge task ahead to make provision of tap water supply to remaining 80 lakh households by 2024.

About Rajasthan:

• Governor: Kalraj Mishra
• Capital: Jaipur
• Chief minister: Ashok Gehlot

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND ECONOMY

KVG Bank signs agreement with Liberty General Insurance

• Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB), a regional rural bank headquartered in Dharwad, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Liberty General Insurance for selling general insurance products through 629 branches of KVGB.
• The company will provide a variety of general health insurance products to the customers with reasonably affordable cost.
• The bank has consistently enhanced its portfolio to meet the diverse financial needs of its customers and alliance in this regard is a step in that direction, requesting company officials to launch customised policies for the bank’s customers.
• Manish Kotian, Senior Vice-President of Liberty General Insurance, that partnership with KVGB is an important milestone in the journey of the company to offer its products through a trusted partner to a crucial segment of the State which has traditionally seen low insurance penetration.

ICICI Bank offers instant overdraft facility to sellers registered on Flipkart

• ICICI Bank has partnered with Flipkart to offer an instant and digital overdraft (OD) facility of up to ₹25 lakh to individual sellers and businesses registered on the e-commerce platform.
• Enabled by API integration, the partnership helps sellers to avail an OD from the Bank instantly in a process-from application to sanction to disbursement- that is entirely digital.0
• Customers of any bank can avail of ODs from ICICI Bank if they are registered as sellers with Flipkart.
• Sellers having a current account with ICICI Bank can immediately start using the OD to meet their working capital requirements.

About ICICI:

• CEO: Sandeep Bakhshi
• Headquarters: Vadodara
• Founded: June 1994, Vadodara
• Tagline: Hum Hai Na,; Khayal Apka

About Flipkart:

• CEO: Kalyan Krishnamurthy
• Founded: October 2007, Bengaluru
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

SBI to sign MoU with Kendriya Sainik Board

• State Bank of India (SBI) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Kendriya Sainik Board to support and educate the children of war veterans, ex-servicemen, and war widows.
• India’s largest bank said it will provide a grant of ₹1,000 per month to 8,333 war veterans’ children.
• The bank has contributed ₹10 crore to the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund. The Armed Forces Flag Day is celebrated on December 7.
• Dinesh Khara, Chairman, SBI, express their gratitude to soldiers who valiantly safeguard our nation and protect its citizens despite facing enormous hardships and believe their efforts will help make a difference in the lives of the war veterans and their families.

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

RBI announces bi-monthly Monetary Policy; Key policy rates remain unchanged

• The Reserve Bank of India has maintained status quo in key policy rates as the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to keep the policy repo rate at four percent to keep the stance accommodative, Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and bank rate will remain unchanged at 4.25 percent.
• Reverse repo rate will also remain unchanged at 3.35 percent
• The projection for real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is retained at 9.5 percent in 2021-22, consisting of 6.6 percent in the third quarter and six percent in the fourth quarter.
• He pointed out that the real GDP growth is projected at 17.2 percent for Q1 of 2022-23 and at 7.8 percent for Q2 of 2022-23.
• The Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation is projected at 5.3 percent in 2021-22, which consists of 5.1per percent in Q3, and 5.7 percent in Q4 with risk broadly balanced.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION

Former CEC Shri Sunil Arora joins Board of Advisers for International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA)

• Sunil Arora, former Chief Election Commissioner of India has been invited to join the Board of Advisers for International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).
• Sunil Arora brings rich leadership experience, knowledge and skills to contribute significantly to the working of the International Institute.
• The Institute is assisted by a 15-member Board of Advisers who are eminent personalities or experts from a wide variety of backgrounds.
• The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), established in 1995, is an intergovernmental organization based in Stockholm, Sweden with a mission to support sustainable democracy worldwide.
• International IDEA currently has 34 member countries which include large and small, older and newer democracies from all continents.
• India has been one of the founding members of IDEA.
• Sunil Arora had been the 23rd Chief Election Commissioner of India from 2nd December 2018 to 12th April, 2021.
• Arora had joined ECI as Election Commissioner of India on 1st September 2017
• During his tenure of more than 42 months at ECI, the Commission successfully conducted the General Election to the 17th Lok Sabha in 2019 and 24 State Assembly Elections as also bye-elections and biennial elections.
•  Shri Arora, a 1980 batch Indian Administrative Service officer, has earlier headed various key departments in the Government of India & State Government of Rajasthan.

US Polo ropes in Arjun Rampal as Indian brand ambassador

• US Polo Association, which is retailed in India by Arvind Fashions, has signed up Arjun Rampal as the India brand ambassador. 
• This the first time that an Indian ambassador has been roped in by the official brand of the United States Polo Association (USPA).
• As part of its strategy, the brand will release the new ‘Play Together’ campaign featuring Arjun Rampal and will also unveil the new brand look across its 392 stores in India
• The new stores will have an ‘all-white’ interior with US Polo Assn. brand colours. The signature red, blue & white stripes will welcome customers at the entrance
• Arjun’s association with the brand draws an instant parallel to his real-life persona, making it very relatable for the audience.
• His huge fan base will encourage demand and excite our consumers to visit our remodelled stores that embody the spirit of Polo
• The ‘Play Together’ Campaign is conceptualised by WYP Creatives, produced by Karma Productions & shot by ace director and photographer, Bosco Christopher Bhandarkar and Rid Burman.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE NEWS

India-Maldives Joint military exercise – EKUVERIN began at Kadhdhoo Island

• The 11th edition of Exercise EKUVERIN between India and Maldives will be conducted at Kadhdhoo Island, Maldives.
• It is a 14-day exercise scheduled from December 6 to 19.

About EKUVERIN:

• Ekuverin means friendship in the Dhivehi language.
• The exercise will enhance synergy & inter-operability between Armed Forces of both the nations in terms of understanding transnational terrorism both on land & at sea, conducting Counter Terrorism & Counter Insurgency Operations and sharing best military practices and experiences.
• The joint military exercise will also include cultural and sports activities to enhance defence cooperation and bilateral relations.
• The exercise will go a long way in strengthening India’s relations with the Maldives amidst emerging security dynamics in the Indian Ocean Region.

About Maldives:

• Capital: Malé
• Currency: Maldivian rufiyaa
• President: Ibrahim Mohamed Solih

CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING & INDEX

HAL, BEL, Indian Ordnance Factories among top 100 Global Arms Manufacturers in 2020: SIPRI

• According to the report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), three Indian companies namely, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Indian Ordnance Factories, and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) are among the World’s top 100 firms in the Combined Arms Sales in 2020.
• The arms sales of HAL, ranked 42nd, and BEL, ranked 66th, increased by 1.5 per cent and 4.0 per cent, respectively & Indian Ordnance Factories ranked 60th arms sales rose marginally (by 0.2 per cent).
• US companies accounted for 54 per cent of the combined arms sales of the top 100.
• China was second at 13 per cent, followed by the UK at 7.1 per cent. Russia and France were fourth and fifth with 5 percent and 4.7 percent respectively of the combined arms sales for the top 100 companies.

 The world’s top five arms manufacturers are US-based companies: 

1. Lockheed Martin
2. Raytheon Technologies
3. Boeing
4. Northrop Grumman
5. General Dynamics.

• India’s aggregated arms sales of $6.5 billion (approx Rs 48,750 crore) were 1.7 per cent higher in 2020 than in 2019.
• The report mentioned that the “combined arms sales of the world’s largest arms-producing and mili­tary services companies were $531 billion in 2020.
• With 41 arms companies, the USA has the high­est number of companies in the top 100 worldwide.
• Together, their arms sales amounted to $285 billion, an increase of 1.9 per cent compared with 2019.

About SIPRI:

• Headquarters: Solna
• Director: Dan Smith
• Chair: Jan Eliasson
• Founded: 6 May 1966

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS NEWS

PV Sindhu won silver in BWF World Tour Finals 2021

• World number seven Indian shuttler PV Sindhu settled for a silver medal after being defeated by South Korea’s an Se-young in the BWF World Tour Finals.
• Se-young defeated Sindhu by 21-16, 21-12 in the final match that lasted for just 39 minutes.
• This was Sindhu’s third final appearance in the tournament.
• She had won the title in 2018 to become the only Indian to achieve the feat.

Note:

• With this victory, An Seyoung became the first-ever South Korean woman to win the season-ending title.
• It was also her third straight title in Bali, following wins at the Indonesian Masters and Indonesia Open.

Champions in the BWF World Tour Finals 2021:

• Men’s singles: Viktor Axelsen
• Women’s singles: An Se-young
• Men’s doubles: Takuro Hoki & Yugo Kobayashi
• Mixed doubles: Dechapol Puavaranukroh & Sapsiree Taerattanachai

About PV Sindhu:

• Pusarla Venkata Sindhu was born on 5 July 1995 in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.
• She was appointed as the first brand ambassador of Bridgestone India.
• She is the first Indian to become the Badminton World Champion and only the second individual athlete from India to win two consecutive medals at the Olympic Games.
• She won India’s first BWF World Championship gold in 2019.
• She represented India at the 2016 Summer Olympics (Rio), becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach a final & won the silver medal after losing out to Spain’s Carolina Marin.
• In the 2020 Summer Olympics (Tokyo) she won a bronze medal, becoming the first Indian woman ever to win two Olympic medals.

Awards & Honours :

• Arjuna Award (2013)
• Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India (2015)
• Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, highest sporting honour of India (2016)
• Padma Bhushan, Third Highest Civilian Award of India (2020).

About BWF World Tour Finals 2021:

• The 2021 BWF World Tour Finals officially known as the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2021.
• It was the fourth edition of the BWF World Tour Finals and was organized by the Badminton Association of Indonesia with sanction from the BWF.
• It was held from 1 to 5 December 2021 in Bali, Indonesia and had a total prize of $1,500,000.
• It was held among the top world ranked players in singles (men and women) and doubles (men, women and mixed).

2021 Asian team squash championships : Indian Men Win Silver                                               

• The Indian men’s squash team won the silver medal at the 20th Asian Squash Championship in Malaysia. 
• Malaysia has won the both men’s & women’s final in 2-1.

Note :

• The last time the Malaysian men’s and women’s teams won a ‘double’ was in the 2008 championships in Kuwait.
• This was the third time the Indian men’s squash team had entered the Asian Squash Championship final after having previously done so in 1981 and 2012.

About Asian Team Championships:

• The Asian Team Championships are the international squash competition played between teams representing different nations organised by the Asian Squash Federation.

 Davis Cup 2021: Russia beat Croatia to win title

• The Russian Tennis Federation has won the Davis Cup after beating Croatia 2-0 in the final in Madrid after 15 years.
• It was Medvedev’s fifth consecutive straight-set victory at the 2021 Davis Cup.
• Medvedev beat Marin Cilic 7-6 (7), 6-2 in the second singles match.
• Andrey Rublev was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament after going 6-1 in both singles and doubles.
• It was Russia’s third Davis cup after 2002 & 2006.

Note:

• The Russian team is officially being called RTF (Russian Tennis Federation).

About Davis Cup 2021 Finals:

• It was formerly known as World Group, and was the highest level of Davis Cup competition in 2021.
• It was held on indoor hard courts at three venues in Innsbruck, Austria, Madrid, Spain and Turin, Italy.
• Davis Cup Conducted by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) & it announced that the Finals would be expanded over 11 days, from 25 November to 5 December 2021.

ICC Test Rankings 2021: Team India Reclaims Top Spot                                                                   

• India beat New Zealand by 372 runs in the second test at Mumbai to win the two-match series 1-0.
• India mopped up the New Zealand lower order within 40 minutes of play on day four at the Wankhede Stadium.
• India has 124 rating points, while New Zealand lost three points and remains with 121 points followed by Australia (108), England (107), Pakistan (92), South Africa (88), Sri Lanka (83), West Indies (75), Bangladesh (49) and Zimbabwe (31).
• Kohli became the first player with 50 international wins in each format of the game.

UNION GOVERNMENT SCHEME

Daily CA On Dec 09:

• The Chief Justice of India proposed creation of a National Judicial Infrastructure Authority of India (NJIAI).
• The Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) Scheme is a centrally sponsored scheme launched in 2005-06 & the main aim of this scheme is to impart technical knowledge on a broad scale to the farmers in getting fruitful results and better per unit income.
• The National Development Council (NDC) in its 53rd meeting held on 29th May, 2007 adopted a resolution to launch a Food Security Mission comprising rice, wheat and pulses to increase the annual production of rice by 10 million tonnes, wheat by 8 million tonnes and pulses by 2 million tonnes by the end of the Eleventh Plan (2011-12).
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated three mega projects worth ₹9,600 crore in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.
• A Curtain Raiser Event for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief exercise, PANEX-21, for the member nations of BIMSTEC countries, was held at Kothari Auditorium DRDO Bhawan, New Delhi on 07 Dec 2021. 
• The Permanent Mission of India to the WTO in Geneva (PMI), the Centre for Trade and Investment Law, New Delhi (CTIL), Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, and the Centre for Trade and Economic Integration of The Graduate Institute, Geneva (CTEI) signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Geneva to begin collaboration towards research and capacity-building in the field of international trade law and policy. 
• The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has mandated contactless self-declaration at Air Suvidha Portal, to ensure the smooth passage of international travellers arriving in India.
• NITI Aayog Vice Chairperson Dr Rajiv Kumar, CEO Amitabh Kant, Special Secretary Dr K Rajeswara Rao, and Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) Director General Sunita Narain jointly released the report titled “Waste-wise Cities: Best practices in municipal solid waste management,” a comprehensive knowledge repository of how Indian cities are managing their solid waste.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Indian-origin physician Anil Menon has been selected by NASA along with nine others to be astronauts for future missions, the American space agency has announced.
• India and Japan to evolve to bigger missions between the two countries for addressing the demands of the entire planet and the region, at the India-Japan Science and Technology Seminar
• 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.
• With a focus to expedite the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in Punjab, the Government of India released 402.24 Crore to the State. 
• The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a $125 million loan to improve access to safe and affordable drinking water supply and citywide inclusive sanitation services in Dehradun and Nainital cities in the state of Uttarakhand.
• The Government of India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a $150 million loan to provide access to inclusive, resilient, and sustainable housing for the urban poor in the state of Tamil Nadu.
• The Government of India released 2345 Crore rupees of Central grant to Rajasthan under Jal Jeevan Mission.
• Private sector lender Yes Bank has launched credit cards on the RuPay platform.
• 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.
• Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB), a regional rural bank headquartered in Dharwad, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Liberty General Insurance for selling general insurance products through 629 branches of KVGB.
• ICICI Bank has partnered with Flipkart to offer an instant and digital overdraft (OD) facility of up to ₹25 lakh to individual sellers and businesses registered on the e-commerce platform.
• State Bank of India (SBI) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Kendriya Sainik Board to support and educate the children of war veterans, ex-servicemen, and war widows.
• The Reserve Bank of India has maintained status quo in key policy rates as the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to keep the policy repo rate at four percent to keep the stance accommodative, Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and bank rate will remain unchanged at 4.25 percent.
• Sunil Arora, former Chief Election Commissioner of India has been invited to join the Board of Advisers for International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).
• US Polo Association, which is retailed in India by Arvind Fashions, has signed up Arjun Rampal as the India brand ambassador. 
• Ajith Kumar K has taken over as the head of BPCL Kochi Refinery. As Chief General Manager I/C (Kochi Refinery), he would lead the largest public sector refinery in the country.
• The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), that Hindustan Unilever Chairman & Managing Director, Sanjiv Mehta, will be appointed as the President next week.
• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India to strengthen the waste management sector in India under the overall ambit of Swachh Bharat Mission- Urban 2.0.
• The 11th edition of Exercise EKUVERIN between India and Maldives will be conducted at Kadhdhoo Island, Maldives.
• According to the report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), three Indian companies namely, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Indian Ordnance Factories, and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) are among the World’s top 100 firms in the Combined Arms Sales in 2020.
• World number seven Indian shuttler PV Sindhu settled for a silver medal after being defeated by South Korea’s An Se-young in the BWF World Tour Finals.
• The Indian men’s squash team won the silver medal at the 20th Asian Squash Championship in Malaysia. 
• The Russian Tennis Federation has won the Davis Cup after beating Croatia 2-0 in the final in Madrid after 15 years.
• India beat New Zealand by 372 runs in the second test at Mumbai to win the two-match series 1-0.

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