Current Affair of December 2020

National

1. Every year the World AIDS Day is celebrated on December 1. The day is being celebrated since 1988. It is celebrated to create awareness against the spread of HIV infection. It is one of the 11 official Global Public Health campaigns of World Health Organisation. Every year the last week of November is celebrated as AIDS awareness week. The first AIDS Awareness Week was celebrated in 1984 in San Francisco.

2. The Hornbill Festival, which is called the 'Festival of Festivals', is a 10-day annual cultural fest of Nagaland that showcases the rich and diverse Naga ethnicity through folk dances, traditional music, local cuisine, handicraft, art workshops etc. In a first, the 21st edition of this festival is to go digital from December 1 to 5 amid the coronavirus concerns. The start of this festival (December 1) marks the Nagaland statehood day.

3. According to the recently released US Air Quality Index, Lahore has once again topped the list of world’s most polluted cities in the world. The report says that the particulate matter rating of Lahore was 423. Lahore was followed by New Delhi with a particulate matter rating of 229. Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal ranked third with a particulate matter rating of 178.

4. The Apex Committee for the Implementation of the Paris Agreement (AIPA) was recently constituted by the Indian government to ensure coordinated response to climate change matters and to keep the country on track towards meeting its climate change obligations under the Paris Agreement, which includes Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). It will act as the national authority for regulating carbon markets within the country.

5. Mount Seemeru is an active volcano located in East Java, Indonesia. The volcano is located in the subduction zone where the Indo-Australia plate subducts under the Eurasia plate. The Mount Semeru is a stratovolcano. Since 1818, around 55 eruptions have been recorded in Mt Semeru. It is an active volcano and has recently erupted. The stratovolcano is also called a conical volcano. It is built by many layers of hardened lava. The lava of stratovolcano is highly viscous. It cools and hardens before spreading far. Also, the stratovolcano has periodic effusive eruptions. The lava from stratovolcano are is not of significant threat to humans as they are highly viscous. On the other hand, the Nyiragongo is the only dangerous stratovolcano in the world as its magma are unusually low in silica which makes the lava quite fluid. This increases the flow rate of the lava.

6. Monoliths are large single standing block of stone. A mysterious monolith was found recently in a remote, uninhabited desert in Utah, USA. And then disappear without a trace. Days after the occurrence and disappearance of the monolith, another monolith has been found in Romania. The Dacian people were the ancient inhabitants of the Dacia region located to the west of Black sea. It includes current day Ukraine, Hungary, Northern Bulgaria, southern Poland, Hungary. They are the sub-group of Thracian.

7. Every year, India marks the National Pollution Control Day on December 2. The day is observed in the memory of the people who lost their lives in the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. The national pollution control day is celebrated in India to make the citizens aware of laws that exist in India that help to contain pollution.

8. Thai Mangur is a catfish that was banned by the National Green Tribunal as it was harming the local ecosystem and the consumers’ health. It is favoured by the cultivators due to its ability to feed on anything and survive in hostile conditions. It also has high demand because it is cheaper when compared to other seafood. Recently, thousands of tons of this banned catfish were found to be illegally bred in over 125 artificial ponds in rural Thane, Maharashtra.

9. "Duare Sarkar" outreach programme was launched by the Bengal Government. Under the programme, camps are to be organised at local body levels. In cities the camps are to be organised by corporations and at village level it is to be organised by Gram Panchayats. The Local Bodies will host camps between December 1, 2020 and January 30, 2020. Through these camps the State Government will take the Government Services to the doorstep of the Bengal people.

10. Recently, a study has found that similar to small reptiles like geckos, the alligators can also sacrifice and regrow their tails. Young American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) can regrow up to 18 percent of their total body length back, about 23 cm in length. However, unlike lizards which form new tails with muscles, these species form tails without muscles.

11. The World Malaria Report, 2020 was recently released by the World Health Organisation. As per the report, India recorded the largest reduction in malaria cases in South East Asia. The case count has reduced from 20 million in 2000 to around 5.6 million in 2019. The report also stated that the global malaria case count has remained unchanged for the past four years. In 2019, the number was around 229 million. According to the world Malaria report, 2020 prepared by the World Health Organisation, India was one among the 11 highest Malaria burden countries in the world.

12. The World Trade Organisation recently released the World Trade Report, 2020. The report analyses the adoption of government policies to foster technological progress and digital innovation. The report says that due to covid-19 crisis, around 115 countries have adopted new digital and industrial strategies to fasten the transition towards digital economy. This mainly includes tax breaks to facilitate digital innovation, policies to address access to data, technological hub to maximise knowledge diffusion and research and development report.

13. The Theremin musical instrument has turned hundred years old in 2020. It has revolutionised the music industry by being the predecessor of the modern synthesizer. Theremin is a musical instrument. It is considered as the world’s first electronic instrument and it turned 100 years old in 2020. It was developed by Leon Theremin. It generates sound by modulation of electromagnetic waves and this is done without the player having to even touch the instrument. It has a vertical antenna for controlling the tone and a looped antenna for controlling the volume.

14. The Varanasi Annapurna idol is being brought back to India after a century from Canada. It was stolen from a Varanasi temple about a century ago. This 18th century sculpture is carved in the ‘Benares style’ and is a representation of the goddess of food. The goddess is represented as holding a bowl of kheer and a spoon in her hands. Annapurna is also the deity of Varanasi city.

15. Every year, International Day of Persons with Disabilities is celebrated on December 3 by the United Nations and several other organisations spread all over the world. This year the day is celebrated with the following theme Building Back Better: Towards a disability-inclusive accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 World.

16. The cyclone Burevi, named by Maldives, hit the Karaikal coast of Tamil Nadu 7 days after cyclone Nivar. This is the third cyclone formed within the last 10 days in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea put together. As the new cyclone Burevi comes just days after Cyclone Nivar, its impact is set to be more subdued. This is because when consecutive systems develop in the same region of the sea, the first system leads to a process called ‘upwelling’- i.e. cooler water from the deeper parts of the ocean moves towards the upper layer and produce less friendly conditions for cyclones.

17. The Ministry of Home Affairs recently released the annual ranking of police Stations in India. The annual ranking is being done since 2015. The top seven top police stations were from Jhilimili of Chhattisgarh, Sanguem of Goa, Kalighat of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Pakyong of Sikkim, Kanth of Uttar Pradesh, Khanvel of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Jammikutna Town Police Station of Telangana.

18. Every year the Indian Navy Day is celebrated on December 4. This year the Indian Navy Day is celebrated on the following Theme: Indian Navy Combat Ready, Credible and Cohesive. The theme sends message that India is keenly watching the moves of the Chinese in the Indian Ocean Region and the Indian Navy is combat ready to encounter the Chinese forces anytime. The message includes Pakistani forces as well.

19. Malayan giant squirrel or the black giant squirrel (Ratufa bicolor) is one of the largest tree squirrels in the world. As per a recent study conducted by Zoological Survey of India, this species of squirrel may become extinct, if proper conservatory measures are not taken. This is the first of its kind study conducted by the Zoological Survey of India.

20. The Bhashan Char Island is a remote uninhabited island of Bangladesh, located in the Bay of Bengal. It is also known as Char Piya. Around thousands of Rohingyas from Cox’s Bazar refugee camp are being shifted to the newly developed facility in the island. Humanitarians oppose this move fearing poor liveable conditions in the new island and demand for independent assessment by the United Nations. Environmentalists warn that the island is ecologically fragile are prone to floods and cyclones.

21. The UK has recorded the world’s 1st foul air death or death legally certified to have been caused by air pollution. A 9-year old girl who lived near a busy road in London had passed away due to respiratory complications and an inquest is underway. According to WHO, air pollution contributes to 4.2 million deaths per year across the world. In addition to this, about 3.8 million deaths are due to household air pollutants. 91% of the global population live in areas with air quality that is non-compliant with the WHO guidelines.

22. In a joint operation by the forest officials of Assam and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, a huge seizure of marine life has been made in Assam. This haul includes 50kg of sea fan, a type of soft coral, among other. Corals are listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. Its possession or sale invites the strictest punishment under the Wildlife Act. The sea fans are invertebrate organisms that grown in a fan like pattern and are found in shallow waters.

23. The Election Commission recently proposed the use of postal ballot to enable NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) to cast their votes. This could be done using the ETPBS or Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System. The NRIs got voting rights only in 2011 by an amendment to the Representation of Peoples Act, 1950. Currently, NRIs can only vote in person in the constituency where their residence is located. This often proves to be a costly affair as they have to travel in from overseas for the sole purpose of casting their votes.

24. Bihar is planning its first ever migratory bird festival this year. This is a three-day festival to be organised in Bhagalpur District. It is to be jointly organised by Bhagalpur forest division, Bombay Natural History Society and the local Mandar Nature Club. The region houses a large number of migratory birds between November and March every year. The festival is intended to check cases of poaching in the region.

25. The death anniversary of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, which falls on December 6, is dubbed as Mahaparinirvana Divas. On this day each year, millions of people throng to Dr Ambedkar’s Samadhi in Mumbai, which is called Chaitya bhoomi to pay respect to the father of Indian Constitution. This year, due to the on-going pandemic, the Maharashtra government has urged people to refrain from visiting this site and observe the day staying home.

26. Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 seeks to promote educational and cultural exchange between the US and other countries in a bid to enhance mutual understanding of the US people and the people of other countries. The US State Department has recently ended 5 cultural exchange programmes with China under this Act. These programmes include the Policymakers Educational China Trip Program, the US-China Friendship Programme, the US-China Leadership Exchange Program, the US-China Transpacific Exchange Program and the Hong Kong Educational and Cultural Programme.

27. The Armed Forces Flag Day has been observed in India since 7th December 1949. The day is dedicated towards collection of funds from the people. The collected fund will be used for the welfare of the armed personnel, ex-servicemen and also to rehabilitate battle causalities. The Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has recently announced that this day will be celebrated throughout December and has called on people to contribute to the fund.

28. The TRACE Bribery Risk Matrix is an annual listing that measures the likelihood of bribe demands in 194 countries. It was first published in 2014 to meet the needs of the business communities demanding for a more reliable information regarding the risks of commercial bribery worldwide. In the 2020 listing, India is ranked 77th position, a spot better than last year, in terms of bribery risks. China and Pakistan have been ranked 126th and 153rd spots respectively.

29. The turtle population in Red Sea is turning female due to rise in sea temperature. A Team of researchers from the Saudi Arabia King Abdullah University of Science and Technology conducted a study. They selected five sites in the region that are favoured by Green Turtles and Hawksbill. The researchers collected data for every fifteen minutes for five months. According to the researchers, to maintain 50:50 ratio of males and females population, temperature of 29.2 degrees Celsius is required. Above this temperature, the turtle hatchlings will predominantly be female. The researchers during the study found that the temperature at four out of the selected five sites exceeded 29.2 degrees Celsius.

30. The Global Climate Change Performance Index was recently released by the New Climate Institute, Germanwatch and CAN (Climate Action Network). The index has been rating the fifty-seven greenhouse emitters in the world since 2005. These countries account to 90% of global emissions. The index aims to enable comparison of mitigation efforts, enhance transparency in international climate politics.

31. The Ramnagar Forest Division in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand built the first eco-bridges for smaller mammals and reptiles. The Eco-Bridges or Eco-Ducts are constructed to enhance the wildlife connectivity that are usually disrupted due to logging or highways. It includes concrete underpasses, canopy bridges or overpass tunnels, amphibian tunnels. These bridges are usually overlaid with planting from the area to give a contiguous look with the landscape. The eco-bridges also include overpasses, fish ladders, green roofs, tunnels, canopy bridges.

32. PM Modi is to address the India Mobile Congress on December 8, 2020. The Department of Telecommunications and Cellular Operators Association of India are organizing the Indian Mobile Congress. It is being organized under the theme "Inclusive Innovation-Smart, Secure, Sustainable". The Congress is to be held between December 8, 2020 and December 10, 2020.

33. A mystery disease has broken out in the state of Andhra Pradesh. More than 400 people have been affected by the disease. The disease has so far killed one person and the reason for the outbreak is still unknown. In the Eluru district of Andhra Pradesh, people are suffering from nausea and and consciousness. Some others are complaining of seizures, convulsions and neurological symptoms. The first case of the disease was reported on December 5, 2020.

34. The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently released the Smuggling in India Report 2019-20. The report was released during the 63rd founding day celebrations of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence. The report analyses the smuggling trends on narcotic drugs, gold and foreign currency, security and commercial frauds.

35. For the last decade, frothing has been observed in River Yamuna and the same has been on the rise for the last 5 years. This is seen as a major indicator of degrading of Yamuna River Ecosystem. Both physical and chemical factors are responsible for the phenomenon. Froth means a mass of small bubbles on a liquid surface. It is also referred to aggregation of bubbles on an agitated liquid. Since Yamuna River water falls from a great height in Okhla barrage, it leads to bubble formation. Also, during winters the temperature dips to near zero.

36. The ongoing farmer protests against the recently legislated farm laws is similar to the farmer protests in 1907. The farmers then protested against three British laws namely Punjab land colonization act, Doab Bari act and the Punjab land alienation act. In 1879, the British government constructed a Canal to draw water from the Chenab river to Lyallpur (now Faisalabad, Pakistan). The canal was called the Upper Bari Doab canal. This was done to setup settlements in an uninhabited area. Also, the Britishers promised allotment of free land with several amenities. This included ex-serviceman from Amritsar, Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur as well. Therefore, the peasants from these districts left behind their land and property and settled in the new areas to make the barren land fit for cultivation.

37. The Union Territory of Lakshadweep has been declared as Organic Agricultural Area by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer’s welfare. The UT is second after Sikkim to achieve the status of 100% organic region. It is first in the Union Territories of India to achieve the status. The entire 32 sq km area of the UT has been certified as organic under the Union Government’s Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (organic farming improvement programme). Lakshadweep has been separated from the main stream India geographically. There has been no shipment of chemicals and fertilizers to the island group for the last 15 years. The UT administration has been practicing farming only using inputs like compost, poultry manure, green leaf manure. The UT has not made any expenditure for procurement of chemicals.

38. Every year Human Rights Day is celebrated on December 10. It is also called the International Human Rights Day. The day was chosen to honour the United Nations General Assembly adoption of Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The United Nations Prize in the field of Human Rights is awarded on the Human Rights Day. This year, the Human Rights Day was celebrated under the following theme: Recover Better-Stand Up for Human Rights.

39. Every year, the International Anti-Corruption Day is marked on December 9. The day is marked by United Nations and several other international organizations. This year, the International Anti-Corruption Day was celebrated under the theme: Recover with Integrity. On December 9, the International Anti-Corruption Day was celebrated by the Central Bureau of Investigation in New Delhi.

40. Every year International Mountain Day is celebrated on December 11 by United Nations and several other international organisations. It is important to conserve mountains as they are home to 15% of world population. They also host more than half of world biodiversity hotspots. Also, conserving mountains is a key part of Goal 15 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

41. Every year, UNICEF Day is observed on December 11 by the United Nations. The UNICEF day is celebrated on December 11 because the United Nations General Assembly created UNICEF on December 11, 1946. UNICEF stands for United Nations International Children Emergency Fund. It was started in order to provide assistance, supplies and improve health, education, nutrition of children after World War II.

42. The first India Water Impact Summit began on December 10, 2020. This year the Summit is being held under the following theme : Comprehensive analysis and Holistic management of rivers and water bodies with a focus on Arth Ganga. The Summit is being organised by the National Mission for Clean Ganga and the Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies. The Summit will disseminate and discuss the need for modalities of embracing Ganga. Also, it will act as a common platform for the investors and stakeholders in the water sector. The Summit will promote International cooperation between India and several other foreign countries for river management.

43. The ninth edition of the Sustainable Mountain Development Summit (SMDS) commenced on December 12 in Dehradun. This year, the summit was held under the following theme: Emerging Pathways for Building Resilient Post COVID-19 Mountain Economy, Adoption, Innovation and Acceleration. The focus will be on the overall objective of taking measures to ensure robust and sustainable mountain economy for the post COVID-19 world and to combat climate change. The event was attended by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conard K Sangma.

44. Every year, the International Universal Health Coverage Day is celebrated on December 12 by United Nations and by several other international organizations. It aims to increase awareness of the need for strong and resilient health systems. This year, the International Universal Health coverage Day is celebrated under the following theme: Health for all: Protect Everyone. In order to end the crisis it is essential to build a safe and healthy future. To achieve this, investment in health systems is essential.

45. The Supreme Court of India recently upheld the order of Allahabad High court to grant immunity from investigation and prosecution if a person voluntarily declares possession or acquisition of exotic species. This is applicable under the new amnesty scheme announced by the centre. The voluntary disclosure scheme from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is a one-time scheme that allows owners of exotic animal species to declare their stock between June and December this year. This could be stock that was acquired illegally or is owned without documents.

46. The Mansa unit of Punjab state Police is developing Miyawaki forests. Also, the Bengaluru Hennagara Lake is to get a new life with Miyawaki Forests. Miyawaki forest is a method of afforestation developed in Japan. It involves the planting of saplings in a small area resulting in formation of dense forests in relatively short time periods. The method is specifically used in urban areas to increase green cover. Some of the advantages of the method include low space requirements and lower chances of weed growth as the dense canopy prevents sunlight from reaching the ground.

47. Vigyan yatra is a promotional activity to promote scientific temper. It is being carried out as a part of the India International Science Festival. The Vigyan Yatra is a promotional activity of the sixth edition of India International Science Festival. The festival is organised by the Ministry of Science and Technology. Vans, that serve as mobile science exhibitions, are flagged off from various cities as part of this initiative. It will cover all local schools and universities. It also helps take the culture of science to the masses. About 30 locations across the country have been identified for such Vigyan yatras.

48. Digital voter ID card is the electronic form of EPIC or Elector’s Photo Identity Card. This would make the voter ID card available on people’s phone. It can be downloaded through OTP authentication. This will help the Election Commission cut costs need for printing and distribution of the hard copies. Currently, EPIC is available only as a hard copy and has to be produced by the voters on voting day.

49. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently published the COVID-19 Vaccine Operational Guidelines. The Ministry had detailed its plan to carry out the administration of COVID-19 vaccine in the country. The Government of India had constituted the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC). The COVID-19 vaccine introduction in the country is completely guided by the NEGVAC.

50. India is to establish a regional climate centre in the Himalayan mountain region. The centre will provide weather related services to India and also to its neighbours. Similar centre is being built by China on its side of the Himalayas. The hilly terrain of India includes the Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, the Myanmar hills in the North East and the Himalayas. Of all these, the Himalayas has greater role in hydrology, disaster management, meteorology, eco system and many other activities. Due to this, the Himalayas are addressed as the "Third Pole of the World". The centre will help in understanding the physical processes that are occurring in the Himalayas.

51. Every year Vijay Diwas is celebrated on December 16. The day is celebrated to mark the victory of Bangladesh over Pakistan. It is marked in India and Bangladesh. On December 16, 1971, the Chief of Pakistani forces Abdullah Khan Niazi surrendered along with 93,000 troops to the allied forces of Mukti Bahini and the Indian Army. Vijay Diwas is observed in Bangladesh as Bijoy Dibos.

52. The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Edapadi K Palaniswami recently inaugurated 2000 Amma Mini covid-19 clinic in Tamil Nadu. The state of Tamil Nadu is the fourth most affected in the country with more than 8 lakh people infected with covid-19. They are Primary Health centres in New Delhi that offer basic package of essential health services. This includes diagnostics, medicines and consultation free of cost. As of now in 2020, there are 450 Mohalla clinics in New Delhi. These clinics have served more than 16 million residents after national capital.

53. NITI Aayog has recently released a white paper titled Vision 2035: Public Health Surveillance in India. It is part of its work to strengthen health systems in India. The paper calls for integration of the three tiers of healthcare system in India viz. primary, secondary and tertiary into Ayushman Bharat. It also calls for enhanced lab capacity and expanded referral network. It proposes the use of a new data sharing mechanism involving the use of analytics, health informatics and data science.

54. The Maharashtra Government recently launched the Maharashtra Shakti Criminal Law (Maharashtra Amendment) Act, 2020 and the Special Court and Machinery for the implementation of the Maharashtra Shakti Criminal Law, 2020. The Indian Penal Code had made several stringent provisions after Nirbhaya case in 2013 based on the recommendations of Justice Verma Committee.

55. The UNESCO recently launched the State of Education for India report (SER). The report highlights the vision of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) included in India’s new national education policy 2020. UNESCO has developed a Strategy for TVET (2016-21). The strategy is in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goal and Education 2030 Framework for Action.

56. The Government of India is to open a museum on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on January 23, 2022. The museum is to be set up in Kolkata. The museum is to be inaugurated on the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji. The Government of India is also planning to reprint some of the books written by Netaji. The Netaji museum in New Delhi is also to be expanded.

57. For the first time, a Himalayan Serow has been sighted in the Himalayan cold desert. The Himalayan Serow was earlier thought to be extinct in the Himalayas. Because, the forest officials could not spot them for the last ten to twelve years in spite of several special efforts to site the herbivore. It was recently captured in a camera by the state wildlife wing in Himachal Pradesh Spiti Valley for the first time.

58. Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has been awarded with the Golden Peacock Environment Management award for the year 2020 in the steel sector. The award was given for its efforts in adopting various environmental measures like upgrading pollution control facilities, treatment and recirculation of wastewater from individual units and outfalls, enhancement in green cover and efficient solid waste management. SAIL has received the award for two consecutive years.

59. The recent Western Disturbance is responsible for an increased amount of snowfall in J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and the rapid dip in Delhi’s temperature. In several other states, the Western Disturbances have tightened its grip creating foggy conditions. These Western Disturbances bring moderate to heavy rains in the north western India. The rains are important for rabi crops that help to meet food security of the country. The amount of rainfall and their distribution varies with every western disturbance.

60. The State Legislature of Maharashtra recently passed proposals stating that they will not reply to any notice sent by Supreme Court or High Court in the breach of privilege motion against the Republic TV editor Arnab Goswami. According to the Maharashtra government replying to such notices would mean that Judiciary can keep a check on legislature. This is inconsistent with the basic structure of the constitution.

61. The Gujarat Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 2020 recently came into force in the state of Gujarat. The law seeks to protect small farmers and citizens against land- grabbing through establishment of committees and special courts in each district. It also has provisions of 14 years of imprisonment for land grabbers. Persons illegally taking possession of land- both directly and indirectly will be considered land grabbers under this law.

62. The Human Freedom Index is published by the Cato Institute and Fraser Institute. It uses data from 2008 to 2018. According to the Index, there is decrease in personal freedom since 2008 globally. India ranked 111 in the Human Freedom Index, 2020. In 2019, India ranked 94th.

63. The World Bank recently corrected its Doing Business rankings after review of data irregularities. After the corrections, China’s ranking has been lowered by seven notches. In August 2020, the World Bank decided to pause the publication of its Doing Business Report after number of irregularities regarding changes to data in previous reports. Changes are being made and these changes are to be reflected in the next report that is due in March 2021.

64. The Standing Committee headed by the senior Congress leader Anand Sharma recently submitted a report "Management of COVID-19 pandemic and related issues". The committee has suggested that the National Migrant Workers Database should be collated at the earliest. In September 2020, the Government of India had expressed its interest to set up a National Migrant Workers Database. This was announced by the Labour Ministry in Rajya Sabha.

65. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change recently released the "Status of Leopard in India, 2018" report. Leopards are listed as "Vulnerable" in IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Under CITES (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) they are listed under Appendix I. They are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

66. The Parliamentary Standing Committee under the leadership of a senior congress leader, Anand Sharma recently submitted its report, "Management of COVID-19 pandemic and related issues". The report was submitted to the Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu. The report has recommended to set up the National Migrant Worker Database at the earliest. The committee has also recommended to frame "Public Health Act" to keep the private hospitals under check.

67. The Food and Agriculture Organization recently released the "State of Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries", 2018. According to the report, the number of stocks subject to overfishing has decreased for the first time in decades in Mediterranean and Black sea marine Eco systems. The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) operating under Food and Agriculture Organization is responsible for overseeing fishing fleet in the region. It GFCM that created the report under the guidance of FAO.

68. The Union Minister of Culture Shri Prahlad Singh Patel recently reviewed the proposal to set up Indian Institute of Heritage. Indian Institute of Heritage is a proposed institute under the Ministry of Culture. It was announced as part of the Budget 2020-21. It is to be set up in accordance with Societies Registration Act, 1860 and the UGC guidelines for setting up HEIs. It is to be established as a centre of excellence in arts and heritage studies and is to have the status of a ‘deemed university’. Certificate and diploma courses, currently run by various institutions like IGNCA and National Archives of India, are to be brought under IIH.

69. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently addressed the sixth India-Japan Sanwad Conference through video conferencing. During the address, the Prime Minister proposed to create a library of traditional Buddhist literature and scriptures. The library will collect digital copies of Buddhist literature from different countries. It will aim to translate and make them freely available for all monks and scholars of Buddhism. Also, the library will examine how the Buddhist message can guide modern world against contemporary challenges.

70. The Government of India has recently introduced the E20 fuel to promote green fuel such as ethanol. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways recently published a draft notification inviting comments from the public for adoption of E20 fuel. This is being done as Government of India is aspiring to take the ethanol economy to 2 lakh crores of rupees in next 5 years. At present the ethanol economy of India is at twenty-two thousand crores of rupees.

71. The Air Quality commission recently directed all the industries in the National Capital Region to switch over to Piped Natural Gas. Also, the commission provided a set of other directions. The twenty-member Commission was formed by Ministry of Environment. Radiation Fog forms when all the solar energy exits the earth and allows the temperature to meet up dew point. This fog forms overnight as the air near the ground cools and stabilizes. Of all the different types of fog, Radiation Fog is the most common fog in India.

72. India recently added the Tso Kar Wetland Complex as its forty-second Ramsar site. This is the second Ramsar site in the Union Territory of Ladakh. The Tso Kar Basin is located in a high-altitude wetland complex. It consists of two main waterbodies Startsapuk Tso and Tso Kar. The Startsapuk Tso is a freshwater lake of 438 hectares to the south. The Tso Kar lake is a hypersaline lake of 1800 hectares.

73. Every year, the Goa Liberation day is celebrated on December 19 in India. The day is celebrated to mark the victory of Indian armed forces to free Goa from 450 years of the Portuguese rule. The Portuguese colonized several parts of India in 1510. However, by the end of 19th century their colonies were limited to Daman, Dadra, Goa, Diu, Nagar Haveli.

74. Every year, the Rashtriya Kisan Diwas is observed on December 23. The Rashtriya Kisan Diwas is also called the National Farmers Day. In India, it is celebrated in December 23 to honour the fifth Prime Minister of India, Choudhary Charan Singh. December 23 is the birthday of Choudhary Singh. The Government of India decided to celebrate the birthday of Choudhary Charan singh as Farmers Day in 2001.

75. Every year, the National Consumer Rights Day is celebrated on December 24 in India. The World Consumer Rights Day is celebrated on March 15. The National Consumer Day is celebrated through out India to protect the interests of the consumers. This year, the National Consumer Rights Day is celebrated under the following theme: The Sustainable Consumer.

76. The Chief Minister of Karnataka B S Yediyurappa recently launched the "Bengaluru Mission 2022". The mission aims to provide necessary infrastructure and basic amenities to people of Bengaluru to resolve their day-to-day problems and challenges. It basically plans to overhaul city infrastructure. The mission is to work in making Bengaluru "one of the best in the world" when the country marks its 75th year of independence. The government also shared a booklet titled "Bengaluru Mission 2022 – Revitalising Bengaluru".

77. The Ministry of Home Affairs recently declared Nagaland as "Disturbed Area" for the next six months under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. Nagaland was declared as "disturbed area" for a period of six months on June 30, 2020. The state has been under AFSPA for more than six decades now. The act was not withdrawn even after signing the agreement between Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland and GoI.

78. The Karnataka State Legislative Council recently passed the Land Reforms (Amendment) Bill 2020. The 2020 amendment bill seeks to amend the Karnataka Land reforms Act of 1961. The 1961 Act brought in restrictions on ownership of agricultural lands in the state. The amendment removes 3 sections of the Act to allow ownership of farmlands by non-agriculturists. It also removed the income barrier for purchasing farmland i.e. the provision that only people with income of less than 25 lakh INR per annum. The Land Reforms Act, 1961 is being diluted by successive state governments in the state to facilitate industrial growth and agricultural land ownership by non-farmers.

79. On December 26, 2020, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to launch the SEHAT Scheme for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. SEHAT is Social Endeavour for Health and Telemedicine. The scheme was rolled out in Jammu and Kashmir in 2018, that is, even before the Abrogation of Article 370. West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana are the states that did not implement Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana or Ayushman Bharat. Earlier Delhi also did not implement the scheme. However, it was then implemented in April 2020.

80. The Gujarat Government recently issued advisory on Fungal infection called "Mucormycosis". It is a serious infection with a mortality rate of 50%. It compromises the immune system. It is a rare fungal infection with continuous headache and heaviness in the facial area. It is now widely reported in COVID-19 recovered patients.

81. The Union Cabinet recently approved revised guidelines for Direct to Home (DTH) broadcasting services. The guidelines allow 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in DTH. Also, it has increased the license period to twenty years. Earlier, it was ten years. It is Direct To Home Service. It is a digital satellite service that provides television viewing services through satellite transmissions. On the other hand, in a Cable connection, the cable TV operators receive the signals from satellite and transmit to nearby areas through cables. In DTH, the customers are directly connected to the satellites.

82. Every year Good Governance Day is celebrated on December 25 to commemorate the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The Good Governance Day was established in 2014. He served as Prime Minister between 1998 and 1999, and also between 1999 and 2004. He was elected to the Indian Parliament more than ten times. This includes to both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. He served as the external affairs minister in the Prime Minister Morarji Desai cabinet.

83. The first International Day of Epidemic Preparedness was celebrated by the United Nations on December 27, 2020. The day is being celebrated to facilitate exchange of information, transmission of scientific knowledge and exchange best practices regionally, locally, and internationally. The day will help to prevent COVID-19 like situations. It will also help to equip the world fight against epidemic like scenarios. This is the first time the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness is marked by the United Nations.

84. The Himachal Pradesh Government has recently announced that Integrated Drug Prevention, Treatment, Management and Rehabilitation Programme is to be framed soon. The new strategy of the State Government will mainly focus on drugs derived from plant sources such as opium and cannabis. The State Government has taken immense measures against the cultivation of drug generating plants. The State Government had also deployed Sahastra Seema Bal to address the issues in the high-altitude regions. The State Government also provided modern equipment of cannabis or opium destruction to these forces.

85. The Jharkhand Cabinet recently approved a loan waiver up to Rs 50,000 for 9.07 lakh farmers. The cabinet has earmarked Rs 2,000 crores for the purpose. According to the State Government of Jharkhand, there are 12.93 lakh farmers in the state. They have loan dues amounting to Rs 5,800 crores.

86. The Forest Minister of Madhya Pradesh recently launched the first hot air balloon safari of India in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve of India in MP. There are several hot air balloon rides in the country. However, this is the first hot air balloon safari. The hot air balloon ride is to be restricted in the buffer area. The service is to be operated by a Jaipur based Sky Waltz company. Tourists can watch tigers, Indian Sloth bear and leopards from a height during the ride. The service is to be introduced in other tiger reserves of the state such as Pench Tiger Reserve, Panna Tiger Reserve.

87. The Ministry of Urban Affairs recently launched a new mobile application and a portal called "E-Sampada". The application provides a single window for services such as allotment for more than one lakh Government residential accommodations and office space allotment to Government organisations. The allotment of Government residential accommodation is administered by Directorate of Estates. The portal was launched by Directorate of Estates that operates under Ministry of Urban Affairs.

88. The Chief Minister Secretariat of Bihar, National Informatics Centre and the Disaster Management Department have been jointly chosen as winners in "Pandemic Category" in Digital India Awards, 2020. Earlier the Uttar Pradesh Food and Civil Supplies Department won the Digital India Award, 2020 under the "Excellence in Digital Governance" category. It was selected for its Points of Sale based food distribution, online billing and payment for food grains purchased from farmers, GPS tracking of vehicles transporting food grains.

89. The Madhya Pradesh cabinet recently approved the Religious Freedom Bill, 2020. Under the bill, forcing religious conversions will attract fine of Rs 25,000 and one to five years of imprisonment. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recently downgraded India to its lowest ranking in its 2020 report. India was categorized as Tier 2 country in the listing. This is the first time India has been placed under "Countries of Particular Concern" category since 2004. The report placed India along side Saudi Arabia, North Korea, China and Pakistan.

90. The Assam Government recently tabled a bill that will abolish all the state-run Madrassas and will convert them into schools from April 1, 2021. The bill is called Assam Repealing Bill, 2020. There are 610 state run Madrassas in Assam. According to the survey conducted by a Guwahati University Professor found that the parents and guardians of most of the students of Madrassas are not aware that the children are not taught regular subjects in Madrassas. Rather they are imparted lessons of theology. Therefore, it is essential to convert the Madrassas into regular schools that provide primary and secondary education.

91. On December 29, 2020, the Gujarat government announced the new solar power policy, 2021. According to the policy any developer or person or industry can set up a solar project in Gujarat. The policy mainly aims to reduce the power cost of industrial units by around 50%. This is to be achieved by removing capacity ceiling for setting up a solar project in Gujarat. The state of Gujarat has already achieved 11,000 megawatts of production capacity in green energy. Currently the state has set a target of producing 30,000 megawatts of Clean Energy by 2022. This is to largely include solar energy and wind energy.

International

1. The Avian influenza disease was recently discovered at a poultry farm in Hyuga City of Japan. Around 40,000 chicken in every big farm are being slaughtered and buried. Also, the exports in and around 3 km radius around the infected farms have been restricted. In all around 1.8 million chicken have been culled so far since the outbreak began in September 2020. The current outbreak that started in September 2020 is considered as the largest outbreak in Japan since 2016. In 2018, Japan faced an outbreak of bird flu and 91,000 chicken were then culled.

2. The attack on farm workers in the North Eastern region of Nigeria has left at least 110 dead. The Boko Haram jihadist are blamed for the killing. Around 30 men were beheaded during the attack. The incident is considered as the most violent attack against innocent civilian in 2020. The attack took place near the Borno state capital Maiduguri in Nigeria.

3. The Government of India launched the Global Pravasi Rishta Portal and Mobile app. The application aims to connect the Indian Diaspora spread all over the world. The Global Pravasi Rishta Portal and Mobile app will help to connect 3.12 crores Indian diaspora spread all over the world. It will create three-way communication between the Indian Missions (meaning the embassies), external affairs ministry and Indian diaspora. Indian Diaspora means scattered population whose origin is India. (Diaspora is mass spreading of population away from their indigenous territory).

4. The Government of India recently signed 133 million USD loan Agreement with the Asian Development Bank. Agreement was signed to strengthen the power distribution sector in the state of Meghalaya. Also, the loan is to be supplemented with a 2 million USD grant from the Asian Development Bank Japan fund for poverty reduction. This fund was basically allocated to finance renewable energy projects and support income generation activities for disadvantaged groups and women. It is to be used to finance renewable energy mini-grids to improve power quality.

5. The Brigade 44 openly pledged allegiance to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. It seeks to end the democratic form of governance in Germany while propagating racism and anti-Semitism. This group was banned by the German government along with its symbols, which includes skull with two grenades marked with the number 44. Number 44 here means Division Dirlewanger, named after Oskar Dirlewanger, who is accused of ordering massacres against civilians in Belarus in the 1940s. The number 4 stands for alphabet 44.

6. Recently, several drug makers are seeking Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) for the COVID-19 vaccine. Pfizer had applied for the EUA in UK and has been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency of the country. Also, the Serum Institute of India and Moderna have also applied for the Emergency Use Authorisation of COVID-19 vaccine.

7. Facebook-backed cryptocurrency Libra has been rebranded as "Diem" to gain regulatory approval by emphasising that the project has "organisational independence". The independent organisation, Libra Association, which runs the Libra project will also be renamed as the Diem Association. Diem is a Latin term meaning "day". Libra received criticism because of the possibility of it threatening the traditional government-run financial systems, which may result in upending of financial stability and threatening of privacy.

8. 3RF stands for Reform, Recovery and Reconstruction Framework. It was launched by the United Nations to revitalise Beirut. The framework was prepared by United Nations, World Bank and European Union. The Framework will assess the levels of incoming support against the needs of the population of the country. It will focus on the most vulnerable people in the country. Apart from recovery and reconstruction, the framework will also focus to address the root cause of the crisis.

9. The sixth India-CLMV Business Conclave 2020 was recently held. During the conclave, India invited the CLMV countries to join International Solar Alliance and the Resilient Supply Chain Initiative. The Conclave was held under the theme "Building Bridges for Constructive Development". During the conclave, India mentioned that it is ready to share COVID-19 vaccine with the CLMV countries. This is important for every leading economies in order to prevent vaccine nationalism.

10. Oman recently announced to establish Friendship association with India. This will the first of such initiative in West Asia. It was announced during a bilateral discussion held between the foreign ministers of the country. The bilateral discussion was held virtually on the backdrop of recent trip by the External Affairs Minister of India Shri S Jaishankar to Bahrain and UAE. During the bilateral discussion, the countries reviewed their economic cooperation, consular issue, capacity building and training programmes.

11. The United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs recently removed Cannabis from Schedule IV category of the 1961 Single convention on Narcotics (1). This was done to recognise the medicinal values of the plant. Though cannabis has been removed from Schedule IV, the non-medicinal Cannabis is still under Schedule I. Around 50 countries in the world have adopted medicinal cannabis programmes. Countries such as Uruguay and Canada have legalised the recreational use of the Cannabis plant. In United States, 15 state have approved for recreational use and 33 states have allowed for medicinal use of cannabis.

12. India and the United States recently signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Intellectual Property Cooperation. The agreement was signed between the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The agreement will increase the Intellectual Property Cooperation between the countries. The agreement was signed after ten months the Union Cabinet approved to enter into the MoU.

13. India recently submitted its proposal at the on-going negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on preventing harmful fisheries subsidies. The negotiations are being done as according to WTO the harmful fisheries subsidies are estimated to be at 14 billion USD to 20.5 billion USD. Under its proposal to the WTO, India has suggested that the role of the dispute settlement panel in fisheries management of coastal areas should be limited. India has also suggested that a member should be allowed to retain its sovereignty in the matter. According to India the WTO needs to prevail by the determinants of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations.

14. The Azad Pattan project is a hydropower project that is to be constructed in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. It is to be built on the Jhelum River and will have the capacity to generate 700 MW of hydroelectricity. This is a 1.35 billion USD project that is to be jointly undertaken by China and Pakistan as a part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The CPEC is a flagsip project of the Chinese government that connects Gwadar Port of Pakistan and Xinjiang of China.

15. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife refuge in the Alaskan region in the USA. It is the largest wildlife reserve in the USA. USA holds oil rights in an area called ‘1002 area’ in the coastal plains. The Arctic oil is a source of new rivalries among the countries and this has been termed ‘New Cold War’. The US administration is set to sell its oil drilling rights in the controversial oil deposit site before the next US president takes office. On the other hand, Biden has opened doors to protect the Arctic Refuge.

16. China recently declared victory in its 8 years drive to eradicate extreme poverty. In 2012, the Chinese leadership had sought to achieve a ‘moderately prosperous’ society by focusing on its rural areas. It has maintained a ‘national list of impoverished counties’. The campaign involved massive mobilization of state resources and relocation of people from remote villages to new settlements closer to urban centres. Cash handouts for the elderly and disabled and job finding schemes for the unemployed are also part of the campaign.

17. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is the US’ immigration policy that allows undocumented immigrants who were brought into the country as children to receive a renewable 2-year period of deferred action from deportation and become eligible for a work permit within the US. The Trump Administration had tried ending this Obama-era programme in 2017. Recently, a federal court has ordered the full reinstatement of this programme – a ruling that would help a large number of Indian immigrants.

18. Argentina parliament has imposed ‘millionaire tax’ on about 12,000 of the country’s richest people to fund coronavirus countermeasures. Under this scheme, people with declared assets worth more than 200 million pesos will pay a progressive rate of up to 3.5% on wealth in Argentina and up to 5.25% on wealth outside the country. The revenue arising from this tax will be used to finance health, social development, student scholarships and natural gas ventures. This is being done to bring relief to the poor and the small businesses in the country.

19. The HL-2M Tokamak reactor is China’s largest and most advanced nuclear fusion experimental device. Located in southwestern Sichuan province, the reactor is often called an "artificial sun" because of the enormous heat and power it produces. It was completed last year and it has the potential to unlock a powerful clean energy source. China has successfully powered up this reactor for the first time, marking the advances made in the nuclear power research capability.

20. Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act is a US law that was enacted in December 2018 by the Trump Administration. This law calls for denying access to the US for Chinese officials known to be involved in restricting visits to the Tibet. The objective of this law is to push China to ensure greater access and transparency to the Himalayan region. Recently, a top American diplomat has called on other countries to implement similar laws like that of Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act.

21. The UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, which comes under the UN Economic and Social Council, is the apex drug policy-making body within the UN. It has vital functions in the international drug control conventions. This commission’s 53 member states have recently voted to remove cannabis from the Schedule IV and move it to Schedule I. Cannabis had been in Schedule IV since 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs alongside highly addictive and dangerous drugs like heroin, 3-methylfentanyl and desomorphone etc. This was done to recognise the medicinal value of the Cannabis plant.

22. Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 seeks to promote educational and cultural exchange between the US and other countries in a bid to enhance mutual understanding of the US people and the people of other countries. The US State Department has recently ended 5 cultural exchange programmes with China under this Act. These programmes include the Policymakers Educational China Trip Program, the US-China Friendship Programme, the US-China Leadership Exchange Program, the US-China Transpacific Exchange Program and the Hong Kong Educational and Cultural Programme.

23. The National Academy of Sciences has recently found that the microwave radiation is the major cause of the mysterious neurological illness called Havana syndrome. The Havana syndrome started to infect the American diplomats and intelligence officials located in China, Cuba and other countries for more than four years now. However, the state department has not publicly pointed to microwave weapons as the cause of the syndrome.

24. The cyber wing of Maharashtra police has recently acquired a software called the "Crawler" from the INTERPOL that will help to track down child pornography. A core unit of 12 officers has been formed to implement a mission involving the software. These twelve officers went for training to the South Asian wing of INTERPOL. The unit has been named TRACE. TRACE is Tactical Response Against Cyber Child Exploitation.

25. The United Kingdom has become the first country to roll out the covid-19 vaccine in the world. The British government recently rolled out the covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. More than 70 Hospital hubs in the United Kingdom are to inoculate people over 80 years. The vaccine is to be provided as two injections within a time gap of 21 days. The person administered with the vaccine will obtain complete immunity after seven days of the second dose.

26. The "Go for Zero" policy of Australia helped the country to bring down its COVID-19 cases. The Go for zero policy of Australia was proposed by a non-profit think tank Grattan Institute that advises the government. Under the policy besides expanding the testing of covid-19, Australia also increased contact tracing and mandatory isolation. The government had introduced a QR code-based system to tackle the issue of travellers breaking quarantines. This system helped to track the related person. Certain states of Australia such as Victoria even deployed police to carry out spot checks of people instructed to be in isolation.

27. The foreign ministers of China and Nepal recently certified the elevation of Mt Everest at 8,848.86 metres above sea level. The new height is 86 centimetres higher than the height of the Mountain recognised since 1954. The countries China and Nepal jointly declaring the height of the peak says that there are long-standing differences in opinion about the mountain’s height has come to an end. According to China, the height of Mount Everest was 8844 metres and according to Nepal, it was 8848 metres.

28. The Asian Development Bank recently released the Asian Development Outlook. Under its outlook, the Asian Development Bank projected that Indian economy is to contract by – 8% in the fiscal year 2020-21. Earlier it was estimated by the bank that India would contract by – 9%. This is the GDP forecast of India by the bank. The growth projection has been kept at 8%. These announcements are part of the Asian Development Outlook.

29. The Asian Development Bank recently launched Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility to provide equitable support to the developing countries as they procure and deliver vaccines. The bank has allocated 9 billion USD for the scheme. COVAX is one of the three pillars of the ACT Accelerator launched by World Health Organization. The COVAX facility aims to make sure that all the people in the world will get equal access to COVID-19 vaccine. The initial aim of the facility is to ensure that two billion doses are available by the end of 2021. It is co-led by GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation) and Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

30. The French Cabinet recently presented a draft law that targets "Radical Islamism". The Turkish President Recep Erdogan has strongly criticised the law calling it "An open provocation". Egypt top cleric has called the French President "Racist" for bringing up the law. The French elections are due in 2022.

31. On December 11, 2020, India and Uzbekistan held virtual summit to discuss bilateral relations. The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with his Uzbekistan counter part during the summit. The summit mainly focused on extremism, terrorism and radicalism. During the summit, the countries signed agreements to step up efforts of bilateral investment treaty. They also signed other agreements on renewable energy, Digital Technologies, Community development projects, cyber security, digital technologies.

32. The Red Channel Agreement was signed between the World Health Organization and IFRC (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies) to implement the Emergency Medical Team Initiative. IFRC is a humanitarian aid organization that carries out relief operations assisting victims of disasters. It works to strengthen the capacities of its members. Around 192 countries are members of IFRC. The headquarters of IFRC is located in Geneva, Switzerland.

33. India and Qatar are to establish a task force on energy. The task force will be represented by a senior officer from petroleum Ministry of India and the vice president of Qatar petroleum. The task force is to identify projects in the Indian energy sector for Qatari investments. These announcements were made after the telephone conversation between Minister of Petroleum and Natural gas and steel Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and his Qatar counterpart.

34. The HGC019 Vaccine was developed by the Pune based Gennova Biopharmaceuticals. It is the first indigenously produced mRNA vaccine of the country. The phase I and phase II clinical trials of the vaccine was recently approved by Drug Controller General of India. The vaccine uses the same platform as that used by COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna. The HGC019 vaccine was developed in collaboration with HDT Biotech Corporation of the US.

35. The fifth India-Myanmar Bilateral Meeting on Drug Control Operation was recently held. During the meet, the Narcotics Control Bureau of India and the Central Committee on Drug Abuse Control of Myanmar agreed to exchange timely information to conduct follow up investigation on new psychotropic substances, drug seizures. Also, they agreed to conduct regular field level officer meetings, border level officers meet between frontline officers to improve the cooperation on drug enforcement.

36. CinemaSCOpe is a movie series launched by the Indian Embassy in Beijing exclusively for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) countries. The embassy will be screening more than two dozen Indian movies dubbed in Russian language on monthly basis. This will be done until India’s chairmanship of the SCO ‘Council of Heads of State’ meeting in 2023. This is a diplomatic outreach to the SCO countries via soft power diplomacy and cementing of people-to-people connections.

37. Recently, the test flight of the SpaceShip Two Unity was aborted by the Virgin Galactic. This was because the Virgin Galactic Space Ship Two Unity spacecraft that was released from the mother ship lost connection. This was detected by the computers as the fail-safe scenario and the rocket did not continue. It was a crewed mission without passengers and the pilots landed back safely. The space ship was designed for space tourism.

38. San Isidro Movement (MSI) is the ongoing protest against the authoritarian regime in Cuba. Cuba, a Caribbean country, has been under the communist regime for more than 60 years. The San Isidro Movement started in 2018 in response to the state’s censorship of artistic works via the Decree 349. The decree enables the culture ministry to censure any cultural activity that it doesn’t approve of.

39. Recently, the UC FTC (Federal Trade Commission) filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Facebook under Sherman Anti-trust Act. The social media giant is under the scanner for its acquisition of Instagram and Whatsapp. According to the lawsuit, the actions of Facebook deny consumers the benefit of competition. The aim is to roll back anti-competition conduct of Facebook and restore the competition so that innovation can thrive.

40. The US Senate recently passed the 740.5 billion USD of National Defence Authorisation Act. The act allocates funds for military ships, construction projects, aircrafts, nuclear weapons and other national security initiatives. The act has allocated 2.2 billion USD to the Pacific Deterrence Initiative. The initiative aims to enhance the American deterrence and increase the capability and readiness of US forces in the Indo-Pacific region. Also, it will deepen US cooperation with its allies and partners such as Australia, India, China and Japan.

41. The French President Emmanuel Macron recently announced a referendum to add the fight against climate change into the French Constitution. Also, the need to preserve the environment is to be added. It is a general vote by the electorate on a political question that has been referred to them for a direct decision. The referendum is passed only if it is approved by a majority of the voters across a country. If the referendum includes majority of the voters in majority of the states then it is called double majority.

42. The United States of America recently issued an emergency directive on all federal civilian Agencies to power down their solarwinds Orion IT management tools. The direction was issued due to a security breach. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) of the United States recently issued an emergency directive in response to known compromise involving solarwinds Orion products. The IT management tool of the solarwinds Orion had been used to hack several Federal Agencies.

43. The US President Donald Trump has recently backed the claim of Morocco to the Western Sahara. In return Morocco is opening diplomatic relations with Israel. Israel is the fourth country to make peaceful relations with Israel after UAE, Bahrain and Sudan. UAE signed Abraham Accord with Israel to normalise its relations with the country. The deal was brokered by United States.

44. The Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act are two recent landmark legislations from the European Union. The draft legislation gives specific regulations to limit the powers of global internet companies like Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon in the European market. Under the legislation, the larger firms are designated as ‘digital gatekeepers’ and would be subject to stricter regulations. Violation of competition rules could invite as much as 10% of the firm’s annual turnover.

45. Pakistan government has recently passed a presidential decree to expedite cases of sexual abuse against children and women. Decree has been passed after protest over a gang rape of a woman whose car ran out of fuel. The woman was travelling along with her two children. Anti-rape ordinance is valid only for four months after which it requires parliamentary approval.

46. Prime Minister Modi was invited by his British counterpart, Boris Johnson to attend the UK-hosted G7 summit to be held in 2021. India is one of the three guest nations alongside South Korea and Australia. The invitation is in line with the UK government’s intension to work alongside like-minded democracies to address common challenges. This year, the grouping is expected to become D10 following its expansion to include 10 democracies.

47. India and Bangladesh are set to reopen the Chilahati-Haldibari rail link after more than 5 decades to enhance the connectivity between the two countries. This is part of the commitment to revive and operationalize the six pre-1965 rail links between the two countries. Chilahati-Haldibari link was cut off during the 1965 India-Pakistan war. The inauguration of this link happened during the virtual summit that was recently held between the Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh.

48. A project worth $400 million was signed between the Indian Government and the World Bank to protect India’s poor and vulnerable population affected by the adverse economic crisis caused by the pandemic. The credit is from the International Development Association of the World Bank. The 400 million USD will help in accelerating India’s COVID-19 social protection response.

49. Recently, Chinese State Councilor and Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe and Russian Defence Minister Sergi Shoigu signed a Protocol to extend the ‘Agreement between Russia and China on Notification on Launches of Ballistic Missiles and Space Missile Carriers’. The Agreement was signed in 2009 and is expiring in December 2020. The countries thus renewed the agreement extending its validity by ten more years. This protocol is expected to further deepen the comprehensive strategic coordination between the two countries.

50. The United States has again included India in its monitoring list of countries. These countries are with potential of "Currency Manipulation" and "Questionable Foreign Exchange Policies". The US Government names a country as currency manipulator if it believes that the country is engaging in unfair trade practices. According to the US, the country is deliberately devaluing its currency against Dollar. In simple words, the country is artificially lowering its value to gain unfair advantage over the US.

51. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between India and Austria on Technology Cooperation in Road Infrastructure Sector in New Delhi. The MoU seeks to create a framework for the countries’ mutual cooperation in the field of Road Transportation, Road/Highways infrastructure development, management and administration, road safety and intelligent transport systems. This is to enhance trade and regional integration between the two countries.

52. President Arif Alvi of Pakistan recently passed the Anti-Rape Ordinance 2020. The ordinance was passed following the protests in the country after a mother was gang raped in front of her children when her car broke down near Lahore. The ordinance proposed to create a National Sex Offenders Register. This has now been approved by the President. This is the first National Sex Offenders Register being created in the country.

53. The UNESCO (United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has recently recognized "Hawker" culture of Singapore and has included it under the list of intangible cultural heritage. The list also includes Chinese Calligraphy, Yoga and Flamenco. A Hawker Centre in Singapore stalls variety of local and other Asian Cuisines. They were set up by the Singapore Government as an alternative to street-side outdoor dining places that seldom lagged hygiene. The Singapore Government offered commonly shared or dedicated table chairs, permanent stalls instead of mobile food carts. Also, the Hawker licensing law was enacted to completely eliminate the street hawker in the city.

54. The US Federal Bank recently joined the Network for Greening the Financial System. In Europe, several European Securities and Market Authorities have joined NGFS recently. The other new members of the network are Central Bank of Iceland, Polish Financial Supervision Authority, Uruguay, Paraguay and financial authorities of Indonesia and Egypt. In July 2020, the Asian Development Bank joined the Network for Greening the Financial System as an observer.

55. The World Bank recently approved 250 million USD to improve performance of existing dams in India and to improve their safety. The funds have been allocated to the DRIP-2, the second Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project. The allocated funds are to be utilised to strengthen 120 dams in the country. DRIP is Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project. It is being implemented with the loan assistance from the World Bank. The project was initially launched in seven states namely Karnataka, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu. It was launched in 2012.

56. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recently released the Human Development Report, 2020. India ranked 131 in the Human Development Index (HDI). Usually, the UNDP uses three major parameters to calculate the Human Development Index based on which the countries are ranked. They are Life Expectancy at birth, maternal mortality rate and political participation of women. This year, in 2020, for the first time the UNDP has introduced Planetary Pressures-adjusted HDI. However, it is an experimental metric and has not been yet adopted in calculating the HDI.

57. The 35th edition of India-Indonesia Coordinated Patrol (IND-INDO CORPAT) between the Indian Navy and the Indonesian Navy was held from 17 to 18 December 2020. Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kulish, an indigenously built missile corvette and P8I Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) participated with their Indonesian Naval counterparts. The Exercise is focused on preventing issues like Illegal Unreported Unregulated (IUU) fishing, drug trafficking, maritime terrorism, among others.

58. The recent infectious wave in the UK, prompting fresh lockdown measures, is associated with a mutant variant of the SARS CoV 2 called N501Y. According to the scientists, mutation of COVID-19 is neither unexpected nor a cause of panic. Mutation occurs due to changes in the genetic sequence of the virus, which in the case of SARS CoV 2, is the RNA. This happens due to mistakes that occur when the virus is replicating. Mutation is capable of changing the course of the disease only if it results in a significant change in the protein structure.

59. The Senator of United States recently blocked a bill that would give refugee status to Hong Kong people. The bill is called the Hong Kong People’s Freedom and Choice Act. Hong Kong People’s Freedom and Choice Act is a US bill that seeks to give special refugee status, called ‘Temporary Protected Status’ to Hong Kong citizens in the USA. It would also allow them to reside and work in the country as a part of a federal program for individuals from war-ridden countries and for those seeking refuge from other difficult circumstances like natural disasters. The legislation seeks to protect the Hong Kongers from ‘China’s tightening grip’.

60. The SENSEX crashed 1,406.73 points and NIFTY crashed 432.15 points recently. In terms of percentage, SENSEX crashed by 3% and NIFTY crashed by 3.14%. This was the biggest fall in seven months. This is being referred to as "Blood Bath in Dalal Street". Dalal Street is the address of Bombay Stock Exchange. The main reason behind the big fall is the new much potent strain of COVID-19 discovered in the UK.

61. The United Kingdom and the European Union are now trying to strike a deal and define the terms of their future relationship ahead of the deadline. The deadline falls on December 31, 2020. The United Kingdom formally exited the European Union on January 31, 2020. The country then entered into an eleven-month transition period during which it continued to follow European Union rules. During the transition period, the country tried to negotiate a deal with the European Union. The deal will determine the key aspects of relationship between UK and European Union after the transition period ends. This includes defence, trade agreement, immigration, security. This deal that will determine the relationship of UK and EU is called Brexit Deal. The deal is yet to be finalised.

62. The UNICEF has recently launched the COVID-19 Vaccine Market Dashboard as the designated COVAX procurement coordinator and procurement agent. It is an interactive tool for countries and industries to follow the developments of the rapidly evolving COVID-19 vaccines. It will also act as a platform to learn about the efforts of the COVAX facility. With this, the UNICEF aims to ensure fair and equitable access of COVID-19 vaccine for all countries.

63. The Supreme Court of Israel recently assembled to hear a special petition filed by Arab-Israeli citizens to scrap the Nation State Law. The law undermines peace process with Palestine. The Israel-Palestine conflict is an on-going conflict. It is rooted over land claimed by Jews as their biblical birth right. In 1897, Jews began a movement called the Zionist movement to escape the persecution and establish their own state. The World Zionist Organization was created to advocate for the establishment of Jewish homeland in Palestine. This resulted in large number of Jews in Palestine and they began to buy lands and settle down. In 1916, Palestine came under British control. This led to the division of Ottoman Turkish empire. After Hitler gained power in Germany, thousands resettled in Palestine from Europe. Arabs saw this as a threat to their homeland and fought bitterly.

64. The World Health Organisation Director recently announced that a new strain of Corona Virus has been detected in eight European countries. The new strain is spreading rapidly among the younger groups unlike the previous strain. Recently, this mutant was first discovered in UK. According to experts, this mutant transmitted at faster rates as compared to the normal COVID-19 virus. India too faced super spreading COVID-19 variants between March and May. It was named the "A4 variant". It began in South East Asia. However, the mutant died on its own. In other words, the intensity of spread to the mutant began to decrease after a while.

65. India is to emerge as the net-gainer from the Brexit deal recently signed between the European Union and United Kingdom. The gains for India from the EU-UK Brexit deal are mainly in the service sector. This is because, the UK currencies are becoming cheaper. Therefore, it will be less expensive for the Indian firms, especially the service sectors offering more incentives such as easy regulations, tax breaks and opening up markets.

66. The World Health Organization recently released a list of Global Health Issues. According to the WHO, these are the issues the world will have to deal with in 2021 due to inadequacies of health system created due to COVID-19. According to WHO, the pandemic could set back the global health progress achieved in the last twenty years. Therefore, it is essential to work hard to reinforce the health systems. The WHO suggests ten ways to strengthen the preparedness for emergencies in 2021.

67. The United States Senate has recently passed the Tibetan policy and support act of 2020. The bill was already passed in the house of representatives of the United States in January, 2020. Lohsang Sangay is the president of the government in exile of Tibet. Earlier to United States did not recognise the Tibetan government in exile. Therefore, Lohsang Sangay was denied to enter the United States administration buildings. However, in October 2020 the United States state department allowed the first and official entry of Lobsang Sangay. The act is being framed following his visit.

68. The Turkish Parliament recently passed the act called "Preventing Financing of Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction". The bill would increase the monitoring of civil society groups. The Turkey Government has been targeting several journalists, academicians, bureaucrats and judges after a failed coup in 2016. In 2020, the Turkish prosecutors ordered arrests of more than seven hundred military and justice ministry personnel. They were accused that they were involved in the 2016 coup attempt to overthrow Erdogan Government. The Turkish President Erdogan has been in power over a decade now. He is an Islamist and conservative who has brought in series of reforms in Turkish society.

69. The Five Eyes network comprises of five nations namely Australia, Canada, Britain, US and New Zealand. Japan is now to join the Five Eyes network to become the sixth eye. In June 2020, the Five Eyes countries signed an Economic Agreement to isolate China. This will increase the supply chain among these countries. China not only manufactures, distributes but has its own market. For instance, the US is dependent on China in sixteen categories, across five sectors. Not only the Five Eyes network, India is also dependent on China, especially in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) imports. India obtains 68% of its API from China.

70. The Union Cabinet recently approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Bhutan for peaceful use of outer space. The MoU was signed between the countries on November 19, 2020. The agreement allows the countries to pursue cooperation in areas such as space science, navigation, planetary exploration, use of space system, spacecrafts and ground systems.

Defence

1. The SAHAYAK-NG, an air droppable container was tested successfully by the Defence Ministry. It is the first indigenously developed air droppable container. The SHAYAK-NG was designed by Defence Research Development Organization (DRDO) and Avantel, a private company. The other entities involved in the development of SAHAYAK-NG are NTSL, Visakhapatnam and ARDE, Agra.

2. The Defence Research Development Organization recently launched a new laboratory Defence Geo Informatics Research Establishment. The new lab was established by merging existing labs – the Manali-based Snow and Avalanche Studies Establishment (SASE) and the Delhi-based Defence Terrain Research Establishment. This new lab will focus on researching terrain and avalanches along the borders with China and Pakistan. The merger is a part of the DRDO’s aim to be more result-oriented.

3. The Indian Navy test-fired the anti-ship version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands territory. This comes amid the border tensions with China in eastern Ladakh. This successful test is a part of series of trials being carried out by the three services. BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture of India and Russia aimed at producing lethal weapon that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft and land.

4. The Indigenous Aircraft Carrier is set to be commissioned into service by end of 2021 or early 2022. The project is significant in light of the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative as 75% of its materials and onboard equipment are indigenously developed. The carrier is in the final stages of its construction at Cochin Shipyard Ltd. The basin trials, which is the testing of the machinery and equipment in floating conditions, were successfully carried out recently. This is to be followed by sea trials in early 2021.

5. The Defence Ministry has approved the creation of a new post in the Army- Deputy Chief for Military Operations and Strategic Planning. The Deputy Chief will deal with strategic planning, military operations, intelligence and operational logistics. This is the 3rd post of deputy chief in the Army. In addition to this, another new post, the Director General of Information Warfare, is also being created. These are a part of the ongoing reforms in the Army Headquarters.

6. On Indian Navy Day (December 4), India and Russia held a two-day Passage Exercise in the Eastern Indian Ocean. The exercise aimed to enhance interoperability, imbibing best practices and improving understandabilities between the navies. During the exercise, the navies held weapon firing, advanced surface warfare exercise and advanced anti-submarine exercise, helicopter operations, seamanship exercises.

7. Akash is a medium-range mobile surface-to-air missile defence system. It was developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and produced by Bharat Electronics Limited. 10 of these missiles were recently test fired by the Indian Air Force as a part of the Combined Guided Weapons Firing 2020 exercise in the Suryalanka testfiring range Andhra Pradesh. Most of these missiles scored a direct hit at the target. This exercise comes amid the threat posed by the Chinese Air Force along the LAC.

8. The cyber wing of Maharashtra police has recently acquired a software called the "Crawler" from the INTERPOL that will help to track down child pornography. A core unit of 12 officers has been formed to implement a mission involving the software. These twelve officers went for training to the South Asian wing of INTERPOL. The unit has been named TRACE. TRACE is Tactical Response Against Cyber Child Exploitation.

9. INS Viraat is an aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy that is currently being broken apart at Alang ship-breaking yard, Gujarat. It is noted for its participation in Operation Jupiter and Operation Parakram. It was decommissioned in 2017. There have been offers to convert it into a maritime museum. But the warship has been sold for scraps as the centre hasn’t issue a ‘no objection certificate’. Recently, the Maharashtra government offered to cooperate with the defence ministry to restore the historic warship.

10. The US Senate recently passed the 740.5 billion USD of National Defence Authorisation Act. The act allocates funds for military ships, construction projects, aircrafts, nuclear weapons and other national security initiatives. The act has allocated 2.2 billion USD to the Pacific Deterrence Initiative. The initiative aims to enhance the American deterrence and increase the capability and readiness of US forces in the Indo-Pacific region. Also, it will deepen US cooperation with its allies and partners such as Australia, India, China and Japan.

11. The Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) recently launched a new Project 17A ship called Himgiri for the Indian Navy. The ship was launched into the waters of Hooghly river. It is a Nilgiri-class Stealth Frigate. The project was approved by the Government of India in 2015. Under the project, a total of seven advanced frigates are to be delivered to the Indian Navy. Four of these are to be constructed by the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited and three are to be launched by GRSE. The cost of the project was estimated as 7 billion USD. The project led to creation of employment opportunities for more than 2,000 Indian companies and MSMEs.

12. The user trials of indigenously built Advanced Towed Artillery Gun system (ATAGS) is to be resumed by December 2020. The trials of ATAGS were paused in September 2020 as the gun suffered a barrel burst. After the barrel burst, a committee was set up with Indian Army representatives, DRDO scientists and Ordnance Factory Board officials to determine the cause of the burst. The guns are to be moved to Balasore testing range for winter trials. Currently the Government of India is to import 1,580 ATAGS from Israel.

13. The United States recently imposed sanctions on Turkey under section 231 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, CAATSA. The sanctions were imposed for buying Russian made S400 anti-Missile system. The United States has reiterated its warning to India and other countries upon acquiring equipment from Russia.

14. The Goa Shipyard Limited recently launched the fifth and final Offshore Patrol Vessel ICGS (Indian Coast Guard Ship) Saksham. It is to be commissioned by October 2021. The Project was launched by PM Narendra Modi in 2016. Under the project, five Indian Coast Guard Ships are to be launched. Two Offshore Patrol Vessels have already been commissioned namely ICGS Sachet and ICGS Sujeet. These OPVs are to be deployed in protecting the Exclusive Economic Zone of the territorial waters.

15. The first Maritime Theatre Command (MTC) of India is to be launched in 2021. The MTC will look after the 7,516-km long coastline, the entire Indian Ocean Region and the 1,382 islands. This is important to counter Chinese ever-expanding naval foot-print in the Indian Ocean Region. China has the largest Navy with 350 warships and submarines.

16. Every year on December 16 India celebrates Vijay Diwas to commemorate its victory over Pakistan during the 1971 war. The year 2021 marks 50 years of India’s victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war. India has planned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its victory as Golden victory your, that is, Swarnim Vijay Varsh.

17. Recently, Chinese State Councilor and Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe and Russian Defence Minister Sergi Shoigu signed a Protocol to extend the ‘Agreement between Russia and China on Notification on Launches of Ballistic Missiles and Space Missile Carriers’. The Agreement was signed in 2009 and is expiring in December 2020. The countries thus renewed the agreement extending its validity by ten more years. This protocol is expected to further deepen the comprehensive strategic coordination between the two countries.

18. The 35th edition of India-Indonesia Coordinated Patrol (IND-INDO CORPAT) between the Indian Navy and the Indonesian Navy was held from 17 to 18 December 2020. Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kulish, an indigenously built missile corvette and P8I Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) participated with their Indonesian Naval counterparts. The Exercise is focused on preventing issues like Illegal Unreported Unregulated (IUU) fishing, drug trafficking, maritime terrorism, among others.

19. The Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently inaugurated the Advanced Hypersonic Wind Tunnel test facility in Hyderabad. This is the first of its kind being launched in the country. India is the third country after United States and Russia to launch the facility. Wind Tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them. These tunnels move air around an object making it seem as if the object is really flying. They replicate the actions of an object flying through the air.

20. The Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh recently handed over three systems developed by DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organization) to the chiefs of the Defence Forces. The IMSAS (Indian Maritime Situational Awareness System) was handed over to the Indian Naval Chief Admiral Karambir Singh. The Astra Mk-1 was handed over to the Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria. BOSS, Border Surveillance System was handed over to the Army Chief General MM Naravane.

21. The US based Aircraft Giant Boeing recently announced that the F/A-18F Super Hornet Fighter Jet of the company has successfully completed the ski-jump. This makes it suitable for the Aircraft Carriers of the Indian Navy. The company has proposed to the Indian Navy under its "By India For India" programme. In the aviation industry, Ski-Jump is an upward curved ramp. It allows the aircraft to take off from a run way that is shorter than the required take off roll of the aircraft. The Indian Navy currently operates only one Aircraft Carrier INS Vikramaditya. The second Aircraft Carrier, INS Vikrant has just entered sea trials. Both are ski-jump carriers.

22. The Medium Range Surface to Air Missile, MRSAM was recently tested from a defence facility in Odisha. It was jointly developed by the Defence Research development Organisation and the Israel Aerospace Industries. MRSAM is a one command control system that tracks missiles, radar and mobile launcher systems. It is capable to transport and launch eight canisterised missiles in two stacks. The weapon weighs 276 kilo grams and is 4.5 metres long.

23. The cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently approved the export of the Akash missile system. Also, a committee has been formed for fast approvals of export of the missile system. The Government of India has a target of 5 billion USD of Akash missile export. According to the Defence Ministry, the Akash missiles have more than 96% of indigenous components.

Business, Economy & Banking

1. The Government of India recently signed 133 million USD loan Agreement with the Asian Development Bank. Agreement was signed to strengthen the power distribution sector in the state of Meghalaya. Also, the loan is to be supplemented with a 2 million USD grant from the Asian Development Bank Japan fund for poverty reduction. This fund was basically allocated to finance renewable energy projects and support income generation activities for disadvantaged groups and women. It is to be used to finance renewable energy mini-grids to improve power quality.

2. The Indian Oil Corporation recently launched the first 100 Octane petrol. This is the first time 100 Octane fuel is being launched in the country. The fuel was manufactured in the Indian Oil Corporation Mathura Refinery located in Uttar Pradesh. According to the Ministry of petroleum and natural gas, the fuel is to be available at selected Indian Oil Corporation outlets. They are Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Agra, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Mumbai, Ludhiana, Pune and Ahmedabad.

3. The ADB-funded Uttar Pradesh Power Distribution Network Rehabilitation Project is aimed at improving the quality and reliability of electricity supply in Uttar Pradesh. The project involves conversion of 65,000 km of rural low-voltage distribution lines from bare conductors to aerial bundle conductors and construction of a parallel network of 11-kilovolt feeders to separate the distribution of electricity between residential consumers and agriculture consumers.

4. The 1.5 times formula is used to determine the minimum support price (MSP) for crops. This was introduced during the Union Budget 2018-19. According to this formula, the MSP is fixed at 1.5 times the production cost for crops as a ‘pre-determined principle’. Under this formula, the Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (the commission that determines the MSP) only has to determine the production cost for a season and apply the formula.

5. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has made it mandatory to mention the 8 digit HSN code in tax invoices for 49 chemical-based products while issuing GST invoice. The move is expected to reduce tax evasion. HSN or Harmonized System of Nomenclature code is a system for classification of goods across the world. This classification is used to help with taxation i.e. helps identify which tax rate is applicable to a product.

6. The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank have recently signed an agreement under which the bank will provide 50 million USD of loan. It is a policy-based loan. The loan is to be utilised to improve financial management procedures, promote informed decision making, improve operational efficiencies that aim at achieving more fiscal savings and improve service delivery in the state of West Bengal. Basically, the funding is to be used to implement West Bengal Public Finance Management Investment Programme.

7. The Reserve Bank of India recently asked the HDFC bank to temporarily stop all its launches under its Digital 2.0 programme. The RBI issued the order with regard to outrages against the bank. The order were issued with regard to incidents of outrages in mobile banking, internet banking and payment utilities of the bank in the past two years.

8. The RBI recently held its Monetary Policy Committee meet. During the meet, the Reserve Bank of India has kept the repo rate unchanged at 4%. Repo rate is the rate at which RBI lends to banks. The Reverse Repo Rate is to continue at 3.35%. The meeting concluded that the "Accommodative Stance" of monetary policy is to continue. Accommodative Stance means the apex bank will keep cutting rates in order to inject money in to the financial system. When the accommodative stance of the bank is addressed as "neutral", it means that RBI may alter rates in any direction to control the flow of the currency in the country.

9. India recently submitted its proposal at the on-going negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on preventing harmful fisheries subsidies. The negotiations are being done as according to WTO the harmful fisheries subsidies are estimated to be at 14 billion USD to 20.5 billion USD. Under its proposal to the WTO, India has suggested that the role of the dispute settlement panel in fisheries management of coastal areas should be limited. India has also suggested that a member should be allowed to retain its sovereignty in the matter. According to India the WTO needs to prevail by the determinants of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations.

10. A V-shaped recovery is a type of economic recession and recovery that resembles the shape of alphabet V in charting. A V-shaped recovery involves a sharp revival of the economy to the previous peak after a sharp decline. The Finance Ministry’s latest Monthly Economic Review report stated that the Indian Economy is witnessing a V-shaped recovery as the decline in the GDP has narrowed to 7.5% in the second quarter of 2020-21 from 23.9% in April-June quarter.

11. Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to extend liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) to Regional Rural Banks (RRB) to make liquidity management more efficient. The LAF was introduced in RBI in 1998 based on the recommendations of Narasimham Committee on Banking Sector Reforms. It is a monetary policy tool that enables banks to resolve temporary cash shortages through repurchase agreements or repos. It can also make loans to RBI through reverse-repos to raise cash.

12. International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) is a voluntary membership organisation of insurance supervisors and regulators from more than 200 jurisdictions constituting 92% of the world’s insurance premiums. It is the international standard setting body in charge of developing and assisting in the implementation of principles, standards and other supporting materials for the supervision of the insurance sector. India’s International Financial Services Centres Authority and Indian Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority are currently its members.

13. Agra Metro Project consists of two corridors with a total length of 29.4 km. It connects famous tourist attractions like Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Sikandra etc., with railway stations and bus stands. Its construction work is to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi. The project is expected to benefit 29 lakh people in the city of Agra as well as more than 60 lakh tourists who visit the place each year.

14. The RBI is to introduce digital payment security control directions for regulated entities to improve the security of digital payment channels and also to improve the consumer service. This announcement comes after the central bank temporarily barred the largest private bank, HDFC, from selling new credit cards or launching new digital banking initiatives due to service outages at the bank for over the past two years.

15. Repo rate is the rate at which the central bank lends money to the commercial banks in case of fund crunch. It is a tool used by the monetary authorities to control inflation. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), during the 3-day meeting that began on December 2, has decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 4% and maintain the policy stance at accommodative until the COVID-19 impact is mitigated.

16. Argentina parliament has imposed ‘millionaire tax’ on about 12,000 of the country’s richest people to fund coronavirus countermeasures. Under this scheme, people with declared assets worth more than 200 million pesos will pay a progressive rate of up to 3.5% on wealth in Argentina and up to 5.25% on wealth outside the country. The revenue arising from this tax will be used to finance health, social development, student scholarships and natural gas ventures. This is being done to bring relief to the poor and the small businesses in the country.

17. The Indian Railways is to use LiDAR technique to conduct ground survey for the Delhi Varanasi High Speed Rail corridor. LiDAR is Light Detection and Ranging technique. The Indian Railways is to use the mounted on a helicopter. This is being done after its success in the Mumbai Ahmedabad bullet train project for the first time.

18. The Union Cabinet chaired by PM Modi recently approved on several decisions. The cabinet approved on the Memorandum of Understanding signed between India and Luxembourg. The agreement was signed between SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) and Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) of Luxembourg. The MoU will help the SEBI to enhance its supervisory functions and enable effective enforcement of laws.

19. On December 10, 2020, the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the Koilwar Bridge over the Sone river in Bihar. The bridge was constructed at an expense of 256 crores of rupees. The existing two-Lane Bridge over the river for both road and rail traffic is 138 years old. The Bridge has been replaced which includes three lanes of carriageway. The bridge will up subsequently reduce the traffic on NH-30 and on NH -922. It is all major link between Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

20. India and Qatar are to establish a task force on energy. The task force will be represented by a senior officer from petroleum Ministry of India and the vice president of Qatar petroleum. The task force is to identify projects in the Indian energy sector for Qatari investments. These announcements were made after the telephone conversation between Minister of Petroleum and Natural gas and steel Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and his Qatar counterpart.

21. The Reserve Bank of India had constituted a five-member expert committee under KV Kamath. He was the former CEO of ICICI Bank. The apex bank recently notified that it is to cover twenty-six stressed sectors under the TLTRO (Targeted Long-Term Repo Operations) Scheme. These twenty-six stressed sectors were identified by the KV Kamath Committee.

22. The Union Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman recently chaired the 23rd meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council. At the meet, the minister reviewed the financial stability issues, policy measures taken by the government of India. During the meet, the council took note of the activities undertaken by the FSDC Sub Committee chaired by Governor of RBI. It also discussed the challenges involved in transition of London Interbank Offer Rate (LIBOR) based contracts.

23. The IIT Hyderabad incubated start up Pure EV has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CSIR-Central Electro Chemical Research Institute (CECRI). Under the agreement, the start up and CSIR are to undertake joint research to develop Lithium-Ion Battery technology for electric vehicles. This will help to indigenize Lithium-ion technology. Currently, India is importing Lithium cells from China.

24. The Billimora Waghai Line is a 107-year-old narrow gauge railway line in Gujarat. In 2018, it was one among the 5 routes put forth by the Indian Railways for preservation as ‘industrial heritage’. However, it is now being scrapped due to economic constraints. It is one of the 11 such lines to be scraped by the Western Railways due to viability issues. The Railway Board recently approved the proposal of the Western Railways to permanently close its narrow gauge sections and other uneconomic branch lines in its system.

25. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs recently approved the revised cost estimate of the North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project. The revised estimated cost is Rs 6,700 crores. The north eastern region power system improvement project (NERPSIP) is a central scheme under the Ministry of Power. It was started in 2014. It is implemented by Powergrid, a central public sector undertaking under the power ministry. It is funded by the World Bank and Government of India on a 50:50 basis. The capacity building component is completely funded by the Indian government. The objective of the project is the economic development of the northeast by strengthening the intra-state transmission and distribution infrastructure.

26. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has recently rolled out RuPay Contactless (Offline) feature. The RuPay prepaid card was introduced by NPCI in the year 2014, to offer the feature of one card for all payments. Various features are being added to the card since then. The new feature called the "RuPay Contactless (Offline)" is a reloadable wallet feature where the customers can store money to ensure quick and seamless transactions. Money can be availed from this feature at Points of Sale, even during poor internet connection.

27. A project worth $400 million was signed between the Indian Government and the World Bank to protect India’s poor and vulnerable population affected by the adverse economic crisis caused by the pandemic. The credit is from the International Development Association of the World Bank. This is the second operation in a two-tier programme. The first operation worth 750 million USD was approved in May this year. The programme envisages to strengthen government’s capacity to provide coordinated social protection to the vulnerable from the pandemic-led economic shocks.

28. The United States has again included India in its monitoring list of countries. These countries are with potential of "Currency Manipulation" and "Questionable Foreign Exchange Policies". The US Government names a country as currency manipulator if it believes that the country is engaging in unfair trade practices. According to the US, the country is deliberately devaluing its currency against Dollar. In simple words, the country is artificially lowering its value to gain unfair advantage over the US.

29. The Government of India recently issued a hundred page e-booklet called "Putting Farmers First".The booklet highlights the success stories of farmers who have benefited from contract farming after the legislation of three farm laws. The Farmers have been protesting against the recently enacted farm laws in Delhi.

30. The Government of India is to increase the share of Natural Gas in the primary energy mix of the country from 6.2% to 15% by 2030. In order to achieve this, 60 billion USD is to be invested over next four years to create rigid gas infrastructure in the country. This includes city gas distribution network, pipelines and LNG terminals.

31. The World Bank recently approved 250 million USD to improve performance of existing dams in India and to improve their safety. The funds have been allocated to the DRIP-2, the second Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project. The allocated funds are to be utilised to strengthen 120 dams in the country. DRIP is Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project. It is being implemented with the loan assistance from the World Bank. The project was initially launched in seven states namely Karnataka, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu. It was launched in 2012.

32. CAROTAR is Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020. It came into force in September, 2020. These rules are set of guidelines that enforce the "rules of origin" for the rate on imports under Free Trade Agreements. The new rules are being executed to check shipments of low-quality products into India. The rules will also bring in strict restrictions on dumping of goods by a third country. This will help India to keep a check over dumping of low-quality products by a third country, especially China.

33. The Cabinet Committee on Security recently announced the National Security Directive on Telecommunication sector. It will mandate service providers to purchase equipment from trusted sources. It has been framed in the perspective of national security. Under the provisions, the Government of India will declare a list of trusted sources and trusted products to be installed in the Telecom network of the country.

34. The Reserve Bank of India recently announced the second cohort under Regulatory Sandbox. It was announced under the theme of "Cross Border Payments". The Regulatory Sandbox refers to live testing of new products and services in a controlled environment. The companies can test their product viability without the need for a larger and more expensive rollout with the help of Regulatory Sandbox. It provides first and empirical evidence on the benefits and risks of emerging Technologies and their implications.

35. The Japanese Embassy recently released the first glimpse of Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project. The E5 Series Shinkansen trains are to be used to implement the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project. The project is to be completed by 2023. E5 Series Shinkansen are high speed Japanese trains. It is a 508-kilometre project. It is executed by National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited. The financial and technical assistance to the project is provided by the Japanese Government. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 1,08,000 crores.

36. The Marine Products Export Development Authority recently launched a multilingual call centre for Aquafarmers. The initiative is first of its kind in the country. It will address the technical issues and impart knowledge about efficient farming methods round the clock. The Call Centre will mainly cater to the Aquafarmers of Andhra Pradesh. This is because, the State of Andhra Pradesh is one of the major fish producing state in the country. Together with Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Gujarat, the state contributes more than 60% of marine products of the country.

37. The Government of India recently identified new routes for ferry services through inland waterways. This is being done to promote coastal shipping and boost tourism. The new routes include Hazira, Somnath temple, Okha and Jamnagar. Also, destinations along the international routes have also been identified under the Sagarmala Project. The Sagarmala project aims to promote port led development in the country by using the 7,500 km long coastline.

38. The Reserve Bank of India is to introduce "Positive Pay System" from January 1, 2021 for cheque transactions above Rs 50,000. This is to be done to enhance safety and eliminate frauds. It is a process of reconfirming key details of large-value cheques. The large value cheques are those where the transactions are above 50,000 INR. It basically involves reconfirmation of key details of cheques. It is not mandatory for the banks to implement the system.

39. The Reliance Industries Limited and British Petroleum recently announced the start of gas production from the R cluster. R Cluster is the deepest Off-shore gas field in Asia. It is the first of the three deepwater gas projects jointly developed by Reliance Industries Limited and British Petroleum. The R cluster is an off-shore gas field which is a part of the KG-D6 block of the Krishna Godavari Basin. The other 2 deep-water gas projects in the block are Satellite Cluster and the MJ gas field. The R cluster is the deepest off-shore gas field in Asia and is expected to have a peak production of 12.9 MMSCMSD which is 10% of India’s natural gas output at present.

40. The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation recently began oil production from Ashokenagar-1 well located in the Bengal Basin. With this Bengal Basin becomes the eighth oil producing basin in India. The other oil producing basins of India are located in Mumbai Offshore, Krishna-Godavari river basin, Cauvery, Assam Shelf, Rajasthan, Assam-Arakan, Cambay and Fold Belt.

41. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has announced the notification of Companies (Auditor’s Report) Order, 2020 (CARO). The CARO introduced changes to the rules governing audit reports of companies. The changes proposed that non-audit services shall not be provided to the audit clients. The auditors should provide reports that are factual.

42. The SENSEX crashed 1,406.73 points and NIFTY crashed 432.15 points recently. In terms of percentage, SENSEX crashed by 3% and NIFTY crashed by 3.14%. This was the biggest fall in seven months. This is being referred to as "Blood Bath in Dalal Street". Dalal Street is the address of Bombay Stock Exchange. The main reason behind the big fall is the new much potent strain of COVID-19 discovered in the UK.

43. The Government of India recently inked 500 million USD loan pact with World Bank to develop Green National Highway Corridors in the country. These corridors are to be developed in Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The project will support the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to construct 783 kilo metres of highways. The roads built under the project will combine safe and green technology designs. It will use industrial by products, marginal and local materials and other bioengineering solutions.

44. The Government of India is to implement Coal Import Monitoring System (CIMS). The system will require the importers to submit advance information online and obtain an automatic registration number to handle coal imports in the country. The monitoring system is launched to make the recently auctioned commercial coal mining viable in the country. Also, the system envisages to keep record of imported volumes of coal along with details of specific grades. The system will help largely as the current coal import data is compiled with a lag of two to three months.

45. The Government of India recently announced that the Central Investment Clearance Cell is to be launched by April 2021. The Centralised Investment Clearance Cell was announced as an integral part of the single window system. The Single Window System is being worked out by Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The idea of establishing Central Investment Clearance Cell was announced by Finance Minister during the Union Budget 2020-21.

46. The first Lithium refinery of India is to be set up in Gujarat. One of the largest power trading and renewable energy company, Manikaran Power Limited is to invest Rs 1000 crores to set up the refinery. The Neometals (an Australian firm) and Manikaran have entered in to agreement to produce lithium in India. The future demand of Lithium in India is driven by the electrification of transport and storage of renewable energy. Manikaran is India’s third largest power trading company.

47. The Department of Revenue recently announced that the GST tax payers should compulsorily pay at least 1% of their tax in cash. This is to come into effect from January 1, 2021. According to CBIC, out of the total GST taxpayer base of 1.2 crores, only 4 lakh taxpayers have monthly supply value greater than Rs 50 lakhs. Of these 4 lakhs, only 1.5 lakh taxpayers pay less than 1% of their GST liability in cash. When the new rule is applied, the 1% tax payment in cash will apply only to 40,000 to 45,000 tax payers. This will be 0.37% of the total tax payers of 1.2 crores.

48. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to inaugurate Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor Section. The section will open new opportunities for local industries such as textile production, glassware industry, block printing, pottery products, hing production, locks and hardware. The Operation Control Centre at Prayagraj is to act as the command centre for the entire route length of the corridor. The building is environment friendly and has been built under the norms of "Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan".

49. On December 28, 2020, PM Modi launched the National common Mobility Card. The National Common Mobility Card will allow passengers with RuPay debit card to be swiped for Metro level. The Committee had also proposed to reduce number of cash transactions in the country and to make all payments done by GoI to the citizens through digital. The committee suggested that the National Common Mobility Card should contain two instruments, a regular debit card that can be used at ATMs and a local wallet that can be used for contactless payments.

50. Recently, the Government of India lifted the ban on export of all types of onions. The ban was imposed by the central government in September, 2020 and is to be lifted from January 1, 2021. There were two major reasons behind the government ban. Wholesale prices of onions have steadily increased in the last few days. Since onion is a daily consumption item, its price increase directly affected the people. Another reason is the high CFPI value released by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI). CFPI is Consumer Price Index Numbers.

51. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) recently proposed the "Standard Travel Insurance Policy". The Policy aims to ensure insurance coverage during domestic as well as international travel. The IRDAI recently released a draft ‘Guidelines on Standard Travel Insurance Policy’. The Guidelines aim to ensure uniformity and definition regarding terms of coverage and eliminations for both international and domestic travel. This will help to initiate a standard travel insurance product that has uniform coverage across all the sectors.

52. On December 29, 2020, the Gujarat government announced the new solar power policy, 2021. According to the policy any developer or person or industry can set up a solar project in Gujarat. The policy mainly aims to reduce the power cost of industrial units by around 50%. This is to be achieved by removing capacity ceiling for setting up a solar project in Gujarat.

53. The Minister of Railways Shri Piyush Goyal recently announced that Indian Railways has successfully completed the trial run of new Vistadome tourist coaches. These coaches were manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai. Kalka-Shimla railway is one of the very few Heritage Railways in the world. It is recognised by UNESCO. The Kalka-Shimla Railway was added to the UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008.

54. The Trend and Progress report of Reserve Bank of India provides information about performance of the banking sector. This includes non-banking Financial Institutions and cooperative banks. The report also offers perspectives on the evolving outlook of financial sector of India. The report is a statutory compliance of Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

55. The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal corporation (PCMC) and United Nations Development Programme, India signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create the first Social Impact bond of India. A Social Impact Bond is also called pay-for-success bond or pay-for-success financing. A Social Impact Bond is basically a contract with public sector authority where it pays for better social outcomes. It is a form of outcome-based contracting. It aims at improving social outcomes for a specific group of citizens.

56. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently approved Industrial Areas and Logistics Hub. The projects approved by the Cabinet are as, Construction of various trunk infrastructure components for Krishnapatnam Industrial Area in Andhra Pradesh, Tumakuru Industrial Area in Karnataka and Multi-modal Logistics Hub and Multi-modal transport hub at Greater Noida.

Science & Technology

1. The Ethereum is a crypto currency. Recently, it was launched in a faster, cheaper and more environmentally friendly platform, as the upgraded version called ‘Ethereum 2.0’. Ethereum is a decentralised and open source blockchain platform, which is a growing list of cryptographic blocks. Ether (ETH) is the cryptocurrency token of the Ethereum platform.

2. Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) is a new type of radio telescope developed by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). It creates high-resolution images by combining the signals of 36 smaller dish antennas. Recently, this telescope had helped map around 300 million galaxies in approximately 300 hours to create a ‘new atlas of the universe’.

3. C32 LH2 is the largest-ever cryogenic propellant tank developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. It was delivered to ISRO recently. It is designed to increase the payload capability of ISRO’S Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III) from 4 tonnes to 6 tonnes. The aim is to create self-reliance with regards to carrying heavier communication satellites into space.

4. Built in 1963, Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Telescope was built in 1963. It is the second-largest single-dish radio telescope in the world. It was in news recently because of its collapse. It is owned by the US National Science Foundation. It is known for its finding that Mercury rotates in 59 days and not 88 days (original calculation). Apart from its scientific contributions, it is a cultural symbol for Puerto Rico. It attracted around 90,000 visitors annually.

5. 2020 SO, a Near Earth Object (NEO), has been identified to be the Centaur upper stage rocket booster that helped NASA carry its Surveyor Spacecraft towards the moon in 1966. The term ‘NEO’ is used to refer to an object with an orbit that brings it in close proximity with the Earth. When such NEOs are large enough and has an orbit that crosses the earth’s orbit, it is called a ‘potentially hazardous asteroid’.

6. Nokia has begun its production of next generation of 5G Equipment in India. It is the first in India to manufacture 5G NR in India. 5G NR is 5G New Radio. It is a new radio access technology developed for the fifth-generation mobile network. It was designed to be the standard for the interface of 5G networks. The 5G New Radio (NR) is a recent development in telecommunication system and has been designed to become the benchmark for the air interface of 5G networks.

7. A team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati (IIT-G) have developed a method for harvesting water from humid air. This method involves spraying a sponge-like porous polymeric material on a normal printer paper. As per the researchers, this method can also be used in underwater hulls of ships and submarines to prevent bio-fouling; and to prevent icing on aircraft windows. The method mainly uses the principle of hydrophobicity. The lotus leaves exhibit the property of hydrophobicity.

8. On December 10, 2020, BSNL in partnership with the Skylo announced the world’s first satellite based Narrow Band Internet of Things network in India. This is to bring a breakthrough in satellite based narrowband internet of things technology. It will also help in achieving the targets of Digital India mission helping farmers, fishermen, meaning, construction and Logistic Enterprises in India.

9. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently shared a sonification video of crab Nebula. The video shows Nebula being transformed into music based on its different colours. The blue shades were translated into bass and white shades into to wood winds. Nebula is an interstellar cloud of hydrogen, dust, Helium and ionized gases.

10. Planet Nine is a hypothetical planet that is said to be 10 times the size of the Earth and orbits far beyond Neptune a highly eccentric orbit around the Sun. It was first proposed in 2012 to explain perturbations in the orbits of draft planets beyond Neptune’s orbit, which are called Kuiper Belt objects. Its existence is yet to be confirmed. Recently, an exoplanet 336 light years from the Earth was found to have Planet Nine-like characteristics in its star system. It has been named HD106906 b. This newly discovered object is found to influence the behaviour of various objects its system just like Planet Nine in the solar system.

11. Recently, the test flight of the SpaceShip Two Unity was aborted by the Virgin Galactic. This was because the Virgin Galactic Space Ship Two Unity spacecraft that was released from the mother ship lost connection. This was detected by the computers as the fail-safe scenario and the rocket did not continue. It was a crewed mission without passengers and the pilots landed back safely. The space ship was designed for space tourism.

12. Recently, the divers discovered an Enigma encryption machine used by Nazis in Baltic sea. The divers discovered the machine while searching the seabed with sonar devices for abandoned fishing nets that might harm the sea life. Enigma is an encryption device that was used by the German Nazis during the 2nd World War to encode secret messages. It was recently discovered by divers in the Baltic Sea. The machine was invented by Arthur Scherbius near the end of the 1st World War. The use of these machines made it very hard for the Allied Forces to intercept and decode the German’s coded messages. Near the end of the 2nd World War, the Germans destroyed most of these machines to prevent the Allied powers from accessing them.

13. Vigyan yatra is a promotional activity to promote scientific temper. It is being carried out as a part of the India International Science Festival. The Vigyan Yatra is a promotional activity of the sixth edition of India International Science Festival. The festival is organised by the Ministry of Science and Technology. Vans, that serve as mobile science exhibitions, are flagged off from various cities as part of this initiative. It will cover all local schools and universities. It also helps take the culture of science to the masses. About 30 locations across the country have been identified for such Vigyan yatras.

14. The Geminids Meteor Showers are to be the strongest between December 4 and December 20. Soon after the Geminids Meteor Shower, the Ursid Meteor showers are to occur between December 17 and December 26. The Geminids are expected at about 60 meteors per hour and the Ursids at five to ten per hour. The meteors are pieces of rocks and ice that are ejected from comets as they orbit around the sun. The Orionid meteors occur from comet Halley. When a meteor reaches the earth, it is called meteorite. When a series of meteorites are encountered at once, it is called meteor shower.

15. The phenomenon of loud noises most similar to that of a thunder or a cannon being shot is termed as Seneca Guns. It may induce tremors on land similar to earthquake. They are being heard in the parts of coastal North Carolina for more than 150 years. The scientists have recently found a method to pinpoint where the explosions are coming from and what causes the sound. The findings were presented at the recently held American Geophysical Union.

16. The Government of India is recently inviting bids for Green Ammonia Projects to reduce the import dependence of the country. As per the Union power and new and renewable energy Ministry, the bids for Green Ammonia projects will be conducted by SECI (Solar Energy Corp. of India Ltd). To produce fertilisers, India is importing a significant volume of ammonia every year. In 2019, the total imports of ammonia amounted to 478 billion USD. The main segments that consume ammonia are Urea and Ammonium phosphate. These segments account to 93.8% of ammonia consumption in the country. Since 2008, India has been a net importer of ammonia and it is expected to continue on similar trend until 2022. The Green Ammonia Projects are to be launched to change this scenario.

17. Project Loon, a subsidiary of Google recently announced that its balloons have successfully stayed in the stratosphere for almost a year. The balloons are helium filled and cover a distance of 2.1 lakh kilo metres. Project Loon aims to provide internet connectivity to the remote parts of the world. Recently, Loon has created a new record for the longest stratospheric flight by staying in air for 312 days. Last year, the company announced that its balloons reached over one million hours of stratospheric flight.

18. The recent Western Disturbance is responsible for an increased amount of snowfall in J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and the rapid dip in Delhi’s temperature. In several other states, the Western Disturbances have tightened its grip creating foggy conditions. These Western Disturbances bring moderate to heavy rains in the north western India. The rains are important for rabi crops that help to meet food security of the country. The amount of rainfall and their distribution varies with every western disturbance.

19. India recently launched the CMS-01 communication satellite into the Geostationary Transfer Orbit. It was earlier called the GSAT-12R. The satellite was launched on a PSLV-C50 launch vehicle. In the next PSLV Mission, the first satellite of a start up called Pixxel India is to be launched. The satellite is called "Anand". It is an earth observation satellite that is to be launched on PSLV C51. Along with Anand, two more satellites are to be launched. These two satellites are by Space Kidz India and UnitySat.

20. Indian Space Research Organisation has recently set up a dedicated control centre for Space Situational Awareness (SSA) activities in the country, called NETRA. NETRA is Network for space object Tracking and Analysis (NETRA). The project aims to monitor, track and protect space assets of India. Very few countries such as Russia, US have their own Space Situational Awareness Centres. The ISRO SSA Control Centre has been set up within ISTRAC campus at Bengaluru.

21. NASA and the Canadian Space Agency recently signed a historic agreement under which Canada is to be a part of the Lunar Gateway Space Station. Canada will contribute a new robotic arm called "Canadarm3". Also, a Canadian is to be a part of the Artemis II mission. Artemis II is the first crewed mission to the moon by NASA since 1972. The mission is to be launched in 2023. This agreement is called "Gateway Treaty".

22. On December 21, 2020 the world is to witness a rare celestial event, the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter. The next time, the two giants will come this close only on March 15, 2080. The last time these planets came this close was on July 16, 1623. Earlier to this, it occurred in 1226. As this conjunction occurs after 400 years, it is called as ‘Great Conjunction’.

23. After the collapse of the Arecibo Telescope, China is opening its world largest Radio Telescope for international scientists. The World second largest Arecibo Observatory collapsed in Puerto Rico after the 900-tonne receiver platform became loose and plunged 140-metres onto the radio dish below. With this, China recently announced that it is open its world largest Five Hundred Metre Aperture Spherical Telescope to international scientists.

24. An international team of scientists have collected the first possible radio signal from an exoplanet. The exoplanet is 51 light years away from the earth. This is possibly the first radio signal received from a planet beyond solar system. The signals were received by a Low Frequency Array radio telescope located in Netherlands. The exo-planet is located in the Tau Bootes star-system. It hosts Jupiter like giant planet and the planet is close to its star. Also, the team of scientists have discovered an exoplanet in the star system that is emitting radio signals.

25. India and several other countries have suspended their flights from United Kingdom due to the concerns about the new variant of COVID-19 that is spreading rapidly in the country. A mutant of COVID-19 has been the reason of rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in East and South England. The new variety is being referred to as Variant Under Investigation (VUI).

26. DigiBoxx is a storage platform. It is a file sharing and cloud storage platform. DigiBoxx was announced by the NITI Aayog CEO Aitabh Kant. The announcement was made a few weeks after Google announced that it will not offer unlimited free photo uploads after June 1, 2021. It provides 20 GB of free cloud storage and 100 GB free space per month. It charges only 30 rupees per month for such large storages. DigiBoxx is first in its kind under "Make in India, Store in India" policy of India. It is a Software as a Service product that is in line with the National security and data localisation priorities.

27. Naegleria fowleri is a single celled amoeba. It is also called the brain-eating Amoeba. The amoeba is now rapidly spreading in the US. The news comes after a mysterious disease called Eluru was discovered in the districts of Andhra Pradesh. Naegleria fowleri was first traced in the southern parts of USA. The strain rapidly developed in the northern parts due to favourable climatic conditions. As the name suggest, the amoeba has potential to damage the vital parts of the body, especially the human brain, and cause large scale inflammation.

28. The Indian Space Research Organization recently released the first set of data from Chandrayaan-2. The data was prepared by Planetary Data System (Version 4). The first data set was released through PRADAN portal. The PRADAN portal is hosted by ISSDC (Indian Space Science Data Centre). Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22, 2019 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. The mission had planned to land Vikram lander on the south pole of the lunar surface. Unfortunately, the Vikram lander hard crashed and failed to land. The orbiter was successfully placed and is to carry out eight experiments to address several questions on lunar science.

29. ISRO is developing "Green Propulsion Technology". The technology is being developed for the Human Space Flight Mission of India, Gaganyaan, that is to be launched in December 2021. Propulsion means push forward or drive an object forward. In rockets and airplanes, the propulsion is generated through the application of Newton’s third law, "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction". A working fluid or a gas accelerates the engine.

30. The first driverless train operations in India were initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 28, 2020. The train is operated on the Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line. The train was rolled out on the 38-kilo metre long line, called the Magenta Line. It is a part of the 390-km long network spread across the national capital and the adjoining cities such as Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Bahadurgarh.

31. The scientists have discovered a new species called Portulaca laljii. It is a wild Sun Rose found in the Eastern Ghats. It has been named after Lal Ji Singh. He was an eminent botanist of the Botanical Survey of India. The species has been placed under the "Data Deficient" category of IUCN List of threatened species. The morphological features of Portulaca lajii is different from other species of Portulaca genus. The flowers of Portualca lajii are reddish-pink in colour and are very minute of about 0.5 millimetres. These plants are found in rocky crevices at an altitude of 1,800 metres. They are classified under the Sun Rose category because they flower in bright sunshine.

32. The Serum Institute of India recently unveiled the first indigenously developed Pneumococcal Vaccine called Pneumosil. The vaccine was launched by the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. India is currently using the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) against Pneumonia. The PCV consumes 50% of the budget allocated to the Universal Immunization Programme. The programme administers twelve vaccines preventing mortality and morbidity in pregnant women and children. The programme is highly supported by funds from GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccine Immunization). GAVI recently announced that it is to withdraw its support to India as the country is getting close to the threshold level. Thus, Pneumosil vaccine will bring in tremendous benefits in terms of economic and health benefits.

33. The Union Minister of Earth Science Dr Harsh Vardhan recently inaugurated a Meteorological centre in Union Territory of Ladakh. The Meteorological centre will provide weather forecasts for the region and strengthen the early warning system of weather forecasting in the region. It is important to set up the centre in Ladakh due to its extreme climatic conditions. Ladakh experiences different extreme weather events such as cloud bursts, flash floods, glacial lake outbursts, avalanches and drought. There are four Automatic Weather Stations in Ladakh. Indian Meteorological Department plans to install more Automatic Weather Stations to improve network of observations in places such as Nubra, Zanskar, Parkachik, etc.

Government Schemes

1. The scheme is to be launched by the Assam government in 29 districts across the state. Through this scheme, the government seeks to empower women by transferring a minimum amount of Rs.830 each month directly to the bank accounts of the nominated female head of the household. More than 18 lakh beneficiaries have already been selected by the government under this scheme. This number is expected to reach 22 lakh after the inclusion of districts in the Bodoland Territorial Area.

2. "Duare Sarkar" outreach programme was launched by the Bengal Government. Under the programme, camps are to be organised at local body levels. In cities the camps are to be organised by corporations and at village level it is to be organised by Gram Panchayats. The Local Bodies will host camps between December 1, 2020 and January 30, 2020. Through these camps the State Government will take the Government Services to the doorstep of the Bengal people.

3. The Learning Management System (LMS) was launched by the Karnataka government in digital mode, will be implemented in government colleges within the state. This digital platform will have multilingual e-content in the form of PPTs, videos, quizzes, assignment and e-study materials developed as per the University syllabus. It is said to be the first of its kind initiative in the country aimed at encouraging digital learning and improving the Gross Enrolment Ration in higher education.

4. On December 2, 2020, the Supreme Court asked the committee monitoring the Char Dham Highway project to consider the applications from Defence Ministry. The Defence Ministry in its application is seeking to widen roads up to seven metres in the Indo China border area within 2 weeks. According to the Ministry of Defence, a carriage way width of seven metres is essential to facilitate the transport of heavy vehicles, troops, tanks, armaments and artillery. The roads listed by the Defence Ministry should be made suitable to quickly mobilize heavy equipment as these roads to be constructed under Chardham project are to connect with the line of actual control or the International border with China. Also, some of these roads connect the Indo-tibetan Border Police stations.

5. Swasthya Sathi scheme is a health insurance scheme of the West Bengal government. It was launched in 2016 and it has now been expanded to cover the state’s entire population. It provides basic health cover for secondary and tertiary care up to 5 lakh INR per annum per family. Both state-run and private hospitals are part of the scheme. The card under the scheme is issued to the female guardians of the families.

6. Every year, the World Soil Day is celebrated on December 5. The day is celebrated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) operating under the United Nations and also by several other international organizations. This year, the World Soil Day is celebrated under the Theme: Keep Soil Alive, Protect Soil Biodiversity. This signifies the fact that the food security depends on the health of the soil.

7. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) recently declared "Invest India" as the winner of the United Nations Investment Promotion Award, 2020. The award recognizes outstanding achievements of investment promotion agencies spread all over the world. Around 180 such agencies were shortlisted for the award in 2020. The UNCTAD had constituted a team to monitor Investment Promotion Agencies in the world. The team was constituted in March 2020, mainly to observe the best practices adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The IPA response has become the evaluation of 2020 United Nations Investment Promotion Award. This proves that in spite of being the second most populous country in the world, India’s innovation helped to control the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

8. The Uttar Pradesh government has recently launched a scheme to take the unique culture of the Tharu tribes all over the world. The intention of the scheme is to put these tribal villages on tourism map. This will create jobs and bring economic Independence to the tribal population in the region. The State Government of Uttar Pradesh is planning to connect the villages of the Tharu tribals located in the International border of Nepal. It is a Homestay scheme under which the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department will offer tourists an experience of living in the natural habitat of Tharu tribals. These huts are made of grass collected from the forest.

9. The Indian Railways is to use LiDAR technique to conduct ground survey for the Delhi Varanasi High Speed Rail corridor. LiDAR is Light Detection and Ranging technique. The Indian Railways is to use the LiDAR technique mounted on a helicopter. This is being done after its success in the Mumbai Ahmedabad bullet train project for the first time.

10. The Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports recently announced that the Government is to start 1000 Khelo India centres all over India. The announcement was made at the tenth Global Sports Summit organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The centres will help the retired sportspersons to get employment. Also, the centres will aid in encouraging sports culture in the country.

11. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently approved the setting up of Wi-Fi Networks all over India. The Public Wi-Fi Access Network Interface is called PM-WANI. The PM-WANI will promote the growth of Wi-Fi networks in the country. This is expected to unleash a massive Wi-Fi revolution in the country. This is very much similar to that of the PCO model (PCO is Public Call Office).

12. Around nine states have completed One Nation One Card Reform schemes. They are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala, Haryana, Gujarat, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura. The Central Government has allowed these nine states to increase their additional 23,523 crores of rupees under One Nation One Card Scheme. Uttar Pradesh is the biggest beneficiary of the scheme as the state was provided with an additional borrowing window of Rs 4,851 crores. It was followed by Karnataka with additional borrowing window of Rs 4,509 crores and Gujarat receiving Rs 4,352 crores. These allocations are made based on the suggestion of Department of Food and Public Distribution. It is the nodal department that certifies if a state has met the conditions stipulated under the One Nation One Card Scheme. The Department of Food and Public Distribution operates under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. In order to become eligible to the reforms, the state has to complete implementing the reforms by December 31, 2020.

13. On December 10, 2020, the Union Minister of state for tourism and culture Shri Prahlad Singh Patel inaugurated the Association of Buddhist our operators International Convention in New Delhi. The convention is to be held in partnership with Ministry of Tourism. The Ministry of Tourism is planning to register accommodation units under the National Integrated database of hospitality industry, a portal that operates under Ministry of Tourism. So far more than 32000 accommodation units have been registered under the postal.

14. The Fitness Ka Dose Aadha Ghanta Roz Campaign was recently applauded by the World Health Organization. The campaign has been uploaded for its initiatives to promote physical activity. The campaign was launched as a part of the Fit India Movement. It was launched by the Union Minister of Youth affairs and Sports Kiren rijiju. The campaign lately gained support from celebrities in different fields including sports persons, doctors, Bollywood and fitness influencers. The campaign urges Indian citizens to follow 30 minutes of fitness every day.

15. The Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure is currently facing revenue shortfall due to COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme aims to increase the capital expenditure by the state governments. Under the scheme, the Ministry of Finance has so far approved capital expenditure proposals worth Rs 9,878.61 crores. Under the scheme, the capital expenditure projects such as water supply, health, rural development, irrigation, education, transport have been approved. The scheme has three parts that focuses on citizen centric state reforms, north eastern states and other states.

16. The National Centre for Divyang Empowerment (NCDE) was established by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to re-skill and rehabilitate Divyang warriors of the force suffering from disability that occurred in line of duty. The Centre is located at the CRPF Group Centre Rangareddy, Telangana. It is equipped with world-class facilities as per the needs of the Diyangs.

17. The Government of India is to launch Brand India Mission to promote quality of products that are manufactured in the country. This mission is being piloted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The mission is based on similar policies in other countries such as Switzerland, United States, Germany and France. Under the Brand India Initiative, both Indian and international consumers are to be educated about products that are made in India. The mission will help India to demonstrate its leadership position and its commitment to quality.

18. The Government of Telangana recently declared the Telangana fibre grid project as "Vital Public Purpose project". With this the project will give only 5 days prior intimation to all the authorities concerned before laying the optical fibre cable. The project has been accorded with right of way permission to lay the Optical Fibre network.

19. The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh YS Jagan mohan Reddy recently launched the YSR free Crop Insurance Scheme. Under the scheme 1,252 crores of rupees has been credited into the bank accounts of 9.48 lacs of farmers as crop insurance. The YSR free Crop Insurance Scheme was one of the promises made by Jagan during his 3648 km long Yatra. Earlier the farmer had to pay his share for availing Crop Insurance in the state. The new scheme does not demand the share from the farmer.

20. "DakPay" is an application launched by India post payment Bank as a part of its ongoing initiatives to provide digital financial inclusion to the country. The application was launched by the Union Minister for communications, law and Justice and electronics and information technology Sri Ravi Shankar Prasad. The customers of India post payments bank and the department of post can now operate their banking services digitally through the mobile application DakPay.

21. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently announced that the eSanjeevani Telemedicine has crossed one million tele-consultations. The eSanjeevani is the first of its kind in delivering health services online. It uses two streams in 28 states and Union Territories. The eSanjeevani AB-HWC enables doctor to doctor tele consultations. It is currently being used in more than 6,000 health and wellness centres. More than 20,000 doctors, paramedics and specialists have been trained to use eSanjeevani AB-HWC. The second stream eSanjeevani OPD provides remote health services to patients confining them to their homes.

22. The IIT Hyderabad incubated start up Pure EV has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CSIR-Central Electro Chemical Research Institute (CECRI). Under the agreement, the start up and CSIR are to undertake joint research to develop Lithium-Ion Battery technology for electric vehicles. This will help to indigenize Lithium-ion technology. Currently, India is importing Lithium cells from China.

23. A project worth $400 million was signed between the Indian Government and the World Bank to protect India’s poor and vulnerable population affected by the adverse economic crisis caused by the pandemic. The credit is from the International Development Association of the World Bank. This is the second operation in a two-tier programme. The first operation worth 750 million USD was approved in May this year. The programme envisages to strengthen government’s capacity to provide coordinated social protection to the vulnerable from the pandemic-led economic shocks.

24. The Marine Products Export Development Authority recently launched a multilingual call centre for Aquafarmers. The initiative is first of its kind in the country. It will address the technical issues and impart knowledge about efficient farming methods round the clock. The Call Centre will mainly cater to the Aquafarmers of Andhra Pradesh. This is because, the State of Andhra Pradesh is one of the major fish producing state in the country. Together with Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Gujarat, the state contributes more than 60% of marine products of the country.

25. Skill India recently established the Centre of Excellence for skill development in power sector. The centre is an outcome of collaboration between Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Ministry of National Education and Youth (Government of France) and Schneider Electric. The Centre has been established in the campus of National Institute of Solar Energy, Gurugram, Haryana.

26. The Government of India recently approved the Health Data Management Policy of the National Digital Health Mission. It sets out minimum standard for data privacy protection to be followed to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations. The policy is to act as a guidance document across the National Digital Health Ecosystem.

27. On December 26, 2020, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to launch the SEHAT Scheme for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. SEHAT is Social Endeavour for Health and Telemedicine. The scheme was rolled out in Jammu and Kashmir in 2018, that is, even before the Abrogation of Article 370. West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana are the states that did not implement Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana or Ayushman Bharat. Earlier Delhi also did not implement the scheme. However, it was then implemented in April 2020.

28. The Jal Shakti Abhiyan II: Catch the Rain Awareness Generation Campaign was recently launched in New Delhi. The campaign was launched by National Water Mission. It was launched under Ministry of Jal Shakti, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan. The campaign will encourage the stakeholders to create Rain Water Harvesting structures that are suitable to sub soil strata to store rain water. It is important because, the rain water falling in four to five months are the only source of water for most parts of the country.

29. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to release Rs 18,000 crores under Pradhan Mantri-Kisan Samman Nidhi. Around nine crore farmers are to be benefitted from the funds. It was first implemented as Rythu Bandhu Scheme by the Government of Telangana. Under the Rythu Bandhu scheme, a certain amount of money was directly handed to eligible farmers.

30. Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana recently completed 1.5 crore treatments. The Government of India recently announced that it is to rationalise the health package in Health Benefit Package 3.0. Ayushman Bharat, the flagship programme of Government of India recently completely successful two years. So far, the scheme has covered 1.26 crores of hospitalisations. The Government of India has spent Rs 15,772 crores to cover these health care bills. More than 23,311 hospitals are on board under the scheme. The scheme has so far generated Rs 30,000 crores of savings.

31. The Jal Jeevan Mission and the Department of Industry and Internal Trade Promotion have launched an innovation challenge to develop portable water testing equipment. The challenge is called "New Innovation Challenge". The purpose of this challenge is to develop inexpensive and modular solutions for testing the quality of drinking water. The challenge also aims to test the drinking water quality easily and instantly. This innovation challenge is open to individuals, startups, MSMEs and corporates. Interested candidates can participate till 18 January.

32. The Hundredth Kisan Rail of India was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 28, 2020. The first multi-commodity service of Kisan Rail was launched in August 2020. The service was alunched between Devlali in Maharashtra and Danapur in Bihar. It was then extended to Muzaffarpur. Since its launch, the Kisan Rail Service has transported 27,000 tonnes of agro-products. The Government of India has extended a subsidy of 50% on the transportation of fruits and vegetables.

33. The INS Kiltan recently arrived at Sihanoukville Port, Cambodia under Mission Sagar III. The ship is to deliver fifteen tonnes of HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief) for flood affected Cambodia. The relief assistance is to be provided to the National Disaster Management Committee of Cambodia.

Awards & Honours

1. Parts of Tripura are witnessing violent protest recently due to the proposed resettlement of Bru tribals. Bru or Reang tribe is an indigenous community in the northeast, living in the states of Tripura, Assam and Mizoram. In Tripura, this community is recognised as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group. In Mizoram, it is targeted by ethnic organisations demanding its exclusion from electoral rolls, forcing the tribe to flee to Tripura. In a bid to ensure their permanent settlement in Tripura, an agreement was signed between the Centre and the two states this year. This sparked protests from Bengalis and Mizo groups in Tripura.

2. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) recently declared "Invest India" as the winner of the United Nations Investment Promotion Award, 2020. The award recognizes outstanding achievements of investment promotion agencies spread all over the world. Around 180 such agencies were shortlisted for the award in 2020.

3. The Ramanujan Prize for Mathematicians for the year 2020 was presented to Dr Carolina Arajuo. She is a mathematician from the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics, Rio de Janerio. It is the prize funded by the Department of Science and Technology in collaboration with International Centre for Theoretical Physics and International Mathematical Union. The funds are provided through the Albel Funds.

4. UNESCO is to launch an international prize in the creative economy field in the name of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International prize is to be launched from November 2021. 2021 has been declared as ‘International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development’ by UNESCO. Currently there are only twenty-three UNESCO International Awards in the name of international celebrities and organisations. For the age of the organizations, the numbers are very few. Thus, the UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International prize has its own significance.

5. The United Nations Environment Programme recently named seven dynamic Environmentalists as its Young Champions of the Earth. The Young Champions of the Earth prize is awarded every year to seven entrepreneurs under the age of thirty. These entrepreneurs should have bold ideas for sustainable environmental change. The winners of the award receive mentoring, seed funding, communications support to amplify their efforts.

6. Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has been awarded with the Golden Peacock Environment Management award for the year 2020 in the steel sector. The award was given for its efforts in adopting various environmental measures like upgrading pollution control facilities, treatment and recirculation of wastewater from individual units and outfalls, enhancement in green cover and efficient solid waste management. SAIL has received the award for two consecutive years.

7. The Couscous, the Berber dish was recently added to the Intangible Cultural Heritage List. Despite their differences, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Mauritania joined together to highlight their love for the dish. The Couscous has joined Singapore’s Hawker culture, Baudima dance of Zambia and wine horse of Spain into the UNESCO list of Intangible Heritage.

8. The President of United States conferred the Legion of Merit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Prime Minister has been awarded for his steadfast leadership and vision for India’s emergence as a global power. The award was received by the Ambassador of India to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu on behalf of the Prime Minister.

9. The Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade has invited applications for National Startup Awards 2021. The National Startup Awards are presented recognising outstanding startups and ecosystem enablers. The 2021 awards are to cover flagship schemes launched by Government of India through innovations. The awards are part of Startup India.

10. The Forest Minister of Madhya Pradesh recently launched the first hot air balloon safari of India in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve of India in MP. There are several hot air balloon rides in the country. However, this is the first hot air balloon safari. The hot air balloon ride is to be restricted in the buffer area. The service is to be operated by a Jaipur based Sky Waltz company.

11. Banuk Karima Baloch was a Baloch Human Rights activist. She campaigned for independence of Balochistan from Pakistan. Also, she appeared in the BBC list of hundred inspirational and influential women for 2016. She was found dead in Toronto, Canada on December 22, 2020. According to the Toronto Police her body was found near Lake Ontario. Her death is being linked to the death of Pakistani Baloch journalist Sajid Hussain in Sweden. Both were vocal Balochs in exile. Also, both the activists died in mysterious circumstances after having drowned.

12. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has selected Vishakhapatnam Municipal Corporation as the best performing civic body. Vishakhapatnam was placed under the Annual Awards for Excellence that recognises outstanding contribution of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban in 2019. The award is to be presented on January 1, 2021. Andhra Pradesh secured the third position in best performing state category. This is the third time the state has received the award. Also, the state bagged special category award in innovative construction technology and project monitoring tools.

13. The Chief Minister Secretariat of Bihar, National Informatics Centre and the Disaster Management Department have been jointly chosen as winners in "Pandemic Category" in Digital India Awards, 2020. Earlier the Uttar Pradesh Food and Civil Supplies Department won the Digital India Award, 2020 under the "Excellence in Digital Governance" category. It was selected for its Points of Sale based food distribution, online billing and payment for food grains purchased from farmers, GPS tracking of vehicles transporting food grains.

14. The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan was recently nominated by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, GAVI as a member of GAVI board. The term of the minister as a member in the GAVI board will be between 2021 and 2023. The Minister is to represent the South East Area Regional Office/Western Pacific Regional Office in the GAVI board. Currently, the seat is held by Myint Htwe of Myanmar. Dr Harsh Vardhan was elected as the chair of the World Health Organization.

Sports

1. The Sports Ministry has formally recognized Yogasana as a competitive sport. This will enable the ancient practice to avail Government funding. This was done to spread awareness about Yoga and its benefits and help improve physical and mental wellbeing of the people. After its recognition as a competitive sport, Yogasana becomes eligible to enter several sports event. An International Yogasana Sports Federation was formed under the leadership of Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev. Also, National Yogasana Sports Federation was established that will preserve and develop Yoga as a competitive sport. The federation was recognized by the sports ministry as a National Sports Federation in November 2020.

2. The International Cricket Council recently announced the Men’s T20I (Twenty 20 International), ODI (One Day International) and Test Teams of the decade. The teams were announced based on the consistency of the players over the period of last ten years.

Download Current Affairs December 2020 PDF

References:
jagranjosh.com
gktoday.in
business-standard.com