30th December
National & International Appointments
1. Vasudevan PN re-appointed as MD & CEO of Equitas Small Finance Bank
- Vasudevan Pathangi Narasimhan (PN) has been appointed as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) of Equitas Small Finance Bank Limited.
- His appointment has been approved by board of directors of the bank.
- His tenure is for three years, with effect from July 23, 2022, up to July 22, 2025
- Headquarters of Equitas Small Finance Bank: Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
- Equitas Small Finance Bank is founded in 2016 as a microfinance lender.
National & International Appointments
2. Baldev Prakash appointed as MD & CEO of J&K Bank
- Baldev Prakash has been appointed as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) of Jammu & Kashmir Bank for three years.
- His appointment will be effective from the date of taking charge or April 10, 2022, whichever is earlier.
- Apart from him, R K Chhibber has been appointed as an additional director on the board of the bank
- He has over 30 years of experience in banking in various roles at small and large size branches at SBI.
National Affairs
3. AIM, NITI Aayog releases 2nd edition of 'Innovations for You'
- Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and NITI Aayog has released second edition of ‘Innovations for You’ and ‘The Ingenious Tinkerers’
- Innovations for You: It is a compendium of innovations focused on agriculture featuring 70 start-ups supported by Atal Incubation Centres of Atal Innovation Mission.
- The Ingenious Tinkerers: It is a compendium on the innovations in technology featuring 41 innovations from Atal Tinkering Lab.
National & International Organizations
4. Egypt added as 4th member of BRICS New Development Bank
- Egypt added as the fourth new member of BRICS New Development Bank.
- Bangladesh, UAE, and Uruguay joined BRICS New Development Bank in September 2021.
- Membership expansion enables New Development Bank to position itself as a premier development institution for emerging economies.
- It will mobilize resources for development projects in BRICS, emerging economies, and developing countries
- Headquarters: Shanghai, China.
- President: Marcos Prado Troyjo.
Banking & Finance
5. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance launches ICICI Pru iProtect
- ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has launched new term plan, ICICI Pru iProtect return of premium, offering 105% return of the premium paid at age of 60 or 70 or on policy maturity as the policy auto-adjusts the life cover based on life-stages.
- It also offers an option to take cover against 64 critical illnesses.
- It offers 2 variants: life stage cover and level cover.
- It automatically reduces life cover as responsibilities come down in the later life stages.
National Affairs
6. Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) announced
- Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) has been announced.
- Top ranked Indian Institutions: IIT, Madras followed by the IITs in Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur and Roorkee, IISc, IIT Hyderabad and Kharagpur, National Institute of Technology (NIT), Calicut, and Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Uttar Pradesh
- ARIIA is an initiative of the Union Education Ministry to rank all major higher education institutions in India on different indicators
International Affairs
7. Japan and China agreed to launch military hotline by the end of 2022
- Japan and China have agreed to establish military hotline by 2022 to put in place a system to defuse potential crises over disputed islands and Taiwan Strait.
- It has been established to improve the effectiveness of the maritime and aerial communication mechanism, system established in 2018 to avert unintended clashes.
- They should strengthen high-level exchanges and practical co-operation, further expand the content of the sea and air liaison mechanism, etc
Defense
8. Indian Army Establishes Quantum Laboratory at Mhow (MP)
- Indian Army with support from National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) has recently established Quantum Lab at Military College of Telecommunication Engineering, Mhow (MP) to spearhead research and training in this key developing field.
- It has also established Artificial Intelligence Centre at the same institution with 140 deployments in forward areas
- Key thrust areas: Quantum Key Distribution, Quantum Communication, Quantum Computing and Post Quantum Cryptography
Summits & Conferences
9. NITI Aayog to organize National Workshop on Bamboo Development
- NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar and Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh is organizing day-long National Workshop on Bamboo Development.
- It will have four technical sessions:
- Production, Value Addition and International Experience of Bamboo
- Government Policies, Programmes and Opportunities in Different Sectors
- Circular Economy in Bamboo
- National and International Best Practices
- Several stakeholders from India and abroad will attend the workshop.
National Affairs
10. Union Minister releases science magazine in Hindi, Urdu, and English
- Union Minister Jitendra Singh has released science monthly magazine in Hindi, Urdu and English and announced that Dogri and Kashmiri versions of the same, along with other vernacular versions, will be released soon.
- While Hindi and English versions are based on the theme ‘Dream 2047’ referring to the 100th year of India’s independence, Urdu version is named Tajassus (Curiosity) and was prepared in association with Central University of Kashmir.
National Affairs
11. NITI Aayog releases Northeastern Region District SDG Index 2021-22
- Minister of Tourism, Culture and Development of Northeastern Region (MDoNER) with NITI Aayog releases Northeastern Region District SDG Index and Dashboard 2021-22
- Index measures the performance of the district of the 8 NE States
- This is the first time, District wise index is being prepared
- SDG Index will be used as a base for planning of development and welfare activities, education, health care.
- Top performer: East Sikkim district
- Worst: Kiphire district of Nagaland
State Affairs
12. Maharashtra passed Shakti Criminal Laws (Maharashtra Amendment) Act
- Maharashtra Assembly passed Shakti Criminal Laws (Maharashtra Amendment) Act unanimously
- With this, Maharashtra became the second state in India after Andhra Pradesh to approve death penalty for heinous offences of rape and gangrape.
- The Act has amended existing criminal laws to include death penalty as punishment in cases of rape and gangrape
- Existing law on rape had provisions for death penalty only in cases of repeated offences
Banking & Finance
13. RBI extends restrictions on PMC Bank for 3 months till March 2022
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended restrictions on Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank for another three months till the end of March 2022.
- The move has been taken as further action on the draft scheme for the takeover of the crisis-hit bank by Delhi-based Unity Small Finance Bank (USFB) is in process.
- RBI had superseded the board of PMC Bank in September 2019 and placed it under regulatory restrictions, including a cap on withdrawals by its customers
31st December
International Affairs
1. World's longest Metro line opened in Shanghai
- Shanghai has opened two new metro lines, upholding its rank as the city with the largest Metro network in the world.
- With the inauguration of the new Metro lines, the Shanghai subway network will expand largely along 831km.
- Now, Shanghai city boasts 508 stations.
- Over 10 million people use the system on an average workday.
- Shanghai Metro began operation: 28 May 1993.
National Affairs
2. MoHUA to celebrate Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav
- Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is organizing a series of events under the clarion call of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav by PM Modi to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of Independence
- The Ministry is organizing 28 iconic and impactful pre-events from 1 to 31 January 2021
- These events will culminate in a grand finale at the ‘Smart Cities, Smart Urbanization’ event in Surat
- It will reflect five themes: Freedom Struggle, Actions@75, Achievements@75, Ideas@75 and Resolve@75
Honours & Awards
3. Sahitya Akademi announces awards in 20 languages
- The Sahitya Akademi has announced its awards for 2021 in 20 languages
- 7 books of poetry, 2 novels, 5short stories, 2 plays, 1 biography, 1 autobiography, 1 critique and 1 Epic Poetry have won the Sahitya Akademi Awards 2021
- Assamese writers Anuradha Sarma Pujari and Namita Gokhale have won the award in the novel category
- Awardees for the Poetry category include Mwdai Gahai in Bodo, Sanjiv Verenkar in Konkani, Hrushikesh Mallick in Odia and Vindeshwari Prasad in Telegu
National Affairs
4. First Water Metro ferry handed over to KMRL
- The first of the 23 fully air-conditioned, battery-powered electric ferries of Rs. 747 cr Kochi Water Metro project, was handed over by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) to Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL).
- The 50-seater ferry was christened Muziris and is said to have been located at Pattanam village located 25 km from Kochi city.
- Four other Water Metro ferries are expected to be launched in the coming months.
Sports
5. South Africa's Quinton de Kock announces retirement from Test cricket
- South Africa's star wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock (29-years)announced his retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect.
- In 54 matches, he scored 3300 runs with the highest score of 141 not out, at an average of 38.82 and strike rate of 70.93.
- He has six centuries and 22 half-centuries under his belt along with 232 dismissals, which includes 221 catches and 11 stumpings.
Banking & Finance
6. LIC, GIC Re and New India systemically important insurers
- The IRDAI stated that LIC, GIC and New India Assurance continue to be identified as Domestic Systemically Important Insurers for 2021-22.
- D-SIIs are insurers of such size, market importance and domestic and global interconnectedness whose distress could cause turbulence in the domestic financial system
- The continued functioning of D-SIIs is critical for the availability of insurance services
- D-SIIs are insurers that are perceived to be ‘too big or too important to fail’
National Affairs
7. Semiconductor mission launched by IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw
- Ashwini Vaishnaw launched the India Semiconductor Mission.
- India Semiconductor Mission is a specialised and independent business division within the Digital India Corporation.
- It has been set up with the aim to build a vibrant semiconductor and display ecosystem to enable India’s emergence as a global hub for electronics manufacturing and design.
- The schemes have been notified and uploaded on the website.
- A portal for it has been prepared for receiving the applications
State Affairs
8. JJM drinking water supply schemes worth over ₹15,381 crore approved in MP
- Drinking water supply schemes totalling Rs15,381.72 crore in Madhya Pradesh have been approved under Jal Jeevan Mission.
- The 22 multi-village schemes were sanctioned to provide tap water connection to more than 1.09 crore rural population.
- These 22 schemes will benefit 9,240 villages in various districts of the state.
- In July 2019, the government had formed a new ministry, Jal Shakti, to address all water issues in the country.
Banking & Finance
9. Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd to acquire UK's battery firm Faradion
- Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd has signed definitive agreements to acquire sodium-ion battery technology company Faradion (UK).
- RNESL, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), will acquire 100 per cent shareholding in Faradion Limited.
- The sodium-ion technology developed by Faradion provides a globally leading energy storage and battery solution which is safe, sustainable, provides high energy density and is significantly cost competitive.
National Affairs
10. PM to lay foundation stone of Dhyan Chand Sports University in Meerut
- PM Modi will lay the foundation stone of Major Dhyan Chand Sports University at Meerut.
- The University will be established at Salawa and Kaili villages of Sardhana town in Meerut at an estimated cost of about 700 crore.
- The University will have the capacity of training 1080 sportspersons, including 540 female and 540 male sportspersons.
- The establishment of Major Dhyan Chand Sports University at Meerut will be a major step towards fulfilling this vision.
Honours & Awards
11. Danish Siddiqui posthumously gets Mumbai Press Club's RedInk Award
- Photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who died during an assignment in Afghanistan, has been posthumously awarded as the 'Journalist of the Year' for 2020 by the Mumbai Press Club
- CJI N V Ramana presented the annual 'RedInk Awards for Excellence in Journalism'
- Danish Siddiqui's wife Frederike Siddiqui received the award
- Senior journalist Prem Shankar Jha bestowed with the lifetime achievement award "for his long and distinguished career of incisive and analytical writing".
National Affairs
12. Jhansi Railway Station renamed as Veerangana Laxmibai Railway Station
- The Uttar Pradesh government has renamed Jhansi Railway Station as 'Veerangana Laxmibai Railway Station' after Rani Laxmibai.
- Earlier the Mughalsarai Railway station was renamed as Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya junction and the Faizabad Railway station as Ayodhya Cantt.
- Since coming to power, Mr Adityanath government has changed names of several establishments including those of Faizabad and Allahabad districts, which were renamed as Ayodhya and Prayagraj, respectively.
Obituaries
13. Street Photographer Sabine Weiss passes away
- Swiss-French photographer Sabine Weiss passed away at the age of 97.
- She was regarded as the last of the French humanist photography school of post-World War II.
- Her work covered eight decades, pioneering what was to become known as street photography.
- She photographed the condition of ordinary people in Paris, saying she wanted to immortalize “the snotty-nosed kids,” “the beggars” and “the little piss-takers” in her photos.
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