Daily Current Affairs for State Exams: 24 December 2021

Daily Current Affairs 24/12/2021

Important News: India

Vernacular Innovation Program (VIP): NITI Aayog

Why in News

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog has launched a first of its kind Vernacular Innovation Program (VIP) to Empower Innovators, Entrepreneurs.
The programme will enable innovators and entrepreneurs in India to have access to the innovation ecosystem in 22 scheduled languages by the Government of India.

Key Points

Vernacular Innovation Program (VIP) is an initiative to lower the language barrier in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship such that it will systematically decouple creative expressions and languages of transaction.
To build the necessary capacity for the VIP, AIM has identified and will be training a Vernacular Task Force (VTF) in each of the 22 scheduled languages.
Each task force comprises vernacular language teachers, subject experts, technical writers, and the leadership of regional Atal Incubation Centers (AICs).

Note:

According to the 2011 census, only 10.4% of Indians speak English, most as their second, third, or fourth language.
Only 0.02% of Indians spoke English as their first language.

Other Initiatives Related to Entrepreneurship/ Innovation:

IMPRINT (IMPacting Research INnovation and Technology)
Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana
India Innovation Index
Mission Innovation 2.0
StartUp India initiative
AIM-PRIME
AIM-iCREST: NITI Aayog
Atal Tinkering Labs
Atal Community Innovation Center

Source: PIB

Union Agriculture Minister releases the book “Spices Statistics at a Glance 2021”

Why in News

Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar released the book ‘Spices Statistics at a Glance 2021’.

Key Points

The book is a compendium of all the spices statistics like, area, production, productivity, export, import, price and value of output of various spices produced in the country.
The book is published by the Directorate of Arecanut and Spices Development (DASD), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, the nodal agency for collection and compilation of area and production estimates of spices at National level.
The book highlights the growth achieved in the spices sector during the last seven years from 2014-15 to 2020-21 in the country.
Spices production in the Country grew from 67.64 lakh tonnes in 2014-15 to 106.79 lakh tonnes in 2020-21 with an annual growth rate 7.9%, following an increase in area from 32.24 lakh hectare to 45.28 lakh hectare.
The export of spices contributes 41% of the total export earnings from all horticulture crops in the country and it ranks fourth among agricultural commodities, falling behind only the marine products, non basmati rice and basmati rice.

Related Government Initiative:

Recently, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) inaugurated the fifth session of the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH) established under Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC).

Source: PIB

Subhas Sarkar releases the Hindi translation of Tolkāppiyam

Why in News

Minister of State for Education, Dr. Subhas Sarkar released the Hindi translation of Tolkāppiyam and the Kannada translations of 9 books of Classical Tamil literature.

Key Points

Tamil literature goes back to the Sangam Era, named after the assembly (sangam) of poets.
Tamil writing systems date back to 250 BCE and Tamil sangampoetry contains 2381 poems in Tamil composed by 473 poets, some 102 anonymous.
Most scholars suggest the historical cankam literature era spanned from c. 300 BCE to 600 CE to be among the finest of world literature.
Tolkappiyamis the most ancient extant Tamil grammar text and the oldest extant long work of Tamil literature.
Some in the Tamil tradition place the text in the mythical second sangam, variously in 1^stmillennium BCE or earlier.
Tolkappiyam, a unique work on grammar and poetics, in its three parts of nine sections each, deals with Ezhuttu (letter), Col(word) and Porul (subject matter).
The Tolkappiyam in Hindi translation in verse (Text, Transliteration, and Translations) was translated by Dr. H. Balasubramaniam and Prof. K. Nachimuthu.

Source: PIB

National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) regains WADA accreditation

Why in News

The National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) has regained the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)

Key Points

NDTL’s WADA accreditation was suspended on 20 August 2019, based on non-compliances which were observed during on-site assessment of the Laboratory held in September 2018.
WADA, on its part, has been providing continuous guidance and support to make NDTL’s processes and methodologies fully compliant with the latest version of International Standard for Laboratories (ISL) and with the WADA Technical Documents, 2021.

Note: The National Anti-Doping Bill 2021, introduced in the Parliament on 17 December 2021, is another step in India’s quest to become a sporting powerhouse.

Source: PIB

Important News: State

PM Modi inaugurates and lays the foundation of multiple projects in Varanasi

Why in News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation of multiple projects in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

Key Points

The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of ‘Banas Dairy Sankul’ at the UP State Industrial Development Authority Food Park, Karkhiyaon, Varanasi.
He laid the foundation stone for the Biogas based Electricity generation plant for the Milk Producers Cooperative Union Plant, Ramnagar, Varanasi.
He launched a Portal and Logo dedicated to the Conformity Assessment Scheme of milk products, developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) with the help of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).
He distributed the rural residential rights record ‘Gharauni’ under the Swamitva scheme of the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj, to over 20 Lakh residents of Uttar Pradesh.

Note: Rajeev Chandrasekhar- Minister of State, Electronics and Information Technology inaugurated the 7 new internet exchange nodes in multiple cities of Uttar Pradesh.

Source: HT

Important News: Defence

Indian Army launches in-house messaging application ‘ASIGMA’

Why in News

The Indian Army launched a contemporary messaging application named, ASIGMA (Army Secure IndiGeneous Messaging Application) which is a new generation, web based application developed entirely in-house by a team of officers of the Corps of Signals of the Army.

Key Points

The application is being deployed on the Army’s internal network as a replacement of Army Wide Area Network (AWAN) messaging application which has been in service for the past 15 years.
The application has been fielded on Army owned hardware.
This future ready messaging application will meet real time data transfer and messaging requirements of the Army, especially in the backdrop of the current geopolitical security environment and is in line with the Government of India’s, Make in India initiative.

Source: PIB

Important News: Sports

Bangladesh wins SAFF U-19 Women’s Football Championship 2021

Why in News

Bangladesh Under-19 Women’s team defeated India to lift the SAFF U-19 Women’s Football Championship 2021 in Dhaka.

Key Points

Shaheda Akter Ripa of Bangladesh scored the maximum number of goals in the tournament. She was given the ‘most valuable player’ of the game award.

Note: India will host South Asian Football Federation's (SAFF) U-18 and U-19 Women's Championships in 2022.

Source: newsonair

Hockey: India wins bronze, South Korea lift the 2021 Men’s Asian Champions Trophy in Dhaka

Why in News

In hockey, South Korea defeated Japan to lift the trophy in the Hero Men’s Asian Champions Trophy 2021 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
India won the bronze medal beating Pakistan in the Asian Champions Trophy.

Key Points

Kanta Tanaka of Japan was declared the best player of the tournament while Suraj Karkera of India was adjudged the best goalkeeper.
Jang Jonghyun of Korea was the top scorer with 10 goals in the tournament.

Note: The 2021 Trophy was the sixth edition of the Men's Asian Champions Trophy organized by the Asian Hockey Federation.

Source: newsonair

Important News: Awards

JGU wins "Digital Innovation of the Year" at the Times Higher Education Asia Awards 2021

Why in News

P. Jindal Global University (JGU) has won the "Digital Innovation of the Year" award at the distinguished Times Higher Education (THE) Asia Awards 2021.

Key Points

JGU was the Only Indian University to be Shortlisted for the "Digital Innovation of the Year".
JGU's win at the THE Awards is a recognition of JGU's successful digital transformation and impact over the last two years.

Source: Business Standard

Important News: Important Days

December 24, National Consumer Day

Why in News

National Consumer Day is celebrated on 24th December every year.

Key Points

On this day the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 had received the assent of the President. The enactment of this Act is considered as a historic milestone in the consumer movement in the country.

Note:

On July 20th, 2020, the new Consumer Protection Act, 2019 came into force in India, replacing the previous enactment of 1986.
World Consumer Rights Day is celebrated on 15^th March every year.

Source: HT