NATIONAL NEWS
Centre approves over Rs 3,063 crore of Additional Central Assistance to six states for measures relating to national calamitiesA High Level Committee under the chairmanship of Home Minister Amit Shah has approved over 3,063 crore rupees of Additional Central Assistance to six states.
- Assam, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal will get funds for floods, landslides and cyclones that occurred during this year.
- The High Level Committee has approved Additional Central Assistance of over 1,133 crore rupees to Gujarat for cyclone Tauktae and 586.59 crore rupees to West Bengal for cyclone Yaas. For floods and landslides during the South West Monsoon, 51.53 crore rupees will be given to Assam, 504.06 crore rupees to Karnataka, 600.50 crore rupees to Madhya Pradesh and 187.18 crore rupees will be given to Uttarakhand.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the 356 Km long Bina Refinery (Madhya Pradesh)- POL Terminal at Panki (Kanpur, UP) Multiproduct pipeline project ( capacity of 45 million metric tonnes per annum) with an outlay of Rs 1524 crore (Rs. 1227 crores in UP and Rs. 297 crores in MP).
- The project has been completed and commissioned one month ahead of the approved completion schedule of December 2021 (3 years from PNGRB authorisation) and within the approved cost.
- It will provide for safe and efficient evacuation of products from Bina Refinery and also improve the availability of products in Eastern U.P, Central U.P., Northern Bihar and Southern Uttarakhand.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
India, Philippines Set to Conclude BrahMos Missile DealIndia and the Philippines are set to formally seal a government-to-government BrahMos deal soon, capping years of negotiations for the supply of a batch of the supersonic cruise missiles for the Philippine navy, people familiar with the development said
- The procurement is expected to signal a major upswing in India's strategic ties with the Philippines which has been focusing on ramping up its naval prowess in the face of its lingering friction with China in the South China sea.
BANKING & FINANCE
Axis Bank is second largest in PoS machinesAxis Bank has become the second-largest merchant-acquiring bank in the country, leapfrogging two spaces during 2021 by installing over two lakh card-swipe machines during the year.
- This is part of the bank’s ‘Axis One’ strategy where it approaches the customers offering its entire gamut of products instead of a standalone service.
RBI has announced that it has extended the deadline for periodic KYC update by 3 months till March 31, 2022.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that it has extended the deadline for periodic KYC update by 3 months till March 31, 2022.
Federal Bank, India's leading Private Sector Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with Schwing Stetter (India) Ltd, a Subsidiary of Schwing GMBH, Germany, one of the largest manufacturers of Concrete and Construction equipment in India.
- This MoU will enable both Federal Bank and Schwing Stetter to offer customised financial solutions to their customers.
- The Bank will work towards catering to the customers’ needs through Commercial Equipment loans with easy monthly repayment plans best suited for the customers. Moreover, the bank will leverage technology for enhancing customer experience.
Irdai said that insurance intermediaries, including entities sponsored by them, can maintain current accounts in appropriate number of banks so as to meet regulatory requirements and reinsurance business.
- In August last year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had instructed banks not to open current accounts for customers who have availed credit facilities in the form of cash credit or overdraft from the banking system.
- Later, on a review, the RBI permitted banks to open specific accounts that are stipulated under various statutes and instructions of other regulators/ regulatory departments, without any restrictions placed in terms of its August 2020 circular.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
India’s green energy economy received $7.27 billion FDI since 2014-15India’s green energy industry received foreign direct investment (FDI) worth $7.27 billion from 2014-15 till June 2021, according to Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). Of this$797.21 million came during 2020-21.
- As per REN21 Renewables 2020 Global status Report , during the period 2014 -2019 renewable energy programmes and projects in India attracted an investment of $64.4 billion. In the year 2019 alone, $11.2 billion were invested," MNRE said.
- According to the government, installed power capacity from non-fossil fuels will go up to 66% by 2030. Also, India has already reached an emission reduction of 28%.
SPORTS
New Zealand's iconic batter Ross Taylor to retire from international cricketVeteran New Zealand batter Ross Taylor confirmed that he will retire from international cricket after the two-Test series against Bangladesh and the ODI against Australia and the Netherlands in February and March.
- Taylor has been a 'Black Caps mainstay since his 2007 Test debut, amassing a New Zealand record 7,584 runs in 110 matches at an average of 44.87.
- One of only four New Zealanders to play 100 Tests, he also holds the nation's record in one-day international runs (8,581) and centuries (21), and was the world's first to play in 100 internationals in all formats.
APPOINTMENTS
ITBP DG Sanjay Arora to hold SSB additional chargeITBP Director General Sanjay Arora will hold the additional charge of another border guarding force SSB as the latter's chief Kumar Rajesh Chandra is set to retire on December 31, a government order said.
- Chandra, a 1985-batch IPS officer of the Bihar cadre, had taken over as the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) DG in January, 2019. He will superannuate on December 31.
Indian Forest Service officer Chandra Prakash Goyal has been appointed as the Director-General of Forests & Special Secretary (DGF&SS), Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change.
- Goyal, a 1986 batch IFS officer was previously the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest under Uttar Pradesh Department of Forest.
- He had returned to UP after being on central deputation as Joint Secretary in the Indian Department of Biotechnology.
Vikram Misri, who was India’s envoy to Beijing for almost three years till early this month, has been named the next Deputy National Security Advisor.
- He will succeed Pankaj Saran, ex-Indian envoy to Russia and Bangladesh who demits office on December 31. He was in Beijing during one of the most challenging phases in the relationship with China, as a border stand-off has been ongoing for more than 19 months now.
AWARDS
Three Indian-origin Canadians Honoured with Civilian Award for Outstanding AchievementThree Indian-origin Canadians have been bestowed with the Order of Canada, one of the country's highest civilian honours for their outstanding achievement, dedication to the community, helping in building a better nation and promoting bilateral ties between Canada and India.
- Internationally renowned scientist and innovator Dr Vaikuntam Iyer Lakshmanan; real estate mogul Bob Singh Dhillon, also known as Navjeet Singh Dhillon; and renowned paediatrician Dr Pradeep Merchant were among the 135 individuals honoured with the prestigious award, according to a press note uploaded on the website of the Governor General of Canada.
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. Chief Justice of India N V Ramana presented the annual 'RedInk Awards for Excellence in Journalism', instituted by the Mumbai Press Club, in a virtual event.
- He presented the prestigious award to Siddiqui "for his spectrum of investigative and impactful news photography".Danish Siddiqui's wife Frederike Siddiqui received the award.
- Senior journalist Prem Shankar Jha, 83, was bestowed with the lifetime achievement award "for his long and distinguished career of incisive and analytical writing".
The Sahitya Akademi announced a list of 22 winners each of the Yuva Puraskar and the Bal Sahitya Puraskar for 2021.
- According to the board, an engraved copper plate, shawl and an amount of Rs 1 lakh will be given to the main Sahitya Akademi prize winner and an engraved copper plate and an amount of Rs 50,000 each will be given to the Yuva Puraskar and Bal Sahitya Puraskar.
- Anuradha Sarma Pujari (Assamese)
- Bratya Basu (Bengali)
- Mwdai Gahai (Bodo)
- Raj Rahi (Dogri)
- Namita Gokhale (English)
- Daya Prakash Sinha (Hindi)
- DS Nagabhushana (Kannada)
- Wali Mohd Aseer Kashtawari (Kashmiri)
- Sanjiv Verenkar (Konkani)
- George Onakkoor (Malayalam)
- Kiran Gurav (Marathi)
- Chhabilal Upadhyaya (Nepali)
- Hrushikesh Mallick (Odia)
- Khalid Hussain (Punjabi)
- Meethesh Nirmohi (Rajasthani)
- Vindeshwariprasad Mishr “Vinay” (Sanskrit)
- Niranjan Hansda (Santali)
- Arjun Chawla (Sindhi)
- Ambai (Tamil)
- Gorati Venkanna (Telugu)
- Abhijit Bora (Assamese)
- Gourob Chakraborty (Bengali)
- Gautom Daimary (Bodo)
- Arun Akash Dev (Dogri)
- Megha Majumdar (English)
- Drashti Soni (Gujarati)
- Himanshu Vajpai (Hindi)
- L.Lakshmi Narayan Swamy (Kannada)
- Razi Tahir Bhagat (Kashmiri)
- Sharddha Garad (Konkani)
- Amit Mishra (Maithili)
- Mobin Mohan (Malayalam)
- Lenin Khmancha (Manipuri)
- Pranav Sakhadeo (Marathi)
- Mahesh Dahal (Nepali)
- Debabrata Das (Odia)
- Veerdavinder Singh (Punjabi)
- Swetapadma Satapathy (Sanskrit)
- Kuna Hansdah (Santali)
- Rakesh Shewani (Sindhi)
- Thagulla Gopal (Telugu)
- Umar Farhat (Urdu)
- Mrinal Chandra Kalita (Assamese)
- Sunirmal Chakraborty (Bengali)
- Ratneshwar Narzary (Bodo)
- Narsingh Dev Jamval (Dogri)
- Anita Vaccharajani (English)
- Devendra Mewari (Hindi)
- Basu Bevinagida (Kannada)
- Majeed Majazi (Kashmiri)
- Sumedha Kamat Desai (Konkani)
- Anmol Jha (Maithili)
- Raghunath Paleri (Malayalam)
- Ningombam Jadumani Singh (Manipuri)
- Sanjay Wagh (Marathi)
- Sudarsha Ambatey (Nepali)
- Digaraj Brahma (Odia)
- Kirti Sharma (Rajasthani)
- Asha Agarwal (Sanskrit)
- Sova Hansda (Santali)
- Kishin Khubchandani “Ranjayal” (Sindhi)
- Mu. Murugesh (Tamil)
- Devaraju Maharaju (Telugu)
- Kausar Siddiqui (Urdu)
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Russia launches third and final Angara A5 demonstration missionRussia has launched its third and final demonstration flight of the Angara A5 rocket. Angara is being developed and built by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and is intended to replace several existing launch vehicles.
- Angara attempted to place its 2,400 kg mass simulator in a near geostationary orbit (GEO) using a new Persei upper stage.
- After a few hours, the Persei upper stage was to perform two burns to place the payload in a graveyard orbit, a few hundred kilometers above GEO. Russian reports, however, suggest that Persei only reached an initial low Earth parking orbit before suffering an engine failure.
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