19th December
Science & Technology
1. DRDO test-fired new generation ballistic missile ‘Agni P’
- DRDO has successfully test-fired new generation nuclear capable ballistic missile ‘Agni P’ from APJ Abdul Kalam island off the coast of Odisha
- It followed textbook trajectory meeting all mission objectives with high level of accuracy
- Agni P: It is a two-stage canisterise solid propellant ballistic missile with dual redundant navigation and guidance system.
- Various telemetry, radar, electro-optical stations, and down range ships tracked, monitored missile trajectory
Science & Technology
2. DRDO conducts flight demonstration of Controlled Aerial Delivery System
- Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE), Agra conducted flight demonstration of Controlled Aerial Delivery System (CADS-500)
- ADRDE, Agra is an R&D laboratory of DRDO
- CADS-500: It is used for precise delivery of payload up to 500 kgs at predetermined location by making use of maneuverable capabilities of Ram Air Parachute (RAP)
- It uses Global Positioning System (GPS) or the coordinates, altitude and heading sensors for heading information.
Honours & Awards
3. SAIL receives Golden Peacock Environment Management Award 2021
- Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL), under Ministry of Steel has been awarded with the prestigious Golden Peacock Environment Management Award 2021 for successive three years.
- Major initiatives by SAIL: Carbon footprint reduction, R&D, creation of carbon sinks, gradual shift to LED, enhancing share of renewable energy, etc
- The Award is given to organizations for significant achievements in Environment Management by Environment Foundation (WEF) since 1998.
Schemes
4. KVIC rolls out self-employment schemes to empower rural artisans
- Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has rolled out KVIC rolls out self-employment schemes to empower rural artisans of Bundelkhand region, Uttar Pradesh
- KVIC also distributed 200 bee boxes, 100 electric potter wheels and 50 Agarbatti making machines to create a cumulative employment for over 600 local persons.
- An awareness program on Centre’s flagship Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Program (PMEGP) was also inaugurated
National Affairs
5. PM Modi lays foundation stone of Ganga Expressway in Shahjahanpur
- PM Modi has laid foundation stone of Ganga Expressway in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh
- Ganga Expressway will open new doors of progress for UP and will be a source of five boons covering network of expressways, new airports, and railway routes:
- It is a 594 Km long six-lane Expressway and will be built at a cost of over Rs 36,200 crore.
- It passes through Meerut, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Amroha, Sambhal, Budaun, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Unnao, RaeBareli, Pratapgarh and Prayagraj.
State Affairs
6. Goa Liberation Day: 19th December
- Goa's Liberation Day is observed every year on 19th December to recognize the achievements of Goa in the tourism sector and also for being the highest per capita income among all the states and UTs in India
- Goa was liberated on December 19, 1961 from Portuguese rule.
- Govt has organized various events on the theme ‘Goa@60’
- Govt also inaugurated multiple development projects including renovated Fort Aguada Jail Museum, Super Speciality Block at Goa Medical College, etc
National Affairs
7. Piyush Goyal inaugurates Packaged Drinking Water Test Facility
- Piyush Goyal has inaugurated Packaged Drinking Water Test Facility at National Test House (NTH), Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh.
- It will have latest facilities for Short Circuit Test for Transformers, Residual Current Circuit Breaker (RCCB) test, Food Testing, Lithium (Li) ion Battery Testing for Electric Vehicles, Helmet Test and Advance Building Material Tests
- All the NTH Labs have been integrated with the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) of BIS.
Arts & Culture
8. Delhi to host Grand Finale of Vande Bharatam, Nritya Utsav
- Delhi will host Grand Finale of All India Vande Bharatam, Nritya Utsav at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Auditorium with 73 groups comprising 949 dancers from 4 zones.
- Dancers will vie for the top honors at the final and winners will get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to display their talent at the Republic Day Parade which is watched not only in India, but across the globe.
- Vande Bharatam is a unique initiative to select top dancing talent from across the country
National Affairs
9. Raksha Mantri inaugurates Centre of Excellence in Land Survey
- Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh has inaugurated Centre of Excellence in Land Survey as a part of Capacity Building initiative of Government.
- It has been established by National Institute of Defence Estates Management.
- Centre of Excellence will cater to the training needs of Government officers and technical personnel who are involved in surveys exclusively in emerging survey technologies like Drone surveys and Satellite imagery-based surveys.
Agreement
10. NCC signs MoU with National Highways Authority of India to reuse plastic
- National Cadet Corps (NCC) has signed MoU with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to reuse plastic wastes collected by NCC Cadets during Puneet Sagar Abhiyan and other Swachhta activities for construction of roads by NHAI
- Puneet Sagar Abhiyan: It is launched to clean seashores/beaches off the plastic & other wastes along the seashores and increase awareness about importance of keeping the seashores free from plastic wastes.
20th December
Sports
1. Kdambi Srikanth bags silver in BWF World Championships, Spain
- Kidambi Srikanth won silver medal in the BWF World Badminton Championships, Spain.
- A former world no. 1, Srikanth lost Loh Kean Yew of Singapore.
- He becomes the first Indian men Badminton player to won a silver in BWF World Championships.
- The maiden silver placed Srikanth alongside P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, who had finished runner-up in the past.
- Akane Yamaguchi of Japan clinched the women’s title beating World No. 1 and top seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei.
National Affairs
2. Good Governance Week 2021 being celebrated from 20th-25th December
- The Centre is all set to launch a nationwide 'Good Governance Week' from December 20 to December 26.
- Celebrated by: Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG)
- Moto: to redress and dispose of public grievances and improvise service delivery down to the village level.
- Theme: “Prashasan Gaon Ki Aur”
- A film on “Prashasan Gaon Ki Aur” will also be screened.
- “Good Governance Day will be celebrated on December 25, 2021.
Science & Technology
3. SpaceX launches 52 Starlink satellites from California base
- A SpaceX rocket carried 52 Starlink internet satellites into orbit from California.
- The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from coastal Vandenberg Space Force Base.
- The Falcon’s first stage returned and landed on a SpaceX droneship in the ocean.
- It was the 11th launch and recovery of the stage.
- Starlink is a satellite-based global internet system that SpaceX has been building for years to bring internet access to underserved areas of the world.
Banking & Finance
4. Equitas Small Finance Bank becomes banking partner for Govt of Maharashtra
- Equitas Small Finance Bank has been empanelled as a banking partner to the Govt of Maharashtra with a view to offer its services to the state government employees.
- The agreement will enable the SFB to distribute salaries and allowances to the existing employees apart from making provision of pension to pensioners.
- The other 3 banks assigned the role of distributing salaries and allowances to govt employees are Bandhan Bank, Karur Vysya Bank and The South Indian Bank.
Banking & Finance
5. Edelweiss General Insurance and PhonePe partner for digital motor insurance
- Edelweiss General Insurance has partnered with PhonePe for digital motor insurance products.
- PhonePe customers can now purchase EGI’s motor insurance policy in just a few clicks with zero paperwork.
- EGI has launched on-demand, need-based, bite-sized insurance products, and is co-creating propositions in partnership in the digital ecosystem.
- The partnership will help EGI reach out to PhonePe’s vast and growing network of customers to offer them digital motor insurance.
State Affairs
6. Haryana launches 'khel nursery scheme'
- Haryana state govt has started 'Khel Nursery Scheme 2022-23' to promote sports in the state.
- Under which sports nurseries would be started in government, private educational institutions and private sports institutions.
- With this scheme, sports talent would get an opportunity to emerge at the grassroots level.
- Under the scheme, sports nurseries are being opened for the sports included in the Olympic, Asian and Commonwealth Games.
- Governor: Bandaru Dattatreya
Banking & Finance
7. IFSCA sets up panel for creating framework for transfer of stressed loan
- The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) sets up a committee headed by Former executive director of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) G Padmanabhan.
- The committee will creating a framework for transfer of stressed loans from domestic lenders to financial institutions in IFSC.
- It will examine the provisions of the RBI directions that require further clarification for transferring stressed loans, for identifying areas or issues of the directions from RBI
Banking & Finance
8. India, Germany Development Bank sign Euro 442.26 mn loan pact
- The Government of India and the Germany Development Bank - KfW (Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau) signed a 442.26 mn euros loan pact for Surat Metro Rail project.
- The total cost of the project is 1.5 billion euros, of which KfW is financing 442.26 million euros.
- The project is being co-financed by French Development Agency, AFD (Agence Francaise de Developpemet).
- The Agreement with AFD for 250 million euros was signed on January 28, 2021.
Obituaries
9. Veteran Congress leader and former Union minister R L Jalappa passes away
- Veteran Congress leader and former Union Minister R.L. Jalappa passed away.
- He was founder and Chairman of Devaraj Urs Medical College in Kolar.
- In 1979 he quit Congress to form the Karnataka Kranti Ranga and he again joined congress in 1998.
- In 1996, He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Chikballapur constituency, representing Janata Dal.
- He has served as the Union Minister of Textiles (1996 to 1998) under the premiership of HD Deve Gowda and Inder Kumar Gujral.
Books & Authors
10. Dr Rekha Chaudhari authors the book “India’s Ancient Legacy of Wellness”
- The book titled “India’s Ancient Legacy of Wellness” has been authored by Dr Rekha Chaudhari.
- The book was released by the Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.
- It was launched on the occasion of World Digital Day (15th Dcember).
- The book highlights how important it is for human beings to be close to nature which helps to revive and recharge to do productive work.
- The book is dedicated to her father and his emphasis on Health and Education.
Honours & Awards
11. Avani Lekhara Bags 'Best Female Debut' Honour At 2021 Paralympic Awards
- Indian shooter Avani Lekhara won the "Best Female Debut" award at the 2021 Paralympic Awards for her record-breaking gold medal at the Tokyo Games.
- The 20-year-old from Jaipur won the gold in the women's 10m Air Rife Standing SH1 event earlier this year.
- She also won a bronze in the 50m Rifle Three Positions Standing SH 1 event
- She was also awarded Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honour, for the achievement.
Books & Authors
12. The Monk Who Transformed UP: Book on Yogi Adityanath's journey released
- A book on Yogi Adityanath titled "The Monk Who Transformed Uttar Pradesh" was released.
- The book has been authored by the Shantanu Gupta and published by Garuda Prakashan.
- The book chronicles how Yogi Adityanath transformed the state in various aspects like law and order, connectivity, education, health infrastructure, and overall growth.
- The author has previously written, "The Monk Who Became Chief Minister: The definitive biography of Yogi Adityanath
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