National News

Punjab declares Krishan Balram Rath Yatra as State Festival

• Punjab declared Lord Krishna Balram Jagannath Rath Yatra as an annual state
festival.

• He also announced a grant of Rs 2.51 crore for the Iskcon Temple in Ludhiana,
Punjab.

• Punjab Government is also developing the Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana

Research Centre on 20- acre land in Patiala.

• Rath Yatra is organised by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

(ISKCON).

• It is considered the second largest congregation of Lord Jagannath devotees in

the country after the historic Jagannath Yatra of Puri in Odisha.
 National News
Nagaland creates 3 new districts

• The State Government of Nagaland has created three new districts namely
Tseminyu, Nuiland and Chumukedima, reaching the total district tally of the state
to 15.
 National News
India’s First International Arbitration and
Mediation Centre inaugurated in Telangana
• Justice NV Ramana, Chief Justice of India and K Chandrasekhar Rao, Chief Minister of Telangana
has inaugurated India’s First International Arbitration and Mediation Centre at Hyderabad

• Arbitration is a method of resolving disputes outside of court.

 National News
Odisha Launched Mukhyamantri Vayu Swasthya Seva
• Odisha has launched the Mukhyamantri Vayu Swasthya Seva at the Biju Patnaik International
Airport and flagged off the first flight headed to Malkangiri District with a medical team.

• Under this scheme, specialist doctors will be flown to remote areas of Odisha to treat the people
suffering from serious diseases.

• In the first phase, the scheme will be made available for the tribal-dominated districts like
Nabarangpur, Nuapada and Kalahandi.
 National News
24th Lokrang-2021 in Jaipur
• Rajasthan’s Art and Culture Minister Dr. BD Kalla inaugurated 24th ‘Lokrang-2021’,
an annual festival of folk artists in Jaipur

• It is organized by JKK, Art and Culture Department and Rural Non-Agriculture

Development Agency

• The participating states are Rajasthan, West Bengal, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh,
Tripura, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Assam, Punjab, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh,
Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh
 National News
NSDC and GIF launched Project AMBER
• National Skill Development Corporation and Generation India Foundation launched
‘Project AMBER‘ (Accelerated Mission for Better Employment and Retention) at India
Habitat Centre, New Delhi to bridge the gap between skilling and employment.

• The project will be equally funded by the Ministry of Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship under the Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood
Promotion (SANKALP) programme, and private philanthropy.

• The project will be also be supported by the BlackRock Foundation, and McKinsey &
Company.

• Under the project, training will be provided for 30,000 youth with 50% of them being
women. The training will be conducted in Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras across 70
districts
 Conferences &
All India Mayors’ Conference in Varanasi Meetings

• Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the All India Mayors’ Conference held at Pt
Deendayal Upadhyay Trade Facilitation Centre in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

• Around 120 mayors from different states attended the conference held in Varanasi

• The theme of the conference was ‘New Urban India’.

India & US announce new programme ‘Technology-based MOUs &
Partnership
Energy Solutions: Innovations for Net Zero’
• India and the United States announced a new programme ‘Technology-based Energy Solutions:
Innovations for Net Zero’ to support innovations to tackle climate and clean energy challenges.

• The new program aligns with the goals under the U.S.-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda
2030 partnership agreement signed in April 2021.

• It will be administered by the bi-national Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum

 Kapil
MOUsKathpal
&
Government of India & KfW sign loan for Surat Metro Rail Project Partnership

• Government of India and the Germany Development Bank- KfW signed Euro
442.26 million loan for 40.35 km Surat Metro Rail project in Gujarat.

• The total cost of the project is Euro 1.50 billion

• The project is co-financed by French Development Agency, AFD with Euro 250
million.
 Kapil
MOUsKathpal
&
GACL and GAIL signed MoU Partnership

• Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Gujarat Alkalies and

Chemicals Limited and GAIL Limited for setting up of 500 Kilo Litre Per Day
capacity Bioethanol plant in Gujarat

• The estimated project cost is Rs. 1,000 crores

• The 500 KLD Bioethanol produced from this plant will be used for blending in
petrol.
 Defence News
Ballistic missile ‘Agni P’ successfully test-fired
• Defence Research and Development Organisation successfully test-fired its new
generation Agni Prime (Agni-P) missile. The test was done from a defence base
at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam island off the Odisha coast in Balasore.

• The surface nuclear capable ballistic missile with a range of 1000 to 2000 km.

• The longest of the Agni series is Agni-V with a range of over 5,000 km.
 Defence News
DRDO Conducts Flight Demonstration of
Controlled Aerial Delivery System
• The Defence Research and Development Organisation has conducted a flight demonstration of its
Controlled Aerial Delivery System by the DRDO’s Aerial Delivery Research and Development
Establishment in Agra, New Delhi.

• The Controlled Aerial Delivery System has the capacity to deliver 500-kilogram of payloads at a
predetermined location by the use of manoeuvrable capabilities of Ram Air Parachute
 Banking &
IFSCA Sets up Panel for Creating Financial News
Framework for Transfer of Stressed Loan
• The International Financial Services Centres Authority set up a committee for
creating a framework for the transfer of stressed loans from domestic lenders to
financial institutions.

• Former executive director of Reserve Bank of India G Padmanabhan will chair the
committee along with expertise in banking and legal firms.
 Banking &
Equitas Small Finance Bank Limited Became the Financial News
Banking Partner of Maharashtra
• Equitas Small Finance Bank Limited has empanelled as the banking partner of
the state government of Maharashtra

• The state government has authorised the Equitas SFB to open salary and
pension accounts for the existing and retired employees across 58 branches of
the bank across the state.

• The Bandhan Bank, Karur Vysya Bank, and the South Indian Bank have been
assigned the role of distributing salaries and allowances to the government
employees.

Equitas Small Finance Bank Limited:

• MD & CEO– Vasudevan Pathangi Narasimhan
• Headquarters– Chennai
 Awards &
Golden Peacock Environment Management Award 2021 Recognition

• The Steel Authority of India Limited awarded with the prestigious Golden Peacock
Environment Management Award 2021 in the Steel Sector by the Institute of
Directors

• SAIL received this award for the 3rd consecutive year.

• Golden Peacock Environment Management Award is a prestigious award that

was instituted by the World Environment Foundation in 1998.

Steel Authority of India Limited

• Chairperson- Soma Mondal (1st Woman Chairperson of SAIL)
• Headquarters– New Delhi
 International
Gabriel Boric becomes Youngest President Elect of Chile News

• Gabriel Boric, 35 year old, won Chile presidential elections, to become the
youngest-ever President elect of Chile.

• Gabriel Boric will assume office in March 2022 and will replace Sebastian Pinera

• Capital- Santiago
• Currency- Peso
 Brand
Uttarakhand State appoints Rishabh Pant as Brand Ambassador Ambassador

• Uttarakhand appointed Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant as the ‘State

Brand Ambassador’

• He is an Indian cricketer, wicket-keeper batsman

 Sports
BWF World Championships 2021
• Kidambi Srikanth made history by becoming the 1st Indian shuttler to win a silver medal in the men’s singles
at the Badminton World Federation world championships.

• He lost to Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew in the finals of Men’s Singles in the BWF World Championships 2021
held in Huelva, Spain.

• This is also the first time that a Men’s player from Singapore has won gold Medal at the BWF World
Championships.

• India’s Lakshya Sen won the Bronze Medal in the Men’s Singles in BWF World Championships 2021.

• Apart from Kidambi Srikanth 3 Other Men from India had also won the medal in the BWF Championship, they
are Prakash Padukone (bronze in 1983), B Sai Praneeth (bronze in 2019) and Lakshya Sen (bronze in 2021).
 Important Days
International Human Solidarity Day 2021 – December 20
• The United Nations International Human Solidarity Day is annually observed
across the globe on 20th December to create awareness about the importance of
solidarity, a socio-ethical and political concept, which states that it is fair and just
that benefits and obligations are shared between members of society.