NATIONAL UPDATES:
1. Tamil
Nadu CM launched ‘Meendum Manjappai’ scheme: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.
Stalin has launched the ‘Meendum Manjappai’ scheme to promote the use of cloth
bags by the public and discourage the use of plastic bags. This awareness
campaign on using ‘yellow’ cloth bag or ‘manjapai’ as it is called in Tamil, is
aimed at encouraging the people to return to the use of this eco-friendly bag
and discard the plastic bags. The state government had enforced a ban on the
production, use, storage, distribution, transportation or sale of 14 types of
plastics with effect from January 1, 2019.
A government committee has identified the
single-use plastic (SUP) items to be banned based on an index of their utility
and environmental impact. It has proposed a three-stage ban:
(1) The first category of SUP items
proposed to be phased out are plastic sticks used in balloons, flags, candy,
ice cream and earbuds, and thermocol that is used in decorations.
(2) The second category proposed to be
banned from July 1, 2022, includes items such as plates, cups, glasses and
cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straws, trays; wrapping and packing
films used in sweet boxes; invitation cards; cigarette packets; stirrers and
plastic banners that are less than 100 microns in thickness.
(3) The third category of prohibition is
for non-woven bags below 240 microns in thickness. This is proposed to start
from September next year.
2. Rajnath
Singh inaugurates Brahmos missile manufacturing unit in Lucknow: Defence Minister
Rajnath Singh has laid the foundation stone of the BrahMos Aerospace cruise
missile manufacturing unit in Lucknow. He also laid the foundation of DRDO
Defence Technology and Test Centre in Lucknow. BrahMos Project will help in
creating 5,500 fresh job opportunities.
About the BrahMos Missile:
(1) BrahMos is a joint venture between the
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of India and the NPOM of
Russia. BrahMos missile derives its name from the Brahmaputra river of India
and the Moskva river of Russia.
(2) All the three wings of the Indian
defence forces have already inducted the BrahMos advanced weapon system.
(3) Recently, India successfully test-fired
the air version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from the integrated
test range of Chandipur.
Note: Uttar Pradesh Capital: Lucknow; Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath; Uttar Pradesh Governor: Anandiben
Patel.
3. For
Now, Covaxin Likely to Be Only Covid Vaccine Available for Children of 15-18
Years: Report: Bharat
Biotech’s Covaxin is likely to be the only Covid-19 vaccine available, for now,
for children in the age group of 15-18 years, who will be inoculated from
January 3, official sources said. Also, healthcare and frontline workers and
citizens above 60 years of age with comorbidities would be administered the
third dose of the same vaccine they had been given before. The decisions came
amid rising Covid cases linked to the Omicron variant of the virus. The
precaution dose will also be available for citizens above 60 years of age and
with comorbidities on the advice of their doctor from January 10 next year as
well.
4. Puducherry
LG Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan inaugurates River Festival 2021: Puducherry
Lieutenant Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan inaugurated the River Festival
2021 at the villyanur Thirukanchi Temple. As a part of the Azadi Ka Amrit
mahotsav, to celebrate India ‘s 75th year of independence, the Puducherry
Tourism Department organised the Sankaraparani River Festival – 2021 in
villianur commune – thirukanchi Gangai varaha Nadeeswarar temple. To create
awareness on river rejuvenation and rainwater harvesting a cleaning camp was also
organised along with sapling planting program at the Sankarabharani worship
event.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. Indian-origin
judge appointed to South Africa’s highest judicial bench: Indian origin,
Narandran ‘Jody’ Kollapen has been appointed to South Africa’s highest judicial
bench, the Constitutional Court. The appointment of 64-year-old Kollapen &
Rammaka Steven Mathopo as the latest additions to the Constitutional Court
after a lengthy process of public interviews. Both will take office from
January 1, 2022. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the appointment of Rammaka
Steven Mathopo and Kollapen to the Constitutional Court after lengthy public
interviews.
About the Kollapen: Kollapen started
his legal practice in 1982 and used to take up public interest cases. The
Presidency said that the new appointees have an illustrious career in the
judiciary and the legal profession. After becoming the National Director of
Lawyers for Human Rights in 1995, he became the Commissioner of the South
African Human rights Commission in 1997 and was a part of the Commission till
2009. Since then, Kollapen has worked with numerous NGOs and organizations and
has spoken about Human Rights in universities like Harvard and also at the
United Nations.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1.
Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021: Himachal Pradesh beats Tamil Nadu: Himachal Pradesh
beat Tamil Nadu by 11 runs (VJD Method) in the final to win their maiden Vijay
Hazare Trophy title, at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. Batting first,
Tamil Nadu posted a challenging total of 314 in 49.4 overs. In reply, Himachal
were 299 for 4 in 47.3 overs when bad light stopped play and the chasing side
were declared winners via the VJD (V Jayadevan rule) method.
Shubham Arora’s unbeaten century and his
148-run stand with Amit Kumar (74) for the fourth wicket powered Himachal
Pradesh to their first-ever Indian domestic title win, Vijay Hazare trophy
2021-22 final.
2.
Pankaj Advani won National Billiards Title 2021: Pankaj Advani has defended
his National Billiards Title by winning his 11th tournament, after defeating
his PSPB teammate Dhruv Sitwala in a 5-2 game final that was held in Bhopal,
Madhya Pradesh. He represented the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) team
in the National Billiards Championship. The 88th National Billiards and Snooker
Championships 2021, organised by Cue Sports India at Bhopal, MP.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1.
Tokenisation RBI: Extends card tokenisation deadline till June 2022: Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) has extended the card-on-file (CoF) tokenization deadline by 6
months i.e., to June 30, 2022. Earlier the deadline was fixed till December 31,
2021. In March 2020, RBI had issued guidelines for the regulation of payment
aggregators and payment gateways, prohibiting payment aggregators and merchants
to store customer card credentials within their database or server from 30 June
2021. In September 2021, RBI extended the scope of tokenization from
device-based tokenization to CoF tokenization services and barred merchants
from storing actual card data while online transactions. RBI has fixed the
deadline for card tokenization to January 1, 2022.
2.
Paytm Payments Bank tie-up with MoneyGram to enable international fund
transfer: Paytm
Payments Bank has partnered with MoneyGram, a peer-to-peer remittance company
to enable international fund transfer directly to Paytm Wallet. Under the
Partnership, MoneyGram users abroad can now transfer money to any full Know
Your Customer (KYC)-compliant Paytm wallet. MoneyGram transactions in India
received digitally stands at nearly 50 per cent of all transactions received in
the country. This is MoneyGram’s first mobile wallet partnership in India.
About the MoneyGram: MoneyGram
transactions in India received digitally currently represent nearly 50 per cent
of all transactions received in the country. The number of transactions sent
directly to bank accounts is up about six times from just under 10 per cent two
short years ago.
Note: Paytm Payments Bank Founded: 2015;
Paytm Payments Bank Headquarters: Noida, UP; Paytm Payments Bank Founder &
CEO: Vijay Shekhar Sharma.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1.
SIDBI signs MoU to develop MSME ecosystem in West Bengal: SIDBI has signed
a memorandum of understanding with the government of West Bengal to develop the
MSME ecosystem in the state, a SIDBI official said. As per the MoU a project
management unit (PMU) of SIDBI will work with the state government. The PMU will
support the West Bengal government in making necessary interventions for
focused engagement of SIDBI with the objective of facilitating development of
the MSME ecosystem.
2.
Kamlesh Gandhi named new Co-Chairman of FIDC: Finance Industry
Development Council (FIDC) has announced fresh appointments to its board of
directors. Kamlesh Gandhi, CMD of MAS Financial Services has been appointed as
Co-Chairman, FIDC in addition to Umesh Revankar, CEO and MD of Shriram
Transport Finance Group. Sanjay Chamria has resigned as the Co-Chairman and
Director, FIDC.
Finance Industry Development Council
(FIDC), which is a representative body of asset and loan financing NBFCs, has
announced fresh appointments to its board of directors. Dinanath Dubhashi, MD
and CEO, L&T Finance Holdings has been appointed as an additional Director
of FIDC. The appointments were approved at a board meeting of FIDC on December
21.
Note: FIDC was formed in 2004; FIDC is
Headquartered in Mumbai.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1.
Federal Bank & Vayana Network won the ‘Most Effective Bank-Fintech
Partnership’ award:
Vayana Network, one of India’s largest trade finance platforms, and Federal
Bank, a leading Private Sector Bank have been awarded the ‘Most Effective
Bank-Fintech Partnership: Agile and Adaptable’ at the IBSi-Global Fintech
Innovation Awards 2021. The award was conferred in recognition of Vayana
Network’s partnership with Federal Bank, for automating and simplifying Supply
Chain Finance. This year, the Innovation Awards attracted global attention with
over 190 participants from 48 countries.
About the partnership: Federal Bank
partnered with Vayana Network to provide a seamless onboarding experience to
dealers through their unique ‘Full Stack’ tech infrastructure – that
facilitates end to end digital solution including client supply chain account
set up, monitoring, digital authentication of documents on the transaction
platform and notification to customers at every step.
Note: Federal Bank Headquarters: Aluva,
Kerala; Federal Bank MD & CEO: Shyam Srinivasan; Federal Bank Tagline: Your
Perfect Banking Partner.
DEFENCE
1.
ASIGMA: Indian Army launched in-house messaging app: Indian Army has
launched a contemporary messaging application named ‘ASIGMA’ (Army Secure
IndiGeneous Messaging Application). It is a new generation web-based
application developed entirely in-house by a team of officers of the Corps of
Signals of the Army. It works as an alternative to Army Wide Area Network
(AWAN) messaging application which has been in service for the past 15 years.
The application has been sent out on Army-owned hardware and will cater to the
army from this time forward, lending itself to lifetime support with future
upgrades.
Why Indian Army launch this app?
The messaging application is designed to
meet all futuristic requirements for the army and boasts of an enhanced user
experience. It comes with a variety of contemporary features including
multi-level security, dynamic global address book, message prioritisation, and
tracking, and options to meet the requirements of the army at present. This
future-ready messaging application will meet the real-time data transfer and
messaging requirements of the Army, especially in the backdrop of the current
geopolitical security environment. ASIGMA has been developed in line with the
Government of India’s, Make in India initiative.
Note: Chief of the Army Staff: Manoj Mukund
Naravane.
2.
Indian Navy decommissioned INS Khukri after 32 years: INS Khukri (Pennant
number 49), the first indigenously built Missile Corvette, was decommissioned
after 32 years of service at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The warship was
built by the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (MSD) and commissioned on 23rd August
1989 and had been part of both the Western and Eastern Fleets. The ship was
commissioned in Mumbai by Shri Krishna Chandra Pant, the then Raksha Mantri and
Mrs Sudha Mulla, wife of late Capt Mahendra Nath Mulla. Commander (now Retired
Vice Admiral) Sanjeev Bhasin was the first Commanding Officer.
Note: Chief of Naval Staff: Admiral R Hari
Kumar; Indian Navy Founded: 26 January 1950.
OBITUARIES
1.
South African campaigner Archbishop Desmond Tutu passes away: Archbishop Desmond
Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and veteran of South Africa`s struggle against
white minority rule, has died aged 90. He was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 1984
for his non-violent opposition to apartheid. A decade later, he witnessed the
ends of that regime and he chaired a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, set
up to unearth atrocities committed during those dark days.
2. Former England Test Captain Ray Illingworth passes away: Former England captain, Ray Illingworth has passed away. He played 61 Tests for England between 1958 and 1973 and captained the country 31 times, winning 12 matches and an Ashes series in Australia in 1970. He was an all-rounder who scored 1,836 Test runs at an average of 23.24 and claimed 122 wickets with his off-spin bowling at 31.20. He was chairman of the England selectors between 1993 and 1996 and coached the team in 1995-96.
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