VISION

1)  International Civil Aviation Day : 7 December

•International Civil Aviation Day is celebrated every year on December 7 to recognize the importance of aviation to the social and economic development of the world. The purpose of International Civil Aviation Day is to help generate and reinforce worldwide awareness of the importance of international civil aviation to the social and economic development of States, and of the unique role of ICAO in helping States to cooperate and realize a truly global rapid transit network at the service of all mankind.

2)  National Armed Forces Flag Day celebrated on 7th December

•National armed forces day is also known as the National flag day of India. The day is every year celebrated and observed on 7th December. The aim to observe this day as the national armed forces day is to collect funds from the people for the betterment of armed forces. To know more about the national armed forces day, candidates are advised to read the article below.

3)  PM Modi inaugurated multiple projects worth Rs 18,000 crore in Uttarakhand

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of multiple projects worth Rs 18,000 crore at Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The 7 projects inaugurated consist of initiatives focusing on making travel safer including the 120 MW Vyasi Hydroelectric Project, along with Himalayan Culture Centre in Dehradun.

4)  RBI: Gujarat became India’s Largest Manufacturing Hub

•Gujarat has left behind Maharashtra to become the country’s leading manufacturing hub, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Gujarat saw its Gross Value Addition (GVA) in manufacturing grow by 15.9 per cent annually between FY12 to FY20 to stand at Rs 5.11 lakh crore, data shows. GVA is an economic metric that measures the supply of goods and services in an economy.

•Meanwhile, Maharashtra’s annual growth rate stood at nearly half of Gujarat’s at 7.5 per cent for the same time period and its GVA for manufacturing stood at Rs 4.34 lakh crore in FY20. Maharashtra is still the leading provider of services in India, with the state’s services GVA growing by 12.6 per cent annually, standing at Rs 15.1 lakh crore in FY20.

5)  Mathematician Nikhil Srivastava selected for inaugural AMS’s Ciprian Foias Award

•Indian-American mathematician, Nikhil Srivastava, who teaches at the University of California, Berkeley along with Adam Marcus and Daniel Spielman were awarded the First Ciprian Foias Prize in Operator Theory by the American Mathematical Society (AMS). Adam Marcus holds the Chair of Combinatorial Analysis at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland. Daniel Spielman is a Sterling Professor of Computer Science, a professor of statistics and data science, and a professor of mathematics.

•The $5,000 award has been given to Nikhil Srivastava for his work in developing and introducing techniques to understand the characteristic polynomial of matrices, including iterative sparsification. Nikhil Srivastava has earlier jointly won the George Polya Prize in 2014, and the Held prize in 2021 making this his third major award. He is an associate professor of mathematics at UC Berkeley.

6)  PM Modi inaugurated thought Leadership Forum on FinTech ‘InFinity Forum’

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated a thought leadership forum on FinTech, ‘InFinity Forum’. The event was hosted by International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), under the aegis of the Government of India in collaboration with GIFT City and Bloomberg. Indonesia, South Africa and the United Kingdom were the partner countries in the 1st edition of the Forum.

•The Forum focused on the theme of ‘Beyond’ with various sub-themes. The sub-themes include FinTech beyond boundaries, FinTech beyond Finance, and FinTech Beyond Next, with a focus on how Quantum Computing could impact the nature of the Fintech industry in the future and promote new opportunities.

7)  Adama Barrow wins second term as Gambia’s President

•The President of Gambia, Adama Barrow, won the second term as President during Gambia’s presidential election by achieving over 53% votes from 50 of 53 constituencies. He defeated his main challenger Ousainou Darboe who won 27.7% of vote. The results of the election were declared by Electoral commission Chairman Alieu Momarr Njai. Adama Barrow’s assumption as President 5 years ago ended more than 20 years of the dictatorship of former dictator Yahya Jammeh.

8)  A new book titled “1971: Charge of the Gorkhas and Other Stories” released

•A new book that unearths true stories of the 1971 Indo-Pak war, ’1971: Charge of the Gorkhas and Other Stories, written by Rachna Bisht Rawat, was released. The book includes, from the story of the flight lieutenant who went missing after his plane crashed inside Pakistan to the ‘last khukri attack’ in modern military history.

9)  Ravindra Jadeja ropes as Brand Ambassador of Kinara Capital

•Bangalore based innovative, fast-growing fintech, Kinara Capital signed the Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja, as its official brand ambassador on the occasion of the company’s 10th anniversary. Kinara Capital provide loan service to India’s MSMEs. Till date, Kinara Capital has disbursed 70,000 collateral-free loans. With this partnership, Kinara aims to boost its outreach in financing the MSME sector in the country. With a current AUM of INR 1000 crores, Kinara Capital plans to grow 500 per cent by the year 2025.

📰 India raises "unprovoked aggression" on the northern borders with Russia during Putin's visit to the country

Forum IAS RED BOOK Mains 2021 Ethics [GS – 4] PDF

1)  World Soil Day observed on 5 December

•World Soil Day is celebrated every year on December 5 to raise awareness of the importance of soil quality for human well-being, food security and ecosystems. World Soil Day 2021 (#WorldSoilDay) and its campaign “Halt soil salinization, boost soil productivity” aims to raise awareness of the importance of maintaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being by addressing the growing challenges in soil management, fighting soil salinization, increasing soil awareness and encouraging societies to improve soil health.

2)  International Volunteer Day celebrated on 5 December 2021

•International Volunteer Day (IVD), also called International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development is observed on 5 December every year. International Volunteer Day Theme 2021: “Volunteer now for our common future”. The purpose of the day to celebrate the efforts of volunteers and organizations and offer the opportunity to promote volunteerism, encourage governments to support volunteer efforts and recognize volunteer contributions to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at local, national and international levels.

3)  Nizamuddin Basti project wins two UNESCO heritage awards

•Nizamuddin Revival Project, India’s project on the holistic urban revitalisation of the historic Nizamuddin Basti community, in New Delhi has won the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation 2021. The project involves the meticulous restoration of over 20 historic monuments clustered around the 14th-century mausoleum of the revered Sufi saint, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya.

Nizamuddin Revival Project won these awards under 2 categories:

•Award of Excellence

•Special Recognition for Sustainable Development.

4)  India and EU will set up Clean Energy and Climate Partnership

•India and European Union (EU) have agreed to step up their Clean Energy and Climate Partnership. They jointly agreed on a detailed work program until 2023 to implement the 2016 India-EU Clean Energy and Climate Partnership. The Panel agreed on increased technical cooperation in energy efficiency, renewable energy, green hydrogen, grid integration, storage, power market design, interconnection, cold chain, and sustainable financing.

•The Panel also agreed to explore further avenues to strengthen India-EU cooperation within the context of the International Solar Alliance. EU expressed its support for the close cooperation between India and the International Energy Agency. India and EU also agreed to exchange closely on clean energy in the frame of G20.

5)  Jharkhand CM launched ‘Hamar Apan Budget’ Web Portal

•Jharkhand Chief Minister, Hemant Soren has launched a web portal named ‘Hamar Apan Budget’ and a mobile application prepared by the state finance Department from the Chief Minister’s residential office in Ranchi. Through this portal, the general public of the state can share their suggestions for the 2022-23 budget. The public can give suggestions through Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and e-mail and also through the app by downloading the ‘Hamar Budget’ from Google Playstore for Android phones.

6)  Cambridge Dictionary names ‘perseverance’ Word of the Year 2021

•Perseverance, a word that captures the undaunted will of people across the world to never give up, despite the many challenges of the last 12 months, is Cambridge Dictionary’s Word of the Year 2021. Perseverance has been looked up more than 243,000 times on the website in 2021, the first time it has made a noticeable appearance. NASA’s Perseverance Rover made its final descent to Mars on 18 February.

7)  GDP Growth: S&P projected India’s GDP growth forecast at 9.5% in FY22

•S&P Global Ratings has retained the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast of India unchanged at 9.5 percent for the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) and 7.8 per cent for the year ending FY23. GDP growth projection of India was revised for FY 24 to 6 per cent from 5.7 percent estimated earlier. Rising inflation is a pressure point, unlike elsewhere in emerging Asia, but external demand continues to support growth, S&P noted.

8)  NHAI : Alka Upadhyaya appointed as chairperson of NHAI

•Centre effects major bureaucratic reshuffle. The Centre has appointed Alka Upadhyaya as chairperson of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). A 1990-batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, Upadhyaya is currently Additional Secretary, Department of Rural Development.

9)  Nation remembers BR Ambedkar on his 66th death anniversary

•India observes December 6 as Mahaparinirvan Divas every year to mark the death anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, who fought for the economic and social empowerment of Dalits in the country. He was popularly known as Babasaheb Ambedkar passed away on December 6, 1956. The Union government has decided to celebrate Mahaparinirvan Divas as part of the major commemoration of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. 

10)  Goldman Sachs: India’s GDP to grow 9.1% in 2022

•Wall Street brokerage, Goldman Sachs has estimated India’s GDP growth at 9.1 per cent in 2022. After India’s economy contracted by a sharp 7 per cent in 2020, Goldman Sachs pegged the economy to grow at 8 per cent in 2021 and 9.1 per cent in 2022. It earlier estimated India’s economic growth to 11.1 per cent in the fiscal year to March 31, 2022.

📰 Hyderabad’s ‘rocketmen’ duo aim for the skies

Insights IAS Current Affairs November 2021 PDF

1)  Indian Navy Day : Celebrate The Achievements 04 December

•In India, December 4 is observed as the National Navy Day every year, to celebrate the achievements and role of the naval force to the country. The theme of Indian Navy Day 2021 is ‘Swarnim Vijay Varsh’ signifying 50 years of India’s victory in the Indo-Pakistan war that took place in 1971.

2)  International Day of Banks: 04 December

•International Day of Banks is celebrated on December 4 to recognise the importance of multilateral and international development banks in financing sustainable developments. United Nations also observes the day in recognition of the vital role of banking systems in Member State in contributing to the improvement of the standard of living.

3)  World Cooperative Monitor report 2021: IFFCO ranks first

•The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) has been ranked ‘number one Cooperative’ among the top 300 cooperatives in the world. The ranking is based on the ratio of turnover over the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. It signifies that IFFCO is contributing significantly to the GDP and economic growth of the nation. The 2021 edition of the 10th Annual World Cooperative Monitor (WCM) report, withholding its position from the 2020 edition.

4)  OECD projected India growth forecast to 9.4% for FY22

•Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) decreased India’s growth forecast to 9.4% for FY22 from 9.7% estimated in September 2021. It has projected the Indian economy to grow at 8.1% in FY23, and moderate to 5% in FY24. OECD lowered the global growth forecast for 2021 to 5.6% from 5.7% earlier.

•According to OECD, low-skilled domestic migrants and urban workers, who faced the brunt of employment shocks in both waves of the pandemic in India, have yet to see their earnings return to pre-pandemic levels.

5)  Pradip Shah appointed as Chairman of National Asset Reconstruction Company

•Pradip Shah, the founder of IndAsia Fund Advisors, has been appointed chairman of the National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL). Shah, an MBA from Harvard and chartered accountant, is credited for establishing India’s first and largest housing finance company, HDFC, and rating firm Crisil.

•While Aditya Birla Asset Reconstruction Company managing director Sanjay Jain will be the chief executive of India Debt Resolution Company (IDRCL), the privately-owned asset management company (AMC) mandated to resolve bad loans acquired by NARCL.

6)  Ratan Tata to get Assam’s highest civilian award

•On the occasion of Assam Divas, the state government of Assam has decided to accolade renowned industrialist Ratan Tata with the ‘Asom Bhaibav’ award, the highest civilian state award for his contribution to cancer care in the state. The awards that precede it are Asom Saurav, followed by Asom Gaurav. With healthcare as one of its top priorities, the Assam government is showing its appreciation towards Tata’s push to cancer care in the region.

•The Tata Trust, in collaboration with the Assam government, had decided to set up 19 cancer care units during the ‘Advantage Assam – Global Investment Summit’ in 2018 and an MoU had been signed between the Assam government and Tata Trusts. The hospitals were to be set up on a three-tier system and constructed under the divisions L1, L2 and L3, which signified the standard of care that would be provided by them. Ratan Tata had laid the foundation stone for the cancer care units in the state.

7)  India will have nine nuclear reactors by 2024

•The nation will have nine nuclear reactors by 2024 and a new nuclear project, the first in northern India, will come up 150 kms away from Delhi in Gorakhpur of Haryana, the government informed the Rajya Sabha. By 2024, India will have nine nuclear reactors plus 12 new additional ones which were approved during the Covid times with a capacity of 9000 MW.

•The minister said that nuclear energy will soon emerge as one of the most important sources of alternative or clean energy for the increasing power demand of the country. India is counting on its nuclear program to help meet its Paris climate commitments to reduce the emissions intensity of its economy by a third from 2005 levels by 2030.

8)  Earth Station of Doordarshan Kendra inaugurated in Gorakhpur

•Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Singh Thakur and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated Earth Station of Doordarshan Kendra at Gorakhpur. Three FM stations of All India Radio were also inaugurated virtually on the occasion. This will be the second earth station of Doordarshan in Uttar Pradesh and it is being built at a cost of Rs.7 crore.