VISION

1)  Indian National Farmer’s Day : 23 December

•Kisan Diwas or National Farmers’ Day is celebrated across the nation on December 23 to commemorate the birth anniversary of the fifth Prime Minister of India, Chaudhary Charan Singh. He brought farmer-friendly policies and worked towards the welfare of the farmers. He was the fifth Prime Minister of India and served the country as Prime Minister from 28 July 1979 to 14 January 1980.

2)  Jharkhand assembly passes Bill to prevent mob violence, lynching

•Jharkhand Assembly has passed the Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021, which aims at providing “effective protection” of constitutional rights and the prevention of mob violence in the state. After including one amendment, the Bill was passed and sent to the Governor for his assent. Once notified, Jharkhand will become the fourth state to bring in such a law after West Bengal, Rajasthan and Manipur.

3)  Odisha CM inaugurated Odisha’s longest bridge ‘T-Setu’ in Cuttack

•Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik has inaugurated the state’s longest bridge, ‘T-Setu’, built over the Mahanadi River in Cuttack District, Odisha. The bridge in the shape of the English alphabet ‘T’ was constructed at a cost of Rs 111 crore. The 4-km-long bridge connecting Gopinathpur in Badamba, Baideswar in Banki to Singhanath Pitha in Cuttack, will cut the distance between Badamba and Banki Baideshwar by almost 45 km.

•Chief Minister had laid the foundation stone T-setu on February 28, 2014. But, due to some technical issues, construction work was delayed and started in 2018. The bridge will facilitate communication for some five-lakh people from nearby localities. It will also improve agriculture, business and tourism activities in the area. It will benefit devotees, who are visiting Baba Singhanath’s Bali Makar Jatra in Badamba block.

4)  IOCL acquired 4.93% stake in Indian Gas Exchange

•Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) has announced that it has acquired a 4.93 per cent equity share in Indian Gas Exchange Limited – the country’s first automated national level gas exchange. The Board of Indian Oil at its meeting held on 20 December 2021 has accorded approval for the acquisition of 36,93,750 equity shares of the face value of Rs. 10/- each equivalent to 4.93 per cent of the share capital in Indian Gas Exchange Limited (IGX).

•The acquisition of an equity stake in IGX is a strategic opportunity for the country’s top oil refiner to become part of India’s natural gas market. IGX is a subsidiary of the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX). Indian Gas Exchange is the country’s first automated national level gas exchange, that ensures transparent price discovery in natural gas and facilitates the growth of natural gas in India’s energy basket.

5)  Advance tax collection rises 54% to Rs 4.60 lakh crore

•According to the finance ministry, advance tax collection increased by 53.50 per cent to Rs 4.60 lakh crore so far this fiscal year, indicating a recovery in the economy. Direct tax collections for 2021-22, as of December 16, show that net collections are at Rs 9.45 lakh crore compared to Rs 5.88 lakh crore over the year-ago period, representing an increase of 60.8 per cent.

•The cumulative advance tax collections for the primary, second and third quarter of 2021-22 stand at Rs 4,59,917.1 crore as on December 16, 2021, towards advance tax collections of Rs 2,99,620.5 crore for the corresponding interval of 2020-21, displaying a development of about 53.5 per cent.

6)  NPCI partners with Udemy Business to encourage skill employees

•National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has signed a partnership agreement with Udemy Business, to encourage innovative learning and skill development for employees of NPCI. The 3-year partnership with Udemy Business will offer courses on in-demand skills such as tech, domain, behavioural, and leadership skills to all NPCI employees. Through the mission ‘Talent Development for All’ of NPCI, it provides capacity-building programmes in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Blockchain, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), etc.

•Under its vision of ‘Talent Development for All’, NPCI is betting big on the capability building of its employees and has increased its budget for Learning & Development (L&D) by seven times. The three-year association with Udemy Business will offer courses on in-demand skills such as tech, domain, behavioural, and leadership skills to all NPCI employees, who will now be able to access challenging assignments to enable experiential learning.

7)  NITI Aayog tie-up with UN WFP to diversify food basket

•NITI Aayog has signed a Statement of Intent with the United Nations World Food Program (WFP). The partnership focuses on mainstreaming millets and supporting India in taking lead globally in knowledge exchange using the opportunity of 2023 as an International Year of Millets. The government of India observed 2018 as a year of millets.

8)  India successfully tests ‘Pralay’ missile off Odisha coast

•India successfully conducted the maiden flight test of the indigenously-developed, surface-to-surface missile ‘Pralay’ off the Odisha coast. The solid-fuel, battlefield missile developed by the Defence Research Development Organisation is based on Prithvi Defence Vehicle from the Indian ballistic missile programme. The missile, launched from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island.

9)  WADA report: India among world’s top three dope violators country

•India is among the world’s top three dope violators country in the world. Indian athletes were involved 152 times in dope-related activities in the year 2019. The report has revealed the latest report published by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), which has put India into the top-three of the world’s biggest violators behind Russia (167) and Italy (157). Brazil (78) is at fourth and Iran (70) fifth positions.

•In 2019, 152 (17 per cent of the world total) Anti-doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) were reported in India. The maximum dope offenders are from bodybuilding followed by weightlifting (25), athletics (20), wrestling (10), and boxing.

10)  Divya Hegde won UN Women’s Award for Leadership Commitment 2021

•Divya Hegde, an Indian Climate Action Entrepreneur from Udupi, Karnataka, has won UN Women’s Award for Leadership Commitment at the 2021 Regional Asia-Pacific Women’s Empowerment Principles Awards Ceremony. She has been recognized for her sustained efforts in advancing gender equality through climate action efforts with her organization, Baeru Environmental Services.

11)  Tusshar Kapoor released his debut book ‘Bachelor Dad’

•Tusshar Kapoor has written his first book titled ‘Bachelor Dad’. The actor became a single father to son Laksshya Kapoor via surrogacy in 2016. He has shared his journey of being a single father in the new book. The actor has shared his journey of the ‘slightly unconventional road to fatherhood’ in his debut book, Bachelor Dad. On the cover of the book, he can be seen carrying his son.

•Announcing the book, Tusshar wrote, “I WROTE A BOOK! Becoming a father has been one of the most cherished moments of my life and my first book, Bachelor Dad, talks about how I took a slightly unconventional road to fatherhood.”

VISION IAS MAINS 365 Classroom Study Material in Hindi Oct 2021-Nov 2021 PDF

📰 Troubled waters: On Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan custody

Vision IAS November 2021 Monthly Current Affairs in Hindi PDF

1)  National Mathematics Day : 22 December 2021

•India observes the National Mathematics Day every year on 22 December since 2012. The day is celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. This year nation celebrates his 134th birth anniversary of Ramanujan. The main objective behind the celebration of National Mathematics Day is to make people aware of the development of mathematics and its importance in the growth of humanity.

2)  PM Narendra Modi launched development projects in Goa

•On the occasion of Goa Liberation Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of several development projects worth over 650 crores rupees in Goa. He felicitated freedom fighters and veterans of ‘Operation Vijay’ at the function. He appreciated Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for keeping the pace of development up in the state.

3)  Punjab CM gave tag of ‘state festival’ to Jagannath Rath Yatra

•The Chief Minister of Punjab, Charanjit Singh Channi has declared Lord Krishna Balram Jagannath Rath Yatra as an annual state festival. The announcement for the same was made during flagging off the 25th Shri Lord Krishna Balram Jagannath Rath Yatra. He also announced a grant of Rs 2.51 crore for the Iskcon Temple in Ludhiana, Punjab. Notably, Punjab Government is also developing the Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana Research Centre on a 20-acre land in Patiala.

•This was not the first time that the Rath Yatra of Ludhiana set the stage for the elections. Ahead of the 2017 Punjab elections, Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia of AAP participated in the yatra. He also performed ‘Maha Aarti’ from the stage with party candidates.

4)  Gabriel Boric elected as youngest-ever President-elect of Chile

•35-year-old, Gabriel Boric, has won Chile presidential elections, to become the youngest-ever President-elect of Chile. He defeated his opposition Jose Antonio Kast in the elections. Gabriel Boric will assume office in March 2022, will become the youngest president in Chile’s history. Official results gave Mr Boric 56% of the votes against Mr Kast’s 44%. Mr Kast conceded defeat barely an hour-and-a-half after polls closed, and with around half of ballots counted.

•The president-elect also promised to block a controversial proposed mining project which he said would destroy communities and the national environment. Chile’s currency, the peso, plunged to a record low against the US dollar after Mr Boric’s victory. Stock markets fell by 10%, with mining stocks performing particularly badly.

5)  Indian Navy’s 2nd indigenous stealth destroyer ‘Mormugao’ sailed

•On Goa Liberation Day, Indian Navy’s indigenous stealth guided-missile destroyer ‘Mormugao’ went for her maiden sea trials. This second indigenous stealth destroyer of the Project 15 B (P15B) class, is planning to be commissioned in mid-2022. Mormugao is being built at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd as part of Project 15B destroyers and incorporates several indigenous technologies.

6)  Equitas Small Finance Bank became Partner of Maharashtra state govt

•Equitas Small Finance Bank has empanelled as the banking partner of the state government of Maharashtra with an aim to offer its services to employees of the State Government. 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.

•This partnership will enable the ESFBL to distribute salaries and allowances to the existing employees apart from making provision of pension to pensioners. 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.

7)  Atul Dinkar Rane appointed as BrahMos Aerospace CEO & MD

•Atul Dinkar Rane has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the BrahMos Aerospace Limited that manufactures the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. His pioneering contributions and techno-managerial leadership has been transformative for the successful development and induction of BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile into Armed Forces.

•Rane is renowned for his decades of sustained R&D contributions in the indigenous design and development of mission-critical Onboard Computers (OBC), hardware in loop simulation studies, systems analysis, development of mission software and avionics technologies for defence applications. His pioneering contributions and techno-managerial leadership has been transformative for the successful development and induction of BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile into Armed Forces.

8)  UP govt to launch ‘Free Smartphone Yojna’ on Dec 25

•The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is set to launch the ambitious ‘Free Smartphone Yojana on December 25, which is the birth anniversary of senior BJP leader and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Under the scheme, the state government will distribute smartphones and tablets to final year students of graduation and above.

•On December 25, the chief minister will distribute 60,000 smartphones and 40,000 tablets to the youths. More than 38 lakh youths have registered themselves on the Digi Shakti Portal. Further registration is going on.

9)  Pradeep Kumar Rawat appointed as India’s new envoy to China

•Senior Indian diplomat Pradeep Kumar Rawat, who is well-versed in negotiating with Chinese diplomats, has been appointed as India’s next Ambassador to China. Rawat’s appointment comes amid the lingering border stand-off in eastern Ladakh. Rawat is currently the country’s envoy to the Netherlands.

10)  Harjinder Singh named India’s Chef de Mission for Beijing Olympics

•The Indian Olympic Association of India (IOA) has appointed the Ice Hockey Association of India’s general secretary, Harjinder Singh, as the Chef de Mission of the country’s contingent for the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Singh was the Chef de Mission of the Indian contingent for the 23rd Winter Olympic Games too, which was held in Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2018.

•Harjinder Singh is the general secretary of the Ice Hockey Association and has also led the Indian contingent at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where India had two representatives – cross-country skier Jagdish Singh, and six-time Olympian luger Shiva Keshavan.

11)  PV Sindhu among 6 appointed members of BWF Athletes Commission till 2025

•Former world champion PV Sindhu has been appointed as a member of the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) Athletes’ Commission, along with five other people. The Chair and Deputy Chair will be decided among the six members. The Chair of the BWF Athletes’ Commission, following a vetting process as required for all Council members, will become a member of the Council until the next elections in 2025.

 Why in news?

The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021 has been passed in both houses of Parliament enabling the linking of electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem.

What is the government's rationale?

• A Parliamentary Standing Committee report on demands of grants of the Law Ministry released on March 2021 has been advocating linkage of unique Aadhaar number with voter I-card
• Now proposal has been unanimously approved by the Parliamentary Committee on Law and Justice.
• But, it is not clear if the specifics of the Bill had been discussed widely and public opinion sought.
• Supreme Court judgement - In March 2015, the Election Commission had started a National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme
• It has sought to link Aadhaar to voter IDs, in a bid to delete duplicated names.
• That year, the Supreme Court made it clear that Aadhaar card Scheme is purely voluntary and it cannot be made mandatory till the matter is finally decided by this Court.
• Now EC had issued necessary instructions to the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOS) of the States/UTs specifying that furnishing of Aadhaar number by electors is not mandatory and it is only optional.

How would the reforms benefit the people?

What is the News?

A three member-committee set up to examine the income criteria for determining the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) is expected to submit its report to the Centre.

What is the current income criteria fixed for EWS?

EWS reservation was granted based on the recommendations of a commission headed by Major General (retd) SR Sinho.

The current criteria fixed for EWS is: