Daily Current Affairs and GK | 15 December 2021

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

1. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar participated in 6th edition of Global Technology Summit (GTS).

• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has participated in the 6th edition of the Global Technology Summit.
• The 6th edition of the Global Technology Summit (GTS) will be held from December 14-16.
• Various topics including cryptocurrencies, encryption, vaccine supply chains, and cloud computing will be discussed during the Summit.
• Over 2,500 participants from all around the globe have pre-registered for the Summit.
• This year the Summit is being organized in a hybrid format. Global Technology Summit is the flagship event on geotechnology. It is being held since 2016.
• It is a platform for policymakers and domain experts to discuss policy aspects of trending technology.
• The theme of the 2021 Global Technology Summit is ‘Global Meets Local’.

Topic: Sports

2. India wins 6 medals at Asian Rowing Championship.

• India wins a total of 6 medals including 2 gold, 4 silver at the Asian Rowing Championship in Thailand.
• Senior rower Arvind Singh bagged a gold in the lightweight Men's single sculls event. India bagged silver medals in Men's Lightweight Double Sculls.
• Ashish Phugat and Sukhjinder Singh won the silver in the Lightweight Men's Double Sculls category.
• India's Bittu Singh, Jakar Khan, Manjeet Kumar and Sukhmeet Singh won the silver medal.
• Earlier, the Men's double sculls pair of Arjun Lal Jat and Ravi won gold.

Topic: Banking System

3. India Post Payments Bank and NPCI collaborated launched doorstep bill payment service.

• India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) and National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) collaborated to launch doorstep bill payment service.
• The main objective of the payment solution is to provide service to millions of customers located in rural areas.
• The service will enable payments of mobile postpaid, D2H recharge, school fees, and other utility services by using the bank's mobile banking service.
• With the help of this collaboration, NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd and IPPB have empowered citizens to pay bill through a network of Gramin Dak Sevaks and Postal staff.

Topic: Reports and Indices

4. Global Health Security (GHS) Index released on 8 December.

• The new 2021 Global Health Security (GHS) Index has been released on 8 December.
• In 2021, the world’s overall performance on the GHS Index score slipped to 38.9 (out of 100).
• India scored 42.8 points out of 100. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Maldvies have improved their score by 1-1.2 points.
• Global Health Security (GHS) Index has been jointly released by the non-profits Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
• 65% of countries had not published and implemented national public health emergency response plan for diseases with the epidemic.
• 73 % of countries doesn’t have the ability to provide expedited approval for medical countermeasures.
• GHS Index 2021 is based on the revised framework and updated data collection conducted between August 2020 and June 2021.
• GHS Index aims to spur measurable changes in national health security and improve international capability.

Topic: Appointments

5. Gautam Raghavan elevated to the head of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel.

• Indian-American political advisor Gautam Raghavan has been elevated to the head of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel.
• White House Presidential Personnel Office (PPO) is also written as Office of Presidential Personnel. It is tasked with examining new appointees.
• The post of White House PPO was held by Cathy Russell. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced his intent to appoint Cathy Russell as the next executive director of UNICEF.
• Gautam Raghavan was posted as PPO Deputy Director since January 2020.
• He is the editor of the book 'West Wingers: Stories from the Dream Chasers, Change Makers, and Hope Creators Inside the Obama White House'.

Topic: Sports

6. India inducts 148 athletes in the first list of TOPS athletes for 2024 Paris Games.

• 148 athletes in seven Olympic disciplines and six Paralympic disciplines have been identified for support under Target Olympic Podium Scheme.
• The 148 athletes have been identified at a meeting of the Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) of Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on 13 December. This includes 20 new inductees.
• The list includes players across seven sport disciplines. They are Cycling, Sailing, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Weightlifting, and Wrestling.
• The MOC also approved the lists in Para Sports (Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Shooting, Swimming, and Table Tennis).
• Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Boxing, Equestrian, Fencing, Golf, Gymnastics, Judo, Rowing and Tennis will be taken up in the next meeting later in December 2021.
• Seven athletes have earned elevation from the Khelo India Scheme and are among the new inductees to TOPS Development Group.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: International News

7. India voted against UNSC draft resolution to securitise climate action.

• India voted against the United Nations Security Council's (UNSC) draft resolution that seeks to link climate change with global security challenges.
• India argued that Security Council is not a place to discuss this issue. It can undermine the consensus reached at the recently concluded Glasgow Summit.
• India said that the resolution would only sow the seeds of discord among members of the UN Security Council.
• The resolution, led by Ireland and Niger, called for the inclusion of information on the security impacts of climate change.
• India argued that many of the UNSC members are the main contributors of climate change so the Security Council couldn’t take the decision wisely on the climate-related issues.
• India was backed by Russia as both highlighted concerns about a "securitised" approach to the issue.

Topic: Geography

8.  Undersea earthquake in Indonesia triggered tsunami warnings in the region.

• A 7.3 magnitude undersea earthquake struck off Indonesia's Flores Island has triggered tsunami warning in the region.
• According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake has hit at a depth of 18.5 kilometers (11.5 miles) under the sea and it is located 112 kilometers away from the town of Maumere.
• National Disaster Mitigation Agency of Indonesia has said that people have felt the earthquake strongly.
• Indonesia is a vast archipelago of 270 million people. It is very prone to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis.
• Indonesia is part of the Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific.
• The last major earthquake in Indonesia had struck with a magnitude of 6.2. It had killed 105 people and injured nearly 6,500 in West Sulawesi province.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

9. Government launched Second edition of ‘Animal Husbandry Startup Grand Challenge’.

• The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying in association with Startup India launched the Second edition of ‘Animal Husbandry Startup Grand Challenge’.
• It has been launched at an event celebrating ‘National Milk Day’ in Anand, Gujarat to commemorate the birth centenary of Dr. Varghese Kurien.
• The event has been organized in the presence of the Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Shri Parshottam Rupala.
• Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has launched the first edition of the startup grand challenge in 2019.
• The registration of the challenge can be done on the Startup India portal. For each of the 6 problem areas, a winner will be awarded with INR 10 Lakh and a runner-up with INR 7 Lakh as cash prizes.
• 12 winners of the challenge will get incubation. The incubator would be responsible for the virtual incubation of these startups for up to 3 months.
• A dedicated mentor from the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying would be assigned to each winner for 6 months.
• All startups will help in resolving the following problems:
  • Cost-effective, Long-term, and User-friendly Alternatives for Storage and Supply of Semen Doses
  • Development of Cost-effective Animal Identification (RFID) and Traceability Technology
  • Development of Heat Detection Kits

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

10. 6th Edition of the India Water Impact Summit concluded on 14^th December.

• 6th Edition of the India Water Impact Summit (IWIS) was concluded on 14th December.
• The five-day long India Water Impact Summit had started on 9th December.
• The summit was based on theme for River Resources Allocation- Planning and Management at the Regional Level.
• National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), New Delhi and Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga), Kanpur conducted valedictory session in a hybrid mode.
• During the session, Shri Bisweshwar Tudu, Minister of State, Ministry of Jal Shakti congratulated NMCG and c-Ganga for the remarkable effort of organizing the 6th IWIS.
• During the session a Memorandum of Understanding was also signed MoU between NMCG and the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), New Delhi.
• Shri Mike Pandey, three-time recipient of the Green Oscar Award also joined the session at the Summit through a video message on ‘Sunderbans – A fragile Ecosystem’.
• During 5-day Summit, an MoU between C-Ganga and Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO) for the development of a sludge management framework was signed.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: State News/Gujarat

11. PM Modi spoke at the foundation stone laying of MaaUmiya Dham Development Project.

• PM Modi spoke at the foundation stone laying of Maa Umiya Dham Development Project involving Umiya Mata Dham temple and temple premises in Gujarat, via video conferencing on 13 December.
• PM Modi exhorted people to take up organic farming and adopt new cropping patterns and crops.
• Union Home Minister had inaugurated a three-day ceremony to lay the foundation stone for Umiyadham temple at the Sola Umiya campus on the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway in Ahmedabad on December 11.
• MaaUmiya is the reigning deity of the Kadva Patidar community. Umiya Mata temple in Unjha is considered as a place of pilgrimage and centre of faith of Patidar community, especially the Kadva Patidars.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

12. Odisha government signed agreement with UNCDF and launched ‘Mission Shakti Living Lab’ project.

• Odisha government has signed agreement with United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and launched ‘Mission Shakti Living Lab’ project.
• The agreement has been signed by Department of Mission Shakti of Odisha government to economically empower women.
• Odisha government and UNCDF have jointly designed ‘Mission Shakti Living Lab’ to empower women economically and drive gender equality.
• There are 6.02 lakh SHGs comprising 70 lakh members organised under Mission Shakti across rural and urban areas of the state.
• The Mission Shakti Living Lab will incubate, scale and drive innovative digital solutions to create conditions for women to be financially healthy.

Topic: Economy

13. In November, WPI Inflation Hits Record High of 14.23% as crude and metal prices rose.

• The wholesale price-based inflation rate jumped to 14.23 percent in November, up from 12.45 percent in October, owing to a hardening of mineral oil, basic metals, crude petroleum, and natural gas prices.
• With wholesale price inflation running in double digits for the eighth month in a row. The WPI was 2.29 percent in November 2020.
• In November, inflation in fuel and power has been 39.81 percent, up from 37.18 percent in October. The food index increased by more than a quarter to 6.70 percent, up from 3.06 percent the previous month.
• In November, Crude petroleum inflation was at 91.74%, compared to 80.57 percent in October. However, inflation in manufactured goods has moderated to 11.92 percent from 12.04 percent in October.
• Among food items, fruit (15.5%) and protein-rich foods like eggs, milk, and fish (9.66%) witnessed rapid price increases compared to a year ago.
• Core inflation, which is non-food, non-fuel, hit a new high of 12.3 percent in November.
• The data about WPI and WPI based inflation are released by the office of economic adviser in Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.

Topic: State News/ Bihar

14. Mithila Makhana of Bihar receives a GI Tag after the government accepts plea.

• The Central Ministry of Commerce's Geographical Indications Registry (GIR) has accepted the petition to rename Bihar Makhana as Mithila Makhana.
• The ministry also suggested further amendments of the brand logo to better reflect its origin.
• The development has put an end to the controversy over the branding of one of the Mithila region's most famous makhana or fox nut products.