Daily Current Affairs and GK | 3 December 2021

Topic: Important Days

1. International Day of Persons with Disabilities: 03 December

• International Day of Persons with Disabilities is observed annually on 03 December to promote rights and wellbeing of persons with disabilities.
• The theme for International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2021 is “Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 world.”
• United Nations General Assembly had proclaimed 03 December as International Day of Persons with Disabilities in 1992.
• Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was adopted in 2006. It is an international treaty for the protection of rights and dignity of disabled people.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

2. Government will launch a scheme for the development of students from Scheduled Castes.

• Scheme for Residential Education for Students in High Schools in Targeted Areas (SRESHTA) will be launched by the Government.
• The scheme will be launched for socioeconomic upliftment and overall development of Scheduled Castes students.
• The scheme will be inaugurated on Dr. B R Ambedkar's Mahaparinirvan Diwas on December 6th.
• The scheme will also help to reduce SC students' dropout rates from 9th to 12th grades.
• Over the next five years, the Ministry would provide 300 crore rupees in support to around 25 thousand deserving SC students in order to provide them with quality residential education.

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

3. Bhubaneswar will host a two-day regional conference on 'Replication of Good Governance Practices.'

• The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), in partnership with the Government of Odisha, will hold a semi-virtual Regional Conference in Bhubaneswar on December 3-4, 2021.
• The Conference will be organized with the theme: "Replication of Good Governance Practices."
• The Conference's major aim is to bring national and state level public administration organizations on the same platform.
• On the second day of the conference, a presentation on 'Administrative Innovations in Odisha' will be given under the chairmanship of Shri Sanjeev Chopra, Additional Chief Secretary, Odisha.
• In a semi-virtual format, delegates from 14 states in India's North-Eastern and Eastern regions will attend the conference.

Topic: Appointments

4. Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta takes charge as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C), Eastern Naval Command.

• Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta has taken charge as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C), Eastern Naval Command on 01 December 2021.
• Vice Adm Biswajit Dasgupta is an alumnus of National Defence Academy. He was commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1985.
• He is a recipient of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service.
• He was also awarded the Yudh Seva Medal for coordinating evacuation operations from strife-torn Yemen in 2015 under Operation Raahat.
• He was the Chief of Staff, Eastern Naval Command since Jun 2020.
• Eastern Naval Command is one of three commands of Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: State News/ Uttarakhand

5. PM Modi inaugurated and laid foundation stone of many projects in Dehradun.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid foundation stones and inaugurate multiple projects in Dehradun.
• He inaugurated project worth 18 thousand crore rupees to improve road infrastructure and increase tourism in the region.
• He also laid the foundation stone of the project related to the development of water supply, road and drainage system in Dehradun.
• The infrastructural project also includes the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor, which will be built at a cost of around eight thousand 300 crore rupees.
• Delhi-Dehradun Corridor will reduce the travel time from Delhi to Dehradun from six hours to around 2.5 hours. It will have Asia’s largest wildlife elevated corridor.
• A bridge across the River Ganga next to the Lakshman Jhula will be also constructed. It will also have a glass deck for walking and it will also allow light weight vehicles to move.
• A greenfield alignment project connecting Halgoa, Saharanpur, Haridwar will be constructed.
• The Haridwar Ring Road Project from Manoharpur to Kangri will be constructed at a cost of over 16 hundred crore rupees. The 120 Mega Watt Vyasi Hydroelectric Project will be built over River Yamuna.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Sports

6. Anju Bobby George wins World Athletics Women of year award.

• Indian Athlete Anju Bobby George has been awarded with the World Athletics Women of year award.
• She had won the bronze medal in the long jump at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics in Paris.
• She is the first Indian athlete to win a medal in the World Championship with a jump of 6.70m. She also wins the gold medal at the IAAF World Athletics Final.
• She received the Woman of the Year award at the World Athletics Awards for her efforts in inspiring women to make career in sports.
• She was awarded with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award in 2004 and the Arjun award in 2003.
• She is the Chairperson of TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) and is also the Executive member of the Khelo India project.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/ Arunachal Pradesh

7. Sanjay Dutt appointed as Brand Ambassador of ‘50 Years of Arunachal Pradesh’ celebration.

• Arunachal Pradesh government appoints Sanjay Dutt as Brand Ambassador of ‘50 Years of Arunachal Pradesh’ celebration.
• Sanjay Dutt started media campaign for the month-long celebrations, from 20th January to 20th February, 2022.
• The celebrations will start from 20th January 2022 at Ziro in Lower Subansiri district.
• It will cover all the five river basins of the state after which the first districts were named viz, Kameng, Subansiri, Siang, Lohit and Tirap.
• The celebration will end on 20th February 2022 at Itanagar during the 36th Statehood Day celebrations.
• Filmmaker Rahul Mittra has been appointed as brand advisor on the occasion of golden jubilee celebrations, marking 50th year of naming of state.
• Arunachal Pradesh was erstwhile known as North Eastern Frontier Agency. It came into existence as a Union Territory on 20th January 1972. It became full-fledged state of India on 20 February 1987.

Topic: Sports

8. Rajshree Sancheti won women's 10-metre air rifle national title at the Madhya Pradesh State Shooting Academy range in Bhopal.

• In Shooting, Rajshree Sancheti won women's 10-metre air rifle national title at MP State Shooting Academy range in Bhopal.
• Zeena Khitta of Himachal Pradesh won silver. Shreya Agrawal won bronze.
• Tamil Nadu's R. Narmada Nithin won junior women's 10m air rifle crown. Zeena finished second yet again. Pahuni Pawar of Karnataka won the bronze.
• The pair of Mairaj Ahmad and Areeba Khan won the Mixed Skeet Team title in Patiala.
• In Delhi's Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range, Punjab's Vijayveer Sidhu won gold in the 25-metre Standard Pistol event.

Topic: State News/ Uttar Pradesh

9. Earth Station of Doordarshan Kendra to be inaugurated in Gorakhpur.

• Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Singh Thakur will inaugurate the Earth Station of Doordarshan Kendra in Gorakhpur.
• On this occasion, three FM stations of All India Radio will be also inaugurated. It will be the second earth station of Doordarshan in Uttar Pradesh.
• This Earth Station will help in telecasting programmes generated at the local level through DTH across the world. It will be a boon for the Bhojpuri artists.
• Three FM stations of All India Radio will be inaugurated virtually at Etawah, Lakhimpur Kheri, and Bahraich districts.
• All India Radio:
  • It was established in 1936. It is a division of Prasar Bharati.
  • Its motto is ‘Bahujan Hitaya: Bahujan Sukhaya’. It is officially known as Akashvani.

 Topic: National News

10. India has completed its ambitious goal of generating 40% of its installed electrical capacity from non-fossil fuels.

• India has accomplished the ambitious target of 40 percent of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources.
• The country's total installed non-fossil fuel-based capacity is 156.83 Giga Watts.
• Last month, the country has reached this goal, well ahead of the target year set at the Conference of the Parties-21 in France.
• India had promised to obtain 40% of its installed electrical capacity from non-fossil energy sources by 2030 as part of its Nationally Determined Contributions.
• Today, the country's installed renewable energy capacity is 150.05 Giga Watts, while nuclear energy-based installed electrical capacity is 6.78 Giga Watts.
• This takes the overall non-fossil energy capacity installed to 156.83 Giga Watts, accounting for 40.1 percent of the total installed electrical capacity of over 390 Giga Watts.
• According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement at the recently finished CoP-26, the government is committed to achieving 500 Giga Watts of installed energy capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030.

(Source: News on Air)

Topic: National News

11. Infinity Forum Idea Leadership Forum on Fintech has been launched by PM Modi.

• PM Narendra Modi has launched the InFinity Forum, a thought leadership forum on FinTech, through video conferencing on December 3, 2021.
• An interesting theme of the Infinity Forum is 'Beyond'.
• International Financial Services Centres Authority, under the aegis of the Government of India, has hosted the event in partnership with GIFT City and Bloomberg.
• In the first edition of the Forum, partner countries include Indonesia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
• The InFinity Forum will bring together the world's greatest minds in policy, business, and technology to discuss and provide actionable insight into how the FinTech industry can use technology and innovation to promote inclusive growth and serve humanity as a whole.
• Some of the prominent partners for this year's Infinity Forum include NITI Aayog, Invest India, FICCI, and NASSCOM.

(Source: News on Air)

Topic: National News

12. The nation paid tribute to the first President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, on his birth anniversary.

• On the occasion of the first President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad's birth anniversary, the President, Vice President, and Prime Minister Modi have paid tribute to him.
• The nation is celebrating the 137th birth anniversary of Dr. Rajendra Prasad and hailing him as a person of unique talent who made a distinguished contribution to the freedom movement.
• Rajendra Prasad, who was born in Bihar, is the first Indian president to have served on two terms.
• Rajendra Prasad was a real Gandhian, as well as a visionary statesman, skilled lawyer, fervent patriot, and devout nationalist.
• Bharat Ratna Rajendra Prasad is recognized for his outstanding contribution to nation-building.

(Source: News on Air)

Topic: Awards and Prizes

13. The Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize 2021 has been given to Dinyar Patel's biography of Dadabhai Naoroji.

• The prestigious Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize 2021 has been given to the author Dinyar Patel for his book "Naoroji: Pioneer of Indian Nationalism".
• It is a biography of one of the most significant figures in modern Indian history, Dadabhai Naoroji.
• The winner has been announced by the New India Foundation by a shortlist of six books, which covered a variety of themes and subjects.
• The award includes a cash prize of Rs 15 lakh as well as a citation.
• The Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize, which was established in 2018, honours high-quality non-fiction literature on modern and contemporary India written by writers of various nationalities and published in the preceding calendar year.
• The award is named after institution-builder Chattopadhyay, who had made substantial contributions to the independence struggle, the women's movement, refugee rehabilitation, and handicraft revitalization.
• Milan Vaishnav (2018), Ornit Shani (2019), and Amit Ahuja and Jairam Ramesh (jointly, 2020) are previous winners of the award.