Daily Current Affairs December 23 2021 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

National Mathematics Day: Dec 22

• Every year, December 22 is celebrated as National Mathematics Day in India in honour of mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920).
• This year India will celebrate the 134th Birth anniversary of Srinivasa Ramanujan
• The day was announced as the national mathematics day by paying the tribute to Ramanujan in Chennai.
• The celebrations were announced by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Madras University in 2012.
• Ramanujan died at the young age of 32 because of deteriorating health on April 26, 1920.
• Ramanujan was born on December 22, 1887, in Tamil Nadu’s Erode.
• He had enrolled himself in Madras’ Pachaiyappa College at the age of 14.
• He was one of the prestigious Indian Mathematicians who has mastered trigonometry at age of 12 and made great contributions to mathematical concepts such as number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

PANEX-21 inaugurated at Pune

• PANEX-21, a multi-national – multi-agency exercise is being organised at Pune from 20-22 Dec 2021.

Aim :

• To foster common and develop capabilities in Disaster Management aspects for the BIMSTEC nations.
• It deals with various aspects related to conduct of effective humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations during a natural disaster.
• The exercise is being attended by delegates and subject matter experts from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and
• The inaugural address was delivered by Lt Gen JS Nain, Army Commander, Southern Command at Armed Forces Medical College, Pune.
• Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) in his Keynote address over video conference.
• It is a well laid down procedure and coordination amongst BIMSTEC nations can be of huge assistance in saving human lives.
• The exercise will focus on reviewing the process of notification, preparedness and response mechanism.
• The member states shall promote their best practices and also recommend the evolution of BIMSTEC joint response mechanism for Disaster Management.
• Subject matter experts like Dr Soumya Swaminathan Chief Scientist WHO, Dr VK Paul, NITI Aayog amongst others attended the meet.

About PANEX-21 :

• The structure of PANEX-21 as a multi agency exercise including representation of experts from the Armed Forces, National Disaster Relief Force and other stakeholders, will be aimed at battling the challenges of disaster management.

About BIMSTEC :

• BIMSTEC – Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation
• Founded: 6 June 1997
• Secretary General : Tenzin Lekphell
• Headquarters : Dhaka, Bangladesh

About Ministry of Defence :

• Headquarters : New Delhi
• Defence Minister : Rajnath Singh
• Minister of State : Ajay Bhatt
• Defence Secretary : Dr. Ajay Kumar

Bharati Pravin Pawar inaugurates National Oxygen Stewardship Program

• Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare inaugurated the National Oxygen Stewardship Program of the Union Health Ministry, at AIIMS New Delhi.
• The initiative aims to empower all healthcare workers engaged in Oxygen management and administration with the essential knowledge and skills to ensure rational utilization and avoid any wastage of medical Oxygen, especially in resource constraint settings.
• It envisages to identify and train at least one “Oxygen Steward” in each district across the country.
• These trained professionals would be responsible for leading the training on Oxygen therapy and management in their respective districts and also support audit of oxygen delivery and preparedness for a surge scenario.
• Government of India has sanctioned more than 1500 Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen generation plants of which 1463 have been commissioned which include, 1225 PSA plants which have been installed and commissioned under PMCARES Fund in every district of the country.

Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog launches Vernacular Innovation Program (VIP) to Empower Innovators

• With an ambition to empower innovators and entrepreneurs across the country, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog has come up with a first of its kind Vernacular Innovation Program (VIP), which will enable innovators and entrepreneurs in India to have access to the innovation ecosystem in 22 scheduled languages by the Government of India.

• To build the necessary capacity for the VIP, AIM has identified and will be training a Vernacular Task Force (VTF) in each of the 22 scheduled languages.

• Each task force comprises of vernacular language teachers, subject experts, technical writers, and the leadership of regional Atal Incubation Centers (AICs).
• To get the program rolling, AIM NITI Aayog is launching a train-the-trainer program where it will collaborate with the Design Department of IIT Delhi to coach the VTF in design thinking and entrepreneurship and the adaptation of these subjects in the 22 languages and cultures.
• Furthermore, industry mentors have joined hands to lend design thinking expertise, and CSR sponsors have agreed to generously support the program.
• Upon training the task force over the period of December 2021 to April 2022, the ecosystem will be opened to vernacular innovators.
• Launching the VIP, Vice Chairman NITI Aayog Dr. Rajiv Kumar, India derives its identity from the diverse social and cultural fabric with regional languages being one of the most prominent cultural assets.

About NITI Aayog:

• Objectives: Foster involvement and participation in the economic policy-making process by the State Governments of India
• Formed: 1 January 2015
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Chairperson: Narendra Modi

Click here to read more;

Mansukh Mandaviya and Shri Bhupendra Patel jointly inaugurate pre-event of 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2022

• The Government of Gujarat is organising the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2022, from 10 -12 January 2022, at Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre, Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• A pre-event summit has been organised by the Health & Family Welfare Department, Government of Gujarat, with a theme “Holistic Healthcare focused on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices” on December 18, 2021, in Pandit Deendayal Energy University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• The pre-event summit was inaugurated by Shri Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare and Chemicals & Fertilizers and Shri Bhupendra Patel, Chief Minister of Gujarat. Ms. S. Aparna, IAS, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Government of India, Dr. Sarah Mcmullen, India Office Country Director, United States Food and Drug Control Administration (US FDA) and Dr. V. G. Somani, Drugs Controller General of India were also present on the occasion.
• The focus of the pre-event summit was on the following:-
• Boosting Bulk Drug Production through Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme
• Reducing India’s Dependence in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs & Medical Devices
• Jan Aushadhi Kendras – Generic Medicines

DPIIT to organize a National Workshop to brainstorm on Next Phase of Reforms for reducing compliance burden

• In a major bid to realize the nation’s goals of improving “Ease of living” and “Ease of doing business”, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is conducting a National Workshop on the “Next Phase of Reforms for Reducing Compliance Burden” on 22nd December, 2021.
• The Workshop will witness wide participation from across Central Ministries and States/UTs.
• The Workshop would have three parallel breakout sessions.
• The theme of the first would be “Breaking Silos and Enhancing Synergies among Government Departments”.
• This session would focus, among others, on integration between Central Ministries/Departments and State single window systems, deliberation on single business ID, etc.
• The second is based on the theme of “National Single Sign-on for Efficient Delivery of Citizen Services” which would deal with deliberations on on-boarding all citizen services by Central and State Government services under one roof – “National Citizen Centric Portal” and the creation of a ‘National Digital Profile’ for all citizens that shall be used to pre-fill Government forms and also as a tool to citizen benefit welfare discovery.
• The third Breakout Session is themed ‘Effective Grievance Redressal’ and the session would have discussion on several topics like usage of next generation technology in effective grievance redressal, accountability -based mechanism for enhanced effectiveness of redressal quality.

Click here to read more;

Amit Shah chaired the Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Home Affairs on the topic “Cyber Crime: Threats, Challenges and Response”

• The union minister for Home and Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah, chaired the Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Home Affairs on the topic “Cyber ​​Crime: Threats, Challenges and Response” in New Delhi.
• The Union Home Minister, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Ministry of Home Affairs has taken several important steps to tackle cybercrime.
• In the last seven years, the work of setting up the infrastructure to deal with cyber-crimes in the country has been completed fully up to the police post level.
• Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) has now been implemented in all 16,347 police stations of the country.
• In 99 per cent of the police stations, 100 per cent FIRs are being registered directly in the CCTNS.
• e-initiatives by the Ministry of Home Affairs to deal with cyber-crimes, such as the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) facilitates victims/complainants to report cybercrime online.
• So far more than 6 lakh complaints have been received and 12,776 FIRs have been registered.
• The National Cybercrime Threat Analysis Unit (NCTAU) has issued 142 cybercrime prevention advisories and has blocked 266 mobile apps.
• 3,800 forensic services were provided by the National Cybercrime Forensic Laboratory (NCFL).

AIM, NITI Aayog & UNCDF announce first AgriTech cohort under South-South Innovation platform

• Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) rolled out their first Agri-Tech Challenge cohort for its ambitious innovative Agri-tech program that aims to help smallholder farmers across Asia and Africa to address their challenges in the aftermath of the pandemic.
• The event was held on 21st December, 2021.
• AIM, NITI Aayog in partnership with UNCDF, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Rabo Foundation launched a South-South innovation platform to enable cross-border exchange of innovations, insights and investments in July this year 2021.
• Through this platform, cross-border collaborations among emerging markets across India, Indonesia, Malawi, Malaysia, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia would be enabled.
• For its first platform AgriTech Challenge Cohort and Agri-Fintech innovators, applications were invited to facilitate their expansion to the international markets through two tracks- Main track and AIM track.
• A total of 10 high-growth innovators have been selected in the Main track, out of a total 100 applications.
• The key objective of the main track applications was ‘Expansion – Support solution pilot in the chosen international market.’

Click here to read more;

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND ECONOMY

Mastercard and Google Pay partner for tokenization for card-based payments

• Mastercard and Google has announced the rollout of tokenisation for Google Pay users transacting through Mastercard credit and debit cards.
• With this collaboration, Google Pay Android users can scan and pay across all Bharat QR-enabled merchants, tap-and-pay, and make in-app transactions through their Mastercard debit and credit card.
• For a convenient registration, users will have to do a one-time setup by entering their card details and their OTP to add their card on the Google Pay app,
• This initiative is an extension of Mastercard’s long standing collaboration with Google and will go a long way towards enabling India’s digital economy.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION

PEL appoints Rupen Jhaveri as Group President

• Piramal Enterprises (PEL) has announced the appointment of Rupen Jhaveri as Group President, with a primary focus on financial services.
• In the newly created role, Jhaveri will be responsible for business development, strategy, M&A, capital allocation and corporate finance.
• The appointment is effective January 24, 2022.
• He will join PEL from global investment firm KKR where he was a Managing Director at its India private equity team.
• PEL is extremely well positioned post its ₹18,500 crore capital raise, the recent DHFL acquisition and its significant focus to scale up its digitally led retail franchise.

DRDO scientist Atul Dinkar Rane is the new DG for BrahMos Aerospace                                             

• The scientist of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) 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.

About Atul Dinkar Rane :

• He joined DRDO in the year 1987 and started his initial career at Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) as System Manager.
• He was one of the core team members of BrahMos Aerospace right from its foundation as a Joint Venture with Russia.
• His significant contributions as programme manager, avionics and system integration for programme PJ-10.
• He led the development of Onboard Mission Software for Agni-I missile and also established a unique integrated testbed facility for seamless test and evaluation of Onboard Systems for various missile projects.
• 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.

Awards & Honors :

• He has been awarded The prestigious DRDO Path Breaking Research/ Outstanding Technology Development Award and DRDO Performance Excellence Award.

About BrahMos Aerospace :

• CEO & MD : Atul Dinkar Rane
• Founder: A. Sivathanu Pillai
• Founded: 12 February 1998
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• The BrahMos Aerospace Limited is an Indo-Russian multinational aerospace and defense corporation, with core manufacturing concentrations in Cruise missiles.
• It was founded as a joint venture between India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation and NPO Mashinostroyenia of Russia.
• Company’s name is a portmanteau formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.
• The company currently manufactures BrahMos missile with a range of 300 km and traveling at speeds of Mach 2.8 to 3.0. It is currently developing BrahMos-II, a hypersonic cruise missile.

PV Sindhu appointed BWF’s Athletes’ Commission member                                           

• India’s two-time Olympic medallist shuttler PV Sindhu was appointed as a member of the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) Athletes’ Commission.
• She was first elected as a member of the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) Athletes’ Commission in 2017.
• Sindhu was the only BWF Athletes’ Commission member standing for re-election, and received 120 votes from the 162 athletes who took part in the online election.
• The 26-year-old former world champion was named alongside five others who will serve as members till 2025.

Six members of the BWF Athletes’ Commission 2021-2025:

1. Iris Wang (USA)
2. Robin Tabeling (NED)
3. Greysia Polii (INA)
4. Kim Soyeong (KOR)
5. Pusarla V Sindhu (IND)
6. Zheng Si Wei (CHN)

• 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 Council until the next elections in 2025.

About PV Sindhu :

• PV Sindhu born on 5 July 1995 in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.
• Sindhu, who won the silver medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
• She made her second consecutive Olympic appearance at the 2020 Summer Olympics (Tokyo) and won a bronze medal, becoming the first Indian woman ever to win two Olympic medals.
• She is the first Indian to become the Badminton World Champion and only the second individual athlete from India to win two consecutive medals at the Olympic Games.

Awards & Honors :

• Padma Bhushan, Third Highest Civilian Award of India (2020).
• Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, highest sporting honour of India (2016)
• Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India (2015)
• Arjuna Award (2013)

About BWF :

• President: Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen
• Headquarters: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Founded: 5 July 1934
• Membership: 194 member associations
• The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is the international governing body for the sport of badminton recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

CURRENT AFFAIRS : AWARDS & HONORS

Indian Climate Action Entrepreneur Divya Hegde Wins United Nations Women’s Award For Leadership Commitment

• Indian Climate Action Entrepreneur Divya Hegde from Udupi, coastal Karnataka, has won the UN Women’s Award for Leadership Commitment at the 2021 Regional Asia-Pacific Women’s Empowerment Principles Awards ceremony.
• She has been recognised for her sustained efforts in advancing gender equality through climate action efforts.
• Her organization, Baeru Environmental Services, works in the areas of waste management, creation of livelihoods for rural women, and developing a circular economy in the region.
• The award is a joint initiative of UN Women and the UN Global Compact aimed at empowering women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors.

About Baeru Environmental Services :

• Baeru empowers women in the community to take proactive climate action measures by generating employment and offering them access to training programmes in waste management, and product development.

Aim :

• To address the disconnect between the severity of the climate crisis and local coastal communities, while debunking myths related to climate solutions being seen as oppressive, unsustainable, and economically devastating for rural populations.

About UN Leadership Commitment Award :

• The UN Leadership Commitment Award recognises leaders who have been instrumental in setting up strong commitments that aim to promote gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and/or community.

About UN Women :

• Founded: July 2010
• Headquarters: New York, United States
• Head : Sima Sami Bahous
• It is also known as The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women is a United Nations entity working for gender equality and the empowerment of women.
• It focuses on a wide array of issues, including violence against women and the rights of LGBTIQ people.

About UN Global Compact :

• Formation : 26 July 2000
• CEO & Executive Director : Sanda Ojiambo
• The UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative with 13000 corporate participants and other stakeholders over 170 countries.

Emma Raducanu wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2021

• The 19-year-old Emma Raducanu has won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award 2021.
• She became the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title since Virginia Wade in 1977.
• Meanwhile, Tom Daley, who won a gold and a bronze medal at the Olympics earlier this year, came second in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year vote, while Adam Peaty, who won two golds in Tokyo, took third
• Tyson Fury, Raheem Sterling and Dame Sarah Storey were also nominated for the award.

Note :

• Tom Daley won gold for the first time at his fourth Olympics in Tokyo.

Other award winners at Sports Personality 2021:

Awards	Winners
Helen Rollason Award	Jen Beattie
Coach of the Year	Gareth Southgate
Team of the Year	England men’s football team
World Sport Star	Rachael Blackmore
Lifetime Achievement	Simone Biles
Unsung Hero	Sam Barlow
Young Sports Personality of the Year	Sky Brown

About Emma Raducanu :

• Raducanu was born on 13 November 2002 in Toronto, Canada.
• She reached a career-high ranking of No. 19 by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), and is the current British No. 1. Raducanu is the reigning US Open champion.

About BBC Sports Personality of the Year :

• First Awarded : 30 December 1954
• The winner is the sportsperson, judged by a public vote, to have achieved the most that year.
• The recipient must either be British or reside and play a significant amount of their sport in the United Kingdom.
• The BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2021 took place on 19 December 2021 at the dock10 studios in Salford.

About BBC :

• Founder: John Reith
• Founded: 18 October 1922
• Headquarters : London, United Kingdom
• Chairperson: David Clementi

Bank of Baroda achieves top position in Digital Payments for 2020-21

• Bank of Baroda has won the number one position in overall digital transactions among large banks for FY20-21.
• To commemorate 75th anniversary of Independence of India, it was felicitated by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Govt. of India at the Digital Payments Utsav.
• Bank of Baroda has been conferred with five DigiDhan awards for FY 2019-20 & 2020-21 in various categories.
• The award was received by Akhil Handa, chief digital officer at Bank of Baroda, which was presented by Union minister for railways, electronics, and IT, Ashwini Vaishnav and MoS for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrashekar.

About Bank of Baroda :

• Headquarters: Vadodara, Gujarat
• Founder: Sayajirao Gaekwad III
• Founded: 20 July 1908
• Chairman : Hasmukh Adhia
• MD & CEO : Sanjiv Chadha

About MeitY :

• Founded: 1991
• Headquarters : New Delhi
• Union Minister : Ashwini Vaishnaw
• Minister of State : Rajeev Chandrasekhar
• Secretary : Ajay Prakash Sawhney

CURRENT AFFAIRS : MOU & AGREEMENTS

MapmyIndia, MoRTH, IIT Madras Sign MOU To Make Road Travel Safer

• A series of MoUs has been signed during the National Conference on Investment Opportunities in Highway, Transport and Logistics, held in Mumbai, Maharashtra under the chairpersonship of Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari.

1. MoU signed for setting up of Multi-Modal Logistics Parks (MMLPs) at five strategic locations in Maharashtra: Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune, Aurangabad, Nashik and Dighi Port Industrial Estate.

• The MoU has been signed among National Highways Logistics Management Ltd (NHLML), Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL).
• MIDC will provide land for development of MMLPs, NHLML will provide external road connectivity to the site and RVNL will provide external rail connectivity to the site.
• The MMLPs have been conceptualized to enable seamless intermodal freight movement and offer multiple functionalities such as freight aggregation and distribution. Storage and warehousing solutions and value-added services such as custom clearances and IT services will also be provided to users.
• The parks will enable the shift from a point-to-point to a hub-and-spoke model in the logistics sector, eventually helping us bring down logistics costs by at least half and enabling more efficient movement of new-generation vehicles.

1. MoU signed between Government of Maharashtra and Tata Motors for setting up of Vehicle Scrapping Facility in Maharashtra

• This MoU will ensure unfit and polluting vehicles in Maharashtra are scrapped in an environment-friendly and sustainable manner.

MoU between Government of Maharashtra and CERO, India’s first organized vehicle recycler, for setting up additional Vehicle Scrapping Facilities in Maharashtra

• The scrapping facilities are being set up under the government’s Voluntary Vehicle-Fleet Modernization Policy, which aims to create an ecosystem for phasing out unfit and polluting vehicles.

Aim :

• To reduce pollution by scrapping more than 1 crore unfit vehicles, improve road and passenger safety, boost auto sales, improve fuel efficiency, formalize scrappage industry and boost availability of low-cost materials for the industry.
• Under the policy, around 50-70 Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSFs) will be set up across the country during the next 5 years.

About CERO :

• CERO is a joint venture enterprise between Mahindra Accelo and MSTC Ltd. (a Government of India Enterprise). CERO is currently present in 11 cities including Mumbai, Pune, Greater Noida, Chennai and Bengaluru.

       4.MoU signed among Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, IIT Madras and MapmyIndia

• The MoU is to minimize accidents and deaths by road accidents by marking high-frequency accidents and safe navigation zones.
• The app will provide navigation app surveys which will provide road safety alerts and upcoming accident hazards to the users while driving.
• The app will give alerts regarding mapping navigation.
• It has won the Government of India’s Atma Nirbhar App Innovation Challenge in 2020.

About MoRTH :

• Formed : July 1942
• Union Minister : Nitin Gadkari
• Minister of State : Mansukh Mandaviya
• Secretary : Giridhar Aramane

About IIT Madras :

• Established : 1959
• Chairman : Pawan Kumar Goenka
• Director : Bhaskar Ramamurthi

About MapmyIndia :

• Founded: 1995
• Headquarters: New Delhi, India
• Founders : Rakesh Verma, Rashmi Verma
• MapmyIndia is an Indian technology company that builds digital map data, telematics services, location-based SaaS and GIS AI technologies.

Skill Lync partners with AMTZ for course in medical technology

• Skill Lync joined hands with Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) to launch a masters coursework in Medical Technology.
• The partnership addresses the skill gap in the medical devices industry, having a massive shortage of design engineers and researchers.
• The ‘Executive Master in Medical Technology’ programme by Skill-Lync will span 12 months, and will include nine fundamental courses and a specialisation.
• Students will also receive on-the-job training by interning with a medical device manufacturing company on AMTZ campus

CURRENT AFFAIRS : ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) Acquires 4.93% Equity Stake In Indian Gas Exchange

• State-run oil refiner Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) has acquired a 4.93 per cent equity share in Indian Gas Exchange Limited – the country’s first automated national level gas exchange.
• Indian Oil’s board of directors approved the deal at its meeting held on December 20.
• It 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).
• IOC’s board has approved an investment of Rs 9,028 crore for laying a crude oil pipeline from Mundra in Gujarat to Panipat in Haryana.
• IGX is envisaged to play an important role to facilitate achieving the government’s target of increasing the share of natural gas in India’s energy basket from the current 6.5 per cent to 15 per cent by 2030.

About IGX :

• 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.
• The exchange started operations on June 15, 2020, as a gas trading platform and has been operating as the Gas Exchange since December 2020.
• The Exchange operates under the regulatory framework of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB).
• The major equity holders of IGX include Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), Adani Total Gas, and Torrent Gas.

About IOCL :

• Chairperson: Shrikant Madhav Vaidya
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Founded: 30 June 1959
• It is an Indian government corporation. It is under the ownership of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India.

Click here to read more;

SBI acquires minority stake in JSW Cement for Rs 100 cr                             

• The State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest public sector bank, has acquired a minority stake in JSW Cement Ltd by investing Rs 100 crore via compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS).
• The conversion of such CCPS into common equity of the company will be linked to JSW Cement’s future business performance and valuation determined at the time of the proposed initial public offering (IPO) in the next 12 to 18 months.
• The capital infusion will support JSW Cement’s capacity expansion from 14 million tons annually to 25 million tons.
• Earlier In 2021, global private equity investors, Apollo Global Management Inc. (through its investment entity in Singapore) and Synergy Metals Investments Holding Ltd invested Rs 1,500 crore investments in the company.
• SBI’s domestic investment portfolio in shares stands at INR 7,981.38 crores as of March 31, 2021.

About SBI :

• Chairperson: Dinesh Kumar Khara
• Headquarters: Mumbai
• Founded: 1 July 1955

About JSW Cement :

• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Founded: 2009
• Chairman : Sajjan Jindal
• Managing Director : Parth Jindal

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS & AUTHORS

Union Home Minister Amit Shah released a book titled Sahakar Sandarbha

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah released a New Book Titled Sahakar Sandarbha at the convocation ceremony of Vaikuntha Mehta National Cooperative Management Institute (VAMNICOM ) in Pune, Maharashtra .

About the Book :

• The Book deals with the cooperative sector and its importance in the field of agriculture & rural areas.
• Amit added that the government is also coming up with a new cooperative policy soon.
• He inaugurated a new building of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) and the campus of fifth Battalion of NDRF in Pune.
• He also unveiled a statue of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar inside the extended new building of Pune Municipal Corporation and laid the foundation stone of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Smarak in the campus of the Pune Corporation.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SPORTS NEWS

India’s Hansini Mathan Rajan wins 2021 ITTF Hopes and Challenge tournament

• India’s Hansini Mathan Rajan defeated Syria’s Hend Zaza, the youngest athlete of this year’s Tokyo Olympics, to win the girls singles event at the 2021 ITTF Hopes and Challenge table tennis tournament in Amman.
• Playing in the U-12 category, the reigning cadet national champion outplayed Zaza 11-6, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6 in the final.
• Parth Prabhakar was India’s entry in the boys singles event which was won by Iran’s Komeil Niknejad Divshali.
• In October 2021 , The Chennai-based Hansini had also secured her second ITTF World Youth Series title with a win in the U-13 girls category in Muscat.
• She won her maiden Youth Series title in Tunisia in September 2021.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARIES

Former SC Judge Justice GT Nanavati Passes away         

• Former Supreme Court judge Justice Girish Thakorlal Nanavati, who investigated the 1984 anti-Sikh and the 2002 Godhra riots, passed away at the age of 87.

About Nanavati :

• Nanavati, born on February 17, 1935, in Jambusar, Gujarat.
• He was an advocate in the Bombay High Court from 1958.
• He was appointed as permanent Judge of the Gujarat High Court from July 19, 1979, and transferred to the Orissa High Court on December 14, 1993.
• He was appointed as the chief justice of the Orissa High Court with effect from January 31, 1994.
• He was appointed as judge of the Supreme Court with effect from March 6, 1995, and retired on February 16, 2000.
• He was appointed to head the inquiry commission in 2002.

Daily CA On Dec 23 :

• Every year, December 22 is celebrated as National Mathematics Day in India in honour of mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920).
• PANEX-21, a multi-national – multi-agency exercise is being organised at Pune from 20-22 Dec 2021.
• Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare inaugurated the National Oxygen Stewardship Program of the Union Health Ministry, at AIIMS New Delhi.
• With an ambition to empower innovators and entrepreneurs across the country, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog has come up with a first of its kind Vernacular Innovation Program (VIP), which will enable innovators and entrepreneurs in India to have access to the innovation ecosystem in 22 scheduled languages by the Government of India.
• The Government of Gujarat is organising the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2022, from 10 -12 January 2022, at Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre, Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• In a major bid to realize the nation’s goals of improving “Ease of living” and “Ease of doing business”, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is conducting a National Workshop on the “Next Phase of Reforms for Reducing Compliance Burden” on 22nd December, 2021.
• The union minister for Home and Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah, chaired the Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Home Affairs on the topic “Cyber ​​Crime: Threats, Challenges and Response” in New Delhi.
• Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) rolled out their first Agri-Tech Challenge cohort for its ambitious innovative Agri-tech program that aims to help smallholder farmers across Asia and Africa to address their challenges in the aftermath of the pandemic.
• Mastercard and Google has announced the rollout of tokenisation for Google Pay users transacting through Mastercard credit and debit cards.
• Piramal Enterprises (PEL) has announced the appointment of Rupen Jhaveri as Group President, with a primary focus on financial services.
• The scientist of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) 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.
• India’s two-time Olympic medallist shuttler PV Sindhu was appointed as a member of the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) Athletes’ Commission.
• Indian Climate Action Entrepreneur Divya Hegde from Udupi, coastal Karnataka, has won the UN Women’s Award for Leadership Commitment at the 2021 Regional Asia-Pacific Women’s Empowerment Principles Awards ceremony.
• The 19-year-old Emma Raducanu has won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award 2021.
• Bank of Baroda has won the number one position in overall digital transactions among large banks for FY20-21.
• A series of MoUs has been signed during the National Conference on Investment Opportunities in Highway, Transport and Logistics, held in Mumbai, Maharashtra under the chairpersonship of Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari.
• Skill Lync joined hands with Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) to launch a masters coursework in Medical Technology.
• State-run oil refiner Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) has acquired a93 per cent equity share in Indian Gas Exchange Limited – the country’s first automated national level gas exchange.
• The State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest public sector bank, has acquired a minority stake in JSW Cement Ltd by investing Rs 100 crore via compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS).
• Union Home Minister Amit Shah released a New Book Titled Sahakar Sandarbha at the convocation ceremony of Vaikuntha Mehta National Cooperative Management Institute (VAMNICOM ) in Pune, Maharashtra .
• India’s Hansini Mathan Rajan defeated Syria’s Hend Zaza, the youngest athlete of this year’s Tokyo Olympics, to win the girls singles event at the 2021 ITTF Hopes and Challenge table tennis tournament in Amman.
• Former Supreme Court judge Justice Girish Thakorlal Nanavati, who investigated the 1984 anti-Sikh and the 2002 Godhra riots, passed away at the age of 87.