December 21st, 2021 Current Affairs

Sakshi Education

NATIONAL

Delimitation Commission proposes 9 assembly seats for ST and Seven for SCs in J&K

The J&K Delimitation Commission has proposed to increase six assembly seats for the Jammu division and one for the Kashmir division.
For the first time, in Jammu and Kashmir, nine assembly seats are proposed to be allocated for Scheduled Tribes and seven seats are proposed for Scheduled Castes.
The commission, headed by Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, met all the five Associate Members includingDr. Farooq Abdullah, Dr.Jitendra Singh, Mohammad Akbar Lone, HasnainMasoodi and Jugal Kishore Sharma, in New Delhi.
Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and Chief Electoral Officer of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir were also present during the meeting.

PrasarBharati signs MoU with ICCR to promote Indian Culture

PrasarBharati and Indian Council for Cultural Relations, ICCR have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for promoting Indian culture.
The performances of the eminent artists associated with the ICCR will be telecasting on the national and International Channels of Doordarshan.
The dance and music performances will be showcased on DD National, DD India, regional channels of Doordarshan and PrasarBharati News Services (Digital Platform of PrasarBharati) in the form of a weekly programme.
The MoU aims to bring forth the best of Indian Culture to the National and International audiences and provide TV and Digital platforms to the performing artists.
In collaboration with ICCR, Doordarshan will produce 52 half an hour episodes, based on cultural events, concerts, performances of music and dance organized by ICCR.
The MoU was signed betweenMayank Kumar Agrawal, Director General, Doordarshan and Dinesh Patnaik, Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations.
Chief Executive Officer of PrasarBharati Shashi ShekharVempati and other senior officers from PrasarBharati and ICCR were also present on the occasion.
This MoU will be in operation for the period of three years from December 2021 till December 2024.

Pradeep Kumar Rawat appointed India’s next Ambassador to China

Pradeep Kumar Rawat has been appointed India’s next Ambassador to China.
Mr Rawat, currently India’s Ambassador to the Netherlands, will replaceVikramMisri, who completed his three-year term earlier this month and has left for Delhi.
Mr Rawat, a Mandarin-speaking career diplomat, will take up the assignment shortly in Beijing.

Competition Commission of India approves acquisition of Air India stake by Tata sons

The Competition Commission of India has approved acquisition of shareholding in Air India Limited, Air India Express Limited and Air India SATS Airport Services Private Limited by Talace Private Limited.
The proposed combination envisages acquisition of 100 per cent equity share capital of Air India Limited and Air India Express Limited, and 50 percent equity share capital of Air India SATS Airport Services Private Limited by Talace Private Limited.Talace is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons.
In October this year, the Government approved Air India disinvestment. The government had announced that Talace Private Limited a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons had won the bid to acquire the debt-laden airline.

Lok Sabha passes Bill to link electoral rolls with Aadhar

The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021 that provides linking of electoral rolls with Aadhar number to check duplication was passed in the Lok Sabha yesterday amidst protests and sloganeering.
The bill also seeks to give four opportunities to a voter to enrol in a calendar year upon attaining 18 years of age. Apart from this, the Bill has provisions of gender neutrality in regard with service voters and to enable the requisition of any premises for election purposes.
While moving the Bill for passage, Mr. Rijiju said unlike earlier, now a person could get an opportunity to enrol as a voter four times in a year on the 1st Day of January, April, July and October.
The Bill will pave way for greater electoral reforms in the country.

Govt refers Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill 2021 to Joint Committee of both Houses of Parliament

The government has referred the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill 2021 to a Joint Committee of both the Houses of Parliament.
Union Minister for Environment Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav had moved the motion in the Lok Sabha which gave its nod to refer it to the Joint Committee of Parliament with 21 members of the Lok Sabha and 10 members from the Rajya Sabha.
In the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Yadav moved the motion for appointment of the members to the Joint Committee to which the House gave its nod.
The Committee is expected to submit its report to the House by the last day of the first week of the next session. The bill seeks to relax certain rules in the Biological Diversity Act 2002 in order to fast track research and patenting as well as empower local communities to be able to utilize resources, particularly of medicinal value, such as seeds.

INTERNATIONAL

World Economic Forum defers Davos meeting amid Omicron scare

World Economic Forum (WEF) has deferred its annual meeting in Davos amid Omicron scare.
The meeting of economically powerful nations and high-profile corporate leaders was scheduled to take place between January 17 and 21.
It has been deferred for early summer. In a statement, WEF said, the pandemic and existing restrictions on travel and movement make it extremely difficult to hold a global in-person meeting.

Leftist Gabriel Boric to become Chile's youngest president

In Chile, Gabriel Boric, 35 years old former student leader and Leftist will become country's youngest President after he won a presidential runoff election on Sunday.
According to the Electoral Service of Chile, out of 99.95% of ballots counted, Boric won with 55.87% of the vote, securing victory over his right-wing opponent, Jose Antonio Kast.
A native of Punta Arenas, in Chile’s far south, Boric as a student led the Federation of Students at the University of Chile in Santiago.
He rose to prominence leading protests in 2011 demanding improved and cheaper education. By 2014, still in his 20s, he had joined the National Congress as a lower-house legislator, representing Chile’s vast and sparsely populated southernmost region of Magallanes.
Boric will be sworn in as President on March 11.

IMF revises growth projection for Bangladesh to 6.6 pct for FY 2022

IMF has revised its growth projection for Bangladesh to 6.6 percent for FY 2022.
The IMF team led by Rahul Anand which visited Dhaka from Dec 5-19 commended the quick and decisive action by the government of Bangladesh that led to a much faster recovery than its regional peers. It predicted that growth is likely to rise to 7.1 percent in FY 2023.
It however cautioned the central bank to closely monitor the inflationary pressure. It said that the inflation is projected to be higher than the authorities’ target reflecting non-food inflation and recent fuel price increase.
It called for market-based pricing in placeof caps on lending to improve credit allocation and monetary transmission. To buffer external shocks, the IMF recommended greater exchange rate flexibility together with safeguarding foreign exchange reserves.
The IMF said that adopting a fuel pricing mechanism will help accommodate additional social, developmental and climate-related spending. It recommended modernising revenue administration, streamlining tax expenditure and separating National Savings Certificate (NSC) from direct budget finance for improving the fiscal policy framework of the government.
Commenting on the transition from LDC status, the IMF said that more decisive reforms are needed to maintain competitiveness in the post-pandemic world. It called for structural reforms focused on improving governance, diversifying exports, increasing productivity and building climate resilience to lift growth potential.

Indonesia's Semeru volcano erupts, people warned to stay away

In Indonesia, the Semeru volcano on Java Island erupted spewing a two KM high ash column, prompting authorities to warn people to stay away from the eruption range.
Earlier this month, the eruption of Semeru, Java's tallest mountain, ejected ash clouds and pyroclastic flows that killed at least 46 people and left several missing, while thousands were displaced.
Indonesia's Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation has said, the early morning eruption today resulted in dense white and grey ash clouds.
The agency warned nearby residents not to conduct any activities within a five-km radius of the eruption centre and to keep a 500 metre distance from riversides due to risks of lava flow.
With 142 volcanoes, Indonesia has the largest population globally living in close range to a volcano, including 8.6 million within 10 km.

ECONOMY

Tripura's pineapple earns fame in international markets

Tripura has earned fame in the international markets by sending pineapple consignments to several states across the country as well as foreign countries and now the state has started exporting processed food as well.
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb flagged off a consignment of 40 metric tons of processed pineapple for Hamburg, Germany.
It may be mentioned that pineapple being one of the most important fruit crops here, the state grows an estimate of 1.28 lakh MT pineapples every year across nearly 9000 -hectares orchards in different districts. Out of these, some are run by the government while most are privately owned. While over 4000 people are directly involved in this fruit cultivation.

Power sector CPSEs register 45% growth in Capital Expenditure Investment over previous year

Power sector Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) have registered 45 per cent growth in Capital Expenditure Investment over previous year.
Power Ministry said the target for Capital Expenditure of the CPSEs is around 50 thousand 690 crore rupees in the current financial year.
The Ministry said, CPSEs have so far invested more than 32,000 crore rupees, which is around 63 per cent of the annual Capital Expenditure target.

SPORTS

Asian Champions Trophy: India to take on Japan in Semi- final in Dhaka

In Hockey, India will take on Japan this evening to secure a place in the final of the Men's Asian Champions Trophy 2021 being held in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
While undefeated India will look to continue their winning streak, Japan will aim to do a somersault to book their place in the finals for the second time. It will be back-to-back matches against the same opponents as India topped the league stage by defeating Japan 6-0 in its previous match.
After a 2-2 draw with South Korea in the tournament opener, India registered convincing wins against hosts Bangladesh, arch-rivals Pakistan and Japan to finish the round-robin stage with 10 points.

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Published date : 21 Dec 2021 03:54PM