23rd December, 2021 Current Affairs

Sakshi Education

National
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches and lays foundation stone of 27 Projects worth 2000 crore rupees in Varanasi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for 27 development projects worth 2000 crore rupees at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. He will also distribute rural residential rights record 'Gharauni' to over 20 lakh residents of the state.
The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of Amul milk plant of ‘Banas Dairy Sankul’ at UP State Industrial Development Authority Food Park at Karkhiyaon.
Spread across 30 acres of land, the Dairy will be built at a cost of about 475 crore rupees and will have a facility for processing five lakh liters of milk per day.
Mr. Modi also laid the foundation stone for the Bio-gas based Electricity generation plant for the Milk Producers Cooperative Union Plant at Ramnagar.
During his visit, the Prime Minister will also launch a Portal and a logo dedicated to the Conformity Assessment Scheme of milk products, developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards with the help of National Dairy Development Board.

India supports UN Security Council resolution on easing curbs on aid to Afghanistan

India has voted to support a resolution to grant exemption from sanctions for humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan at the United Nations Security Council.
India's Permanent Representative to the UN, TS Tirumurti said that access to humanitarian assistance should be without hindrance.
He added that the disbursement is non-discriminatory and accessible to all.

Government hikes MSP for Copra, aimed at doubling farmers' income by 2022

The Union Cabinet has given its approval for the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for Copra for 2022 season.
Briefing media, Information, and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said, the MSP for Fair Average Quality of milling Copra has been increased to 10590 rupees per quintal while MSP for ball Copra has been increased to 11 thousand per quintal for 2022 season.
The decision is based on recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices. It assures a minimum of 50 percent as a margin of profit as one of the important and progressive steps towards making possible doubling of farmers' incomes by 2022.

Economy
Loan worth ₹2,714 Cr disbursed to 27.06 lakh beneficiaries under PM SVANidhi Scheme so far

Government has said that loan worth two thousand 714 Crore rupees has been disbursed to over 27 lakh beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Street Vendors, Atma Nirbhar Nidhi Scheme - PM SVANidhi so far.
The scheme was launched on 1st June last year, with the objective to facilitate collateral-free working capital loan up to ten thousand rupees, to about 50 lakh street vendors across the country whose businesses had been adversely affected due to lockdown.
In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Kaushal Kishore said, out of the total beneficiaries, 59 percent are male and 41 percent are female.
He said, as on 13th of this month, over 30 lakh loans amounting to over three thousand crore rupees have been sanctioned under the PM SVANidhi.

International
Not enough data to decide if Omicron is more severe than Delta: WHO

World Health Organization has said that it does not yet have enough data on the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus to say if it is more severe than the Delta variant.
WHO' s technical lead on COVID-19, Maria van Kerkhove said, we do have some data suggesting that rates of hospitalization are lower. But she cautioned against drawing conclusions from the early data because we have not seen this variant circulate long enough in populations around the world, certainly in vulnerable populations.
She said the data on the new variant, first identified in southern Africa and Hong Kong in November, was still messy as countries reported its arrival and spread.
A South African study suggested that those infected with Omicron were significantly less likely to end up in the hospital than those with Delta.
Meanwhile, WHO's European head Hans Kluge said, Omicron will become the dominant coronavirus variant in Europe by the start of next year and three to four weeks is needed to determine the severity of the COVID-19 it causes. He has warned countries to brace for a significant surge in cases.
He said, Omicron, already dominant in Britain, Denmark, and Portugal, was likely to be the main coronavirus strain in Europe in a couple of weeks. The WHO Regional Director for Europe added that infections were up 40% from a year ago and Omicron was now taking over.

India's role essential in peace and stability in Central Asia, Afghanistan: Vladimir Norov

India’s role is essential in maintaining peace and stability in the Central Asian region which translates into a peaceful SCO region. Secretary-General of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Vladimir Norov said this at his farewell meet in Beijing.
He specially mentioned India’s role in countering terrorism in the region, most importantly due to evolving situation in Afghanistan. He said India has an important contribution in maintaining peace and stability in Afghanistan and in humanitarian support to the war-torn country post-US withdrawal.
Highlighting India’s constructive role in SCO, Mr. Norov said that India actively participates in organizational activities including the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of SCO (RATS SCO). He said India participates in military exercises and peace missions to strengthen security cooperation.
India assumed chairmanship of Council of Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of SCO in October this year for one year.
As chairman, India also organized a two-day seminar on cyberspace security for the member states. This Indian initiative was an effort to enhance the collaboration among RATS SCO member states to counter the misuse of the internet by terrorists, separatists, and extremists.
2022 will be an important year for India at SCO as, for the first time, it will assume the presidency of SCO, after Uzbekistan, for the period 2022-2023 which will culminate with the SCO Summit to be hosted by the Indian side in 2023.
The SCO Summit is the meeting of the Council of Heads of States (HOS) and along with the Council of Heads of Government (HOG) makes two most important dialogue mechanisms among SCO member states.

Sports
Hockey: India wins bronze, Korea lift the Asian Champions Trophy in Dhaka

In a scintillating match, Korea defeated Japan to lift the trophy in the Hero Asian Champions Trophy hockey in Dhaka on Wednesday.
The five-nation tournament came to an end with two matches being played on the last day of the game.
India defeated Pakistan 4-3 to secure the bronze medal while Korea defeated Japan 4-2 to emerge Asian Champions.
Captain of the Indian team Manpreet Singh praised players of both the teams for their excellent game during the match. He expressed determination to do better for the forthcoming international tournaments for the Indian hockey team.
Displaying deft teamwork and some brilliant moves, Indian players showed grit and determination to win the match after trailing 1-2 to secure the third position by defeating Pakistan. India took the lead with an early goal by Harmanpreet Singh from a penalty corner but Pakistan overturned the lead with two goals by Afraz and Abdul Rana to give Pakistan a 2-1 lead in the game.
In the final match, Korea fought back brilliantly to come up with the victory in the match after trailing behind Japan. Korea scored the equalizer in almost the last second of the match to force the game to be continued into the penalty shoot-out. Korean Jang Jonghyun scored two goals in the last 5 minutes to bring the score level at 3-3. The Korean goalkeeper showed extraordinary skill and agility to deny two goals to the Japanese during the penalty shoot-out and bring the trophy to Korea with a 4-2 win over Japan.
Kanta Tanaka of Japan was declared the best player of the tournament while Suraj Karkera of India was adjudged the best goalkeeper. Jang Jonghyun of Korea was the top scorer with 10 goals in the tournament.
Bangladesh Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud gave away the prize and the trophy to the winning team.