Daily Current Affairs December 16

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December 16 | Daily Current Affairs 2021

Important Days – Daily Current Affairs December 16

1. 50th Vijay Diwas is observed on which date?
A) December 11
B) December 16
C) December 10
D) December 12
E) December 14
Answer: B) December 16

• To commemorate its victory over Pakistan during the 1971 war, India celebrates Vijay Diwas on December 16 every year as a tribute to the success of the Indian army.
• This war led to the creation of Bangladesh.
• Today, marks fifty years of the war.
• After India’s independence, Pakistan was formed in two territories, east and west Pakistan.
• The Bengalis in the east were highly discriminated and their Bengali language wasn’t accepted.
• There were economic disparities between the two regions, and the power helmed by west Pakistan had created tensions.
• In 1970, the Awami League led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman won the elections wherein the Pakistan People’s Party neglected to hand over the power.
• Later in mid-1971, Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan.
• As violence started erupting, many refugees began entering India.

International Tea Day:

• International Tea Day is observed on December 15 in many countries including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Uganda, India, and Tanzania.
• Tea is an aromatic beverage that has a great demand in the world market.
• It is the second most used drink in the world after water.
• For some people, tea is an integral part of life which adds rhythm.
• China is currently the largest exporter of tea.
• According to a study conducted by the Tea Board of India in 2007, around 80 percent of the total tea produced in India is consumed by the domestic population.

International Tea Day 2021: History

• The first ITD was held in New Delhi in India in 2005.
• However, in 2015, the Indian government proposed to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation to expand International Tea Day across the world.
• The reason for the UN celebrating May 21 as International Tea Day is that the season of tea production begins in May in most of the tea-producing countries.

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Ranking – Daily Current Affairs December 16

2. Which state has topped the list of States with maximum number of beneficiaries under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY)?
A) Haryana
B) Gujarat
C) Rajasthan
D) Maharashtra
E) Manipur
Answer: D) Maharashtra

• Maharashtra has topped the list of States with maximum number of beneficiaries under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY), followed by Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, Parliament was informed.
• As on December 4, 2021, as many as 6,49,560 beneficiaries were recorded in Maharashtra, followed by Tamil Nadu (5,35,615), Gujarat (4,44,741) and Karnataka (3,07,164), Minister of State for Labour & Employment Rameswar Teli said in written reply to Lok Sabha.
• In Maharashtra, the beneficiaries have been provided a total of ₹409.72 crore under the scheme to new employees of 17,524 establishments.
• In Tamil Nadu, the beneficiaries were provided ₹300.46 crore under the scheme to new employees of 12,803 establishments till December 4, 2021.
• In Gujarat, funds to the tune of ₹278.63 crore have been provided to the new employees of 12,379 establishments and in Karnataka, the beneficiaries were provided a total of ₹221.63 crore under the scheme to the new employees of 8,024 establishments.
• The government had launched ABRY to incentivise employment generation in Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) registered establishments during COVID-19 for a period from October 1, 2020 to March 31, 2022.
• Under the ABRY, the government is paying both employees’ and employers’ contributions of 24% of wages (12% of wages for each) in respect of establishments having 1,000 employees and employees’ contribution of 12 of wages to establishments employing more than 1,000 employees, the House was informed.
• As on December 4, 2021, employment opportunities have been created for 39.73 lakh new employees and benefits of ₹2612.10 crore were credited upfront in their accounts.
• The Minister also told the House that the average time taken to process the claims of the EPFO subscribers was 7.3 days during the current fiscal till December 6, 2021 during 2021-22.
• It was 8.4 days in 2020-21 and 11.5 days in 2019-20.

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Banking and Finance – Daily Current Affairs December 16

3. Which company has become the first payments platform to tokenise cards on all three major payment networks – Visa, Mastercard and Rupay?
A) BharatPe
B) PhonePe
C) FinBox
D) Cashfree
E) Innoviti
Answer: B) PhonePe

• Walmart-owned digital payments firm PhonePe, said it has become the first payments platform to tokenise cards on all three major payment networks – Visa, Mastercard and Rupay.
• PhonePe’s tokenisation solution will help businesses save significant time and effort by removing the need to integrate with multiple card networks while complying with RBI guidelines.
• Tokenisation provides users an added layer of security by converting sensitive cardholder data to a string of randomly generated numbers known as a token. PhonePe’s tokenisation solution, ‘PhonePe Safecard’, enables businesses to offer tokenisation on their own platforms via a simple API (application programming interface) integration and a minimum turnaround time.
• With this solution, businesses can create, process, delete and modify tokens for online card payments with customers’ consent.
• PhonePe SafeCard offers businesses a headstart over the competition by utilising access to millions of PhonePe customers’ tokenized cards.
• PhonePe also takes care of any additional authentication for users, if needed.
• The firm said it enables a smooth and hassle-free experience for customers through login and payments with additional features.
• Merchants get a dedicated and secured vault in a PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry – Data Security Standard) compliant environment.

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4. Which company announced the launch of Wealth Academy, a tech-powered educational platform?
A) BharatPe
B) Paytm
C) FinBox
D) Cashfree
E) Innoviti
Answer: B) Paytm

• Paytm, which got listed in bourses last month, has announced the launch of Paytm Wealth Academy, a tech-powered educational platform.
• The launch of the wealth academy is initially on the Paytm Money app, the wealth management app owned by Paytm’s wholly-owned subsidiary Paytm Money.
  Paytm Wealth Academy will initially be available to select users, followed by complete rollout.
• Paytm Wealth Academy is an educational platform designed to make financial learning intuitive and self-driven.
• For the first time, highly customizable courses are being offered, allowing users to start their learning journey from any stage.
• This will allow new traders to establish a ground-up understanding of financial concepts and also encourage experienced traders to stay updated with advanced trading strategies.

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5. NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) has tied up with _____ to enable real-time bank account payout in India?
A) BharatPe
B) Pine Labs
C) Western Union
D) LegalPay
E) Innoviti
Answer: C) Western Union

• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said its international payments arm NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) has tied up with currency exchange major Western Union to enable real-time bank account payout in India.
• NIPL was launched in August last year with an aim to export NPCI’s indigenously developed payments and tech offerings, RuPay and UPI being the primary focus, to foreign markets.

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Business and Economy – Daily Current Affairs December 16

6. Which company, CBSE to provide training on digital citizenship to 10 mn students?
A) TCS
B) Facebook
C) Cisco
D) Microsoft
E) Meta
Answer: E) Meta

• In an expanded partnership, Meta (formerly Facebook) and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will provide a curriculum on digital safety and online well-being for over 10 million students and 1 million educators in India.
• Over the next 3 years, the partnership will enable over 10 million students and 1 million educators to embrace immersive technologies and digital citizenship.
• This was announced at Meta’s ‘Fuel for India, 2021’, by Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO of the social media company
• Aligned to the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, Meta and CBSE will collaborate on content curation and development of curriculum integrating immersive technologies, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) that is relevant for the evolving digital landscape by introducing these as skills subjects for students.
• The partnership with CBSE is a joint mission to universalise STEM education by ensuring that students across India have equitable access to quality educational content which will prepare them for the future of work in a digitally powered economy.
• The first phase of ‘FB for Education’ initiative launched in June 2020 with an aim to prepare students and teachers for the future of work and creating a safe online environment and learning experience, witnessed over 500,000 students show interest for digital safety and online well-being and more than 14,000 teachers apply for training in AR.
• The second phase of the partnership for the next 3 years was launched with select principals and teachers participating in the educator’s roundtable on 2 November, 2021.
• By integrating AR experiences into the curriculum, students will be able to collaborate more actively and create using emerging technologies of the future.
• Immersive education will also enable students with different learning challenges and lack of access to lab resources to learn in an engaging manner.
• The partnership will aim to empower educators with new age tools and skills needed to nurture the Generation Z and Generation Alpha students into responsible digital citizens and CBSE will aim to empower students in the under-served regions of India through its community skill centres.

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Acquisitions and Mergers – Daily Current Affairs December 16

7. Adda247 acquires UPSC prep platform StudyIQ Education for ____?
A) Rs 120 cr
B) Rs 130 cr
C) Rs 140 cr
D) Rs 160 cr
E) Rs 150 cr
Answer: E) Rs 150 cr

• Edtech firm Adda247 said it has acquired UPSC-focused edtech platform StudyIQ Education for about USD 20 million (around Rs 150 crore) in a cash and stock deal.
• StudyIQ education claims to have an organic subscriber base of over 11 million and gets close to 100 million views a month.

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Books and Authors – Daily Current Affairs December 16

8. Vice President releases book ‘Gandhitopi Governor’ by _____?
A) Michael Wolff
B) Valerie Biden Owens
C) Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad
D) Aditya R. Nighhot
E) Avtar Singh Bhasin
Answer: C) Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad

• The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu called for an objective re-evaluation of Indian history through better fact-based research.
• Suggesting that the colonial perspective of India’s past has distorted facts, he called for a fresh approach to Indian history, with more books on Indian freedom fighters and leaders.
• Releasing the book ‘Gandhitopi Governor’ by the Chairman, Official Language Commission, Andhra Pradesh, Shri Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad at Upa Rashtrapati Nivas, the Vice President said “distortions” about India’s history need to be removed and a faithful dispassionate recounting of facts is needed for the younger generation to know about real history in its authentic form.

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Appointments – Daily Current Affairs December 16

9. Who takes charge as chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee?
A) Ram Singh Pathania
B) Sudhir Walia
C) Saurabh Kalia
D) Sher Jang Thapa
E) M M Naravane
Answer: E) M M Naravane

• Army Chief Gen M M Naravane has assumed the charge as the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee that comprises the three service chiefs, people familiar with the development said.
• The post fell vacant following the death of Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat in the IAF helicopter crash on December 8.
• Gen Naravane has been given the charge as the chairman of the committee as he is the senior-most among the three service chiefs, the people cited above said.
• IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari and Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar had taken over their respective positions on September 30 and November 30.
• Before the creation of the post of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), the senior-most among the three service chiefs used to be the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.

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10. SEBI sets up panel for suggestions to detect early market anomalies. How many members in this committee?
A) 8
B) 7
C) 6
D) 5
E) 4
Answer: B) 7

• Markets regulator SEBI said it has constituted an advisory committee for guiding it to enhance technological capabilities and explore appropriate technological solutions for early detection of market anomalies.
• The Advisory Committee for Leveraging Regulatory and Technology Solutions (ALeRTS) will be headed by Sebi’s ex-whole-time member Madhabi Puri Buch, a release said.
• It would also comprise of experts from various technology domains as members.
• The terms of reference of the committee include recommending future roadmaps and improvements in the various on-going technology projects and guiding Sebi in designing and framing requirements for the various in-house systems.
• Besides, it would also guide the regulator from a domain perspective in finding appropriate technology solutions.
• In addition, the committee has also been constituted “to guide SEBI from a domain perspective, in ascertaining the adequacy of SupTech / RegTech tools envisaged / proposed to be used in-house for improving its capabilities,” the release said.

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Awards – Daily Current Affairs December 16

11. TiE names _______ as Global Entrepreneur of the year?
A) Bill Gates
B) Kumar Mangalam Birla
C) Mark Zuckerberg
D) Bernard Arnault
E) Elon Musk
Answer: B) Kumar Mangalam Birla

• The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) has named Aditya Birla Group Chairman, Kumar Mangalam Birla, the Global Entrepreneur of the Year in Business Transformation.
• Birla is the first Indian industrialist to receive this award.
• Birla was given this award for his leadership of the conglomerate during the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Birla joined a host of global entrepreneurs receiving the award this year including Elon Musk (Global Entrepreneur of the Year-Immigrant Entrepreneur), Jeff Bezos (Global Entrepreneur of the Year-First Generation) and Satya Nadella (Global Entrepreneur of the Year – Entrepreneurial CEO).
• The awardees were selected by an independent jury chaired by Venture Capitalist, Tim Draper, Founder, Draper University.

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12. Who named the SJFI Sportsman of the Year award?
A) Sushil Kumar
B) Vishwanathan Anand
c) Abhinav Bindra
D) Neeraj Chopra
E) Milkha Singh
Answer: D) Neeraj Chopra

• The Sports Journalists’ Federation of India (SJFI), at its Annual General Meeting (AGM), decided to confer the prestigious SJFI Medal on legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar.
• Neeraj Chopra, who won India’s lone gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, was named the SJFI Sportsman of the Year award while weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, who clinched a silver at the quadrennial extravaganza, was adjudged SJFI Sportswoman of the Year.
• The Indian men’s team which won the hockey bronze in Tokyo was declared SJFI Team of the Year.
• Sumit Antil and Pramod Bhagat, the stars of India’s Paralympics campaign, were declared the SJFI Parathletes of the Year in the men’s category while shooter Avani Lekhra was named the SJFI Parathlete of the Year in the women’s section.
• OGQ, which has been supporting Indian athletes at the Olympics for more than a decade, won the Special Recognition Award.
• Vinod is Deputy Editor (Sports) with The Hindu in Thiruvananthapuram.

The SJFI office-bearers:

• President: A. Vinod (Thiruvananthapuram); Vice Presidents: Devendra Pandey (Mumbai), Vikas Pandey (Indore), Sambit Mohapatra (Odisha), and Saraju Chakraborty (Tripura); Secretary: Prashant Keni (Mumbai); Treasurer: Bidyut Kalita (Assam); Joint Secretary: Amitabha Das Sharma (Kolkata).
• EC members: Amol Karhadkar (Mumbai), C. Santhosh Kumar (Tamil Nadu), Suprabhat Debnath (Tripura), Partha Chakraborty (Assam), Sushim Ghosh (Assam), Nilesh Deshpande (Nagpur), and Tushar Trivedi (Gujarat); Coopted: Sanjeev Samyal (Mumbai).

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International Affairs – Daily Current Affairs December 16

13. Which organization inscribes ‘Durga Puja in Kolkata’ on intangible heritage list?
A) WHO
B) UNEP
C) UNICEF
D) UNESCO
E) UNDP
Answer: D) UNESCO

• In an important announcement, the Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO’s 2003 Convention on Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage has inscribed ‘Durga Puja in Kolkata’ on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity during its 16th session being held at Paris, France from 13th to 18th December 2021.
• The Committee commended Durga Puja for its initiatives to involve marginalized groups, and individuals as well as women in their participation in safeguarding the element.
• The Union Minister for Culture, Tourism, and DONER, in a tweet said that this is a recognition of the confluence of our rich heritage, culture, rituals and practices and a celebration of the feminine divinity and the spirit of womanhood.
• Durga Puja not only is a celebration of the feminine divinity but is a consummate expression of dance, music, crafts, rituals, practices culinary and cultural aspects.
• The festival transcends the boundaries of caste, creed and economic classes and joins the people together in its celebration.
• With the inscription of Durga Puja in Kolkata, India now has 14 intangible cultural heritage elements on the prestigious UNESCO Representative List of ICH of Humanity. In recent years, the ICH elements that saw inscriptions are Kumbh Mela (inscribed 2017), Yoga (inscribed 2016) among others.
• India is a signatory of the 2003 UNESCO Convention which aims for the Safeguarding of the Intangible of the Intangible Heritage along with traditions and living expression.
• Intangible cultural heritage means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artifacts and cultural spaces associated with them that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as a part of their cultural heritage.
• Furthermore, its importance is not in the cultural manifestation itself, but in the wealth of knowledge, know-how and skills that are transmitted from one generation to the next.

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National Affairs – Daily Current Affairs December 16

14. Which company has joined hands with NABFOUNDATION to provide services to 1 lakh small farmers over next two years?
A) MamEarth
B) Vaurna
C) Microsoft
D) NTPC
E) Innoterra
Answer: E) Innoterra

• Food and tech platform Innoterra said it has joined hands with NABFOUNDATION to provide services to 1 lakh small farmers over next two years.
• Both the entities have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect.
• NABFOUNDATION is a not-for-profit organization of the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD).
• Innoterra’s services are crucial to enable better market access, digitalization, traceability of produce, branding and distribution support for the farmers, thus helping them increase their income multi-fold, he added.

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15. Which edition of BRICS Sherpas and Sous Sherpas held virtually?
A) 5
B) 4
C) 3
D) 2
E) 1
Answer: B) 4

• BRICS Sherpas and Sous Sherpas held their fourth and concluding meeting under India’s Chairship during the year 2021, on December 15 and review the activities held this year, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
• The meeting was chaired by Secretary (CPV&OIA) Sanjay Bhattacharyya as India’s BRICS Sherpa, MEA said in a release.
• The XIII BRICS Summit took place on September 9, 2021 in virtual format.
• The leaders adopted the Delhi Declaration which reaffirmed their commitment to fight the Covid pandemic, deepened the collaborative efforts of BRICS countries on political-security, economic and cultural fronts and gave new vitality to BRICS.
• The BRICS Foreign Ministers in their meeting in June 2021 adopted the Joint Statement on Strengthening and Reforming the Multilateral System to make global governance more responsive and agile, effective, transparent, democratic, representative and accountable to Member States.
• The revised BRICS Terms of Reference were adopted by Sherpas in September 2021 reiterating their commitment to preserving and further strengthening the consensus-based working methods in BRICS at all levels, MEA informed.

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16. Which company has partnered with Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) to develop and manufacture 600-HP indigenous engine to power futuristic combat vehicles under Atmanirbhar Bharat mission?
A) Hero
B) Tata Motors
C) Bajaj
D) Honda
E) Ashok Leyland
Answer: E) Ashok Leyland

• Ashok Leyland has partnered with Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE), a premier lab of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), to develop and manufacture 600-HP indigenous engine to power futuristic combat vehicles under Atmanirbhar Bharat mission.
• As the development-cum-production partner, Ashok Leyland has developed the engine in a record time despite the total lockdown due to Covid-19, according to a statement.
• The 600-HP engine will undergo rigorous testing in lab and will be qualified for application in tanks. Ashok Leyland will undertake series production of the engine post induction into service.

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17. Who launches MIS portal for rankings of States/UTs in Land Acquisition Projects?
A) Narendra Modi
B) Narendra Singh Tomar
C) Arjun Ram Meghwal
D) Giriraj Singh
E) Ashwini Vaishnaw
Answer: D) Giriraj Singh

• Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Shri Giriraj Singh launched MIS (Management Information System) portal for rankings of States/UTs in Land Acquisition Projects under RFCTLARR Act, 2013. (Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013).
• On the occasion, Union Minister also announced that as per the ranking and performance, the top 3 States and top 3 districts will be awarded.
• Calling it a ‘Vikas Portal’, Shri Giriraj Singh said that this MIS portal will not show only data and figures but it will show the speed of the development in the country.
• He said that this portal is a result of the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to give impetus to the government’s Gati Shakti Mission
• The Department of Land Resources developed this MIS portal to capture information on various parameters of land acquisition, required for ranking of the State/UTs, which is a software-driven program to submit information by respective State/UTs on land acquisition for developmental projects.
• The portal is developed in house by the NIC team of the department with zero cost. The link to the portal is larr.dolr.gov.in
• In the first phase, land acquisition under RFCTLARR Act, 2013 undertaken from 01.01.2014 onwards will be covered for ranking purposes and this will be a continuous process.
• The suggestions/inputs received from the States/UTs have been considered and incorporated in the parameters for rankings.
• Each State/UT will get marks out of a total of 140 marks.
• There is also the provision of the negative marking for delaying implementation.

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Over All Review

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