Daily Current Affairs for app_20201213 - T.I.M.E. 4 Education

Daily Current Affairs
                               for app_20201213
Biden signs 'Buy American' order, vows to strengthen manufacturing sector

President Joe Biden vowed to leverage the purchasing power of the U.S. government, the world's
biggest single buyer of goods and services, to strengthen domestic manufacturing and create
markets for new technologies.
The Democratic president signed an executive order aimed at closing loopholes in existing "Buy
American" provisions, which apply to about a third of the $600 billion in goods and services the
federal government buys each year. The order will make any waivers more transparent and create a
senior White House role to oversee the process.
China overtook the United States as the world's top manufacturer in 2010, and was responsible for
28% of global output in 2018, according to United Nations data.

50 lakh doses of COVID 19 vaccine from Serum Institute of India arrive in Dhaka

The first instalment of 50 lakh doses of the COVID 19 vaccine from Serum Institute of India (SII)
arrived in Dhaka.
This is part of the agreement for the purchase of 30 million doses of the vaccine for which Beximco
Pharmaceuticals Limited (BPL) had signed a tripartite agreement with the SII on December 13 last
year.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to inaugurate the vaccination programme in Dhaka from
Wednesday. A nurse of the Kurmitola general hospital in Dhaka will receive the first vaccine shot.

Daily Current Affairs
                                for app_20201213
Liberation War fighter Lt. Col Quazi Sajjad Ali Zahir and Musicologist Sanjida Khatun from
Bangladesh awarded Padma Shree

Bangladesh Liberation War fighter Lt. Col. (Retd.) Quazi Sajjad Ali Zahir and well known musicologist,
Rabindra Sangeet exponent and academic Sanjida Khatun from Bangladesh have been awarded the
Padma Shri for the year 2021.
Lt. Col. Quazi Sajjad Ali Zahir has been awarded Padma Shri for his contribution in the field of Public
Affairs. Lt. Col. Zahir is a veteran of the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh. He deserted the Pakistan
army and crossed over to India to fight the liberation war of Bangladesh. He organized the 2nd
Artillery Force under Sector 4 in the Sylhet region.
Sanjida Khatun is a renowned cultural figure of Bangladesh. She is an eminent Rabindra Sangeet
exponent and musicologist. She played a prominent role in organising artists of the then East
Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.

India, UK emphasize need for strengthening international cooperation to combat terrorism

India and the United Kingdom emphasized the need for strengthening international cooperation to
combat the global menace of terrorism including cross border terrorism in South Asia.
India and the United Kingdom stressed that all the countries must take immediate action to ensure
that territories under their control should not be used for terrorist attacks. The two sides exchanged
ideas for further strengthening bilateral cooperation in countering radicalisation and violent
extremism, combating financing of terrorism, preventing exploitation of the internet for terrorism,
information sharing and capacity building.

Daily Current Affairs
                               for app_20201213
List of Padma awardees — 2021

Padma Awards - one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories,
namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
7 were awarded the Padma Vibhushan, 10 named for the Padma Bhushan and 102 named for Padma
Shri.
                          Padma Vibhushan (7)
Shri Shinzo Abe - Public Affairs - Japan
Shri S P Balasubramaniam (Posthumous) - Art - Tamil Nadu
Dr. Belle Monappa Hegde - Medicine - Karnataka
Shri Narinder Singh Kapany (Posthumous) - Science and Engineering - United States of America
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan - Others - Spiritualism - Delhi
Shri B. B. Lal Others - Archaeology - Delhi
Shri Sudarshan Sahoo - Art – Odisha
                                   Padma Bhushan (10)
Ms. Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra - Art - Kerala
Shri Tarun Gogoi (Posthumous) - Public Affairs - Assam
Shri Chandrashekhar Kambara - Literature and Education - Karnataka
Ms. Sumitra Mahajan - Public Affairs - Madhya Pradesh
Shri Nripendra Misra - Civil Service - Uttar Pradesh
Shri Ram Vilas Paswan (Posthumous) - Public Affairs Bihar
Shri Keshubhai Patel (Posthumous) Public Affairs Gujarat
Shri Kalbe Sadiq (Posthumous) Others-Spiritualism Uttar Pradesh
Shri Rajnikant Devidas Shroff Trade and Industry Maharashtra
Shri Tarlochan Singh Public Affairs Haryana

                                Padma Shri (102)
Shri Gulfam Ahmed Art Uttar Pradesh
Ms. P. Anitha Sports Tamil Nadu
Shri Rama Swamy Annavarapu Art Andhra Pradesh
Shri Subbu Arumugam Art Tamil Nadu
Shri Prakasarao Asavadi Literature and Education Andhra Pradesh
Ms. Bhuri Bai Art Madhya Pradesh
Shri Radhe Shyam Barle Art Chhattisgarh
Shri Dharma Narayan Barma Literature and Education West Bengal
Ms. Lakhimi Baruah Social Work Assam

Daily Current Affairs
                             for app_20201213
Shri Biren Kumar Basak Art West Bengal
Ms. Rajni Bector Trade and Industry Punjab
Shri Peter Brook Art United Kingdom
Ms. Sangkhumi Bualchhuak Social Work Mizoram
Shri Gopiram Bargayn Burabhakat Art Assam
Bijoya Chakravarty Public Affairs Assam
Shri Sujit Chattopadhyay Literature and Education West Bengal
Shri Jagdish Chaudhary (Posthumous) Social Work Uttar Pradesh
Shri Tsultrim Chonjor Social Work Ladakh
Ms. Mouma Das Sports West Bengal
Shri Srikant Datar Literature and Education United States of America
Shri Narayan Debnath Art West Bengal
Chutni Devi Social Work Jharkhand
Ms. Dulari Devi Art Bihar
Ms. Radhe Devi Art Manipur
Ms. Shanti Devi Social Work Odisha
Shri Wayan Dibia Art Indonesia
Shri Dadudan Gadhavi Literature & Education Gujarat
Shri Parshuram Atmaram Gangavane Art Maharashtra
Shri Jai Bhagwan Goyal Literature and Education Haryana
Shri Jagadish Chandra Halder Literature and Education West Bengal
Shri Mangal Singh Hazowary Literature and Education Assam
Ms. Anshu Jamsenpa Sports Arunachal Pradesh
Ms. Purnamasi Jani Art Odisha
Matha B. Manjamma Jogati Art Karnataka
Shri Damodaran Kaithapram Art Kerala
Shri Namdeo C Kamble Literature and Education Maharashtra
Shri Maheshbhai & Shri Nareshbhai Kanodia (Duo) * (Posthumous) Art Gujarat
Shri Rajat Kumar Kar Literature and Education Odisha
Shri Rangasami Lakshminarayana Kashyap Literature and Education Karnataka
Ms. Prakash Kaur Social Work Punjab
Shri Nicholas Kazanas Literature and Education Greece
Shri K Kesavasamy Art Puducherry
Shri Ghulam Rasool Khan Art Jammu and Kashmir
Shri Lakha Khan Art Rajasthan
Ms. Sanjida Khatun Art Bangladesh
Shri Vinayak Vishnu Khedekar Art Goa
Ms. Niru Kumar Social Work Delhi
Ms. Lajwanti Art Punjab
Shri Rattan Lal Science and Engineering United States of America
Shri Ali Manikfan Others-Grassroots Innovation Lakshadweep
Shri Ramachandra Manjhi Art Bihar
Shri Dulal Manki Art Assam
Shri Nanadro B Marak Others- Agriculture Meghalaya
Shri Rewben Mashangva Art Manipur
Shri Chandrakant Mehta Literature and Education Gujarat
Dr. Rattan Lal Mittal Medicine Punjab

Daily Current Affairs
                             for app_20201213
Shri Madhavan Nambiar Sports Kerala
Shri Shyam Sundar Paliwal Social Work Rajasthan
Dr. Chandrakant Sambhaji Pandav Medicine Delhi
Dr. J N Pande (Posthumous) Medicine Delhi
Shri Solomon Pappaiah Literature and Education- Journalism Tamil Nadu
Ms. Pappammal Others- Agriculture Tamil Nadu
Dr. Krishna Mohan Pathi Medicine Odisha
Ms. Jaswantiben Jamnadas Popat Trade and Industry Maharashtra
Shri Girish Prabhune Social Work Maharashtra
Shri Nanda Prusty Literature and Education Odisha
Shri K K Ramachandra Pulavar Art Kerala
Shri Balan Putheri Literature and Education Kerala
Ms. Birubala Rabha Social Work Assam
Shri Kanaka Raju Art Telangana
Ms. Bombay Jayashri Ramnath Art Tamil Nadu
Shri Satyaram Reang Art Tripura
Dr. Dhananjay Diwakar Sagdeo Medicine Kerala
Shri Ashok Kumar Sahu Medicine Uttar Pradesh
Dr. Bhupendra Kumar Singh Sanjay Medicine Uttarakhand
Ms. Sindhutai Sapkal Social Work Maharashtra
Shri Chaman Lal Sapru (Posthumous) Literature and Education Jammu and Kashmir
Shri Roman Sarmah Literature and Education- Journalism Assam
Shri Imran Shah Literature and Education Assam
Shri Prem Chand Sharma Others- Agriculture Uttarakhand
Shri Arjun Singh Shekhawat Literature and Education Rajasthan
Shri Ram Yatna Shukla Literature and Education Uttar Pradesh
Shri Jitender Singh Shunty Social Work Delhi
Shri Kartar Paras Ram Singh Art Himachal Pradesh
Shri Kartar Singh Art Punjab
Dr. Dilip Kumar Singh Medicine Bihar
Shri Chandra Shekhar Singh Others-Agriculture Uttar Pradesh
Ms. Sudha Hari Narayan Singh Sports Uttar Pradesh
Shri Virender Singh Sports Haryana
Ms. Mridula Sinha (Posthumous) Literature and Education Bihar
Shri K C Sivasankar (Posthumous) Art Tamil Nadu
Guru Maa Kamali Soren Social Work West Bengal
Shri Marachi Subburaman Social Work Tamil Nadu
Shri P Subramanian (Posthumous) Trade and Industry Tamil Nadu
Ms. Nidumolu Sumathi Art Andhra Pradesh
Shri Kapil Tiwari Literature and Education Madhya Pradesh
Father Vallés (Posthumous) Literature and Education Spain
Dr. Thiruvengadam Veeraraghavan (Posthumous) Medicine Tamil Nadu
Shri Sridhar Vembu Trade and Industry Tamil Nadu
Shri K Y Venkatesh Sports Karnataka
Ms. Usha Yadav Literature and Education Uttar Pradesh
Col Quazi Sajjad Ali Zahir Public Affairs Bangladesh

Daily Current Affairs
                               for app_20201213
Six NIA officials awarded Police Medals

Recognising the outstanding contribution in the service of the nation, one NIA official has been
awarded the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service and five NIA officials have been
awarded Police Medal for Meritorious Service.
Vinod Kumar KS, Head Constable of NIA, has been awarded the President’s Police Medal for
Distinguished Service. Sonia Narang, the then DIG of NIA, presently Additional Director, ED; Rajesh
TV, DySP, NIA Hyderabad; Tapan Kumar Ghosh, Assistant, NIA, Kolkata; PK Uthaman, Assistant Sub-
Inspector, NIA, Delhi; and Mahesh Kumar Yadav, Head Constable, NIA, Lucknow have been awarded
the Police Medal for Meritorious Service.

National Voters' Day: January 25th

The National Voters’ Day (NVD) is celebrated on the 25th of January every year since 2011, to mark
the foundation day of Election Commission of India (ECI). The day aims to spread awareness among
voters and for promoting informed participation in the electoral process.
The theme for this year’s National Voters’ Day is Making Our Voters Empowered, Vigilant, Safe and
Informed. It also focuses on the commission's commitment towards conducting elections safely
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Indian Constitution was promulgated on the 26th of January 1950. But Article 324 of the
Constitution, which created the Election Commission of India as a constitutional body, was among
the very few provisions that was given effect a full two months earlier on the 26th of November
1949. The Election Commission of India was set up on the 25thJanuary of 1950 a day before India
became a republic.

Daily Current Affairs
                               for app_20201213
20-year-old Shrishti Goswami is Uttarakhand CM for a day

Shristi Goswami, a twenty-year-old Haridwar-based student, become the Chief Minister of
Uttarakhand for one day on National Girl Child Day. She is a student of BSc Agriculture, lives in
Daulatpur village in Roorkee, Haridwar. The move has received the nod of Chief Minister Trivendra
Singh Rawat.
The one-day chief minister has administered from Gairsain, the summer capital of the state, and will
review various schemes run by the state government that include Atal Ayushman Scheme, Smart
City project, Homestay Scheme by the tourism department, and other development projects.

DRDO conducts maiden launch of Akash-NG missile from Integrated Test Range off coast of Odisha

Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) has conducted the successful maiden launch
of Akash-NG (New Generation) Missile from Integrated Test Range off the coast of Odisha.
Akash-NG is a new generation Surface to Air Missile meant for use by Indian Air Force with an aim of
intercepting high maneuvering low RCS aerial threats.
The Akash-NG system has been developed with better deployability compared to other similar
systems with canisterized launcher and much smaller ground system footprint.

Daily Current Affairs
                                for app_20201213
CSIR-CMERI unveils ‘Aqua Rejuvenation Plant’ which facilitates an Organic Farming Model through
treated Waste Water

CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Durgapur unveiled the first-ever Waste
Water Treatment Technology Model which purifies Waste Water for Irrigation/Farming purposes.
Aqua Rejuvenation Plant (ARP) is an Integrated Waste Water Rejuvenation Model which has six-
stage purification profile for comprehensive treatment of Waste Water, based upon diverse
purification parameters. The approx. 24,000 litres of water that can be rejuvenated using ARP will be
sufficient for almost 4 acres of Agricultural Land (barring seasonal variations in water requirements).

Indian Railways' longest freight train 'Vasuki' sets a new record

The South-East Central Railways (SECR) zone in Chhattisgarh breaks its own previous record by
successfully operating the longest ever freight train by amalgamating five rakes of goods trains as
one unit of around 3.5 km.
Named as ‘Vasuki’, it covered the distance of 224 km between the railway stations of Bhilai and
Korba and took about seven hours. The ‘Vasuki’, comprising of 300 wagons of long haul rake of five
goods trains, ran with the help of one pilot, one assistant loco pilot and a guard.

Daily Current Affairs
                               for app_20201213
BSF launches Operation ‘Sard Hawa’ at Rajasthan border

The Border Security Force (BSF) has launched “Operation Sard Hawa” on the western international
border of Rajasthan. The Operations aims to check the instances of infiltration due to the dense fog
cover in the region and increase security on the border areas in Jaisalmer.

UP Government launches ‘Udyam Sarathi App’ for Youths

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath has launched the ‘Udyam Sarathi App’. The app will
enable the youths to get every information related to self-employment and the job industry, across
the state.
Udyam Sarathi App will comprise of a varied range of data regarding business opportunities in
different departments and sectors, including the state and Central governments, and anywhere and
at any time. It has been launched under the One District One Product (ODOP) scheme.

Daily Current Affairs
                               for app_20201213
Infosys, TCS join global initiative by WEF to end racism at workplace

Indian technology services firms Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services joined a global coalition
launched by the World Economic Forum (WEF) to end racism at the workplace.
The WEF said its “Partnering for Racial Justice in Business” initiative will have member organisations
“commit to building equitable and just workplaces for professionals with under-represented racial
and ethnic identities”.
The founding members include 48 organisations representing 13 industries, with more than 5.5
million employees worldwide and headquarters in three continents, the WEF said. The founding
members of the coalition include Google, Microsoft, HP, AP Moller-Maersk, AlixPartners,
AstraZeneca, BlackRock, Bloomberg, Boston Consulting Group, Bridgewater Associates, Centene,
Cisco, Cognizant, Dentsu International, Deutsche Bank, EY, H&M, Henry Schein, and IKEA.

India witnesses highest growth in FDI in 2020 due to digital investments

FDI flows into India rose 13% in 2020, the highest among top recipients of FDI in 2019, due to
investments in the digital sector. It was followed by China which saw 4% growth, said the UN
Conference on Trade and Development.
On the other hand, fund flows "declined most strongly" in major economies such as the UK, the US
and Russia due to the pandemic. Global FDI collapsed in 2020 by 42% to an estimated $859 bn from
$1.5 trn in 2019. Such a low level was last seen in the 1990s and is more than 30% below the
investment trough that followed the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.

Daily Current Affairs
                                for app_20201213
Irdai introduces 'Saral Pension', a standard individual annuity product

The insurance regulatory and development authority of India (Irdai) has introduced a standard
individual immediate annuity product “Saral Pension”, which all life insurers have to start offering to
consumers by April 1. The product has to be filed by the insurers with the regulator by the end of
February.
This has been done to ensure uniformity across insurers, and to make available a product by all life
insurers that will broadly meet the needs of an average customer, the regulator said.
The product will offer life annuity with 100 per cent return of purchase price. It comes with joint life
annuity and a provision of 100 per cent annuity to the secondary annuitant upon death of the
primary annuitant and return of the full purchase price on death of last survivor. This means the
annuity will be paid to the annuitant for life and after his/her death, the spouse continues to get the
annuity for life until his/her death. Furthermore, on the death of the spouse, the legal heir will get
the purchase price back.
The minimum annuity payable under the policy is Rs 1,000 per month, Rs 3,000 per quarter, Rs 6,000
half yearly, and Rs 12,000 per anum. However, there is no limit on the maximum annuity.

England win second Test by six wickets to complete series sweep

England completed a 2-0 series victory over Sri Lanka by winning the second Test by six wickets with
a day to spare.
Set a target of 164, the English lost four wickets for 89 runs but an unbroken 75-run stand for the
fifth wicket by Jos Buttler (46) and Dom Sibley (56) finished it off.
Sibley only managed six runs in three innings but he returned to form with a much needed half-
century in the final innings.
England will now head to Chennai for a four-Test series against India.

Daily Current Affairs
                               for app_20201213
Yashvir Singh breaks Neeraj Chopra's record to make history

Haryana's Yashvir Singh stole the thunder from distance runners Sunil Dawar (Madhya Pradesh) and
Ankita (Uttarakhand) as the trio heralded the return of national-level athletics competition with new
meet records in the 18th Federation Cup Junior (U20) Championships in Bhopal.
The 19-year-old Yashvir Singh broke Neeraj Chopra's meet record in winning the javelin throw with a
best effort of 78.68m to surge past the 76.91m that had given Chopra the meet record in Hyderabad
in 2015.