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Highlights:

• Renowned social worker and CEO at Maharogi Sewa Samiti (Leprosy Services Committee) Sheetal Amte-Karajgi was found dead at ‘Anandwan’ in Chandrapur district’s Warora.
• She was found unconscious and was rushed to the Warora’s government hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival. 
• It is suspected that she committed suicide by injecting herself with poison. 
• She is survived by her husband and a son.
• The Amte family was in the middle of dispute over the manner in which MSS was being run and over the appointment of new trustees.
• Earlier this week, Ms. Sheetal had put out a Facebook live video in which she reportedly raised allegations against a few of her family members. 
• The video was removed within hours from her profile. 
• Later, the Amte family issued a statement that she was suffering from mental stress and depression.
• The family is yet to release any statement regarding the death of Sheetal.
• Anandwan is administered by the MSS, in which Sheetal’s father Vikas Amte is one of the trustees. 
• Sheetal became the CEO of the trust, a post specially created for her, three years ago.

• Dr. Sheetal Amte-Karajgi is an Indian Public Health expert, Disability Specialist and Social Entrepreneur. She is currently the CEO and board member of Maharogi Sewa Samiti (MSS), an NPO that aids those disadvantaged by leprosy. 
• Under Sheetal’s leadership, MSS has helped over 2.7 million marginalised Indian people.
• Sheetal is also a fellow of World Innovation Organisation, a joint initiative by the World Summit on Innovation and the United Nations (UN). 
• Sheetal also serves as an advisor to the UN’s i4P (Innovations for Peace).
• Sheetal was a grand-daughter of internationally known human rights activist and Padma Vibhushan awardee, the late Baba Amte, who founded the Maharogi Sewa Samiti in 1949. 
• The institutions has been a pioneer in medical treatment and rehabilitation of leprosy patients.Sheetal, a medical doctor was a disability specialist and was known as an environmentalist, painter and photographer. 
• One of her projects after becoming the CEO was to turn ‘Anandwan’ into a kind of ‘Smart Village’ by making it technologically efficient, economically productive and environmentally sensitive. 
• She received a grant from by Lancet Commission on Global Surgery for setting up a ‘Centre of Excellence for Medical Leadership, ethics and Motivation’ at Anandwan. 
• She then went on to establish ‘Mashaal’ and ‘Chirag’, two exclusive leadership training programmes for motivating medical professionals across India.
• Her model of dense plantation of native trees, adopted for Indian conditions from ‘Miyawaki method of afforestation,’ was adopted by the Government of Maharashtra and renamed ‘Anandwan Dense Forest Model’. 
• Her other programs Yuvagram and Nijbal concentrated on youth.
• Recent media reports had suggested that Sheetal was unhappy at the re-induction of Kaustubh, her brother, in the MSS trust. 
• Kaustubh had resigned from the trust following allegations of irregularities.
• After he was re-inducted this October, Sheetal had made her displeasure public in a video posted on Facebook. 
• It was immediately removed.

Highlights:

• China and Pakistan have signed a new military memorandum of understanding to boost their already close defence relationship.
• China’s Defence Minister and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) General Wei Fenghe met Pakistan’s leadership in Islamabad and visited the headquarters of the army at Rawalpindi.
• The two militaries signed an MoU following Gen. Wei’s meeting with Pakistan’s Chief of the Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, at the General Headquarters.
• Both “exchanged in-depth views on the international and regional situations, the relations between the two countries and militaries, the equipment and technology cooperation and other issues.
• Gen. Wei also discussed on-going projects under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), in which the Pakistani military is playing an increasingly prominent role.
• Pakistan “firmly supports China’s stand on issues related to the South China Sea, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet and so on.
• Prime Minister Imran Khan called for “closer strategic cooperation to raise the iron-clad Pakistan-China brotherhood to a new height.
• China would “continue assisting Nepal’s military development, contributing to regional peace and stability”.
• military-to-military relations were growing with the PLA Air Force earlier this year sending protective outfits, medical masks and thermometers to the Nepalese military.
• Nepal’s then Defence Minister Ishwar Pokhrel visited Beijing in October 2019 when both sides signed a 150-million yuan ($22.8 million) deal on military assistance.
• The two militaries have held joint special forces drills for three consecutive years.

Highlights:

• The Border Security Force (BSF) is celebrating its 56th Raising Day on 1 December 2020. 
• Border Security Force (BSF) is “India's first line of defence”.
• BSF -  Border Security Force was raised in accordance with an Act of the Parliament on 1st December, 1965, soon after the India-Pakistan War of 1965.
• The BSF - Border Security Force has always lived up to its motto "Duty for Life" (Jeevan Paryant Kartavya) with its bravery and prowess.
• The Minister of State introduced the “Police Medal for Gallantry” and “President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service” to BSF workforce.
• The Minister of State of Home Affairs additionally launched the BSF's yearly e-magazine "Borderman".
• The BSF is the world's biggest fringe guarding power making sure about the 6,386.36 km long International Borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. 

Highlights:

• December 2 is designated as "National Pollution Control Day" annually in the view of commemorating the people those their lives in the unfortunate Bhopal gas tragedy that occurred on this day in 1984.

• I) Raise people’s awareness of increasing air pollution and educate people on how to control and manage industrial disasters.
• II) Make everyone aware of the importance of pollution control behaviours and methods, and reduce pollution levels
• III) Control/prevent industrial pollution caused by human negligence.
• This day shows how serious air pollution is. 
• According to the National Health Portal (NHPI) of India, about 7 million people die from air pollution every year worldwide.
• NHPI also pointed out that the situation is so bad that 9 out of 10 people in the world cannot get safe air. 
• Air pollution is the cause of the destruction of the ozone layer.
• Pollutants in the air may pass through protective barriers in the body and may damage your lungs, brain and heart.

• Last year (2019) marks the 35th anniversary of the Bhopal gas tragedy, at midnight on December 2, 1984, which claimed thousands of lives.
• The Bhopal gas tragedy occurred after the highly toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas entered and approached the area near the alliance, Bhopal's Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant was considered the world's worst industrial disaster.
• According to official data, the incident claimed the lives of 2,259 people immediately after the incident, but the Madhya Pradesh government has confirmed that a total of 3787 people died from the gas release.
• The National Pollution Control Board (NPCB) is the national governing body responsible for administering industry conduct inspections to understand whether they comply with environmental regulations.

Highlights:

• Senegal’s professional footballer, Papa Bouba Diop, who helped the country win the FIFA World Cup match in 2002, has passed away at the of the age of 42. 
• His goal helped Senegal secure historic 1–0 win over the then-world champions France in the opening match of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and Senegal’s first-ever match at the FIFA World Cup. 
• Diop has won 63 caps for Senegal.
• Diop went on to make 98 Premier League appearances for Fulham and scored 10 goals. 
• He played a further 53 times in the top flight after joining Portsmouth in 2007 where he became an FA Cup winner 12 months later.
• He then had a spell with AEK Athens before returning to sign for West Ham United in 2011 and enjoyed a brief stint at Birmingham City.

Highlights:

• Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has appointed senior IAS officer Utpal Kumar Singh as Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha and Lok Sabha Secretariat.
• His appointment will come into effect from December 1, 2020. 
• He will succeed incumbent Snehlata Shrivastava.
• Mr Singh is a 1986 batch IAS officer of Uttrakhand Cadre and has been appointed as Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha in the rank and status of Cabinet Secretary.
• At present, he is posted as Secretary in the Lok Sabha secretariat.
• According to the statement, Singh has 34 years of "rich and varied" administrative experience and has served in both central and state governments in various capacities.

Highlights:

• Every December 1st is World AIDS Day. 
• People have been celebrating this day since 1988. 
• Celebrating this day is to raise people’s awareness of preventing HIV infection. 
• The November last week of is celebrated as AIDS Awareness Week annually. 
• The first AIDS Awareness Week was held in San Francisco in 1984.
• This year, World AIDS Day is celebrated with the following theme "Global Solidarity and Shared Responsibility".
• According to statistics from the NACO - National AIDS Control Organization, as of 2017, about 2.14 million people in India have AIDS.
• As of 2018, India is the world's third-largest place of residence for AIDS patients after South Africa and Nigeria. 
• The HIV infection rate in India is lower than in many other countries.
• In 2016, the prevalence of AIDS in India was 0.3%. 
• This is the 80th highest in the world. India is fighting the disease through antiretroviral drugs and educational programs.

• National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) was established in 1992 under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 
• It is in a leading position in controlling AIDS. It works with the National Institute of Medical Statistics and the Medical Research Council of India to estimate disease every two years. 
• India’s first such estimate was completed in 1998, and the last was done in 2017. 
• NACO has increased the number of centers that provide free antiretroviral treatment from 54 to 91. 
• Due to COVID-19, the number of AIDS patients in the country has greatly increased in 2020. 
• Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the country’s government plan to reduce AIDS has ceased.

Highlights:

• The Government of India has appointed IAS officer Varsha Joshi as the new Chairperson of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).
• She is presently served as Joint Secretary (CDD), Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Government of India.
• With incumbent Dilip Rath’s tenure as Chairman of NDDB ends on November 30, 2020, Joshi’s appointment is made effective from December 1, 2020, until further orders.
• Rath, who was serving as managing director (MD) of NDDB and later had held the additional charge of the post of chairman since August 1, 2016 had assumed the chairman’s post for the first term on December 1, 2016.
• Rath, also a former IAS officer, had taken premature retirement from the service to join NDDB as MD in 2011.

Highlights:

• India has become the world's largest producer of generic medicines, accounting for 20% of the total global production, and meeting 62 % of the global demand for vaccines.
• India is seeking its own development and production self-reliance. 
• While there are at least five pharmaceutical companies in India engaged in vaccine development, the Pune Serological Institute has been selected as a mass producer of the Covishield vaccine developed by Astra Seneca at the University of Oxford. 
• The government has activated a strong Covid-19 vaccine production and delivery ecosystem to meet demand.
• The Indian government announced a rupee stimulus plan. 9 billion Rufus are used for the Covid Suraksha mission to promote the development of indigenous vaccines.
• The focus of the Covid-19 vaccine development task is from pre-clinical development to clinical development, manufacturing, and regulatory deployment, end-to-end, and all available funds and funds will be integrated to accelerate product development.
• Another important goal will be to support the development of common unified agreements, internal and external quality management systems, training, data management systems, regulatory submissions,  and certification.
• The grant will be provided to the Indian Ministry of COVID-19 Vaccine Research and Development Biotechnology, and will ensure that it is introduced into the public health system in a fast-track manner under the premise of complying with all regulations and permits.
• So far, in academia and industry, a total of 10 candidate vaccines have been supported by the biotechnology department. 
• Up to now, 5 candidate vaccines are in the human trial stage.
• Ambassadors from 100 countries are scheduled to arrive in Pune on December 4 to visit the Indian Serum Institute and Genova Biopharma. 
• Sweden has recognized India's role as a "world pharmacy".
• In view of the coronavirus pandemic, Sweden is committed to expanding bilateral cooperation in the fields of health and life sciences. 
• At the same time, B Systems, a Luxembourg-based company, is cooperating with India to produce portable vaccine refrigeration equipment, which will solve the problem of vaccine distribution in India.
• It can be recalled that Prime Minister Modi held a virtual summit with Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel on November 19, during which he emphasized the strengthening of bilateral cooperation.

Highlights:

• The Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR-Uttar Pradesh) recently won the international award TX2 for doubling the number of tigers in the past 4 years. Since 2010, the TX2 Award has been

• Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) is located in the state Uttar Pradesh. 
• The northern edge of the reserve is along the India-Nepal border, while the southern border is marked by the Sharada and Khakra rivers. 
• PTR is one of the best examples of the extremely diverse and productive Terai ecosystem. 
• There are more than 127 species of animals, 326 species of birds and 2100 species of flowering plants in the habitat Wild animals include tiger, swamp deer, bengalflo, ho deer, leopard, etc. 
• There are several bodies of water in its high sal forests, plantations and grasslands.
• TX2 goal is a worldwide commitment to double the number of wild tigers in the world by 2022. 
• The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has set goals through the Global Tiger Initiative, the Global Tiger Forum and other important platforms. 
• Tiger Ridge countries: India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Highlights:

• Every year December 2 is regarded as the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery worldwide. 
• The annual event was organized by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and was first celebrated in 1986.
• The focus of the day is to eliminate contemporary forms of slavery, such as the worst forms of child labour, human trafficking, forced marriage,  forced recruitment of children for armed conflict and sexual exploitation.
• On December 2, 1949, the UNGA -  United Nations General Assembly approved the "Convention for the Suppression of Trafficking in Persons and Exploitation of Prostitution."
• On December 18, 2002, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2004 as the "International Year for Commemorating the Opposition and Abolition of Slavery" in its resolution 57/195 of 2002.
• In November 2016, the International Labor Organization (ILO) passed a new legally binding protocol aimed at strengthening global efforts to eliminate forced labour, which has come into effect.
• In addition, the ILO has launched 50 freedom campaigns with the aim of persuading about 50 countries to ratify the Forced Labor Protocol by the end of 2019.
• The main forms of modern slavery are Forced labour, child labour and Trafficking.

Highlights:

• Virat Kohli runs while batting against Australia during the one day international cricket match between Australia and India at Manuka Oval in Canberra, Australia on December 2, 2020.  
• Virat Kohli reached the milestone during the third and final match against Australia in Canberra.
• India captain Virat Kohli on December 2 became the fastest cricketer to score 12,000 ODI runs, breaking a record held by legendary compatriot Sachin Tendulkar.
• Kohli reached the milestone during the third and final match against Australia in Canberra.
• Kohli, who needed 23 runs for the landmark coming into the match, touched the figure in his 242nd innings when he took a single off Sean Abbott in the 13th over of the India innings.
• In comparison, it took Tendulkar 300 games to get there.
• The 32-year-old Indian captain was playing in his 251st ODI and averages close to 60 in the format with 43 hundreds and 59 half centuries. 
• He made his debut in 2008.
• On Wednesday, he was dismissed for a 78-ball 63, caught behind by Alex Carey after edging a Josh Hazlewood delivery.
• Tendulkar scored 18,426 runs from 463 ODIs between 1989 and 2012 at an average of 44.83 with the help of 49 hundreds and 96 half centuries.

Highlights:

• Recently, country's apex court questioned to center about the Char Dham panel to discuss Defence Ministry plea.
• The Char Dham High-Powered Committee (HPC) to meet “immediately” and discuss a plea made by the Ministry of Defence that narrowing the feeder roads along the Indo-China border in Uttarakhand will cause “serious repercussions” to national security and urgent troop mobilisations.
• A Bench led by Justice Rohinton Nariman asked the HPC to meet within two weeks and submit a report on the minutes of their meeting to the Supreme Court and supply copies to the Ministries of Defence and Roads and Highways.
• The Centre asked the court to modify its September 8 order to reduce the width of Char Dham roads to 5.5 m from 12 m to protect the ecologically fragile Himalayan slopes. 
• The court had ordered the Centre to plant trees in “right earnest” to recover the green cover “devastated” by construction. 
• The roads’ project includes the developing highways in Uttarakhand to improve access to the Char Dham (four shrines) - Yamunotri, Gangotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath.
• On November 27, the Centre filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, that the “situation on the ground has changed significantly” since September 8. 
• It urged the court to modify the order. 
• It asked the court to allow feeder national highways from Rishikesh to Mana, Rishikesh to Gangotri and Tarakpur to Pithoragarh, which leads up to the northern border with China, to be developed as two-lane configurations for the sake of “defence of the country”.
• According to the Centre, hill-cutting of 12 m formation has to be done to accommodate double laning of these feeder roads to gain a width of seven metres’ width.
• In its affidavit, a double lane road with a width of 7 to 7.5 metre was necessary to meet the Army’s requirement. Heavy trucks carrying troops, equipment and armaments could not be stuck on blocked feeder roads leading to a border which ran to 385 km in Uttarakhand.
• The terrain was hilly, mountainous. Quick mobilisation would need motorable and all-weather roads. There was an absolute necessity to be not “overtaken” by enemy movements, the Ministry of Defence explained.
• Bottlenecks would delay deployment in emergency situations if feeder roads are not developed to requisite standards. The Army has been using these roads post the war with China in 1962.
• The affidavit referred to a “recent face-off” with Nepal in Lipulekh side in 2020, saying all these sectors were “highly sensitive”.
• Prior to the September 8 order of the Supreme Court, the Defence Ministry said, work was on to upgrade the double laning of the three feeder roads.
• The Bench has scheduled the next hearing in the third week of January 2021.

Highlights:

• Every December 3rd, the United Nations celebrates other International Day of Persons with Disabilities around the world. 

• International Day of Persons with Disabilities was 1st announced by the United Nations General Assembly in 1992.
• Its purpose is to promote the well-being and rights of persons with disabilities, and to increase their awareness of social, political, economic and social conditions and also cultural life.
• There are above one billion disabled people in the world. 80% of them live in developing countries. Among the disabled in the world, 46% are over 60 years old. 
• People with disabilities are among the hardest hit by COVID-19.
• The Resolution "Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities" was passed in 2006. 
• The other main frameworks of the United Nations with a disability as a major component are as follows
• I) 2030 Sustainable Development Goals Agenda
• II) New urban agenda
• III) Addis Ababa Development Finance Action Agenda
• IV) Charter for the Participation of Disabled People in Humanitarian Action
• V) Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
• The United Nations Disability Integration Strategy aims to support the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Human Agenda and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. 
• It was launched in June 2019.

Highlights:

• Former Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal patron Parkash Singh Badal has returned his Padma Vibhushan award in protest against the present Farmer’s Bill.
• He termed as the “betrayal of farmers” and indifferent attitude adopted by the BJP-led Central government towards the ongoing farmers protest against agriculture laws.
• In a letter to the President, the former Punjab CM speaks of ‘shocking indifference and contempt with which the government is treating the ongoing peaceful and democratic agitation against farm acts’
• Parkash Singh Badal is an Indian politician who was Chief Minister of Punjab state from 1970 to 1971, from 1977 to 1980, from 1997 to 2002, and from 2007 to 2017.
• He is also the patron of Shiromani Akali Dal, a Sikh-centered regional political party.

Highlights:

• Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) topped the Fortune 500 list of Indian companies, Fortune India announced on December 2.
• Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOC), the nation’s biggest oil firm, bagged the second spot, followed by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) at the third.
• The country’s largest lender State Bank of India was in the fourth position, while India’s second-biggest fuel retailer Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) took the fifth spot.img
• The list was published by Fortune India, which is part of the Kolkata-based RP Sanjiv Goenka Group.
• Tata Motors was ranked sixth, followed by gold refiner Rajesh Exports at the seventh spot.
• India’s largest IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services took the eighth spot, while ICICI Bank was at ninth, and Larsen and Toubro at tenth.
• In the global rankings released in August, RIL broke into the world’s top 100 companies.
• IOC had slipped 34 positions to rank 151st globally, while ONGC was ranked 190th, 30 notches lower than its last year’s ranking

Highlights:

• Dharampal Gulati, the 97-year-old owner of MDH Spices and the face of the company’s advertisements, passed away due to a cardiac arrest.
• He suffered a cardiac arrest early on December 3.
• Popularly called ‘King of Spices,’ Gulati was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Delhi for the last three weeks.

• Gulati was born on March 27, 1923, in Sialkot in present-day Pakistan.
• He dropped out of school before completing Class V.
• He then set up a small business of mirrors with the help of his father in 1937.
• He did not pursue it for long, however, and worked through a variety of businesses, including soaps, hardware, cloth and rice trading, before joining his father’s spices business called ‘Mahashian Di Hatti’.img
• He came to India in September 1947 after Partition with a total of Rs.1,500.
• According to the company’s website, Gulati purchased a tonga for Rs.650 and started ferrying people in Delhi at two annas per passenger.
• He later bought a small wooden shop in Karol Bagh, New Delhi, and re-started his family business of ground spices, which now has a turnover of about Rs.1,500 crore.
• Gulati was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2019.

Highlights:

• According to the fresh rankings for 2020 announced by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) , Nongpok Sekmai police station in Manipur’s Thoubal district has been selected as the best police station in the country.
• The other nine top police stations are AWPS-Suramangalam in Tamil Nadu’s Salem city, Kharsang in Arunachal Pradesh’s Changlang, Jhilmili (Bhaiya Thana) at Surajpur in Chhattisgarh, Sanguem in South Goa, Kalighat in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Pakyong in Sikkim’s East District, Kanth in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad district, Khanvel in Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Jammikunta Town police station in Telangana’s Karimnagar district.
• The government of India selects best performing police stations out of 16,671 in the country every year to “incentivise more effective functioning of police stations and bring healthy competition among them”.
• The ranking process commenced with short-listing of the best performing police stations in each State on the basis of addressing property offence, crime against women, crime against weaker sections, missing persons, unidentified found person and unidentified dead bodies.
• The last parameter has been introduced this year.
• The rankings were in accordance with the directions of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Directors General of Police conference in 2015.
• He had directed that parameters should be laid down for grading police stations and assessing their performance based on feedback.

• This year’s survey for best police stations was conducted under challenging circumstances by the MHA. It was difficult to access police stations located in remote areas during the COVID-19 pandemic due to various restrictions on movement.
• A  vast majority of police stations short-listed from the thousands of police stations in the country are police stations located in small towns and rural areas.
• This is also true for those police stations which have been ranked among the top 10.
• This indicates that while availability of resources is important, more important is the dedication and sincerity of our police personnel to prevent and control crime and serve the nation.
• The number of police stations selected initially from each State comprised three from States with more than 750 police stations, two from all other States and Delhi and one each from Union Territories.
• In all, five police stations were selected for next stage of the ranking process.
• In the final stage, 19 parameters were identified to evaluate the standards of service delivery and identify techniques of improvement in policing.
• This part constituted 80% weightage in overall scoring.
• The balance 20% was based on infrastructure of the police station and access of personnel and feedback of citizens.
• The categories of citizens included were from nearby residential areas, nearby markets and citizens leaving police stations.
• Citizens who were approached for feedback included 4,056 respondents, covering approximately 60 people at each shortlisted location.

Highlights:

• Kiwis that are wild in the Ziro Valley of Arunachal Pradesh, India are the only certified organic fruit of this type in India. Ziro Valley is located in the Subasili region.
• Arunachal Pradesh is the 1st state in India to obtain the organic certification of kiwifruit under the "Missions of the Northeast Region Organic Value Chain Development" (MOVCD-NER).
• Mission of Northeast Region Organic Value Chain Development (MOVCD-NER) is a central department plan.
• It is a sub-task of the National Sustainable Agriculture Mission (NMSA).
• Initiator: Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare
• Implemented in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura
• If no chemical fertilizers or pesticides are involved in the farming process, the agricultural practice/product is considered an organic product.
• In India, such certification can be obtained through a rigorous scientific assessment by the regulatory agency Agriculture and Processed Food Export Development Agency (APEDA). 

Highlights:

• Every December 4th is International Bank Day to recognize the important role of the banking system in improving living standards. 
• It also recognizes the great potential of multilateral development banks and other international development banks in financing sustainable development and providing expertise.
• On December 19, 2019, the UNGA - United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 74/245, designating December 4 as International Banking Day.
• The resolution stated that the banking system plays a vital role in improving living standards.
• This day is celebrated to celebrate the enormous potential of multilateral development banks and other international development banks in funding and providing knowledge for sustainable development.

Highlights:

• Indian Navy Day is observed on December 4th every year to commemorate the "Trident" operation. 
• The Navy also organized a moderation retreat ceremony at the Gateway of India in Mumbai on the eve of Naval Memorial Day.
• Indian Navy's supreme commander by the President of India. 
• The motto of the Indian Navy is-Sam no Varunah (Sam no Varunah), which means Varuna, the god of water, should be auspicious to us.
• Some of the earliest actions of the Indian Navy included its contribution to the liberation of Goa from Portugal in 1961.
• With the manufacture of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine INS Arihant and several other ships, the Navy has developed into an admirable force.
• The Indian Navy currently owns an aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, a former Russian ship that entered service in 2013. 
• It operates three types of submarines: Chakra (the nuclear-powered INS Chakra), Sindgerhosh and Shishumar.
• The Marine Commando or MARCOS is a special force of the Indian Navy. 
• It is well-trained and can conduct amphibious operations, counter-terrorism, special reconnaissance, hostage rescue and asymmetric operations.
• They were the first to respond to the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks.

Highlights:

• Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhry assumed the charge as 27th Director General Border Roads (DGBR) on the 1st December 2020. 
• Prior to this, he held the appointment of ADG LW&E in QMG’s Branch at Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (Army).

• Lt Gen Chaudhry was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers from Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun in 1983.
• He has attended all prestigious courses of the Indian Army including staff Course at Defence Service Staff College, Wellington, Higher Command Course at Army War College, Mhow and the National Defence College, New Delhi.
• He also holds an M-Tech from IISc Bangalore. 
• He initiated the first-ever and only Engineer Brigade Exercise with US Engineer Brigade as part of EX YUDH ABHYAS.
• Lt Gen Chaudhry has held various staff, instructional, and command appointments including Command of an Independent Field Coy, Engineer Unit, and Command of an Engineer Brigade.
• He has also tenanted the appointment of Chief Engineer Southern Command.
• He was nominated as Exercise Director of EX FORCE 18, a multinational exercise involving 18 countries on Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA), in the year 2016.

Highlights:

• The World Malaria Report for the year2020 was released by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

• The World Malaria Report provides estimated cases of malaria worldwide based on mathematical predictions. 
• Provide comprehensive updates on global and regional malaria data and trends. 
• The report tracks investment in malaria planning and research and progress in all intervention areas (prevention, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring). 
• It also includes special chapters on the elimination of malaria and the fight against the main threats of malaria.
• The report is completely based on information obtained from the national malaria control plan and other partners in endemic countries. 
• It is published annually by the World Health Organization (WHO).
• The report shows that India has made great progress in reducing the burden of malaria.
• India is the only country with a high prevalence that reported a 17.6% decrease in 2019 compared to 2018.
• The Annual Parasitic Incidence (API) reduced by 27.6% in 2018 compared to 2017 and by 18.4% in 2019 as compared to 2018. 
• India has sustained API less than one since the year 2012.
• India also contributed the most to the decline in cases across the region, from about 20 million to about 6 million. 
• Between 2000 and 2019, the percentage decrease in malaria cases was 71.8% and the death toll was 73.9%.
• Between 2000 and 2019, the incidence of malaria in India was reduced by 83.34%, and the mortality rate from malaria was reduced by 92%.
• This helped India achieve Millennium Development Goals( MDG) target 6 (the incidence rate dropped by 50-75% between 2000 and 2019).
• Comparing the same period in 2019, the total number of reported malaria cases from 2020 to October has also decreased by approximately 45%.

Highlights:

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a US$132.8 million loan with the Government of India to strengthen and modernize the distribution network and improve the quality of electricity provided to households, industries and businesses in Meghalaya
• Although Meghalaya has achieved 100% electrification, the remote rural areas of the state frequently cut out power due to overloading of the distribution grid and substations using outdated technologies, resulting in massive technical and commercial (AT&C) losses.
• The Indian government and the Meghalaya state government have launched a "24×7 Meghalaya State Electricity Plan for all citizens".
• It's main aim is to provide uninterrupted, high-quality, reliable and affordable power supply to all electricity users.
• The project will build 23 substations; transform and modernize 45 substations, including the provision of control room equipment and protection systems; install and upgrade 2,214 kilometers of power distribution lines and related facilities, covering three of the six circles in the state.
• The installation of smart meters will benefit approximately 180,000 households.
• It is proposed to supplement the loan with a US$2 million grant from the ADB Japan Poverty Reduction Fund, which will fund renewable energy micro-grids to improve power quality and support income-generating activities, especially for women and others Socially disadvantaged groups in three villages and three schools.

Highlights:

• The Minister of Science and Technology and Vice President of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Dr. Harsh Vardhan virtually inaugurated the 2nd Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) 2020 conference in New Delhi on 4th December 2020.
• The conference will focus on important issues of uniformity and integrity of specimens representing different parts of India and make the Indian Cancer Genomics Atlas (ICGA) useful for clinicians throughout India.
• The Government aims to set a way forward in making cancer treatment accessible and affordable.
• The conference highlighted several large-scale mission mode projects taken by the Government such as Genome India, IndiGene Nutrition Mission, etc.

• TCGA is a cancer genomics program that molecularly characterized over 20,000 primary cancer and matched normal samples spanning 33 cancer types. 
• It is a joint effort between the US-National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute that began in 2006. 
• Many researchers from diverse disciplines and multiple institutions get together at this conference. 
• TCGA has generated over 2.5 petabytes of genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic data, so far. 
• This data has already led to improvements in the ability to diagnose, treat, and prevent cancer and will remain publicly available for anyone in the research community to use. 
• Also, the establishment of an ICGA has been initiated by a consortium of key stakeholders in India led by CSIR, the Government of India in which several government agencies, cancer hospitals, academic institutions, and private sector partners.

Highlights:

• World Soil Day (WSD) is held annually on 5 December as a means to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and to advocate for the sustainable management of soil resources. 
• An international day to celebrate Soil was recommended by the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) in 2002.

• It aims to respond to the increasingly severe challenges of soil management, address the loss of soil biodiversity, increase soil awareness and encourage governments, organizations, communities and individuals around the world to make commitments to improve the importance of maintaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being Sexual awareness. Actively improve soil health.
• World Soil Day also highlighted the growing problem due to population expansion. 
• Therefore, it is necessary to take measures to reduce soil erosion and maintain fertility to ensure food safety.
•  The International Union of Soil Science (IUSS) recommended an international celebration of Soil Day in 2002.
• In addition, FAO supports the official establishment of World Soil Day as a global awareness-raising platform under the Kingdom of Thailand and within the framework of the Global Soil Partnership.

Highlights:

• The administrator of Lakshadweep Dineshwar Sharma passed away on 4th December 2020. 
• He died due to lung-related complications at hte age of 66 years. 
• He had offered long-lasting contributions to India's policing and security apparatus.

• Sharma was a 1976-batch IPS officer. 
• He belonged to the Kerala cadre. 
• He was a former director of the Intelligence Bureau. He was appointed as the administrator of Lakshadweep in October 2019. 
• Earlier, on 30th May 2017, he was appointed as the Indian government’s representative for peace talks with various groups in North-Eastern states. 
• Later on 25th October, 2017, he was appointed as the union government's interlocutor for holding dialogue with the elected representatives, various organizations, and individuals concerned in Jammu and Kashmir. He has handled many sensitive counter-terror and insurgency operations during his policing career. 
• In 1997, he was awarded the prestigious Indian Police Medal for meritorious service. 
• Then, in 2003, he was awarded the President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service.

Highlights:

• Every year, December 5 is celebrated as International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development.
• International Volunteer Day (IVD) for Economic and Social Development is also commonly referred to as International Volunteer Day (IVD)
• International Volunteer Day gives individual volunteers, communities and organizations the opportunity to promote their contribution to development at the local and national and also at international levels.
• International Volunteer Day (IVD) is a unique opportunity for individuals and participating in voluntary organizations to collaborate with government agencies, non-profit organizations, community groups, academia and the private sector.
• The United Nations General Assembly - UNGA passed a resolution on December 17, 1985, passing the International Volunteer Day (IVD) for Economic and Social Development.
• In 2012, in response to the ever-evolving experience and suggestions, the UN Volunteers (Volunteers) Program took the lead in implementing a "five-year International Volunteer Day Strategy" with a view to making it globally recognized and owned by grassroots organizations.
• In the past six years, IVD has been celebrated in more than 80 countries/regions every year.
• IVD website receives about 50,000 web page views each year, among which about 150 stories are posted. These stories highlight more than 50,000 volunteers around the world, photos and videos of the celebration

Highlights:

• The Union Environment Ministry has constituted a high-level inter-ministerial Apex Committee for Implementation of Paris Agreement (AIPA) under the chairmanship of Secretary, MoEFCC to ensure that India was “on track” towards meeting its obligations under the Paris Agreement including its Nationally Determined. 
• The purpose of AIPA is to "ensure a coordinated response to climate change issues to protect the country's interests, and ensure that India fulfils its climate change obligations under the Paris Agreement as planned, including its nationally determined contributions ( NDC)".
• NDC is the embodiment of voluntary efforts made by some countries of the Paris Agreement to decrease greenhouse gas and mitigate the effects of human-made climate change.
• The National Data Center will be implemented after 2020.
• India submitted its National Data Center in 2015.
• The three quantitative goals of the Indian National Data Center are:
• By 2030, the emission intensity of GDP will be reduced by 33-35% compared to 2005.
• By 2030, electricity based on non-fossil fuels will account for 40%.
• Through the afforestation plan, carbon storage of 250-300 million tons of carbon dioxide will be established.

Highlights:

• Dr. Samir Damare, Principal Scientist and Head Analytical Services Division, at Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)-National Institute Of Oceanography (NIO), Goa has been selected for the Senior Scientist Award for the year 2020. 
• He was selected by the Microbiologists Society, India.
• Dr. Damare has received this award in recognition of his research in the field of Extremophiles, Microbiology, Biotechnology & Molecular Biology. 
• The award is presented to Microbiologists working in different fields annually. 
• The award will be presented during the Annual Meeting of Society. 
• Dr. Damare has 33 publications in reputed national and international journals. 
• He has successfully guided 3 Ph.D students and 23 students for Internship, Project Work, and Dissertation.

• Microbiologists Society, India was established in March 1996. 
• The society has over 30 sub-units all over India and 6 units outside India. 
• Over 70+ Student Units in different Colleges and Universities across India. 
• The Society has over 528 Life Members.

Highlights:

• Ranjitsinh Disale, an elementary school teacher in Solapur, Maharashtra, won the Global Teacher Award 2020.

• It is an annual award of one million dollars to recognize outstanding teachers who have made outstanding contributions to their profession.
• Founder: Varkey Foundation, a global charitable foundation dedicated to improving education. 
• The award is organized in cooperation with UNESCO.
• Objective: It emphasizes the importance of educators and the fact that their efforts deserve recognition and praise throughout the world.
• It tries to recognize that the best teachers have an impact not only on their students, but also on the communities around them.
• Insufficient education is an important factor in the social, political, economic and health problems facing the world today. Education has the ability to alleviate poverty, prejudice and conflict.

• He converted a dilapidated school into a school, which later became the first school in Maharashtra to introduce a Quick Response (QR) code. 
• A QR code is a barcode containing a matrix of dots. It can be scanned using a QR scanner or a smartphone with a built-in camera. 
• He not only translates classroom textbooks into student's native language, but also embeds them in unique QR codes so that students can read audio poems, video lectures, stories and assignments. 
• He is also passionate about building peace among young people in conflict areas. 
• His 'Let's Cross the Borders' project connects young people in India and Pakistan, Palestine and Israel, Iraq and Iran, and the United States and North Korea.
• Impact of Disale's Efforts:
• Currently, there is no record of teenage marriage in the village, and the enrollment rate of girls has reached 100%. 
• The state government announced in 2017 that they will launch QR code textbooks for all grades across the state. In 2018, it was announced that all NCERT textbooks will have QR codes embedded.

Highlights:

• The Flag Day of the Armed Forces was celebrated on December 7 to commemorate the martyrs and uniformed soldiers, and dedicated to raising funds from the people for the benefit of the armed forces.
• All three branches of the armed forces, namely the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy, have organized various types of programs on the Flag Day of the Armed Forces to pay tribute and commend the soldiers for their efforts to safeguard national honour.
• The main purpose of the armed forces flag day is to collect funds from the people through the sale of batches, stickers and other items to improve the staff of the armed forces. 
• On August 28, 1949, the Ministry of Defence decided to celebrate this day to commemorate soldiers, sailors and pilots.
• The armed forces flag day celebration aims to pay tribute to the heroic and difficult soldiers and to reshape the harmony of citizens. 
• The focus of the annual celebration is to provide rehabilitation services for war victims, relocate and restore the health of former soldiers. 
• Therefore, the celebration of Flag Day of the Armed Forces strengthened the cultural ties between Indians and members of the armed forces.
• To commemorate the sacrifices by the army, air force and navy personnel to the country, the Indian Armed Forces Flag Day is celebrated annually. 
• The purpose of this event is to actively participate and provide support to the public across the country for the following purposes:
• Provide rehabilitation services to the families of war victims.
• Take action for the welfare of employees and their families.
• Assist in the placement and welfare of former soldiers and their families.
• In celebrating the event, the public and volunteers collected donations by selling coupon signs, stickers and other items across India. This helps to increase the amount of money raised by ordinary people in a variety of ways. 
• These funds are used for the welfare of the Indian armed forces.
• Indian military personnel distribute Indian tricolour flags or vehicle flags across the country (red, dark blue, and light blue indicate the three divisions of the Indian Army). 
• The brave and enterprising militants showed the civilians how they faced encounters and sacrificed their lives in order to preserve and protect the life of the country.
• The collection of funds is managed by the local agency of the Kendriya Sainik Committee under the Indian Ministry of Defence. 
• It is controlled by the management committee and supervised by official and unofficial voluntary organizations.

Highlights:

• The Azad Pattan hydropower project that is to be constructed in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. 
• It is to be built on the Jhelum River and will have the capacity to generate 700 MW of hydroelectricity. This is a 1.35 billion USD project that is to be jointly undertaken by China and Pakistan as a part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
• The CPEC is a flagsip project of the Chinese government that connects Gwadar Port of Pakistan and Xinjiang of China.

• It is one of the five hydropower schemes to be built on the Jhelum river.
• The other four are Kohala, Mahl, Karot and Chakothi Hattian.
• Of these, Kohala, Azad Pattan and Karot are to be developed under CPEC network.
• Azad Pattan is to be commissioned by 2024.
• It is a run-of the river scheme. Under the run-of-the-river scheme, the river water is diverted from a flowing river and guided down a channel that leads to a generating house.
• The dam is to be constructed in the region that is under dispute between India and Pakistan. 
• India had also objected the construction of Diamer-Basha Dam across Indus river in Gilgit-Baltistan region.
• According to India, China and Pakistan are consolidating their presence in the region.
• The projects being implemented in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir do not follow international norms.
• These projects provide geopolitical leverage to the Chinese in the western Indian Ocean region.
• This will strengthen China’s strategy of using its economic power to increase its geopolitical leverage. Earlier the same strategy was used in Iran. 
• China and Iran had gone ahead with the Chabahar rail project without India’s assistance. 

Highlights:

• Every December 7th is International Civil Aviation Day to raise awareness of the importance of the role of the International Civil Aviation Organization (IACO) in air transport. 
• The International Civil Aviation Organization is the United Nations agency responsible for international standards for aviation safety. 
• This day is marked as a global anniversary, not a public holiday.
• On December 7, 1994, the IACO (International Civil Aviation Organization) signed the 50th anniversary of the International Civil Aviation Convention, celebrating the first International Civil Aviation Day.
• The United Nations (UN) and countries around the world have adopted the "Agenda 2030", focusing on global sustainable development.
• The ICAO Council establishes a special anniversary theme for International Civil Aviation Day every five years. Throughout the four-year intervention period, the council will choose a theme.
• From the year 2015 to 2018, the theme of International Civil Aviation Day is "Working together to ensure that no other country is left behind."
• From now to 2023, the Security Council has decided to set the theme as: "Advancing Innovation for Global Aviation Development".
• In 1996, the UNGA (United Nations General Assembly) passed General Assembly Resolution A29-1 and declared that this day will be International Civil Aviation Day.

• ICAO is a United Nations agency that supports the development of international aviation safety standards that is established on December 7, 1944, in order to ensure the consistency of international cooperation and civil aviation affairs. 
• In the same year, the "International Services Transit Agreement" and the "International Air Service Agreement" were also signed. In 1994, ICAO launched International Civil Aviation Day to commemorate its 50th anniversary. 
• This is done to arouse and utilize the global awareness of the value of international civil aviation in the social & economic development of countries.
• The IACO-International Civil Aviation Organization is a United Nations agency that operates in conjunction with other United Nations member states

Highlights:

• The United Nations Conference on Trade & Development - UNCTAD recently announced "Invest in India" as the winner of the 2020 United Nations Investment Promotion Awards. 
• The award recognizes the outstanding achievements of investment promotion agencies around the world. 
• In 2020, approximately 180 such institutions will be shortlisted for this award.
• UNCTAD has formed a team to monitor investment promotion agencies around the world. 
• The group was established in March 2020 to observe best practices adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• IPA's response has become the assessment of the 2020 United Nations Investment Promotion Awards. 
• This proves that although India is the world's second-most populous country, India's innovations help control the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
• UNCTAD deals with trade, investment and development issues. 
• The main target of the organization is to maximize trade and investment.
• UNCTAD was established in 1964. 
• It publishes reports such as the "Trade and Development Report" and the "World Investment Report".
• World Investment Report 2020 was released by UNCTAD in June 2020. 
• According to the report, the flow of foreign direct investment in 2020 has decreased by 40% compared to 2019.
• For the first time since 2005, global foreign direct investment flows will be below US$1 trillion. 
• By 2021, the foreign direct investment will fall further by 5% to 10%. 
• According to the report, India's foreign direct investment flow in 2019 jumped to 9th place. Foreign direct investment inflows into India were US$51 billion, and India ranked 12th in 2018.

Highlights:

• The Agra Metro is an under-construction rapid transit network in Agra, the fourth largest city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. 
• Detailed Project Report was submitted in 2014 and cleared by Uttar Pradesh government cabinet in 2015
• The project is owned by Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation.
• Agra Metro Project consists of two corridors with a total length of 29.4 km. 
• It connects famous tourist attractions like Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Sikandra etc., with railway stations and bus stands. 
• Its construction work is to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi. 
• The project is expected to benefit 29 lakh people in the city of Agra as well as more than 60 lakh tourists who visit the place each year.

• The project will help boost Ease of Living of the people of Agra and will benefit the tourists visiting the city. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 8,379.62 crores. 
• The project is to be completed in five years. 
• The feasibility study of the Agra Metro Project was conducted in 2016. 
• The Detailed Progress Report of the project was prepared by RITES (Rail India Technical and Economic Service Limited).
• The costs of the project was estimated as Rs 350 per kilo metre. 

Highlights:

• World Health Organisation (WHO) has appointed Indian-origin Anil Soni as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the WHO Foundation. 
• Global health expert Soni will assume his role as its inaugural CEO on 1st January 2020. 
• He will be the first CEO of the newly launched WHO Foundation. 
• In his new role, Soni will accelerate the WHO Foundation's work to invest in innovative, evidence-based initiatives that support WHO in delivering on its mission to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all.

• Anil Soni has spent two decades in service of communities affected by HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. 
• In his career, from 2002-2004, initially, he had served as the Executive Director (ED) at the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis. 
• Soni is well-known for mobilizing resources and advocating for global health priorities. 
• From 2004-2005, he had served as the Founding Executive Director of Friends of the Global Fight. 
• He had served as the senior advisor at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the MDG Health Alliance.

Highlights:

• Recently, Orchha and Gwalior cities of Madhya Pradesh have been included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Cities.

• The city is famous for its palaces and temples and was the capital of Bundela Kingdom in the 16th century. The famous places in the city are Jahangir Mahal, Raj Mahal, Rai Praveen Mahal, Ram Raja temple and Lakshmi Narayan Mandir. 
• After the city is included in the world heritage City list, the historic spots such as Gujri Mahal, Mansingh palace and Sahastra Bahu Temple will be treated chemically. 
• This is to be done to make the art inscribed in these places more visible. 
• Also, guards are to be posted in these spots to welcome the tourists according to the Indian traditions.

• The city of Gwalior is known for its temples and palaces. 
• The Gwalior Fort is accessed via a winding road lined with sacred Jain statues and occupies a sandstone plateau. 
• It is now an archaeological museum with high walls of 15th century. 
• The city of Gwalior was established in the 9th century and was ruled by Rajvansh, Baghel Kachvaho, Tomar and Scindias.

• The World Heritage site tags are provided by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO. 
• The tags are provided for natural heritages and cultural heritages spread all over the world. 
• These heritages are considered to be outstanding in adding value to the humanity.
• The World Heritage site list is administered by the UNESCO World Heritage committee. 
• The committee comprises of 21 state parties and are elected by the United Nations General Assembly. 
• The programme was begun by the UNESCO in 1972 and so far, 193 countries have ratified the convention.
• In order to get included in the list, the place should have a unique landmark. They should be historically and geographically identifiable.

Highlights:

• According to the Praja Foundation's Urban Governance Index, Odisha topped the list of states and Manipur and Nagaland were at the bottom.
• According to the Urban Governance Index Odisha was followed by Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. 
• Capital city Delhi rank 13th in the list. 
• The states were marked between 0 and 100 based on the themes empowered City administration, elected representatives and legislative structure and empowered citizens and physical empowerment.
• Maharashtra scored 55%, Odisha scored 56%. 
• The Other top performers were Chhattisgarh with a score of 49.6 8%, Kerala with a score of 48.7 7% and Madhya Pradesh with the score of 45.9 4%.
• Inadequate infrastructure and Service Delivery are the major issues that continue to impede cities to achieve their true economic potential.
• The ranking was done based on urban governance reforms. 
• In order to create the index the Praja Foundation conducted a study for three years across 40 cities and in the national capital territory. 
• The ranks have been awarded to the states based on their local self-Government and grassroot democracy.
• According to the findings of the study none of the states could score 60 out of hundred. 
• This indicates that the municipal bodies are lagging to provide effective governance at the local level. 
• The study also said that not a single state has evolved all the 18 functions to the municipal bodies in spite of the fact that it has been 28 years after Parliament passed the constitutional amendment on municipalities. 
• The 74th constitutional amendment was enacted in 1993 that recognized Municipal governments.
• The 18 functions include regulation of land use, urban planning, planning for economic and social development, fire service, water supply, protection of the environment, urban Forestry, promotion of ecological aspects, etc. 
• These functions aim to empower the local urban bodies and democratic decentralization of the local governance.

• There are three major Price Indices used in India. 
• They are Wholesale Price Index, Index of Industrial Production and Consumer Price Index
• Wholesale Price Index
• It is the main measure of inflation in the country. 
• The important fiscal policy and monetary policy changes are linked to WPI. 
• It is in use since 1939 and is published since 1947 regularly. 
• The WPI is calculated by the Office of Economic Advisor operating under Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• Index of Industrial Production measures the changes in the industrial production.
• It is calculated by the Central Statistics Office operating under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
• The eight major core industries such as crude oil, electricity, cement, refinery products, steel, fertilizers and natural gas are included in Index of Industrial Production.
• Consumer Price Index measures changes in retail price goods and services. 
• It is used as measure of inflation in more than 157 countries. 
• It is calculated by Central Statistics Office.

Highlights:

• The United Kingdom has become the first country to roll out the covid-19 vaccine in the world.  
• The British government recently rolled out the covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
• More than 70 Hospital hubs in the United Kingdom are to inoculate people over 80 years. 
• The vaccine is to be provided as two injections within a time gap of 21 days. 
• The person administered with the vaccine will obtain complete immunity after seven days of the second dose.
• China and Russia have started to provide vaccine to their population before even completing the final safety and efficacy trials.

• According to the World Health Organization, the average time taken for a vaccine to become publicly available till now has been 16 years. 
• The vaccine that comes close to COVID-19 vaccine has been the mumps vaccine. 
• The mumps vaccine took four years to get all necessary permissions and licensing.
• The Pfizer vaccine evaluated more than 94 COVID-19 infections among the 43,538 participants. 
• The Pfizer vaccine uses mRNA technology. 
• It has proved well above 50% of effectiveness as set by the US Food and Drug Administration for a COVID-19 vaccine.
• The Oxford Vaccine showed better efficacy than the Pfizer vaccine. 
• The Moderna and Pfizer BioNTech vaccine must be transported at negative 20 to 80 degree Celsius unlike Oxford vaccine. 
• The Oxford vaccines can be refrigerated at normal two to eight degrees Celsius.
• The Pfizer has to mandatorily distribute its vaccine in a specially designed “thermal shipper” that uses dry ice to maintain the negative eighty degrees Celsius.
• Also, it was recently proved that half dose of Oxford vaccine is likely to give higher protection. 
• This will make more doses available to the general public.

Highlights:

• Every year, the International Anti-Corruption Day is marked on December 9. 
• The day is marked by United Nations and several other international organizations. 
• This year, the International Anti-Corruption Day was celebrated under the theme
• Theme: Recover with Integrity
• On December 9, the International Anti-Corruption Day was celebrated by the Central Bureau of Investigation in New Delhi.
• United Nations Convention Against Corruption
• It is the only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument. 
• It covers five main areas such as international cooperation, criminalization and law enforcement, preventive measures, asset recovery, technical assistance and information exchange. 
• The different forms of corruption covered by the convention are abuse of functions, trading in in fluence and several other acts of corruption in private sector.
• Corruption Perceptions Index, 2019
• The ranking of India in the Corruptions Perceptions Index has slipped from 78 in 2018 to 80 in 2019. 
• The Corruption Perception Index is launched by Transparency International. 
• The organization is based in Berlin, Germany. 

• Undue Influence in decision-making
• Unfair and Opaque Political Financing
• Lobbying by powerful corporate interest groups.

• To control political financing.
• To empower citizens.
• To manage conflicts of interests.
• To strengthen electoral integrity.
• To reinforce checks and balances.
• To control political financing.
• Corruption in India:
• The India Corruption Survey, 2019, the percentage of people who paid corruption was 58% in 2018. It fell to 51% in 2019. 

Highlights:

• Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal has been elected as the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC).
• It makes her one of the most powerful US lawmakers in the 117th Congress.
• It is noted that Joe Biden, 78, is due to take over as the 46th president of the US on January 20.
• The American people need Congress to lead with vision, conviction, empathy, and dedication to people and families in every community who are struggling right now.
• The incoming Executive Board of CPC is made up of 26 members - one Chair, one Deputy Chair, one Whip, two Chair Emeriti, two Special Order Hour Conveners, ten Vice Chairs, one Executive Board Member At-Large and eight Deputy Whips.
• The CPC Executive Board is representative of the diversity within the caucus - more than half of Executive Board members are people of colour and more than half are women.
• Among others, Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna has been elected as Deputy Whip, while Congresswoman Rashida Talib as vice chair for member services.

Highlights:

• Bangladesh and Bhutan signed the first "Preferential Trade Agreement" (PTA), allowing duty-free access to a variety of commodities between the two countries.
• This is the first PTA signed between Bangladesh and any country in the world.
• The agreement was signed on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
• According to PTA 100, products from Bangladesh will enter Bhutan duty-free. 34 items from Bhutan will enter Bangladesh duty-free.
• It is expected that by June next year, Bangladesh will sign 11 PTA and Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with Indonesia and Nepal.
• In 1971, Bhutan was the first country in the world to recognize Bangladesh as an independent country, followed by India.

Highlights:

• Every December 8th is the SAARC Charter Day. 
• This day marked the signing of the SAARC Charter at the first SAARC meeting held in Dhaka (Bangladesh) in 1985.
• Only in an atmosphere free from terror and violence can the full potential of SAARC be realized. 
• This shows that India's concerns about cross-border terrorism from Pakistan are still the main obstacle to India's participation in the summit.
• Pakistan and Nepal both called for the holding of the SAARC summit as soon as possible in their speeches. India also called on the SAARC countries to "commit themselves to defeating the forces that support and foster terrorism."
• India is also committed to building an "integrated, interconnected, secure and prosperous South Asia" and will support the economic, technological, cultural and social development of the region.
• India emphasized the importance of strengthening cooperation and mentioned an example of early coordination among SAARC countries in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. 
• The Covid-19 Emergency Fund was established, and India initially provided US$10 million in donations.
• Due to the tension between India and Pakistan, the operation and activities of SAARC have actually come to a standstill.
• With the exception of the virtual meeting held in March on the Covid-19 situation, SAARC has not had any significant participation since the summit meeting held in Pakistan in 2016 after India withdrew from the Uri terrorist attack.

• Eight Member States: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
• Secretariat: Kathmandu (Nepal).
• Goal: among other things, to promote the welfare of the people of South Asia, improve their quality of life, and promote economic growth.
• SAARC Summit are usually held every two years and are arranged in alphabetical order by member states. 
• The last SAARC summit in 2014 was held in Kathmandu (Nepal), and India attended the meeting.

Highlights:

• The Indian Army celebrates the 260th Army Service Corps Day on December 8, 2020. 
• The Indian Army Service Corps (IASC) is a corps and branch of the Indian Army that handles army logistics support functions.

• The origin of the Corps can be found back to 1760, when the most basic supply and transportation organization of the three chairpersons of the East India Company was led by one agency.
• In 1901, it was renamed the Supply & Transport Corps. 
• During World War I, the corps became a permanent part of the British Indian Army and was renamed the Indian Army Service Corps in 1923.
• In 1935, the corps was awarded the "Royal" prefix and was called the Royal Indian Army Service Corps (RIASC).
• On December 8, 1950, after India became a republic, the regiment abandoned the use of the "Royal" prefix and was renamed the Indian Army Corps again. From that day on, the Corps began to celebrate the fundraising day on December 8.
• The unit is mainly responsible for the supply, procurement and distribution of rations, fresh and edible dry food, FOL (fuel, oil, lubricant), sanitary chemicals and hospital comfort supplies for the army, air force and navy in need, and other paramilitary forces.
• Other responsibilities include frontline transportation and mechanical transportation operations other than combat vehicles. 
• Officers of army units are not considered army combatants.
• IASC's group buying centre is in Bangalore. Its motto is "Seva Asmakam Dharmaha".

Highlights:

• The Indian Navy celebrated Submarine Day on December 8 that the second lieutenant of the Indian Navy launched on the INS Kalvari in Riga, Latvia, the former Soviet Union in 1967. 
• This was the first submarine of the Indian Navy. Kalvari is the Malayalam name for the predator tiger shark. 
• In the Indian Ocean, Kalvari retired in 1996 after 29 years of service.

• INS Kalvari is a Foxtrot-class diesel-electric submarine of the former Soviet Union. 
• This is a 91.3-meter-long submarine with 75 crew members. 
• Its surface speed is 16 knots and its underwater speed is 15 knots.
• It has a range of 32,000 km at 8 knots per hour on the ground and 610 km at 10 knots per hour underwater. 
• It can carry 22 torpedoes and 42 mines instead of torpedoes.
• The first commander of INS Kal Kalvari, Commander KS Subramanian, brought the submarine from St. Petersburg, Russia to Visakhapatnam, India.
• After the INS Kalvari missile, three more submarines-Karanj, Khanderi and Kursura-are in service with the submarine support vehicle Amba in the Indian Navy. 
• In 1972, an underwater rescue ship INS Nistar also entered service.
• The Indian Navy is introducing several "Kalvari" class submarines, named after the first submarine in service. 
• INS Kalvari is an S fish-class diesel-electric submarine, which was put into use in 2017 after being constructed at Mazagon Wharf in Mumbai.
• It was designed by the French company DCNS. I
• NS Khanderi is another of the Kalvari-class submarines currently in service. 
• The other submarines scheduled to join service in this class are Vela, Karanj, Vaghir and Vaghsheer.

Highlights:

• The Human Rights Day is celebrated on December 10 through the world. 
• It is also called the International Human Rights Day. 
• The day was chosen to honour the United Nations General Assembly adoption of Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 
• The United Nations Prize in the field of Human Rights is awarded on the Human Rights Day. 
• Theme: Recover Better-Stand Up for Human Rights.

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted on December 10, 1948. 
• The Allies of World War II formally known as the United Nations adopted four freedoms namely freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom from want and freedom from fear. 
• They created the Charter of United Nations based on the faith in fundamental human rights. 
• Therefore, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is important and so is the Human Rights Day. This is because it forms one of the bases of the United Nations.
• United Nations Human Rights Council(UNHRC):
• It is a United Nations body that protects and promotes human rights. 
• It investigates allegations of breaches of human rights in the United Nations. 
• The council has 47 seats. 
• The term of each seat is three years. 
• No member of the council can occupy a seat for more than two consecutive terms.
• Human Rights Day celebrated all over the world to achieve real rights for human beings. 
• It aims to improve socio-cultural and physical well being of the people throughout the world. 

• To create awareness about human rights among people in the world
• The improve the efforts of the United Nations General Assembly
• To interact and discuss crucial issues of human rights.
• To motivate minorities, women, poor and disabled person to participate in the event.

Highlights:

• The French Cabinet recently presented a draft law that targets “Radical Islamism”.
• Features of the Proposed Law
• The law aims to envisage range of measures that includes school education reforms to make sure Muslim children do not drop out of school.
• It aims to provide strict controls on preachers and mosques.
• The law will provide rules against hate campaigns online.
• When the law comes into force, the French mosques will see increased surveillance on their activities, especially financing.
• The French Government under the law will be empowered with greater powers to shut down places of worship. 
• These places of worship are those that receive public subsidies. 
• They will be shut down if they go against the republican principles such as gender equality.
• The Community leaders being targeted by extremist PUTSCH will receive protection under the law. 
• PUTSCH is a violent attempt to overthrow a government.
• The law will severely suppress the home-schooling of children over three years. 
• This is because through this, the parents enrol them in underground Islamic structures.
• The law will punish doctors issuing virginity certificates.
• The law will ban the officials from granting residency permits to polygamous applicants.
• The law allows to interview couples separately prior to their weddings to find out if they are forced in to marriage.
• The Turkish President Recep Erdogan has strongly criticised the law calling it “An open provocation”. 
• Egypt top cleric has called the French President “Racist” for bringing up the law.
• The French elections are due in 2022.

Highlights:

• The United Nations (UN) and several other international organizations celebrate International Mountain Day on December 11th every year. 
• Protecting mountain areas is very important, because mountain areas have 15% of the world's population.
•  They also have more than half of the world's biodiversity hotspots. 
• The protection of mountains is also a key part of Sustainable Development Goal 15. 
• This year, celebrate the International Mountain Day with the theme "Mountain Biodiversity".
• The first International Mountain Day was celebrated in 2003. 
• Mountain areas and their protection measures have attracted increasing attention, forcing the United Nations to declare 2002 as the United Nations International Year of Mountain Areas.
• In 1992, the United Nations adopted "Managing Fragile Ecosystems: Sustainable Mountain Development". 
• This is part of the "Agenda 21" action plan of the Conference on Environment and Development.
• Goal 4 of SDG 15 is dedicated to protecting mountain biodiversity. 
• In addition, the decade from 2021 to 2030 has been declared the United Nations Decade for Ecosystem Restoration. 
• This also includes mountain ecosystems.
• Governments must prepare for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework adopted at the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15). 
• According to the United Nations, among the 20 crops that provide 80% of the world's food, six are diversified in mountainous areas. 
• They are potatoes, barley, tomatoes, barley, sorghum and apples.
• More than half of human beings rely on mountain fresh water every day. 
• Over 30% of the world's key biodiversity areas are located in mountainous areas. 
• Mountain areas are being highly threatened by climate change and overdevelopment.
• Alpine glaciers melt faster. 
• Therefore, reducing the carbon footprint and protecting these mountains and their biodiversity have become crucial.

Highlights:

• Israel launched the Beresheet 2 project, which aims to land an unmanned spacecraft on the moon in 2024. Earlier, Israel's Beresheet probe crashed and landed on the moon. 
• The Hebrew word Beresheet (speaking in Israel) means Genesis.
• The Beresheet probe is a private flight to the moon by the Israeli non-profit SpaceIL organization.
• It was successfully launched on a Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral in the United States in February 2019 and reached lunar orbit in April 2019.
• When it was about to land and crashed on the surface of the moon, it suffered an engine failure.
• The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has decided to send an unmanned spacecraft to the moon in 2024.
• Artemis is a manned space program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
• Its goal is to land "the first woman and the next man" on the moon (especially in the lunar south pole) by 2024.

• Beresheet  is a demonstrator of a small robotic lunar lander and lunar probe operated by SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries. 
• Its aims included inspiring youth and promoting careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and landing its magnetometer, time capsule, and laser retroreflector on the Moon. 
• Launch mass 585 kg (1,290 lb)
• Dry mass 150 kg (330 lb)
• Dimensions : diameter: 2 m (6.6 ft); height: 1.5 m.
• The main purpose is to conduct experiments and collect data on behalf of school students.
• The Structure of  Beresheet 2 will involve launching two landing craft and an orbiter that has orbited the moon for many years.
• The Cost is approximately US$100 million will be raised from international partnerships and donors.
• Now, Israel may become the fourth country to launch a spacecraft on the moon after the United States, the former Soviet Union and China.

Highlights:

• Every year, UNICEF Day is observed on December 11 by the United Nations.
• The UNICEF day is celebrated on December 11 because the United Nations General Assembly created UNICEF on December 11,1946.
• UNICEF stands for United Nations International Children Emergency Fund.
• It was started in order to provide assistance, supplies and improve health, education, nutrition of children after World War II.
• UN adopted Declaration of the Rights of Child on November 20, 1959.
• It also adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child on November 20, 1989 and is guided by this convention.
• The day is celebrated by UNICEF in order to promote international togetherness and awareness in child development.

• UNICEF, also known as the United Nations Children's Fund, is a United Nations agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide. 
• The agency is among the most widespread and recognizable social welfare organizations in the world, with a presence in 192 countries and territories.
• Headquarters: New York, New York, United States
• Head: Henrietta H. Fore
• Founded: 11 December 1946, New York, New York, United States UNICEF works in more than 190 countries and territories.
• It aims to save lives of children, defend their rights and help them fulfil their potential.
• It was awarded the Nobel Prize for peace in 1965.
• The work of UNICEF includes child Protection, child environment, child development and nutrition, education, polio eradication, children and age, reproductive and Child Health, advocacy and partnership, emergency preparedness and response, etc.
• The UNICEF releases the State of World Children Report.

Highlights:

• E-Courts Project is a Pan-India Project, supervised and funded by Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India for the District Courts across the country.
• The e-Courts project is conceived based on the "National Policy and Action Plan for the Implementation of Information and Communication Technology(ICT) in Indian Judiciary-2005" submitted by the e-Committee of the Supreme Court of India. It aims to change the Indian Judiciary by ICT enablement of Courts.
• The goal of the e-court project is to provide designated services to litigants, lawyers and the judiciary by universal computerization of district and subordinate courts in the country by leveraging Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for improved justice delivery.
• Provide efficiently and time-limited citizen-centred service delivery in accordance with the regulations of e-Court Project Litigant.
• Develop, install & execute decision support systems in courts. Automate the process to provide transparency of information to stakeholders.
• Improve judicial productivity in terms of both quality and quantity, making the judicial delivery system affordable, accessible, cost-effective, predictable, reliable and transparent.

Highlights:

• Universal Health Coverage Day is celebrated annually on December 12 and is promoted by the World Health Organization.
• December 12 is the anniversary of the first unanimous United Nations resolution calling for all nations to provide for their citizens affordable, quality health care.
• UHC is promoted as an instrument to help advance the more broadly conceived human right to health, which is based upon a number of international agreements, or widely affirmed international documents.
• Universal health coverage has been included in the new Sustainable Development Goals for 2015-2030, adopted by the United Nations.
• Theme of UHC Day 2020 :  'Health for all: protect everyone".  
• In many nations, inclusive healthcare is very rudimentary and does not include heroic interventions or long term care.
• WaterAid reports that national infrastructure in many nations cannot support first world healthcare delivery mechanisms because it may not even provide potable water, let alone electricity.
• A major WHO and UNICEF survey in 2015 reported that 38% of healthcare facilities surveyed did not have access to a basic water source, and 35% lacked the materials necessary for people to wash their hands effectively.
• When healthcare workers can’t keep facilities clean and prevent infections, their ability to deliver safe, effective, and dignified care is undermined.
• This day reminds everyone that no matter who they are or where they live, they should be able to get the quality medical care they need without facing financial difficulties.

Highlights:

• International Climate Ambition Summit being organised and co-hosted by United Nations, United Kingdom and France, in partnership with Chile and Italy.
• On December 12, 2020, the Paris Climate Agreement completed its fifth anniversary. 
• Paris Agreement aims to limit the increase in global warming temperatures well below two degrees Celsius, a target the world is yet to achieve. 
• To commemorate the occasion, the United Kingdom had called for a Global Climate Summit. 
• It is also called International Climate Ambition Summit.
• The summit aimed to highlight the achievements of countries, cities, business towards net zero carbon emission and enhancing the climate finance. 
• The summit is a predecessor to 26th COP scheduled to be held at Glasgow in 2021. 
• The member countries presented a detailed deliberation of NDCs, long term strategies to achieve zero emission and adaption plans and policies.
• According to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, US has 25% of all emissions, Europe has 22% of emissions, China has 13% and India has only 3% of the emissions of the world.

• The summit featured United Kingdom, India, Canada, Japan, China, South Korea and European Union. Australia, the supporter of fossil fuels has been kept out of the summit. 
• The other notable absences were Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Poland and Turkey. 
• The United States did not attend the summit as President Trump walked out of the Paris Agreement.
• The United Nations Environment Programme recently released the Emissions Gap Report, 2020. 
• The report provided the review of difference between where the Greenhouse gas emissions are predicted to be in 2030 and where they should be to prevent catastrophic climate change events.

• The world will face a temperature increase of three degree Celsius by the end of this century. 
• The COVID-19 crisis has reduced the emission levels. 
• However, it is only for a very short duration of time and is not a permanent solution to the fight against climate change.
• The Greenhouse Gas emissions have increased by 1.4% since 2010. However, in 2019, it increased by 2.6% due to increase in forest fires.
• The report suggests “Green Pandemic Recovery”. 
• This is to be achieved by increasing net-zero emission commitments. 
• Also, the energy sector should be completely decarbonised. More energy solutions based on renewable energy should be adopted. 
• The coal-based power plants should completely be phased out.

Highlights:

• The Prime Minister (PM) of India laid the foundation stone for the New Parliament Building. 
• The old Parliament Building will become a museum.
• The new parliament building is part of the Central Vista project costing Rs. 20,000 crore.
• The four-story building will be triangular in shape, and its interior will be themed with three national symbols (lotus, peacock and banyan).
• The Parliament Building will be completed in 2022.
• The new Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha halls will have increased seating capacities.
• Besides, the seats in the Lok Sabha Hall can be expanded to 1,272 to host joint meetings.
• Dholpur stone will be the primary building material. In some interior areas, red granite may replace red sandstone.
• The building will be equipped with a modern audio-visual communication system.
• It will also be entirely suitable for wheelchairs and disabled people.

Highlights:

• HelpAge India won the 2020 UN Population Award in the Institution category. 
• The Queen Mother of Bhutan, Gyalyum Sangay Choden Wangchuck, won the 2020 UN Population Award for Individuals for her work on sexual health and the elimination of gender-based violence.
• Every year, the United Nations Population Award Committee recognizes individuals or institutions for their outstanding contributions to population and reproductive health problems and solutions.
• The award was first established in 1981 by the General Assembly and was first awarded in 1983. 
• The award includes a gold medal, a diploma and a currency award.
• It is India's leading charity organization, working with disadvantaged seniors and serving them for nearly 40 years. 
• It was established in 1978 and was registered under the Association Registration Act of 1860.
• This is the first time in the history of the United Nations Population Award that this honour has been awarded to an institution in India.
• Since the establishment of the award in 1981, in the past four decades, only two Indians have won the award: the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1983 and the industrialist-philanthropist Tata in 1992.

Highlights:

• The Ramanujan Prize for Mathematicians for the year 2020 was presented to Dr Carolina Arajuo. 
• She is a mathematician from the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics, Rio de Janerio.
• Ramanujan Prize for Mathematicians is the prize funded by the Department of Science and Technology in collaboration with International Centre for Theoretical Physics and International Mathematical Union. The funds are provided through the Albel Funds.
• The prize is awarded every year to young mathematicians who are less than 45 years of age to conduct outstanding research in a developing country. The award is presented in the memory of Srinivasa Ramanujan.
• It is also called the ICTP Ramanujan Prize. This award is presented by the International Centre of Theoretical Physics located in Italy.

• She is the first non-Indian women mathematician to receive the prize. She has specialised in birational geometry, algebraic geometry, Fano varieties and foliations. Also, she is the Vice President at the International Mathematical Union.
• Srinivasa Ramanujan
• He was an Indian mathematician who lived between 1887 and 1920. He has made significant contributions to number theory, mathematical analysis, infinite series and continued fractions. His works were recognised by Hardy, an English mathematician. Hardy invited Ramanujan to Cambridge University in 1913. However, in 1919, Hepatic Amoebiasis forced Ramanujan to return to India. Later, he was diagnosed with Tuberculosis.
• The Hepatic Amoebiasis is responsible for more than 100,000 deaths per year in the world. 
• It is a disease caused due to amoebic infections.
• International Mathematical Union
• It is an international non-governmental organization. 
• The IMU is a member of International Congress of Mathematicians. 
• The main objective of the Union is to promote international cooperation in mathematics and other international scientific meetings and conferences.

• 1729 is Hardy Ramanujan Number. When Hardy visited Ramanujan in hospital, Ramanujan told Hardy that 1729 is the smallest number that can be expressed as sum of two cubes in two different ways.
• 1729 = 13 + 123 = 93 + 103

Highlights:

• The Reserve Bank of India will be setting up its first Automated Banknote Processing Centre (ABPC) in Jaipur for storage, receipt and dispatch of currency notes. 
• The decision was taken to effectively deal with the increasing circulation of banknotes.
• The functions of the ABPC will also include processing of banknotes received from currency chests (CCs) and bank branches, and destruction of soiled banknotes in an automated manner, said the RBI's Request for Proposal (RFP) for engagement of consultant for comprehensive consultancy services for establishment of ABPC at Jaipur.
• The volume of banknotes in circulation has increased three-fold from March 2001 to March 2019, and is expected to rise further in the years to come.
• Besides, supply of banknotes by the presses has increased about four times from March 2001 to March 2019 and is expected to increase manifolds.
• The proposed ABPC is expected to provide for storage and dispatch of fresh banknotes and storage and processing of soiled banknotes to/from the identified CCs/bank branches covering the jurisdiction of the states being catered.
• It has also projected storage capacity requirements for the ABPC in Jaipur - fresh note stock (daily average) at 1,883 million pieces during 2024-25, 2,950 million pieces during 2029-30 and 6,853 million pieces during 2039-40, and soiled notes at 7,718 million pieces during 2024-25, 11,568 million pieces during 2029-30 and 27,757 million pieces during 2039-40.

Highlights:

• The Ninth Edition of Sustainable Mountain Development Summit (SMDS) held in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
• The four-day-long summit was organised by Indian Mountain Initiative (IMI) and hosted by Sustainable Development Forum Uttaranchal (SDFU), Dehradun.
• The theme for 2020 SMDS was ‘Emerging Pathways for Building a Resilient Post COVID-19 Mountain Economy, Adaptation, Innovation and Acceleration’.
• The Summit deliberated on issues such as migration, water security, climate resilience and innovative solutions for the farm sector, and disaster risk reduction in the Indian Himalayas.
• The focus of the summit was on building pathways toward a resilient and sustainable mountain economy in the context of a post-COVID-19 scenario and Climate Change.

Highlights:

• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Asia Regional Office awarded Paul Sein Twa, for Goldman Environmental Prize 2020 for Asia.
• This award is given to him for his efforts in promoting the self-determination of the Karen people in managing their natural resources.
• Paul is the co-founder of the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN), established in 2001.
• Director-General of International Union for Conservation of Nature: Dr Bruno Oberle.
• International Union for Conservation of Nature Headquarters: Gland, Switzerland.
• International Union for Conservation of Nature Founder: Julian Huxley.
• International Union for Conservation of Nature Founded: 5 October 1948.

Highlights:

• The Supreme Court of India recently upheld the order of Allahabad High court to grant immunity from investigation and prosecution if a person voluntarily declares possession or acquisition of exotic species. 
• This is applicable under the new amnesty scheme announced by the centre.
• The voluntary disclosure scheme from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is a one-time scheme that allows owners of exotic animal species to declare their stock between June and December this year. 
• This could be stock that was acquired illegally or is owned without documents.
• Under the scheme, the Chief Wildlife Warden has to be informed about the death, new acquisition or change in possession of animals within 30 days. 
• The scheme has specified guidelines to surrender the animals to a zoo. 
• The owner of the animal will have to provide details of the acquired species, address of the facility where they are housed, their numbers, etc.

• The initiative is aimed at addressing the issue of zoonotic diseases, improve compliance with CITES and regulate exotic species imports.
• ‘Exotic live species’ includes animals listed under Appendices I, II and III of CITES. 
• It excludes exotic birds from the Amnesty Scheme. Also, it does not include species from the Schedules of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
• CITES is an international agreement that ensures that the international trade in birds, wild animals and plants does not endanger them. India is a member of CITES. 
• There are more than 5,950 species protected under Appendices I, II and III of CITES against over-exploitation through international trade.
• The Exotic Species are non-indigenous species, alien and non-native species that occur in areas outside their geographic range.

Highlights:

• UNESCO is to launch an international prize in the creative economy field in the name of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. 
• The UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International prize is to be launched from November 2021. 
• 2021 has been declared as ‘International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development’ by UNESCO. 
• Currently there are only twenty-three UNESCO International Awards in the name of international celebrities and organisations. 
• Thus, the UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International prize has its own significance.

• The prize will create knowledge sharing mechanism by capturing, celebrating and communicating the best practice in developing creative entrepreneurship. 
• The prize will be fifty thousand USD and is to be given once in every two years.
• The award will recognise exceptional initiatives taken by cultural workers and organizations in the development of creative economy. 
• Also, the prize will create an opportunity to spread the ideology of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and will inspire the cultural workers to develop creative economy.

• Creative economy is an economic system in which value is based on use of creative imagination rather than the traditional factors of land, capital and labor. 
• The concept was given by John Howkins in 2001. 
• This form of economy occurs only when the creativity of the person becomes a major source of value and main cause of transaction.
• Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is also called the “Father of Bangladesh”. 
• He was the first President of Bangladesh. 
• He also served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from April 17, 1971 till his assassination on August 15, 1975. 

Highlights:

• The International Hockey Federation (FIH) had announced that the 2023 FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup will be hosted in Odisha, for a second consecutive time.
• The tournament will be held at two venues, Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. 
• The Men’s Hockey World Cup 2018 was also hosted by Odisha.
• The 2023 tournament will be 15th edition of the Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup. 
• It will be held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar and at the Biju Patnaik Hockey Stadium in Rourkela. 
• FIH Hockey World Cup is held after every four years.
• The Men's FIH Hockey World Cup is an international field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

Highlights:

• The National Energy Conservation Day is celebrated every year on 14 December by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), under Ministry of Power.
• The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) under the Union ministry of power.
• The day is celebrated to raise awareness among the general public about the importance of energy conversation and energy efficiency, as well as holistic development for overall effort towards climate change mitigation.
• The main aim is to showcase India's contribution to energy conservation and steps taken towards becoming an energy-efficient nation.
• Bureau of Energy Efficiency is a constitutional body that comes under the Government of India and helps in the development of policies and strategies in order to reduce energy use.
• The Energy Conservation Act in India was executed by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in the year 2001.
• Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
• Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Power: Raj Kumar Singh.

Highlights:

• Ashraf Patel, the founder member and Board member of Pravah and ComMutiny - The Youth Collective (CYC) has been declared as the winner of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOY) Award – India 2020.
• The award was presented by Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani at a virtual ceremony in November 2020.
• The SEOY award "recognizes entrepreneurs who implement innovative, sustainable and scalable solutions to solve India's social problems. 
• It is the 11th edition of the annual award, instituted by the Schwab Foundation and Jubilant Bhartia Foundation in 2010.

Highlights:

• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev co-chaired the virtual Summit held between the two countries, to strengthen strategic partnership among them.
• India and Uzbekistan signed nine Agreements and Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) in various areas including in the field of:
• Solar Energy.
• Digital Technologies.
• High Impact Community Development Projects.
• Trade, Economic and Investment Cooperation.
• Defence and Security.
• Civil Nuclear Energy.
• Connectivity.
• The Government of India also approved a US $448 million Line of Credit for four developmental projects in Uzbekistan in the fields of road construction, sewerage treatment and information technology.

Highlights:

• The SoftBank-backed mobility platform, Ola has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Tamil Nadu government, to set up its first factory in the state, at an investment of Rs 2,400 crore.
• Upon completion, the Ola factory in Tamil Nadu will be the largest scooter manufacturing facility in the world. 
• Initially, the factory will have an annual manufacturing capacity of 2 million units.
• It will make two million electric scooters at a greenfield facility in Hosur, Tamil Nadu. 
• This would displace Honda's Vithalpur facility in Gujarat, which makes 1.2 million units of petrol-powered scooters a year.

• Ola Cabs is an Indian ridesharing company offering services that include vehicle for hire and food delivery. 
• The company is based in Bangalore, Karnataka, India and was developed by ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd. 
• It was founded on 3 December 2010, Mumbai
• Headquarters : Bengaluru

• India's apex financial institution Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted a five-member expert committee under KV Kamath. 
• He was former ICICI Bank Chief Executive.
• The main aim is to make recommendations on the financial parameters to be considered in the restructuring of loans impacted by the Covid 19 pandemic.
• The term of the committee has been extended till June 30 2021.
• The Reserve Bank of India had constituted a five-member expert committee under KV Kamath. 
• The apex bank recently notified that it is to cover twenty-six stressed sectors under the TLTRO (Targeted Long-Term Repo Operations) Scheme. 
• These twenty-six stressed sectors were identified by the KV Kamath Committee.
• The Reserve Bank of India has directed the banks to avail funds from two schemes namely ECLGS 2.0 (Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme) and TLRO scheme to provide credit support to the stressed sectors. 
• Under the TLRO scheme, the banks can invest in corporate bonds, non-convertible debentures and commercial papers issued by the entities in specific sectors.
• The TLRO scheme was announced to channelise liquidity to small and mid-sized corporates, micro finance institutions and Non-Banking Financial Corporation. 
• The RBI is to conduct on-tap TLRO up to three years at floating rate linked to the policy repo rate.
• The Government of India launched the ECLGS 2.0 to provide 100% collateral free additional credit to the twenty-six stressed sectors identified by the KV Kamath Committee.

• Reserve Bank of India has released a framework for “Resolution of COVID Related Stress” for addressing borrower defaults during the COVID pandemic and related national lock down. 
• The framework mentioned that, an Expert Committee would be constituted by RBI for making recommendations on financial parameters required to be studied while implementing the resolution framework. 
• In view of the above, the RBI constituted a five-member committee under the chairmanship of former ICICI Bank Chief Executive KV Kamath. 
• The committee made a detailed analysis and recommended that all lending institutions should mandatorily consider the 5 important financial rations during COVID related restructuring of loans. 
• Also, the committee recommended sector specific ration to be complied by the financial institutions. These recommendations have been accepted by the Reserve Bank of India and have been implemented.

Highlights:

• In the 2020 Union Budget, the Union Minister of Finance announced the establishment of an International Bullion Exchange at the International Financial Service Centre in GIFT, Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• The International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA) stated that it had notified the bullion exchange regulations, paving the way for the establishment of an entire ecosystem for bullion transactions, including bullion exchange, depository, and clearinghouse.
• These regulations especially cover Bullion Exchanges, Clearing Corporations, Depository and Vaults.
• The Indian government has notified the bullion spot delivery contracts and bullion depository receipts (with bullion as underlying) as financial products and related services as financial services under the International Financial Services Centre.
• IFSCA, headquartered in Gujarat, has been authorized to supervise all financial services of IFSC.
• This move may lead to the better discovery of gold prices, create more jobs and strengthen India's position in the global bullion market.
• GIFT City will establish an international bullion exchange as another option for global market participants to trade.

Highlights:

• The first Maritime Theatre Command (MTC) of India is to be launched in 2021. 
• The MTC will look after the 7,516-km long coastline, the entire Indian Ocean Region and the 1,382 islands.
• This is important to counter Chinese ever-expanding naval foot-print in the Indian Ocean Region. 
• China has the largest Navy with 350 warships and submarines.
• The MTC will subsume the Western Naval Command (Mumbai), tri-service Andaman and Nicobar Command (Port Blair), Eastern Naval Command (Vizag) and the southern Air Command (Thiruvananthapuram).
• The MTC will report to the joint chiefs of staffs committee led by the CDS (Chief of Defence Staff).
• The main objective of the Maritime Theatre Command is to integrate the assets of Indian Air Force, Indian Navy and Army and the Coast Guard.
• It is the first geographical theatre command being created as a part of the biggest ever military restructuring plan.
• The 91 Brigade located at Thiruvananthapuram and the 108 Brigade located at Port Blair is to bring the requisite “Expeditionary Reaction Capability” of land forces to the Maritime Theatre Command.
• The Western and Eastern Coast Guards along with their patrol boats, helicopters and aircrafts will be responsible for coastal security under the MTC.
• The BrahMos cruise missiles, Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jets at Thanjavur of Tamil Nadu and the Jaguar fighter jets at Jamnagar and other air assets operating under the Southern Air Command will in turn report to the MTC.
• The Andaman and Nicobar will no longer have a C-in-C level post. 
• It will be headed by a fortress commander who will in turn report to C-in-C of the Eastern Naval Command. 
• The Eastern Naval Command in turn reports to the MTC.
• Similar theatre commands are to be launched for the land borders with China and Pakistan.

• India currently has seventeen single-service commands. 
• It includes seven Army commands, three Navy commands and seven Indian Air Force commands. 
• Only two existing tri service command came up after 1999 Kargil war. 
• The Andaman and Nicobar command was set up as a geographical command in October 2001. 
• The nuclear arsenal command came up in January 2003.
• One of the key responsibilities of the CDS is to ensure integration among the three services.

Highlights:

• Every year Vijay Diwas is celebrated on December 16. 
• The day is celebrated to mark the victory of Bangladesh over Pakistan. 
• It is marked in India and Bangladesh. On December 16, 1971, the Chief of Pakistani forces Abdullah Khan Niazi surrendered along with 93,000 troops to the allied forces of Mukti Bahini and the Indian Army. 
• Vijay Diwas is observed in Bangladesh as Bijoy Dibos.
• The 1971 war resulted in the liberation of East Pakistan.
• It was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan.
• The war was first fought between East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and Pakistan. India entered the war after Pakistan conducted premptive aerial strikes on eleven Indian air stations.
• The war ended after Pakistan military signed the Instrument of Surrender with the Eastern command of the Indian Army.
• During the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, the Pakistani military and the Islamist militias killed more than three million Bangladesh civilians. 
• They also raped more than 400,000 Bangladeshi women and girls.

• The Kargil Vijay Diwas is marked on July 26. It is celebrated in the honour of Kargil war heroes. 
• The Kargil conflict is also referred to as Operation Vijay.
• There were three major phases in Kargil war. First, Pakistan captured the Indian controlled section of Kashmir at various high points. 
• In the second phase, India responded by capturing several strategic high points. 
• In the third phase, India succeeded in pushing the Pakistani forces back to the Line of Control.
• During the war, the Indian Air Force launched Operation Safed Sagar.
• The war was fought with great difficulties. 
• This is because Kargil, the site of conflict is located at a height of around 16,000 to 18,000 feet above the sea level.
• Thus, the aircrafts were required to fly at 20,000 feet. 
• At these heights, the density of air is 30% less as compared to that of the sea level.

Highlights:

• India Post Payment Bank launched application "DakPay".
• It is an application as a part of its ongoing initiatives to provide digital financial inclusion to the country. 
• The application was launched by the Union Minister for communications, law and Justice and electronics and information technology Sri Ravi Shankar Prasad.
• Features:
• The customers of India post payments bank and the department of post can now operate their banking services digitally through the mobile application DakPay.
• The application provides online services to postal products and banking.
• The application also allows the users to order and avail postal financial services at their doorstep.
• Through the application the customers can send money by implementing domestic money transfers and scan the QR code and make payment for merchants.
• Application also enables cashless ecosystem through biometrics.
• It provides interoperable banking services to the utility bill payment services and also to the customers of any banks.
• The application is currently available only in Google Play Store and not in Apple App store.

• According to the Reserve Bank of India rules, the payment banks have to invest at least 75% of the total demand deposits in government link securities. 
• This target is highly difficult to achieve for the IPPBs.
• The lack of infrastructure in the remotest rural areas of India is highly challenging for the survival of India post payment bank. 
• The Government of India had planned to make the postman a mobile bank in these regions. However, electricity and internet connectivity are still an issue.
• Currently India post is running under revenue deficit. 
• In 2016- 17 India post had revenue deficit of 11,969 crores of rupees. 
• In 2015- 916 the revenue deficit was 6000 crores of rupees.
• This shows that the revenue deficit has almost double in a very short period of time.
• The infrastructural and electricity problems faced by the IPPB will be solved by the application. 
• It will thus increase the transactions and usage of the bank digitally, eventually increasing its revenue.

Highlights:

• The United Nations Environment Programme recently named seven dynamic Environmentalists as its Young Champions of the Earth.
• The following seven people won the UNEP 2020 Young Championships of the Earth Award
• Nzambi Matee is a material engineer of Kenya
• He is receiving the award for producing low-cost construction materials from recycled plastic waste and sand .
• Xiaoyuan Ren of China leads MyH20 organization that tests and records quality of groundwater in rural China. He is awarded with the prize for developing an application that will educate the communities in rural areas about the sources of clean water.
• Vidyut Mohan of India is the co-founder of Takachar. He has built affordable and portable biomass upgrading equipment. It allows farmers to prevent open burning by converting crop to fuels, activated carbon and fertilizers.
• Lefteris Arapakis of Greece founded Enaleia. It trains, empowers and incentivises local fishing community to collect plastic from sea. The collected plastic is recycled into fashion merchandise such as socks and swimsuits.
• Niria Alicia Garcia of USA. Niria coordinated alongside community of indigenous activists to bring life to the historical journey of the Sacramento chinook salmon along the largest water shed of California.
• Fatehmah Alzelzela of Kuwait. Fatehmah established Eco Star, a non-profit recycling initiative. It exchanges trees and plants for wastes from schools, homes and businesses in Kuwait. The company has so far recycled 130 tonnes of metal, plastic and paper.
• Max Hidalgo Quinto of Peru. Max founded Yawa. He built portable wind turbines that can harvest 300 litres fo water per day from atmospheric humidity and mist. It uses air to water technology.
• Young Champions of the Earth Prize:
• The Young Champions of the Earth prize is awarded every year to seven entrepreneurs under the age of thirty. 
• These entrepreneurs should have bold ideas for sustainable environmental change. 
• The winners of the award receive mentoring, seed funding, communications support to amplify their efforts.
• The Young Champions award aims to inspire more young people to get closer to the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26, that is to be held in Glasgow in November 2021) and the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (to be held in Kunming in May 2021).

Highlights:

• The Government of India is to open a museum on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose set up in Kolkata on January 23, 2022 .
• The museum is to be inaugurated on the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji.
• The Government of India is also planning to reprint some of the books written by Netaji.
• The Netaji museum in New Delhi is also to be expanded.
• The museum in New Delhi is digitized and is spread over three floors.
• The museum depicts the contributions of the legend since his childhood.
• The museum has also documented the role of INA, battles fought, awakening it created and its popularity in the country.
• The museum highlights the role of the people of Indian origin, especially in South East Asia and their contributions to the Indian National Army.
• It also depicts the secret operation of Colonel Amrik Singh Gill and four others who landed by submarine at Konark temple to establish their INA secret centres in India.
• The museum has been established in Red Fort as it is from this place; the soldiers of the Indian National Army were court martialled by the British.
• All the four barracks of the Red Fort have been converted into museums. 
• Apart from the museum on Subhash Chandra Bose, three more museums are to come up. 
• They will be on Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, 1857 revolt and contemporary paintings.

Highlights:

• According to the Human Development Report (HDR) by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),India dropped two spots to 131 out of 189 nations on the Human Development Index (HDI) this year.
• The country ranked 129 (out of 189) countries on the 2019 HDI.
• India's HDI value for 2019 stood at 0.645 which put it in the medium human development category.
• Norway topped the index, followed by Ireland, Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Iceland.
• The HDI is the measure of a country's health, education, and standard of living and ascertains a nations' average achievement in three basic scales of human development - education, life expectancy, and per capita income.
•  India ranks at 116th position in World Bank's annual Human Capital Index
• Pakistan (154), Nepal (142), Bangladesh (133), Indian, and Bhutan (129) stand among countries with medium human development.
• Life expectancy of Indians at birth in 2019 was 69.7 years, while Bangladesh had a life expectancy of 72.6 years and Pakistan 67.3 years.
• UNDP Resident Representative Shoko Noda said the drop in India's ranking doesn't mean "India didn't do well but other countries did better".
• India can help other countries too and lauded its commitment to reduce carbon emissions.
• According to the report published by UNDP, India's gross national income per capita fell to $6,681 in 2019 from $6,829 in 2018 on purchasing power parity (PPP) basis.
• Purchasing power parity or PPP is a measurement of prices in different countries that uses the prices of specific goods to compare the absolute purchasing power of the countries' currencies.
• The report said evidence from Colombia to India indicates that financial security and ownership of land improve women's security and reduce the risk of gender-based violence, clearly indicating that owning land can empower women.
• It further said indigenous children in Cambodia, India, and Thailand show more malnutrition-related issues such as stunting and wasting.
• In India, different responses in parental behaviour, as well as some disinvestment in girls' health and education, have led to higher malnutrition among girls than among boys as a consequence of shocks likely linked to climate change.
• It further stated that under the Paris Agreement, India pledged to reduce the emission intensity of its GDP from the 2005 level by 33-35 % by 2030 and to obtain 40 % of electric power capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030.

Highlights: 

• Every year, the International Migrants Day is celebrated on December 18 by the United Nations and several other international organizations. 
• This year, the International Migrants Day is celebrated under the following theme

• The resolution to celebrate International Migrants Day was adopted in 1990 during the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their families. 
• The day is celebrated by the United Nations to highlight the contributions made by the migrants. 
• According to UN, there are roughly around 272 million migrants in the world. 
• This includes 41 million internally displaced persons.?
• December 18 was chosen because on this date, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their families was adopted.
• With the COVID-19 crisis, the migration in India has increased. 
• According to Census 2011, there were 45.6 crores of migrants. 
• This is roughly 38% of the country’s population. In 2001, the migrant population was 31.5 crores. 
• The migrant population between 2001 and 2011 has increased by 18%
• In India, the major reasons of intra-state migration were marriage and family. 
• The female migration was higher as compared to that of the males. 83% of females moved for marriage and family as compared to 39% males.
• The migration in the world is increasing due to ethnic violence, natural disasters and employment. 
• The increase in violence against migrants is accelerated by social media. In urban areas, migrants lack access to basic amenities such as clean drinking water, electricity, safe houses, etc.
• Because of the unstable nature of their jobs, the migrants are often declared as illegal residents.
• The Climate Changes have triggered large mass of migration lately.
• Recently, fake messages were triggered against a mass exodus of labourers from the North East.

Highlights:

• All India Council for Technical Education - AICTE decided to grant a maintenance allowance of 20,000 rupees/- under the Prime Minister's Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS).
• About the Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS):
• Under PMSSS, the youth of J&K and Ladakh receive two parts of the scholarship, namely academic fee & maintenance allowance.
• The scheme is part of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
• The scheme was implemented after an expert group established by the Prime Minister in 2010, which aims to increase employment opportunities for J&K and Ladakh youths.
• The plan aims to build the capacity of J&K and Ladakh youths through education, empowerment, and enhancement of young people's ability to compete in the normal process.
• According to the ceiling of various majors, medical, and other undergraduate courses, tuition includes tuition and other components.
• In order to pay for dormitory accommodation, miscellaneous expenses, books, and stationery, etc., a fixed amount of 1 lakh rupees will be provided to the beneficiary and paid in installments @ Rs. 10,000/- per month is directly deposited into the student’s account.

Highlights: