Current Affairs This Week…

1. The President and Vice President have greeted the people on the eve of Christmas

2. Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari announced that FASTag is being made mandatory for all vehicles in the country from the new year

3. SpiceJet has signed an agreement with the GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo (GHAC) to ensure seamless delivery of the coronavirus vaccine from the Hyderabad airport to domestic and international markets.

4. The beating of plates, ringing of bells amid sloganeering against the government for not repealing the three new laws was done at the Dalit Prerna Sthal “to convey farmers’ dissatisfaction”, by Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lok Shakti).

5. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday urged Punjab farmers to end their protest and come forward to hold discussions with the government to resolve the deadlock over the three new farm laws

6. Jammu and Kashmir: Two terrorists killed in Baramulla encounter; SSB trooper injured in Sopore grenade attack
At least two terrorists were killed on Thursday in an encounter with security forces in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir.

7. Kerala’s capital city Thiruvananthapuram has pulled off a mayoral first as 21-year-old college student Arya Rajendran is all set to take on the mantle. She will be the youngest mayor anywhere in the country.

8. PM Modi on Friday slammed the West Bengal government for denying its farmers the benefits of ‘Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi ‘ (PM-KISAN) prompting a strong retort from chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The Prime Minister released over Rs 18,000 crore to more than nine crore farmer families across the country under the second tranche of the scheme.

9. Superstar Rajinikanth has been admitted to the hospital. The actor, who had tested negative for Covid-19 recently, seems to have severe fluctuations in his blood pressure and is being monitored for the same at a private hospital in Hyderabad. Rajinikanth was shooting for his upcoming film, Annaatthe in the city, but the was put on hold after four crew members tested positive for Covid-19.

10. State-owned power producer SJVN Ltd has been awarded three hydroelectric power projects totaling 501 megawatts (MW) by the Himachal Pradesh government.

11. The Cabinet meeting chaired by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has allocated 104 MW Tandi, 130 MW Rashil and 267 MW Sach Khas Hydro Electric Projects on the Chenab Basin to SJVN.

12. The high-speed internet ban was on Friday extended in Jammu and Kashmir till 2021. After the removal of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, 4G internet services have been affected in the valley. The ban on 4G internet services has been extended to the rest of the union territory except for Ganderbal and Udhampur districts. The ban has been extended till January 8, 2021. Only after January 8, 2021,

13. The Directorate General of Training of MSDE has joined Microsoft and NASSCOM to provide digital content for ITI students and future-ready skilling and employability programme for their reskilling. Around 3,000 ITI students spread across India can avail the digitized learning module.

14. The Defence Secretary launched the DGNCC Digital Forum. It will provide a platform for the NCC cadets all over the country to share their experiences.

15. Coronavirus Cases:10,165,194
Deaths: 147,291
Recovered: 9,735,925

INTERNATIONAL NEWS…

1. India sends warships to deliver aid to Vietnam, conduct exercise in the South China Sea.

2. India, China continue to maintain communication through diplomatic and military channels: MEA
Addressing a press conference in the national capital. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Anurag Srivastava spoke on the LAC situation. Srivastava said, “India and China continue to maintain communication through diplomatic and military channels.

3. No possibility of dialogue with India in the prevailing situation, says Pakistan foreign minister. Shah Mahmood Qureshi

4. India, South Korea to start Transport Air Bubble arrangement soon, for the movement of people. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic,

5. Indian carriers are being forced to cancel flights to Dubai or consider flights to other destinations in the United Arab Emirates following a seat allocation dispute between the two countries.

6. A retired Army officer’s comments on Pakistan in a controversial debate on Republic Bharat are in focus after the British broadcast and communications regulator imposed a £20,000 fine on Worldview Media Network Ltd for broadcasting “hate speech” against Pakistanis on the channel.

7. India has challenged the Vodafone Group in Singapore against an International Arbitration Court Verdict. Three months ago, a verdict was pronounced that India cannot seek Rs 22,100 crores retrospectively from Vodafone.

8. MV Jag Anand Crew continue to languish in China: Twenty-three crew members of the Indian Ship Jag Anand is stuck at the Chinese port since June 2020. The Chinese Government is not allowing the ship to unload the cargo from Australia.

WORLD NEWS…

1. Pak activist Karima Baloch’s family seeks investigation into her death: The ministry of external affairs pointed out on Thursday that the family of Karima Baloch, a noted Pakistani human rights activist found dead in the Canadian city of Toronto, had sought an investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death.

2. Three British Sikhs have been arrested in the UK on suspicion of a murder conspiracy in India dating back to 2009, according to UK police.

3. Lebanon has detected its first case of the new variant of the coronavirus, which has been spreading rapidly in parts of Britain, on a flight arriving from London,

4. Ireland has approved the use of the COVID-19 vaccine by Pfizer and BioNTech, with first delivery expected as early as December 26, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said Friday, adding that the vaccination campaign will start next Wednesday.

5. Coronavirus Cases: 80,002,897
Deaths:1,753,799
Recovered: 56,341,152

SPORTS…

1. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) held its 89th Annual General Meeting at Ahmedabad. Decide the venues for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021.

2. The BCCI also increased the limit of reimbursement of insurance medical claims of retired First Class Cricketers to INR 10 Lakhs. The retirement age of the BCCI affiliated umpires and scorers has also been increased to 60 years.

3. The Union Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju flagged off the 917-kilo metre long Brahmaputra Amantran Abhiyan. The month-long expedition was organized by the Brahmaputra Board under the Jal Shakti Ministry. It is supported by State Governments of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh and the National Disaster Response Force.

4. The Odisha CM announced the construction of the largest hockey stadium of India in Rourkela. The stadium is to host the 2023 FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup.

5. AUSTRALIA VS INDIA
2nd Test, Border-Gavaskar Trophy, 2020/21, December 26, 2020
Australia won the toss and elected to bat

Facts about India…

The value of “pi” was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, long before the European mathematicians.

New Coronavirus Variant Found In The UK…