07 DECEMBER 2021 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

1. HORNBILL FESTIVAL

To protest the killings of civilians by the security forces in Mon district on Saturday, eight of the 17 tribes in Nagaland have announced their withdrawal from the annual Hornbill Festival, which is currently underway at Kisama village.

About:

The 22nd edition of the annual event started on December 1, 2021.
Also called the “festival of festivals”, the 10-day annual programme brings all the 17 tribes of the Nagaland on a platform and facilitates the promotion of their culture to the rest of the world.
The first edition of the festival – which is named after the Indian hornbill, the large and colourful forest bird which is displayed in the folklore of most of the state’s tribes – was held in 2000.
Organised by the State Tourism and Art & Culture Departments, the Hornbill Festival is held at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama, about 12 km from Kohima.
One of the major highlights of this festival is the Hornbill International Rock Festival, held at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, where local and international rock bands are roped in to perform.

Source: Indian Express

2. ASEEM PORTAL

Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has launched Aatmanirbhar Skilled Employees Employer Mapping (ASEEM) portal, which acts as a directory of skilled workforce.

About:

The objective is to provide a platform that matches supply of skilled workforce with the market demand, thereby facilitating better livelihood opportunities for youth and availability of ready skilled manpower to employers.
ASEEM portal is being managed by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) under the aegis of Ministry.
As on 16.07.2021, 1.3 crore candidates have been registered on ASEEM portal which includes directly registered candidates and the candidates registered on Skill India Portal (SIP).

ASEEM as such consists of three IT based AI (artificial intelligence) driven interfaces for stakeholder interactions:

A job application for individuals with access to hyper local jobs using machine learning and automated match based on persona.
A demand and campaign management system for employers to forecast the current and future demand.
A management dashboard for analytics and insights. This could also be used for future decision making.

Source: PIB

3. AFSPA

The recent killings of civilians by security forces in a case of alleged mistaken identity in Nagaland has once again rekindled the debate over the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), a law that gives enormous discretionary powers to the armed forces over a civilian population.

About:

Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said he has urged the Centre to remove AFSPA from Nagaland as the law is a “black spot on the image of the country”.
AFSPA gives armed forces special powers to control “disturbed areas”, which are designated by the government when it is of the opinion that a region is in such a disturbed or dangerous condition that the use of armed forces in aid of civil power is necessary.
Under its provisions, the armed forces have been empowered to open fire, enter and search without warrant, and arrest any person who has committed a cognisable offence, all while having immunity from being prosecuted.
AFSPA can be implemented in an area after it has been declared as “disturbed”. The power to declare a territory “disturbed” initially lay with the states, but passed to the Centre in 1972.

Source: Indian Express

4. 21st INDIA – RUSSIA ANNUAL SUMMIT

President of the Russian Vladimir Putin, paid a working visit to New Delhi on 06 December 2021 for the 21st India – Russia Annual summit with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

About:

The two leaders expressed satisfaction at the sustained progress in the ‘Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership’ between both countries despite the challenges posed by the Covid pandemic.
They welcomed the holding of the first meeting of the 2+2 Dialogue of Foreign and Defence Ministers and the meeting of the Inter-Governmental Commission on Military & Military-Technical Cooperation in New Delhi on 6 December 2021.
The role of connectivity through the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and the proposed Chennai - Vladivostok Eastern Maritime Corridor figured in the discussions.
Both sides renewed the military-technical cooperation agreement for another 10 years till 2031 and also signed the deal for the manufacture of AK-203 assault rifles.
AK-203 Assault Rifles will tremendously augment the operational capability of our soldiers. Hence, this contract ends the long quest of Indian Army to replace aging INSAS Rifle with a modern weapon. AK-203 Rifle, having an effective range of 300 meters is a light weight and easy to use Modern Assault weapon with proven technology.
Both sides concluded 28 agreements and several hydrocarbon projects are on the anvil.
they have set a target of trade worth 30 billion dollars and investment worth 50 billion dollars by 2025.

Source: All India Radio

5. RUSSIA-UKRAINE BORDER TENSION

The tension on the Russia-Ukraine border represents a major security crisis for the region, with the potential to snowball into a broader conflict.

About:

Ukraine says that Russia has amassed around 90,000 troops at the border, and US intelligence reports say that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is possible as early as next month.
Russia has shown, as recently as 2014, that it is not averse to taking military action in Ukraine. In that year, Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in what was the first time a European country annexed territory from another country since World War Two.

Background

Ukraine and Russia share hundreds of years of cultural, linguistic and familial links. As part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine was the second-most powerful Soviet republic after Russia, and was crucial strategically, economically and culturally.
Ever since Ukraine split from the Soviet Union, both Russia and the West have vied for greater influence in the country in order to keep the balance of power in the region in their favour.
For the United States and the European Union, Ukraine is a crucial buffer between Russia and the West.
Efforts to induct Ukraine into NATO have been ongoing for many years and seems to have picked up pace recently. Russia has declared such a move a “red line”, with Moscow worried about the consequences of the US-led military alliances expanding right up to its doorstep.

Source: Indian Express

6. MINSK AGREEMENTS

The United States has warned Russia not to invade Ukraine and urged both countries to return to a set of agreements designed to end a separatist war by Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine. Here is a look at the agreements, which were signed in Minsk in 2014 and 2015.

MINSK I

Ukraine and the Russian-backed separatists agreed a 12-point ceasefire deal in the capital of Belarus in September 2014.
Its provisions included prisoner exchanges, deliveries of humanitarian aid and the withdrawal of heavy weapons, five months into a conflict that by that point had killed more than 2,600 people – a toll that has risen to more than 14,000 now, according to the Ukrainian government.
The agreement quickly broke down, with violations by both sides.

MINSK II

Representatives of Russia, Ukraine, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the leaders of two pro-Russian separatist regions signed a 13-point agreement in February 2015 in Minsk.
The leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine gathered there at the same time and issued a declaration of support for the deal.
The deal set out a series of military and political steps that remain unimplemented.

Source: Indian Express

7. PLANT-BASED CHEWING GUM

Researchers have developed a chewing gum that they say can potentially reduce transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

About:

The chewing gum is laced with a plant-grown protein, which serves as a “trap” for the virus.
This reduces viral load in saliva and potentially tamps down transmission, say the researchers, who have published their study in the journal Molecular Therapy.
When a person infected with SARS-CoV-2 sneezes, coughs or speaks, some of the virus can be expelled and reach others. The chewing gum targets the virus in the saliva, and does so by trapping it with the ACE2 protein.
The ACE2 protein in humans is where the coronavirus latches on to, in order to enter the cell.

Source: Indian Expres

07 DECEMBER 2021 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

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