1. SUMMIT FOR DEMOCRACY
Democracies should jointly deal with social media and cryptocurrencies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a virtual address at the Summit for Democracy, hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden.
About:
- The Summit for Democracy was a virtual summit hosted by the United States "to renew democracy at home and confront autocracies abroad" on December 9–10, 2021.
- The three themes are defending against authoritarianism, addressing and fighting corruption, and advancing respect for human rights.
- The summit was convened by Mr. Biden to strengthen democracies around the world.
- Biden announced the establishment of the Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal, under which the administration plans to provide $424.4 million for supporting free and independent media, fighting corruption, strengthening democratic reforms, advancing technology for democracy, and defending free and fair elections.
Source: The Hindu
2. INTERNATIONAL SOLAR ALLIANCE (ISA)
The UN General Assembly has conferred Observer Status on the International Solar Alliance (ISA), a historic decision which India said would help provide for a well-defined cooperation between the alliance and the UN that would benefit global energy growth and development.
About:
- UN confers Observer Status on Solar Alliance
- The ISA was conceived as a joint effort by India and France to mobilise efforts against climate change through the deployment of solar energy solutions.
- It was presented by the leaders of the two countries at the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Paris in 2015.
- The General Assembly, based on the Sixth Committee report, adopted resolution 76/123 & unanimously decided to invite the International Solar Alliance to participate in the sessions & work of the General Assembly in the capacity of an ‘Observer’,” UN General Assembly President Shahid tweeted.
Source: The Hindu
3. DST-ICTP-IMU RAMANUJAN PRIZE FOR YOUNG MATHEMATICIANS FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Professor Neena Gupta, a mathematician at the Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata, has been awarded the 2021 DST-ICTP-IMU Ramanujan Prize for Young Mathematicians from developing countries for her outstanding work in affine algebraic geometry and commutative algebra.
About:
- Professor Gupta is the third woman to receive the Ramanujan Prize
- The Prize was first awarded in 2005 and is administered by the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) jointly with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) Government of India and the International Mathematical Union (IMU).
- Ramanujan Prize is given annually to an eminent Mathematician who is less than 45 years of age on 31 December of the year of the award and has conducted outstanding research in developing countries.
- The DST-ICTP-IMU Ramanujan Prize committee, composed of eminent mathematicians from around the world, commented that Gupta's work "shows impressive algebraic skill and inventiveness".
Source : PIB
4. CYBER VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
To ensure women safety in cyberspace, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has launched an online resource center to offer help for women in distress on issues pertaining to online safety under the ‘We Think Digital’ programme, run collaboratively by the Commission, Facebook and Cyber Peace Foundation.
About:
- The Resource centre can be accessed at www.digitalshakti.org .
- The Resource Centre will act as a source of information and support for online presence.
- The centre will also help in fighting Cyber violence against women and will help prevent tech abuse against them.
- The centre will provide information on cyber security in the form of posters, awareness videos, quizzes and self-learning modules which will include lessons with tips for safe usage and reporting and redressal of cybercrimes.
- The project was launched as Digital Shakti in 2018 with an aim to help women across the nation to raise the awareness level on the digital front and to train them to fight cyber-crime in the most effective ways. The project has sensitized over 1,75,000 women.
Source : PIB
5. BALKRISHNA DOSHI
Balkrishna Doshi, the most defining architect of post-independent India, won the Royal Gold Medal 2022 in recognition of his lifetime work of over seven decades as a thinker, architect and academic. The award, instituted by the UK’s Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), is among the highest honours in the world for architecture.
About:
- Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi (born 1927) is an Indian architect.
- He is considered to be an important figure of Indian architecture and noted for his contributions to the evolution of architectural discourse in India.
- Having worked under Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, he is a pioneer of modernist and brutalist architecture in India.
- His more noteworthy designs include the IIM Bangalore, IIM Udaipur, NIFT Delhi, Amdavad ni Gufa, CEPT University, and the Aranya Low Cost Housing development in Indore which was awarded the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
Awards
- In 2018, he became the first Indian architect to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize, which is considered one of the most prestigious prizes in architecture.
- He has also been awarded the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan.
- He has been awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects' Royal Gold Medal for 2022.
Source : Indian Express
6. ATMANIRBHAR HASTSHILPKAR SCHEME
North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd. (NEDFi) announced a New Scheme Atmanirbhar Hastshilpkar Scheme for the grass root Artisans of the region under Ministry of Development of North-East Region (DONER).
About:
- The scheme was officially launched on 9/12/2021.
- During the launching ceremony, a total of 17 artisans have been provided with credit assistance of Rs.1 lakh per artisan. The credit facility is collateral free and carries a subsidized interest rate of 6% p.a., which is repayable in 24 months.
- For regular repayment, an incentive of 1% on the interest rate is provided, which will be refunded to the artisans on successful repayment of loans.
Important Info :
- North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd. (NEDFi), a premier financial institution in the North-Eastern Region with its head office at Dispur, Guwahati and branch offices all across North-Eastern Region has completed 26 years since its establishment in 1995.
Source: PIB
7. HOUSE RULE 193
The Lok Sabha discussed on Climate Change under the House Rule 193.
About:
- Discussion under Rule 193 does not involve a formal motion before the House. Hence no voting can take place after discussion on matters under this rule.
- The Member who gives notice may make a short statement and such of the Members as have previously intimated to the Speaker, may be permitted to take part in the discussion.
- The Member who raises the discussion has no right of reply. At the end of the discussion, the Minister concerned gives a brief reply.
Source: All India Radio
8. SARYU CANAL NATIONAL PROJECT
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Saryu Canal National Project in Balrampur district of Uttar Pradesh.
About:
- The project involves interlinking of five rivers - Ghaghara, Saryu, Rapti, Banganga and Rohin.
- The Saryu Canal National Project starts from the Saryu Barrage at Bahraich. The main canal is 318 km long and many sub canals with a length of over 66 hundred kilometres have been linked to it.
- The project has been completed at a cost of around 10,000 crore rupees, of which around 50 percent funds were made available in the last four years.
- The project will provide assured water for irrigation purposes for over 14 lakh hectares of land and will benefit about 29 lakh farmers in over 6200 villages.
- It will benefit nine districts in Eastern Uttar Pradesh - Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Gorakhpur and Maharajganj.
Source: All India Radio
9. IMAGING X-RAY POLARIMETRY EXPLORER (IXPE)
NASA launched a new mission named Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer or IXPE.
About:
- Onboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, it was sent to its orbit from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. IXPE observatory is a joint effort of NASA and the Italian Space Agency.
- The mission will study “the most extreme and mysterious objects in the universe – supernova remnants, supermassive black holes, and dozens of other high-energy objects.”
- The mission’s primary length is two years and the observatory will be at 600 kilometers altitude, orbiting around Earth’s equator.
- IXPE is expected to study about 40 celestial objects in its first year in space.
- This new mission will complement other X-ray telescopes such as the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Space Agency’s X-ray observatory, XMM-Newton.
Important Info :
Why is it important?
According to NASA, IXPE’s polarization measurements will help scientists answer questions such as:
- How do black holes spin?
- Was the black hole at the center of the Milky Way actively feeding on surrounding material in the past?
- How do pulsars shine so brightly in X-rays?
- What powers the jets of energetic particles that are ejected from the region around the supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies?
Source: Indian Express
10. BETI BACHAO, BETI PADHAO (BBBP) SCHEME
The Government spent 80% of the funds under the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ (BBBP) scheme on media campaigns and must now revisit this strategy and invest in measurable outcomes in health and education for girls, the Parliamentary Committee on Empowerment of Women has noted in its report tabled in the Lok Sabha.
About:
- The Committee finds that out of a total of ₹446.72 crore released during the period 2016- 2019, a whopping 78.91% was spent only on media advocacy.
- Over the last six years, through focussed advocacy BBBP has been able to capture the attention of political leadership and national consciousness towards valuing the girl child. Now, it is time to focus on other verticals by making ample financial provisions to help achieve measurable outcomes related to education and health envisaged under the scheme.
- The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2015 with the aim to address sex-selective abortion and the declining child sex ratio, which was at 918 girls for every 1,000 boys in 2011. The programme is being implemented across 405 districts.
- The total utilisation under the scheme was also poor — the committee found that since the inception of BBBP in 2014-15 till 2019-20, the total budgetary allocation under the scheme was ₹848 crore, excluding the COVID-19-stricken financial year of 2020-21.
Source : The Hindu