DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 30 December 2021
Egypt: 4th Member of BRICS New Development Bank
- India has welcomed Egypt as the fourth new member of BRICS New Development Bank. The External Affairs Ministry Spokesman Arindam Bagchi said Bangladesh, UAE, and Uruguay joined in September this year. Mr. Bagchi said membership expansion enables New Development Bank to position itself as a premier development institution for emerging economies.
- The New Development Bank aims to mobilize resources for development projects in BRICS, emerging economies, and developing countries.
- The New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). According to the Agreement on the NDB, “the Bank shall support public or private projects through loans, guarantees, equity participation, and other financial instruments.” Moreover, the NDB “shall cooperate with international organizations and other financial entities, and provide technical assistance for projects to be supported by the Bank
‘Innovations For You’ and ‘The Ingenious Tinkerers’
- Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and NITI Aayog today released the second edition of Innovations for You and The Ingenious Tinkerers. Innovations for You is a compendium of innovations focused on agriculture featuring 70 start-ups supported by Atal Incubation Centres of Atal Innovation Mission. The Ingenious Tinkerers is a compendium on the innovations in technology featuring 41 innovations from Atal Tinkering Lab.
- The Digi-books were unveiled virtually today in the presence of Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Member (Agriculture) Professor Ramesh Chand, Chief Executive Officer of MyGov Abhishek Singh, and Mission Director of Atal Innovation Mission Dr. Chintan Vaishnav.
- Mission Director of Atal Innovation Mission Dr. Chintan Vaishnav, congratulated entrepreneurs saying that stories and ideas behind every innovation inspire millions of other start-ups, innovators, and young tinkerers across the country.
- CEO of MyGov Abhishek Singh congratulated all the participants for conceiving such brilliant ideas and developing the innovations with so much creativity and enterprise.
- As the nation celebrates Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, both books feature the success stories of young innovators of the country. The Innovations For You is a compilation of successful innovations by the entrepreneurial minds of India solving problems of the present for the future, while The Ingenious Tinkerers is a compilation of the top innovations created by young student innovators.
PM Modi @Uttarakhand
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Haldwani in Uttarakhand tomorrow. Mr. Modi will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of 23 projects worth over 17 thousand 500 crore rupees. Among the 23 projects, a foundation stone will be laid for 17 projects worth over 14 thousand 100 crore rupees.
- These projects cover a wide array of sectors and areas across the state including irrigation, road, housing, health infrastructure, industry, sanitation, and drinking water supply.
- The program will witness the inauguration of six projects including multiple road widening projects, a hydropower project in Pithoragarh, and projects to improve the sewerage network in Nainital.
- The cumulative cost of the projects being inaugurated is over 3400 crore rupees.
‘Sankalp Smarak’
- The Commander-in-Chief Andaman Nicobar Command, CINCAN Lt. General Ajai Singh dedicated ‘Sankalp Smarak’ to the nation to commemorate the landing of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in Port Blair 78 years ago i.e., on 29th Dec. 1943. Netaji was on a short trip to Andaman and Nicobar Islands during the last days of 1943.
- Every year 30th Dec. is being celebrated as the first tricolor hoisting at Port Blair, as free land from British Rule, by Netaji in 1943 as the Supreme Commander of INA. The Japanese handed over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to Netaji.
- The Smarak consists of Netaji’s statue at the top. The Smarak has been put up nearly at the precise location where Netaji’s plane was landed. At that time, it was a Japanese Air Station.
- The CINCAN unveiled the Sankalp Smarak under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav situated at Naval Air Station, INS Utkrosh, managed by the Indian Navy. The station is just alongside the runway of Port Blair Airport.
- Addressing the occasion CINCAN said that It symbolizes not only Netaji but every unknown soldier of the Indian National Army, who fought for the cause, who gave his then tomorrow for our today.
Indian Army Establishes Quantum Laboratory in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh
- The Army is making steady, yet significant strides in the field of emerging technology domains. The Army, with support from the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), has recently established the Quantum Lab at Military College of Telecommunication Engineering, Mhow in Madhya Pradesh to spearhead research and training in this key developing field.
- Army Chief Gen M M Naravane was briefed on the facility during his recent visit to Mhow.
- The Army has also established an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Centre at the same institution with over 140 deployments in forwarding areas and active support of industry and academia. Training on cyber warfare is being imparted through a state of art cyber range, and cyber security labs.
- The Research undertaken by the Indian Army in the field of Quantum Technology will help leapfrog into next-generation communication and transform the current system of cryptography in the Indian Armed Forces to Post Quantum Cryptography (QPC).
India’s GDP Expected to Grow At 9%: ICRA
- Credit rating agency ICRA has said that India’s GDP is likely to maintain a 9 percent growth rate in fiscal 2022 and 2023, amid concerns over the Omicron variant of COVID-19. The country’s economy grew at 8.4 percent in the second quarter of the current fiscal, as against a growth of 20.1 percent in the April-June quarter.
- ICRA’s Chief Economist Aditi Nayar expects the expansion in fiscal 2023 to be more meaningful and tangible than the base effect-led rise in the 2022 fiscal.
- ICRA stands for Investment information and credit rating agency. It is an independent credit agency comprising leading commercial banks, financial institutions, and financial services companies that evaluates the relative credit risks associated with the debt instruments and institutions.
US Virginia Workers Open Civil War-era Time Capsule
- In the US, a conservation team in the state of Virginia has opened a box containing Confederate war memorabilia believed to be more than 130 years old. It contained newspapers, books, and ammunition dated to the US Civil War.
- Workers discovered the container in the state capital of Richmond while finishing the removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E Lee. The memorial was removed after protests following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year.
- The lead conservator for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Kate Ridgway, said the contents and design of the box appeared to match the historical records.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
- What is the first BRICS declaration that named terrorist groups LeT and JeM?
- Heart of Asia declaration
- Xiamen declaration
- Dunhuang declaration
- Shenzhen declaration
ANSWER: B
- What does BRICS ARP stand for?
- Agricultural Research Portal
- Asian Research Platform
- Asian Research Portal
- Agriculture Research Platform
ANSWER: D
- When Was the First BRICS Summit Held?
- Russia, 2009
- India, 2008
- Brazil, 2009
- China, 2008
ANSWER: A
- Who was the Commander-in-Chief of Confederate states in the American Civil war (1861 – 65)?
- Abraham Lincoln
- Jefferson Davis
- Robert E Lee
- James Longstree
ANSWER: C
- America won Independence from England in
- 1774
- 1775
- 1776
- 1777
ANSWER: C
- In 1860, _____ was elected as the 16th President of the USA.
- Lincoln
- Roosevelt
- James Madison
- Washington
ANSWER: A
- “Government Of the People, By the People And For The People” was given by
- Lincoln
- Roosevelt
- James Madison
- Washington
ANSWER: A
- Who drafted the Declaration of American Independence?
- George Washington
- Abraham Lincoln
- Thomas Jefferson
- John F Kennedy
ANSWER: C
- When did the “Boston Tea Party”, an important event related to the history of the American Revolution occurred?
- 1773
- 1774
- 1775
- 1776
ANSWER: A
- Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was born in
- Cuttack, Odisha
- Calcutta, Bengal
- Noakhali, Bengal
- Puri, Odisha
ANSWER: A
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