DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 21 – 22 November 2021
INS Visakhapatnam Commissioned
- INS Visakhapatnam, a P15B stealth guided missile destroyer, was commissioned into the Indian Navy in the presence of Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh at the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai on November 21, 2021.
- The event marks the formal induction of the first of the four ‘Visakhapatnam’ class destroyers, indigenously designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house organisation Directorate of Naval Design and constructed by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, Mumbai.
- Indigenously developed missile destroyer packed with state-of-the-art weapons & sensors with modern surveillance radars
- Raksha Mantri describes it as a symbol of India’s growing maritime prowess.
- Shri Rajnath Singh appreciated the self-reliance efforts of the Indian Navy, terming Navy’s order of 39 of the 41 ships and submarines from Indian shipyards as a testament to their commitment towards achieving ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.
- He described the development of Indigenous Aircraft Carrier ‘INS Vikrant’ as an important milestone in their path to achieve ‘Atmanirbhar’. “The carrier will increase our reach from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean. Its commissioning will be a golden moment in the history of the Indian Defence.
- It will be the best occasion to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India’s independence and the 50th anniversary of India’s victory in 1971 war,” he said.
- The Raksha Mantri praised the Indian Navy’s consistent efforts to participate in various outreach programmes of the industries and increase indigenized items under ‘Float’, ‘Move’ and ‘Fight’ categories. Stressing on the need to maintain the momentum, he expressed confidence that “the steps taken by the government will continue to provide boost to the self-reliance efforts and we will soon build ships not just for India, but for the entire world”.
- He assured of Government’s continuous support to achieve this vision.
EXERCISE SHAKTI 2021
- The Sixth Edition of Indo – France joint military exercise “Ex SHAKTI 2021” has commenced at the Military School of Draguignan, France with an opening ceremony on 15 Nov 21. The Indian Army contingent is being represented by a composite team of three Officers, three Junior Commissioned Officers and 37 soldiers from a battalion of Gorkha Rifles and support Arms.
- The training so far has focused on aspects of joint planning, mutual understanding of conduct of operations and identification of coordination aspects required for jointly operating in a Counter Terrorism environment under United Nations mandate. The participating contingents have also been put through paces of combat conditioning and tactical training which included firing drills and ‘battle hardening’ work sessions. The exercise is being conducted in two phases which will culminate with a grueling 36 hour exercise to validate the standards achieved during the two phases.
- The contingent apart from joint training went to visit MAZARGUES War Cemetery in Marseilles where 1,002 Indian soldiers of the First World War have been cremated. The Indian and French contingents together presented a Guard of Honor and paid their homage to commemorate the valour of the fallen brave hearts.
World Fisheries Day
- World Fisheries Day is celebrated on 21st Novemberevery year to demonstrate solidarity with all fisherfolk, fish farmers and concerned stakeholders throughout the world. It started in 1997 where “World Forum of Fish Harvesters & Fish Workers” met at New Delhi leading to formation of “World Fisheries Forum” with representatives from 18 countries and signed a declaration advocating for a global mandate of sustainable fishing practices and policies.
- The event aims to draw attention to overfishing, habitat destruction and other serious threats to the sustainability of our marine and freshwater resources.
- The celebrations serve to focus on changing the way the world manages global fisheries to ensure sustainable stocks and healthy ecosystems.
- Govt to award best performing states for 2020-21 in Fisheries Sector
- Govt is in the forefront in transforming the fisheries sector to bring about economic revolution through Blue Revolution
- Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) aims to achieve fish production of 22 MMT by 2024-25 with an additional employment to about 55 lakh people.
Indore wins the title of ‘Cleanest City’
- The President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind today felicitated the awardees of the cleanest cities of India at the ‘Swachh Amrit Mahotsav’ hosted as part of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 by Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.
- The award ceremony, organized to recognize the good work done for Swachhata by towns/ cities, States and Union Territories under various initiatives of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), viz. Swachh Survekshan 2021, Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge, and certifications for Garbage Free Star rating for cities – saw more than 300 awards under various categories being given away through the day.
- For the fifth consecutive year, Indore was awarded the title of India’s Cleanest City under Swachh Survekshan, while Surat and Vijayawada bagged the second and third spots respectively in the ‘more than 1 lakh population’ category. In the population category of ‘less than 1 lakh’, Vita, Lonavala and Sasvad, all from Maharashtra, bagged the first, second and third positions respectively.
- Varanasi emerged as the ‘Best Ganga Town’ while Ahmedabad Cantonment won the title of ‘India’s Cleanest Cantonment’, followed by Meerut Cantonment and Delhi Cantonment. In the category of ‘Fastest Mover’, Hoshangabad (Madhya Pradesh) emerged as the ‘Fastest Mover City’ (in the ‘more than 1 lakh population’ category) with a jump of 274 ranks from 361st position in the 2020 rankings to the 87th position this year, thus securing a place among the top 100 cities.
- In the State awards, Chhattisgarh, for the third consecutive year emerged as the ‘Cleanest State’ in the category of “more than 100 Urban Local Bodies” while Jharkhand, for the second time, won the Cleanest State award in the “less than 100 ULBs category”. Karnataka and Mizoram became the ‘Fastest Mover States’ in the big (more than 100 ULBs) and small (less than 100 ULBs) state category respectively.
Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana: Gramin completes 5 years
- On the eve of completion of 5 years of the scheme and celebration of Awaas Diwas on 20th November 2021, States/UTs have undertaken various activities to celebrate the Diwas such as Bhoomi Pujan, Gruh Pravesh, visit of beneficiaries to demonstration houses, sensitization of beneficiaries about PMAY-G etc.
- Ensuring the fulfilment of the noble objective of housing for all, the Ministry in partnership with the State government endeavours to complete the target within the time frame.
- To achieve the objective of providing “Housing to All” by the year 2022, the Government of India rolled out the revamped rural housing scheme, Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) was launched on 20th November 2016 with effect from 1st April 2016.
- The program envisages the completion of 2.95 crore PMAY-G houses with all basic amenities by the year 2022.
- 1.63 Crore houses completed under the scheme
- Rs. 1,47,218.31 crores released to the States/UTs since the inception of the Scheme.
World Television Day
- CEO, Prasar Bharti, Shashi Shekhar Vempati in a tweet said this World Television Day also makes a major transition to Door darshan as we bid adieu to the era of Analog Terrestrial TV Transmission and take steps towards Direct to Mobile Terrestrial Broadcasting.
- In December 1996, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 21st November as World Television Day commemorating the date on which the first World Television Forum was held in 1996.
PM Modi participates in DGP and IGP conference
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi is participating in the annual Conference of Director Generals of Police (DGP) and Inspector Generals of Police (IGP) in Lucknow.
- In a tweet, Prime Minister had termed the conference as an important forum in which extensive deliberations are taking place on modernization of Indian police set-up.
- The Conference was inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday.
- The Conference is being held in hybrid format. DGP of States and Union Territories and Heads of Central Armed Police Forces and Central Police Organizations are attending the Conference physically at the venue in Lucknow, while the remaining invitees are participating virtually from 37 different locations at IB and SIB Headquarters.
- The conference is discussing a wide range of issues including Cyber Crime, Data Governance, Counter-Terrorism Challenges, Left Wing Extremism, Emerging Trends in Narcotics Trafficking, Prison Reforms among others. AIR correspondent reports, since 2014, the Prime Minister has taken a keen interest in the DGP conference.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
- November 26 is celebrated as the National Milk Day, to commemorate the birth anniversary of
- Verghese Kurian
- P C Mahalanobis
- M S Swaminathan
- C N R Rao
ANSWER: A
- Which special Day is observed on December 10
- Doctors Day
- Human Rights Day
- Social Justice Day
- Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination
ANSWER: B
- When is the Universal Health Coverage Day observed every year?
- December 5
- December 10
- December 12
- December 15
ANSWER: C
- When is the International Day of Neutrality observed every year?
- December 10
- December 11
- December 12
- December 13
ANSWER: C
- When is the International Human Solidarity Day observed?
- December 18
- December 20
- December 22
- December 24
ANSWER: B
- The National Farmers’ Day (Kisan Diwas), is celebrated on December 23, to honour which personality of India?
- Verghese Kurien
- M S Swaminathan
- Choudhary Charan Singh
- Atal Bihari Vajpayee
ANSWER: C
- The birth anniversary of which freedom fighter is to be celebrated as “Parakram Diwas” every year?
- Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel
- Subash Chandra Bose
- V D Savarkar
- Bal Gangadhar Tilak
ANSWER: B
- “Parakram Diwas” is celebrated every year on _____
- January 23
- January 24
- January 25
- January 26
ANSWER: A
- When is International Holocaust Remembrance Day observed?
- January 10
- January 20
- January 25
- January 27
ANSWER: D
- Chauri Chaura is a town located in which Indian state/UT?
- Punjab
- Uttar Pradesh
- Bihar
- West Bengal
ANSWER: B
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