Daily Current Affairs – 21 December 2021 | Gkseries

Current Affairs is the most important area in all competitive exams. But the difficulty level is very high. That’s why; many aspirants get confused, how to select Current Affairs for Preparation of Competitive Examination? In this Post, Daily Current Affairs 21 December 2021, we have tried to cover each and every point and also included all important facts from National/ International news that are useful for upcoming competitive examinations such as UPSC, SSC, Railway, State Govt. etc. Our gkseries team also provides Daily Current Affairs Quiz for these exams.

Daily Current Affairs 21 December 2021

PM Modi lays foundation stone of Ganga Expressway in Uttar Pradesh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone of Ganga Expressway in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. On the occasion, the PM said that the expressway will improve connectivity and boost economic development and tourism in Uttar Pradesh. It will connect the western and eastern regions of the state. It starts near the Bijauli village in Meerut. It will extend till near the Judapur Dandu village in Prayagraj.

About the Ganga Expressway:

• Ganga Expressway is an approved 594 km long, 6-lane wide greenfield expressway, which can be expanded to eight lanes. It will be built at a cost of over Rs 36,200 crore. It is a project to be developed in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. 
• It will pass through Meerut, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Amroha, Sambhal, Budaun, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh and Prayagraj districts.
• 35 Km long airstrip for emergency take-off and landing of Air Force planes will also be constructed on the Expressway in Shahjahanpur.

Tamil Nadu announced ‘Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu’ as state song

The Tamil Nadu government has declared Tamil Thai Vaazhthu, a prayer song sung in praise of Mother Tamil, as the State Song.

Government Order to this effect has been issued, mandating that all barring the differently-abled persons should remain standing when the 55-second long song is sung. The 55-second song, which is familiar to almost everyone in Tamil Nadu, is sung, like the national anthem, at the beginning of functions in all educational institutions, government offices, public sector undertakings, and similar public events in the state.

The ‘Tamil Thai Vaazhthu’ enjoy official status since 1970. It is the official song of the union territory of Puducherry as well. Jaya Bharata Jananiya Tanujate is the official state anthem of Karnataka and Bande Utkal Janani is the official state anthem of Odisha.

Haryana launched ‘Khel Nursery scheme 2022-23’ to promote sports

Haryana’s Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs, Sandeep Singh launched ‘Khel Nursery Scheme 2022-23’ to promote sports in the state. Under which sports nurseries would be started in government, private educational institutions and private sports institutions.

The players of Haryana have given a new identity to the state at the international level with their sports talent. The state government is always striving to develop new sports talents in the state. With this scheme, sports talent would get an opportunity to emerge at the grassroots level.

The scheme promotes sports nurseries that will be started in government, private educational institutions and private sports institutions. Under the scheme, sports nurseries are being opened for the sports included in the Olympic, Asian and Commonwealth Games.

Governor: Bandaru Dattatreya.

RBI allowed SFBs as Agency Bank to conduct Govt Business

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has thrown open the government agency business like tax collection to scheduled payment banks and scheduled small finance banks (SFBs). This is part of move to provide further scope to private banks to conduct government agency business.

In May this year, RBI has revised the existing guidelines on ‘Appointment of Scheduled Private Sector Banks as Agency Banks of RBI’ for authorizing Scheduled Private Sector Banks as agency banks of RBI for conducting govt business (Central and/or State).

Any payment bank or small finance bank that intends to undertake government agency business may be appointed as an agent of RBI upon execution of an agreement with RBI and also in compliance with the regulatory framework prescribed for those banks.

Mohit Jain Elected As New President Of Indian Newspaper Society

Mohit Jain of The Economic Times was on Friday elected president of The Indian Newspaper Society, an apex body of Publishers of Newspapers, Magazines & Periodicals in the country, for the year 2021-22. He succeeds L. Adimoolam of Health & The Antiseptic.

While K. Raja Prasad Reddy (Sakshi) was elected the deputy president, Rakesh Sharma (Aaj Samaj) was the vice-president and Tanmay Maheshwari (Amar Ujala) was elected the honorary treasurer of the Society for 2021-22.

States and Capitals of India: Now 28 states and 8 UTs 2021

States and Capitals 2021: India is the 7th largest country in the world and the 2nd most populous country in the world. With a total of 28 states and 8 Union Territories, it forms a union of states in India. It lies in southern Asia. It is officially known as the Republic of India. It is governed by a parliamentary form of government. It gets very difficult to manage a large country from one place. So Indian Constitution gives the right to the central government to make states feel suitable. This article talks about the list of the Indian States and their Capitals along with the founded year.

States formation in India:

The States Reorganization Act, formed in 1956 was a prime force in reorganizing the margins of Indian states along semantic lines. Later, as per a reformation in the Indian Constitution, three types of states, known as Part A states, Part B states, and Part C states, were changed to form a single type of state.

• Part A: States belong to former governors’ regions of British India.
• Part B: States belong to former royal states
• Part C: States involved both the former chief commissioner’s provinces and some princely states.

Although new changes have been introduced in the state boundaries since 1947, the Act is still regarded as an authoritative player in implementing the present shape and forms to the Indian states.

Here is the list of the Indian States and their capitals that every Indian must know:

India has 28 states. There are also 8 union territories. The 28 Indian States and their capitals are as follows.

Kdambi Srikanth bags silver in BWF World Championships, Spain

Kidambi Srikanth won the silver medal in the BWF World Badminton Championships, Spain. A former world no. 1, Srikanth lost Loh Kean Yew of Singapore.

He becomes the first Indian men Badminton player to won a silver in BWF World Championships. The maiden silver placed Srikanth alongside P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, who had finished runner-up in the past. Akane Yamaguchi of Japan clinched the women’s title beating World No. 1 and top seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei.

SpaceX launches 52 Starlink satellites from California base

A SpaceX rocket carried 52 Starlink internet satellites into orbit from California early on December 18. The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from coastal Vandenberg Space Force Base at 4:41 a.m. and arced over the Pacific. The Falcon’s first stage returned and landed on a SpaceX drone ship in the ocean. It was the 11th launch and recovery of the stage. Starlink is a satellite-based global internet system that SpaceX has been building for years to bring internet access to underserved areas of the world.

India, Germany Development Bank sign Euro 442.26 mn loan pact

The government of India and the Germany Development Bank — KFW (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau) signed a 442.26 million euro loan pact for the Surat Metro Rail project. The total cost of the project is 1.5 billion euros, of which KfW is financing 442.26 million euros.

The project is being co-financed by French Development Agency, AFD (Agence Francaise de Developpemet). The Agreement with AFD for 250 million euros was signed on January 28, 2021.

Veteran Congress leader and former Union minister R L Jalappa passes away

Veteran Congress leader and former Union Minister R.L. Jalappa passed away.

He was the founder and Chairman of Devaraj Urs Medical College in Kolar. In 1979 he quit Congress to form the Karnataka Kranti Ranga  and he again joined congress in 1998. In 1996, He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Chikballapur constituency, representing Janata Dal. He has served as the Union Minister of Textiles (1996 to 1998) under the premiership of HD Deve Gowda and Inder Kumar Gujral.

Dr Rekha Chaudhari authors the book “India’s Ancient Legacy of Wellness”

The book titled “India’s Ancient Legacy of Wellness” has been authored by Dr. Rekha Chaudhari. The book was released by the Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. It was launched on the occasion of World Digital Day (15th December). 

The book highlights how important it is for human beings to be close to nature which helps to revive and recharge to do productive work. The book is dedicated to her father and his emphasis on Health and Education.

Good Governance Week 2021 being celebrated from 20th-25th December

The Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG), under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions is celebrating ‘Good Governance Week 2021’ on December 20-25.

Moto: to redress and dispose of public grievances and improvise service delivery down to the village level.

Theme: “Prashasan Gaon Ki Aur”

A film on “Prashasan Gaon Ki Aur” will also be screened. “Good Governance Day will be celebrated on December 25, 2021.

SAIL honoured Golden Peacock Environment Management Award 2021

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has been awarded with the prestigious Golden Peacock Environment Management Award for the year 2021 in the Steel Sector by the Institute of Directors. SAIL has been the winner of this award for successive 3 years. The Award is given to organizations for significant achievements in Environment Management by Environment Foundation (WEF) since 1998.

The company’s environmental protections measures are focused on adopting various environmental measures including, upgrading of pollution control facilities, water conservation efforts with the aim to achieve Zero Liquid Discharge, efficient handling of different solid wastes (viz. process waste, hazardous waste, and canteen/township waste), carbon sequestration through afforestation, eco-restoration of the mined-out area and etc.

Some of the major initiatives undertaken by SAIL in this area.

Carbon footprint reduction has become an integral part of the company’s corporate policies and operations. Deployment of state-of-the-art environment-friendly technology, R&D initiatives in association with academic institutes of repute for resource efficiency, creation of carbon sinks by massive plantation drives, gradual shift to LED lighting, enhancing the share of renewable energy, etc is some of the major initiatives undertaken by SAIL in this area.