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Current Affairs - 12 December 2021
1. Indian Mathematician receives 2021 DST-ICTP-IMU Ramanujan Prize for Young Mathematicians from Developing Countries
- Professor Neena Gupta, a mathematician at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in
Kolkata was awarded the 'Ramanujan Prize for Young Mathematicians from Developing Countries 2021' for her outstanding work in affine algebraic geometry and commutative algebra. - Professor Neena is the third woman to receive the Ramanujan Prize since its inception in 2004.
- The prize, named after Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, 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).
2. Karnataka govt signs LoU with UNDP to improve employment opportunities for youth
- The Karnataka Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports has signed a
Letter of Understanding (LoU) with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), as part of the state-level initiative ‘Code-Unnati’ with the aim of improving access to entrepreneurship and employment opportunities among the youth, including women. - The LoU was signed in presence of C N Ashwath Narayan, Minister for Higher Education, IT/BT, and Skill Development.
Foot Notes:
About Karnataka:
Governor: Thawar Chand Gehlot
Capital: Bengaluru
Chief Minister: Basavaraj Bommai
3. India’s Jeremy Lalrinnunga wins Gold at Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent
- India’s teenage weightlifting sensation Jeremy Lalrinnunga won the gold medal
in the men’s 67kg category at the Commonwealth Championships, in Tashkent. The 2018 Youth Olympics gold medallist has lifted the total weight of 305kg with 141kg in Snatch and 164kg in Clean and Jerk. His personal best total is 306kg with 140kg in Snatch and 166kg in Clean and Jerk which came in 2019. - The 19-year-old also created a national record in the snatch event en route his podium finish but was unable to do the same in the clean and jerk section where he failed to lift 168kg.
- Earlier, Guru Raja won the silver medal in the men’s 61kg among Commonwealth nations after lifting a total weight of 265kg with 117kg in Snatch and 148kg in Clean and Jerk. He was eighth on the overall world leaderboard.
4. Rajya Sabha passed Pharmaceutical Education Bill
- The Rajya Sabha passed the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and
Research (Amendment) Bill, 2021, on December 9, 2021. - Under this bill, six more institutes of pharmaceutical education and research, other than an institute at Mohali, will be accorded the status of institute of national importance.
- In these institutes, undergraduate and diploma courses will be introduced and an advisory council will be set for them.
- This Bill was cleared by a voice vote, in Lok Sabha on December 6.
5. 140 million free health IDs generated
- On December 10, 2021, Minister of state for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar
informed in Lok Sabha that, government has made a provision to generate a health ID for every citizen free of cost. - As of now, more than 140 million health IDs have been created.
- Creation of Health IDs is voluntary.
- The National Health Authority is creating awareness among citizens regarding the usage and advantages of Health IDs for ensuring their maximum participation.
6. Hong Kong caught in a ‘zero COVID’ dilemma
- On December 6, 2021, Hong Kong implemented its new ‘Zero Covid Policy’.
- With the implementation of new rules, travellers from the United States will be subject to highest tier of quarantine measures in semi-autonomous city, having some of the strictest anti-Covid policies worldwide.
- Hongkong will make the US the first country outside Africa to be placed under the quarantine centre order since Omicron variant was first detected in November month.
- Only fully vaccinated travellers from the US will be allowed to enter the Hong Kong and will also be required to spend their first seven days at a quarantine centre accompanied with daily testing and health monitoring.
- Following this, they will require to spend another 14 days in quarantine at a hotel booked in advance.
Foot Notes:
About Hong Kong:
Currency: Hong Kong dollar
7. Tripura Govt gives nod for Buddhist University
- The Tripura government has given its approval to set up a Buddhist university in
Manu Bankul in Sabroom. The state government gave a Letter of Intent to Bahujana Hitaya Education Trust for setting up the university. Students from 31 countries will get a chance to study as well as research Buddhist literature, culture and tradition in the proposed varsity. - Now, the organisation will have to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for building the necessary infrastructure at the proposed site at the earliest, he said. The government will bring a bill in the assembly for setting up the university once to the necessary facilities are built, he said. Sabroom MLA Sankar Roy said that a plot measuring 25 acres has been given to the Buddhist organisation to set up the varsity.
Foot Notes:
About Tripura:
Capital: Agartala
Chief Minister: Biplab Kumar Deb
8. ISRO, Oppo India collaborate to ramp up messaging service in oceans
- To strengthen the Research and Development (R&D) of NaVIC or the Indian
Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) messaging service, the Indian Space Research Organisation has signed a pact with Oppo India. - NavIC is a messaging service platform, which provides regional navigation services covering the entire country and an area up to 1,500 km beyond the Indian boundaries.
- Notably, the messaging platform primarily provides PNT (position, navigation, and timing) services along with the capability of broadcasting short messages (safety-of-life alerts) in areas with poor or no communication, particularly in oceans.
- As per the Memorandum of Undertaking (MoU), both ISRO and Oppo India will exchange technical information of NavIC messaging services to build rapid, ready-to-use, end-to-end application-specific solutions. This will enable integrating NavIC messaging service with the mobile handset platform keeping in mind the need of Indian users.
Foot Notes:
About ISRO:
Founder: Vikram Sarabhai
Founded: 15 August 1969
Headquarters: Bengaluru
Director: Kailasavadivoo Sivan
9. Indians support vaccine, mask mandate for workplace
- On December 9, 2021, a global World Economic Forum (WEF) survey
highlighted that, around 90 per cent people in India believe they & their colleagues at workplaces should be fully vaccinated while 93 per cent Indians agreed that they should wear mask at public places or in proximity with others, in order to be safe from covid-19. - The percentage of respondents from India, agreeing to such measures is much greater than the global average.
- On an average, across the world, 78 per cent people want everyone in their workplace to be fully vaccinated while 81 per cent people are expecting everyone to wear a mask at public places.
- On an average, around 62 percent people across the world would not feel comfortable going to work if such measures were not in place.
- The survey was conducted on 14,500 employed adults across 33 countries during October 22 and November 5, 2021.
- 81 per cent of Indians respondents said that; they would opt for frequent Covid testing if they are not vaccinated against the disease.
- 12 per cent of workers across the globe would choose frequent testing instead.
10. NITI Aayog to establish 1,000 Atal Tinkering Labs in Jammu and Kashmir
- The NITI Aayog has planned to establish 1000 Atal Tinkering Laboratories in
Jammu and Kashmir. - Out of 1000 Atal Tinkering Laboratories, 187 will be established by the end of the financial year 2021-22.
- Out of 187 ATLs, 31 are being established across government schools of J&k while 50 will be established in several educational institutions like KVs, JNVs and Private schools.
- Process of establishing the remaining 106 labs will be initiated soon.
- Apart from that, department has also been asked to ensure regular maintenance of infrastructure as well as equipment of these centres in line with other government departments.
Foot Notes:
About NITI Aayog:
Headquarters: New Delhi
Chairperson: Narendra Modi
Founder: National Democratic Alliance
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