PM Modi launches Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY SEHAT

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri-Jan Arogya Yojana Social Endeavour for Health & Telemedicine (PM-JAY SEHAT) Health Insurance scheme for covering all the residents of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).

• The scheme will ensure Universal Health Coverage and focus on providing financial risk protection and ensuring quality and affordable essential health services to all individuals and communities.

• Financial cover of upto INR 5 Lakhs per family per year on a floater basis to all residents.

• All the hospitals (both private & public) enshrined under PM-JAY scheme will provide services under the scheme.

• Around 6 Lakh Families in J&K have benefitted from Ayushman Bharat Scheme and now around 21 Lakh Families are expected to get the same benefit through SEHAT scheme.

India, Vietnam hold PASSEX Naval Exercise 2020 in South China Sea;

• Indian Navy & Vietnam People's Navy undertook a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) 2020 in the South China Sea

• Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kiltan carrying 15 tonnes of Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Relief (HADR) reached NhaRong Port, Ho Chi Minh City as part of Mission Sagar-III. The relief materials are for the flood-affected people of Central Vietnam.

• A PASSEX exercise is usually carried out between 2 navies to ensure that they are able to communicate & cooperate in times of war or humanitarian relief.

Mission Sagar:

• Mission Sagar-III is part of Government of India's Mission Sagar(Security and Growth for All in the Region).

• SAGAR's main intention is to make India as a dependable partner for its neighbors & Indian Navy as Preferred Security Partner & First Responder.

• The Mission also highlights the importance accorded to ASEAN countries by India.

• On November 2, 2020, Indian Naval Ship (INS) Airavat entered Port Sudan with 100 Tonnes of Food aid as part of Mission Sagar-11.

• In November, INS Airavat arrived at Port of Mombasa, Kenya carrying food aid for the people of South Sudan.

About Vietnam:

• Prime Minister- Nguyen Xuan Phuc

• Capital- Hanoi
• Currency- Vietnamese dong

About Indian Navy:

• Chief of Naval Staff (CNS)- Admiral Karambir Singh
• Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (Navy), New Delhi

India's first ever Driverless Train operations on Delhi Metro's Magenta Line

• Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated India's 1st ever Driverless Train Operations on Delhi Metro's 38 Kilometres long Magenta Line which connects Janakpuri West & Botanical Garden in Noida. PM also inaugurated the fully operational National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) services on the Airport Express Line of Delhi Metro.

• With the inauguration, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) entered the elite league of 7% of the World's Metro networks which are capable of operating without drivers.

• The Driverless train operations will be extended to the Pink Line between Majlis Park & Shiv Vihar by Mid-2021.

• They are capable of travelling at a maximum speed of 95 kmph & operational speed of 85 kmph.

National Common Mobility Card (NCMC);

• NCMC is an inter-operable transport card allowing citizens to pay for bus travel toll taxes, parking charges, retail shopping & withdraw money

• With the inauguration of NCMC cards in Delhi Metro, passengers from all over India who are carrying RuPay debit cards issued in the last 18 months by 23 banks can make use of the feature.

• It was first introduced at Ahmedabad Metro in 2019.

• NCMC was launched in India with the tagline of One Nation One Card' on 4 March 2019 and it will become available on the entire Delhi Metro network by 2022.

Centralised 'Investment Clearance Cell' set to become operational by April 2021

• The Centralised 'Investment Clearance Cell' announced by Government of India as part of the Single Window System is set to become operational by April 15, 2021. The Main objective of the Cell is to act as a one-stop digital platform to obtain central and state clearances/approvals required to start business operations in India. The System will work under Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

• The cell will eliminate the need for investors to visit multiple platforms or offices physically for obtaining clearances & gathering information.

• The Geographical Information System (GIS) enabled land bank under the Industrial Information System (IIS) is also part of the Single Window System.

• Six states - Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Odisha & Goa are part of the GIS enabled Land Bank system.

• These initiatives are expected to improve the Ease of Doing Business in India.

CEBR's WELT 2021 report

• According to the 12th edition of World Economic League Table 2021 (WELT) an Annual report released by Centre for Economics & Business Research Ltd (CEBR), India slumped 1 spot to 6th Largest Economy (out of 195 countries) in the world in 2020 from 5th in 2019 due to the impact of COVID 19. The United States (US) topped the 2020 rankings followed by China & Japan

• India overtook the United Kingdom (UK) to become the 5th Largest economy in 2019 rankings.

• The report stated that India will become 5th Largest Economy by 2025 & 3rd Largest by 2030.

• CEBR has forecasted that Indian Economy will expand by 9% in 2021 & 7% in 2022.

• China will replace the US as the World's Largest Economy by 2028.

• The report has estimated that COVID19 has caused a loss of USD 6 Trillion to Global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020.

About Centre for Economics & Business Research Ltd (CEBR):

• Chairman - Bruce Warman
• Location - London, United Kingdom

BoB Launches Digital Lending Platform for Retail Loan Seekers to get Loans Digitally

• Bank of Baroda(BOB) launched Digital Lending Platform, to allow retail loan seekers to get loans in a digital way through a paperless process.

• It provides 'in-principle approval to the loan seekers in 30 minutes for home, car and personal loans without human intervention through multiple channels namely website, mobile banking, internet banking and social media. 'Online Loan against Fixed Deposits'

• The bank also offers Online Loan against Fixed Deposits(FD) through Digital Lending Platform. This allows FD customers to avail loan against their Online FD instantly through mobile banking and net banking facility.

About Bank of Baroda:

• Head Office- Vadodara(earlier known as Baroda), Gujarat

• Managing Director(MD) and Chief Executive Officer(CEO)--sanjiv chadda
• Established, 20 July 1908
• Tagline- India's International Bank

ICC Cricket Awards

• The winners of the International Cricket Council(ICC) Awards of the Decade(2011-2020) were announced. In this, Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli wins the Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade. He also won ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Decade award.

• He became the only men's player to be named in ICC's Test, ODI, and T201 Teams of the Decade.

• MS Dhoni(India) won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade for calling back former England batter lan Bell after a disputable runout at Trent Bridge Cricket ground, Nottinghamshire, England in 2011.

• Ellyse Perry(Australia) wins the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for ICC Female Cricketer of the Decade. She also won ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Decade award and ICC Women's T201 Cricketer of the Decade award.

• Ellyse Perry is the first and only cricketer in history to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in T20 cricket

• This is the first time fans were allowed to vote for the ICC Awards of the Decade.

• The performance period for the awards will be first January 2011 - 7th October 2020.

• With this award, MS Dhoni becomes the 2nd Most Individual ICC Awards holder.

• ICC Awards of the Decade show was hosted by Alan Wilkins, a Welsh cricket commentator and former English county cricketer.

• The Star Sports show was hosted by Jatin Sapru, Indian TV sports journalist, television host, broadcaster and cricket commentator

ICC Team of the Decade Awards:

• ICC Men's Test Team of the Decade 11 member ICC Men's Test Team of the Decade award was conferred to the Test Team headed by Virat Kohli(india). Ravichandran Ashwin of India was also named in the team. Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) selected as the wicket-keeper.

ICC Men's ODI Team of the Decade & ICC Men's T201 Team of The Decade:

• In Both the formats MS Dhoni(India) was named as the Captain and Wicketkeeper, while indian Players Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were named as players

• Along with others, Jasprit Bumrah of India was named as the player in ICC Men's T201 Team of The Decade

ICC Women's T201 Team of the Decade:

• Meg Lanning(Australia) was also selected as the captain of the Women's T20I Team of the Decade, with Alyssa Healy (Australia) selected as the wicket-keeper. Indian Players, Harmanpreet Kaur and Poonam Yadav was named as the player.

ICC Women's ODI Team of the Decade:

• Meg Lanning (Australia) was selected the captain of the Women's ODI Team of the Decade, with Sarah Taylor(England) selected as the wicket-keeper. Mithali raj and Jhulan Goswami of India were named as players.

About International Cricket Council(ICC):

• CEO- Manu Sawhney
• Headquarters, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)

DRDO confers 'Scientist of the Year Award-2018' on Dr Hemant Kumar Pandey

• Dr Hemant Kumar Pandey has been conferred with 'Scientist of the Year Award-2018' by Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) for his contributions towards developing herbal medicines which includes 'Lukoskin' a drug for treatment of leucoderma. Pandey has been undertaking research at DRDO's Defence Institute of Bio-Energy Research (DIBER) at Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand for 25 years.

China Launches a New Remote Sensing Satellite Yaogan 33R' into Space

• China successfully launched 'Yaogan 33R', a new remote sensing satellite from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China into space. The satellite was sent into orbit by a Long March 4C(Y35) rocket

• It was the 357th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series.

• Weina Jishu Shiyan, a micro and nano technology experiment satellite was also launched in this mission.

• These 2 satellites will be used for scientific experiments, land resources survey, crop yield estimation and disaster prevention and reduction.

Padma Shri Sunil Kothari, an Eminent Indian Dance Historian Passed Away at 87

• Padma Shri Sunil Kothari, an eminent and noted Indian dance historian, scholar and critic passed away

• He was a Chartered Accountant(CA) by profession and also taught accountancy in Sydenham College, Mumbai Maharashtra before turning into dance studies.

• He held the Uday Shankar Chair in Rabindra Bharati University, and taught in the Dance Department of New York University as a Fulbright Professor.

• He has authored many books including, Bharata Natyam: Indian Classical Dance Art

• Odissi: Indian Classical Dance Art, Rasa: The Indian Performing Arts in the Last 25 Years among others.

• He received many awards including, Padma Shri award in 2001 for Art, Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1995, the Life Time Achievement Award of the Dance Critics Association, New York, USA (2011)

Kadambur M. R. Janardhanan, Former Union Minister Passed Away

• Kadambur M. R. Janardhanan, former union minister and senior All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader passed away

• He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Tirunelveli constituency, TamilNadu first in 1984 and then again in 1989, 1991 and 1998.

• He served as the union Minister of State, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions with additional Charge of minister of State for Finance (Revenue, Banking and Insurance) in the second Vajpayee Ministry from 1998 to 1999.

• He was a farmer and was involved in agro-based business. He was a short story writer.

Konkani Book 'Sutranivednachi sutra-ek anbav' Authored by Dr Roopa Chari

• Shripad Naik, Union Minister of state (1/C) for AYUSH(Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) and Minister of State for Defence released a Konkani book titled "Sutranivednachi sutra- ek anbav'. This book is authored by Dr Roopa Chari and published by Sanjana Publications.

• The book is about compering, that will help youngsters who aspire to make a career in this field.

PM Modi Released a Book Titled "Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Parliament - A Commemorative Volume"

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the book "Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Parliament - A Commemorative Volume" to commemorate the 96th birth anniversary of the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The book was published by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

• The birth anniversary of Vajpayee is observed as the "National Good Governance Day" and the book was released at the event held in the Central Hall of Parliament, New Delhi.

• The book highlights the life and contributions of the former Prime Minister Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

• The book features his notable speeches delivered at the parliament and some of his rare photographs from his public life.

• On 25th December 2020, "Vajpayee: The Years that Changed India" the new book authored by Shakti Sinha who worked with Vajpayee as the secretary to the leader of the Opposition (1996-97) and as his private secretary (1998-99) was released.

About Atal Bihari Vajpayee:

• Atal Bihari Vajpyee was born on 25th December 1924 in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.

• He served 3 terms as the PM of India: 13 days in 1996, 13 months from 1998 to 1999 and full term from 1999 to 2004.

• He received the Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant Award for Best Parliamentarian in 1994

• He was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan, India's 2nd highest civilian award in 1992.

• He also received the Bharat Ratna, India's Highest Civilian Award in 2015.