Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 20 December 2021

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 19 December 2021

::NATIONAL::

India, Central Asian nations vow to fight Afghanistan terror

India and the five Central Asian states pushed for concerted action against all terror groups, saying Afghanistan’s soil must not be used for planning terror attacks, even as they pledged to provide immediate humanitarian aid to the Afghan people.
The fallout of the Taliban takeover of Kabul on regional security, post-pandemic recovery and measures to boost regional connectivity and trade were in focus as foreign ministers of India and the Central Asian states held their third dialogue in the Capital.
India welcomed the interest shown by the Central Asian states in using ShahidBeheshti terminal at Iran’s Chabahar port, which is operated by an Indian company, for trade with India and beyond, according to a joint statement. All the sides agreed to develop the transit and transport potential of their countries, improve the regional logistics network and promote joint initiatives to create new transport corridors.
“We must find ways of helping the people of Afghanistan,” Jaishankar said.
Uzbekistan foreign minister AbdulazizKamilov, in his opening remarks, pointed to the “challenging situation” in Afghanistan” and spoke of the “need to develop a unified and coordinated approach towards this country”.
With leaders of the Central Asian states expected to be chief guests at next year’s Republic Day celebrations, Turkmenistan’s foreign minister Rashid Meredov said Sunday’s meeting will be a “key event in the preparation process for the upcoming Central Asia-India Summit in January”.
While discussing the situation in Afghanistan and its impact on the region, the ministers supported a peaceful and stable Afghanistan and emphasised respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference in its internal affairs, the joint statement said.
The ministers pointed to the importance of UN Security Council Resolution 2593, which “unequivocally demands that Afghan territory not be used for sheltering, training, planning or financing terrorist acts and called for concerted action against all terrorist groups”.

::INTERNATIONAL::

United Arab Emirates to end censorship of cinematic releases

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced on Sunday that it will no longer censor films released in cinemas, the country's latest effort to boost its brand as a liberal hub attractive to foreigners.
Instead of cutting sensitive scenes that could offend traditional Islamic sensibilities, the Emirati Media Regulatory Authority will introduce a new 21 age category for viewers.
“The movies will be screened in cinemas according to their international version,” the authority said in a Twitter post.
Censors in the UAE, like elsewhere in the Middle East, have long removed scenes in cinematic releases that show nudity, homosexuality, sex and other content deemed inappropriate — sometimes leading to plot holes.
Foreigners outnumber locals nearly nine to one in the federation of seven sheikhdoms. The diversity of culture and religion in the tourism-dependent country has at times been at odds with its Islamic laws and traditions.
But that's changing as the nation promotes its socially liberal environment to lure international workers. The government has reformed its Islamic legal code and next year will change its weekend to Saturday-Sunday to align with the Western businesses and markets.

::ECONOMY::

Jet Airways plans to be back in business by early next year

Jet Airways (India) Ltd will restart operations at the earliest with six narrow-body planes in 2022 after the revalidation of its air operator permit, the airline’s new owners said.
In a statement, the Jalan-Kalrock consortium, comprising British investor Kalrock Capital Management and UAE-based entrepreneur MurariLalJalan, said it has moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to fast-track the implementation of its resolution plan. “The consortium wants to commence payments to all stakeholders, including ex-employees, workmen, ticket claimants and lenders of Jet Airways as per the plan approved by the NCLT in June 2021,” it added.
“In its latest filing before the NCLT, the consortium intimated December 22 as its plan ‘effective date’ and seeks to forthwith implement it as approved previously by the NCLT in June 2021.”
Jet Airways, which was led by founder NareshGoyal for over 25 years, was grounded on 17 April 2019 as it ran out of cash.
The consortium has proposed to pay ₹1,183 crore to creditors over five years from the proceeds of the sale of assets and cash flow. It will also invest ₹600 crore for the first two years to repay creditors.
The new owners have also proposed to pay ₹131 crore, ₹193 crore, and ₹259 crore to financial creditors at the end of the third, fourth, and fifth year, respectively, from the airline’s cash flow. “We are aiming to start domestic operations at the earliest in 2022 as a full-service carrier and look forward to creating history with Jet Airways’ revival,” Jalan said in the statement. After the grounding of the airline in 2019, the slots held by it at major airports like New Delhi and Mumbai were redistributed to other airlines.

::SCIENCE AND TECH::

ISRO signed six agreements with four countries

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch foreign satellites as it has signed six agreements with four countries during 2021-2023, informed Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Thursday, December 16, in reply to a question during the RajyaSabha. These launches will be done under six Launch service agreements that the organisation's commercial arm, New Space India Limited (NSIL), has inked with the four countries. According to the Minister, all the launches will be commercial and a total of 132 million Euros will be generated from the foreign satellites.
"ISRO through its commercial arm, New Space India Limited (NSIL), a Government of India company under Department of Space (DOS), has been launching satellites belonging to other countries on-board Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), on a commercial basis," Singh informed in his written reply.
Further in his reply, the Minister also revealed that ISRO's PSLV has launched a total of 342 satellites since 1999 for 34 foreign countries. Besides, India has added $35 million and 10 million Euros in foreign exchange (forex) reserve primarily from the launches in 2019-2021, as per Singh. In addition to this, ISRO is also working on the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), which is in its final developmental stage and will probably be tested in the first quarter of 2022.
The Minister informed that once completed, the SSLV will be able to carry a payload of 500 kilograms to an altitude of 500 kilometers. Earlier on Wednesday, he had revealed that, in the last five years, ISRO has successfully launched 25 launch vehicle missions and 27 satellite missions.

::SPORTS::

KidambiSrikanth bags historic silver, goes down fighting to Loh Kean Yew

India's shuttlerKidambiSrikanth scripted history, December 19, as he became the first male player from the nation to win a silver medal in BWF World Championships. He squared off against Singapore's Loh Kean Yew, who was also a first-time finalist. Despite leading 9-3, Srikanth lost the first game 15-21 as Loh regained composure and then dominated. In the second game, the battle was more equal as the players found themselves locked at 18-18.
Loh raced to two championships point which Srikanth managed to save. However, his challenge finally came to an end as Loh bagged the next two points to bag the gold medal. LakshyaSen, 20 and from India, bagged a bronze medal.