Gadkari inaugurated the three lane 1.5 km long Koilwar bridge over Sone river(tributary of Ganga) in Bihar worth Rs 266 crore. The existing two lane rail-cum-road bridge is 138 years old. The bridge is a major road for transport between Bihar and UP.
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways: Nitin Gadkari
Cabinet approved an outlay of Rs 22,810 crore to the ABRY to incentivise job creation. The government will contribute to the EPF on behalf of both employee and employer for two years, for recruitments made between October 1 this year and June 30, 2021.
It is under Atmanirbhar Bharat Package 3.0 for covid recovery.
Ladakh LG RK Mathur virtually inaugurated the 2nd Ladakh Literature Festival on Dec 10. The 3 day festival will host a series of talks, importance of the region, ancient knowledge of Ladakh, Folk music, cultural Dance, geology and wildlife of Himalayas.
Radha Krishna Mathur is the first LG of Ladakh UT.
RBL Bank and ICICI Prudential have joined hands under a bancassurance partnership. 398 RBL Bank branches across 28 states will distribute ICICI Prudential Life's protection and savings products.Bancassurance means selling insurance products through banks.
CEO and MD:
RBL Bank - Vishwavir Ahuja
Equitas SFB has launched a 3-in-1 account which allows its customers to invest in a wide variety of financial products. It will help the customers to keep all their banking and financial investments under one umbrella entity.
Vasudevan Pathangi Narasimhan is MD and CEO of the bank.
The two companies entered a strategic partnership through MIBL's Sajhedaari programme to increase insurance penetration in tier 2 and 3 cities. As per IRDA, insurance penetration in India is only 11% and in rural side it is 10%.
MD:
SBI General Insurance - PC Kandpal;
MIBL -Jaideep Devare
The GDP forecast for FY2020 (2020-2021) is upgraded from 9.0% contraction to 8.0%, with GDP in H2 probably restored to its size a year earlier, the multilateral lender said in its Asian Development Outlook Supplement (ADOS) for December.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) established on 19 December 1966.
CII & Amazon India signed MoU to increase export potential of MSMEs in 10 states & help them leverage e-commerce to boost domestic trade. As part of the MoU, MSMEs will be trained to sell online. MoU was signed at the 17th CII Global SME Business summit.
Union MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari;
CII DG Chandrajit Banerjee.
CII launched ‘Digital Saksham’ initiative with Mastercard’s Centre for Inclusive Growth and ni-msme for 3 lakhs+ MSMEs across India. It is an expansive program designed to strengthen the competitiveness of MSMEs through digital know-how and acceptance.
Ni-msme,under Ministry of MSME, headquartered at Hyderabad.
The Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga) organised the fifth India Water Impact Summit 2020. Summit theme was based on the concept of "Arth Ganga", river conservation synchronised development.
Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, DG National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG).
Paolo Rossi of Italy, who scored 6 goals in the 1982 World Cup, died at age 64. He is the only male player in history to win the World Cup, the Golden Boot, the Golden Ball & Ballon d'Or in the same year. Rossi scored 20 goals in 48 appearances for Italy.
Italy has won four world cup titles (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006).
BSNL in partnership with Skylo announced satellite-based NB-IoT in pursuance of vision of a truly Digital India. This solution will connect with BSNL’s satellite ground infrastructure and provide pan-India coverage, including Indian seas.
This is the world’s first satellite-based NB-IoT network
International Mountain Day is celebrated on 11 December every year. This day is dedicated to the role that mountains play in providing fresh water, clean energy, food, and recreation. 2020 Theme: Mountain biodiversity
15% of the world's population lives in the mountains.
The festival is being held in honour of Bharati, a Tamil writer, poet, journalist,independence activist and social reformer, whose 138th birth anniversary is on Dec 11.Organized virtually, the festival will see participation of several poets and artists.
Mahakavi means Great Poet.
DRDO designed 5.56x30 mm JVPC has undergone trials and is ready for induction into the services. JVPC is a Gas Operated Semi Bull-pup automatic weapon having more than 700 rpm rate of fire. The range of the carbine is more than 100 m and weighs 3 kg.
It was unveiled during DefExpo- 2020 at Lucknow
Union Cabinet approved a project worth Rs.1072 crore to provide direct communication link through a dedicated submarine OFC between Kochi and 11 islands of Lakshadweep.The project is funded by Universal Service Obligation Fund.
USOF comes under Department of Telecommunications
India dropped to 2nd place in BNEF 2020 Climatescope survey as a result of a decline in clean energy investment, which fell 12 per cent in 2018-19 to $8.5 billion and has plummeted 32 per cent since 2017.Chile took No.1 spot and Brazil third.
Chile was ranked 2nd in last year’s survey.
Kiren Rijiju launched campaign as part of the nation-wide Fit India Movement has received praise from WHO. It urges Indians to follow the basic mantra of 30 minutes of fitness every day. Fit India Movement launched by PM Modi on 29 August 2019.
Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports -Kiren Rijiju.
Indian-American Pramila Jayapal has been elected as chair of CPC, making her one of the most powerful US lawmakers for the 117th Congress. Born in Chennai, she became the first Indian-American woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna elected as Deputy Whip.
The species known for their ecological and economic importance, such as fodder, have been spotted by scientists in Goa in the Western Ghats.It grows on low altitude lateritic plateaus in the outskirts of Bhagwan Mahavir National Park, Goa.
The species was named in honour of Prof. M. K. Janarthanam.
Research supported by DST's Climate Change Program have found that aerosols which contribute to Indo-Gangetic Plain pollution have led to increased incidents of high rainfall events in the foothills of the Himalayan region.
Study part of DST's NMSHE under NAPCC.