PM Modi inaugurates Kanpur Metro section; Gujarat tops Good Governance Index

CURRENT AFFAIRS
28 DECEMBER 2021
Dr. A. PRABAHARAN
www.indopraba.blogspot.com

PM Modi in Kanpur: Prime Minister to inaugurate
completed section of Kanpur Metro Project today
• Prime Minister Modi will visit Kanpur on December 28,
2021, and inaugurate the completed section of the Kanpur
Metro Rail Project at around 1.30 PM.
• The completed 9 km section of the Kanpur metro project
stretches from IIT Kanpur and Moti Jheel.
• The improvement in urban mobility Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh
has been one of the key focus areas of PM.
• PM Modi in Kanpur before the Kanpur metro inauguration
will also inspect the Metro Rail Project and will undertake a
metro ride from IIT Metro Station to Geeta Nagar.
• Besides the Kanpur Metro Project, he will also inaugurate
the Bina-Panki Multiproduct Pipeline Project and will attend
the 54th Convocation Ceremony of the Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT) Kanpur.
•

NITI Aayog Health Index 2021- Kerala tops among
larger states, Mizoram among smaller
• Kerala retained its top rank on the health index among the
larger states while Uttar Pradesh was the worst.
• Mizoram topped the health index among smaller states while
Nagaland was ranked at the bottom.
• Among union territories, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman
and Diu was ranked at the top and Andaman & Nicobar was
ranked at the bottom.
• The fourth round of the Health Index highlights the overall
performance and incremental improvement of states and UTs
over the period from 2018-2019 to 2019-20.
• The health index is a weighted composite score that
incorporates 24 indicators covering key aspects of health
performance.

COVID-19: How to book booster dose in India?
• : Prime Minister Modi on December 25, 2021, announced the
booster dose of COVID-19 as the country records the increasing
cases of Omicron variant of Coronavirus in multiple states.
• However, not everyone will be eligible to receive the COVID-19
booster dose in India.
• From January 10, 2022, booster dose in India will start with
the healthcare and frontline workers making them eligible to
receive the precaution COVID-19 dose first. Along with them,
all the citizens above the age of 60 years with co-morbidities
will also be eligible to receive the booster dose in India.
• To book booster dose in India, find below the eligibility details,
documents required to book the booster dose, and how to book
the booster dose.

How to register children for Covid vaccination?
• Bharat Biotech's Covaxin will be the only
COVID-19 vaccine that will be administered to
the children between the age group of 15-18
years as of now, as per Dr. NK Arora, Chairman of
Covid Task Force working group, NTAGI.
• He assured that the vaccine has shown a very
good immune response in children in its clinical
trials.
• Covaxin received DGCI's approval on December
24th for emergency use in children above 12
years.

PM Modi in Himachal today: Prime Minister lays
foundation stone of hydropower projects in Mandi
• The foundation stone of Hydropower Projects
worth over Rs. 11,000 crores were laid down by
Prime Minister Modi in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh
on December 27, 2021.
• PM visited the poll-bound state at around 12
noon. The hydropower projects in Himachal
Pradesh inaugurated by PM also included the
Renukaji Dam Project that was lying pending for
three decades.
• Before laying the foundation stone of hydropower
projects in Himachal Pradesh today, Prime
Minister also presided over the second ground-
breaking ceremony of the Himachal Pradesh
Global Investors’ Meet at around 11.30 am.

Nagaland AFSPA Repeal: Govt sets up panel to review
AFSPA withdrawal in Nagaland; report in 45 days
• The Union Home Ministry on December 26, 2021, instituted a high-
level committee chaired by a Secretary -level officer for examining
the possibility of AFSPA repeal in Nagaland. The committee is
scheduled to submit its report within 45 days.
• The decision has come three weeks after 6 innocent civilians on
December 4, 2021, in the state were killed in an Army ambush and
eight more in the violence that was triggered in Mon District,
Nagaland.
• The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India Vivel Joshi will
head the five-member committee. While Piyush Goyal, Additional
Secretary in the Home Ministry will be the committee's member
secretary. Director-General of Police of Nagaland and DGP of Assam
Rifles will be other members.
• The withdrawal of the Disturbed area and AFSPA from Nagaland will be
based on the recommendations of the committee after a report is
submitted by it within 45 days. The Nagaland Assembly on December
20, 2021, had unanimously passed a resolution demanding the repeal
of AFSPA in Nagaland.

DAY-NRLM Overdraft facility launched for women
SHG members
• An overdraft facility of Rs 5000 has been launched for
verified women SHG members under the Deendayal
Antyodaya Yojana –
• National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM). The SHG
members can avail of the facility through their saving
accounts in banks under the PM Jan Dhan Yojana.
• The facility was launched by Nagendra Nath
Sinha, Secretary of the Department of Rural
Development, as a part of a special event called
“Discourse on Rural Financial Inclusion” that was
organised by DAY-NRLM on December 18, 2021 as a part
of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to celebrate 75 years of
India's independence.
• The overdraft facility has been initiated in pursuance of
the announcement made by Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman in her budget speech of 2019-20.

Good Governance Index 2021: Gujarat, Delhi grabs
top spot, Full list of top ranking states in GGI
• The Good Governance Index 2021 was released by the Union Home
Minister Amit Shah on December 25, 2021. The GGI Index has been
prepared by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public
Grievances (DARPG).
• The Good Governance Index 2021 has seen an improved
composite score by 20 states, with Uttar Pradesh registering an
8.9% improvement in Good Governance Index indicators from
2019 to 2021.
• In Good Governance Index 2021, Gujarat and Delhi have bagged a
top spot in the composite ranking. While addressing an event
organized to mark the Good Governance Day on December 25,
2021, Home Minister Amit Shah noted that people have been long
waiting for Good Governance which was delivered by PM Modi
government in the last 7 years.
• While giving an example of Good Governance, the Home Minister
also said that there has not been a single case of Corruption charge
against the Central Government in the last 7 years.

Rajya Sabha MP Mahendra Prasad passes away
• Seven-term Rajya Sabha MP from the Janata Dal (United),
Dr. Mahendra Prasad passed away at a private hospital in
New Delhi on December 27, 2021.
• The 81-year-old passed away after battling prolonged
illness.
• He was a Rajya Sabha MP from Bihar. He had also previously
been a member of the Lok Sabha for one term.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed deep grief over the
passing away of Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Mahendra Prasad with a
tweet that read, "Saddened by the passing away of Rajya
Sabha MP Dr. Mahendra Prasad Ji. He served in
Parliament for many years and was at the forefront of
several community service efforts. He always spoke for
the welfare of Bihar and its people. Condolences to his
family. Om Shanti."

Covid-19 Omicron cases in India: List of states
that have reported Omicron cases
• India's Omicron case tally stands at 578 as of December
27, 2021 with Delhi being the worst-hit state. Delhi has
reported 142 Omicron cases so far, overtaking
Maharashtra that has reported 141 Omicron cases till
now.
• India's first two Omicron cases were reported in
Karnataka on December 2nd. Now, at least 19 states
have reported new Omicron variant cases including
Kerala, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Odisha,
Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
• There is also a sudden surge in COVID-19 cases across
the country, which have made several states bring back
restrictions and impose night curfew to curb the spread
of Omicron.

Desmond Tutu, South African anti-apartheid hero
and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, passes away at 90
• Desmond Tutu death: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a veteran
of South Africa’s struggle against the white minority rule
and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, passed away on December
26, 2021, at the age of 90. Desmond Tutu won the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1984 in recognition of his non-violent
opposition against the rule by the white minority in the
country.
• The President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, in a televised
address, described Desmond Tutu as one of South Africa’s
finest patriots.
• While the President of the US Joe Biden said that Desmond
Tutu followed his spiritual calling to create a freer, better,
and more equal world.
• Archbishop Desmond Tutu was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer
in the late 1990s. In recent years, he was hospitalized on
several occasions to treat infections caused due to his cancer
treatments.

Night curfew in states
• India has reported over 578 Omicron cases as of December
27, 2021 with Delhi reporting the highest number of
infections, followed by Maharashtra and then Kerala.
• The National Capital has overtaken Maharashtra to become
the worst-hit state with 142 Omicron cases so far, while
Maharashtra has reported 141 cases.
• The Delhi government decided to impose a night curfew in
the capital from 11 pm to 5 am from December 27th after it
recorded 290 positive cases in the last 24 hours, the highest
since June 10.
• Overall, Delhi has been witnessing a sudden surge in Covid
cases including Omicron cases.
•

James Webb Space Telescope launch
• The James Webb Space Telescope, the world's largest
and most powerful space telescope, was launched on
December 25, 2021 beginning a one-million-mile
journey to see 13.5 billion years into the past.
• The James Webb Space Telescope was launched aboard
Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Center in
Kourou, French Guiana. The 14,000-pound instrument
was released into space after a 26-minute ride.
• The telescope will take about a month to reach its
destination in the solar orbit, which would be roughly 1
million miles from the Earth, four times away from the
moon.
• The project is a result of collaboration between NASA,
the European Space Agency & the Canadian Space
Agency.

PM Modi's 3 major announcements- Vaccines for 15-18 year old
from Jan 3rd, precaution dose for senior citizens
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an address to the nation
on December 25, 2021 announced that children between
15-18 years will get COVID-19 vaccines from January 3,
2022.
• The decision will aid normalisation of education in
schools.
• PM Modi also announced that the government has
decided to start a precaution dose of COVID vaccine for
Healthcare and Frontline Workers starting from January
10, 2022.
• All citizens above 60 years of age with co-morbidities will
also have the option of taking the precautionary dose of
the vaccine on the advice of their doctor from January
10, 2022.

Bharat Biotech's Covaxin gets DGCI approval for
emergency use on children above 12 years
• Bharat Biotech's Covaxin was granted emergency use authorisation by the
Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on December 25, 2021 for use on
children above 12 years with certain conditions. The proposal was
examined in consultation with the Subject Expert Committee.
• The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) had recommended DGCI to grant
emergency use authorisation to Covaxin for children.
• The approval finally came through based on recommendations of SEC
experts and the submission of additional safety data.
• The DGCI has approved usage of the whole virion inactivated COVID
vaccine for use in children above the age of 12 years with the same dose
schedule of 0 & 28 days.
• PM Modi in his address to the nation on December 25th, had
announced that children between 15-18 years will get COVID-19
vaccines from January 3, 2022.

Centre deploys multidisciplinary teams in 10
states
• The Union Health Ministry has decided to deploy
multi-disciplinary teams in 10 states in the wake of
an increasing number of Omicron and Covid-19 cases
or a slow vaccination pace.
• The Ministry released an office memorandum which
stated, " In the view of the rapid surge in cases and
deaths because of Covid-19, as reported by various
news channels and state governments, it has been
seen that the number of Omicron cases have emerged
in some states."
• The notification further stated that it has also been
observed that the pace of COVID-19 vaccination in
these states is less than the national average.

PM Modi inaugurates Kanpur Metro section; Gujarat tops Good Governance Index

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PM Modi inaugurates Kanpur Metro section; Gujarat tops Good Governance Index