The Indian Government and ADB have signed a $300 million loan to improve primary healthcare in urban areas of 13 states, benefiting over 256 million urban dwellers. India is observing November 26 as Constitution Day to commemorate the adoption of the Indian Constitution. ITC has begun clinical trials of a nasal spray that was found to prevent COVID-19 and other viruses in internal trials. The EU drug regulator has approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.

1. CURRENT AFFAIRS
26 NOVEMBER 2021
Dr. A. PRABAHARAN
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2. India, ADB sign $300 million loan to improve
primary healthcare in the country
 The Indian Government and the Asian Development Bank
(ADB) have signed a $300 million loan to improve primary
healthcare in the urban areas of 13 states. It will benefit
over 256 billion urban dwellers including the 51 million
from the slum areas.
 As per the release by the Finance Ministry, Additional
secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, Rajat
Kumar Mishra signed for the Govt of India the agreement
for ‘Strengthening Comprehensive Primary Health Care
and Pandemic Preparedness’ in Urban Areas program. For
ADB, Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB’s India
Resident Mission signed the agreement.
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3. Constitution Day
 November 26 is being observed as Constitution Day to
commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India.
 The Constitution Day is also known as Samvidhan Divas or
National Law Day.
 The Constitution of India is the longest written constitution
of any country that holds the supreme law of India and
lays down the structure, framework, fundamental rights,
duties of citizens, powers and duties of government
institutions.
 The significance of celebrating Constitution Day is to pay
tribute to the Father of Indian Constitution B R Ambedkar
and reaffirm our commitment to uphold and adhere to the
ideology of the Indian Constitution.
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4. ITC starts clinical trials of nasal spray to
prevent COVID-19
 A diversified Indian company, ITC Limited, confirmed on
November 25, 2021 that it has begun clinical trials of a
nasal spray that can prevent COVID-19 infection.
 The nasal spray has reportedly been developed by ITC Life
Sciences and Technology Centre in Bengaluru. The internal
trials have found the nasal spray to be effective against
other viruses like the common cold.
 The ITC spokesperson while confirming the development
said that they are unable to share more details at the
current moment as the clinical trials are underway.
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5. EU Drug Regulator approves Pfizer COVID-
19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11
 The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on November 25, 2021,
authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty for use
in children aged 5 to 11 years old.
 For the first time, the EMA cleared a COVID-19 vaccine for young
children in this age group. The vaccine is authorized for use in
people aged 12 and above across 27-nation European Union.
 The EU’s drug regulator EMA is also evaluating the use of the
Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 6 to 11 years old.
 The decision is expected to come within two months.
 Earlier this week, the Health Minister of Germany Jens Spahn said the
shipping of COVID-19 vaccines for young children in the European
Union would begin on December 20, 2021.
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6. Need of the hour is 'One Earth, One Health':
EAM Dr. S Jaishankar at 18th RIC Foreign
Ministers Meet
 Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar chaired the 18th meeting of
Foreign Ministers of Russia, India, and China virtually on November 26, 2021.
 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
had taken part in the meeting through video conference. India had taken over
the chairmanship of the RIC after the last RIC Foreign Ministers meeting in
Moscow in September 2020.
 The RIC Chairmanship will now pass on to China's Foreign Minister for the next
year.
 Addressing the virtual meet, EAM Jaishankar urged the RIC Countries to
coordinate their approaches on terrorism, radicalization and work together to
ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches Afghanistan without any
hindrance and politicization.
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7. India gets elected as member to UNESCO
World Heritage Committee
 India is elected as a member of the UNESCO World Heritage
Committee for the period of 4 years, starting from 2021.
 The decision came a week after India was re-elected to the Executive
Board of UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural
Organisation).
 The country got elected to the UN World Heritage Committee with
142 votes.
 The External Affairs Minister of India S. Jaishankar claimed the latest
achievement as a good day for Indian diplomacy.
 He also added that CBI Special Director Praveen Sinha has been
elected to the executive committee of Interpol.
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8. What is River Cities Alliance?
 Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on
November 26, 2021, launched the River Cities Alliance, a
platform for river cities in India to ideate, discuss, and
exchange information for sustainable management of
urban rivers.
 Two Ministries namely Jal Shakti Ministry and Housing &
Urban Affairs Ministry have partnered for a first of its kind
alliance in the world. PM Narendra Modi during the
National Ganga Council meeting in December 2019 held at
Kanpur highlighted the need for new river-centric thinking
in planning for cities on the banks of rivers.
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9. Pat Cummins becomes first fast bowler to captain
Australia's test side full-time, Steve Smith returns
as Vice Captain
 Pat Cummins has been appointed as Australia's 47th Test
captain and former skipper Steve Smith has made a
comeback to the leadership role as the Vice-captain.
 The official announcement was made by Cricket Australia on
November 26, 2021. Pat Cummins succeeds Tim Paine who
stepped down from the role last week.
 Cummins has become the first fast bowler to take up
captaincy of the Australian men’s Test side full-time. The only
fast bowler to lead the Australian test side before him was
Ray Lindwall, who had taken up the role as a stand-in
captain for one match in 1956.
 Besides them, medium-pace all-rounders Monty Noble and
Jack Ryder had captained the side in early 1900s.
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10. New COVID-19 variant: South Africa detects
new COVID strain; 7 things to know about
new variant
 South Africa has detected a new COVID-19 strain which carries an
unusually large number of mutations and can be more infectious than
Delta.
 The African country started to see a new variant of Coronavirus with
over 30 spike mutations that further led to the rise in COVID-19 case
numbers, particularly in the most populous province of Gauteng.
 New COVID-19 variant in South Africa, assigned as B.1.1.529, was first
spotted in Botswana and the other circulating countries such as South
Africa and Hong Kong.
 The new coronavirus variant carries an unusually large number of
mutations and is very different from the previous incarnations.
 As per the experts, it should be monitored because of its horrific spike
profile.
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11. 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks: 13 years since
26/11 attack by LeT; tributes pour in for
martyrs
 13 years ago on November 26, 2008, Mumbai witnessed 12
bombing attacks across some of the most prominent places
like the Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the Taj Mahal
Hotel, the Oberoi, the Nariman House Jewish Community
among other places.
 As many as 166 people were killed including 18 security
personnel and several others got injured. A total of 10
members of the Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba
carried out a coordinated deadly terror attack in Mumbai that
lasted for four days. 9 out of the 10 terrorists were killed by the
security forces.
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12. National Milk Day 2021: Why is the National
Milk Day celebrated? Who is Dr Verghese
Kurien?
 National Milk Day is celebrated on November 26, to
mark the birth anniversary of Dr. Verghese Kurien, who is
also known as the father of the white revolution. National
Milk Day 2021 commemorates the 100th birth anniversary
of Dr. Kurien.
 National Milk Day is being celebrated on Dr Verghese
Kurien's birth anniversary every year since 2014. Dr Kurien
played an instrumental role in 'Operation Flood,' which
led to dairy farming becoming the largest self-sustaining
industry in the country.
 The Indian Dairy Association (IDA) had taken the initiative
to celebrate National Milk Day for the first time in 2014.
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13. SWOT Satellite launch: Satellite for tracking
global surface water to launch in 2022,
confirms NASA
 The Surface Water and Ocean Topography- will be launched in
November 2022. The final set of tests on the spacecraft have
also started, as per the statement by the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA).
 SWOT Mission is a collaboration between NASA and the Space
Agency of France National Centre for Space Studies
(CNES), with contributions from the UK Space Agency and the
Space Agency of Canada.
 SWOT programme scientist at NASA Headquarters said that
SWOT will be the first global snapshot of all surface water that
we have now, how the water moves around the planet, and
what happens to it when it comes in contact with climate.
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