Today's Event – 26th December 2021

• 1799 – Henry Lee III's eulogy to George Washington in congress declares him as "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen".

• 1825 – Advocates of liberalism in Russia rise up against Czar Nicholas I in the Decembrist revolt, but are later suppressed. 

• 1860 – First Rules derby is held between Sheffield F.C. and Hallam F.C., the oldest football fixture in the world

• 1861 – American Civil War: The Trent Affair: Confederate diplomatic envoys James Murray Mason and John Slidell are freed by the United States government, thus heading off a possible war between the United States and the United Kingdom

• 1862 – The largest mass-hanging in U.S. history took place in Mankato, Minnesota, where 38 Native Americans died. 

• 1871 – Thespis, the first Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration, debuts. 

• 1898 – Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium.

• 1919 – Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox is sold to the New York Yankees by owner Harry Frazee, allegedly establishing the Curse of the Bambino superstition.

• 1941 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States.

• 1948 – Cardinal József Mindszenty is arrested in Hungary and accused of treason and conspiracy.

• 1948 – The last Soviet troops withdraw from North Korea.

• 1963 – The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There" are released in the United States, marking the beginning of Beatlemania on an international level.

• 1966 – The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach.

• 1968 – The Communist Party of the Philippines is established by Jose Maria Sison, breaking away from the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-1930.

• 1975 – Tu-144, the world's first commercial supersonic aircraft, surpassing Mach 2, goes into service.

• 1979 – The inaugural Paris-Dakar Rally begins. 

• 1980 – Witnesses report the first of several sightings of unexplained lights near RAF Woodbridge, in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom, an incident called "Britain's Roswell"

• 1991 – The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union meets and formally dissolves the Soviet Union, ending the Cold War. 

• 1994 – Four Armed Islamic Group hijackers seize control of Air France Flight 8969. When the plane lands at Marseille, a French Gendarmerie assault team boards the aircraft and kills the hijackers.

• 1998 – Iraq announces its intention to fire upon U.S. and British warplanes that patrol the northern and southern no-fly zones.

• 1999 – The storm Lothar sweeps across Central Europe, killing 137 and causing US$1.3 billion in damage.

• 2004 – The 9.1–9.3 Mw  Indian Ocean earthquake shakes northern Sumatra with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). One of the largest observed tsunamis, it affected coastal and partially mainland areas of Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Indonesia; death toll is estimated at 227,898.

• 2012 – China opens the world's longest high-speed rail route, which links Beijing and Guangzhou.

• 2015 – During the December 2015 North American storm complex, a Tornado Outbreak occurs in the DFW Metroplex, with the most notable tornadoes being an EF2, EF3, and an EF4. About a dozen people died due to various reasons, 10 of which due to the EF4, which did substantial damage to the suburb of Rowlett.

National Events- 

•  Reeling under recurrent defections from its ranks and the emergence of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) as new contenders in Goa’s electoral battlefield, the Congress party is putting up a brave front and trying to get its act together in order to challenge the ruling BJP in the forthcoming state Assembly elections.

•  Kerala on Sunday reported 19 more Omicron cases, taking the state’s tally of infections due to the new Covid-19 variant up to 57.

•  In the course of a recent phishing attack, several employees of various central ministries received mysterious emails including one from a government domain email address (nic.in) claiming an “internal hand” in General Bipin Rawat’s death. This is part of phishing attempts against central government officials through some compromised government domain email IDs (gov.in and nic.in),which are increasingly getting more targeted and sophisticated

• Dalit students at a government school in Champawat district refused to eat mid-day meals cooked by an upper caste woman after a cook belonging to the Scheduled Castes was sacked. The district administration, however, said on Sunday that the issue has been resolved after members from both communities arrived at a consensus. 

• Amid growing demands for repealing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Nagaland, the Army on Sunday said that the court of inquiry into the incident in which 14 civilians were killed in the security ambush in the Mon district earlier this month is “progressing expeditiously”, and that it is “cooperating with the SIT probe ordered by the state government”.

International Events- 

•  The Communist Party chief in China’s far northwest Xinjiang region, where Beijing is accused of having carried out a massive crackdown on Muslim minorities, is leaving the post after some seven years, Chinese state-run media said on Sunday.

•  The bodies of more than a dozen migrants who drowned trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe washed up on Libya’s coastline late on Saturday, its interior ministry and the local Red Crescent said.

•  Taliban authorities in Afghanistan on Sunday gave new guidance to taxi drivers, advising them against taking fares from women who do not follow a strict Islamic dress code by wearing the hijab, or Islamic headscarf.

•  Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Sunday the country intends to double the amount of settlers living in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights with a multimillion-dollar plan meant to further consolidate Israel’s hold on the territory it captured from Syria more than five decades ago.

• The Taliban dissolved Afghanistan’s two election commissions as well as the state ministries for peace and parliamentarian affairs, an official said Sunday.

Job alerts-

• TBA

Sports-

• India opener Mayank Agarwal on Sunday said his side’s batters applied themselves as per the team plan, putting the visitors in a strong position on the opening day of the first Test against South Africa here. 

•  In a heart-warming gesture after the conclusion of local cricket tournament – Police Shield – Indian batsman Suryakumar Yadav decided to give away his man of the match award to a local groundsman.

•  Crystal Palace had its request for Sunday’s game at Tottenham to be postponed because of a coronavirus outbreak at the club rejected by the Premier League.

•  A last-second blunder from experienced defender Ravinder Pahal allowed Dabang Delhi’s Naveen Kumar to secure a raid point and hold Gujarat Lions to 24-24 tie in the Pro Kabaddi League here on Sunday. In another match Bengal Warriors were defeated by Gujarat Giants.

• Shubham Arora’s unbeaten knock of 136 (131 balls; 13×4, 1×6) helped Himachal Pradesh to beat Tamil Nadu to clinch their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy title in Jaipur on Sunday

Awards and honours-

• TBA 

Technology-

•  TBA

Economy – 

•  The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday asked Taiwanese electronic equipment major Foxconn to come up with a slew of measures to improve the working conditions and quality of living of contract employees attached to its operations in Chennai

•  Over 14 crore workers have registered on the e-Shram portal after registration was enabled on it four months ago, the Labour Ministry said Saturday. “e-Shram portal in just about 4 months 14 crore crossed… Kudos to all those who made it possible,” Labour and Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav tweeted.

•  Microsoft Corp said on Friday it will not participate in person at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2022 in Las Vegas, joining a list of companies opting not to have a physical presence at next month’s event on concerns over the rapid spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant.

• Unlike 4G, 5G is a completely new technology, which should not be viewed just as extension of the old mobile telephony. Not only that, 5G is also likely to stay relevant for much longer, with 6G coming into play only after this decade, Magnus Ewerbring, chief technology officer for Asia Pacific at Ericsson, told AASHISH ARYAN in an interview. 

• Recording a fall of $160 million, the nation’s forex reserves declined to $635.667 billion during the week to December 17, according to data from the RBI.

Environment –

• TBA 

Local –

• With the Covid positivity rate crossing the 0.5 per cent mark on Sunday, the Delhi government announced a night curfew in the city. The city reported 290 cases at a positivity rate of 0.55 per cent on Sunday. One death was also reported. 

•  Mumbai on Sunday recorded 922 fresh Covid-19 cases — highest in last seven months. The daily case positivity rate has also gone up to 2.64 per cent with BMC conducting 34,819 tests across the city. According to the daily Covid report, the city recorded two death while 326 patients recovered from the disease and were discharged from the hospital.

•  Women in the city will be able to walk more safely in public spaces as Bidhannagar Police rolls out its all-women patrolling team — ‘The Winners’ — to combat and curb crimes like molestation and eve-teasing. Launched ahead of Christmas and New Year, the new unit is an extension of the Kolkata police’s women patrolling teams.

•  The AIADMK on Saturday demanded that the Tamil Nadu government take steps to immediately disburse the COVID ex gratia of Rs 50,000 to the kin of those who succumbed to Coronavirus and warned further delay could only lead to a situation coercing the affected families to agitate.

• Karnataka BJP MP Tejasvi Surya on Sunday said Muslims or Christians, who have undergone religious conversion, should be brought back into the fold of Hinduism. He added that all mutts and temples should have “annual targets” for the completion of such religious re-conversions.

Person in News – 

• TBA 

GK – 

As per the recent data from Environment Ministry, which state has recorded the highest deaths of elephants due to electrocution during 2009 and 2019?

[A] Odisha
[B] Maharashtra
[C] West Bengal
[D] Gujarat

‘Shakti Criminal Laws Bill’ is associated with which state?

[A] Andhra Pradesh
[B] Maharashtra
[C] Karnataka
[D] Kerala

Paxlovid, which was seen in the news recently, is the first authorised pill against which disease?

[A] COVID-19
[B] Pneumococcal Disease
[C] Cardio-vascular Disease
[D] AIDS

Gujarat’s Chief Minister launched the Gujarati version of which micro-bloggin site?

[A] Twitter
[B] Koo
[C] Chingari
[D] Reddit

SilverLine, is a semi high-speed railway project being constructed in which state?

[A] Karnataka
[B] Kerala
[C] Gujarat
[D] Odisha