Today's Event – 6th December 2021

• 963 – Pope Leo VIII is appointed to the office of Protonotary and begins his papacy as antipope of Rome.

• 1060 – Béla I is crowned king of Hungary.

• 1534 – The city of Quito in Ecuador is founded by Spanish settlers led by Sebastián de Belalcázar.

• 1648 – Colonel Thomas Pride of the New Model Army purges the Long Parliament of MPs sympathetic to King Charles I of England, in order for the King's trial to go ahead; came to be known as "Pride's Purge".

• 1704 – Battle of Chamkaur: During the Mughal-Sikh Wars, an outnumbered Sikh Khalsa defeats a Mughal army.

• 1745 – Charles Edward Stuart's army begins retreat during the second Jacobite Rising.

• 1790 – The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia.

• 1803 – Five French warships attempting to escape the Royal Naval blockade of Saint-Domingue are all seized by British warships, signifying the end of the Haitian Revolution

• 1865 – Georgia ratifies the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

• 1882 – Transit of Venus, second and last of the 19th century.

• 1884 – The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., is completed.

• 1897 – London becomes the world's first city to host licensed taxicabs.

• 1904 – Theodore Roosevelt articulated his "Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the U.S. would intervene in the Western Hemisphere should Latin American governments prove incapable or unstable.

• 1907 – A coal mine explosion at Monongah, West Virginia, kills 362 workers.

• 1912 – The Nefertiti Bust is discovered.

• 1917 – Finland declares independence from the Russian Empire.

• 1917 – Halifax Explosion: A munitions explosion near Halifax, Nova Scotia kills more than 1,900 people in the largest artificial explosion up to that time.

• 1917 – World War I: USS Jacob Jones is the first American destroyer to be sunk by enemy action when it is torpedoed by German submarine SM U-53.

• 1921 – The Anglo-Irish Treaty is signed in London by British and Irish representatives.

• 1922 – One year to the day after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the Irish Free State comes into existence.

• 1928 – The government of Colombia sends military forces to suppress a month-long strike by United Fruit Company workers, resulting in an unknown number of deaths.

• 1933 – U.S. federal judge John M. Woolsey rules that James Joyce's novel Ulysses is not obscene.

• 1956 – A violent water polo match between Hungary and the USSR takes place during the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, against the backdrop of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

• 1957 – Project Vanguard: A launchpad explosion of Vanguard TV3 thwarts the first United States attempt to launch a satellite into Earth orbit.

• 1967 – Adrian Kantrowitz performs the first human heart transplant in the United States.

• 1969 – Altamont Free Concert: At a free concert performed by the Rolling Stones, eighteen-year old Meredith Hunter is stabbed to death by Hells Angels security guards.

• 1971 – Pakistan severs diplomatic relations with India, initiating the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

• 1973 – The Twenty-fifth Amendment: The United States House of Representatives votes 387–35 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States. (On November 27, the Senate confirmed him 92–3.)

• 1977 – South Africa grants independence to Bophuthatswana, although it is not recognized by any other country.

• 1978 – Spain ratifies the Spanish Constitution of 1978 in a referendum.

• 1982 – The Troubles: The Irish National Liberation Army bombs a pub frequented by British soldiers in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland, killing eleven soldiers and six civilians.

• 1989 – The École Polytechnique massacre (or Montreal Massacre): Marc Lépine, an anti-feminist gunman, murders 14 young women at the École Polytechnique in Montreal.

• 1990 – A military jet of the Italian Air Force, abandoned by its pilot after an on-board fire, crashed into a high school near Bologna, Italy, killing 12 students and injuring 88 other people

• 1992 – The Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, India, is demolished, leading to widespread riots causing the death of over 1,500 people.

• 1997 – A Russian Antonov An-124 Ruslan cargo plane crashes into an apartment complex near Irkutsk, Siberia, killing 67.

• 1998 – in Venezuela, Hugo Chávez is victorious in presidential elections.

• 1999 – A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc.: The Recording Industry Association of America sues the peer-to-peer file-sharing service Napster, alleging copyright infringement

• 2005 – An Iranian Air Force C-130 military transport aircraft crashes into a ten-floor apartment building in a residential area of Tehran, killing all 94 on board and 12 more on the ground.

• 2006 – NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars.

• 2015 – Venezuelan parliamentary election: For the first time in 17 years, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela loses its majority in parliament.

• 2017 – Donald Trump's administration officially announces the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

National Events- 

•  Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday stated that he will not host the talk show “To The Point” for Sansad TV until the suspension of a dozen Rajya Sabha members is revoked.

• Speaking on the recent Nagaland civilian killings in Lok Sabha, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi called the incident a “dark day” in the state’s history and blamed “inaccurate intelligence” for it. “The question on everyone’s mind is that how come a group of unarmed civilians were not distinguished from hardcore militants,” he said. Gogoi has appealed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to make statements on the incident and also announce an ex-gratia for the families of the victims. 

•  India recorded 8,306 new Covid-19 cases, according to the Health Ministry’s press release in the last 24 hours ending 8 am on December 6. As many as 211 new deaths were reported in the country. With 8,834 recoveries, the active cases in India stood at 98,416. 

•  To improve recovery of bad loans in the agriculture sector, leading banks have made a pitch for setting up an Asset Reconstruction Company specifically to deal with collections and recovery of farm loans.

• Several “service contracts” signed between British middleman Christian Michel and his main client AgustaWestland were “sham contracts” to camouflage alleged kickbacks from the Rs 3,600-crore helicopter deal in India, according to documents submitted in court by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

International Events- 

•  Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced to four years in prison on charges of incitement and violations of a law on natural disasters by a court in Myanmar, Reuters reported on Monday.

•  On Saturday, the Michigan school district of Oxford High School, Oxford Community Schools, announced in a letter to parents and staff members that it would seek an outside party to investigate Tuesday’s shootings that left four students dead and many wounded. The shooting suspect, Ethan Crumbley, 15, has been charged with murder and terrorism, and his parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, have been charged with involuntary manslaughter. Each of them has pleaded not guilty.

•  Africa has little chance of overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic unless 70% of its population is vaccinated by end-2022, yet “extreme vaccine discrimination” is leaving the continent behind, a report published on Monday said.

•  Built on the ashes of 10 years of war in Syria, an illegal drug industry run by powerful associates and relatives of President Bashar Assad has grown into a multibillion-dollar operation, eclipsing Syria’s legal exports and turning the country into the world’s newest narcostate.

• Dozens of new cases of the omicron variant were reported in Britain and Denmark on Sunday, adding to increases across Europe and fueling fears that the virus has already spread widely.

Job alerts-

• MECON Limited Jobs for Assistant Managers / Deputy Managers / Manager / GM / AGM / DGM / Senior Manager and other posts. Last date 25/12/2021

• WBPHED Jobs for Assistant Engineer and other posts. Last date 10/12/2021

• UKPSC Jobs for Junior Engineers and other posts. Last date 17/12/2021

• WBPHED (West Bengal) Jobs for Assistant Engineers and other posts. Last date 10/12/2021

• FACT Jobs for Technician (Diploma) Apprentices and other posts. Last date 18/12/2021

Sports-

•  When France defeated India in the opening group-stage match, it was seen as the biggest upset of the competition. But after they won the third-place playoff on Sunday 3-1, it seemed like the most obvious result. What wasn’t so obvious was the outcome of the final. It was stunning, the manner in which Argentina outwitted six-time Junior World Cup winners Germany 4-2 in a final for the ages.

•  At the outset, An Seyoung robbed PV Sindhu of a bustling confrontation, the way the Indian likes them. Sindhu thrives on speedy exchanges and a thwack on the shuttle that can be redirected using the same pace and power. The Korean teenager deprived her of that hectic hum to scuttle Sindhu’s shy at the World Tour Finals title. Towards the end of the 21-16, 21-12 loss inflicted on the Indian, An was again playing with pace but not by slowing it down. She outright faked it with such clever double-action pushes that even if the Indian wanted to hassle her by adding a menacing gear to her hand-speed, the shuttle was arriving two seconds too late to shape it into a winner. To sum it up, the Korean dispossessed Sindhu of her big game, to deny her yet another title.

•  India beat New Zealand by 372 runs on the fourth day of the second and final Test at the Wankhede Stadium to win the series 1-0.

•  Jeremy Coney, former New Zealand captain, hesitated on air during his commentary stint on SENZ radio. Slowly, he began to voice out his bafflement at Ross Taylor’s eight-ball-eight-lives catty knock. “Ross Taylor will be embarrassed for sure … It looks bad. Everyone will say what he was thinking. And they are right. I don’t know what to say about that innings,” Coney would say.

• Russia’s 15-year wait for a Davis Cup title ended Sunday after another clutch performance by Daniil Medvedev. Medvedev beat Marin Cilic 7-6 (7),6-2 in the second singles match to give Russia an insurmountable 2-0 lead over Croatia in the final. It is Russia’s third Davis Cup title, and first since 2006.

Technology-

• Japan's Nikkei share average ended lower on Monday, dragged down by a sharp decline in SoftBank Group 

•  Digital mapping company MapMyIndia, which powers Apple maps, has fixed a price band of Rs 1,000-1,033 a share for its Rs 1,040-crore initial share-sale

•  Malaysian state agency Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) on Monday said it will offer wholesale 5G services to mobile carriers at no cost during an initial rollout

•  Google Doodle pizza puzzle game features some of the most loved pizza toppings from all over the world.

Economy – 

•  The price of petrol in Delhi stands at Rs 95.41 per litre while that of diesel is at Rs 86.67. In Mumbai, petrol currently costs Rs 109.98, while diesel is retailing at Rs 94.14, data available on Indian Oil Corporation’s website showed.

• Equity benchmark Sensex tumbled over 300 points in early trade on Monday, tracking losses in index majors Infosys, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank amid concerns over the spread of the Omicron variant in the country and weak cues from global markets. The 30-share index was trading 311.11 points or 0.54 per cent lower at 57,385.35 in initial deals. Similarly, the Nifty fell 81.70 points or 0.48 per cent to 17,115. 

•  Longer waiting periods with semiconductor shortage affecting production can have a negative impact on car demand, although the supply constraints of chips have gradually improved over the last few months, according to a senior official of car market leader Maruti Suzuki India.

•  IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday exhorted the banking industry to create an innovative digital platform — as powerful, seamless and robust as UPI — for providing quick and easy credit to MSME, small businessmen, and those at the bottom of pyramid.

• Over 3 crore income tax returns have been filed so far on the new e-filing portal for assessment year 2021-22 (financial year 2020-21). The Income Tax Department in a statement issued on Sunday urged taxpayers who are yet to file their income tax returns for AY 2021-22 at the earliest.

Local –

• The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the police to state on record whether there was any prohibition on providing accommodation to the foreign nationals who had come on valid passports and visas to attend the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in March last year. 

•  An 18-year-old teenager and his 38-year-old mother have been arrested for allegedly beheading his 19-year-old pregnant sister in Ladgaon village in Aurangabad rural for eloping and marrying against their wishes. The incident happened at around 12.30 pm on Sunday when the accused, Shobhabai Mote and her 18-year-old son, went to meet Kirti Avinash Thore at her residence in Ladgaon.

•  Pitrashish Foundation, a government registered NGO, has said that it is fighting a dedicated battle against poverty, illiteracy and child abuse. The organisation said it wants to take the “responsibility of the needy, helpless and exploited senior population of our society”.

• Sri Lankan Navy personnel threw stones and bottles to drive them away while they were fishing near Katchatheevu, leading to some damage to more than 10 boats, fishermen who returned here following the incident alleged on Sunday. 

• Karnataka Sunday reported 456 new Covid-19 cases and six deaths, according to the state’s health department. Bengaluru Urban had the highest number of cases with 256 fresh infections and two deaths.

GK – 

Which city plays host to the International Ambedkar Conclave in 2021?

[A] Pune
[B] New Delhi
[C] Varanasi
[D] Chennai

Which Indian-born economist is to be appointed as the first Deputy Managing Director of IMF?

[A] Urjit Patel
[B] Raghuram Rajan
[C] Gita Gopinath
[D] Usha Thorat

What is the name of India’s first biometrics-based digital processing system in Airports?

[A] Tech Yatra
[B] Digi Yatra
[C] Techno Boarding
[D] Digi Boarding

‘SRESHTA’ scheme is set to be launched by which Union Ministry?

[A] Ministry of Education
[B] Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
[C] Ministry of Tribal Affairs
[D] Ministry of Minority Affairs

‘Nizamuddin Basti’ is a conservation project based at which Indian state/UT?

[A] Uttar Pradesh
[B] New Delhi
[C] Bihar
[D] Jammu and Kashmir