Today's Event – 7th December 2021

• 43 BC – Marcus Tullius Cicero is assassinated in Formia on orders of Marcus Antonius

• 1703 – The Great Storm of 1703, the greatest windstorm ever recorded in the southern part of Great Britain, makes landfall. Winds gust up to 120 mph, and 9,000 people die.

• 1724 – Tumult of Thorn: Religious unrest is followed by the execution of nine Protestant citizens and the mayor of Thorn (Toruń) by Polish authorities.

• 1732 – The Royal Opera House opens at Covent Garden, London, England.

• 1776 – Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, arranges to enter the American military as a major general.

• 1787 – Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the United States Constitution.

• 1837 – The Battle of Montgomery's Tavern, the only battle of the Upper Canada Rebellion, takes place in Toronto, where the rebels are quickly defeated.[3]

• 1842 – First concert of the New York Philharmonic, founded by Ureli Corelli Hill.

• 1904 – Comparative fuel trials begin between warships HMS Spiteful and HMS Peterel: Spiteful was the first warship powered solely by fuel oil, and the trials led to the obsolescence of coal in ships of the Royal Navy.

• 1922 – The Parliament of Northern Ireland votes to remain a part of the United Kingdom and not unify with Southern Ireland.

• 1930 – W1XAV in Boston, Massachusetts telecasts video from the CBS radio orchestra program, The Fox Trappers. The telecast also includes the first television advertisement in the United States, for I.J. Fox Furriers, which also sponsored the radio show.

• 1932 – German-born Swiss physicist Albert Einstein is granted an American visa.

• 1936 – Australian cricketer Jack Fingleton becomes the first player to score centuries in four consecutive Test innings.

• 1946 – A fire at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia kills 119 people, the deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history.

• 1949 – Chinese Civil War: The Government of the Republic of China moves from Nanking to Taipei, Taiwan.

• 1962 – Prince Rainier III of Monaco revises the principality's constitution, devolving some of his power to advisory and legislative councils.

• 1963 – Instant replay makes its debut during the Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

• 1965 – Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I simultaneously revoke mutual excommunications that had been in place since 1054.

• 1971 – The Battle of Sylhet is fought between the Pakistani military and the Mukti Bahini

• 1971 – Pakistan President Yahya Khan announces the formation of a coalition government with Nurul Amin as Prime Minister and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as Deputy Prime Minister.

• 1972 – Apollo 17, the last Apollo moon mission, is launched.[5] The crew takes the photograph known as The Blue Marble as they leave the Earth

• 1982 – In Texas, Charles Brooks, Jr., becomes the first person to be executed by lethal injection in the United States.

• 1982 – The Senior Road Tower collapses in less than 17 seconds. Five workers on the tower are killed and three workers on a building nearby are injured.

• 1983 – An Iberia Airlines Boeing 727 collides with an Aviaco DC-9 in dense fog while the two airliners are taxiing down the runway at Madrid–Barajas Airport, killing 93 people.

• 1987 – Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771, a British Aerospace 146-200A, crashes near Paso Robles, California, killing all 43 on board, after a disgruntled passenger shoots his ex-boss traveling on the flight, then shoots both pilots and steers the plane into the ground.

• 1988 – The 6.8 Ms  Armenian earthquake shakes the northern part of the country with a maximum MSK intensity of X (Devastating),killing 25,000–50,000 and injuring 31,000–130,000.

• 1993 – Long Island Rail Road shooting: Passenger Colin Ferguson murders six people and injures 19 others on the LIRR in Nassau County, New York.

• 1995 – The Galileo spacecraft arrives at Jupiter, a little more than six years after it was launched by Space Shuttle Atlantis during Mission STS-34.

• 1995 – Khabarovsk United Air Group Flight 3949 crashes into the Bo-Dzhausa Mountain, killing 98.

• 1995 – An Air Saint Martin (now Air Caraïbes) Beechcraft 1900 crashes near the Haitian commune of Belle Anse, killing 20

• 2003 – The Conservative Party of Canada is officially registered, following the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.

• 2005 – Rigoberto Alpizar, a passenger on American Airlines Flight 924 who allegedly claimed to have a bomb, is shot and killed by a team of U.S. federal air marshals at Miami International Airport.

• 2015 – The JAXA probe Akatsuki successfully enters orbit around Venus five years after the first attempt.

• 2016 – Pakistan International Airlines Flight 661, a domestic passenger flight from Chitral to Islamabad, operated by ATR-42-500 crashes near Havelian, killing all 47 on board.

National Events- 

• Health minister Veena George said 10 samples of Covid-19 patients, who had returned from “high risk” countries, were sent for genome sequencing. Of them, eight have returned negative and the results of the other two are awaited. 

•  Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Tuesday once again raised the issue of compensation to the families of the farmers who died during the year-long protest against the three contentious laws. Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Rahul said since the government doesn’t have data, he will provide a list of names of the deceased.

•  Uttar Pradesh minister Anand Swarup Shukla said the Muslim community should come forward and hand over ‘safed bhawan’ (white structure) at the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura to Hindus.

•  The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) appeal challenging the default bail granted to activist Sudha Bharadwaj in the Elgar Parishad case.

• Kerala High Court said on Tuesday with regard to the FIR lodged against Olympian Mayookha Johny for allegedly raising false rape allegations. The court was hearing her plea seeking quashing of the FIR.

International Events- 

• The United Arab Emirates will transition to a four and half-day working week starting next year, with the full weekend falling on Saturday and Sunday, state news agency WAM said on Tuesday. 

•  The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday advised Americans against travel to France, Jordan, Portugal, and Tanzania, citing Covid-19 concerns.

•  As the world worries that the omicron coronavirus variant may cause a surge of cases and weaken vaccines, drug developers have some encouraging news: Two new COVID-19 pills are coming soon, and are expected to work against all versions of the virus.

• Machine-gun fire broke the stillness just after 8 p.m. when Capt. Denis Branitskii was midway through the evening patrol. The shots came in sporadic bursts and were close by, fired by Russian-backed separatists whose positions were obscured in the darkness. Only when the flash of a rocket-propelled grenade illuminated the newly fallen snow did Branitskii break his stride, briefly pausing to take cover before moving on. 

• Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim, an Indian-origin anti-apartheid icon who spent years imprisoned on Robben Island alongside Nelson Mandela and Ahmed Kathrada, has died. He was 84, South Africa’s ruling party African National Congress (ANC) has announced.

Job alerts-

• HPPSC Jobs for Labour Welfare Officer and other posts. Last date 22/12/2021

• NCISM Jobs for Legal Officer and other posts. Last date 10/12/2021

• CGPSC Jobs for Law Officer in Home Jail Department and other posts. Last date 23/01/2022

• Gujarat PSC Jobs for Assistant Controller of Legal Metrology, Assistant Consumer Affairs Officer and other posts. Last date 10/12/2021

• Central Bank of India Jobs for Law Officer Scale II and other posts. Last date 17/12/2021

Sports-

•  On Tuesday, the Cricket South Africa (CSA) team selection picked a 21-member squad for three-match Test series against India, starting from December 26.

•  Novak Djokovic was named in the Serbian team for the men’s season-opening ATP Cup in January in Sydney, although the world number one was yet to commit to the Australian Open following the organisers’ mandate for COVID-19 vaccinations.

•  England paceman James Anderson will be rested for the first Ashes Test against Australia but he is fit to play, wicketkeeper Jos Buttler said. Buttler was speaking after media reports that Anderson had been ruled out of the match, which starts at the Gabba on Wednesday, due to a calf strain.

• Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 US Open champion, will take a mental break from tennis and sit out the start of next season, including the Australian Open, saying she wants to “re-set, recover, and grow” after a challenging two years that included getting COVID-19. 

• Everton manager Rafa Benitez heaped praise on his team for their resilience in a comeback 2-1 Premier League win over Arsenal on Monday which gave the Spaniard some breathing space after he came under pressure following a nine-game winless run.

Technology-

•  Google Chat in Gmail will now let you make 1:1 audio and video calls, Google has announced through a blog post. The company has brought the update specifically for mobile users on Android and iOS platforms and is limited to only 1:1 chats. This means that you will be able to make audio and video calls only with individual users available in your chat list. You will also see missed calls and ongoing call details from the chat roster of Gmail.

•  HP Omen 16 (2021) was launched in India on Tuesday as the company's latest gaming laptop in the Omen series. The new model comes with an up to 165Hz display and is powered by an 11th-generation Intel Core processor. The HP Omen 16 (2021) also comes with an improved thermal management system, which brings an upgraded fan design that is claimed to be 2.5 times slimmer in size and has twice the number of fan blades to help provide better cooling. HP claims that its refreshed Omen 16 is designed to handle the latest AAA titles.

•  PUBG New State developer Krafton has announced that it will release an update for the game on December 9. The newly launched battle royale game will be getting new weapons and vehicles along with more customisation options for existing weapons, a new lobby theme, and Survivor Pass Volume 2. Similar to previous updates, the forthcoming update also brings bug fixes and improvements to PUBG New State. Krafton has not announced if the game is gaining any new modes, maps, or events with the update.

Economy – 

•  The Madras High Court has ordered the winding up of private carrier SpiceJet Limited and directed the official Liquidator attached to the High Court to take over its assets, in a plea filed by a Swiss company over unpaid dues.

•  The government is expected to launch the initial public offering (IPO) of the country’s largest insurer Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) in the fourth quarter (Q4) of the ongoing financial year (FY22).

•  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, which will open on December 9.

•  Equity benchmark Sensex surged over 400 points in early trade on Tuesday, tracking gains in index majors Reliance Industries, Kotak Bank and HDFC Bank amid a positive trend in global markets. The 30-share index was trading 444.17 points or 0.78 per cent higher at 57,191.31 in initial deals. Similarly, the Nifty rose 131.60 points or 0.78 per cent to 17,043.85.

• Shriram Properties has fixed a price band of Rs 113-118 a share for its Rs 600-crore initial share-sale, which will open for public subscription on December 8.

Local –

•  A Delhi court on Monday discharged the vice principal of a private school based in Delhi Cantt for allegedly making casteist remarks against an employee of the school noting that the complainant failed to reveal that there was an intentional insult with an intent to humiliate the victim at a place within public view.

•  The Bombay High Court on Tuesday confirmed interim pre-arrest bail granted to actor and fitness enthusiast Sahil Khan in connection with a suicide attempt by bodybuilder Manoj Patil. The court granted interim pre-arrest bail to Khan on a personal bond of Rs 25,000 with sureties.

•  The Institute of Cost Accountants of India has elected its president and vice-president for the year 20221-22. Elections to the posts were held on November 28 in New Delhi. The new president, P Raju Iyer, was elected a member to Central Council of the institute for 2015-19 and again for the 2019-2023 term. In 2020-21, Iyer served as the institute’s vice-president and also as the chairman of Internal Auditing and Assurance Standards Board.

•  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated three mega projects worth Rs 10,000 crore in eastern Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur, which is Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s home turf . The projects include a fertiliser factory worth Rs 8,603 crore, an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) built at a cost of Rs 1,011 crore, and a hi-tech lab of the Indian Council of Medical Research-Regional Medical Research Centre (ICMR-RMRC).

• Even as concerns over the Omicron variant of novel coronavirus loom over Karnataka — which reported the country’s first two such cases — the active caseload in the state has seen a rise of over 25 per cent in the first week of December.

GK – 

Chocolate-bordered Flitter, which was seen in the news, is a recently discovered……….. species.

[A] Snake
[B] Butterfly
[C] Tortoise
[D] Spider

Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI),is an enforcement agency under which organisation?

[A] Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
[B] Securities Exchange Board of India
[C] Enforcement Directorate
[D] Central Board of Direct Taxes

Which country won the Davis Cup Title in 2021?

[A] Spain
[B] Russia
[C] Croatia
[D] Serbia

The tribal outfits in which state are demanding the creation of separate state for indigenous communities named ‘Greater Tipraland’?

[A] Sikkim
[B] Tripura
[C] Nagaland
[D] Arunachal Pradesh

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament completed how many years of inception recently?

[A] 50
[B] 60
[C] 75
[D] 100