Today's Event – 20th December 2021

• 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.

• 1808 – Peninsular War: The Siege of Zaragoza begins.

• 1832 – HMS Clio under the command of Captain Onslow arrives at Port Egmont under orders to take possession of the Falkland Islands.

• 1860 – South Carolina becomes the first state to attempt to secede from the United States

• 1917 – Cheka, the first Soviet secret police force, is founded.

• 1924 – Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison.

• 1942 – World War II: Japanese air forces bomb Calcutta, India.

• 1946 – The popular Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life is first released in New York City.

• 1948 – Indonesian National Revolution: The Dutch military captures Yogyakarta, the temporary capital of the newly formed Republic of Indonesia.

• 1951 – The EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity. The electricity powered four light bulbs.

• 1952 – A United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, Washington, killing 87.

• 1955 – Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom.

• 1957 – The initial production version of the Boeing 707 makes its first flight.

• 1967 – A Pennsylvania Railroad Budd Metroliner exceeds 249 kilometres per hour (155 mph) on their New York Division, also present-day Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.

• 1968 – The Zodiac Killer kills Betty Lou Jenson and David Faraday in Vallejo, California.

• 1971 – The international aid organization Doctors Without Borders is founded by Bernard Kouchner and a group of journalists in Paris, France.

• 1973 – The Prime Minister of Spain, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, is assassinated by a car bomb attack in Madrid.

• 1984 – The Summit Tunnel fire, one of the largest transportation tunnel fires in history, burns after a freight train carrying over one million liters of gasoline derails near the town of Todmorden, England, in the Pennines.

• 1984 – Disappearance of Jonelle Matthews from Greeley, Colorado. Her remains were discovered on July 23, 2019, located about 24 km (15 mi) southeast of Jonelle's home.  The cause of death "was a gunshot wound to the head."

• 1985 – Pope John Paul II announces the institution of World Youth Day.

• 1987 – In the worst peacetime sea disaster, the passenger ferry Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker 'MT Vector in the Tablas Strait of the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official).

• 1989 – The United States invasion of Panama deposes Manuel Noriega.

• 1991 – A Missouri court sentences the Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria to death for the honor killing of their daughter Palestina.

• 1995 – NATO begins peacekeeping in Bosnia.

• 1995 – American Airlines Flight 965, a Boeing 757, crashes into a mountain 50 km north of Cali, Colombia, killing 159.

• 1999 – Macau is handed over to China by Portugal.

• 2004 – A gang of thieves steal £26.5 million worth of currency from the Donegall Square West headquarters of Northern Bank in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, one of the largest bank robberies in British history.

• 2007 – Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years and 243 days.

• 2007 – The Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (1904),by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, and O Lavrador de Café by Brazilian modernist painter Cândido Portinari, are stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art.

• 2019 – The United States Space Force becomes the first new branch of the United States Armed Forces since 1947

National Events- 

•  As Ashok Gehlot completes three years in his third tenure as Rajasthan Chief Minister, he speaks to The Indian Express on the challenges so far, on what lies ahead, and why he believes Rajasthan will finally break a three-decade-long tradition of not reelecting a government.

• The Kerala Police on Monday arrested two Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers in connection with the murder of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) state secretary K S Shan in Alappuzha on Saturday night. 

•  Army chief General M M Naravane on Monday said the outbreak of Covid-19 has taught everyone many lessons, and highlighted the importance of global and regional cooperation while tackling any pandemic-like situation.

•  The Centre on Monday introduced the Election Laws (Amendment Bill) 2021 to link voter identity and Aadhaar cards, despite objections by the Opposition parties over the move.

• The Kerala government was attempting to crush the increasing popularity of the BJP in the southern state by resorting to any means including protecting people who were involved in the recent killing of two political leaders, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said on Monday.

International Events- 

•  Pro-Beijing candidates swept to victory in an overhauled “patriots”-only legislative election in Hong Kong that critics deemed undemocratic, with turnout hitting a record low amid a crackdown on the city’s freedoms by China.

•  Thailand is considering reinstating mandatory quarantine for foreign visitors, as the health ministry on Monday reported the country’s first case of local transmission of the Omicron variant.

•  The death toll in the Philippines has risen to 208, with 52 people still missing and 239 injured following the strongest typhoon to batter the Philippines this year, the national police said on Monday.

•  Onstage, Niyo Katsura wore a delicate pink kimono. With her petite frame and high-pitched voice, she could pass more easily for a college undergraduate than a 35-year-old performer of one of Japan’s oldest comedic arts

• With coronavirus cases in Britain exploding, driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant, the government is leaving open the possibility of soon imposing another round of restrictions, the country’s health secretary said Sunday.

Job alerts-

• Union Bank of India Jobs for Specialist Officers, Domain Experts and other posts. Last date 07 January 2022

• High Court of Punjab and Haryana Jobs for Steno Typist and other posts. Last date 07 January 2022

• Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department Jobs for Office Assistant, Driver, Stenographer, Peon and other posts. Last date 28 December 2021

• Office of the Chief Medical Officer Jobs for Medical Officer, Surgeon, Radiologist, Doctors and other posts. Last date 30 December 2021

• Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Jobs for Administrative Officer, Scientific Assistant, Junior Engineer and other posts. Last date 08 January 2022

Sports-

•  FC Goa player Jorge Ortiz has been handed a two-match suspension and fined Rs 50,000 by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) Disciplinary Committee for “violent conduct during an Indian Super League (ISL) match.

•  Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai has told a Singapore newspaper that she never said she wrote of having been sexually assaulted, despite a November social media post attributed to her that accused a former top Communist Party official of having forced her into sex

•  Napoli leapfrogged AC Milan into second place in Serie A after beating its title rival 1-0 in a mediocre match at San Siro on Sunday.

•  New Zealand will make up for this year’s abandoned tour of Pakistan by playing 10 white-ball matches in April 2023, the Pakistan Cricket Board said on Monday.

• Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared a video of Team India’s first net session where newly-appointed head coach Rahul Dravid could be heard telling the players to put in a ‘quality practice’ and show ‘good intensity’ in the session.

Awards and honours-

• TBA 

Technology-

•  Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has been tipped to feature a P-shaped camera module. It is said to retain the 108-megapixel primary camera from its predecessor, the Galaxy S21 Ultra. However, the Galaxy S22 Ultra could offer an improved camera performance. Reportedly, a few lines of code in the Samsung camera app have been located that hint at the Galaxy S22 Ultra receiving a 'Digital Enhancer' feature. In addition, this handset is believed to pack a 40-megapixel selfie camera at the front.

•  Amazon Winter Shopping Store sale has been announced. Winter-ready appliances such as geysers, room heaters, and electric kettles will be available with up to 60 percent discount. The sale, which will run till January 11, will allow customers to purchase blankets, quilts, recliners, comforters, beds, cookware, and dinnerware at discounted prices. Amazon is also offering a 10 percent instant discount on OneCard credit card (issued by FPL Technologies Private Limited and its Partner Banks) transactions. Here are a few offers on water heaters, smart plugs as well as appliances like casserole and flasks.

•  Leading e-commerce platform for pre-owned vehicles Cars24 on Monday said it has raised $400 million (roughly Rs. 3,040 crore) from various financial institutions.

•  Adidas Originals recently forayed into the emerging space of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse. Over the weekend, the company made over $22 million (roughly Rs. 167 crore) after its NFT pieces were minted within minutes of going live on sale. Each of these NFTs were priced at ETH 0.2, which converts to $769 (roughly Rs. 58,463) as per the CoinGecko calculator. Out of the 30,000 NFTs that were made available, 29,620 have been sold while the partners kept 380 pieces for future events.

• Police have released dozens of those detained for blocking a key highway in a protest against food poisoning at a Foxconn unit, the country's second instance of unrest at an Apple supplier factory in a year. India is among the countries, such as Mexico and Vietnam, that are becoming increasingly important to contract manufacturers supplying American brands as they try to minimise the impact of the trade war between China and the United States.

Economy – 

• The Sensex fell 1,189.73 points or 2.09 per cent to end at 55,822.01 while the broader Nifty crashed 371.00 points or 2.18 per cent to settle at 16,614.20. 

•  Axis Bank on Monday said it will raise up to Rs 5,000 crore by issuing bonds.

•  The shares of Future Group companies surged up to 20 per cent on on Monday after the Competition Commission  of India (CCI) suspended its over two-year-old approval for Amazon’s deal with Future Coupons and imposed a Rs 202-crore penalty on the e-commerce giant.

•  Investors became poorer by Rs 11,23,010.78 crore in two days as domestic equity market continued to face severe drubbing amid a global selloff.

• Markets regulator Sebi on Monday directed stock exchanges not to launch new derivative contracts in wheat, crude palm oil, moong and few other commodities till further orders.

Environment –

•  TBA

Local –

• Six new Omicron cases have been detected in Delhi, taking the total number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus variant in the city to 28. 

•  The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will procure 75 dialysis machines for civic dispensaries and maternity homes in western suburbs, sources said. The corporation has initiated the tendering process for procurement of machines after it identified the locations for installation in health centres.

•  Two more pesons, aged 11 and 19 years, were on Sunday tested Covid positive with the new Omicron variant, taking the total of such cases to at least four in West Bengal. The two had recently arrived arrived from other countries.

• A 48-year-old self-styled ‘godman’ was arrested by the Chennai police Saturday on charges of raping a woman since she was a minor and continuing the sexual assault post her marriage. The accused had also impregnated the woman and threatened her that he would leak her photos and videos online if she didn’t submit to him. According to the police, Narayanan had been running a trust at Vinayakapuram near Puzhal in Chennai. “When the victim was studying Class XII, she visited the ashram to receive vidbuthi (sacred ash) from the godman for her ailing mother. However, she was offered a drink laced with sedatives and raped. The godman subsequently informed her that he had performed the act to wash away her sins. He then threatened the victim with photos of the incident and warned her against revealing the rape to anyone,” the police said in a statement Sunday. 

• Five fresh Omicron cases have been detected in Karnataka taking the total number of cases of the new variant to 19 in the state, health minister K Sudhakar confirmed on Monday.

Person in News – 

•  TBA

GK – 

VIHANGAM, an internet-based platform, is associated with which field?

[A] Mining
[B] Excise
[C] GST collection
[D] Semiconductor Manufacturing

Who won the ‘Global Entrepreneur of the Year Award’ from The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE)?

[A] Ratan Tata
[B] Kumar Mangalam Birla
[C] Uday Kotak
[D] Adi Godrej

Which institution announced a $93 billion package, to help poor countries deal with Covid crisis?

[A] ADB
[B] World Bank
[C] IMF
[D] AIIB

Avani Lekhara, who took the ‘Best Female Debut’ at Paralympic Sport Awards, is associated with which sports?

[A] Tennis
[B] High-Jump
[C] Shooting
[D] Table-Tennis

Which typhoon recently hit Philippines, making landfall?

[A] Rai
[B] Fai
[C] Norte
[D] Siargao