Today's Event – 11th December 2021

• 220 – Emperor Xian of Han is forced to abdicate the throne by Cao Cao's son Cao Pi, ending the Han dynasty.

• 361 – Julian enters Constantinople as sole Emperor of the Roman Empire.

• 861 – Assassination of the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil by the Turkish guard, who raise al-Muntasir to the throne. Start of the "Anarchy at Samarra".

• 969 – Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas is assassinated by his wife Theophano and her lover, the later Emperor John I Tzimiskes.

• 1041 – Michael V, adoptive son of Empress Zoë of Byzantium, is proclaimed emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire.

• 1602 – A surprise attack by forces under the command of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, and his brother-in-law, Philip III of Spain, is repelled by the citizens of Geneva. (Commemorated annually by the Fête de l'Escalade.)

• 1640 – The Root and Branch petition, signed by 15,000 Londoners calling for the abolition of the episcopacy, is presented to the Long Parliament.

• 1675 – Antonio de Vea expedition enters San Rafael Lake in western Patagonia

• 1688 – Glorious Revolution: James II of England, while trying to flee to France, throws the Great Seal of the Realm into the River Thames.

• 1792 – French Revolution: King Louis XVI of France is put on trial for treason by the National Convention.

• 1815 – The U.S. Senate creates a select committee on finance and a uniform national currency, predecessor of the United States Senate Committee on Finance.

• 1816 – Indiana becomes the 19th U.S. state.

• 1868 – Paraguayan War: Brazilian troops defeat Paraguayan at the Battle of Avay.

• 1899 – Second Boer War: In the Battle of Magersfontein the Boers commanded by general Piet Cronjé inflict a defeat on the forces of the British Empire commanded by Lord Methuen trying to relieve the Siege of Kimberley.

• 1901 – Guglielmo Marconi transmits the first transatlantic radio signal from Poldhu, Cornwall, England to Saint John's, Newfoundland.

• 1905 – A workers' uprising occurs in Kyiv, Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire),and establishes the Shuliavka Republic.

• 1907 – The New Zealand Parliament Buildings are almost completely destroyed by fire.

• 1917 – World War I: British General Edmund Allenby enters Jerusalem on foot and declares martial law.

• 1920 – Irish War of Independence: In retaliation for a recent IRA ambush, British forces burn and loot numerous buildings in Cork city. Many civilians report being beaten, shot at, robbed and verbally abused by British forces.

• 1925 – Roman Catholic papal encyclical Quas primas introduces the Feast of Christ the King.

• 1927 – Guangzhou Uprising: Communist Red Guards launch an uprising in Guangzhou, China, taking over most of the city and announcing the formation of a Guangzhou Soviet.

• 1931 – Statute of Westminster 1931: The British Parliament establishes legislative equality between the UK and the Dominions of the Commonwealth—Australia, Canada, Newfoundland, New Zealand, South Africa, and Ireland.

• 1934 – Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, takes his last drink and enters treatment for the final time.

• 1936 – Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII's abdication as King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India, becomes effective.

• 1937 – Second Italo-Ethiopian War: Italy leaves the League of Nations.

• 1946 – The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established.

• 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: The United Nations passes General Assembly Resolution 194, creating a Conciliation Commission to mediate the conflict.

• 1958 – French Upper Volta and French Dahomey gain self-government from France, becoming the Republic of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and the Republic of Dahomey (now Benin),respectively, and joining the French Community.

• 1960 – French forces crack down in a violent clash with protesters in French Algeria during a visit by French President Charles de Gaulle.

• 1962 – Arthur Lucas, convicted of murder, is the last person to be executed in Canada.

• 1964 – Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.

• 1972 – Apollo 17 becomes the sixth and final Apollo mission to land on the Moon.

• 1978 – The Lufthansa heist is committed by a group led by Lucchese family associate Jimmy Burke. It was the largest cash robbery ever committed on American soil, at that time.

• 1980 – The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund) is enacted by the U.S. Congress.

• 1981 – El Mozote massacre: Armed forces in El Salvador kill an estimated 900 civilians in an anti-guerrilla campaign during the Salvadoran Civil War.

• 1990 – Demonstrations by students and workers across Albania begin, which eventually trigger the fall of communism in Albania.

• 1993 – A block of the Highland Towers condominium complex collapses following a landslide caused by heavy rain and water flowing from a construction site at Ampang district in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 48 of its residents die, including one who died in hospital after being rescued alive, leaving only two survivors.[5]

• 1994 – First Chechen War: Russian President Boris Yeltsin orders Russian troops into Chechnya.

• 1994 – A bomb explodes on Philippine Airlines Flight 434, en route from Manila, Philippines, to Tokyo, Japan, killing one. The captain is able to land the plane safely.

• 1997 – The Kyoto Protocol opens for signature.

• 1998 – Thai Airways Flight 261 crashes near Surat Thani Airport, killing 101. The pilot flying the Airbus A310-200 is thought to have suffered spatial disorientation.

• 1999 – SATA Air Açores Flight 530M crashes into Pico da Esperança on São Jorge Island in the Azores, killing 35

• 2001 – China joins the World Trade Organization (WTO).

• 2005 – The Buncefield Oil Depot catches fire in Hemel Hempstead, England.

• 2005 – Cronulla riots: Thousands of White Australians demonstrate against ethnic violence resulting in a riot against anyone thought to be Lebanese in Cronulla, New South Wales; these are followed up by retaliatory ethnic attacks on Cronulla.

• 2006 – The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust is opened in Tehran, Iran, by then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; nations such as Israel and the United States express concern.

• 2006 – Felipe Calderón, the President of Mexico, launches a military-led offensive to put down the drug cartel violence in the state of Michoacán. This effort is often regarded as the first event in the Mexican Drug War.

• 2007 – Insurgency in the Maghreb: Two car bombs explode in Algiers, Algeria, one near the Supreme Constitutional Court and the other near the offices of the United Nations.

• 2008 – Bernard Madoff is arrested and charged with securities fraud in a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

• 2012 – At least 125 people are killed and up to 200 injured in bombings in the Alawite village of Aqrab, Syria.

• 2017 – New York City attempted bombing: A pipe bomb partially detonates in the New York City Subway, in the Times Square–42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal. Four people are injured, including the perpetrator.

• 2019 – The results of the 2019 Bougainvillean independence referendum are announced. The results are overwhelmingly one-sided. Over 98% of voters vote for Bougainville's independence

National Events- 

•  The bodies of five more defence personnel killed in the chopper crash that also claimed the life India’s first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat have been identified and are being transported to their respective hometowns, officials said on Saturday.

•  BJP member Rakesh Sinha in Rajya Sabha raised the need to bring back to the country Indian manuscripts languishing in foreign universities and libraries.

•  With several countries in Europe reporting a new surge in Covid-19 cases and Omicron emerging as a highly transmissible variant, the government warned Friday that India has “entered the danger zone” with mask usage in the country dropping to levels below the pre-second wave.

• Some of them started at 4 am, making their way from Uttarakhand to reach the National Capital in time for a final glimpse of India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, who hailed from the state. By noon, the crowds had swelled outside his official residence in the heart of Delhi as political leaders, senior military officers and the Chief Justice of India made their way inside to pay their last respects. 

• From creating chaos and instability in administration of justice to tribes, issues with local language to the erosion of the federal structure of the Constitution — a majority of states and high courts across the country cited reasons to disagree with the Centre’s proposal to establish the All India Judicial Services, the government told Parliament Friday.

International Events- 

•  A federal panel has approved renaming a Colorado peak after a Cheyenne woman who facilitated relations between white settlers and Native American tribes in the early 19th century, part of a broader campaign to replace derogatory place names across the United States.

•  The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has recently hit back at claims that corruption is behind the billions of rupees in financial irregularities, following an audit of cash intended for Pakistan’s coronavirus response.

•  The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has recently hit back at claims that corruption is behind the billions of rupees in financial irregularities, following an audit of cash intended for Pakistan’s coronavirus response.

•  Better.com Chief Executive Officer Vishal Garg is taking time off with immediate effect, Vice reported on Friday, citing an email from the digital mortgage company’s board.

• A 22-year-old Indian-origin student found guilty of stalking by a UK court has been handed a suspended sentence and is to leave for Hong Kong after his university expelled him. Sahil Bhavnani, who threatened a female student at Oxford Brookes University, was on Thursday handed a four months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years and imposed a five-year restraining order.

Job alerts-

• AIIMS Mangalagiri Jobs for Junior Resident and other posts. Last date 05 January 2022

• AIIMS Delhi Jobs for Assistant Professor and other posts. Last date 03 January 2022

• Indian Oil Corporation Limited Jobs for Trade/ Technician Apprentices and other posts. Last date 27 December 2021

Sports-

•  The upcoming South Africa tour, in all likelihood, is going to be Ishant Sharma’s last hurrah. With India’s pace department boasting of several young pacers, along with seasoned stars, the national selectors have decided to look beyond the Delhi seamer with 100-plus Tests under his belt. Ishant, along with the two other 33-year-olds in the squad, Ajnikya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, will be under the scanner during the series that starts with the Boxing Day Test at Centurion.

•  Halfway through a chat with athletics coach Robert Bobby George, his wife Anju, India’s lone medallist at the World Championship, walks in with a bright, warm smile. She seemed to possess a telepathic understanding of the line of interaction. Bobby was devotedly talking about sports, and nothing else, despite futile nudges. Flashing a knowing smile, she says: “That you can’t expect from him. Good Luck!”

•  Norway’s Magnus Carlsen claimed his fifth world chess crown in Dubai on Friday with a crushing 7.5-3.5 victory against Ian Nepomniachtchi, who faded badly after going toe-to-toe with the Norwegian defending champion in the early games.

• Lewis Hamilton entered Yas Marina Circuit chasing history Thursday dressed head-to-toe in purple with a graffiti-styled expletive scrawled across the back of his sweater. 

• Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard says he is happy to sacrifice his popularity at Anfield for a positive result for his side when they face Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday.

Technology-

• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore trailer will release Monday, December 13, Warner Bros. Pictures has announced. The exact release time of the Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore trailer is 7am PT/ 10am ET in the US on Monday — that translates to 8:30pm IST here in India. The Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore trailer will be available in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu, Gadgets 360 has learnt. The third movie in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, The Secrets of Dumbledore is set in the 1930s — several years after the events of the second movie — and will follow Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and Co. on a new mission that takes them into the heart of Gellert Grindelwald's (Mads Mikkelsen) army. 

•  Swedish manufacturer Volvo said Friday that hackers had stolen research and development data from its systems in a cyberattack.

•  A critical vulnerability in a widely used software tool — one quickly exploited in the online game Minecraft — is rapidly emerging as a major threat to organisations around the world.

Economy – 

•  Starting October next year, companies will have to quote the legal entity identifier (LEI) number so as to undertaking cross-border transactions of Rs 50 crore or more, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday.

•  As per data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM),sales in November were lowest in seven years for passenger vehicles (PVs),lowest in eleven years for two-wheelers (2Ws) and lowest in 19 years for three-wheelers (3Ws). The industry’s hope of making up for the lost ground during the festive season was dashed, SIAM said.

•  A government-sponsored alternate investment fund (AIF),set up to extend last-mile funding to complete stuck housing projects, has sanctioned as much as Rs 22,972 crore for 243 projects, the Finance Ministry said Friday. This will enable completion of 1,41,045 houses across the country.

• The rupee on Friday fell by another 18 paise to close at a nearly 18-month low of 75.78 against the US dollar on sustained foreign fund outflows and carry-trade unwinding. The rupee opened lower at 75.65 a dollar and later plunged to the day’s low of 75.85 in line with a lacklustre trend in the equity markets. 

• The Reserve Bank of India has approved the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to raise its stake in IndusInd Bank by up to 9.99 per cent.

Local –

• Delhi on Saturday recorded its second case of Omicron, taking the total in the country to 33, after the variant was detected in a 35-year-old man with travel history to Zimbabwe. 

•  Citing Omicron and recent incidents of violence in Maharashtra’s Amravati, Malegaon and Nanded, the Mumbai Police on Friday issued an order prohibiting any rally, morcha, procession etc. of persons or vehicles in the jurisdiction of Mumbai Police for two days on December 11 and December 12

•  West Bengal recorded 567 fresh Covid-19 cases on Thursday, with Kolkata topping the caseload at 165 and the neighbouring North 24 Parganas trailing at 95 new infections.

• J Deepa, niece of late chief minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa, officially received the keys to the Poes Garden residence of her aunt on Friday, bringing to close a protracted legal battle to obtain the custody of the palatial building. 

• The Karnataka Legislative Council polls held Friday recorded an above 99 per cent voter turnout till 4 pm, the state election commission informed. The biennial election to Karnataka Legislative Council’s 25 seats from 20 Local Authorities’ Constituencies began at 8 am and ended at 4 pm. The results will be declared on December 14.

GK – 

Which is the first airline in India to have launched an ESG report?

[A] Air India
[B] Spice Jet
[C] IndiGo
[D] Vistara

Which is the world’s most valuable edtech company,as of 2021?

[A] Duolingo
[B] Byju’s
[C] Tribal-learning
[D] Coursera

Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano, the first self-paying space tourists since 2009, are from which country?

[A] Japan
[B] China
[C] UAE
[D] Thailand

The SAARC Charter was adopted in which city on December 8, 1985?

[A] New Delhi
[B] Dhaka
[C] Kathmandu
[D] Colombo

The Union Cabinet approved the continuation of Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (Rural) till which year, from 2021?

[A] 2023
[B] 2024
[C] 2025
[D] 2030