Awards

The Chief Photographer with Reuters who has been posthumously awarded the Redink Journalist of the Year 2021 Award – Danish Siddique

The senior journalist and author who has been awarded the Redink Lifetime Achievement Award 2021 – Prem Shankar Jha

The neighbouring country which has conferred its highest civilian award "Order of the Druk Gyalpo" on the Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi – Bhutan

The Indian mathematician at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, who has been awarded the 2021 DST-ICTP-IMU Ramanujan Prize for Young Mathematicians from developing countries for her outstanding work in affine algebraic geometry and commutative algebra – Prof. Neena Gupta

Defence

The new and 24th Director General (DG) of the Indian Coast Guard who has taken over from DG Krishnaswamy Natarajan who retired from service – DG VS Pathania

The lead vessel of her class of corvettes, in service with the Indian Navy, which was decommissioned on 23 Dec 2021 at Visakhapatnam – INS Khukri

The indigenous messaging application launched by Indian Army as a replacement of the Army Wide Area Network messaging application is named – ASIGMA

The indigenously developed surface-to-surface missile with ability to defeat interceptor missiles and to change its path mid-air tested by DRDO from Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Island is named – Pralay

The Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief exercise for the member nations of BIMSTEC countries, conducted from 20-22 Dec 21 at Pune was named – PANEX-21

The state in which the first S-400 air defence missile system received from Russia have been deployed – Punjab

The Chief of Army Staff who has taken over as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) following the death of CDS General Bipin Rawat – General MM Narvane

The 11th edition of joint military exercise between India and Maldives conducted at Kadhdhoo Island, Maldives from 06 to 19 December 2021 is named – EKUVERIN

Persons

The South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist who passed away on 26 Dec 2021 – Desmond Tutu

The Indian film actress who has been named the PETA India's Person of the Year 2021, in support of an animal-friendly fashion industry and her advocacy for dogs and cats in need – Alia Bhatt

The Indian contestant who has been crowned Miss Universe 2021 at the beauty pageant held on December 12, 2021, at Universe Dome in Eilat, Israel – Harnaaz Sandhu

The Social Democratic Party member who has been sworn in as the new Chancellor of Germany from 08.12.2021 – Mr. Olaf Scholz

The veteran journalist recipient of Padma Shri and Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award who passed away on 04.12.2021 – Vinod Dua

The former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and Governor of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka who passed away on 04.12.2021 – Shri K. Rosaiah

Places

The state in which AFSPA (Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, has been extended for another 6 months with effect from 30 Dec 2021 – Nagaland

The venue of India International Science Festival 2021 held from 10 to 13 Dec 2021 – Panaji, Goa

The city which has been listed as the world's most expensive city by the EIU's Worldwide Cost of Living Index 2021 – Tel Aviv

Sports

The Indian wicketkeeper who has become the fastest Indian wicketkeeper to record 100 Test dismissals during the first Test against South Africa at SuperSport Park, Centurion – Rishabh Pant

The Indian cricketer who has announced retirement from all forms of cricket – Harbhajan Singh

The Indian badminton player who has become the first Indian to reach the Badminton World Championships final in the men's singles and win a silver medal – Kidambi Srikanth

The former Indian athlete who has been named the Woman of the Year by World Athletics for her efforts in advancing the sport in India – Anju Bobby George

Miscellaneous

The annual Indian festival which has been inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO – Durga Puja

The NASA spacecraft which has flown through the Sun’s upper atmosphere, the corona, for the first time in history – Parker Solar probe

The weak tropical cyclone in the Bay of Bengal which caused rainfall in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal was named – Cyclone Jawad

Sahitya Akademi Awards 2021

Awards in Gujarati, Maithili, Manipuri & Urdu languages will be announced at a later date.

General Bipin Rawat, PVSM, UYSM, YSM, SM, VSM

Born: 16.03.1958; Passed away: 08.12.2021

Commissioned into the Indian Army: 16.12.1978

Unit Commissioned: 5/11 Gorkha Rifles

27th Chief of Army Staff from : 17.12.2016 to 31.12.2019

First Chief of Defence Staff from: 01.01.2020 to 08.12.2021

Helicopter in which travelling on 08.12.2021: Mi17

Helicopter was travelling from: Sulur Air Force Base to DSSC, Wellington

Jnanpith Award Winners

2020 (56th Jnanpith): Nilamani Phookan (Assamese)

2021 (57th Jnanpith): Damodar Mauzo (Konkani)

Most Powerful Indian Women

Report released by Fortune India

1. Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister

2. Ms. Nita Ambani, Businesswoman and Philanthropist

3. Ms. Soumya Swaminathan, Paediatrician and Chief Scientist at WHO

4. Ms. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Biocon founder and Chairperson

5. Ms. Suchitra Ella, Jt MD at Bharat Biotech

Important Days of December

Good Governance Index 2021

James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope developed by NASA with contributions from the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

Launch date: 25 December 2021

Rocket: Ariane 5 ECA (VA256)

Launch site: Centre Spatial Guyanais, ELA-3

NITI Aayog Health Index 2021

Asian Champions Trophy 2021 (Men's Hockey)

Host: Bangladesh

Venue: Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium, Dhaka

Winners: South Korea

Runners-up: Japan

Third position: India

Top scorer: Jang Jong-hyun (S. Korea)

Best player: Kenta Tanaka (Japan)

Best Goalkeeper: Suraj Karkera (India)

Abbreviations in News

ASIGMA: Army Secure IndiGeneous Messaging Application