India was elected to the World Heritage Committee of the UN's cultural organisation for a four-year term, a week after the country was re-elected to the UNESCO Executive Board.
The committee is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States parties.
Kuwait Reappoints Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid as Prime Minister
Kuwait's Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid was reappointed Prime Minister and tasked with forming a cabinet that would be the Gulf OPEC oil producer's third this year in a domestic political standoff.
Sheikh Sabah, Prime Minister since late 2019, was reappointed by an Emiri order issued by Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah.
Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmed al-Sabah last week temporarily handed over some of his main constitutional duties to the crown prince, his designated successor, including naming the Prime Minister and swearing in the cabinet.
Debt-laden IL&FS Completes Stake Sale in Prime Terminals FZC
Debt-laden Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) completed the sale of its 71.84 per cent stake in IL&FS Prime Terminals FZC to VTTI Terminal I BV.
The transaction has resolved the group's outstanding debt to the tune of Rs. 757.79 crore.
IL&FS' stake in IL&FS Prime Terminals FZC (IPTF), a state-of-the art energy storage terminal situated in the UAE's Fujairah, was held through IL&FS Maritime Infrastructure Company (IMICL).
VTTI has acquired the stake from IMICL and other shareholders.
Centre Releases New Series of Wage Rate Index
The Labour ministry released the new series of wage rate index (WRI) with the base year being 2016. The government periodically revises the base year of WRI for key economic indicators in order to provide a clear picture of economic changes and record the wage pattern of workers. The new series of WRI with base 2016=100 will replace the old series with base 1963-65.
According to the recommendations of the International Labour Organization and National Statistical Commission, the base year of WRI numbers has been revised from 1963-65 to 2016 by the Labour Bureau to enhance the coverage and to make the index more representative. The new WRI series has expanded the scope and coverage in terms of the number of industries, sample size, occupations under selected industries as well as weightage of industries among other indicators.
Indian Overseas Bank, Central Bank of India Clarify on Privatisation Business
Amid privatisation business, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) and Central Bank of India (CBI) informed the stock exchanges that they received no information from government on these lines. The clarification cames a day after Centre's legislative agenda for Winter Session hinted at tabling of Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021 bill for privatisation of two public sector banks.
The bill seeks to "effect amendments in Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Acts, 1970 and 1980 and incidentalamendments to Banking Regulation Act, 1949 in the context of Union Budget announcement 2021 regarding privatisation of two Public Sector Banks.
Asian Champions Trophy 2021: Manpreet Singh to Lead India Hockey Team
India hockey team captain Manpreet Singh will lead a 20-member contingent in the Men's Asian Champions Trophy, scheduled to be held in Dhaka from December 14- 22. Veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh is not in the squad.
Defending champions India will begin their campaign on the opening day against South Korea. The single-pool tournament also has teams such as Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, and hosts Bangladesh.
Bihar, Jharkhand, UP Emerge as Poorest States in India
Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh emerged as the poorest states in India, according to Niti Aayog's first Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report.
As per the index, 51.91 per cent population of Bihar is poor, followed 42.16 per cent in Jharkhand, 37.79 per cent in Uttar Pradesh. While Madhya Pradesh (36.65 per cent) has been placed fourth in the index, Meghalaya (32.67 per cent) is at the fifth spot.
Kerala (0.71 per cent), Goa (3.76 per cent), Sikkim (3.82 per cent), Tamil Nadu (4.89 per cent) and Punjab (5.59 per cent) registered the lowest poverty across India and are at the bottom of the index.
Amid tensions on the border, the Indian Air Force received a boost to its fighter jet fleet as two-second hand Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft arrived from France at its Gwalior airbase.
The aircraft would now be upgraded to the latest standards as part of the Mirage upgrade programme going on in the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
The two aircraft were acquired by the Indian Air Force as part of the programme to make up the number of aircraft in the Mirage fighter fleet to around 50.
Collins Dictionary chose the term NFT as its word of the year after surging interest in the digital tokens that can sell for millions of dollars brought it into the mainstream.
NFT is short for non-fungible token. Collins defines it as a unique digital certificate, registered in a blockchain that is used to record ownership of an asset such as an artwork or a collectible.
Experts at Collins, based in Glasgow, Scotland, chose NFT because of its meteoric rise in usage, up 11,000% in 2021.
The Oxford English Dictionary's publisher, had chosen 'vax' as its word of the year, as interest in vaccinations spiked over the past 12 months.
Government of Andhra Pradesh, Union government and the World Bank have signed legal agreements for a loan of $250 million for the "Supporting Andhra's Learning Transformation (SALT) project".
SALT project aims to improve the quality of learning for more than 50 lakh students in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
The project was launched with a five-year limit, starting from 2021-22.
SALT is the first of its kind innovative project to train teachers, facilitate State-level assessment and establish an effective education management & information system. It would help in providing universal access to quality education in the state. It will also support Andhra Pradesh in fulfilling its vision of transforming government schools into vibrant institutions which will focus on foundational learning for children.