Current Affairs- Today’s Headlines: December 17, 2021

– 50th Vijay Diwas: PM merges four flames of Swarnim Vijay Mashaal into Eternal Flame at National War Memorial in New Delhi

– Defence Minister Rajnath Singh issues commemorative stamp on 50th Vijay Diwas

– Parliament pays homage to martyrs for their supreme sacrifice during 1971 Indo-Pakistan war on 50th Vijay Diwas

– Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane takes charge as Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee

– Supreme Court allows resumption of bullock cart race in Maharashtra

– The ‘Index on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy’, an indicator of literacy among children below 10 years, released by Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) chairman Bibek Debroy on December 16, 2021

– The Index prepared by ‘Institute for Competitiveness’

– Four categories: large states, small states, Union Territories and North East.

– West Bengal (58.95) topped the chart and Bihar languished at the bottom in the ‘large states’ category.

– In the ‘small states’ category, Kerala (67.95) grabbed the top spot and Jharkhand was adjudged the worst performer on the index.

– Lakshadweep (52.69) and Mizoram (51.64) are top-scoring regions in the Union Territory and Northeast state category, respectively.

– India’s nuclear power capacity of 6,780 MW planned to be hiked to 22,480 MW by 2031: Govt

– National Conclave on Natural Farming organised by Gujarat Govt. from December 14 to 16

– Defence Minister Rajnath Singh gives Raksha Mantri Awards for Excellence 2021 in New Delhi

– DST-CII Technology Summit 2021 organised in New Delhi

– Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi launches fourth tranche of auction of 99 coal mines including 24 new mines

– IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath calls on Prime Minister Narendra Modi

– Kumar Mangalam Birla receives Global Entrepreneur of the Year Award from The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE)

– World Bank unveils $93 billion support aid for poorest nations to recover from Covid-19 crisis

– IAEA, Iran agree to replace surveillance cameras at Karaj nuclear site

– Typhoon Rai hits southern Philippines, thousands of people evacuated