Daily Current Affairs - 06-12-2021

Aung San Suu Kyi is a Burmese politician. She is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. On December 6, 2021, the Myanmar special court sentenced her to 4 years of prison for violating corona virus restrictions. This has drawn worldwide criticisms.

Who is Aung San Suu Kyi?

8888 Uprising

Aung San Suu Kyi became famous through 8888 uprising.  The 8888 uprising is also called People Power Uprising. It includes a series of protests throughout Myanmar. It was caused by withdrawal of currency notes without compensation, police brutality, economic mismanagement, totalitarian one – party rule of Ne Win, corruption. It led to the resignation of Ne Win.

Why was Aung San Suu Kyi sentenced to jail recently?

She was sentenced to be prisoned for two charges. They are inciting the public against the military of Myanmar and also for breaching COVID1-19 protocols. Currently, she is facing 11 charges that can bring a maximum imprisonment of 102 years. The other major controversial cases against her are as follows:

What is the issue?

Aung San Suu Kyi is the leader of National League for Democracy. The military of Myanmar holds 25% of total seats in the parliament. In 2021, the a newly elected lawmakers were to hold the first session of the parliament. The military imposed a state of emergency just before the session citing voting fraud in the elections. Through emergency, the military grabbed the power in coup. This was the third time the military grabbed  power in Myanmar since its independence from British rule in 1948. Following the coup, Aung San Suu Kyi was detained.  Such scenarios where military grabs power is called coup de tat.

On December 6, 2021, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The agreement was signed under the Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0. It was signed to strengthen the waste management sector in the country.

About the MoU

Why was the MoU signed?

The MoU will help Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0 to achieve its zero waste target. Also, it was signed to bring about improvement in the lives of informal waste pickers.

What is the significance of the MoU?

Solid waste management is the key focus of Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban. It focuses on scientific processing of municipal solid waste and source segregation of waste. The MoU will further strengthen the solid waste management.

How will the MoU benefit India?

How has UNDP helped SBM so far?

The Imaging X – Ray Polarimetry Explorer is called IXPE. It is a NASA Space Observatory. It has three identical telescopes that measure the polarization of cosmic X – Rays.

About IXPE Mission

What are the science objectives of IXPE Mission?

Study by IXPE Mission

The mission will study the following:

Telescopes in the mission

There are three telescopes in the mission. They were designed by INAF (Instituto Nazionale di AstroFisica) and INFN (Instituto Nazionale di Fiscial Nucleare). They are designed to measure the polarization of cosmic X-rays.

About the launch

The mission is to be launched on SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle on December 9, 2021. It is to be launched from the Kennedy Space Centre of NASA.

The BWF world Tour 2021 finals was held between PV Sindhu of India and Seyoung of Korea. Seyoung won the cup and Sindhu settled in for a silver medal. In Men’s Singles of the BWF World Tour 2021, Viktor Axelsen won the cup.

About BWF World Tour

The BWF World Tour is a Grade 2 Badminton tournament series. It is held by the BWF, Badminton World Federation. It is held among the top world ranked players in singles (men and women) and doubles (men, women and mixed).

There are six levels in BWF World Tour. They are as follows:

The BWF rank the players based on the above tournaments. The prize money of the levels are as follows:

Player regulations

The tournament is held among top 15 single players and top 10 double pairs. The BWF imposes a fine of 5000 USD per event, if a player fails to play. However, a valid medical certification will exempt the fine. These regulations do not apply to retired and suspended players.

Who is the title sponsor of the tournaments?

Between 2018 and 2022, the title sponsor is HSBC Holdings. It is a British Multinational investment Bank. It is the second largest in Europe. It has offices in more than 64 countries including India.

BWF World Ranking

This ranking is created by the BWF. It uses the BWF tournaments, Summer Olympic games and World Championships to rank the players. Currently, Viktor Axelsen of Denmark holds the top rank in Men’s singles. Srikanth of India holds 14th rank. Tai Tzu – ying holds the top rank in women’s singles. PV Sindhu holds seventh rank. In doubles, Satwiksairaj and Chirag Shetty of India hold the ninth rank. In world ranking of countries, India is holding ninth place. China is on the top, followed by Japan, Indonesia, Thailand.

The India – Russia 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue was held in New Delhi in December 2021. It was held by the defence ministers and external affairs ministers of the two countries.

About the India – Russia 2+2 Dialogue

India’s focus

India’s focus in the dialogue or the reasons why India participated in the dialogue are as follows:

Agreements signed

Significance

Indo – Russia Rifles Private Limited

The Exercise Ekuverin is a joint military exercise held between India and Maldives. It is held between the armies of India and Maldives.

About Exercise Ekuverin

Exercise Ekuverin 2021

What is the need for Exercise Ekuverin?

The Exercise Ekuverin will aid in all the above issues. Therefore, it is essential to conduct Exercise Ekuverin.

Benefits

The 22nd President’s Standard Award was presented to the 22nd Missile Vessel of the Indian Navy. During the 1971 India – Pakistan War, the vessel bombed the Karachi port and sunk Pakistani ships. It is being awarded in 2021 as this year marks the 50 years of successful deployment of the squadron.

What is President’s Standard?

The President’s Standard is the highest honour awarded in military. It has same honour as that of President’s Colours awards. However, it is awarded to a smaller military formation or unit as compared to the President’s Colours. It is presented by the President of India.

What are the achievements of Missile Vessel Squadron?

The missile vessel participated in Operation Parakram and Operation Vijay. The Operation PArakaram was launched in 2001. It was the first full – scale mobilization since 1971. It was launched in the wake of 2001 Indian Parliament attack. It was launched in Line of Control for four weeks. Under the operation, India mobilized large number of troops in the international border of Kashmir and Punjab. Operation Vijay was the operation launched in Kashmir region to clear out Kargil sector during the Kargil war, 1999.

Missile Vessel Squadron: The Killers

The 22nd Missile Vessel Squadron is also called “The Killer”. This is mainly for its brave actions during Operation Trident. The peration was launched on the night of December 4-5, 1971. During the operation, Pakistan lost destroyers, minesweepers and cargo vessels carrying ammunition and fuel storage tanks. India celebrates Navy Day on December 4 commemorating this operation. There were no damages to the Indian forces during the operation. The 22nd missile vessel squadron had a major role in the success and thus earned the name “KILLERS”.

Swarnim Vijay Varsh

2021 marks the 50th anniversary of India’s victory in 1971 India – Pakistan war. Thus, India is to celebrate the year as the Swarnim Vijay Varsh.

What is the Presidential Standard of India?

The Presidential Standard is also called the Presidential Flag. It is the flag that is used in several countries as a symbol of President. In India, the flag was used between 1950 and 1971. The presidents of India then started using the National Flag of India. The President’s Flag of India had four quarters. They are as follows:

About Missile Vessel Squadron

The Missile Vessel Squadron was formally established in 1991. Around ten Veer class ships and three Prabal class missile boats were added to the squadron. However, its genesis dates back to 1969. It started with the induction of OSA I class USSR missile boats in the Indian Navy. These missile boats were transported to India and were deployed in 1971 war. These boats were baptized before that played a decisive role in 1971 war.

Ships that participated in Operation Trident

The Davis Cup 2021 was won by Russian Tennis Federation. The Davis Cup finals was held between Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev of Russia. And Daniit Medvedev won the match bringing victory to the Russian Tennis Federation. Andrey Rublev was named the Most Valuable Player.

About Davis Cup

Davis Cup: Knock Out Format

It Is a single elimination tournament. That is, the loser of each match is immediately eliminated from the tournament. The other type of tournament held is called Playoff. In playoff, the top competitors determine the league champion. The most common type is the “regular season”. It is also called Group Tournament. Here, the teams are divided into groups and each group plays a specific number of games against their opponent.

International Tennis Federation

Hard Courts

The Davis Cup is held in hard courts. The other types are grass courts, clay courts and artificial grass courts. The Grass court is the signature court of Wimbledon. The grass surface is quick and the ball bounces in this court is low. The Clay courts are made of stone, crushed shale and brick. The clay surfaces slow down the ball. It produces a slow and high bounces. Hard courts are made of rigid materials with acrylic surface layer. This surface is very popular. The US Open is played in these courts. In artificial grass courts, the ball moves quickly.