current affairs 09 December 2021

US announces diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics.

The Biden administration has announced that US officials will not attend the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing after China took an unspecified retaliation against any such diplomatic boycott.
The US cited China's human rights abuses as the main reason for its boycott.
The US called the boycott a diplomatic boycott.
This means that the US is not sending any official or diplomatic representation to participate in the Olympics.
However, the US is allowing American athletes to participate in the Olympics.

Assamese poet Nilamani Phukan Jr. won the 56th Jnanpith Award and Konkani novelist Damodar Moujo won the 57th Jnanpith Award.
The country's highest literary award, the Jnanpith, is given to authors for their outstanding contribution to literature.
The Jnanpith Award is a literary award given annually by the Jnanpith organization of India to Indian writers.
It was established in 1961 and is awarded only to Indian writers who write in Indian languages and English.

A new book titled 1971: Charge of the Gorkhas and Other Stories has been released and was written by Rachna Bisht Rawat.
The book covers the story of a flight lieutenant who went missing after his plane crashed inside Pakistan and up to the last khukri attack in modern military history.
Rachna Bisht Rawat is the author of six books by Penguin Random House India, including bestsellers The Brave and Kargil.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin organized the 21st India-Russia Annual Summit to discuss all aspects of the relationship, including regional and global issues.
During his visit, India and Russia signed 28 agreements.
The leaders also discussed about the International North-South Transport Corridor and the Chennai-Vladivostok Eastern Maritime Corridor (which is under proposal).
The visit of the Russian President is a reflection of the country's commitment to its relationship with India.
This is the need of the hour.
Because India-Russia relations were influenced by New Delhi's relationship with America.
Also, Russia was getting closer to China in 2014 due to US sanctions, CAATSA and its annexation of Crimea.

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) announced that Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) will be appointed as its Chairman.
Mehta, currently senior vice president at FICCI, will replace media industry veteran Uday Shankar.
Mehta is also the President of Unilever South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal), and a member of the Unilever Leadership Executive which is Unilever's global executive board.