current affairs 19 December 2021

S Jaishankar to host third India Central Asia Dialogue in New Delhi.

• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will host the third meeting of the India-Central Asia Dialogue in New Delhi from 18-20 December.
• External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar will host the dialogue which will include foreign ministers from five countries - Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan - according to the Ministry of External Affairs.
• The second meeting was organized by India in October 2021 through video conferencing.
• The dialogue discusses further strengthening of ties with a special focus on trade, connectivity and development cooperation.

Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurates 1st direct flight on Guwahati-Pune route.

• Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, MoS Civil Aviation and MoRTH, General Dr VK Singh (Retd) flagged off the first direct flight of IndiGo Airlines on the Guwahati (Assam) to Pune (Maharashtra) route.
• Chandra Mohan Patowary, Minister for Transport, Industries and Commerce, Skill Development, Welfare of Minorities, Government of Assam, Rani Oja, Member of Parliament - Lok Sabha.
• Bhubaneshwar Kalita, Member of Parliament - Rajya Sabha, virtually attended the event from Guwahati and Girish Balachandra Bapat, Member of Parliament - Lok Sabha from Pune.
• Guwahati is connected to 24 cities of the country with the movement of 885 aircraft.
• The commencement of flight operations on this route will help in seamless movement of people from Guwahati and its adjoining areas as well as passengers of Pune.

Rajnath Singh gives Raksha Mantri Awards for Excellence 2021.

• Defense Minister Rajnath Singh presented Defense Minister's Awards for Excellence 2021 on the occasion of 96th Raising Day of Directorate General Defense Estates in New Delhi.
• The recipient was awarded for innovation and digital achievements in the fields of public service and land management as well as health, education and sanitation.
• These categories are Swachh Chhawani, Healthy Cantonment, Digital Achievements, Innovation in Public Services, Land and Record Management, Improvement of Cantonment General Hospital and Implementation of e-Chavani project.

WhatsApp announces digital payments festival for 500 villages in India.

• WhatsApp's Digital Payment Festival is a pilot program that promotes digital payments by empowering individuals and businesses and as a project to advance the cause of financial inclusion.
• It aims to provide villagers access to digital payments through Pay on WhatsApp.
• WhatsApp announced the Digital Payments Utsav – a pilot program that is going to adopt 500 villages in Karnataka and Maharashtra in an effort to accelerate financial inclusion.
• Digital Payments Utsav took off on October 15 this year in the Kyathanahalli village in the Mandya district of Karnataka.
• Here on-ground facilitators helped familiarise villagers with various aspects of digital payments including how to sign up for UPI, set up a UPI account, and also told them about the best practices to be safe while using digital payments online.

The book "Raj Kapoor: The Master at Work" authored by Rahul Rawail released.

• The Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu released the book titled Raj Kapoor: The Master at Work authored by Rahul Rawail.
• The book was released at the India Habitat Center in New Delhi on the occasion of Raj Kapoor's 97th birth anniversary.
• The Vice President described the book as a labor of love and dedication.