·       Lakhs of employees of public sector banks continued their strike on the second day on Dec 17 as well to protest against proposed privatisation of banks by the government impacting normal operation across the country.

·       Shutters of branches across many parts of the country were down following the strike call given by the United Forum of Bank Union (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine bank unions including All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW).

·       However, the private sector, especially new generation private sector lenders, like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, are working as usual. 

·       The vice-captain Harmanpreet Singh scored a brace as Olympic bronze-medallists India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan 3-1 to register their second consecutive win and virtually qualify for the semifinals of the Asian Champions Trophy men's hockey tournament in  Dhaka on Dec 17

·       Harmanpreet (8th, 53rd minutes) converted two penalty corners, while comeback-man Akashdeep Singh, who couldn't make the Tokyo Olympics squad, found the net from a field effort in the 42nd minute for his second goal of the tournament.

·       Pakistan's lone goal was scored by Junaid Manzoor in the 45th minute.

·       It was India's second win in the tournament after their 9-0 drubbing of hosts Bangladesh, while Pakistan are still winless, having drawn goal-less against Japan in their opening match. India had earlier drawn 2-2 against Korea in their tournament opener.

·       India and Pakistan were the joint winners in the last edition of the tournament in Muscat after the final was washed out. 

·       The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Cricket West Indies (CWI) have postponed the three-match One-Day International series due to multiple cases of COVID-19 in the visitors' camp although the T20 International series was completed on Dec 16 .

·       India has earned a foreign exchange revenue of approximately USD 35 million and 10 million euros from 2019-21 through the commercial launch of foreign satellites onboard Indian vehicles.

·       Responding to a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State in the Department of Space and Department of Atomic Energy Jitendra Singh said the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) through its commercial arm NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) has been launching satellites belonging to other countries on-board Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), on a commercial basis.

·       He said through the launching of foreign satellites on-board Indian launch vehicle, India has earned a foreign exchange revenue of approx USD 35 million and 10 million euros from 2019-21 Singh said a total of 124 indigenous satellites have been put into Earth's orbit including 12 student satellites.

·       Singh said the type of foreign satellites that were launched through the Indian Launch Vehicle includes satellites primarily for Earth Observation, Scientific and Technology demonstration purposes.

·       'Metroman' E Sreedharan seems to have learned his lesson the hard way. After unsuccessfully contesting the state assembly election as a BJP candidate from Palakkad constituency in April this year, Sreedharan on Dec 15  called it quits.

·       However, he clarified that his statement did not mean he completely quit politics. He would continue to serve the nation in other ways, but not through active politics.

·       Sreedharan joined the BJP last February ahead of the Assembly polls in Kerala. 

·       Union Cabinet has  approved a budget of Rs 76,000 crore for designing and manufacturing semiconductor chips in India.

·       Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said the cabinet sanctioned Rs 76,000 crore for the ambitious project, titled Programme for Development of Semiconductors and Display Manufacturing Ecosystem, to be spent over a span of six years

·       According to a statement by the government, the project will have a multiplier effect across different sectors and will help in deeper integration into the global value chain.

·       It would contribute significantly towards achieving USD 5 trillion economy and USD 5 trillion GDP (gross domestic product) by 2025.

·    Apart from this union I&B minister said that Cabinet has approved reimbursement of Rs 1,300 crore on digital transactions using UPI and Rupay debit cards.

·       In a major boost to indigenization, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) signed a contract with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for the development and supply of 20 types systems for the LCA Tejas Mk1A program in Bengaluru  on  Dec 16, 2021.

·       The five-year contract spanning from 2023 to 2028 is valued at Rs 2400 crore and involves supplying critical avionics Line Replaceable Units (LRUs), flight control computers and night flying LRUs. This is the biggest ever order that HAL has placed on any Indian company boosting ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ campaign.

·       The order for supply of these systems for 83 Tejas Mk1A fighter fleet will be executed by two divisions of Bharat Electronics Limited at Bengaluru and Panchkula (Haryana). All the contracted items will be delivered by BEL to HAL in a ready to board condition.

·       Deliveries under 83 Tejas Mk1A order to IAF will commence from FY 2023-24 onwards. The home-grown fighter is slated to be equipped with indigenous flight control computers, air data computers which would also be supplied by BEL under this contract. These systems have been designed and developed by various labs of DRDO and Aeronautical Development Agency, Bengaluru.

·       The contract documents were handed over by Mr E P Jayadeva, General Manager LCA Tejas Division, HAL to Mr Manoj Jain, General Manager (EW&A) BEL.

·       Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray seems to have decided to gradually clip the powers of Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari after his refusal to approve the appointment of 12 MLCs despite several reminders from the ruling MVA alliance.

·       An amendment in the law on appointment of vice-chancellors was approved at a cabinet meeting.

·       As per the amendment, vice-chancellors will not be appointed directly by the governor and he can only approve the names recommended by the state government.

·       The governor is the chancellor of the universities in the state and makes appointments of vice chancellors based on the recommendations of a committee.