BJP's Jammu and Kashmir unit publicity secretary Arun K Chibber announced his resignation from the basic membership of the party over alleged neglect and humiliation.

·       The Bihar pavilion, showcasing the state's art and cultural richness through handicrafts, handlooms and other indigenous products of state at India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2021 once again bagged the gold medal.

·       This is the 6th gold medal for the Bihar pavilion for its outstanding implementations of the theme -- 'Aatamnirbhar Bharat' -- at the trade fair held at New Delhi's Pragati Maidan.

·       Bihar has been adjudged the 'First for Excellence' in display in the 40th India International Trade Fair in the category of the State Government or Union Territory pavilions.

·       Earlier, the gold medal was won by Bihar in 2014, 2015, and 2016. After a gap of one year, the state won again in 2018 and 2019.

·      West Central Railways has signed Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for 400 MW of solar power for traction utility with the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL) and the Surge Protection Devices (SPD). This comes at a time when the Indian Railways is taking steps to ensure zero carbon emission.

·       The RUMSL is a joint venture of the solar energy Corporation of India and Madhya Pradesh's Urja Vikas Nigam.

·       The solar power parks would be developed at Agar, Shajapur and Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh with a capacity of generating solar energy worth 1500 MW.

·       The foundations stones were recently laid down by cabinet minister of Renewal energy and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for the parks.

·       The proposed solar parks at these places in the state would be commissioned by 2023.

·       The Western Railways has signed the Power Purchasing Agreement from these solar parks for purchasing 400 MW of solar energy for next 25 years after the commissioning of parks in 2023.

·      The tariffs of solar energy per unit has also been decided at Rs 2.14 to Rs 2.259/kwh, which is stated to be much lower than the prevalent tariffs of Rs 5.2/kwh

·       Bihar is now the country’s first state to have digitally equipped the state legislative council with e-Vidhan. As the first e-Vidhan, the members of Bihar Legislative Council (BLC) will attend sessions as members of the first digital house of the country.

·       They would be able to see the answers to their questions from the concerned departments of the state government on their digital tabs, which are installed in the seat of every member of the council.

·       The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone of the Noida International airport at Jewar in Gautam Buddh Nagar. The much-awaited project was flagged off just weeks before the schedule of the UP Assembly elections is to be announced. The ambitious project has been showcased as one of the major infrastructure projects in the country and it has been claimed that it will generate over 1 lakh new jobs.

·       PM Modi said that Jewar will now be on the international map and the airport will bring prosperity and will change the lives of local people.

·                 This airport will be the second international airport to come up in Delhi NCR and will help decongest the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport. It is strategically located and will serve the people of cities including Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Agra, Faridabad and neighbouring areas.

·       The development of the first phase of the airport is being done at a cost of over Rs 10,050 crore. Spread over more than 1300 hectares of land, the completed first phase of the airport will have a capacity to serve around 1.2 crore passengers a year and work on it is scheduled to be completed by 2024. It will be executed by the international bidder Zurich Airport International AG as concessionaire. The groundwork for the first phase regarding land acquisition and rehabilitation of the affected families has been completed.

·       The Indian Railways is setting up a dedicated freight village (DFV) near the upcoming Noida International Airport, also known as Jewar airport, the foundation of which was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

·       The proposed DFV will be linked with dedicated freight corridors to facilitate movement of freight cargos to different parts of country.  The DFV with all modern facilities will be set up at a cost of nearly Rs 540 crore at the strategic junction of both  the Eastern Railway and the Western Corridor of Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation.

·       All capitals of Northeast states will be connected with airports before 2024, Union home minister Amit Shah said. He called upon industries to invest in the region and boost development. He said that the region is witnessing peace and political stability for the first time under the Narendra Modi government.

·       There has been a paradigm shift in enhancing the infrastructure in the Northeast and before 2024, Shah said, adding that with airports, seven of the eight Northeast states will be connected by rail. Work has begun to build many national highways, the minister said.

·       Shah was addressing a session "Bharat at 75: Empowering Northeast India" at the annual general meeting of the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC). 

·       India was on November 25, 2021, elected to the World Heritage Committee of the UN's cultural organisation for a four-year term, a week after the country was re-elected to the UNESCO Executive Board.

·       The Committee is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States parties.

·       The World Heritage Committee meets once a year, and consists of representatives from 21 of the States Parties to the Convention elected by their General Assembly.

·       Last week, India won re-election to the Executive Board of the UN cultural organization for the 2021-25 term with 164 votes.

·       The UNESCO Executive Board is one of the three constitutional organs of the UN agency (the others being the General Conference and the Secretariat) and it is elected by the General Conference.

·       Acting under the authority of the General Conference, the Board examines the programme of work for the organisation and corresponding budget estimates submitted to it by the Director-General.