·       The Indian Navy on  Nov 24  said that  it will commission INS Vela, its fourth stealth Scorpene class submarine under Project 75.

·       Project 75 includes construction of six submarines of Scorpene design.

·       Three of these submarines - Kalvari, Khanderi, Karanj - have already been commissioned.

·       The submarine has been built by Mumbai-based Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd in collaboration with M/s Naval Group of France.

·       The previous avatar of INS Vela was commissioned on August 31, 1973 and it rendered yeoman service to the nation for 37 eventful years before being decommissioned on June 25, 2010.

·       The new 'Vela' is a potent man o' war and is capable of offensive operations that span across the entire spectrum of maritime warfare.

·       On Nov 21 , Indian Navy's stealth guided missile destroyer Visakhapatnam was commissioned in Mumbai.

·       The indigenously-built warship is packed with an array of missiles and anti-submarine rockets.

·       Giving fire power to the standard weapon profile of armed forces, the  Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has granted permission for the mass production of AK-203 rifles. The Council has also approved an independent satellite for the Indian Air Force.

·       The decision comes ahead of  Russian President Vladimir Putin’s scheduled visit to India beginning from December 5. The important deal had been hanging since 2018. The DAC meeting chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh  has granted approval for manufacturing 7.5 lakh AK-203 assault rifles for the Indian Army under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.  The contract pegged at over Rs 5,000 crore will lead to manufacturing of 6,014, 427 AK-203s for over a 10-year period.

·       The manufacturing of the Kalashnikov Rifles will be done in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh jointly by the Indo-Russia Rifles Pvt Ltd (IRRPL), which was created as a joint venture between the Ordnance Factories Board (OFB) and the Russia’s Rosoboronexport and Concern Kalashnikov. OFB holds 50.5 per cent stake in the concern with the Russian entities having the remaining 49.5 per cent share.

·       Under the Inter-governmental Agreement (IGA) signed in February 2019, the first 70,000 will include Russian-made components as technology transfers. In its meeting, the DAC accorded Acceptance of Necessity for capital acquisition proposal of IAF for its modernisation and operational needs amounting to Rs 2,236 cr. The procurement proposal was for GSAT-7C Satellite and Ground Hubs for real-time connectivity of Software Defined Radios (SDRs). The project envisages complete design, development and launching of satellite in India.

·       The Centre has approved the construction of 3.61 lakh houses in 17 states and union territories under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), taking the total number of houses sanctioned under the scheme to 1.14 crore.

·       The approval was given by the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) chaired by Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra.

·       In the statement, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said that out of the 1.14 crore sanctioned houses, over 89 lakh have been grounded for construction and 52.5 lakh completed and delivered to the beneficiaries.

·       The total investment under the Mission is Rs 7.52 lakh crore, with a central assistance of Rs 1.85 lakh crore, the ministry said, adding that so far, Rs 1.13 lakh crore has already been released.

·       For better health care of livestock by sprucing up veterinary services, the Central government has planned a scheme to arrange mobile veterinary units (MVUs) so that medical facilities are available at doorsteps of the farmers and individuals dependent on animal husbandry for their livelihood.

·       Under the scheme, the department of animal husbandry and dairying (AH&D) will provide funds to the government in states and union territories (UTs) for MVUs. The idea is to have one van for one lakh livestock.

·       The MVUs will be custom fabricated vehicles equipped with facilities for diagnosis, treatment, minor surgery, audio visual aids and other basic requirements. The vans will be stationed at strategic locations to minimize travelling time.

·       As per the latest livestock census (2019), the country has 536.76 millions animals including 303.76 million bovine population.

·       As part of its ambitious plan to eradicate two major diseases in animals Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) and Classical Swine Fever (CSF), the department is set to launch a mega immunisation drive. It will provide vaccines to all states and UTs.

·       The target is to eradicate PPR by 2030 by vaccinating all sheeps and goats and to control CSF by vaccinating the entire pig population. As per the livestock census 2019, pig population in India is 9.06 million while goats were 148.88 million and there were 74.26 million sheep.

·       The union Cabinet   has  approved the formation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to privatise electricity distribution business in the union territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu.

·       The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also approved the sale of equity shares of the newly formed company to the highest bidder and formation of trust(s) for serving employees' liabilities.

·       The Cabinet has approved the formation of a SPV to privatize the electricity distribution business in the Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu (DNH&DD), sale of equity shares of the newly formed company to highest bidder and formation of trust(s) for serving employees' liabilities.

·       In May 2020, the government of India had announced the 'AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan', to make India self-reliant through structural reforms.

·       One of the key measures planned was to reform the power distribution and retail supply in UTs through privatization of the power distribution utilities, for leveraging private sector efficiency in electricity distribution.

·       A single distribution company, DNH-DD Power Distribution Corporation Ltd, would be incorporated as a wholly-owned government company and trust(s) shall be formed to manage the terminal benefits of the personnel transferred to the newly formed company.

·       Transfer of assets, liabilities, personnel etc to the newly formed company will be done as per the Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Electricity (Reorganization and Reforms) Transfer Scheme, 2020.

·       Months ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the BJP got a shot in the arm as two opposition MLAs, including the Congress legislator from Rae Bareli, joined the party.

·       Aditi Singh shifting to the BJP assumes significance as the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency is held by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

·       Vandana Singh  , the BSP MLA from Sagri Assembly seat  of Azamgarh has also joined the BJP

·       With Vandana Singh joining the saffron camp, the BJP hopes to strengthen itself in Azamgarh, which is represented in the Lok Sabha by the SP chief.

·       In October 2020, seven BSP MLAs, including Vandana Singh, were suspended by party president Mayawati.

·       The Supreme Court  has issued notices to the Central government and 23 IITs on a petition seeking directions to implement reservation policy in admission to research degree programmes and recruitment of faculty.

·       A bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao, B R Gavai and BV Nagarathna was hearing a petition filed by academic-cum-researcher Sachchida Nand Pandey, who has sought directions for the Centre to evolve a mechanism for resolving the complaints of harassment by students and scholars with transparency and in a time-bound manner.

·       Besides, the plea seeks direction to the IITs to constitute a committee of technical experts to review the performance of existing faculty, violation of reservation norms and to facilitate the formation of a transparent recruitment policy.

·       The bench clarified that it would issue notice only on the first prayer, that is, regarding the implementation of the reservation policy in the IITs. Pandey contends that the admission process to research programmes and the appointment of faculty members to IITs is unconstitutional, illegal and arbitrary.

·       As per the current reservation policy, SCs, STs and Other Backward Classes (OBC) are to be provided with 15 per cent, 7.5 per cent, and 27 per cent reservation, respectively. The petitioner, however, alleged that in last five years, IITs have admitted only 9.1 per cent, 2.1 per cent  and 23.2 per cent of SC, ST and OBC scholars respectively.

·       Russian President Vladimir Putin said on November 24, 2021, he has taken an experimental nasal vaccine against the coronavirus, three days after he received his booster shot, as Russia faces its worst surge of infections and deaths since the pandemic began.

·       Putin was vaccinated with Sputnik V, Russia's domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine, in the spring. On Nov 21 , he said he received a booster short of Sputnik Light, the one-dose version of the jab, and said he wanted to take part in testing the nasal version of Sputnik V.

·    In accordance with established scientific protocols, the vaccine will need to go through several trial phases, including those involving thousands of people, to establish that it is safe and effective to use.