Daily GA Updates. Biden formally secures majority of Electoral College votes with California certification

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1 EU President, British PM agree to resume Brexit trade talks British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen instructed their negotiators to resume trade talks in a last ditch attempt to bridge significant differences. British and EU negotiators paused trade talks to call in their leaders to try to narrow the gaps and get an agreement after a week of negotiations failed to bridge significant divergences between the two sides. Biden formally secures majority of Electoral College votes with California certification US President elect Joe Biden has formally secured a majority of Electoral College votes with California certified his victory in the state. California appointed 55 electors pledged to vote for Democrat Joe Biden, officially handing him the Electoral College majority needed to win the White House. Secretary of State Alex Padilla's formal approval of Biden's win in the state brought his tally of pledged electors so far to 279, which is just over the 270 threshold for victory.

2 Rohingya refugees arrive at the relocation facility in Bhasan char Going ahead with its plan to partially relocate Rohingyas from the refugee camps of Cox s Bazar, the government of Bangladesh sent a batch of 1642 Rohingyas to the newly developed facility at Bhashan char. Bhashan char is an uninhabited island where the government of Bangladesh has made shelter houses for more than one lakh Rohingya refugees at an estimated cost of Tk. 2,300 crore. Currently more than a million Rohingya are living in refugee camps in Bangladesh after fleeing the military crackdown in the Rakhine province of Myanmar in August Important Days Mahaparinirvan Diwas: December 6 The death anniversary of Dr BabasahebAmbedkar, which falls on December 6, is dubbed as Mahaparinirvana Divas. On this day each year, millions of people throng to Dr Ambedkar s Samadhi in Mumbai, which is called Chaityabhoomi to pay respect to the father of Indian Constitution.

3 Mahaparinirvan is one of the major goals of Buddhism. It means Nirvana after death.ambedkar is called the father of constitution of India. He was the first minister of law and Justice of independent India and is considered as the chief architect of the Constitution of India. International Volunteer Day: 05 December The International Volunteer Day (IVD), also called International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development is observed on 5 December every year. IVD 2020 Theme: Together We Can Through Volunteering. The purpose of the day to celebrate the efforts of volunteers and organizations and offer the opportunity to promote volunteerism, encourage governments to support volunteer efforts and recognize volunteer contributions to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at local, national and international levels. World Soil Day: 05 December The World Soil Day is celebrated every year on December 5 to raise awareness of the importance of soil quality for human well-being, food security and ecosystems. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) campaign Keep soil alive, protect soil

4 biodiversity aims to raise awareness of the importance of sustaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being. The date of 5 December was chosen because it corresponds with the official birthday of the late H.M. King BhumibolAdulyadej, King of Thailand, who was one of the main proponents of this initiative. COVID-19: ZydusCadila gets DCGI nod for phase-iii clinical trials Ahmedabad based ZydusCadila Pharmaceuticals has announced that the company has received an approval from the Drugs Controller General of India -DCGI to begin the phase-iii clinical trials with its biological therapy Pegylated Interferon alpha-2b (PegiHep) in Covid-19 patients. PegiHep is an approved drug and is being re-purposed for the treatment of Covid- 19.The Ahmedabad-based healthcare major had completed the phase-2 clinical trial last month. The second phase trials indicated that this biological drug had a beneficial impact on the patient suffering from moderate Covid-19 disease by reducing their viral load. Gujarat High Court sitting Judge G.R Udhwani passes away of COVID-19 Gujarat High Court sitting Judge G.R Udhwani passed away due to Covid19. He began his law practice in 1987 and was elevated as additional judge of the Gujarat High Court in Prior to that he was Registrar General in the High Court.

5 COVID-19: UP becomes 1st state to conduct over 2 crore tests Uttar Pradesh government has created a new record of testing two crore samples for COVID-19. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered setting up of more ICU beds in the state. Chief Minister also launched COVID test center locator app- 'MeraCovid Kendra'. This App will be quite helpful to people and through the app they could get information of COVID-19 test centers located within a radius of 5 kilometre. Bihar plans migratory bird festival to raise awareness about them Bihar is holding a bird festival for the first time as part of its initiative to save migratory birds that arrive in the state in large numbers every year. The three-day festival is being organised in eastern Bihar s Bhagalpur district and will tentatively start from December 11, The festival is being jointly organised by the Bhagalpur forest division, non-profit Bombay Natural History Society and the local Mandar Nature Club. The migratory birds arriving in the region are steppe eagle, Eurasian curlew, Ferrunginous duck, Eurasian coot, common greenshank, great crested grebe.

6 Vice President releases postage stamp in former PM IK Gujral's honour Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has virtually released a commemorative Postage Stamp in honour of the late Prime Minister of India & Freedom Fighter, I K Gujral (Inder Kumar Gujral). I K Gujral was the 12th Prime Minister of India, he served as the Prime Minister from April 1997-March During his tenure as India s External Affairs Minister, I K Gujral laid a set of five principles Gujral Doctrine to guide the conduct of foreign relations with India s immediate neighbours. He passed away in 2012 due to a lung infection. IIT alumni body to raise Rs 50,000 cr for revitalising domestic research The relatively new Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Alumni Council has announced an India Empowerment Fund with an aim to raise Rs 50,000 crore in a decade, with a promise to rekindle domestic research. It follows the council setting up a fund earlier this year for social initiatives and investment projects. Launched on the eve of the IIT2020 Future is Now Virtual Summit being organised by the PanIIT USA, the alumni body s fund is banking on a plea urging every former IITian to repay a sum that matched the subsidy he or she earned as a student.

7 Axis Bank launches Axis Bank Rupi Business Credit Card for MSMEs Axis Bank Ltd in partnership with Rupifi and Visa launched Axis Bank Rupifi Business Credit Card for MSMEs(Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises). This Contactless Co-Branded credit card, powered by Visa is applicable only to the MSMEs businesses that transact on the aggregator platforms partnered with Rupifi PAN (Permanent Account Number) India for their business purchases. The card offers credit solutions to such MSMEs. It is only for domestic transactions. Ikea to launch its second physical store in India at Navi Mumbai on Dec 18 Furniture maker Ikea will open its Navi Mumbai outlet on December 18, making it the second store launch for the Swedish company in the country in two years. The first store was opened in Hyderabad in 2018 after which the company opted to take the online route, setting up e-stores in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Pune. Peter Betzel, CEO & Chief Sustainability Officer, IKEA India, said that Mumbai was one of the firm's top priority markets in India, where it was experimenting with a hybrid model.

8 Flipkart unveils 2GUD Local to connect offline retailers with customers Walmart-owned Flipkart is extending e-commerce benefits to traditional retail businesses. Flipkart's independent value-driven platform, 2GUD has launched 2GUD Local to bring shopping centres online. The new format will offer offline stores, brands and shopping destinations an opportunity to unlock the benefits of technology and the social commerce hybrid retail model to reach millions of pan India consumers. 2GUD Local will enable local stores (single brand or multi-brand stores and other shopping destinations) and retailers to expand their digital footprint to connect more effectively with their consumers. DBS Bank India gets Rs 2,500 cr capital support from parent for LVB merger DBS Bank India Limited (DBIL) has received capital infusion of Rs 2,500 crore from DBS Bank Limited, Singapore to support its amalgamation with Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB). The scheme of amalgamation came into effect on November 27, 2020.

9 ADB approves $190 mn loan for upgradation of Bengaluru power distribution system Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 190 million (over Rs 1,400 crore) loan for modernisation and upgradation of power distribution system in Karnataka's capital city of Bengaluru. The funding for the Bengaluru Smart Energy Efficient Power Distribution Project by ADB includes a USD 100 million sovereign loan and a USD 90 million without sovereign guarantee loan to Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM). This is the first time that ADB offers a combination of sovereign and non sovereign loans to a state government-owned enterprise. ADB for the 1st time deploys this combination on a pilot basis in India. HDFC Life launches HDFC Life Click 2 Wealth ULIP Digital Campaign HDFC Life launched HDFC Life Click 2 Wealth ULIP (Unit Linked Insurance Plan) digital campaign. The campaign focuses on the role of ULIPs as part of a wise financial plan. It also highlights the unique features of HDFC Click 2 Wealth plan, a Unit Linked, Non- Participating, Life Insurance Plan.

10 KVG Bank launches OD facility for farmers The Dharwad-headquartered regional rural bank, Karnataka Vikas Grameen Bank (KVGB), has launched an overdraft (OD) facility for farmers. The facility can be used for working capital requirements such as maintenance of machinery and equipment, repair and replacement of machinery, agricultural allied activities and even for the repayment of private loans availed for personal use. The limit is capped to a maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh per acre to irrigated lands and Rs 1 lakh per acre to dry land. Sports New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson retires from international cricket New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson, who once held the record for fastest ODI hundred, called time on his international career and signed a three-year deal with USA's Major League Cricket (MLC). The 29-year-old, who has played 13 Tests, 49 ODIs and 31 T20Is for New Zealand, didn't feature in any of Black Caps' assignment for the past two years. In the 93 international games across formats, he scored 2277 runs with two hundreds and 10 half-centuries. He also picked up 90 wickets.

11 Japan to host seven-team Club World Cup in 2021 FIFA extended the smaller Club World Cup format for one more year after a 24-team revamp scheduled for China in June 2021 was delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Japan was chosen to host a traditional, seven-team Club World Cup in December FIFA wanted a December 2020 edition in Qatar to be the last with seven teams six continental champions and the host nation s domestic league winner. The format often attracts little interest and is routinely won by the European club.