Noted music composer Neil Nongkynrih, founder-mentor of the Shillong Chamber Choir, has died in Mumbai after a brief illness. He was 52. The Padma Shri winner, fondly called Uncle Neil, led the SCC to national fame after a reality TV show about a decade ago.

The correct answer is Odisha. The Odisha government and natural gas firm GAIL signed an MoU on 5 January 2022 for cooperation in the production of eco-friendly fuels in the state.

Ministry of Culture has partnered with the Common Services Centres (CSC), a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) to undertake India’s first-ever cultural survey of its villages titled ‘Mera Gaon, Meri Dharohar’ through a mobile application. It will document the cultural identity at the village level. Over 4 lakh VLEs will conduct the survey in 6.38 lakh villages and upload the details on the application.

Independent power producer Azure Power has commissioned the 600 MW Interstate Transmission System (ISTS) connected solar project allocated by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). The project is located in Bikaner, Rajasthan. This is the largest solar power project in India, owned and operated at a single location by any developer. Currently, the company has 2,510 MW of high-performing operational solar assets across India.

Alka Mittal, Director (HR), ONGC, has been given the additional charge as the new interim chairman and managing director (CMD) of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the largest oil and gas producer in India.

World-renowned Kenyan politician, conservationist, and fossil hunter Richard Leakey has passed away. He was 77. The legendary paleoanthropologist is credited for the discovery of ‘Turkana Boy’ in 1984 which led to groundbreaking discoveries proving that humankind evolved in Africa.

Union Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan has launched the ‘Padhe Bharat’, a 100-day reading campaign that will focus on promoting a joyful reading experience amongst students. To encourage the reading habit among students and to improve the learning levels of the students with a focus on children studying in Balvatika to Grade 8. The 100 days (14 weeks) reading campaign will be organized from January 2022 to April 2022.

Shanghai has opened two new metro lines, upholding its rank as the city with the largest Metro network in the world.

The chief minister virtually launched the new initiative while attending the orientation program for newly recruited 153 officers of Odisha Civil Services. Claiming that Odisha is the first state in the country to implement such a digital service for pensioners, Patnaik expressed happiness over the initiative.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of PGI Satellite Centre at Ferozepur, Punjab. The PGI Satellite Centre will be built at a cost of over Rs 490 crore. The 100-bed facility will provide services in 10 specialties- General Surgery, Orthopedics, Internal Medicine, Neurosurgery, Plastic Surgery, Paediatrics, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, ENT, Ophthalmology, and Psychiatry-Drug De-addiction.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren announced concession of Rs 25 per litre on petrol and diesel prices for two-wheelers owned by the poor.
The concession will be given for 10 litres of petrol for every month. An amount of Rs 25 per litre would be transferred to the bank account of poor ration card holders.

The GST Council decided to defer the increase in the rate for textiles to 12% from 5%. It has referred the matter to a panel of Ministers, to review Rate Rationalisation.
The GST on all readymade textile items, except those made with cotton, was earlier hiked to 12 percent. The GST on footwear, except those below Rs 1,000, was also hiked to 12 percent from 5 percent. State representatives from Gujarat, West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu opposed the hike.

Bollywood film producer Vijay Galani has passed away due to organ failure. He was in his late 50s. Vijay Galani was suffering from blood cancer and was in London for seeking treatment.

The correct answer is China

Shanghai has opened two new metro lines, upholding its rank as the city with the largest Metro network in the world. With the new lines, the total length of Shanghai’s metro network has extended to 831 km, continuing to be the longest in the world.

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated Kalpana Chawla Centre for Research in Space Science & Technology at Chandigarh University on January 3, 2021. The research centre has been established with the objective of training students in space science, satellite development and meeting future challenges in space research. The state-of-the-art centre will be the Ground Control Station for Chandigarh University’s Student Satellite (CUSat).

Prime Minister of Sudan Abdalla Hamdok resigned on January 2, 2022, more than two months after a coup as well as another deadly crackdown on the protestors, with the military now firmly in control. He has resigned six weeks after returning to his post in a deal with the military which stated that this could save a transition of Sudan towards democracy.

Prime Minister Modi will visit the poll-bound Manipur and Tripura on January 4, 2022, to inaugurate mega development projects in the Northeast Region. The Prime Minister will dedicate the projects worth Rs. 4,800 crores to Manipur while Tripura will receive the new integrated terminal building at Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport along with two key development initiatives.

Irdai said that insurance intermediaries, including entities sponsored by them, can maintain current accounts in an appropriate number of banks so as to meet regulatory requirements and reinsurance business.

 India and the Philippines are set to formally seal a government-to-government BrahMos deal soon, capping years of negotiations for the supply of a batch of the supersonic cruise missiles for the Philippine navy, people familiar with the development said

A High-Level Committee under the chairmanship of Home Minister Amit Shah has approved over 3,063 crore rupees of Additional Central Assistance to six states.

Sanjay Kumar Singh was appointed as Steel Secretary as part of a major top-level bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the Centre on Monday.

The UK government has launched a new initiative named the ‘Better Health Smoke-Free’ campaign, which highlights the impact of adult smokers on younger people.
The campaign has urged smokers to quit smoking. As per the data released by the campaign, 4.9 percent of teenagers whose parents smoke have also adopted the habit. New Zealand has also set goals to go smoke-free by 2030.

South Korea’s first domestically produced space launch vehicle KSLV-II Nuri rocket failed due to a loose helium tank.
All three stages of the rocket worked, taking it to a height of 700 kilometers, and the 1.5-tonne payload separated successfully. The mission failed as the third-stage engine stopped burning 46 seconds earlier than scheduled.

Egypt has been inducted as the fourth new member of the BRICS New Development Bank(NDB) on December 29, 2021.

ITBP director general Sanjay Arora will hold the additional charge of another border guarding force Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) as the latter’s chief Kumar Rajesh Chandra is set to retire on December 31.