NATIONAL NEWS
Narendra Modi unveils statue of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee in LucknowPrime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the 25-feet tall bronze statue of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at Lok Bhawan, Lucknow on his 95th birth anniversary.
- December 25 is celebrated as 'Good Governance Day' in honour of Vajpayee.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan unveiled India's first long distance CNG bus fitted with CNG cylinders at a function in New Delhi. It can travel around one thousand kilometre in a single fill. He said, the first long range interstate CNG bus will ply from Delhi to Dehradun. Mr Pradhan said, such type of buses will soon ply between Delhi to Jaipur, Chandigarh and Agra.
- The project has been executed by Indraprastha Gas Limited, the largest CNG distribution company in the country.
The Indian Railways started the Him Darshan Express train between Kalka and Shimla stations, as a Christmas gift to the people.
- The train has six modern and first-class AC vista-dome coaches with glass rooftop to have a panoramic view of the hilly region.
- With this train 52459/52460, modern first-class AC (EV-Executive Vistadome) coaches have also been introduced.
The southern state of Tamil Nadu has bagged the top position in the composite ranking for good governance index (GGI), followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka, according to data provided by the Personnel Ministry.
- The states and union territories have been divided into three groups -- big states, north-east and hill states, and union territories -- for the rankings based on certain indicators separately.
- In the north-east and hill category, Himachal Pradesh has topped the ranking followed by Uttarakhand, Tripura, Mizoram, Sikkim, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir (now divided into two union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh), Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
- Among the union territories, Pondicherry has got the first position, followed by Chandigarh, Delhi, Daman and Diu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Russia ‘only country in world’ with hypersonic weapons: Prez PutinPresident Vladimir Putin said that Russia is the only country in the world that has hypersonic weapons. Putin said that for the first time in history Russia has an edge in designing a new class of weapons unlike in the past when it was catching up with the United States.
Typhoon Phanfone batters the Philippines
Typhoon Phanfone, also known as Ursula, has battered the central Philippines. Thousands of people have been left stranded, as ferries and flights were cancelled. Thousands more spent the night in temporary shelters.
- More than 100 families' homes have been destroyed by the storm.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
RBI introduces new prepaid payment tool for transactions upto Rs 10,000 a monthThe Reserve Bank has introduced a new type of prepaid payment instrument (PPI) which could be used only for purchase of goods and services up to a limit of Rs 10,000 per month.
- PPIs are financial instruments that facilitate the purchase of goods and services against the value stored on such instruments.
- As per the circular, such PPIs shall be issued by bank and non-bank 'PPI Issuers' after obtaining minimum details of the holder.
- "The amount loaded in such PPIs during any month shall not exceed Rs 10,000 and the total amount loaded during the financial year shall not exceed Rs 1,20,000," the circular said.
The Reserve Bank of India released the Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2018-19, a statutory publication in compliance with Section 36 (2) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. This Report presents the performance of the banking sector, including co-operative banks, and non-banking financial institutions during 2018-19 and 2019-20 so far.
- The banking sector showed improvement with the gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) declining from 11.2 per cent in March 2018 to 9.1 per cent in March 2019 and a return to profitability in H1: 2019-20.
Private sector lender Federal Bank has tied up with online real estate platform Magicbricks for listing and e-auctioning of immovable properties repossessed by it in recovery proceedings. The move is aimed at speedy recovery of the bank's impaired assets, while helping customers get the best rate in the market for their properties.
Pine Labs partners with Kotak Mahindra Bank to enable EMIs on Kotak Debit Cards
Pine Labs, one of India’s largest merchant-focused companies and Kotak Mahindra Bank (Kotak) announced a tie-up to enable EMI payments via Kotak Debit Cards. This arrangement enables over 10 million eligible Kotak debit card customers to pay for their purchases in easy instalments via the Pine Labs POS terminals.
SPORTS
Leander Paes, Grand Slam Winner And Legend of Indian Tennis, to Retire After 2020Indian tennis legend Leander Paes announced his retirement stating that the year 2020 will be his last as a professional player. Paes, whose international career would have spanned 30 years in 2020, said that he will play a ‘few select tournaments’ in 2020 as he plans to bring down curtains on a decorated career.
MS Dhoni named captain of CA’s ODI team of the decade
Former India skipper and wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni been named captain of Cricket Australia’s (CA) ODI team of the decade and the line-up features three Indian players. Apart from Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have made the cut in CA’s team.
Kohli, Smith among five Wisden cricketers of the decade
India skipper Virat Kohli and Australian batsman Steve Smith are among the five players who are named in the Wisden cricketers of the decade on Wednesday.
- Kohli, Smith, Ellyse Perry, Dale Steyn, and AB de Villiers have been named as the five Wisden Cricketers of the Decade.
APPOINTMENTS
Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg steps down, chairman David Calhoun named chiefBoeing replaced its embattled chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, saying a change was needed as it attempts to restore its reputation amid the protracted 737 MAX crisis.
- Alos, Boeing named Chairman David Calhoun as its chief executive.
OBITUARIES
Renowned Hindi author Ganga Prasad Vimal passes awayRenowned Hindi author Ganga Prasad Vimal and his two family members were killed in a road accident in southern Sri Lanka.
- The 80-year-old author was travelling along with his family in a van, which crashed into a container truck from behind in Kurundugahahathapma area.
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