NATIONAL NEWS

Amit Shah Introduces Redrafted Criminal Bills in Lok Sabha

Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced redrafted criminal Bills.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah presented three redrafted Bills in the Lok Sabha to replace the existing British-era criminal laws.

The new bills incorporate the changes recommended by a parliamentary committee.

The Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita Bill (BNSS), 2023 will take the place of the Indian Penal Code of 1860.

Under the new bill, the definition of the terrorist act has been expanded.

The “economic security” and “damage or destruction of any property in India or in a foreign country used or intended to be used for the defense of India” have been included in the definition of terrorist.

The Bill retains the death penalty as punishment. It proposes that an officer above the rank of Superintendent of Police will decide whether a case will be registered under the UAPA or not.

Madhya Pradesh to Establish Prime Minister College of Excellence

Madhya Pradesh (MP) government will set up PM College of Excellence in all districts of the state.

The decision to this effect was taken at the first Cabinet meeting chaired by new Chief Minister Mohan Yadav in Bhopal, MP.

One college in every district out of a total of 570 government colleges will be upgraded by the MP government as "PM College of Excellence".

The government will spend more than Rs 460 crore on the development of these colleges. In addition to this, the degree and mark sheets of students in all government and private universities will be uploaded in DigiLocker.

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Chief Guest at Republic Day 2024

The French President Emmanuel Macron will attend the Republic Day celebrations in 2024 as the chief guest.

 India has sent a formal invitation to Macron in this regard.

Emmanuel Macron will be the sixth French leader to attend the 2024 Republic Day parade as chief guest.

India's 75th Republic Day will be celebrated in the year 2024.

 

BANKING

RBI to Enable Card-On-File Tokenization

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to make Card-on-File Tokenization (CoFT) available directly to card-issuing banks/institutions.

The central bank introduced CoFT in September 2021, with implementation beginning on October 1, 2022.

According to the central bank, this will provide cardholders an extra option to tokenize their cards for numerous merchant sites using a single procedure.

Previously, a Card-on-File (CoF) token could only be generated through the merchant's application or website.

Tokenization is the process of replacing the cardholder's original card number with a substitute phrase known as a 'token.'

By transforming the clients' card numbers into tokens, this method provides greater card safety.

Tokenization substitutes a card's 16-digit number with a unique token unique to a user's card and one merchant at a time.

HDFC Life Partnered with Karur Vysya Bank (KVB)

Private sector Karur Vysya Bank Limited (KVB) and HDFC Life Insurance Company Limited (HDFC Life) have entered into a corporate agency (CA) agreement to offer life insurance products to their respective customers.

This corporate agency arrangement would enable customers of Karur Vysya Bank to avail HDFC Life's wide range of life insurance products which include solutions for protection, savings and investment, retirement and critical illness.

The collaboration is aligned with the goal of Insurance for all by 2047 set by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI).

Since HDFC Life offers claim intimation process online, customers can avail the services without stepping out of their homes.

First Anchor Investor in NABARD’s Corporate Debt Market Bond Sale

Life Insurance Corp (LIC), is officially an anchor investor for an upcoming bond sale by the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD), marking the first such occurrence in India's corporate debt market.

LIC is the anchor investor for the ₹5,000-crore infrastructure bond sale by NABARD on 20 December 2023.

The issuer, NABARD, has a green shoe option of ₹5,000 crore in addition to the base amount

As the anchor investor, LIC will take up 30% of the bond sale, amounting to ₹1,500 crore.

Currently, LIC holds approximately 22% share in the overall bond market and 4% of the total market capitalization in Indian equities.

NABARD's bonds are rated AAA by rating agencies ICRA and India Ratings and will mature on April 2034.

PayCraft Collaborates with NSDL Payments Bank and NPCI

PayCraft Solutions Private Limited, a Mumbai-based fintech entity specializing in online and offline payments processing, has launched the One Nation Corporate Card in partnership with NSDL Payments Bank and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

The One Nation Corporate Card will be offered to the Indian Customers Pan India from June End.

This innovative card, built on an indigenously developed multi-wallet platform with Transit Issuance and Processing Capability, serves as an Employee Tax Benefit instrument.

The USP of the One Nation Corporate Card is its ability to function as a National Transit Card, enabling cardholders to travel throughout India on any public transport that accepts bank-issued cards.

Built on National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) specifications with offline enabled, these cards will advance the Government of India’s vision of One Nation One Card.

It also offers a valuable solution for digitizing business expenses for corporates and SMEs across the country.

 

SPORTS

President of Wrestling Federation of India

Sanjay Singh has been elected as the new president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).

He was elected after the results of election of office bearers, in which he got 40 votes.

Sanjay Singh is the vice president of the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association and previously served on the WFI's executive council.

He has also been the national federation's joint secretary since 2019.

Chennai Grand Masters 2023

Indian chess player Dommaraju Gukesh won the Chennai Grand Masters 2023 tournament.

Gukesh won the title in this tournament by holding compatriot Pantala Harikrishna to a draw.

Arjun Erigaisi secured the second position in this tournament.

Both Arjun and Gukesh finished the tournament with 4.5 points out of 7.

Pantala Harikrishna stood third with 4 points.

 

AWARDS & PRIZES

UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards 2023

The UNESCO Asia-Pacific Prize for Cultural Heritage Conservation 2023 has been announced, with six winners from India.

Award of Excellence: Rambagh Gate in Amritsar

Award of Distinction: Karnikara Mandapam at Kunnamangalam Bhagavathi Temple, Kerala

Award of Merit: Church of the Epiphany in Gurugram, Haryana, David Sassoon Library and Reading Room in Mumbai, Bikaner House in New Delhi.

Peepal Haveli in Punjab and Sikami Chhen in Kathmandu were awarded 'Special Recognition for Sustainable Development' for their transformative heritage practices.

Kempegowda International Airport wins UNESCO special award

The award for new design in heritage contexts was awarded to the Erlitou Site Museum of the Xia Capital in Luoyang, China.

Sahitya Akademi Awards 2023

Sahitya Akademi Awards for the year 2023 were announced.

Sahitya Akademi Award is given for writing in 24 languages.

Sanjeev of Hindi language has been honored with the Sahitya Akademi Award.

Sanjeev has been given this award for 'Mujhe Pehchano'.

Neelam Sharan Gaur's novel 'Requiem in Raaga Janaki' has been adapted for the English language.

Sadiqa Nawab Sahar's novel 'Rajdev Ki Amrai' was given the Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu language.

Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honor established in the year 1954.

Apart from the 22 languages included in the Constitution of India, this award is also given in English and Rajasthani.

 

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

ISRO to Launch Chandrayaan-4

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has planned to launch Chandrayaan-4 to bring back samples from the Moon in 4 years stated its chairperson S Somanath while elaborating on the space agency’s Vision 2047.

The first module of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station - India’s planned space station, that will be capable of conducting experiments with the help of robots will be launched by 2028.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had previously called on the space agency to set up a space station by 2035 and send a man to the Moon by 2040.

Bharatiya Antariksh Station is India’s planned space station.

It will have capability to conduct experiments with the help of robots.

 

IMPORTANT DAYS

National Mathematics Day

National Mathematics Day (NMD) is celebrated every year on 22 December.

National Mathematics Day is celebrated in memory of the great Indian mathematician Srinivasa Iyengar Ramanujan.

Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh started the celebration of NMD on 22 December 2012 on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Srinivas Ramanujan.

Ramanujan's main works included the infinite series of Pi. Ramanujan provided several formulas for calculating the digits of pi that differed from traditional methods.

He introduced innovative ideas to solve many challenging mathematical problems, which played a key role in the development of game theory.