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• A six-hour-standoff between the police and a 40-year-old man in Novato, California was resolved by using a robot to deliver a vape pen.


• The man, identified as Juan Roman, allegedly took a gas can and threatened to set a convenience store alight. Suspecting the man may be armed, police began negotiations with him where he asked for a cigarette.

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• Chief of Army Staff of Nepali Army, Purna Chandra Thapa, has been conferred the Honorary Rank of General of Indian Army by President Ram Nath Kovind.


• He was honoured for his "commendable military prowess" and contribution to fostering "friendly association with India". It is a practice between the two nations to award the honorary title to each other's Army Chief.

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• The second black box from the Lion Air flight which crashed off the coast of Jakarta on October 29, 2018, has been recovered.


• All 189 people on board died when Flight JT610 crashed into the sea shortly after taking off for its journey to Pangkal Pinang. Officials said human remains were found near where the black box was discovered.

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• Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi is to head the seven-member committee to look into revenue shortfall being faced by the states after the GST roll-out, and suggest steps for augmenting collections, a GST Council notification said.
  
• The GST Council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising state ministers, had on December 22, 2018, decided to set up a group of ministers (GoM) to analyse reasons for the shortfall in revenue collections by the states since July 2017.


• GST was rolled out on July 1, 2017. As per the GST law, the centre compensates states to ensure that their revenue is protected at the level of 14 per cent over the base year tax collection in 2015-16.


• The committee will undertake data analysis using econometric and statistical tools and suggest “suitable measures/policy intervention” for course correction for revenue augmentation, particularly for the states suffering high revenue shortfall.


• It would also look into structural patterns of major sectors of the economy impacting revenue collection, including the services sector.


• The other members of the GoM include Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac, Karnataka Rural Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, Odisha Finance Minister Shashi Bhushan Behera, Haryana Taxation Minister Capt Abhimanyu and Goa Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho.


• The central government has released Rs 48,202 crore as GST compensation to states during April-November 2018, higher than the Rs 48,178 crore paid in the previous financial year.

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• Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling launched the ‘One Family One Job’ scheme, under which for every family one government job has been allotted, in Gangtok.


• New recruits were taken for Group C and Group D posts in 12 departments.


• As part of the scheme, a “Rojgar Mela” (employment fair) was organised at the Paljor stadium in Gangtok, where over 12,000 unemployed youths, from 32 constituencies, were handed out appointment letters.


• Letters were given to families, by the Department of Personnel, which do not have a government job.


• He also announced that over 25,000 already employed but unregularised government employees would also be subsequently regularised within 2019.


• Thus, Sikkim became the first state in the country to carry out such a programme for the people entitling them to state government employee benefits.

• The Irrigated Agriculture Modernisation and Water-Bodies Restoration and Management (IAMWARM) of Tamil Nadu signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Cornell University.


• The MoU was signed by IAMWARM project director Vibhu Nair and executive dean John Pfeffer of the Cornell University in the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami.


• The project will be implemented by the Public Works Department. The project is aimed at introducing innovative approaches in water management. Another aspect of the project is the introduction of high technology in horticulture.

• The Centre has signed an agreement with five States, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Delhi, and Himachal Pradesh, to restart the construction of the Renuka multi-purpose dam in the Upper Yamuna Basin.


• The project is a reservoir on the Giri river, a tributary of Yamuna, in Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh.


• The project envisages making a 148-meter-high dam for supplying water to Delhi and other basins States.


• It will also generate 40 MW of power Funding: Around 90% of the cost of irrigation/drinking water component of the project i.e. Rs.3,892.83 crore will be provided by the Central government and the remaining Rs.432.54 crore by the rest of the basin States Water from the Renuka dam will be used by U.P, Haryana and National Capital Territory of Delhi from Hathnikund barrage, by the NCT of Delhi from Wazirabad barrage and by and Rajasthan from the Okhla barrage.

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• The Centre gave its in-principle nod to the Uttarakhand government’s proposal which sought fund for implementing an integrated co-operative development project in the State.


• The Center has allotted Rs.3,340 crore for the State. Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said that the project will improve the agricultural economy and will help prevent migrations from remote hilly areas.

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• Private sector lender IDFC Bank changed its name to IDFC First Bank Ltd owing to the merge of the bank with Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) Capital First on December 2018.


• The change was effective from January 12, 2019 by virtue of ‘Certificate of Incorporation pursuant to change of name‘ issued by the Registrar of Companies, Chennai.


• The board of IDFC Bank also approved the appointment of V Vaidyanathan, founder and chairman of Capital First Ltd, as managing director and chief executive officer of the merged entity.

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• Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) of United States Chamber of Commerce launched a new innovation strategy at Raisina Dialogue, 2019 in New Delhi. The Initiative is titled as “Fair Value for Innovation”.


• The Initiative will examine economic underpinnings in order to enable breakthrough innovation and explore the opportunities to harness innovation capital in India and around the globe through research, advocacy, partnerships and programs.


• India is the first market where GIPC is launching this new innovation initiative.


• The Raisina Dialogue is most influential conference on geopolitics and geo-economics of India which is convened by the Observer Research Foundation and the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.


• The theme of this year’s Raisina Dialogue is “A World Reorder: New Geometries; Fluid Partnerships; Uncertain Outcomes”.


• The inaugural address was delivered by Prime Minister of Norway H E Ms Erna Solberg.

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• Taslim Mir clinched the girls’ U-17 badminton title at the Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) 2019. Taslim Mir defeated Manasi Singh and secured 23-21, 21-16 win at the Balewadi stadium, Maharashtra.


• Gujarat’s medal tally went up due to Taslim’s slick movement and controlled stroke play. KIYG almost seemed child’s play for the 13-year-old.

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• Bengaluru Raptors have won their first ever Premier Badminton League, PBL title. In the title clash played at Bengaluru, Bengaluru edged out Mumbai Rockets, with a 4-3 win.


• Star player Kidambi Srikanth, Vu Ji Trang and the Men’s Doubles pair of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Satiawan won their matches for Bengaluru guiding them to victory.

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• Writer Namita Gokhale won the Sushila Devi Literature Award for her novel “Things to Leave Behind“. She was awarded in the ‘Best Book of Fiction Written by a Woman Author’ category at the inaugural edition of Bhopal Literature and Art Festival (BLF).


• The literature festival was addressed by the Union Minister of State for Culture, and Tourism, KJ Alphons and Madhya Pradesh Culture Minister Vijaylaxmi Sadho on January 12, at Bharat Bhawan the multi-cultural hub in Bhopal.

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• National award-winning filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award, in the name of late Satyajit Ray, by the West Bengal Film Journalists Association (WBFJA) in Kolkata.


• It was given in the third edition of the ‘Cinemar Samabartan’ ceremony.


• As a director, he has won the National Film Award for Best Direction twice, for Uttara (2000) and Swapner Din (2005).


• He is also a poet and an economics professor.

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• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, received the first-ever Philip Kotler Presidential award, in New Delhi. The Award focuses on the triple-bottom-line of People, Profit, and Planet. It will be offered annually to the leader of a Nation.


• Prof. Philip Kotler is a world-renowned Professor of Marketing at Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management. Owing to his ill-health, he deputed Dr. Jagdish Sheth of EMORY University, Georgia, USA, to confer the award.

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• India’s largest software exporter Tata Consultancy Services has appointed Daniel Callahan as an additional and independent director for a period of 5 years, based on the recommendations of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee.


• He was the Chief Administrative Officer and Head of Operations and Technology at Citigroup and was a member of Citi’s Operating Committee earlier.

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• The SpaceX Falcon 9 launched Iridium Communications satellite comprises of 10 voice and data satellites, which is an alternative for entire fleet with a new generation of orbiters from the Vandenberg Air Force station in California.


• The Iridium constellation was originally developed by Iridium SSC, with first-generation satellites deployed between 1997 to 2002. The constellation’s name comes from the chemical element Iridium, which has atomic number 77.


• This launch was one of the eight launches that are scheduled for the Virginia-based Iridium Communications to put a total of seventy-five Iridium-NEXT satellites into Earth’s lower orbit.


• The Iridium NEXT satellites also carry a system by Aireon LLC for space-based air traffic surveillance over 100 percent of the globe.The Aireon system collects data automatically and in real time, even from remote areas over the world’s oceans.