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• The White House has said US President Donald Trump and his lawyers will not attend an impeachment hearing in the House of Representatives.


• Mr. Trump could not be expected to participate "fairly", White House counsel Pat Cipollone said in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee.


• Last week, Chairman Jerrold Nadler said Mr. Trump could either attend or "stop complaining about the process".


• The White House did not say whether Mr. Trump would attend a second hearing.

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• Namibia's President Hage Geingob has been re-elected for a second term, the country's electoral commission says.


• Mr. Geingob polled 56.3% in election, well ahead of his nearest rival Panduleni Itula with 29.4%.


• However, Mr. Geingob's tally was well down from 87% with which he won his first term in 2014.

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• Police fired tear gas and pepper spray in Hong Kong as tens of thousands of black-clad protesters flooded into the streets, a week after pro-democracy candidates scored a landslide local election victory.


• The rally heralded an end to a rare lull and a return to the large-scale demonstrations that Hong Kongers have staged for nearly six months, fuelled by growing fears that authoritarian China is stamping out the city's liberties.

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• China will require telecom operators to collect face scans when registering new phone users at offline outlets starting, according to the country's information technology authority, as Beijing continues to tighten cyberspace controls.


• In September, China's industry and information technology ministry issued a notice on "safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of citizens online", which laid out rules for enforcing real-name registration.


• The notice said telecom operators should use "artificial intelligence and other technical means" to verify people's identities when they take a new phone number.

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• As the winter session of the parliament enters the third week, the Rajya Sabha discussed the gang-rape and murder of the 26-year-old veterinarian near Hyderabad today.


• The woman, who was on her way from her house in Telangana's Shadnagar to a veterinary hospital where she worked, was stranded in Shamshabad after her two-wheeler reportedly suffered a puncture. Her body was found below an underbridge.


• The Lok Sabha will today have two important Bills for consideration and passing. The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill 2019 will be moved by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will move the Arms (Amendment) Bill 2019 to amend the Arms Act, 1959.

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• Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said he has ordered a review of all on-going development projects in the state, including the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train.


• The bullet train project has faced stiff opposition from farmers and tribals whose lands are to be acquired.


• "This government is of the common man. Like you asked now, yes, we will review the bullet train (project). Have I stayed the bullet train project like Aarey car shed? No, I haven't," he told reporters late Sunday night.

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• King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden arrived in the national capital today on a five-day India visit.


• The King will have meetings with President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on ways to further boost bilateral ties between the two nations.


• Apart from Delhi, the royal couple is scheduled to visit Mumbai and Uttarakhand.


• In Delhi, the King and Queen are scheduled to visit Jama Masjid, Red Fort and Gandhi Smriti.

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• As many as 16 permanent government school teachers were given forced retirement from their services for failing to score 33% marks in the efficiency test conducted twice by the school education department to test their knowledge, minister of school education Prabhuram Chaudhary said.


• This happened for the first time in the country, the minister added.


• According to a school education department officer, 84 teachers from across the state failed in scoring 33% marks in the efficiency test conducted twice and that too with the help of textbooks.

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• Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced a slew of benefits for the Telangana Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) employees and assured to pay them salaries for the 55 days when they had struck work, an increment and increased their retirement age from 58 to 60.


• The decisions were among several benefits announced by the government in a first-of-its-kind luncheon hosted by the CM at Pragati Bhavan, which saw five workers from all 97 depots in the state, transport minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar, RTC managing director Sunil Sharma and other officials in attendance.

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• Sainik School Society will release admit cards for the All India Sainik School Entrance Examination (AISSEE) 2020.


• The admit card for the entrance test will be released on the Sainik School Society's official website. The admit cards will be released for all applicants except for girl candidates of Sainik Schools in Bijapur, Chandrapur, Ghorakhal, Kalikiri and Kodagu.


• Sainik School Society recently re-opened the application portal only for girl students for admission to Sainik Schools at Bijapur (Karnataka), Chandrapur (Maharashtra), Ghorakhal (Uttarakhand), Kalikiri (Andhra Pradesh), and Kodagu (Karnataka). The application process for girl students will conclude on December 6.

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• National Technical Research Organization has invited online applications for the recruitment of Technician ‘A’ under General Central Civil Service, Group ‘C’ (Non Gazetted, Non Ministerial).


• Candidates interested and eligible for the post can apply online at ntrorectt.in on or before December 23, 2019.


• The recruitment drive is being conducted to fill 71 vacancies of Technicians. In which, three (03) vacancies are reserved for Persons with Disabilities in One Leg Affected (OL) and Hearing Handicap (HH) categories.

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• Collections from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rebounded above the Rs 1 lakh crore benchmark in November, government officials said on Sunday, attributing an increase in voluntary compliance and a government stimulus package for an increase in receipts that had contracted for two consecutive months.


• According to experts, in order to have a comfortable fiscal position, the government needs an average monthly collection of at least Rs 1 lakh crore, and officials said November’s receipts – at Rs 1,03,492 crore – is a sign of a recovery in the country’s economy, which logged its worst quarter of growth in six years in the three-month period ending September.

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• The deepening economic slowdown gives the Reserve Bank of India more reason to cut interest rates this week, adding to the fiscal stimulus already in the works.


• The RBI will deliver its rate decision on December 5, days after a report showed growth collapsed to 4.5 percent in the July-September quarter, the first time it's been below 5 percent since 2013.


• Led by Governor Shaktikanta Das, the RBI has already cut interest rates by 135 basis points in five moves this year, the most by any Asian central bank. Policymakers have had their focus squarely on boosting Asia's third-largest economy, and last week's weak data gives them added reason to continue pushing for growth.

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• Employees in India are expected to see 9.2 per cent salary growth in 2020, highest in Asia, but inflation may play a spoiler as real-wage salaries in the country is anticipated to be just 5 per cent, a report said.


• According to Korn Ferry Global Salary Forecast, India’s salary growth for 2020 stood at 9.2 percent down from 10 percent last year, while real-wage after adjusting inflation may remain constant at 5 percent in 2020.


• The report added that India has emerged as the leader of salary growth projection in Asia.

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• Uttar Pradesh batsman Priyam Garg will lead defending champions India in next year's Under-19 ICC Cricket World Cup after the BCCI named him captain of a 15-member squad for the tournament to be held in South Africa.
The All-India Junior Selection Committee, which met in Mumbai, picked the squad for the tournament to be held from January 17 to February 9.

• The 19-year-old Garg, a right handed top-order batsman, has a first-class double hundred and a List A century to his name.

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• Lionel Messi delivered a major boost to Barcelona's La Liga title hopes by scoring a late winner in a 1-0 victory at Atletico Madrid.


• Messi is the favourite to win a record-breaking sixth Ballon d'Or in Paris on Monday and he came up trumps again for Barca at the Wanda Metropolitano, where an even contest looked destined to finish goalless.


• "In matches that are close and intense, having Leo is always a big advantage," said Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde.


• The Argentinian's 86th-minute strike, after a neat one-two with Luis Suarez, keeps Barcelona level on points with Real Madrid at the top of the table while leaving Atletico with a mountain to climb if they are to rejoin the race.

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• Akkitham Achuthan Namboodri, a renowned Malayalam poet has been chosen for the 55th Jnanpith Award 2019 in accordance to the Jnanpith Selection Board.


• He is also the 6th Malayalam Poet to receive the Jnanpith award. He was born in Kumaranellur, Kerala. The Jnanpith Award is the Highest Literary award in India, awarded to an author to acknowledge his/her excellence in Literature.

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• Sub-lieutenant Shivangi became the first woman pilot for the Indian Navy. Shivangi was born in the city of Muzaffarpur in Bihar.


• Shivangi was commissioned into the Indian Navy last year after her initial training. Shivangi joined operational duties at the Kochi naval base.

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• Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has announced on national TV that he will step down in the new year, amid a crisis over a murdered journalist.


• He said he would ask the ruling Labour Party to begin the process to choose his successor on 12 January.


• Demonstrators have demanded his immediate resignation over the inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia's death.