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• The United States welcomed death sentences issued by Saudi Arabia against five people over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.


• "Today's verdicts were an important step in holding those responsible for this terrible crime accountable," a State Department official told reporters after the ruling, which was lambasted as a travesty by Turkey, rights groups, and The Washington Post, to which Khashoggi contributed.

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• Boeing fired its chief executive officer in a move intended to bring to a close the most tumultuous period in its 103-year history, marked by a bungled response to two fatal airplane crashes blamed on a flawed software program and poor oversight.


• Aviation industry analysts said the sudden dismissal of Dennis Muilenburg, who had worked for Boeing for more than three decades, was a desperate attempt by the company to win back the trust of regulators and the public after crashes of its 737 Max aircraft led to the deaths of 346 people and accusations that Boeing had misled regulators and its customers.

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• Hong Kong should "continue to be free and open", Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the Chinese president, as the city is rocked by months of pro-democracy protests.


• Abe met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing ahead of flying to the southwestern city of Chengdu to join a trilateral meeting, which will also be attended by South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

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• The Boris Johnson government announced the expansion of the list of UK-based fellowships whose international holders such as scientists and experts will be extended a fast-track visa process, so that they can begin work as soon as possible.


• This is one of the measures the Johnson government is taking in the near future to attract professionals and experts needed in the country, as the United Kingdom prepares to leave the European Union on January 31.

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• The International Monetary Fund or IMF has said that India's high growth rate in recent years did not lead to a matching increase in formal sector jobs and labour market participation has declined.


• The IMF's report on its annual consultations with India released in Washington said that while India has lifted millions out of poverty as one of the world's fastest-growing economies, "recent labor market data suggests that unemployment is high while labor force participation has decreased, particularly for females."

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• The protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act will continue today as Yogendra Yadav to lead a march from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar around 12:30 pm.


• The BJP, on the other hand, will take out a protest in various parts of Gujarat in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.


• Peaceful protests were held across the country, with political parties, students and civil society coming together against the contentious citizenship law.


• In Delhi, the Congress held protests at Rajghat, the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi, which was attended by senior leaders of the party, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Kamal Nath.

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• A Pakistani woman, who is married to an Indian man in Jammu and Kashmir's border district Poonch, was granted Indian citizenship, officials said.


• The certificate of registration granting Indian citizenship to Khatija Praveen, wife of Mohammad Taj, was handed over to her by District Development Commissioner, Poonch, Rahul Yadav at his office, they said.

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• Jharkhand Election Results will be announced by today evening where the ruling BJP is locked in a close fight with the rival JMM-Congress combine.


• In Jharkhand elections trends at 7 pm, the Congress and the JMM have crossed the majority mark in the 81-seat assembly with 47 seats.


• The BJP is second, leading on 25 seats, JVM on three seats and AJSU on two seats. Elections were conducted for Jharkhand in five phases from November 30 to December 20.

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• Russia considers the Citizenship Amendment Act a domestic policy of India and if there are any issues it should be resolved through dialogue "without escalation", senior Russian diplomat Roman Babushkin in New Delhi said.


• Responding to a question on the CAA, Russian Deputy Chief of Mission Babushkin said: "This is a domestic policy of India and we are not interfering".

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• India has successfully test-fired its Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) system, likely to be inducted into the armed forces by 2021, from a base off Odisha coast.


• The missile, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), was flight-tested from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near Balasore at 1145 hrs, a defence statement said.

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• National Testing Agency (NTA) has released the final answer key for UGC National Eligibility Test (NET) December 2019 examination.


• The final answer key is available on the website. The answer keys for all the subjects are provided in the same document.


• The NTA concluded the UGC NET or NTA NET December 2019 exam on December 6 and released the provisional answer key on December 10.


• Candidates who appeared in the exam were allowed to submit objections, if any, on the provisional answer key.

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• The standing committee of West Bengal Cabinet approved five acres of land in New Town area for the second campus of IIM-Joka, state finance minister Amit Mitra said at the state secretariat.


• The cabinet also gave its nod for granting 14 acres land to the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) for a state-of-the-art cricket facility at Dumurjala Sports City in Howrah district, he said.

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• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) started the application process for Multi Tasking Staff (MTS) yesterday on its official website.


• DRDO had announced 1,817 MTS vacancies for anyone who has passed class 10 or has an ITI diploma. Candidates eligible for the recruitment can apply till January 23, 2020.

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• India is now in the middle of a significant economic slowdown, the International Monetary Fund has said, urging the government to take immediate policy actions to tackle the current prolonged downturn.


• In a report released on December 23, the IMF Directors observed that India's rapid economic expansion in recent years has lifted millions of people out of poverty.

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• To protect consumers interest, the Reserve Bank on December 23 said that on a peer-to-peer lending (P2P) platform the permissible exposure of a lender to all borrowers should not exceed Rs 50 lakh at any given point of time.


• "On a review, it has been decided that the aggregate exposure of a lender to all borrowers at any point of time, across all P2P platforms, shall be subject to a cap of Rs 50,00,000 provided that such investments of the lenders on P2P platforms are consistent with their net-worth," the RBI said in a notification.

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• The in-form Prithvi Shaw took another step towards an India comeback after being named in the A squad for the tour of New Zealand.


• The 20-year-old has been named in the squad for three one-day games as well as two four-day games. Shaw has been in sublime touch since returning from an eight-month doping ban last month.


• The youngster made a spectacular double hundred in Mumbai's Ranji Trophy-opener against Baroda.

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• International Cricket Council (ICC) T20I (Twenty twenty International) rankings for Women players were released.


• Spinner Radha Yadav remained in the second position in the Bowler rankings which is the highest of all category rankings by an Indian Women’s cricketer in the recently released T20I women’s rankings.

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• Virat Kohli has been named captain of Cricket Australia's Test XI of the decade. In an eleven that consists of the biggest names to have made a mark in the longest format of the game in the last 10 years, Kohli was hailed by CA for evolving into "one of the game's most respected figures over the years" apart from his prowess with the bat.


• Kohli, however, would bat lower down the order in this XI.

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• Dr Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals Group was appointed as the President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for the year 2019-20, during FICCI’s 92nd Annual Convention in New Delhi.


• She succeeds Mr Sandip Somany, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, HSIL Limited.

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• South African pacer Vernon Philander has announced that he will retire from international cricket following the Test series against England.


• The 34-year-old has taken the field for South Africa in 60 Tests, 30 ODIs and seven T20 Internationals.


• "It has been an honour and privilege to have played alongside the very best in the game," Philander said about his departure.

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• Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das tendered his resignation to Governor Draupadi Murmu after conceding defeat in the assembly elections.


• Das is trailing from the Jamshedpur (East) constituency, as per trends. He had earlier said that the result means his defeat, and not of the BJP.