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• Congress has invited US President Donald Trump to its first impeachment hearing on 4 December.


• Jerrold Nadler, the Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said Mr. Trump could either attend or "stop complaining about the process".


• If he does attend, the president would be able to question witnesses.


• It would mark the next stage in the impeachment inquiry, which centers on a July phone call between Mr. Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

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• For the first time, China has more diplomatic missions around the world than the United States, according to a study published that offered fresh evidence of Beijing's global ambitions.


• Australia's respected Lowy Institute reported that China's "rapid" rise up the rankings of diplomatic networks continued in 2019, boosted by the opening of diplomatic posts in countries that had previously recognized Taiwan.


• "With 276 posts globally, China has for the first time surpassed the United States' network by three posts," authors of the biennial Global Diplomacy Index said.

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• A proposal by the European Union to establish a "carbon border tax" will damage global efforts to take joint action on climate change, China said, urging a push back against climate "protectionism".


• The EU's new climate commissioner Frans Timmermans said in October that research would begin on the new tax, which is aimed at protecting European firms from unfair competition by raising the cost of products from countries that fail to take adequate action against climate change.


• But Europe's proposals, together with a decision by US President Donald Trump to withdraw from the 2015 Paris agreement, would seriously harm international efforts to tackle global warming, according to a Chinese report.

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• China aggressively countered new international allegations on the “brainwashing” internment camps for Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, saying there were no ethnic, religious or human rights issues in Xinjiang and the crackdown in the remote province was against “violent and terrorist crimes”.


• Beijing’s strong reaction was largely in response to possibly the largest leak of classified Chinese government documents in recent times to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) describing the repressive manual followed in camps where more than a million members of the Uyghur Muslim community are being held – many without having committed a crime.

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• There were 37.9 million people living with HIV in 2018 worldwide, up from 37.2 million in 2017, according to a new report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).


• The report also says 24.5 million infected people using antiretroviral therapy (ART) are living healthier and longer lives, indicating that there has been a drop in death rate.


• Annual new infections, which indicate whether an epidemic is growing or ebbing, reduced to 1.7 million in 2018, down from 1.8 million the year before, according to the report.

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• Pro-tem speaker Kalidas Kolambkar will administer oath to the 288 newly-elected lawmakers at a special session of the Maharashtra legislative assembly an official said.


• The special session of the assembly called by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari will begin at 8 am. Kolambkar of the BJP was appointed pro-tem speaker by Governor Koshyari.

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• Seventeen opposition parties staged their biggest show of unity since the Lok Sabha elections at the statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar at the Parliament complex to protest against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the political developments in Maharashtra, while also boycotting Constitution Day celebrations at the joint sitting of two Houses in the nearby Central Hall.

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• The government forced another 21 tax officials to retire over allegations of corruption, professional misconduct and possession of illegal cash, taking the total number of such officials to 85 since June this year, two finance ministry officials said requesting anonymity.


• This time the action has been taken against corrupt Central Board of Direct Taxation officials in the rank of income-tax officers (ITO), they said.


• “This is the fifth round of operation clean-up undertaken this year. With this, till now 85 officers, including 64 high-ranking tax officers from both Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and CBDT have been compulsorily retired under Fundamental Rule 56(J),” the first official said.

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• India has informed the US and its other friends in the UN Security Council (UNSC) about blatant attempts by Pakistan with the help of its all-weather ally China to, first, accuse Indian expats working in Afghanistan of terror crimes and then get them listed as global terrorists by the 1267 sanctions committee, diplomats and officials in intelligence agencies said.


• To date, the 1267 committee has listed 130 Pakistanis and 25 entities based in that country for their role in global terror. Following the May listing of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed’s Masood Azhar, despite Pakistan’s best efforts to prevent it, the country has been desperately trying to get back at India. Expats working on reconstruction projects in war-ravaged Afghanistan are a soft target.

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• Online registration for the entrance exam for AIIMS PhD selection begins today, as per the notice released by the institute on its website. The exam will be held on January 4.


• Applications for All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) PhD exam can be filled and submitted on or before December 16. The application submission portal would close on the last date at 5 pm.

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• Karnataka State Police (KSP) on Tuesday released the provisional answer key for Civil Police Constable (CPC) Exam 2019. KSP Civil Police Constable (Men and Women) Exam 2019 was held on 17 November.


• Candidates who had taken the examination can download their KSP Civil Police Constable Answer Key from the official website of Karnataka State Police at http://rec19.ksp-online.in/.


• The provisional answer keys are available for five series of question papers. You can also download the answer keys by clicking on the links below.

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• Railways earned Rs 139.20 crore from the sale of platform tickets in 2018-19 and Rs 78.50 crore till September this fiscal, the ministry informed the Parliament.


• Replying to a query in Lok Sabha, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said Rs 230.47 crore was earned from advertisements and shops including those on the platforms in 2018-19.

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• Indian stocks are set to rise further over the coming year, according to a Reuters poll of equity strategists, but those gains will be limited as fiscal stimulus and easy monetary policy fail to reverse an economic slowdown.


• The BSE Sensex index was forecast to rise another 6.7% to 43,645 by end of next year from Monday's close of 40,889.


• It has gained over 13% in the past two months and repeatedly set record highs after the Indian government announced several measures, including a corporate tax cut.

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• Wicketkeeper Sanju Samson has been drafted into India's squad for the three-match T20I series against the West Indies as a replacement for the injured Shikhar Dhawan, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement.


• Dhawan suffered a deep cut on his left knee during a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy game against Maharashtra, BCCI said.


• The BCCI Medical Team assessed him and suggested that he needs some more time for his stitches to come off and his wound to heal completely.

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• England paceman Jofra Archer said Wednesday he had "moved on" after being racially abused by a spectator in New Zealand and was ready to help the tourists bounce back from a heavy first Test defeat.


• Archer said his focus was on the second Test in Hamilton beginning, not the racial taunts thrown at him late in the opening match in Mount Maunganui on Monday as England were drubbed by an innings and 65 runs.

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• Kerala cadre senior IAS officer Suman Billa will join the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) at its headquarters in Madrid, Spain.


• A 1996 batch IAS officer, he will assume charge next week as Director, Technical Cooperation and Silk Road Development at D1 level at UNWTO, a specialised agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.

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• Bolivia's interim leader has appointed the country's first US ambassador in 11 years, after vowing to overturn many of ex-President Evo Morales' policies.


• The new ambassador, Walter Oscar Serrate Cuellar, used to be the country's representative to the UN.


• Mr. Morales, a socialist who led Bolivia for almost 14 years and was its first indigenous president, resigned on 10 November and fled to Mexico.

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• The boss of Australia's second-largest bank, Westpac, has stepped down after the bank became embroiled in a money-laundering scandal with alleged possible links to child exploitation.


• Chief executive Brian Hartzer will finish up next Monday.


• Westpac was sued by Australian regulators last week for an alleged 23 million breaches of counter-terrorism financing and money-laundering laws.


• Most of the offenses concerned the late reporting of overseas transactions.

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• The heavy-lift rocket PSLV-C47 carrying 14 satellites - one from India and 13 from the US - blasted off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh this morning.


• With this, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) hit a milestone of launching over 300 foreign satellites, news agency IANS reported.


• The Cartosat-3 is an agile satellite that can take high-resolution photos of the Earth. It was placed into orbit 509 km from the Earth, the ISRO said. The mission life of Cartosat-3 is five years.