Source: Cick Here

• The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said, An earthquake of 7.2 magnitude struck off the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on 29th December 2018, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.


• The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a tsunami threat existed for parts of the Pacific “closer to the earthquake” but there was no tsunami threat to the U.S. state of Hawaii.

Source: Cick Here

• The world’s largest rice market, China, finally opened for US imports, its national customs body announced. The move comes as the World’s two largest economies are set to hold negotiations amid the trade war ceasefire.


• Chinese customs said the American rice was cleared for import after going through the required food safety check.


• The amount of rice Beijing is going to receive from the US was not immediately clear, while China already imports the cereal mostly from Asian countries, including its top exporters Vietnam and Thailand, to fulfill its growing demand.

Source: Cick Here

• In order to address the country’s current account deficit, Nepal imposed a monthly limit on the amount of Indian currency its citizen can spend in India while paying for goods and services.


• With the approval of new restrictions a Nepali citizen would be unable to spend more than ₹1 lakh per month while paying for goods and services in India.


• The policy which came into effect from 25th December 2018 will also be applicable to use of prepaid, credit and debit cards of Nepali banks for purchasing done in Indian Markets. However, the latest measure would exempt payment in hospitals and pharmacies in India.


• The decision was taken to deal with the growing problem of current account deficit and the balance of payment crisis between India and Nepal.


• Nepal continues to deal with the after-effects of the demonetisation by India. Nepal is yet holding huge amount of Indian currency that has not been exchanged so far by Delhi, so the latest moves were also aimed at assuring the domestic market that Nepal would remain secure in case India repeated demonetisation in the future.


• On 14th December 2018, Nepal government had formally banned the use of Indian currency notes of Rs 2,000, Rs 500 and Rs 200 denominations in Nepal.

Source: Cick Here

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved the following.


• Cabinet approved hike in MSP for Copra by more than Rs.2000 per quintal for 2019 season.


• Cabinet approved listing of 7 unlisted CPSEs on Stock Exchange.


• Cabinet approved Indian Human Spaceflight Initiative: Gaganyaan Programme; first phase to cost Rs. 9023 crores.


• Cabinet approved Amendment in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.


• Cabinet approved the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification 2018.


• Cabinet approved setting up of the National Commission for Homeopathy Bill, 2018.


• Cabinet approved setting up of the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCIM) Bill, 2018.


• Cabinet approved Submission of India’s Second Biennial Update Report (BUR) to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).


• Cabinet apprised of two Bilateral MoUs between India and Cuba, and India and South Korea in the area of Biotechnology.


• Cabinet approved Framework Agreement between India and Sao Tome & Principe for Cooperation in the Exploration and Uses of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes.

Source: Cick Here

• Shri Nitin Gadkari, the current Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Road Transport & Highways and Shipping laid foundation stones for eleven projects for Yamuna Rejuvenation under the Namami Gange Programme in New Delhi.


• Under the Namami Gange Programme which has been initiated by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), a total of eleven projects have been undertaken to conserve the River Yamuna in Delhi.


• These projects are being covered by the Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) III which were launched by the Government of India with JICA assistance in Delhi and are located in three drainage zones which are Kondli, Rithala and Okhla.


• The executing agency for the projects is the Delhi Jal Board.


• Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Environment and Forest and Mr. Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi were also present at the occasion. Eight sewerage infrastructure projects, Waste Water Treatment Plants and Decentralized STPs comes under YAP-III.

Source: Cick Here

• The Government has banned the Khalistan Liberation Force under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, for its wholesome involvement in various killings, bombings and other allied terror activities, in the course of its aggressive call for the aimed secession of Punjab.


• The verdict has been given effect to owing to the efforts by several militant organizations for revival of militancy in the state of Punjab.


• The complete ban on Khalistan Liberation Force(KLF) has been brought into effect because of its proven contribution towards the increment in the number of events for extortion, kidnappings, bank robberies and assassination attempts of significant Government functionaries.

Source: Cick Here

• The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, amended the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 to mandate fitting of high security registration plates (HSRP) for all vehicles from April 1,2019.


• The official notification mandates that the high security registration plate including the third registration mark shall be supplied by the vehicle manufacturers along with the vehicles manufactured on or after April 1, 2019.


• The vehicle dealers can also provide the HSRP plates for old vehicles.


• The HSRP helps in keeping track of the vehicle, and makes it easier to trace a lost or stolen vehicle.

Source: Cick Here

• Governor of Manipur, Dr. Najma A. Heptulla inaugurated the 5-day long 42nd Indian Social Science Congress at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) campus in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.


• To promote research in science and social sciences to reach the grassroot level.
The event was organised by: KIIT and Indian Social Science Academy (ISSA).

• The theme of the conference is “Human Future in Digital Era.”


• The previous conference, the 41st Indian Social Science Congress was held in Periyar University in Tamil Nadu, with the focal theme of “Indian University Education System: A Critical Appraisal”.

Source: Cick Here

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has relaxed the norms for the Mumbai-based the City Co-operative Bank, allowing its depositors to withdraw a sum not exceeding Rs 5,000 of the total balance in every savings bank or current account or any other deposit account, against Rs 1,000 earlier.


• Earlier in April this year, the RBI had imposed several restrictions on the cooperative bank, including limiting the withdrawal by depositors to Rs 1,000 amid weakening of the financial position of the bank.


• The RBI had relaxed the said norm with the condition that- wherever any depositor is having liability to the bank in any manner, i.e. either as a borrower or surety, including loans against the bank deposits, the amount may be adjusted first to the relevant borrowal account/s.


• The central bank has said that the modification in the directive “should not per-se be construed” to imply that it is satisfied about an improvement in the financial position of the bank.

Source: Cick Here

• The Union Government decided to infuse Rs 2,159 crore in the State-owned United Bank of India asa part of Rs 28,615 crore capital infusion to be done in seven public sector banks via recapitalisation bonds in near future.


• In 2018-19, the centre had announced an infusion worth Rs 65,000 crore in PSBs, out of which Rs 23,000 crore had been cleared already, while Rs 42,000 crore is still remaining.


• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley earlier this month, said the government would put an additional Rs 41,000 crore in PSBs over and above what was announced earlier and on December 20, the government sought Parliament’s approval for infusion of an additional Rs 41,000 crore.


• The recapitalisation would enhance the lending capacity of PSBs and help them come out of the Reserve Bank of India‘s Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework.


• Eleven out of the total 21 PSBs are under the RBI’s PCA framework, which imposes lending restrictions on weak banks.

Source: Cick Here

• According to Bloomberg data, Deepak Parekh-led HDFC group overtook Tata Group become the country’s largest conglomerate in terms of market capitalisation.


• The total market capitalization (MACP) of the group’s five listed companies is currently valued at Rs 10.40 lakh crore, which is Rs 1,185 crore more than that of Tata Group.


• HDFC Bank, a part of the group, is only the third company in Indian corporate history to cross the Rs 5-lakh crore market capitalisation threshold, after TCS (Rs 7.16 trillion) and RIL (Rs 7.09 trillion).


• Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance group is third in market cap ranking at Rs 7.06 lakh crore.

Source: Cick Here

• Indian Cricket team Captain, Virat Kohli surpassed former India’s Captain Rahul Dravid’s 16 years record of highest runs in overseas Tests after playing a knock of 82 runs on the second day of 3rd Test against Australia.


• Rahul Dravid had scored 1137 runs in Overseas Tests in 2002 which was broken by Virat Kohli who had scored 1138 runs in 2018.

Source: Cick Here

• Croatia’s captain and Spanish club Real Madrid’s midfielder Luka Modric was named the Balkan Athlete of the year beating Men’s tennis world number one player Novak Djokovic. The poll to name Balkan Athlete of the year was organized by the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).


• Serbian player Novak Djokovik got second position whereas women’s number one tennis Romania’s Simona Halep got third position in the Balkan’s poll.


• Luka Modric lead Croatia to the FIFA World cup final and bagged player of the tournament for the FIFA 2018 organized in Russia.


• Modrik had also won the prestigious men’s Ballon d’Or award for the first time in December 2018.

Source: Cick Here

• Former President of United States of America (USA), Barack Obama has been named as the most admired man by Americans for the 11th year in a row according to a gallup poll. Present President of USA, Donald trumps ranked 2nd for the fourth consecutive year.


• Former First Lady of USA Michelle Obama was also voted as the most admired women by American.


• Hillary Clinton missed the top of the list for the list time in 17 years.

Source: Cick Here

• Honorable President Ram Nath Kovind appointed Justice Chagari Praveen Kumar as the fresh acting Chief Justice of Andhra High Court. He would assume the charge on January 01, 2019.


• Upon the requirement of creation of a new High Court for Andhra Pradesh in the state capital of Amravati, Mr. Praveen Kumar was hired for the new position.


• Under the provisions of Article 223 of the Constitution of India, President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed Justice Chagari Praveen Kumar, in order to discharge the designated duties of the office of Chief Justice of Andhra High Court.

Source: Cick Here

• with respect to the order issued by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ambika Prasad Panda has been given the opportunity of discharging the duties of Chairman and Managing Director of South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL).


• Mr. Panda is holding the position of Director(Finance) in SECL, as of now.


• The appointment of CMD of SECL has been done for a duration of five years.

Source: Cick Here

• China successfully tested Russia’s S-400 missile air defence system.


• It received the last shipments of the weaponry from Russia in July under a USD 3 billion contract signed in 2015.


• China was the first foreign buyer to seal a government-to-government deal with Russia in 2014 to procure the S-400 missile.


• It has a supersonic speed of 3 kilometre per second.

Source: Cick Here

• Russian President Vladimir Putin over saw the successful test of a new hypersonic missile dubbed “Avangard”, with speeds of more than 30,000 kilometres per hour in Moscow.


• The system would be ready for use from 2019.


• It has the ability to fly at 20 times the speed of sound and could manoeuvre up and down, meaning it could breach defence systems.

Source: Cick Here

• The United States' oldest known WW2 military veteran, who was also thought to be the country's oldest man, has died in Texas at the age of 112.


• Richard Overton served in an all-black army unit for three years and was involved in combat operations and beach landings in the Pacific during the war.


• He was honoured on Veterans Day in 2013 by President Barack Obama.