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• A US judge dismissed a 2016 lawsuit which alleged Google violated Illinois state law by using Facial recognition technology through Google Photos to collect users' biometric data without their permission.


• The judge supported the dismissal citing a lack of "concrete injuries".


• Illinois state law requires companies to obtain explicit permission from people to make biometric scans of their bodies.

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• Kolkata-based startup Globsyn 3rd. Life has created a tool, which the startup claims can stop financial frauds.


• The tool, Notiva Prime, acts as a link between Domestic banking software and global messaging system SWIFT used by financial institutions to securely transmit instructions in code language.


• The tool checks all messages for inconsistencies and alerts banks in real-time.

Source: Cick Here

• Prime Minister of Bhutan, His Excellency Lyonchhen Dr. Lotay Tshering concluded his 3-day visit to India. His visit commenced from December 27, 2018.


• This was also the Golden Jubilee year of the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between India and Bhutan.


• Government of India’s development assistance package for Bhutan’s 12th Five Year Plan for the period 1 November 2018 to 31 October 2023.

Source: Cick Here

• The Ministry of Women and Child Development in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs has approved the proposals of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh for implementation of Mahila Police Volunteer Scheme (MPVs).


• The scheme envisages the engagement of Mahila Police Volunteers (MPVs) as a link between police and community and help women in distress with one MPV engaged per Gram Panchayat across the country.


• Under the scheme, the Mahila Police volunteer is required to mobilize community to form Mahila and Shishu Rakshak Dals (MASRD) to act as community watch groups.


• The MPV would be given a monthly honorarium of Rs 1,000.


• The first state to adopt the initiative was Haryana in which the scheme was started at Karnal and Mahindergarh District on a pilot basis under Nirbhaya Fund during the financial year 2016-2017.


• The MPV are selected through a laid out procedure from among the empowered, responsible, socially aware women who will facilitate police outreach on gender concerns and the guidelines for operationalizing of MPVs were finalized in consultation with Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D).

Source: Cick Here

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Varanasi and Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh for one day.


• He Released a commemorative postage stamp on Rajbhar community icon Maharaja Suheldev. He also laid the foundation stone of a Medical College in Ghazipur.


• He dedicated the 6th International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) South Asia Regional Centre campus in Varanasi to the nation. He also announced the System for Authority and Management of Pension (SAMPANN) software which is developed to ease the problems of pensioners.

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• A senior official said The Railways has devised a first-of-its-kind policy to allow companies to advertise on trains in exchange for their goods and services for passengers.


• Items like soaps, dispensers and bedrolls can be offered by companies. "Lakhs of passengers travel by train [every day].

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• Opposition leader Sharad Yadav on Sunday said PM Narendra Modi-led government's only agenda was to defame one family.


• He added that the BJP government is portraying that the country made no progress after independence.


• Remark came after the ED told a Delhi court hearing the Agusta West land VVIP chopper case that middleman Christian Michel was misusing legal access.

Source: Cick Here

• The financial Services Secretary, Rajiv Kumar said that the Provision Coverage Ratio (PCR) of Public sector bank has gone up from 46.04 per cent as of March 2015 to 66.85 per cent as of September 2018, reflecting improvement in their financial health.


• The provision coverage ratio (PCR) gives an indication of the provision made against bad loans from the profit generated. Higher the PCR, lower is the unexposed part of the bad debts.


• He also said that Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of public sector banks (PSBs) have declined by Rs 23,860 crore in the first half of the current financial year from a peak of Rs 9.62 lakh crore in March 2018.


• The consistent rise in PCR also indicates the adoption of discipline for making adequate provisions for NPAs besides giving banks cushion to absorb losses.


• The decrease in PCR has been achieved while being compliant with capital requirement norms.

Source: Cick Here

• The state-owned Bank of India said that the government has decided to infuse Rs 10,086 crore in the bank as part of Rs 28,615 crore capital infusion to be done in about half a dozen public sector lenders.


• The capital infusion in the Bank of India’s equity will be done by way of preferential allotment of shares.


• The government has decided to pump Rs 28,615 crore into seven public sector banks (PSBs) through recapitalisation bonds in order to enhance the lending capacity of PSBs and help them come out of the Reserve Bank of India’s Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework.


• Currently there are 11 PSBs under the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework that restricts them from lending to high credit risk categories, in turn preventing the growth of their loan books.


• Earlier the government had announced an infusion of Rs 65,000 crore in PSBs in 2018-19, of which Rs 23,000 crore has already been disbursed, while Rs 42,000 crore is remaining.


• Besides this 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.

Source: Cick Here

• According to RBI report titled ‘Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2017-18’, banks have recovered stressed assets helped by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and amendments in the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interests (SARFAESI) Act.


• In the fiscal ended March 2018, banks recovered Rs 40,400 crore worth of bad loans as against Rs 38,500 crore recovered in FY17.


• The recovery was possible through various channels of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), SARFAESI Act, debt recovery tribunals (DRTs) and Lok Adalats.

Source: Cick Here

• Manchester City thrashed Southampton 3-1 to return to winning ways after having endured back-to-back defeats before this match.


• Chelsea also registered a win after beating Crystal Palace 1-0 on Sunday. With the win, Manchester City have climbed back to the second place in the EPL table, with Liverpool seven points ahead of them.

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• After Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah was named Man of the Match in the Melbourne Test for taking nine wickets, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin termed him as "our very own Malcolm M".


• "Not an easy place to come and win every test win here needs to be cherished like there is no tomorrow," tweeted Ashwin. Notably, India defeated Australia by 137 runs.

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• A 17-year old Indian-American teenager, Mahum Siddiqi has won the inaugural “Digital Transformation Hackathon” at Cornell University, New York (USA) for designing a device which can detect the actual level of pain of a patient during a diagnosis.


• The Device uses the neurological activity occurring in one’s brain to help doctors determine the patient’s pain level effectively and efficiently.


• Mahum Siddiqi, a class 12 student at Vestal High School is the only non-graduate student competing at the hackathon.

Source: Cick Here

• The Keonjhar Police, Odisha, in collaboration with India Post has issued 10 postage stamps, each featuring the Ashok Chakra Awardees from Police Department (State Police and Central police) across the country, under the “My Stamp” scheme.


• The stamps which are of Rs 5.00 denomination and have the background picture of Sun Temple, Konark, recognizes the acts of valour by khaki-clad personnel.


• “Ashok Chakra”, which is India’s highest peacetime gallantry medal with 84 awardees till date is equivalent to “Param-Veer Chakra“.


• Most of the “Ashok Chakra” medallists are defence personnel and few civilian. Out of this, only 10 are police personnel.

Source: Cick Here

• Swachh Surveksahan 2018 award for Best Capital City in the Solid Waste Management was conferred to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).


• It also ranked 27th in the list of 4041 cities in the Swachh Surveksahan Rankings.


• This edition of the survey was conducted by a third-party agency, Karvy Group appointed by MoHUA.

Source: Cick Here

• Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India announced that Mr. Y.K. Sailas Thangal who is the ambassador of the India to the Republic of Cote d’ Ivoire has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Liberia with residence in Abidjan.


• Y. K. Thangal, IFS Officer of 1996 batch was appointed as the Ambassador of India to Republic of Cote d’ Ivoire on 14th September 2018.


• India is represented in Liberia through its embassy in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) and an active honorary consulate in Capital of Liberia, Monrovia since 1984.

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• The country's Election Commission said Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina has secured her third consecutive term, with her alliance winning 287 of the 298 seats for which results have been declared for the 300-strong parliament.


• The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which boycotted the 2014 poll, has won just six seats in the general election held on 30th December 2018.

Source: Cick Here

• The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India has released a booklet titled “A Handbook for Students on cyber Safety” to inform the school children about the different aspects of cyber safety.


• The booklet aims to create awareness among citizens especially students about cyber threats and provides details about the various safeguards that can be adopted by the children in order to protect themselves from cyber grooming.


• The booklet also deals with the problem of cyber bullying, identity theft, cyber grooming, email fraud & job fraud and guides the citizens about the various safeguards to avoid such threats.

Source: Cick Here

• The book titled “Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From” written by Tony Joseph, was released.


• It talks about the migration of the First Indians also known as ‘Aryans’ who arrived here 65,000 years ago.

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• Legendary filmmaker and Phalke awardee, Mrinal Sen, passed away at 95 in Kolkata.


• He was a National Award-winning director and recipient of Padma Bhusan award.


• He has also been conferred with Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2003.


• He was a contemporary to famous directors like Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak.


• Mrinal Sen made his first feature film, Raat Bhore, in 1955.