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General appointed first Chief of Defence Staff

• Army Chief Bipin Rawat has been appointed as the country's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) who is set to retire Army Chief on 31st December 2019. • CDS will function as a single-point advisor to the government on matters related to the military and will focus on the better synergy between the Army, Air Force, and the Navy. • The defence ministry had recently amended the army, air force and navy rules by bringing in a new clause that allows the Chief of Defence Staff to serve up to a maximum age of 65 years. • Recently in a landmark decision, the Union Cabinet had given its approval to create the post of Chief of Defence Staff in the rank of a four-star General with salary and perquisites equivalent to a Service Chief. • The Chief of Defence Staff will also head the Department of Military Affairs (DMA), to be created within the Ministry of Defence and function as its Secretary. • The Chief of Defence Staff, apart from being the head of the Department of Military Affairs, will also be the Permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee. He will act as the Principal Military Adviser to Defence Minister on all tri-Services matters. Source: News on AIR

General Mukund Naravane takes charge as new Army chief

• On 31st December 2019, General Manoj Mukund Naravane took over as the 28th Chief of Army Staff. • He will helm the 1.3 million-strong force at a time faces evolving security challenges such as cross-border terrorism and an assertive Chinese military along the border. • Gen Naravane will succeed Gen Bipin Rawat, who is appointed the country's first Chief of Defence Staff. • Gen Naravane, the alumnus of the National Defence Academy and the headed the Army's that takes care of India's nearly 4,000-km border with China. • In his 37 years of service, Gen Naravane served in numerous command and staff appointments in peace, field and highly active counter-insurgency environments in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast. Note: • Gen Naravane was commissioned into the 7th , the Regiment in June 1980.

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• He has been awarded the '' (Distinguished) for effectively commanding his battalion in Jammu and Kashmir. • He is also a recipient of the '' for his services as the Inspector General (North) in and the '' for commanding of a prestigious strike corps.

To ease of doing business at airports Biometric enabled CACS & e- BCAS Project launched

• On December 30th, 2019, Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (I/C) for Civil Aviation launched the Biometric enabled Centralised Access Control System (CACS) and ‘e-BCAS Project Training Module in . • These e-Governance initiatives are in the direction of enhancing the security system and ease of doing business at airports. • Covering 43 Airports of AAI and 5 Joint Venture airports at present, the CACS project is aimed to digitize the employee movement process at the airports. • This is a multi-layered security system that encompasses the uniqueness of the Airport Entry Permit (AEP) users, biometric authentication in addition to PIN-based identity verification through contactless smart card technology. • The objective of the project ‘e-BCAS is to help more than 1.5 lac employees of various stakeholders by migrating from manual process of training to a digital platform. • The objective of the e-BCAS project is to make all the activities in the BCAS transparent, user-friendly, and efficient and above all, the project intends to provide an ease of doing business with the stakeholders. Source: PIB Committees and Commissions

GoM constituted to expedite revival plan of BSNL and MTNL

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• The government of India has constituted a seven-member Group of Ministers (GoM) to expedite and oversee the implementation of the Rs 69,000 crore the revival plan of state- owned telecom corporations BSNL and MTNL. • The high-level group will expedite the smooth implementation of recent decisions taken on the revival of BSNL and MTNL that includes crucial elements like allocation of 4G spectrum and asset monetization. • The GoM includes Defence Minister , IT and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. • In October 2019, the government had approved a Rs 69,000 crore revival package for BSNL and MTNL that includes merging the two loss-making firms, monetizing their assets and giving VRS to employees so that the combined entity turns profitable in two years. Source: Economic Times

MOSPI constitutes a committee on economic statistics headed by Pronab Sen

• The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has set up a single standing committee on economic statistics (SCES). • This committee is to develop methodologies in conducting surveys on industry, services sector and employment in place of multiple panels on these issues. • The committee will consist of 27 members which will be headed by India’s first chief statistician Pronab Sen. • The first meeting of the SCES is scheduled on January 6, 2020. Note: • The single standing committee will subsume the four standing committees viz. 1. Standing Committee on Labour Force Statistics (SCLFS), 2. Standing Committee on Services Sector (SCSS), 3. Standing Committee on Industrial Statistics (SCIS) and 4. Standing Committee on Services Sector and Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (SCSSUSE). • The committee has been set up at a time when the credibility and independence of India’s official statistics have been doubted on various grounds, including the gross domestic product (GDP) growth numbers and methodology, employment and expenditure surveys. Banking and Economy

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Nirmala Sitharaman unveils ₹102 lakh crore national infrastructure plan

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced 102 lakh crore for the National Infrastructure Pipeline. • India plans to invest about ₹102 lakh crore in the infrastructure sector in the next five years to achieve the GDP target of $5 trillion by 2024-25. • The finance ministry admitted that the availability of quality infrastructure is a pre-requisite to achieve broad-based and inclusive growth on a sustainable basis. • Earlier in September, the government had set up a task force headed by Economic Affairs Secretary to prepare a road map for the "national infrastructure pipeline" from 2019-20 to 2024-25 under the ₹100 lakh crore infra plan. • The task force was planning a list of 10 infrastructure projects including greenfield and brownfield projects costing above ₹100 crores each. Source: LiveMint

HDFC Life ties up with Paytm to expand its distribution

• HDFC Life Insurance has partnered with Paytm to enable customers of Paytm to purchase insurance products from HDFC Life. • HDFC Life has been doing strategic partnerships and tie-ups across industries to have a wider reach. • HDFC Life insurance constantly exploring opportunities to create and sustain new partnerships to strengthen our distribution network.

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• And tie-up with Paytm enables the life insurer to reach out to the vast customer base of Paytm and secure them financially. • Paytm has approximately 450 million registered users which are potential customers for HDFC Life Insurance. Source: Economic Times

Sitharaman launches common e-auction platform for assets attached by banks

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has launched an eBkray, an online platform to increase the transparency in auctioning of assets attached by banks. • The platform is equipped with property search features and navigational links to all PSB e- auction sites, provides single-window access to information on properties up for e-auction as well as a facility for comparison of similar properties, and also contains photographs and videos of uploaded properties. • As of 27 December, a total of 35,000 properties were uploaded on the platform by Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and PSBs have attached assets worth over ₹2.3 lakh crore in the last three fiscal years. Source: Live Mint

11-day long ‘Dhanu Jatra’ begins in Odisha

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• On 31st December 2019 the famous 11-day long ‘Dhanu Jatra’, has begun in Odisha. • This is considered the largest open-air theatre in the world. begins at Bargarh in western Odisha today. • The Jatra is based on the mythological story of Lord Krishna and his demon uncle King Kansa. • It is about the episode of Krishna and Balaram's visit to Mathura to witness the Dhanu ceremony organized by their (maternal) uncle King Kansa. Sports

Australia fast bowler Peter Siddle announces retirement from international cricket

• Australia fast bowler Peter Siddle has announced his retirement from international cricket. In his 11 years career, he played 67 test matches and took 221 wickets in it. • He started his International Cricket career against India in 2008. • Siddle will continue to play domestic cricket for Victoria state and Twenty20 side Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League, along with English county cricket for Essex. Source: India Today

Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah in Wisden’s T20I team of the decade

• India skipper Virat Kohli and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah were the only two Indians who found a place in Wisden’s T20 International team of the decade. • Australia’s Aaron Finch was named captain of the team, which has two more Australian in Shane Watson and Glenn Maxwell. • England’s Jos Buttler and David Willey, Afghanistan all-rounders —Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan, and New Zealand’s Colin Munro and ’s Lasith Malinga are included in the team. Source: The Hindu >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 'Thought of the day' "Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and think of what could go right."

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