1. Assam Government recently announced to launch the ‘Arundhati Swarna Yojana’ on January 1, 2020. Under the Yojana, the state government will award a fixed amount to a beneficiary bride to buy 10 grams gold during her marriage, only if the marriage is registered.
2. Air quality experts from the University of Manchester have joined hands with Indian Ministry of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and Indian Institute of Technology-Madras to tackle Delhi’s air pollution.
3. The State Law Commission of Uttar Pradesh has submitted a draft report to the government. As per the draft, seven years of jail term has been recommended for marrying for conversion. It is said in the draft that if someone had adopted another religion but he wants to return to his old religion again, he can. It will not be considered as forceful conversion.
4. India is at the seventh place in the list of 10 countries affected by terrorism. The list released by Forbes said that 350 people died and 540 were injured in 748 terror attacks in the year 2018.
5. Kerala State Cabinet recently announced to ban the sale and storage of single-use plastic items from January 1, 2020. These single-use plastic items would be plastic bags, plastic sheets, disposable plastic plates & cups and thermocol.
6. USA approved sale of 13 MK45 Naval guns to India at an estimated cost of USD 1.0210 billion. MK-45 Gun System will enable the Indian Navy to carry out anti-air defence missions and anti-surface warfare.
7. Tuvalu, a tiny South Pacific nation has rejected China’s offer to build artificial islands and decided to retain its ties with Taiwan. Several Chinese firms had offered to build artificial islands to help the nation deal with rising sea levels, which the nation turned down calling them as attempts to reduce Taiwan’s influence in the region.
8. Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu has been charged with corruption in three separate cases relating to bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Netanyahu is alleged to have received gifts from wealthy businessmen.
9. India played its first-ever pink ball test match on November 22, 2019 against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
10. The Rajya Sabha has sought modifications in certain provisions of the Surrogacy Regulation Bill that propose a 5-year waiting period and allow only close relatives to be the surrogate mother. The bill has been referred to a select committee.
