The Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu asked the youth of the country to draw inspiration from the extraordinary life, work and principles of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and asked them to serve the nation with the same determination and selflessness.

In pursuance to objective of providing greater “ Ease of Doing Business” to all stakeholders, bring about greater transparency in corporate structure and fostering better Corporate compliance so as to enhance the efficiency of the processes under Companies Act ,2013 , the Ministry of Corporate Affairs ( MCA) has taken several landmark initiatives / decisions during last one year ( January-November ,2019) .

India has improved its ranking on the World Bank’s “Doing Business” 2020 report.

The seventh edition of the joint training exercise between the Indian Army and the Sri Lankan Army, Exercise Mitra Shakti concluded on 14 December at Aundh Military Station, Pune. Contingent comprising of 120 personnel each from Sri Lankan and Indian Army participated in the exercise.

The Ministry of Coal has allotted two Coking Coal mines, Rohne and Rabodih, to the Steel Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE’s). Allocated under the Coal Mines (Special Provision) Act, 2015, these mines located in Jharkhand will add about more than 10 MT per annum and boost the coking coal production in the country.

The Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu today expressed the need to make rural enterprises an attractive career choice for both urban and rural youth in India. He also called for a sensitization programme to inform the youth about the opportunitiesavailable in rural India.

This is with reference to the article published on 13th December, 2019 titled ‘Not many lessons learnt from water planning failures’ regarding Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA), a people’s movement (as acknowledged by the author) in the most water stressed blocks of India to improve their overall water availability by effectively utilising the opportunity offered by the monsoon season.

Narcotics Control Bureau’s (NCB) Delhi Zonal Unit and Operations achieved a major breakthrough in busting an International and pan-India level drug cartel and has effected the largest catch of cocaine.

Rashtrapati Bhavan hosted a conference of 46 Heads of Central Universities/Institutes of Higher Learning in the fields of agriculture; pharmaceuticals; aviation; design; footwear-design; fashion; petroleum and energy; maritime studies; planning and architecture and information technology, today (December 14, 2019).

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has paid homage to the martyrs of 2001 Parliament attack.

“Today we pay homage to the brave personnel who sacrificed their lives while protecting our Parliament.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold pre-Budget consultations with various stakeholders in New Delhi from today.

In Cricket, Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer guided West Indies to a comfortable eight-wicket win over India in the first ODI at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai last night.

Polling has begun for the fourth phase of assembly elections in Jharkhand.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today accused the Congress and its allies of raising a storm over the Citizenship Act.

China suspended additional tariffs on US products today after Washington and Beijing announced a major thaw in their trade war Friday.

In Assam, the situation has improved slightly in the state as no untoward incident has been reported during the last 48 hours.

He said Home Minister Amit Shah had already clarified that the newly Amended Act in no way takes away the rights of people from any community. Sambit Patra also slammed Congress for allegedly holding a protest outside the Indian Embassy in London over the citizenship issue. 

Flashmob protests and vandalism broke out in multiple locations. Earlier, in the afternoon, an elderly woman was knocked over in the mall after a fight broke out when a shopper tried to stop protesters from spraying graffiti. 

The skirmishes are the first to break out in three weeks. Hong Kong has been upended by six months of massive pro-democracy protests that have seen violent battles between police and hardcore demonstrators, as well as regular transport disruption. The past month had seen a lull in the violence and vandalism after pro-democracy parties won a landslide in local council elections.

Chasing a target of 288 runs set by India on a slow surface West Indies chased the target in 47.5 overs. West Indies made 291 for the loss of two wickets.

The duo shared a decisive 218-run stand for the second wicket after the fall of Sunil Ambris in the fifth over.

Earlier, India had recovered to 287 for eight after being put in to bat with Shreyas Iyer (70 off 88) scoring his third consecutive half-century and Rishabh Pant (71 off 69) returning to form to silence his critics.

The second game of the three-match series will be played in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. 

The collaborators known as Razakars colluded with the Pakistan army to engage in rape, murder and looting of Bangladeshi people who were fighting the liberation war.

Razakar was a militia force formed by the Pakistan military through an ordinance promulgated in 1971 to help the army suppress any rebellion in the country.Announcing the list in Dhaka on Sunday, Minister of Liberation War Affairs  AKM Mozammel Huq said that the names would be published on the government website soon.

He said the list of other anti-liberation war organisations like Al-Badr and Al Shams will be released later.The process for preparation of the list of Razakars was started in May this year based on the recommendation of the parliamentary standing committee of the ministry.

In 1972, the first government of Bangladesh under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had enacted a law to identify and prosecute the collaborators of Pakistan.

Based on this 37000 people were arrested as war criminals but 26,000 of them facing non-heinous charges were later released under a general amnesty given by the Sheikh Mujib government.

After the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, the act was repealed by the military government and 11,000 Razakars accused of heinous crimes like rape and murder were freed.
 

The accident occurred around 8.15 in the morning, when a bus skidded off the road and plunged around 500 meters below the road in Sunkoshi Rural Municipality area.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Kishor Kumar Dahal told our Kathmandu correspondent deceased includes 8 women, 3 men and 3 children.

He said 10 injured have been admitted in nearby hospitals while 6 others have been rushed to Kathmandu.

The ill fated bus was ferrying pilgrims from Kalinchowk temple to Bhaktapur.

A land search early Sunday failed to find any sign of the missing pair and divers returned to the sea in the afternoon amid increasing speculation both could be in the water.

Deputy police commissioner Mike Clement said there was "every chance" the bodies had been washed into the sea from the stream where they were last seen on Monday.

He added that searchers were "satisfied that the area we searched near the jetty is clear of the bodies". "The rescue teams are frustrated. We understand completely how frustrating it is for loved ones who want the bodies back," Clement said.

Forty-seven people were on the island -- a popular tourist attraction -- when the explosion happened. The death toll now stands at 18 after an Australian victim who had been repatriated to Sydney died in hospital almost a week after the deadly eruption.

Another 26 survivors remain in New Zealand and Australian hospitals, of which 20 are listed as "critical" and fighting for their lives after the eruption on the desolate island, which is the country's most active volcano.

The family of the latest victim have requested his name and age not be released. Police on Sunday named seven victims who have been officially identified including New Zealand tour guide Tipene James Te Rangi Ataahua Maangi, 24.

Four were Australians -- Zoe Ella Hosking, 15, her stepfather Gavin Brian Dallow, 53, 51-year-old Anthony James Langford and Karla Michelle Mathews, 32 -- along with Matthew Robert Hollander, 13 and Berend Lawrence Hollander, 16, who were US citizens with Australian permanent residency. Clement said although the land and sea searches had so far been unsuccessful in finding the remaining bodies, police had not given up hope. "There will come a time when we've done everything we can do, when we've done everything that's sensible but we're not there yet... we don't give up easily," he said. Scientists monitoring White Island said there had been no further significant activity since last Monday's eruption but the risk remained. A glow was visible from the vent area overnight "which confirms there is a high heat flow present," said Geoff Kilgour, a volcanologist with GNS Science, which monitors seismic and volcanic activity in New Zealand.

"This has been confirmed today by an aerial observation this morning that noted an active crater is emitting volcanic gas at a high rate and very high temperature" above 200 Celsius (392F). The disaster has raised questions about why tourists were allowed on a volcano where experts had recently raised threat levels. 

In a tweet, PM Modi said, people remain eternally inspired by his exceptional service to the nation.

Sardar Patel passed away on 15 December 1950. Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar has also paid tributes to Sardar Patel.

She was crowned by her predecessor, Miss World 2018 Vanessa Ponce from Mexico.

23 year old Singh is a Florida state university student and wanted to use her title to work for "sustainable change" for women and their children.

Meanwhile, Ophely Mezino of France and Suman Rao of India were the first and second runners up of the beauty pageant respectively.Miss World 2019 was the 69th edition of the contest and contestants from 120 countries competed for the title.

China's finance ministry has announced that it will suspend the planned addition of 10 percent and 5 percent tariffs on some US imports, and continue to suspend additional tariffs on US-made autos and spare parts.\

The move follows US President Trump's cancellation of new tariffs on Chinese products as part of a phase one trade deal.

China's commerce ministry had said it had agreed with the US a mini-deal that includes a progressive rollback of tariffs and the protection of intellectual property rights.

The two sides have yet to sign the agreement, which represents a major breakthrough in the 21-month standoff between the world's two largest economies.

Diplomats from rich nations, emerging giants and the world's poorest countries - each for their own reasons - found fault in a draft agreement put forward by host Chile in a botched attempt to strike common ground.

Faced with five-alarm warnings from science, deadly extreme weather made worse by climate change, and weekly strikes by millions of young people, negotiations in Madrid were under pressure to send a clear signal that governments were willing to double down in tackling the crisis.

But the 12-day talks, now deep into overtime, had retreated even further from this goal on Saturday.

The new prices have come into force from today. Prices of both token and poly-pack milk have been increased in a range of two to three rupees per litre.

The price of bulk vended milk or token milk has been hiked by two rupees to 42 rupees per litre.

In poly-packs, full cream milk rate has been raised by two to 55 rupees per litre.

Price of half-litre full cream milk has been hiked to 28 from 27 rupees earlier.

Toned milk price has been hiked by three rupees to 45 rupees per litre while double-toned milk will now be sold at 39 rupees per litre against the existing price of 36 rupees.

Price of cow milk to has been raised from 44 to 47 rupees per litre.

Rains and snowfall in several parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have pulled the mercury down.

Dense fog is likely to envelop Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, north Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh today.In Himachal Pradesh, following recent snowfall and heavy rains, residents and tourists have been asked to remain cautious as avalanche and landslides are likely.

Chamba Deputy Commissioner Vivek Bhatia said PWD men and machinery have been working for opening roads for traffic which were blocked after recent snowfall and rain and efforts were also on to restore power supply in affected areas.

Popular tourist destinations Shimla, Manali, Dalhousie and Kufri, witnessed overnight snowfall. Dalhousie received the highest snowfall of 60 cm in the state.

The Kashmir valley remained cut-off from the rest of the country for the third consecutive day as the Srinagar-Jammu national highway was closed. Snowfall continued in most parts of the Valley, including in the plains.

The helicopter and ropeway service at the famous cave shrine of Vaishno Devi in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir remained suspended for the second day due to inclement weather.

In Rajasthan, cold weather conditions prevailed, with Mount Abu recording the lowest minimum temperature in the state at 2.2 degrees Celsius.Rains and hailstorms in Uttar Pradesh brought the temperature down to single digit in many areas yesterday.

Shahjahanpur and Moradabad received rainfall of 9 cm each.According to the MeT Department, thunderstorm accompanied with lightning are likely at isolated places over east Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh today.

Dense fog is also likely in isolated pockets over north Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, coastal Odisha, south Assam and Meghalaya and Manipur & Mizoram in the morning hours.Heavy rains lashed several parts of Tamil Nadu in the last 24 hours, leading the Met Department to say that the state would receive its normal quota in the North East Monsoon this year.

 Area Cyclone Warning Centre Director N Puviarasan said that since October 1, the state has received 43 cm of rainfall, which was short by just one cm.

He said Tamil Nadu normally receives 44 cms of rainfall in the North-East Monsoon season.

The facility will be effective from 8 AM.The government launched the National Electronic Toll Collection System which provides for the collection of user fee through FASTag to save fuel and time, curb pollution and ensure seamless movement of traffic.

With the help of a FASTag, drivers will not have to stop their vehicles at toll plazas to pay tax.National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has equipped all fee plazas with Electronic Toll Collection System.A FASTag uses radio frequency identification technology to enable direct toll payments from a moving vehicle.

If anyone goes into an electronic toll collection lane without a FASTag, he or she has to pay double charges.

Earlier, it was decided that all lanes except one on each side in fee plazas will be declared FASTag lanes.

In a letter, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways told NHAI that at least 75% toll lanes must have to collect toll electronically and 25% ‘FASTag lane’ may be temporarily converted to hybrid lanes.

The ministry said that this temporary measure to be adopted for 30 days only to facilitate a smooth flow of traffic and avoid inconvenience to users.

15 constituencies spread over four districts of Dhanbad, Deoghar, Giridih and Bokaro will go to polls in this phase on Monday.

A total of 221 candidates, including 23 women nominees, are in the fray in the elections.

The highest number of 25 candidates will lock horns in the Bokaro seat while the least number of eight nominees will contest the Nirsa constituency.

The voting will commence at 7 am and end at 3 pm at Jamua, Bagodar, Giridih, Dumri and Tundi seats while polling will continue till 5 pm in the remaining constituencies.

15 constituencies spread over four districts of Dhanbad, Deoghar, Giridih and Bokaro will go to polls in this phase on Monday. A total of 221 candidates, including 23 women nominees, are in the fray in the elections.

The highest number of 25 candidates will lock horns in the Bokaro seat while the least number of eight nominees will contest the Nirsa constituency.

The voting will commence at 7 am and end at 3 pm at Jamua, Bagodar, Giridih, Dumri and Tundi seats while polling will continue till 5 pm in the remaining constituencies.

Meanwhile, campaigning has also geard up for the fifth and final phase of Jharkhand elections. The fifth and final phase of polling for 16 seats will be held on December 20.

Leaders of all parties are leaving no stone unturned to woo the voters.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a poll rally in Dumka on Sunday.
 

Johnson toured a leftist bastion once represented by former Labour leader Tony Blair in a bid to show his intent to unite country after years of divisions over Brexit.

The northeastern region fell to the Tories in a general election Thursday that turned into a re-run of the 2016 EU membership referendum in which Johnson championed the Brexit cause.

Johnson told cheering campaigners that he understood how difficult it was for traditional Labour voters to switch sides and back his right-wing government in Britain's biggest election in generations. "I can imagine people's pencil's hovering over the ballot paper and wavering before coming down for us and the Conservatives," he said. "And I want the people of the northeast to know that we in the Conservative party -- and I -- will repay your trust."

The working class north of England dropped its traditional support for Labour and relegated the century-old party to its worst finish since the 1930s. Johnson now commands an 80-vote majority in the 650-seat House of Commons -- a margin last enjoyed by the late Tory icon Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.

The lead assures Johnson a safe passage of his divorce deal with the European Union when he re-submits it to parliament next week. This would assure that Britain formally leaves the other 27 EU nations by the January 31 deadline set by Brussels. The sides would then set off on the tricky task of trying to reach a brand new comprehensive trade agreement by the end of 2020.

Failure to meet that deadline -- which Johnson has repeatedly vowed not to extend -- would have unknown repercussions for global markets and economic growth. But Johnson said his government's main focus after the first stage of Brexit was completed would be on bread-and-butter issues important to Labour voters.

"It is getting Brexit done but it is also delivering on our National Health Service, our education, safer streets, better hospitals, a better future for our country," he said. "We are going to recover our national self-confidence, our mojo, our self-belief." 

Mr. Rijiju said,  clean sports is the agenda of the government and players must adopt fair practices to achieve success and not resort to foul means like doping which brings bad name to the country. He said, it is imperative for sportspersons to stay fit in order to win and they should achieve fitness through regular exercises, yoga and by taking nutritious diet.

The Minister said, Fit India Movement was launched to create awareness about the importance of being fit in daily life through sports, yoga and walks or any other physical activity.

Actor Sunil Shetty stressed on the use of naturopathy, ayurveda and yoga to achieve fitness. He said, there is no shortcut to success. Shetty said, India is so rich that it has everything to give people a healthy life. Director General, NADA Naveen Aggarwal said that India is fast becoming a sporting nation and the agency is committed to make players aware of the menace of doping which destroys promising careers in no time. 

A large number of people thronged markets in Guwahati to buy necessary food items. However, educational institutes remain closed in Guwahati and other places.

There has been no report of any violent incident in the state during the last 36 hours. Security forces are maintaining a strict vigil across the state to avoid any untoward incident.

The West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has urged people to maintain peace and warned that strict action will be taken against those indulging in violence.

Ms. Banerjee urged the citizens of the state not to take up law in their own hands and also requested not to put up a blockade on roads and rail tracks which creates trouble for the common people.

She also warned strong action for damaging government properties besides re-iterating that Amended Citizenship Act and the proposed countrywide NRC will not take effect in the state.

Our Kolkata correspondent reports that agitations are continuing at different parts of the state protesting amended Citizenship act.

Agitators set up road and rail track blockade at different areas and ransacked the Station Manager’s room at Sankrail in Howrah District.

A number of buses were also set on fire. Due to blockade on rail tracks by the agitators, a number of trains have been cancelled or re-scheduled. All Police Stations in the State have been put on high in view of the continuing protests.
 

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Sushil Modi participated in the meeting.

Several Union Ministers including Prakash Jawdekar, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Dr. Harshvardhan, RK Singh, Prahlad Patel, Mansukh Mandavia, Hardeep Singh Puri and concerned officers of Central and State Governments were also present in the meeting.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Modi reviewed the progress of work done and gave some suggestions for cleaning the Ganga river. Giving more information about the meeting Environment Minister Prakash Javdekar said that the Prime Minister also suggested innovative ideas to clean river Ganga.

He said that under the leadership of PM Modi cleaning of the rivers of the country will be completed very soon and the process will take lesser time than it took in Europe.

He added that the flow of industrial effluent has been reduced and afforestation work and sewage treatment plants costing more than 28 thousand crores are being done for rejuvenation of the river. Prime Minister also visited the exhibition on Namami Gange Mission showcasing the work done for the cleanliness of River Ganga before the meeting.

Show runners David Benioff and DB Weiss have been under fire for below par script writing and poor portrayal of women in the final season of the epic fantasy HBO series, based on author George RR Martin's book series "A Song of Ice and Fire".

In an interview, the 50-year-old actor said he understands that people love the character, played by Emilia Clarke, but said the show's plotline was throughout hinting to where Daenerys was heading.

"Well, everybody's always going to have an opinion, and that means an ownership. It's like breaking up with somebody. They get upset. I can't speak for everybody, but my feeling is they didn't want it to end, so a lot of people got angry. I feel like what Dave and Dan did was extraordinary.

"This happens. Monsters are created. And you don't see it coming. We vote them into office. You look the other way. So for everybody to get upset because they loved a character so much and they had so much faith in that person, there were signposts all along the way for that character," Dinklage said.

He said Daenerys' transformation, from a righteous leader to a powerful autocrat, was "happening all along".

"I can't help you! I'm sorry. She went mad. She was driven to that, and she's a victim as well in terms of how she was treated. She went through it, and she came out angry, as a lot of us do," Dinklage added.

The meeting was aimed at reviewing the progress of the Namami Gange project. Namami Gange Programme' is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved in June 2014 with budget outlay of Rs. 20,000 crore to accomplish the twin objectives of effective pollution control and conservation and rejuvenation of River Ganga.

Apart from holding the meeting, PM Modi also visited Atal Ghat. Earlier, after his arrival in Kanpur, Prime Minister headed to Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture & Technology and paid floral tribute to the great Indian freedom fighter Chandrashekhar Azad.

After that, Prime Minister also took a tour of an exhibition at the university. The exhibition displayed various aspects of Namami Gange project. Under Namami Gange programme, 63 sewerage management projects are under implementation in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. While, 12 new sewerage management projects have also been launched in these states.

Besides, 28 river-front development projects and 33 entry level projects for construction, modernization and renovation of 182 Ghats and 118 crematoria, have also been initiated.

It will come into effect from the first of next month. For a better reflection of current performances, the new ranking will be match-based instead of tournament-based calculation.

The world body governing hockey said that the new model removes much of the subjectivity surrounding continental weighing by creating a system which is fair to all.

The outgoing world ranking system was in existence since 2003. It was originally devised to allocate teams into pools at tournaments.

The old model allowed nations to earn ranking points two to three times per year.

Seasoned pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been ruled out of the upcoming three match ODI series against West Indies due to an injury. Bhuvneshwar picked up the injury during the preceding T20I series, which India won 2-1 earlier this week.

Mumbai pacer Shardul Thakur is named as Bhuvneshwar's replacement in India's ODI squad. Shardul recently shone with the bat for Mumbai, slamming a quick-fire 64 for Baroda in their Ranji Trophy Round 1 match. However, the pacer picked up only 1 wicket during their massive win.

Speaking at a news conference, senior Chinese government officials said that Beijing has decided to cancel an earlier plan to impose additional tariffs on U.S. imports on December 15.

China's vice commerce minister said at a briefing in Beijing that, the United States has promised to cancel some tariffs on a phased basis.

Chinese officials offered no specific details on the amount of U.S. agricultural goods Beijing had agreed to buy. This was a key sticking point in recent deal negotiations to end the 17-month trade war between the world's two largest economies.

The U.S. has agreed to suspend tariffs on 160 billion US dollars in Chinese goods due to go into effect on December 15, and cut some existing tariffs to 7.5%.

China says they agree with U.S. on phase one of trade deal. China, US agree on text of phase one trade deal to end trade war.

Normalcy has resumed in the state of Assam after protests that erupted in the wake of passage of Citizenship Amendment Bill in Parliament. Although the curfew has officially not been removed in Guwahati, the residents have resumed back to their day to day routines. There have been peaceful protests at a few places and curfew had been relaxed in Dibrugarh district.

Assam DGP, Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta clarified that strict action will be taken against people taking over law and order in their hands. He also mentioned that no action will be taken against people protesting in a peaceful manner in the state. Meanwhile in the Silchar city of Assam people have welcomed the Citizenship Amendment Bill.