GENERAL BIPIN RAWAT NAMED INDIA'S FIRST CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF Outgoing Army chief General Bipin Rawat has been appointed the country's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), effective December 31. Rawat will retire as the Chief of Army Staff on the same day. As CDS, Rawat will have salary and perquisites at par with the three services chiefs and will head the newly created Department of Military Affairs in the Ministry of Defence and function as its Secretary. The decision comes a week after the Union Cabinet on December 24 approved the creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) as the principal military adviser to the government. The CDS will not exercise any military command, including over the three services chiefs, so as to be able to provide impartial advice to the political leadership. The four-star rank, however, will be responsible for achieving "jointness in operation, logistics, transport, training, support services, communications, repairs and maintenance of the three services" within three years of assuming office. The CDS will also bring about reforms in the functioning of three services aimed at augmenting combat capabilities of the Armed Forces by reducing wasteful expenditure, while ensuring optimal utilisation of infrastructure and rationalising it through jointness among the services. On Saturday, the Centre notified the retirement age for the newly created post as 65 years, which will be three years more than the retirement age of the three service chiefs. With Rawat joining the new post, Vice Chief of the Army, Lieutenant General Manoj Mukund Naravane is set to replace him as the Army chief. He will serve till April 2022, when he turns 62. HINDUISM DOES NOT ADVOCATE VIOLENCE OR "REVENGE": PRIYANKA TO ADITYANATH Lashing out at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the police crackdown on anti-CAA protesters which has resulted in the death of 19 people in the state, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Monday said there is no place for violence or "revenge" in the country. Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, Priyanka took a jibe at Adityanath for his comments that "revenge" will be taken from the violent protesters by making them pay for the damage caused to public properties. She said saffron denotes Hinduism, a religion that does not advocate violence or "revenge". Concluding her four-day visit to Lucknow days after statewide violent clashes over the Citizenship Amendment Act, she said that her own security was not a big issue. "The issue is the safety of the common man in UP," she said in an apparent reference to her alleged manhandling by the state police. Earlier in the day, she wrote a letter to UP Governor Anandiben Patel demanding a full judicial enquiry into the "unlawful conduct of UP Police during the protests". "Over the past two weeks, since the start of anti-CAA/NRC protests, the conduct of the UP Police has been observed and reported to be patently unlawful, destructive of the rule of law and repressive of honest citizens," the complaint read. Priyanka also appealed to the Governor to provide bail to all the "peaceful protesters" and to withdraw all the cases filed against them. She also appealed that the students who are protesting peacefully should not face any academic or legal action. Hours later, the chief minister's office tweeted thus: "Whoever causes an obstruction in sanyasi's continuous efforts towards public service and public welfare will have to be punished. How will those who have inherited politics and indulge in the politics of appeasement understand the meaning of public service?" Before the tweet from Adityanath's office, Uttar Pradesh's deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma also addressed a press conference and accused the Congress general secretary of supporting rioters. Priyanka Gandhi, Sharma said, had no knowledge of Hinduism, saffron and its tradition and that she was trying to malign it. MAHARASHTRA: AJIT PAWAR TAKES OATH AS DEPUTY CM, AADITYA THACKERAY ALSO IN CABINET NCP leader Ajit Pawar was sworn in as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister on Monday - a month after he resigned from the post that he held for 80 hours in alliance with BJP amidst the high political drama. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's 29-year-old son, Aaditya, and former chief minister Ashok Chavan also took oath as ministers. With 26 Cabinet and 10 ministers of state, the expansion took place more than a month after the Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government took charge of the state. This is the first time in Maharashtra that a father-son duo has found a place in the state's Council of Ministers. NCP leaders Nawab Malik, Dilip Walse Patil, Dhananjay Munde and Congress' Vijay Wadettiwar were also inducted into the Cabinet. The 36 ministers sworn in on Monday include 10 Cabinet and four ministers of state of the NCP, eight Cabinet and four MoS of Shiv Sena, eight Cabinet and two MoS of the Congress. With this, NCP leads with 12 Cabinet ministers and four MoS, the Shiv Sena has 10 Cabinet ministers and four MoS while the Congress has 10 Cabinet ministers and two MoS. COLDEST DECEMBER DAY IN DELHI SINCE 1901 The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday (December 30) confirmed that it is the coldest December day in Delhi since 1901, with the maximum temperature recorded at just 9.4 degrees Celsius. The lowest December day (maximum) temperature at Delhi Safdarjung before this was 11.3 degrees Celsius, recorded on December 28, 1997, the IMD said. It was a cold, foggy and smoggy Monday morning in the national capital and its suburbs with the minimum temperature at 2.6 degrees Celsius and thousands of people stranded as flights and trains were delayed with visibility dropping to zero metres in some places. To make things worse, pollution levels were also high with Delhi's air quality index at 448. 

US AIR STRIKES IN IRAQ, SYRIA TARGET IRANIAN-BACKED SHI'ITE MUSLIM MILITIA GROUP US officials said on Sunday that air strikes in Iraq and Syria against an Iran-backed militia group were successful, but warned that "additional actions" may still be taken in the region to defend US interests. The US military carried out the strikes against the Kataib Hezbollah militia group in response to the killing of a US civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base, officials said. US President Donald Trump was briefed by his top national security advisers at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida following the strikes. "We will not stand for the Islamic Republic of Iran to take actions that put American men and women in jeopardy," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters after the briefing with Trump. Iraqi security and militia sources said at least 25 militia fighters were killed and at least 55 wounded following three US air strikes in Iraq. TALIBAN KILL 14 AF TROOPS HOURS AFTER AGREEING TO 'CEASEFIRE' The Taliban targeted a pro-government militia compound in northern Afghanistan before dawn on Monday, killing 14 members of the Afghan security forces, a local official said. The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack came even as Taliban officials told the Associated Press and other media outlets just hours earlier that a temporary, nationwide ceasefire has been agreed upon among their council leaders. It wasn't clear when the ceasefire would go into effect. However, an AFP report claimed that the Taliban had denied agreeing to any ceasefire."In the past few days, some media have been releasing untrue reports about a ceasefire... The fact is that, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has no ceasefire plans," the Taliban said, after multiple media reports, including a story in the Wall Street Journal, suggested the group was on the verge of announcing some type of temporary truce. CHINESE RESEARCHER CONVICTED FOR 'GENETICALLY EDITING' BABIES On Monday, a court in China sentenced researcher He Jiankui to prison for three years, with a fine of 3 million yuan for illegal medical practice. In 2018, Dr He made headlines when he claimed to have produced genetically modified babies using gene editing technique CRISPR. The genes of the twins were "edited" to ensure they do not get infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, according to the claims. The court in Shenzhen in southern China found that Dr He (age 35), and two others involved in the project, were not qualified to work as doctors, had knowingly violated the country's regulations and ethical principles, and that their acts were "in the pursuit of personal fame and gain" and had "disrupted medical order." PRASHANT KISHOR UNDER FIRE FROM ALLY AS WELL AS FROM PARTY MAN Hours after JD(U) leader Prashant Kishor said his party should contest more seats than the BJP in the Bihar Assembly polls due in 2020, backlash came not just from ally BJP, but also from Nitish Kumar's party. Nitish aide RCP Singh also frowned upon Kishor for making "untimely statements". "Rest assured, the top leadership of both parties (BJP and JDU) share an excellent understanding. And the seat-sharing formula for the Assembly polls will be arrived at with an even better understanding", Singh, a former IAS officer and now Rajya Sabha MP, said. "Some people have a habit of giving statements over every issue. I do not have much to say about them but this is untimely. They should refrain from raising such matters prematurely," Singh added. BJP leader and Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi's criticism was more elaborate, though he did not name Kishor at all. "The top leadership of both parties will finalise seat-sharing. There is no problem there. But some people, who joined politics not due to an ideology but while running a company that collates data and coins slogans, are making statements that go against coalition dharma and benefit the Opposition," Modi tweeted in Hindi. "A person engaged in a for-profit business will first create a market for his services, think about the nation later," Modi added. KERALA WOMEN 'RECLAIMING THE NIGHT' At midnight on the seventh death anniversary of the Delhi gangrape victim on Sunday, thousands of women across cities and villages in Kerala took to the streets to drive home the importance of making public places safer for women. Organised by the women and child welfare department of the Kerala government, the 'rathri nadatham' or night walk saw close to 8000 women hitting the streets without male accompaniment, lighting candles and raising slogans. Actors, writers, intellectuals and media personalities joined in to drum up support. Most of them walked in small groups of twos and threes while others joined in bigger groups. Many women chose to bring elderly members and children of their family too. Routes for the night walk were pre-decided by respective local bodies through the extensive 'Kudumbashree' self-help group networks. PM MODI POSTS VIDEO OF SADGURU, LAUDS HIM FOR PROVIDING 'HISTORICAL CONTEXT' TO CAA Spearheading a campaign in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday posted a video of spiritual guru Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, in support of the law. "Do hear this lucid explanation of aspects relating to CAA and more by @SadhguruJV. He provides historical context, brilliantly highlights our culture of brotherhood. He also calls out the misinformation by vested interest groups. #IndiaSupportsCAA," Modi tweeted. 'WITHOUT BUYER, AIR INDIA MIGHT BE FORCED TO SHUT DOWN IN SIX MONTHS: ' Struggling Air India might be forced to shut down by June next year unless it finds a buyer as "piecemeal" arrangements cannot be sustained for long, according to a senior airline official. Amid continuing uncertainty over the fate of the national carrier, the official said there is also a need for funds to restart operations of 12 grounded narrow-body planes. The airline has a debt burden of around Rs 60,000 crore and the government is still working on the modalities for the disinvestment. Sounding alarm bells, the official said Air India might well go Jet Airways way if a prospective buyer does not come on board by June next year. With government leaving the debt-ridden airline to fend for itself by refusing to inject funds any more amid its privatisation plans, the airline is "somehow" keeping it afloat with piecemeal arrangements, which are unlikely to sustain for long, the official said. As per the government, it has infused funds to the tune of Rs 30,520 crore in the flag carrier from financial year 2011-12 till December this year. PAN-AADHAAR LINKING DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MARCH, 2020: CBDT The last date for the mandatory linking of the Permanent Account Number (PAN) with Aadhaar has been extended till March next year, the CBDT said on Monday. The earlier deadline was Tuesday, December 31. This is the eighth time that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has extended the deadline for individuals to link their PAN with Aadhaar. INDIA'S TREE AND FOREST COVER INCREASED BY 5,188 SQUARE KM IN PAST TWO YEARS India's tree and forest cover increased by 5,188 square kilometres in the past two years, according to the India State of Forest Report 2019 released on Monday by Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar. Currently its total forest and tree cover is 80.73 million hectares-24.56 per cent of the geographical area of the country. India's target is to bring 33 per cent of its geographical area under the forest cover. Under the current assessment the total carbon stock in country's forest is estimated 7,124.6 million tonnes and there is an increase of 42.6 million tonnes in the carbon stock of country as compared to the last assessment of 2017. The report gives us confidence that we are on track to achieve our Paris Agreement goals, Javadekar said. Top three states showing increase in forest cover are Karnataka (1,025 sq km), Andhra Pradesh (990 sq km) and Kerala (823 sq km).. FARAH KHAN AND RAVEENA TANDON APOLOGISE TO CARDINAL OSWALD GRACIAS Filmmaker Farah Khan and actor Raveena Tandon met Indian Cardinal of Roman Catholic Church, Cardinal Oswald Gracias to tender an apology after the duo, along with comic Bharti Singh, were booked for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of the community in a TV show. They had the word "Hallelujah" on a web show. Farah earlier took to Twitter to apologise on behalf of entire team of Flipkart Video Original's quiz show Backbenchers, on which she serves as the host. The said episode has also been taken off by Flipkart Video. In a statement, the host-director said she along with Raveena paid a visit to Gracias to tender an unconditional apology. "His Eminence Cardinal Oswald Gracias met us. We apologised and asked him to forgive our mistake and he very graciously accepted our apology. He also issued a statement on our behalf to end this matter," Farah said. HUAWEI GETS GOVT'S APPROVAL TO PARTICIPATE IN 5G TRIALS IN THE COUNTRY The wait may be finally over for Chinese telecom gear maker Huawei as the government has allowed all equipment manufacturers to conduct 5G trials in the country, without making any distinction. "We have taken a decision to give 5G spectrum for trials to all players," Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Monday. "5G is future, it is speed. We will encourage new innovation in 5G." The decision provides a breather to the Chinese firm, which is battling security issues not just in India but worldwide. "We have read the news in media and we thank the Indian government for their continued faith in Huawei. We firmly believe that only technology innovations and high-quality networks will be the key to rejuvenating the Indian telecom industry. We have full confidence in the Indian government and industry to partner with best technology for India's own long-term benefit and also for cross-industry development. Huawei is committed to India," said Jay Chen, chief executive officer, Huawei India. 2019: THE YEAR THAT WAS, FOR INDIAN CRICKET Virat Kohli and Indian cricket remained an enduring love story while Sourav Ganguly held out promise for a path-breaking reign off the field in a year during which the country finally embraced Pink Ball Tests. If winning a Test series in Australia for the first time in over seven decades was the crowning glory for India, the fifteen minutes of self destruction in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand stuck out like a sore thumb continuing the national team's now six-year-old jinx in ICC tournaments. Amid all this, Ganguly, known for taking charge in Indian cricket's difficult times, became the unanimous choice to become the 39th president of the BCCI after three controversy-marred years under the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators. The Indian pace bowlers-the best to have ever bowled in tandem in the country's cricketing history-fetched the current team the tag of gutsy travellers even though Ganguly thinks that their biggest Test is yet to come. 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, which didn't feature Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Australia's limited overs captain Aaron Finch was named captain of the team, which has two more Australian in Shane Watson and Glenn Maxwell, two England cricketers-Jos Buttler and David Willey, two Afghanistan all-rounders-Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan, and New Zealand's Colin Munro and Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga. Kohli, who ranks third in the list of leading run-scorers of all time with 21,444 runs, was also included in Wisden's Test and ODI teams of the decade, besides being named in Wisden's list of five cricketers of the decade which also features Steve Smith, Dale Steyn, AB de Villiers and Ellyse Perry