1. Priyanka to receive honorary doctorate at Bareilly University

Actor Priyanka Chopra will be honoured with a doctorate degree by the Bareilly International University.

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2. Belgium to be first country to appoint female envoy to Saudi

The conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia, long criticized for its constraints on women, will get its first woman ambassador in Riyadh with the appointment of a female envoy from Belgium.

Belgium will send Dominique Mineur, currently the ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, to Riyadh next summer, making her the first woman ambassador in the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia is well known as one of the world’s most gender-segregated nations, where women live under the supervision of a male guardian, and in public must wear head-to-toe garments.

Saudi Arabia was ranked 138 of 144 countries in the 2017 Global Gender Gap, a World Economic Forum study on how women fare in economic and political participation, health and education.

3. Prof Ishan Kumar Patra appointed VC of Ravenshaw University

Odisha Governor and Chancellor S C Jamir has appointed Prof Ishan Kumar Patro as the new Vice-Chancellor of Ravenshaw University.

The Chancellor appointed Prof Patro as Vice-Chancellor for a period of three years with effect from the date he assumes office as such or until further orders whichever is earlier.

4. BCCI appoints Saba Karim as General Manager

Former India wicketkeeper Saba Karim was appointed as General Manager (Cricket Operations) of the BCCI. Karim will assume office from January 1 and he will report to CEO Rahul Johri.

Karim has a vast knowledge of the game and its intricacies, both at the top and the domestic level having represented India in one Test and 34 ODIs.

5. Jharkhand to establish world-class skill development centre

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das government will establish a world-class skill development centre at Ranchi at the cost of Rs 60 crore.

The skill development centre will be developed with the help of a Singapore-based company ITE.

The children of Jharkhand will make their mark at the international level after going through skill training in the modern centre.

6. ‘Ganga Gram’ project for villages to be launched

The Union government has launched the ‘Ganga Gram’ project as part of its clean Ganga mission, named Namami Gange, for holistic sanitation development in villages on the banks of the Ganges.

In August, the Centre declared all 4,470 villages on the banks of the Ganges, located in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, open defecation-free (ODF).

The Ganga Gram project is an integrated approach for holistic development of villages situated on the banks of the holy river with active participation of villagers.

7. Environment ministry launches pilot project for beach clean-up

To enhance standards of cleanliness on beaches, the environment ministry has launched a pilot project for its clean-up and development.

Under the project, each state or union territory has been asked to nominate a beach which will be funded through the ongoing Integrated Coastal Management Programme.

Formal nominations are, however, awaited from the coastal UTs — Daman and Diu, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Andamanan and Nicobar.

8. Yes Bank sets up MTN programme to raise $1 bn

Private sector lender Yes Bank has established a Medium Term Note programme to raise $1 billion (over 6,400 crore) by issuing debt securities on private placement basis.

The Bank has, on December 22, 2017, established a Medium Term Note programme for an amount of $1 billion, in order to enable the bank to issue debt instruments in the international capital markets, to eligible investors, from time to time, in one or more tranches and/or series.

On November 29, the Capital Raising Committee of the board of the bank had approved its proposal to set up the MTN programme.

9. India-Switzerland Deal Inked for Information Exchange

India signed an agreement with Switzerland would allow automatic sharing of tax- related information from January 1 next year

With the completion of the parliamentary procedure in Switzerland and signing of mutual agreement, India and Switzerland are set for automatic exchange of information for the period beginning from January 1, 2018.

10. Bengali singer Jatileswar Mukhopadhyay dead

Bengali singer Jatileswar Mukhopadhyay died. The state government had conferred him with the Sangeet Samman award in 2012.

Mukohpadhyay, who had learnt music under the guidance of doyens of Bengali light classical music Chinmoy Lahiri and Sudhin Dasgupta, carved his own individual style, which enriched Bengali music in the 70s-80s.

11. NASA astronaut McCandless, 1st to fly freely in space, dies

NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless, the first person to fly freely and untethered in space, has died. He was 80.

He was famously photographed in 1984 flying with a hefty spacewalker’s jetpack, alone in the cosmic blackness above a blue Earth. He travelled more than 300 feet away from the space shuttle Challenger during the spacewalk.