• National

Witness protection scheme approved by SC

• The Supreme Court approved the government of India’s draft ‘Witness Protection Scheme 2018’ on 5 December 2018.
• The aim of the scheme is to safeguard witnesses and their family members from any threats against their lives and reputation.
• It said that the scheme shall be the ‘law’ under Article 141 and 142 of the Constitution.
• It asked all the states to implement the scheme.

• Economy and Business

OPEC set to meet in Vienna

• Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other oil-producing countries are scheduled to meet in Vienna to discuss ways to manage the oil output, supply glut and demand slowdown.
• OPEC’s third-biggest producer Iran has called to be excluded from any decision to cut production.
• Over the past two months oil prices have plunged and a barrel of Brent crude, the European benchmark.

• Economy and Business

Paisabazaar.com Launches India’s First ‘Chance of Approval’ Feature

• com, India’s largest online marketplace for financial products has launched an industry-first feature that will help loan applicants choose their most-suited lender on its platform.
• Named ‘Chance of Approval’, this advanced predictive algorithm has been created by Paisabazaar.com by using the last four years of lending data.

• Awards

Anees Salim, Ramesan Nair win Sahitya Akademi award 2018

• The ‘Sahitya Akademi’ has announced its annual Sahitya Akademi Awards-2018 in 24 languages(22 eighth Scheduled Languages + English & Rajasthani).
• Anees Salim has been awarded the ‘Sahitya Akademi Award 2018 for English literature category for his novel ‘The Blind Lady’s Descendants’.
• Ramesan Nair won the award for his work ‘Gurupournami’, a poem on the life of social reformer Sree Narayana Guru.
• An eminent short-story writer, Mushtaq Ahmad Mushtaq, bagged the Award for his collection of short stories “AAKH’’.
• Seven books of poetry, six novels, six short stories, three of literary criticism and two of essays have won the Sahitya Akademi Awards, 2018.

• Awards

S. Ramakrishnan won Sahitya Akademi Award

• Tamil writer S. Ramakrishnan has won the ‘Sahitya Akademi Award 2018’ on 5 December 2018.
• He has been awarded for his novel ‘Sancharam’.
• The novel deals with the lives of nadhaswaram artistes.
• The Sahitya Akademi award is among the most prestigious literary honours bestowed on writers for their works across genres and languages.

• Appointments

Atul appointed as CMD of New India Assurance

• The government of India appointed Atul Sahai as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the New India Assurance on 4 December 2018.
• He has been appointed for a period of five years.
• At present, he is the General Manager at Oriental Insurance.
• New India Assurance Company is a public sector insurance company and its headquarters is in Mumbai.

• States

Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani approves Rs 50 crore SIT fund

• Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has approved 50-crore rupees to Science & Technology Innovation (SIT) Fund to provide assistance up to Rs. 50-lakh to UGC and AICTE recognized central and state universities and colleges.
• The assistance will be for a maximum period of three years to develop latent talents, encourage creativity research and development in strategic fields in the knowledge-based ecosystem.
• Earlier, Gujarat Government has announced similar assistance under the Biotechnology Policy and IT Policy.
• Gujarat Government’s Science & Technology Department has identified Gujarat Council of Science & Technology (GUJCOST) to implement the scheme, in the fields to be decided by the Gujarat Government for solving major problems faced by the state.

• States

Maharashtra CM Fadnavis launches SMART initiative for Agribusiness, Rural Transformation

• Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has launched a unique initiative called “SMART” (State of Maharashtra’s Agribusiness and Rural Transformation) to transform rural Maharashtra.
• The objective of the World Bank assisted to revamp agricultural value chains, with a special focus on marginal farmers across 1,000 villages.
• The project will entail an investment of 300 million US dollars of which the World Bank would contribute 210 million US dollars.
• It will support post-harvest value chain and bring efficiency to benefit the economy at large.

• States

Pune court is first to get e-payment facility

• The Pune district and sessions court have become first courts in India to launch the e-payment system.
• This will help in reducing corruption and bring in transparency.
• The practising lawyers and litigants in various cases will be able to make payments online. .
• The e-payment facility will be available on ‘https://pay.ecourts. gov.in/epay’.

• States

Free pilgrimage scheme launched by Delhi CM

• Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the ‘Mukhyamantri Teerth Yatra Yojana’ on 5 December 2018.
• Under the scheme, a city resident above 60 years will be eligible to take free pilgrimage along with his or her spouse.
• The Delhi government will bear the expenses of pilgrims every year.
• It has also signed a MoU with the railways to cater to the pilgrims availing the scheme.

• Agreements

India & Peru signs an agreement for co-operation and mutual assistance in Customs Matters

• India signed an agreement with Peru for co-operation and mutual assistance in Customs Matters in New Delhi.
• It provides a legal framework for the sharing of information and intelligence between the Customs authorities of the two countries.
• The agreement will also help in the proper application of Customs laws, prevention and investigation of Customs offences.