NATIONAL
Violence in West Bengal: West Bengal witnessed massive violence on December 14, over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which gradually spread across southern parts of the state starting early morning. Due to mob violence, at least nine trains starting from West Bengal – the Howrah-Pune Duronto Express, Howrah-Mumbai CSMT Gitanjali Express, Howrah-Ernakulam Antyodaya Express, Howrah-Hyderabad East Coast Express, and others have been cancelled and at least another 20 have been delayed. Ten trains including Howrah-Yesvantpur Express, Howrah-Pune Azad Hind Express, Howrah-MGR Chennai Mail, Howrah-Ahmedabad Express and others have been rescheduled. Moreover, 15 buses were set fire to, on the Kona Expressway and many other vehicles were ransacked across various parts of southern West Bengal. Following roadblocks and protests, traffic movement was suspended till afternoon on the Kona Expressway, the arterial road which connects Kolkata to two key national highways. National Highway 34, another principal road that connects the north and south Bengal, was also blocked in Murshidabad.
PM Modi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on december14, chaired the first meeting of the National Ganga Council and reviewed the ambitious Namami Gange project. The PM also chaired the meeting of the council at Chandra Shekhar Azad Agriculture University and reviewed the works completed under the project so far and exchanged notes on cleaning the Ganga with dignitaries, officials said.
Assam: Internet services across Assam will remain suspended till December 16 to prevent alleged misuse of social media in disturbing the peace and to maintain law and order in the state. The suspension has been extended for another 48 hours in order to control the situation in the state, additional chief secretary (home and political department) Sanjay Krishna told PTI.
SAD: Sukhbir Singh Badal was re-elected as the president of the Shiromani Akali Dal on December 14. The 57-year-old former Punjab deputy chief minister became the SAD chief for the third time in a row.
Assam: Employees of the Assam government today announced that they will go for cease work on December 18 in protest against the amended Citizenship Act. Sadou Asam Karmachari Parishad (SAKP) President Basab Kalita told PTI that all employees of the state government across Assam will not attend offices on December 18.
INTERNATIONAL
Antibiotic consumption: Children in low- and middle-income countries are receiving an average of 25 antibiotic prescriptions during their first five years of life which is so excessive that it could harm their ability to fight pathogens, and also increase antibiotic resistance worldwide, according to a study. Earlier studies showed that antimicrobial resistance is responsible for thousands of deaths each year globally, if not taken care of, it may cause more than 10 million people to die every year by 2050.
Sudan: A court in Sudan on December 14 convicted former President Omar al-Bashir on charges of corruption, illegal possession of foreign currency and illicit financial gains and sentenced him to two years in detention in a state-run reform center.
Pakistan: Pakistan and the World Bank have signed a project agreement worth $406.6 million for financing the Khyber Pass Economic Corridor (KPEC) project. The project is aimed at constructing a 48km four-lane, dual carriageway, high-speed and access-controlled motorway from Peshawar to Torkham border point with Afghanistan. The project aims to promote economic development and ensure the upliftment of the areas adjoining the expressway and falling in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
ECONOMY
UP: The Uttar Pradesh Police arrested two persons for allegedly operating bogus brokerage firms and facilitating investment of UP Power Corporation (UPPCL) employees’ provident fund (PF) in private mortgage lender Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL). The economic offences wing (EOW) of the police is currently probing the case. About Rs, 4,122 crores of the PF corpus was parked with scam-hit DHFL between March 2017 and December 2018, in violation of norms.
Drug Price: The government has for the first time invoked the Drug Price Control Order, 2013, to raise the prices of 21 formulations or medicines that are under price regulation to ensure their availability. This would be a one-time increase of 50 percent above the present ceiling prices.
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