- Delhi High Court has allowed that Section 354A of Indian Penal Code (IPC) can be used by transgenders to register complaints of sexual harassment. According to the police, there was a lack of an appropriate penal section under which they could register such a complaint.
- Growth Outlook for 2019', Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) stated that India will remain the fastest growing major economy with GDP growth estimated to be 7.5% in FY19. The reasons cited for the growth are: Better demand conditions, settled GST implementation, capacity expansion resulting from growing investments in infrastructure and better credit inflow especially in the service sector (that is of 24%). Additionally, CII had suggested the following: only three slabs for GST - a standard rate, a higher rate for demerit goods and a lower rate for some mass consumption items - and the inclusion of fuels, real estate, electricity and alcohol in the ambit of the levy. RBI to have lending restrictions on banks under the PCA (prompt and corrective action) and create a limited special liquidity window to meet emergencies of financial institutions. the digitization of land records.
- Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) day is observed on 1st January. The DRDO was established in 1958 with just 10 laboratories to enhance the research work in defence sector. Dr. G Satheesh Reddy is the Chairman of DRDO. DRDO works under the Department of Defence Research and Development of Ministry of Defence.
- Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan launched 'Ujjwala Sanitary Napkins' initiative saying it will go a long way in making Odisha's 2.25 crore women empowered and self-reliant. Under the novel initiative, which will cover 93 blocks in 30 districts of Odisha, oil marketing companies (OMC) will set up 100 manufacturing units at the Common Service Centres (CSC) at an estimated cost of Rs 2.94 crore.
- A government committee, headed by IIT-Hyderabad chairman B V R Mohan Reddy, has advised the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to stop setting up new colleges from 2020 and review the creation of new capacity every two years after that. The panel has also suggested that no additional seats should be approved in traditional engineering areas such as mechanical, electrical, civil and electronics and that institutes should be encouraged to convert current capacity in traditional disciplines to emerging new technologies. This recommendation has been justified on the ground that current capacity utilisation in traditional disciplines is just 40% as opposed to 60% seat occupancy in branches such as computer science and engineering, aerospace engineering and mechatronics. For the same reason, the committee has urged the AICTE to introduce undergraduate engineering programmes exclusively for artificial intelligence, blockchain, robotics, quantum computing, data sciences, cyber security and 3D printing and design.
- Justice Thottathil Bhaskaran Nair Radhakrishnan had been serving as the Chief Justice of the combined high court of the two Telugu states since July last year. Telangana High Court came into existence on January 1, 2019 after the bifurcation of the High Court at Hyderabad. Justice Praveen Kumar was sworn in as the acting Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh HC, which also came into existence the same day.
- The government of India constituted a committee to suggest recommendations to strengthen the 'Real Estate Regulatory Authority' (RERA) and to remove difficulties in its implementation. It will be headed by the Union Housing & Urban Affairs Joint Secretary, Shiv Das Meena. RERA, which protects the interest of home buyers, empowers states to notify their rules & appoint regulatory authorities.
- General Manager, South Central Railway, V K Yadav has been appointed the national transporter's senior-most bureaucrat by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. Yadav belongs to the 1980 batch of the Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers.
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