The Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Monday imposed a ban on single-use plastic items at its 129 airports across the country.

Single-use plastic items are used only once and then thrown in the trash.

"Various steps have been undertaken to eliminate single-use plastic items at passenger terminals and city side. These steps include banning of single-use plastic items like straws, plastic cutlery, plastic plates etc," the AAI said in a statement.

"The AAI has decided to make its airports plastic-free by banning the use of single-use plastic items at its airports across the country," the statement read.

It said that on the basis of a third-party assessment carried out by Quality Council of India (QCI), 16 of its airports have been declared as "Single-Use Plastic Free".

The QCI will complete its assessment of total 34 airports -- which are managed by the AAI -- by January 31.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks with his Norwegian counterpart Ms Erna Solberg in New Delhi today. Ms Solberg arrived in New Delhi yesterday on a three-day visit to India. She is accompanied by senior officials from her government and a large business delegation.

Ms Solberg will be accorded ceremonial reception at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan this morning. She will pay homage to Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat.

During the talks in the afternoon, both sides will review the progress in bilateral cooperation and will discuss ways to further expand the multifaceted partnership in areas of common interest.

Several agreements will be signed after the talks including one on facilitating dialogue to boost bilateral trade which currently stands at 1.2 billion dollars. India and Norway enjoy close and multifaceted ties and economic and technical cooperation are important facets of the bilateral relation.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is scheduled to call on the visiting dignitary. Ms Solberg will call on President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu.

The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the Personal Laws (Amendment Bill), 2018, which seeks removal of leprosy as a ground for divorce.

To this end, it seeks to amend five Acts: (i) the Divorce Act, 1869, (ii) the Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act, 1939, (iii) the Special Marriage Act, 1954, (iv) the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and (v) the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956.

The Amendment Bill proposes to amend the provisions in these Acts which prescribe leprosy as a ground for divorce or separation from the spouse.

The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill acknowledges the medical advances made in the field, thereby making leprosy curable. Calling for elimination of discrimination against leprosy patients in various statutes in view of such advancements, it states,

"Leprosy patients were isolated and segregated from society as the leprosy was not curable and the society was hostile to them. However, as a result of intensive healthcare and availability of modern medicine to cure the disease, the attitude of the society towards them began to change. The discriminatory provisions contained in various statutes against the persons affected with leprosy were made prior to the medical advancements rendering leprosy a curable disease.

While 'The Americans' was announced as the best television series - drama of 2018, Richard Madden and Sandra Oh pick the trophy for best actor and actress in a television series - drama, respectively.

The 76th Golden Globe Awards is here, marking the official start of the awards season in Hollywood celebrating the best in films and TV. In the television space, with as many as 10 nominations, FX's two shows -- spy drama The Americans and Versace, the network is giving a tough competition to HBO and Amazon, which tied with nine nods. On the other hand, streaming giant Netflix secured eight nominations.

World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim has made the surprise announcement that he is stepping down after six years in the post.

His resignation will take effect from 1 February.

Mr Kim, 59, was not due to leave until 2022, after he was re-elected for a second five-year term in 2017.

He will "join a firm and focus on increasing infrastructure investments in developing countries", the World Bank said.

In a statement, Mr Kim said: "It has been a great honour to serve as President of this remarkable institution, full of passionate individuals dedicated to the mission of ending extreme poverty in our lifetime".

No reason was given for his unexpected resignation.

Kristalina Georgieva, the World Bank's chief executive officer, will assume the role of interim president.

The government has amalgamated three Regional Rural Banks -- Punjab Gramin Bank, Malwa Gramin Bank and Sutlej Gramin Bank -- into a single RRB with effect from January 1.

In a filing to the BSE, Punjab and Sind Bank said the central government, after consulting the sponsor banks of the three RRBs, felt that in the interest of the banks and the areas served by them, they should be amalgamated into a single RRB.

"The Central Government has amalgamated the said Regional Rural Banks in to a single Regional Rural Bank with effect on and from January 1, 2019," the filing said.

The sponsor banks of the RRBs are National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), the Government of Punjab and Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India and Punjab and Sind Bank, it added.

Roger Federer geared up for his Australian Open title defence in convincing fashion, guiding Switzerland to a 2-1 triumph over Germany on Saturday for their fourth Hopman Cup crown. Federer and Belinda Bencic beat Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber 4-0 1-4 4-3(4) in the mixed doubles decider to win the trophy at the Perth Arena in a repeat of the 2018 final.

“I’m happy I’m feeling this good and playing as well as I am,” said Federer, who has won the last two Australian Open titles after taking part in the mixed-team event.

Federer has beaten Frances Tiafoe, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Cameron Norrie and Zverev in straight sets and will be full of confidence heading into Melbourne Park later this month. “It’s good to finish on a singles performance like this. I’m a bit surprised the matches have gone as well as they have,” the 37-year-old added.

The Ministry of Home Affairs Saturday notified the high-level committee that is expected to look into the implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord of 1985.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman Dr K Sivan has said that the Union Government has allocated 10,900 crore rupees for the development of 40 satellite launch vehicles in the next four years. He was delivering the graduation Day lecture at the historic St Joseph’s College, Trichy, Tamilnadu, which is celebrating its 175th anniversary.
           
Dr Sivan said that Chandrayan Mission will be launched within three months. It will land in one part of the Moon which is still unexplored. He also said that the human space flight Gaganyaan is planned to be launched by 2022, the 75th anniversary of Independence.
           
Pointing out that the Centenary year celebrations of ISRO founder Dr Vikram Sarabhai will be held next year, Dr Sivan said that ISRO will rededicate itself to become a world class organization, capable of addressing the varied socio economic challenges of the nation.
           
He further said that as a part of the celebrations, Space Technology Incubation Centres will be set up in different parts of the country, including Trichy.

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said, the government will soon make it mandatory for linking Aadhaar with driving licences. The minister for Law, Electronics and Information Technology said, they are soon going to bring a law which will make it mandatory. Mr Prasad was delivering his presidential address at the ongoing 106th Indian Science Congress in Jalandhar yesterday. 
 
Explaining the need for the linkage, the Minister said that at present, the guilty person who causes an accident flees the scene and gets a duplicate licence which helps him go scot-free. However, with the Aadhaar linkage, one can change his/her name but cannot change his/her biometrics, neither iris nor fingerprints. 
 
Eulogising about the Centre's 'Digital India' programme, the minister claimed that it had bridged the urban-rural divide.

Through a power presentation, Mr Prasad said, this is digital profile of India -- 123 crore Aadhaar cards, 121 crore mobile phones, 44.6 crore smart phones, 56 crore internet users, there has been 51 per cent growth in e-commerce. He also said, digital payment transactions in the country have increased manifold to over 2,070 crore rupees in 2017-18.