The Vietnam Coast Guard Ship CSB 8005 is set to arrive in Kochi on December 16 as part of its ongoing overseas deployment to India, the Indian Coast Guard announced in a press release.

According to the release, the four-day visit aims to enhance maritime cooperation and interoperability between the two forces.

"During the visit, the crew of the VCG Ship will engage in professional interactions focusing on marine pollution response, maritime search and rescue, and maritime law enforcement," the release stated.

In Shooting, Riya Shirish Thatte of Aurangabad clinched the gold medal in the women’s 25m pistol final of the 67th National Shooting Championship Competitions in New Delhi yesterday.

She defeated Punjab’s Simranpreet Kaur Brar 7-2 in a shoot-off after both had tied at 31 hits in the eight series of five-shots decider. This is Riya’s first senior national title. Olympian and former Asian Games champion Rahi Sarnobat was third with 25 hits.

The shotgun and pistol competitions of the National Shooting Championship are being held in New Delhi, while Bhopal is holding the rifle nationals.

The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday in State Assembly presented the Supplementary Budget of ₹17,865.72 crore for the financial year 2024-25. State Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna while presenting the Budget said that the supplementary demand of grant of ₹17,865 crore is 2.42% of the original Budget of ₹7.36 lakh crore presented in February 2024. The Supplementary Budget is the second such Budget presented after the original Budget. Now, the total Budget size of U.P. is ₹7,66,513.36 crore.

The Finance Minister said a provision of ₹8,587.27 crore is made for the energy department, ₹2,438.63 crore for the finance department, ₹1,592.28 crore for the family welfare department, and ₹1,001 crore for the Animal Husbandry Department. Additionally, ₹805 crore grant has been allocated for the Public Works Department (PWD), ₹505 crores for the Information Department, ₹515 crore for the Primary Education Department.

U.P. CM Yogi Adityanath also spoke on the second day in the Assembly highlighting the government’s achievement alleging the previous regime pushed the State in backward direction. “The unemployment rate of the State was more than 19% between the year 2012 and the year 2017, today this rate is at 2.4%. Our government is moving in right direction. We have made more than 1,60,000 recruitments in the education department alone in the State. These are the vacancies that could not be filled due to the bad intentions of the previous government,” Mr. Adityanath said.

Akin to the protective PPE kits that health workers don, scientists affiliated to the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) have developed an ‘anti-pesticide’ suit called Kisan Kavach. The suit is intended to protect farm labourers from imbibing the pesticides they spray. Several of the common pesticides are potential neurotoxins and detrimental to health.

The kit consists of a trouser, pullover, and a face-cover made of ‘oxime fabric’ that can chemically breakdown any of the common pesticides that get sprayed onto cloth or body during spraying operations. This prevents chemicals from leaching into the skin. The price per kit is ₹4,000. Those who spray insecticide or pesticides usually cover themselves from head to toe with ordinary cloth. This approach, said Praveen Kumar Vemula, of inStem Bangalore, the DBT-affiliated organisation that developed the kit, wasn’t advisable. Cloth over time tended to accumulate high quantities of the poisonous chemicals that would eventually pass into the body. Moreover, field observations with farmers and workers revealed that many of them didn’t wear protective covering because it was uncomfortable and unsuitable for prolonged outdoor work.

Britain's online safety regime came into force on Monday, requiring social media companies like Meta's Facebook and ByteDance's TikTok to take action to tackle criminal activity on their platforms and make them safer by design.

Media regulator Ofcom said it had published its first codes of practice on tackling illegal harms such as child sexual abuse and assisting or encouraging suicide.

Sites and apps have until March 16, 2025, to assess the risks illegal content poses to children and adults on their platforms, Ofcom said.

In Hockey, India won the Women’s Junior Asia Cup 2024 championship in Muscat, Oman last night. In the title clash, the Indian team defeated China 3-2 in a penalty shootout to successfully defend its title. Indian goalkeeper Nidhi made three crucial saves during the penalty shootout, while Sakshi Rana, Ishika and Sunelita Toppo scored for India in the shootout. Earlier, Jinzhuang Tan scored the opening goal for China with Kanika Siwach equalised in the third quarter for India. After a 1-1 draw in regulation time, the title clash went to a shootout. Hockey India has announced a reward of 2 lakh rupees for each player and 1 lakh rupees to each support staff for their efforts and spectacular win. India’s Deepika Sehrawat, with 12 goals ranked the top scorer of the tournament. India won their maiden Women’s Hockey Junior Asia Cup title last year by defeating the Republic of Korea.

Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) in India have achieved a significant milestone by recording the highest-ever aggregate net profit of ₹23.50 lakh crore in FY2023-24, compared to ₹22.63 lakh crore in FY2022-23, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The asset quality of SCBs has also improved remarkably, with the gross non-performing asset (NPA) ratio declining to 2.67% (₹4.75 lakh crore) in June 2024 from a peak of 11.18% (₹10.36 lakh crore) in March 2018. Public Sector Banks (PSBs) reported a similar improvement, with their gross NPA ratio dropping to 3.32% in June 2024, compared to 14.58% in March 2018 and 4.97% in March 2015.

Additionally, the provision coverage ratio (PCR) of SCBs has risen from 49.31% in March 2015 to a robust 92.52% in June 2024, reflecting increased resilience in the banking sector.

Israel's government has approved a plan to encourage the expansion of settlements in the occupied Golan Heights.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the move was necessary because a "new front" had opened up on Israel's border with Syria after the fall of the Assad regime to an Islamist-led rebel alliance.

Netanyahu said he wanted to double the population of the Golan Heights, which Israel seized during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered illegally occupied under international law.

Israeli forces moved into a buffer zone separating the Golan Heights from Syria in the days following Assad's departure, saying the change of control in Damascus meant ceasefire arrangements had "collapsed".

India and Sri Lanka Monday (December 16, 2024) adopted a futuristic vision to expand their partnership, resolved to soon conclude a defence cooperation pact and decided to ramp up energy ties by establishing electricity grid connectivity and multi-product petroleum pipelines.

The decisions were taken during wide-ranging talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

Prime Minister Modi said both sides decided to emphasise investment-led growth and connectivity for the India-Sri Lanka economic partnership, and it was decided that physical, digital and energy connectivity will be key pillars of the cooperation.

The Indian women’s squash team entered the quarterfinals of the WSF World Team Squash Championship after beating Australia 2-1 in Hong Kong, China on Wednesday.

Anahat Singh beat Jessica Walt 11-9, 11-6 and 11-8 in her match to take a lead in the tie. Nirupama Dubey ranked 206 in the world, lost 11-8, 8-11, 9-11 and 9-11 to Sarah Cardwell to level the tie at 1-1.

Akanksha Salunkhe then led her team into the final eight after beating Alex Haydon 11-8, 11-5 and 11-6 in the final match.

The last time the women’s team made it to this stage was back in 2012 when the tournament was held in Nimes, France.