Justice Murdu Nirupa Bindushini Fernando was sworn in as the new Chief Justice of Sri Lanka before President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the Presidential Secretariat today.

She becomes the 48th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka and the second woman to hold this position. Justice Fernando succeeds Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, who recently retired.

Justice Fernando, who joined the Attorney General’s Department in 1985, has held several key positions, including Solicitor General in 1997 and Additional Solicitor General in 2014. She was appointed to the Supreme Court in March 2018 and brings over 30 years of experience as a legal professional.

A past pupil of Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo, she earned her law degree from the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo.

Jay Shah’s tenure as Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) officially kicked off on Sunday, as the Indian administrator took charge of the world cricket body.

“I am honoured to be starting in the role of ICC Chair and want to thank the ICC Directors and Member Boards for their support and trust in me to undertake this important role,” Shah said in an ICC release.

“This is an exciting time for the sport as we build up to the LA28 Olympic Games and strive to make cricket more inclusive and popular than ever before. We also stand at a critical juncture in terms of the coexistence of multiple formats and accelerating the growth of the women’s game. There is huge potential for the game of cricket globally, with so much opportunity to engage with existing and new fans, while ensuring the best resources and platforms for our cricketers around the world,” he added.

Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi on Sunday became the second Indian after legendary Viswanathan Anand and 16th worldwide to reach the gold-standard ELO rating of 2800, while also occupying the fourth spot in the latest rankings. (More Sports News)

The 21-year-old has been in sensational form this year, having won an individual gold as well as team title in India's recent historic performance in the Chess Olympiad.

"Arjun Erigaisi has become the 16th player in history to break the 2800 Elo barrier in classical chess ratings!" the world governing body of the sport FIDE said on 'X'.

There were 16.58 billion Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions worth Rs 23.5 trillion in October, the highest numbers for the digital system since it became operational in April 2016.

UPI’s previous peak was 15.04 billion in volume terms in September 2024 and Rs 20.64 trillion in value in July. Data from previous months shows that the growth in transactions is driven by person to merchant transactions (for buying goods or services), which got a festival season push in October. It was the first time that UPI crossed 16 billion in volume and Rs 23 trillion in value.

October witnessed a 10 per cent increase in volume and 14 per cent in value compared to September. There were 14.96 billion UPI transactions amounting to Rs 20.61 trillion in August, according to data shared by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

The gross GST collection in November grew at 8.5% year-on-year to R1.82 lakh crore largely on the back of healthy accrual from domestic transactions. However, it is lower than the October collection of R1.87 lakh crore, which was the second highest monthly collection recorded in GST. The domestic GST revenue grew by 9.4% during the month, while import GST revenue growth of 5.4%.

This is the third month in a row that gross GST collections have shown single digit growth, showing that a fatigue has set in as far as GST collections have been concerned. Even the festive months of October (when gross collections showed a growth of 8.9%) and November have failed to give a boost to the collections.

President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday (November 30, 2024) nominated close confidante Kash Patel for the powerful position of Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, making him the highest-ranking Indian American in his incoming administration.

“I am proud to announce that Kashyap 'Kash' Patel will serve as the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and 'America First' fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People,” Mr. Trump announced on Truth Social, a social media platform he owns.

Mr. Trump said Mr. Patel played a pivotal role in uncovering "the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax," standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution. Mr. Patel, 44, served as chief of staff to the Acting United States Secretary of Defense in the last few weeks of the Trump Administration in 2017.

President Droupadi Murmu will confer the National Awards for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities tomorrow. 22 persons and 11 Institutions will be conferred the National Awards. Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dr Virendra Kumar will also unveil several welfare initiatives for the empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.

Amar Jain will receive the National Award for Individual Excellence in the category of Sarvshreshth Divyangjan-2024. He is a legal professional with 100 per cent visual impairment. Amar Jain shared his inspirational life story and spoke about the obstacles he has had to face during his journey.

Prateek Khandelwal, who has a 75 per cent locomotor disability, will receive the National Award for Individual Excellence in the category of Sarvshreshth Divyangjan-2024. He is the founder of ‘Ramp My City’. He shared how his start-up is helping transform urban environments in India to become more accessible for Persons with Disabilities.

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification’s sixteenth Conference of Parties (COP16) is beginning today in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, marking the first time West Asia hosts this crucial environmental conference. India will join representatives from 197 nations at this milestone event, which coincides with UNCCD’s 30th anniversary.

India’s delegation, led by Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, will participate in a significant side event at the IUCN Pavilion on the opening day. The delegation will present the Aravalli Green Wall Project (AGWP), a comprehensive initiative targeting the restoration of 1.15 million hectares of degraded landscape across four states in northwestern India.

The project presentation, scheduled for December 2nd, will demonstrate India’s innovative approach to combating desertification, land degradation, and drought through the integration of indigenous species afforestation, biodiversity conservation, and advanced water management strategies. The initiative employs modern GIS tools and Nature-Based Solutions while emphasizing community engagement and cultural preservation.

The Ministry of Coal has achieved a remarkable milestone in November 2024, with overall coal production reaching 90.62 million tonnes (MT) (Provisional), compared to 84.52 MT in the same month last year, marking a 7.20% growth.

Coal production from captive and other entities has shown significant progress, reaching 17.13 MT (provisional) in November 2024, up from 12.44 MT in November 2023, marking an impressive growth of 37.69% (provisional).

Cumulatively, coal production for FY 2024-25 up to November 2024 reached 628.03 MT (Provisional), compared to 591.32 MT during the same period in FY 2023-24, reflecting a growth of 6.21%. (Provisional)

State gas utility GAIL (India) Ltd on Friday signed an agreement with Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd for long-term charter hire of a newly built LNG ship.

The pact was signed through the ship-owning company established in Singapore, GAIL said in a statement.

The LNG ship will be a modern two-stroke vessel having a tank capacity of 1,74,000 cubic metres and will be built by Samsung Heavy Industries Co Ltd, Korea, with which the ship owning company has concluded a shipbuilding contract.

The contract was signed in the presence of R K Jain, GAIL Director (Finance), Sanjay Kumar, GAIL Director (Marketing), and R K Singhal, GAIL Director (Business Development) by S Bairagi, GAIL Executive Director (Marketing - Shipping & International LNG) and Satoshi Kanamori, Managing Executive Officer (LNG, Carbon Solution Business), K-Line.