Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver the keynote address at ASSOCHAM Foundation Week 2020 tomorrow morning through video conferencing. Prime Minister will also present the ASSOCHAM Enterprise of the Century Award to Mr Ratan Tata, who will receive the award on behalf of the TATA Group.
 
ASSOCHAM was established in 1920 by promoter Chambers representing all regions of India. Having in its fold over 400 Chambers and Trade Associations, and serving over 4.5 lakh members across India, ASSOCHAM has emerged as the fountainhead of knowledge for Indian industry.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved assistance of three thousand 500 crore rupees for sugarcane farmers. Briefing the media in New Delhi after the Cabinet meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said, Cabinet has taken the decision to help farmers directly by depositing money of subsidy into their accounts. It will benefit five crore farmers and five lakh workers.  

Mr Javadekar said, CCEA also approved revised cost estimate of North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project for six States for strengthening of the Intra-State Transmission and Distribution Systems. He said, the projects reflect government's commitment to the total economic development of North Eastern Region and to strengthen the Intra-State Transmission and Distribution Infrastructure in the Region.
 
The Cabinet also approved auction of spectrum in 700 megahertz, 800 megahertz, 900 megahertz, 1800 megahertz, 2100 megahertz, 2300 megahertz and 2500 megahertz frequency bands, for validity period of 20 years. Talking to reporters, Communication and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, a total of 2 thousand 2 hundred 51.25 megahertz is being offered with total valuation of 3 lakh 92 thousand 3 hundred 32.70 crore rupees at reserve price.

The Indian Space Research Organisation will launch communication satellite CMS-01 on board the launch vehicle PSLV-C50. A 25-hour countdown for the launch began yesterday afternoon at 14:41 hours, ISRO said.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or PSLV's 52nd mission is scheduled for lift-off at 15:41 hours today from the second launch pad at the spaceport of Sriharikota 'subject to weather conditions', ISRO said.

"PSLV-CMS-01 Mission: Countdown for the launch of PSLV-C50/CMS01 mission commenced on Wednesday at 1441hrs from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR Sriharikota," ISRO said.

CMS-01 is the 42nd communication satellite of the space agency and it is envisaged for providing services in Extended-C Band of the frequency spectrum covering India, Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands.

PSLV-C50 is the 22nd flight of PSLV in 'XL' configuration (equipped with six strap-on motors), and today's launch would be the 77th launch vehicle mission from Sriharikota, about 120 km from Chennai.

It follows the successful launch of PSLV-C49 (EOS-01) earth observation satellite and nine customer spacecraft on November 7 which was ISRO's first mission of the year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today's launch would be the last launch of 2020 for ISRO.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute at National War Memorial this morning on the 50th-anniversary of the 1971 India-Pakistan war. On the occasion, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh unveiled the logo for 'Swarnim Vijay Varsh' to mark the anniversary of the war.
 
Vijay Diwas is observed every year on December 16 as a mark of victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war that also led to the creation of Bangladesh.
 
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today saluted the bravery of Indian Army on Vijay Diwas. In a tweet, Mr Singh said the soldiers wrote new chapter on bravery. He said their sacrifice evokes inspiration in Indians and nation will always revere them.

A new rule for cheque payments is all set to come into effect from 1st January, 2021. The new rule has been designed in order to check banking fraud. The Reserve Bank of India has decided to introduce from January 1, 2021, the 'positive pay system' for cheques, under which re-confirmation of key details may be needed for payments beyond Rs 50,000. 

Availing of this facility would be at the discretion of the account holder. However, banks may consider making it mandatory in case of cheques for amounts of Rs 5 lakh and above.

Positive pay system: What it is? How it works? All you need to know

- Under the positive pay system, the issuer of the cheque will be required to submit electronically, through SMS, mobile app, internet banking or ATM certain minimum details of that cheque like date, name of the beneficiary, payee, amount to the drawee bank.

- These details will be cross-checked before the cheque is presented for payment.

In case any discrepancy is flagged by cheque truncation system (CTS) to the drawee bank and presenting bank, redressal measures would be undertaken

- The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will develop the facility of positive pay in CTS and make it available to participant banks.

- Banks, in turn, shall enable it for all account holders issuing cheques for amounts of Rs 50,000 and above.

- While availing of this facility is at the discretion of the account holder, banks may consider making it mandatory in case of cheques for amounts of Rs 5,00,000 and above

- RBI has said that "banks are advised to create adequate awareness among their customers on features of positive pay system through SMS alerts, display in branches, ATMs as well as through their website and internet banking".

The Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) for high-value transactions will become available round-the-clock from today (December 14), making India one of the few countries in the world to operate the system 24X7.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced that the RTGS facility would become operational 24X7 from 12:30 am on Monday. "RTGS facility becomes operational 24X7 from 12.30 am tomorrow. Congratulations to the teams from RBI, Indian Financial Technology and Allied Services (IFTAS), and the service partners who made this possible," Das had tweeted on Sunday.

The Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) for high-value transactions will become available round-the-clock from today (December 14), making India one of the few countries in the world to operate the system 24X7.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced that the RTGS facility would become operational 24X7 from 12:30 am on Monday. "RTGS facility becomes operational 24X7 from 12.30 am tomorrow. Congratulations to the teams from RBI, Indian Financial Technology and Allied Services (IFTAS), and the service partners who made this possible," Das had tweeted on Sunday.

In October, the RBI had announced that RTGS will be available round-the-clock on all days of the year. RTGS facility comes within a year of RBI operationalizing NEFT 24x7. NEFT is a popular mode for small-value transactions.
RTGS, which began its operations on March 26, 2004 with a soft launch involving four banks, presently handles 6.35 lakh transactions daily for a value of Rs 4.17 lakh crore across 237 participant banks.

"Round the clock availability of RTGS will provide extended flexibility to businesses for effecting payments and will enable the introduction of additional settlement cycles in ancillary payment systems. This can also be leveraged to enhance operations of Indian financial markets and cross-border payments," RBI had said last week.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Dhordo in Kutch, Gujarat on December 15, 2020, and lay the foundation stone of several development projects.

These projects include a desalination plant, a hybrid renewable energy park, and a fully automated milk processing and packing plant. 

Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani will also be present on the occasion. The Prime Minister will also undertake a visit to the White Rann, followed by witnessing a cultural programme, said the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in a statement issued on Sunday.

"Harnessing its vast coastline, Gujarat is taking a significant step towards transforming seawater to potable drinking water with the upcoming desalination plant at Mandvi, Kutch. This desalination plant, with 10 crore litre per day capacity (100 MLD), will strengthen water security in Gujarat by complementing Narmada Grid, Sauni network and treated wastewater infrastructure. It will be an important milestone for sustainable and affordable water resource harvesting in the country," the PMO statement added.  

Nearly 8 lakh people across the regions of Mundra, Lakhpat, Abdasa and Nakhatrana talukas will receive desalinated water from this plant, which will also help in sharing the surplus to upstream districts of Bhachau, Rapar and Gandhidham. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the Global Climate Summit today on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the landmark Paris Climate Agreement. The Paris Agreement is a landmark deal in the multilateral climate change process. For the first time, a binding agreement brought all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects. It is a legally binding international treaty on climate change which was adopted by 196 Parties at the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) in Paris, on 12th of December 2015 and came into force on 4th of November 2016.

Briefing the media in New Delhi on the eve of the completion of five years of Paris Agreement yesterday, Environment Minister Prakash  Javadekar informed that the United Kingdom has called for a virtual Global Climate Summit today and Prime Minister Modi would also be taking part in the meeting. Mr Javadekar has said that climate change is not an overnight phenomenon and it has taken the last 100 years to have an impact on the environment.

The Minister said, climate change is not a result of recent actions but of historical actions. He said, historically the United States of America has 25 per cent of CO2 emissions, Europe has 22 per cent whereas China has 13 per cent and India only 3 per cent of emission.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will address the International Bharati Festival, 2020 today via video conferencing.

It is being organized by the Vanavil Culture Centre in Chennai. The festival is being organised in virtual mode this year and will see participation of several national and international poets and artists.

The festival is being held in honour of the national poet, Mahakavi Subramanya Bharati whose 138th birth anniversary is being celebrated today. AIR correspondent reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi confers this year’s Bharati Award via virtual mode to the writer and author Seeni Vishvanathan who has made a voluminous compendium on the national poet Subramaniya Bharati in a chronological order.

The festival is being held through video-conferencing this year by the Vanavil Culture Centre, due to the prevailing pandemic situation. Vanavil means rainbow, signifying unity. The Prime Minister has earlier quoted the works of the Mahakavi Subramaniya Bharati earlier, whose poems ignited the national spirit among the public during the freedom struggle, apart from adding newer dimensions to the Tamil literary world. The event is a fitting tribute on his 138th anniversary today.

Human Rights Day is being celebrated today. The day is celebrated on this day every year to commemorate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The declaration was adopted and proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948 as the shared standard yardstick to protect human rights across the globe. It recognizes inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of mankind as the foundation of justice, freedom and peace in the world. The theme for this year’s Human Rights Day, relates to the COVID-19 pandemic and focuses on the need to recover better by ensuring Human Rights are at the heart of recovery efforts.
 
The National Human Rights Commission, NHRC India is organizing a function through virtual mode today to celebrate Human Rights Day. Since its inception 12th October, 1993 till 6th December this year, the Commission has registered more than 19 lakh 50 thousand cases and disposed of over 19 lakh 32 thousand. A total 188 crore rupees have been paid as relief to the victims of human rights violations in over seven thousand cases by various state agencies on the recommendations of the Commission.