Ballon d'Or: Luka Modric ends dominance of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder Luka Modric won the 2018 Ballon d'Or, becoming the first player other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to claim the award in more than a decade.
Modric, 33, won his third successive Champions League in May before helping Croatia to a first World Cup final.
Former Brazil and AC Milan forward Kaka, in 2007, was the last player other than Messi or Ronaldo to win it.
Ronaldo, who joined Juventus from Real Madrid in the summer, came second.
Barcelona forward Messi finished fifth, with Atletico Madrid frontman Antoine Griezmann and PSG attacker Kylian Mbappe - both of whom won the World Cup with France - third and fourth respectively.
A.N. Jha appointed new finance secretary
A N Jha, Secretary, Expenditure, has been appointed as new Finance Secretary, a government order said Monday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has cleared Jha’s appointment to the post after incumbent Hasmukh Adhia, a 1981-batch Gujarat cadre officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), retired on November 30.
Fifty-nine-year old Ajay Narayan Jha, is a 1982-batch IAS officer of Manipur Tripura cadre.
An alumnus of St Stephens College from where he passed with first class in Graduation and post graduation in History, Jha is a recipient of World Bank scholarship to pursue Masters in Economic Policy Management from McGill University in Canada. He is also an MPhil in public administration from Delhi University.
ISRO moves US court to counter Devas efforts to get $563 mn damages from agency
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO’s) commercial arm, Antrix Corporation, has moved a court in the US to counter attempts by start-up firm Devas Multimedia to confirm a $563-million compensation awarded to it by an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration tribunal over cancellation of a satellite agreement by India in 2011.
Antrix Corporation filed a motion in a district court in the western district of Washington November 19 to oppose a petition filed by Devas Multimedia to enforce a September 14, 2015 ICC tribunal order for payment of the compensation. The start-up, in its plea, had accused the Indian government of using retaliatory tactics against it for pursuing the compensation claim.
Pawan Singh is first Indian to be elected in ISSF’s judges committee
Pawan Singh has become the first Indian to be elected one of seven member’s of the Judges Committee of the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF). Singh also holds the post of the Joint Secretary General of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) and was a former coach of the Indian shooting team.
Digital Sky: Govt starts online portal for drone registration
Civil Aviation Ministry announced Saturday it has started the registration process for drone operators in the country, to be done through a portal called ‘Digital Sky’.The government, in August, had put in place regulations for operations of remotely piloted aircraft, to come into effect from December 1. Under these norms, drone users will be required to do one-time registration of their drones. They will also need to register the pilots of drones as well as their owners.
“Happy to announce that we are launching the Online Registration Portal for #Drone Flying Permission, #DigitalSky from TODAY. The platform is now live,” Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said in a tweet.
For drones of micro size and above categories, operators are required to register on the Digital Sky portal, he said in another tweet.
Nano drones can start flying legally from Saturday, the ministry said in a release later.
It also said the digital platform has begun accepting registrations of users, and payments for Unmanned Aerial Operator’s Permit (UAOP) and Unique Identification Numbers (UIN) will be accepted through the Bharat Kosh portal (bharatkosh.gov.in).
Mexico's López Obrador sworn in as first leftist president in decades
The former Mexico City mayor pledged on Saturday to end corruption and impunity to transform the nation on behalf of the poor and marginalised.
The 65-year-old, popularly known by his initials Amlo, won a landslide victory in July - his third presidential bid.
The political veteran begins his six-year term with approval ratings of 56%.
His predecessor Enrique Peña Nieto leaves office with only 24% - his administration was plagued with corruption scandals and murder rates reaching record-high levels.
López Obrador vows 'radical' new Mexico Who is Mexico's Andrés Manuel López Obrador? What is the migrant caravan heading to US? President López Obrador inherits an immediate foreign policy issue - what to do about the thousands of Central American migrants camping on the US-Mexico border.
Foreign dignitaries including US Vice-President Mike Pence, first daughter Ivanka Trump and Bolivian President Evo Morales attended the inauguration in the capital.
COP24: UN climate change conference 2018 begins, here's all about it
Following a year of devastating climate disasters around the globe, from California to Kerala, and Tonga to Japan, the annual UN climate change conference (COP24) opened in the Polish city of Katowice on December 3 with the goal of finalising the implementation guidelines for the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
The guidelines will provide clarity on how to implement the landmark agreement fairly and transparently for all.
What is the COP24? In 1992, the UN organised a major event in Rio de Janeiro called the Earth Summit, in which the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted.
In this treaty, nations agreed to 'stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere' to prevent dangerous interference from human activity on the climate system.
Today, the treaty has 197 signatories.
Every year since the treaty entered into force in 1994, a 'conference of the parties' -- a COP -- is held to discuss how to move forward and, since there have been 23 COPs so far, this year's will be the 24th, or COP24.
Train 18 breaches 180 kmph-mark in test run. 10 interesting facts about the premium train
Train 18, the country’s first locomotive-less train on Sunday (December 2) clocked a top speed of more than 180 kmph during a trial run.
A senior railway ministry official confirmed that the first Train 18 will be made operational in January 2019. This indigenously manufactured train will replace the daytime Shatabdi Express.
Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF) General Manager Sudhanshu Mani told reporters that Train 18 breached 180 kmph speed near Kota-Sawai Madhopur station. He announced that all the major test runs and hinted that the premium train could be launched even before the expected date.
G20 summit: India presents 9-point agenda on fugitive economic offenders
India on Friday presented a nine-point agenda to G20 countries, calling for “strong and active cooperation” among them to comprehensively deal with fugitive economic offenders.
Sunil Arora assumes charge as new Chief Election Commissioner
Sunil Arora took charge as the new Chief Election Commissioner in New Delhi on Sunday, replacing O P Rawat. He was appointed as the new Chief Election Commissioner by President Ram Nath Kovind on November 26.
An IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre of 1980 batch, Arora was made the Election Commissioner in September last year to fill the vacancy created by former CEC Nasim Zaidi’s retirement.
Arora, 61, has previously served as the secretary of Information and Broadcasting and Secretary in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. He has worked in ministries and departments such as Finance, Textiles and Planning Commission. Arora also served as a secretary to Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje from 1993 to 1998 and as Principal Secretary to the CM between 2005 to 2008.
Arora’s first major task as CEC will be overseeing the smooth conduct of the crucial Lok Sabha polls in 2019.