TODAY NEWS ON December 27, 2024

News Headlines for CAT, CLAT and IPM aspirants

Source: THE HINDU

RIP: Manmohan Singh passes away at 92 in Delhi.

Manmohan Singh, gentleman politician who opened up India’s economy in 1991, passes away

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, 92, passed away late on Thursday (December 26, 2024), at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Dr. Singh retired as member of the Rajya Sabha, representing Rajasthan, in February this year. Before this, he represented Assam in the Upper House for six terms since 1991

Life and times of Manmohan Singh

• Sept 26, 1932
  Manmohan Singh is born to Gurmukh Singh and Amrit Kaur in Gah, a village in the Punjab province (now in Pakistan) of undivided India. He is raised by his paternal grandmother after his mother’s demise when he is young.
• 1947
  During the Partition, his family migrates to Amritsar in India.
• 1948
  Singh completes his matriculation examinations from Punjab University.
• 1952-54
  He completes his bachelor's and master's degrees from Punjab University.
• 1957
  He earns a First Class Honours Degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge. After Cambridge, Singh returns to India and serves as a teacher at Panjab University.
• 1958
  He marries Gurusharan Kaur. The couple had three daughters - Upinder, Daman, and Amrit.
• 1960
  He goes to the University of Oxford for his D.Phil.
• 1962
  Singh completes his D.Phil. in Economics from Nuffield College under the University of Oxford.
• 1963
  He becomes a Professor in Economics at Punjab University.
• 1966
  He is made an Honorary Professor at Delhi School of Economics under Delhi University.
• 1966-69
  Singh works with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
• 1969-71
  He serves as a professor of international trade at Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi.
• 1971
  Singh joins the Government of India as Economic Advisor in the Commerce Ministry.
• 1972-76
  He serves as the Chief Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Finance.
• 1976
  He is made a Secretary in the Finance Ministry and an Honorary Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
• 1976-80
  Manmohan Singh is the Director of the Reserve Bank of India.
• 1980-82
  He serves as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.
• 1982-85
  He serves as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
• 1985-87
  He becomes the head of the Planning Commission.
• 1987
  Singh is awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award.
• 1987-90
  He becomes the Secretary General of the South Commission, an independent economic policy think-tank headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
• 1990-91
  He holds the post of Advisor to the Prime Minister of India on economic affairs.
• March 1991
  He becomes chairman of the University Grants Commission.
• June 1991
  When P.V. Narasimha Rao becomes Prime Minister, he picks Dr. Manmohan Singh as his Finance Minister.
• 1991
  Singh is first elected to the upper house of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, in 1991 by the legislature of the state of Assam. He was re-elected in 1995, 2001, 2007, 2013, and 2019.
• 1991-96
  During a serious economic crisis, Singh brings out economic reforms to enhance productivity and liberalize the economy. He eliminates the permit raj, reduces state control of the economy, and lowers import taxes.
• 1998-2004
  Singh is made the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
• May 22, 2004
  Dr. Manmohan Singh is sworn in as Prime Minister, becoming the first non-Hindu Prime Minister of India.
• 2004-09
  During his term as the prime minister, Singh continued to encourage growth in the Indian market. Singh, along with his Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, presided over a period where the Indian economy grew with an 8–9% economic growth rate.
• 2005
  His ministry enacts the National Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and starts the National Rural Health Mission (NHRM), mobilizing half a million community health workers.
• July 18, 2005
  The framework for the Indo-U.S. Civil Nuclear Deal was announced in a joint statement by Dr. Singh and U.S. President George W. Bush, under which India agreed to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities and to place all its civil nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards and, in exchange, the U.S. agreed to work toward full civil nuclear cooperation with India.
• June 15, 2005
  His government introduces the Right to Information Act (RTI).
• 2006
  His government implements the proposal to reserve 27% of seats in AIIMS, IITs, IIMs, and other central institutions of higher education for Other Backward Classes.
• 2007
  India achieves its highest GDP growth rate of 9% and becomes the second fastest-growing major economy in the world.
• 2008
  India signs an India-specific safeguards agreement with the IAEA. The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) grants a waiver to India to commence civilian nuclear trade, making India the only country with nuclear weapons not party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to carry out nuclear commerce.
• 2008
  The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is set up after the Mumbai terror attacks.
• May 22, 2009
  Singh takes the oath of office for a second term, becoming the first Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1962 to win re-election after completing a full five-year term.
• July 2, 2009
  His government introduces the Right to Education Act (RTE).
• 2010
  He receives the Special Class of the Order of King Abdulaziz from Saudi Arabia.
• 2012
  His second term is marred by three major alleged scams—the spectrum allocation scam, the coal scam, and the Commonwealth Games (CWG) scam. However, investigations yield no concrete results.
• 2014
  He receives the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers from Japan.
• May 17, 2014
  Singh resigns as Prime Minister after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) wins the 2014 Lok Sabha election. He serves as the acting Prime Minister until May 25, 2014, when Narendra Modi is sworn in as the new Prime Minister.
• August 19, 2019
  He is re-elected to the Rajya Sabha.
• April 3, 2024
  Manmohan Singh ends his 33-year-long parliamentary innings in the Rajya Sabha.
• December 26, 2024
  Manmohan Singh passes away at 92 in Delhi.

Monetary policy stance may have slowed demand: Finance Ministry

The Finance Ministry said the “combination of monetary policy stance and macroprudential measures by the central bank may have contributed to the demand slowdown” in the economy — remarks that come two days after a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) monthly bulletin article mooted urgent action to “excoriate inflation” so as to lend a stronger push for consumption and investments.

In 2023-24, BJP got ₹2,604 crore in donations, 9 times more than Congress

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received contributions of ₹2,604.74 crore in amounts of ₹20,000 or more, in 2023-24. This was nine times the Congress’s collection of ₹281.38 crore, as per the reports of the two parties submitted to the Election Commission of India (EC).

India, China agreement to end Ladakh standoff being implemented ‘comprehensively and effectively’: Chinese military

China’s Defence Ministry said that the Chinese and Indian militaries are “comprehensively and effectively” implementing the agreement to end the standoff at eastern Ladakh and “steady progress” has been made. Chinese Defence Spokesperson Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang made the remarks, while answering a question on the December 18 Special Representatives talks.

Current situation would not have arisen if Hindus had Kashi and Mathura, says VHP clearing the air on Mohan Bhagwat’s comments

Had the temples of Mathura and Kashi been given to the Hindu community, like Ayodhya, many of the present temple-mosque disputes would not have occurred, said organising general secretary of the Vishva Hindu Parishad, Milind Parande. “The current situation would not have arisen if Hindus had Kashi and Mathura,” he said. Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat had recently expressed concern over the resurgence of temple-mosque disputes.

PM not ready to accept mistake on ‘insult’ to Ambedkar, says Mallikarjun Kharge

Asserting that the Congress would fight for the respect of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, party president Mallikarjun Kharge said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government at the Centre were not ready to admit that Home Minister Amit Shah had made “extremely insulting” remarks about the architect of the Constitution. Mr. Kharge was addressing the Congress Working Committee meeting at Belagavi in Karnataka, held to mark the 100th anniversary of the 39th Belgaum Session that was presided over by Mahatma Gandhi.

Over 10.58 lakh votes were not counted or rejected in the Lok Sabha election: Election Commission data

Over 10.58 lakh votes were not counted or rejected in the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year, according to the detailed statistical report released by the Election Commission of India on Thursday. Out of these 5,35,825 were postal votes and 5,22,513 were votes cast in Electronic Voting Machines.

Writer Bapsi Sidhwa passes away at 86 in U.S.

Celebrated Pakistan-born novelist and pioneer of South Asian literature Bapsi Sidhwa, best known for her iconic novel Ice Candy Man, passed away at the age of 86 in Houston, U.S., her family confirmed. Her brother, Feroze Bhandara, announced that memorial ceremonies would be held over three days, followed by her last rites in Houston.

PIL in SC seeks abolition of TDS system, cites constitutional violations

A PIL filed in the Supreme Court sought to scrap the TDS system calling it "arbitrary and irrational" and violative of various fundamental rights, including equality. The PIL challenged the tax deducted at source or TDS framework under the Income Tax Act, which mandates the deduction of tax at the time of payment by the payer and its deposit with the income tax department. The deducted amount is adjusted against the payee's tax liability.

Delhi tutor held for protests by civil service aspirants in Patna

A Delhi-based tutor was held on the charge of instigating aspirants who tried to "storm into" the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) office in Patna, demanding cancellation of its December 13 examination, an official said. Patna's District Magistrate (DM) Chandrasekhar Singh told PTI that preliminary investigations into Wednesday's protests found that one Rohit, a tutor, mobilised and instigated the aspirants.

Israeli strike kills five Palestinian journalists in Gaza, officials say

An Israeli strike killed five Palestinian journalists outside a hospital in the Gaza Strip overnight, the Health Ministry said. The Israeli military said it had targeted a group of militants. The strike hit a car outside the Al-Awda Hospital in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in the central part of the territory. The journalists were working for the local Quds News Network, which also reported the strike.

North India continues to reel under cold wave conditions; no 'white Christmas' in Srinagar, Shimla

North India continued to reel under severe cold wave conditions though tourists in favourite destinations such as Srinagar and Shimla remained deprived of witnessing a "white Christmas". Srinagar recorded a low of minus 7.3 degrees Celsius while Tabo in the Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest place in Himachal Pradesh, recording a night temperature of minus 10.6 degrees Celsius. Cold weather conditions persisted in states like Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and parts of Uttar Pradesh.

Weakened weather system over Bay of Bengal to bring scattered rains in north T.N. till December 27

Some parts of Tamil Nadu, particularly in the north, may experience intermittent rainfall of moderate intensity till Friday (December 27, 2024). Various districts in north Tamil Nadu woke up to wet weather on Thursday (December 26, 2024) owing to the effect of a weakened weather system over the Bay of Bengal.

Indian women on course for clean sweep against West Indies

India would aim to push their boundaries in the batting department when they face a down-and-out West Indies in the third and final Women's ODI. Following another series loss against the mighty Australia, India have been able to dominate the West Indies in home conditions.