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- Minister of State for Personnel Dr Jitendra Singh launched the ‘Good Governance Index’ on the occasion of Good Governance Day on 25th December, 2019. Tamil Nadu topped the index in the big states category followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka. In the north-east and hill category, Himachal Pradesh topped the ranking followed by Uttarakhand. Among the union territories, Pondicherry got the first position followed by Chandigarh.
- The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved over Rs. 3,941.35 crores for updating the National Population Register (NPR) across the country, barring Assam, and Rs. 8,754.23 crores for conducting the Census of India, 2021. Both the exercises will be conducted simultaneously through door-to-door enumeration commencing from April 2020 and going up to September 2020.
Shaheed Udham Singh - The nation paid homage to the great revolutionary Shaheed Udham Singh on his 120th birth anniversary on 26th December, 2019. He was born on this day in 1899 in Sangrur district of Punjab. Udham Singh was present at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar on the fateful Baisakhi Day of 13th April, 1919. He avenged the massacre by killing General O’Dwyer in March 1940 and was hanged by the British in London.
- The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Republic of India and the Federative Republic of Brazil on Bioenergy Cooperation. Brazil is currently the world’s second largest producer and consumer of biofuels. The MoU provides a framework to cooperate and promote investment in biofuel, bioelectricity and biogas supply-chains, including feedstock, industrial conversion, distribution and end use sectors.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL) for sustainable management of ground water resources on 25th December, 2019 in New Delhi. The Central Government has allocated Rs. 6000 crores for this scheme, in which Rs. 3000 crore will be given by the World Bank and Rs 3000 crores to be spent by the government. It will be implemented in seven states – Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
- The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has approved the creation of the post of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). The officer to be appointed as Chief of Defence Staff will be a four-star general and will also head the Department of Military Affairs. The purpose of creating the Chief of Defence Staff post is to increase the coordination between the three armies – Indian Army, Navy and Air Force. The CDS will act as the principal military adviser to the Defence Minister on all tri-services matters.
- The Union Cabinet, presided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, decided to name the strategic tunnel under the Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as a tribute to him on his 95th birth anniversary on 25th December, 2019. The historic decision to construct the tunnel was taken on 3rd June, 2000 when Vajpayee was the prime minister. The 8.8 km long tunnel will be the world’s longest tunnel above an altitude of 3,000 metres and will reduce the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 kilometres.
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