·       If all goes well, the world's highest rail bridge, which is being built across Chenab River in J&K, may be ready for commissioning to the rail traffic, most probably by December 2022.

·       The bridge has been designed to be built 1315 meter in length on the Katra-Banihal rail section in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir with a 359-meter high main arch span from the Chenab river bed level, at the cost of Rs 27949 crore.

·       This bridge is world's highest railway bridge as a part of the ambitious Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link (USBRL) project will be an engineering marvel of Indian Railways. 

·       The World Economic Forum (WEF) said  on De 20 that it "will defer its annual meeting in Davos... in the light of continued uncertainty over the Omicron" variant of coronavirus.

·       The high-powered meeting scheduled for January 17-21, which usually draws leading figures from business, politics and diplomacy, will instead be held in "early summer", the organisers said.

·       Last year's edition was cancelled because of the pandemic and Swiss authorities have recently stepped up health restrictions sharply to control a fifth coronavirus wave.

·       The body will instead organise online "State of the World" sessions to get global leaders talking.

·       TMC supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee appointed acclaimed diplomat-author-turned politician Pavan K Varma as the party's vice president with immediate effect.

·    Varma, who is acclaimed for his literary genius and academic creations with the credit of authoring more than a dozen of books, had recently joined the TMC in New Delhi.

·       The senior Chhattisgarh Congress leader and former MLA Ramesh Warlyani died in a hospital in Gurugram in Haryana following a cardiac arrest .

·       Warlyani, an advocate, was elected as a legislator once from Raipur rural seat in undivided Madhya Pradesh in 1977 as Janata Party candidate.

·       Nigerian security forces are searching for armed gangs who killed 47 people in attacks in recent days in rural areas of the country's northwest, the latest killings in the troubled region.

·       The attacks took place in the northwest Kaduna state which neighbours Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja.

·       No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks but they are suspected to be by the gangs of bandits who have killed at least 2,500 people in the northwest and central states so far in 2021, according to statistics collated by the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations.

·    The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Abhilash Thomas and C A Anzar from Bengaluru, who are the co-founders and owners of Indus Viva Health Services, in a Rs 1500 Crore Multi-level Marketing (MLM) Scam which pertains to cheating around ten lakh investors across the country.

·       The accused were produced before the Special Court for PMLA cases and have been remanded in judicial custody.

·       Amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, Bangladesh has announced aid packages in the form of food and medicinal assistance to support the Afghan people.

·       This was announced during the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers on Afghanistan held in Pakistan on December 19.

·       Competition Commission has approved Tata Group's proposed acquisition of debt-laden Air India as well as its two subsidiaries.

·       The Rs 18,000 crore-deal that includes the winning bidder Talace taking over Rs 15,300 crore-worth debt, is a major step in the government's efforts over the years to revive the ailing airline.

·       Talace Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, emerged as the winning bidder in October.

·       It will buy 100 per cent stakes in Air India Ltd, Air India Express Ltd and 50 per cent shareholding in Air India SATS Airport Services Pvt Ltd (AISATS).

·    Deals beyond a certain threshold require approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI)  which has the mandate to ensure fair competition in the market place.