·       No separate data on people killed or injured by vigilante groups, mobs or crowds is maintained by the National Crime Record Bureau, Rajya Sabha was informed.

·       In response to a question, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said the government, through audio-visual media, has generated public awareness to curb the menace of mob lynching.

·       The government has also sensitised service providers to take steps to check the propagation of false news and rumours that have potential to incite mob violence and lynching, Rai said.

·       He said the Centre has issued advisories to state governments and UT administrators on July 23, 2019 and September 25, 2019 for taking measures to curb incidents of mob lynching in the country.

·       Rai said police and public order are state subjects and state governments are responsible for prevention, detection, registration and investigation of such crimes.

·       The government has appointed General MM Naravane, Chief of Army Staff, as the Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee (Chairman, CoSC), the post which fell vacant after the sudden demise of the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat in a helicopter crash on December 8.

·       Chiefs of Staff Committee, which includes the Chiefs of Navy and Air Force Staff too. General Naravane is the senior-most chief of the Staff.

·       Important issues related to the armed forces are handled by this committee. With the creation of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) in December 2019, General Rawat as the CDS had become the first permanent CoSC. CDS is the fourth and permanent member of the CoSC.

·       The old practice entailed that the senior-most officer among the three services was taking over as the Chairman, CoSC. 

·       Goa's Urban Development Minister and BJP legislator Milind Naik tendered his resignation from the state cabinet  after the Congress alleged that he was involved in a sexual exploitation case.

·       The BJP MLA, who represents the Mormugao Assembly constituency in South Goa, held the urban development portfolio in the Pramod Sawant-led cabinet.

·       He was also a part of the previous cabinet led by the then chief minister Manohar Parrikar.

·       The President Ram Nath Kovind on Dec 15  attended the Victory Day Parade as the "Guest of Honour" in Dhaka  as Bangladesh marks 50 years of victory in the Liberation War against Pakistan by showcasing its military might which included spectacular aerobatics and display of defence acquisitions.

·       A 122-member strong tri-services contingent from India also took part in the parade watched by Bangladesh President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, as well as ministers, diplomats and other dignitaries at the National Parade Ground.

·       The Indian contingent drew loud cheers from the crowd as it marched past with the announcer acknowledging India's contributions to Bangladesh's Liberation War of 1971.

·       On this day in 1971, Lt.Gen. Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, heading 93,000 Pakistani troops, surrendered to the Indian Army under the command of Lt.Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora in Dhaka, and East Pakistan was declared as the newly liberated "Bangladesh".

·       Bangladesh will soon import defence related items from India under the USD 500 million Line of Credit provided by New Delhi as several identified equipment are being fast tracked, according to Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla.

·       His remarks came after President Ram Nath Kovind, who is Dhaka  on his maiden state visit at the invitation of his counterpart M Abdul Hamid to attend the golden jubilee celebrations of Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971, held delegation-level talks with the country's top leadership.

·       Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called on President Kovind and the two leaders discussed several issues of mutual interest and bilateral cooperation.

·       They reviewed the progress in the multifaceted and comprehensive bilateral ties.

·       In 2019, India provided USD 500 million Line of Credit to Bangladesh for defence-related procurement in the neighbouring country.

·       Export Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) entered into an agreement on April 11 with Bangladesh's Armed Forces Division for making available to the latter a Government of India-supported LoC of USD 500 million.

·       The LoC is for the purpose of financing defence-related procurement in Bangladesh.

·       In April 2017 during Prime Minister Hasina's visit to New Delhi, India committed USD 500 million LoC for Bangladesh's defence.

·       As many as 50 mergers and acquisition (M&A) deals were recorded in November 2021 and the deal values stood only at $436 million.

·       The same month last year had witnessed high-value deals (a billion-dollar deal and four deals worth over $100 million), according to Grant Thornton Bharat Dealtracker.

·       November 2021 also witnessed PE (private equity) funds inflow in Indian companies at $3.1 billion across 149 deals.

·       Also, India clocked 199 deals worth $3.5 billion in November.

·       State Bank of India  said  that it has renewed its memorandum of understanding with the Indian Army to offer specially crafted benefits to all serving and retired Army personnel and their families through its Defence Salary Package (DSP) Scheme.

·       Under the MoU, the bank offers complimentary personal and air accidental insurance (death) covers, additional cover in case of on-duty death, permanent total disability / partial disability covers.

·       It also supports the education of children and marriage of girl child of the deceased Army personnel.

·       Going forward, veterans would also be eligible for complimentary personal accidental (death) insurance, irrespective of age.

·       Family pensioners will also be eligible for a bouquet of benefits.

·       The bank also offers zero-balance savings bank accounts with many complementary benefits and waiver of service charges.

·    Attractive interest rates and concession on processing charges are offered to serving personnel on the home loan, car loan, education loan, and Xpress credit personal loan.

·       Development work of 23 projects of 600.13 km length under Central Road & Infrastructure Fund (CRIF)scheme for 2021-22 in Madhya Pradesh has been approved with a budget outlay of Rs 1,814.90 crore, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said.

·       In a series of tweets, the Road Transport and Highways Minister said construction of two lanes from UP-Bihar border to Chandauli section of NH-219 in Uttar Pradesh on engineering, procurement and construction(EPC) mode has been approved with a budget outlay of Rs 128.31 crore.

·       The minister also said rehabilitation and upgradation from 2 lane to 2/4 lane of Mulakalacheruvu to Madanapalle section of NH-42 on EPC mode in Andhra Pradesh has been given the nod with a proposed budget of Rs 480.10 crore.