·       The former President Donald Trump lashed out with profanity at Benjamin Netanyahu for congratulating President Joe Biden on his victory in last year's election.

·       Trump accused the former Israeli leader of disloyalty, saying he had helped Netanyahu in his own elections by reversing decades of U.S. policy and supporting Israel's claims to territory seized in war. Trump is still falsely claiming the U.S. election was stolen from him.

·       In interviews earlier this year with the Israeli journalist Barak Ravid, Trump expressed fury at a video Netanyahu circulated online in which he congratulated Biden.

·    Netanyahu congratulated Biden more than 12 hours after the election had been called and after most other world leaders. Netanyahu did not refer to him as president-elect in the tweet, and followed it up with a post praising Trump.

·       New York City Council on December 9, 2021, passed legislation to allow immigrants who are not US citizens to vote in local elections, the first major city in the United States to do so.

·       The local law, adopted by 33 votes to 14, with two abstentions, will allow lawful permanent residents and persons authorized to work in the United States who reside in New York and do not have US citizenship to participate in municipal elections.

·       The measure could affect around a million foreigners living in New York, which has some nine million residents.

·       The measure could take effect from early 2023.

·       The acclaimed Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi will receive the Royal Gold Medal 2022, one of the world's highest honours for architecture, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) announced.

·       Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda, the former Navy Commander, who served during the final phase of Sri Lankan government's triumphant campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was appointed the Governor of the North-Western province.

·       Karannagoda, 69, will replace Raja Collure, who passed away earlier this week after succumbing to COVID-19.

·       After retiring from the Navy, he was also picked to be the Ambassador to Japan.

·       Karannagoda, however, also had his share of controversies.

·       A high-level probe was ordered over his alleged role in the disappearance of 11 Tamilians in 2009.

·       However, in October this year, Sri Lanka's Attorney General decided to drop all charges against him, including conspiracy to murder, a move that drew widespread international condemnation.

·    The LTTE had waged a war with the Sri Lankan government to carve out a separate Tamil homeland with the conflict ending in 2009 when the government forces killed its chief Velupillai Prabhakaran.

·       Private bank IndusInd Bank on Dec 10  said the RBI has given approval to Life Insurance Corporation to increase stake in the bank to nearly 10 percent.

·       The bank has received an intimation from the RBI on December 9, 2021, that it has granted its approval to Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), shareholder of the bank to acquire up to 9.99 per cent of the total issued and paid up capital of the bank, the bank said in a regulatory filing on stock exchanges.

·       The state-run insurer holds 4.95 per cent of the total issued and paid-up capital of the bank.

·       The RBI approval is subject to the compliance with the direction on 'Prior Approval for Acquisition of Shares and Voting Private Sector Banks' as well as regulations of the Sebi and any guidelines or regulations.

·       The Reserve Bank last month had accepted most of the recommendations of its working group on corporate ownership of private sector banks, by allowing unrestrained promoter shareholding in the first five years of operations.

·       It recommended hiking the same to 26 per cent after 15 years from the extant 15 per cent and also the new capital requirements.

·       This was deemed beneficial for banks like Kotak Mahindra Bank and IndusInd Bank.

·    The said approval is valid for a period of one year i.e., up to December 8, 2022, the bank said.

·       Paytm payments Bank has said  that it has been given the scheduled bank status by the Reserve Bank of India.“The inclusion of Paytm Payments Bank in the second schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, will help us innovate further and bring more financial services and products to the underserved and unserved population in India,” Paytm Payments Bank MD and CEO Satish Kumar Gupta said.

·       With the scheduled bank status, the bank can explore new business opportunities, including participation in government and other large corporations issued request for proposals, primary auctions, fixed-rate and variable rate repos, and reverse repos.

·       Besides, it can participate in Marginal Standing Facility and will be eligible to partner in government-run financial inclusion schemes

·       The bank said it supports 33.3 crore Paytm Wallets and enables consumers to make payments at over 87,000 online merchants and 2.11 crore in-store merchants

·       Edtech major Byju's  has said that  it has appointed former Bain & Company Partner Rachna Bahadur as the Senior Vice President to lead its global expansion plans.

·       In this role, Bahadur will lead the overall planning, strategy, and roadmap for Byju's expansion in new and existing markets

·       In July, Byju's had acquired US-based digital reading platform Epic for USD 500 million (around Rs 3,729.8 crore), and had announced an additional USD 1 billion (about Rs 7,459.7 crore) investment over the next three years in the North American market to expand its operations there.

·    Former women's number one Amelie Mauresmo was on Dec 9 named director of the French Open, replacing Guy Forget. Mauresmo will be in place until at least 2024, French tennis federation president Gilles Moretton said.