·       The Indian-origin physician Anil Menon, a lieutenant colonel at the US Air Force, has been selected by NASA along with nine others to be astronauts for future missions.

·       Menon  was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Ukrainian and Indian immigrants.

·       He was SpaceX's first flight surgeon, helping to launch the company's first humans to space during NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 mission and building a medical organisation to support the human system during future missions.

·       The  33-year-old former Saudi royal guard Khaled Aedh Alotaibi has been arrested in France for his alleged involvement in the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and a Washington Post columnist .

·       Khashoggi, a prominent critic of the Saudi government in Riyadh, was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in October 2018.

·       Fitch Ratings has  cut India's economic growth forecast to 8.4 per cent for the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, saying the rebound after the second wave of COVID infections has been subdued than expected.

·    Fitch, which had previously forecast a GDP growth of 8.7 per cent in 2021-22 (April 2021 to March 2022), however, raised the economic growth projection for the next financial year (FY23) to 10.3 per cent from previously forecast 10 per cent.

·       The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Dec 8  kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 per cent and decided to continue with its accommodative stance in the backdrop of concerns over the emergence of the new coronavirus variant Omicron.

·       This is the ninth time in a row that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has maintained the status quo.

·       RBI had last revised its policy repo rate or the short-term lending rate on May 22, 2020 in an off-policy cycle to perk up demand by cutting the interest rate to a historic low.

·       MPC has decided to keep benchmark repurchase (repo) rate at 4 per cent, Das said while announcing the bi-monthly monetary policy review.

·       Consequently, the reverse repo rate will continue to earn 3.35 per cent for banks for their deposits kept with RBI.

·       RBI retained its growth projection at 9.5 per cent for the current fiscal despite concerns over Omicron.

·       The inflation projection has been retained at 5.3 per cent for the current financial year.

·       Retail inflation rose to 4.48 per cent in October from 4.35 per cent in September, mainly due to higher fuel and edible oil prices.

·       The Reserve Bank on Dec 8  retained the GDP growth forecast at 9.5 per cent for the current fiscal but cautioned that the economic recovery is not yet strong enough to be self-sustaining and durable.

·       In an address after the three-day meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said managing a durable, strong and inclusive recovery is the central bank's mission.

·       Das, whose tenure as the Governor was extended by three years recently, further said the Indian economy is relatively well-positioned on the path of recovery but it cannot be immune to global spillovers or to possible surges of infections from new mutations, including the Omicron variant.

·       According to him, incoming information indicates that consumption demand has been improving, with pent-up demand getting reinforced by the festive season.

·       Rural demand is exhibiting resilience and farm employment is picking up with the robust performance of agriculture and allied activities.

·       The recent reductions in excise duty and state VAT on petrol and diesel should support consumption demand by increasing purchasing power.

·       Real GDP growth is projected at 17.2 per cent for the first quarter and at 7.8 per cent for the second quarter of 2022-23.

·       The Governor also stressed that the recovery that had been interrupted by the second wave of the pandemic is regaining traction but it is not yet strong enough to be self-sustaining and durable.

·    Projecting the inflation trajectory in line with its earlier estimate, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Dec 8 has  said the retail inflation is expected to be around 5.3 per cent during the current fiscal year.

·       It is expected to ease further to 5 per cent by the first quarter of the next fiscal year, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said while announcing the monetary policy for the last time of this fiscal.

·       The inflation trajectory is likely to be in line with our earlier projections, and price pressures may persist in the immediate term, Das said.

·       CPI (consumer price index) inflation is projected at 5.3 per cent for 2021-22: 5.1 per cent in Q3; 5.7 per cent in Q4 of 2021-22, with risks broadly balanced. CPI inflation is then expected to ease to 5 per cent in Q1:2022-23 and stay at 5 per cent in Q2:2022-23 .

·       The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has  said that the banks will be allowed to infuse capital in their overseas branches as well as repatriate profits without seeking its prior approval, subject to fulfilling of certain regulatory capital requirements.

·       At present, banks incorporated in India can infuse capital in their overseas branches and subsidiaries, retain profits in these centres and repatriate/ transfer the profits with prior approval of the RBI.

·       With an aim to promote wider digitisation, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has  announced that UPI-based digital payment solutions will be launched on feature phones.

·       Only smartphone users have been availing Unified Payments Interface (UPI) services for payments so far. India has over 118 crore mobile users, and of which only 74 crore have smartphones. This UPI service for feature phone users will benefit consumers in large numbers.

·       Also, the central bank has proposed to launch an 'On-device' wallet in UPI app that will offer a simple process flow by enabling small value transactions. It is found that 50 per cent transactions through UPI were below Rs 200. Since low value transactions utilise significant system capacity, it leads to customer inconvenience due to transaction failures because of connectivity issues.

·       This 'On-Device' wallet will conserve banks' system resources without any change in the transaction experience for the user.

·       Also, to further encourage the use of UPI by retail investors, RBI also proposed to enhance the transaction limit for payments through UPI for Retail Direct Scheme and IPO applications from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.