 U.S. President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act (ARIA), which passed the U.S. Senate earlier in December. According to the White House, the act establishes a multifaceted U.S. strategy to increase U.S. security, economic interests, and values in the Indo-Pacific region. Specifically, the ARIA will authorize $1.5 billion in spending for a range of U.S. programs in East and Southeast Asia and develop a long-term strategic vision and a comprehensive, multifaceted, and principled United States policy for the Indo-Pacific region, and for other purposes. |
| Source: The Diplomat |
 Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has allowedcustodial services in the commodity derivatives market. The move is aimed at enabling the participation of institutional investors such as mutual funds and portfolio managers in the commodity derivatives market. Under the new framework, existing custodians will be permitted to add commodities as an asset class and provide physical delivery of both the securities and commodities. Currently, the regulation on the custodian of securities provides safekeeping of securities, gold or gold related instruments, title deeds of real estate and incidental services. |
| Source- The Indian Express |
 Arunima Sinha, the first female amputee to have conquered Mt Everest, created yet another record as she became world’s first woman amputee to climb Mount Vinson,the highest peak in Antarctica. Apart from Mount Everest, the 30-year-old has climbed the highest peaks of fivecontinents and plans to do so in all seven. |
| Source: News on AIR |
 Renowned Bengali writer and Sahitya Akademi awardee Dibyendu Palit passes away due to age-related ailments. He was 79-year-old. Palit was conferred the Sahitya Akademi for his novel ‘Anubhab’ in 1998. He was awarded the ‘Bankim Purashkar’ for ‘Dheu’ in 1990 and ‘Ananda Purashkar’ in 1984 for ‘Sahojoddha’. |
| Source- The Hindu Business Line |
 The Indian Parliament passed the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2018 that seeks to do away with the no-detention policy in schools. The legislation is significant as it brings accountability in the elementary education system. The Bill seeks to amend the Right to Education (RTE) Act to abolish the “no-detention” policy in schools. Under the current provisions of the Act, no student can be detained up to class VIII. As per the amendment, it would be left to the states to decide whether to continue the no-detention policy. |
| Source: News on AIR |
 The Indian Parliament passed the National Council for Teacher Education (Amendment) Bill, 2018, following the approval of the Rajya Sabha. The Lok Sabha had already passed the Bill. The Bill seeks to amend the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) Act, 1993. The Bill was introduced by the Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar in Lok Sabha in December 2017. The bill aims to grant retrospective recognition to Central and State institutions which had conducted teacher education courses without approval by the Council. This will ensure that the future of about 17 thousand students having degrees from such institutions is secured. |
| Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB) |
 HDFC Mutual Fund has pipped ICICI Prudential MF to become the country’s largest asset management company after a gap of over two years. As of December-end, HDFC MF manages assets to the tune of Rs 3.35 lakh crore, while those of ICICI Prudential MF stood at Rs 3.08 lakh crore, as per the latest data available with Association of Mutual funds in India (Amfi). The assets under management (AUM) of HDFC MF have grown over 9% in October-December quarter from the previous three-month period, however, ICICI Prudential MF’s AUM slipped by 0.6% during the period under review. |
| Source- The Moneycontrol |
 Syndicate Bank and SBI Life Insurance signed a bancassurance pact aiming to offer a comprehensive financial planning solution to its customers. The pact was signed between Syndicate Bank MD & CEO, Mrutyunjay Mahapatra and MD and CEO of SBI Life, Sanjeev Nautiyal. Through the pact, Syndicate Bank will provide penetration in the market with its 3,000branches and SBI Life’s diverse range of protection, wealth creation and savings insurance products will be brought to the table to the customers. |
| Source: The Business Standard |
 The number of complaints registered at banking ombudsman offices have seen a25% increase in the fiscal year 2018, with the majority of these complaints coming from urban centres owing to increased awareness and poor internal redressal mechanisms of banks. “The banking ombudsman offices in tier-1 cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad accounted for more than 57% of the total complaints received by all BO offices,” the RBI Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in Indiahas stated. |
| Source: The Economic Times |
 Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair has been declared as an authorized Immigration Check post for entry into/exit from India with valid travel documents for all classes of passengers. The announcement was made by Information, Public Relations and Tourism Division of Andaman and Nicobar Administration. This decision of the Union Government will open up the Port Blair Airport for direct international flight and immigration facilities. |
| Source- DD News |
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