 On December 23, 2019, the Assam Cabinet nodded to make Assamese language the state language of Assam. This will exclude BTAD (Bodoland Territorial Administrative Districts), Barak Valley and Hill districts of Assam. |
| Highlights The cabinet has also suggested that Assamese will be made compulsory in all schools of Assam. The move comes in the wake of rising insecurities among Assamese population in the state. After the passing of Citizenship Amendment Bill, there has been an increased wave of insecurity in the Brahmaputra Valley. In order make the move successful, the Central Government will now have to amend Article 345. If amended the article will remove fears of people fighting for their rights to culture and language in the region. |
| Current Scenario Currently Assamese and Bodo are the official languages in Assam. However, certain districts of Assam in Barak valley use Bengali as official language |
Article 345
Article 345 says that subject to provisions of Article 346 and 347, the state legislature might adopt one or more languages to be used as official languages.
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| The factor of amendment comes in as the Assam Government intends to exclude a section of the state which is against the current constitutional provisions. |
 The traditional 40-day period of harshest winter in Kashmir known in the local parlance as ‘Chillai-Kalan’ began on 21 December 2019, with the upper reaches of valley receiving snowfall. Chillai-Kalan period which is known for sub-zero temperatures, frozen lakes and river, will end on 31 January 2020. |
| About ‘Chillai-Kalan’ These 40 days are when the chances of snowfall are highest and the maximum temperature drops considerably. During Chillai-Kalan, the weather in Kashmir valley continues to remain dry and cold with minimum temperatures hovering below freezing point and the snow during this 40-day period freezes and lasts longer. Even after Chillai-Kalan ends, the cold wave, however, continues even after that. Therefore Chillai-Kalan is followed by a 20-day-long period called ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (small cold) that occurs between January 31 and February 19 and a 10-day-long period ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold) which is from February 20 to March 2. |
 Eight West African countries have agreed to change the name of their common currency to Eco and severed their earlier currency CFA Franc’s links to former colonial ruler France. Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo currently use the currency. All the countries are former French colonies with the exception of Guinea-Bissau. The CFA franc, created in 1945, was seen by many as a sign of French interference in its former African colonies even after the countries became independent. |
| Source: The News on AIR |
 In Cuba, President has appointed Manuel Marrero Cruz as the country’s first prime minister in more than 40 years. Marrero, who has served as tourism minister for 16 years and is an architect by trade, helped boost Cuba’s economy by making tourism one of the engines of growth. The post of prime minister was scrapped in 1976 by the then-revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. |
| Source: The BBC |
 National Mathematics Day is celebrated on 22nd December every year to mark the birth anniversary of legendary mathematician, Srinivasa Ramanujan and his contributions in the development of modern mathematics. This year nation celebrates his 132nd Birth Anniversary. Ramanujan had a wealth of ideas that have transformed and reshaped 20th-century mathematics. These ideas continue to shape mathematics of the 21st century. The main objective behind the celebration of National Mathematics Day is to make people aware of the development of mathematics and its importance in the growth of humanity. |
| Source: The NDTV |
 The World Health Organization on December 19, 2019, released its report on Global Tobacco use trends. According to the report, number of males using tobacco has declined globally for the first time. The report says that the anti-smoking campaigns all over the world is the main reason for the number of tobacco users to reduce. |
| Highlights: World Globally the number of tobacco users have declined by 60 million people. In 2000, the overall tobacco users were 1.397 billion and it has come down to 1.337 billion in 2018. The report says despite the reduction in numbers, the global target set by governments to reduce the use of tobacco by 30% by 2025 remains off track. So far only 32 countries are on track to reach the target. Around 43 million children (of age 13-15) are using tobacco in 2018. The number of women using tobacco was 244 million. Of all the regions of the world, South East Asian region has the highest use of tobacco. The only region on track to achieve the target is the Americas. |
| Highlights: India According to the report, India is off track to achieve the target of 30% reduction by 2025 as compared to 2010 level. Along with India 163 countries are off the track. However, the consumption rate in India is going down by 21.6% as compared to 2010. The current users of smokeless form of tobacco in India is estimated to be 257,020,000. |
 The Australian pacer Pat Cummins, with a base price of Rs.2 crore, became the most expensive overseas player in Indian Premier League (IPL) as he was sold to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a whopping Rs.15.50 crore($2.2 million). |
| Key Highlights Kolkata Night Riders shelled out Rs.15.5 crore, nearly 43% of their purse, for the New South Welshman at the auction for IPL 2020, the 12th edition of Indian Premier League tournament. The 26-year-old is currently the number one ranked Test bowler in the world. He has previously played for Delhi Capitals or Delhi Daredevils (as they were known then) in 2017 edition and Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2014 edition. Prior to Cummins becoming the most expensive overseas buy in IPL, Ben Stokes was the player a team had spent most money on and that was when he was picked up for 2.16 million in 2017 by Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS). Overall, Cummins is third on list of most expensive IPL players ever bought with Yuvraj Singh occupying the first rank ande Gautam Gambhir occupying second rank, having also been bought by KKR. |
 Describing space as the world’s newest war-fighting domain, US President Donald Trump officially launched US military ‘Space Force’ at an army base near Washington. Trump highlighted that the Space Force will help to deter aggression and control ultimate high ground. |
| What is Space Force? It is United States’ first new military service in more than 70 years, since Air Force was spun off from US Army in 1947. While Space Force is not designed or intended to put combat troops in space, it will be the provider of forces and will build on work of US Space Command (SpaceCom). SpaceCom was created in August 2019 as the overseer of US military’s space operations. Space Force would comprise around 16,000 Air Force and civilian personnel and will be funded by an initial US $40million for its first year. Instead of being its own military department, like US Navy, US Army and US Air Force, the Space Force will be administered by Secretary of Air Force. |
| What will the Space Force actually do? It is not intended to put troops into orbit, but will protect US assets like hundreds of satellites used for communication and surveillance. This space mission comes as US military chiefs see China and Russia making advancements in military final frontier. The space mission is part of a broader vision of achieving American dominance in space as amid grave threats to US national security. |
 On December 18, 2019, the FSSAI (Food Safety Standards Association of India) announced that the front of packet labeling will be delinked from its general labeling regulation. The move is being implemented in order to make the consumers aware of food products that are high in fat, salt and sugar content. |
| Highlights The authority has decided that the front of the pack and the general labeling regulations must be de-linked. The authority will soon provide threshold limit of sugar, salt and fat in food products. The Front of Packet Labeling helps to identify the green (vegetarian foods ) and red (non-vegetarian foods). It also includes pictorial representation of nutrients, food group nutrients and summary indicators, etc. This can at times be misleading as consumers fail to give a detailed read about the product. |
| Front of Pack Labelling FoPL is a policy tool that help consumers to make healthier food choices. It was included for the first time in draft Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display Regulations), 2019. It aims at creating awareness to consumers about products that are high in sugar, fat and salt content. There are two aspects of FoPL namely threshold limit and the way the limit is depicted on packets of processed food. |
| Why the delinking? Delinking is breaking the connection or cutting off. On December 17, the Centre for Science and Environment released a report based on its study on packaged food. The Centre tested 33 foods, 19 fast foods, four different types of wrapped sandwiches, fried chicken, pizza, etc. The results showed high content of salt and fat in the food items. The thresholds that the companies follow were not up to Indian Standards. Therefore, FSSAI has delinked the FoPL standards from labelling regulations and will set new threshold. |
 On December 21, 2019, Indian and Chinese representatives met in New Delhi for the 22nd time to discuss the border issued between the countries. This is the first meeting of the representatives since the second informal summit between PM Modi and President Xi Jingping that was held at Chennai in October 2019. |
| Highlights India and China agreed to intensify their efforts in order to achieve reasonable solution to boundary problems. Also, the countries recognized the importance of Confidence Building Measures in order to promote communication between the border personnel. |
| Significance The India-china border dispute is in Aksai region in the western end and at the McMahon Line one the eastern side. The countries held 21st round of talks at Chengdu in China in 2018. The Special Representatives talks are given utmost importance by both the countries as it involves highest officials. It is also important the forum discusses common issues of the countries along with border issues. |
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