Citizenship Act: Curfew relaxed in parts of Assam, Meghalaya; Bengal on the boil

• The curfew in Guwahati was relaxed from 9 am to 4 pm by the administration on Saturday
• Several places across the state saw violent agitations and vandalism by people protesting against the amended Citizenship Act

GST council meet: Public health groups demand higher cess on tobacco products

• The groups have urged the GST council to further increase compensation cess on all tobacco products
• 'Tobacco products at 28% rate and additional compensation cess will not only bring in additional revenue but also reduce tobacco consumption,' the proposal said

Sebi refuses any relief to lenders of Karvy

• Sebi observed that all the pledged shares came from client accounts and the lenders did not exercise proper ‘due-diligence’
• The market regulator also found the lenders lapsing as they merely relied on Karvy’s assertions that the pledged shares belonged to the broking firm

Bengaluru’s silent night

• With a ban on live and recorded music, Bengaluru pub owners predict a dire future
• Complex and often contradictory rules governing ‘public places of entertainment’, along with lax building and zoning norms, may silence the city’s once-famous nightlife

US, China reach 'phase one' deal to halt trade war. What's in agreement?

• As part of the deal, the US will halve its 15% tariff on about $120 billion in Chinese goods
• Lighthizer and his counterpart Vice Premier Liu He will likely do the signing in Washington

Modi risks losing focus on Indian economy as protests build over citizenship law

• Unemployment is at a more than four-decade high, a drag on consumer confidence and spending in an economy where consumption makes up about 60% of GDP
• 'The more you have disruptions to normal life, the more the impact on economy and production,' said a JNU professor

Congress hits the ground with a rally at Ramlila Maidan

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has single handedly ruined India's economy, said Rahul Gandhi
• 'I will not apologise. Nor will any Congress worker,' Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said

Fresh steps to revive the economy on 1 February

• Finance minister Sitharaman will present the Union budget on a Saturday
• The finance minister said that budget consultations with the industry will start on Monday

RBI will provide new intra-day liquidity window to make NEFT 24x7 from next week

• RBI has decided to provide an additional collateralised intra-day liquidity facility for smooth operation of NEFT on a 24x7 basis
• 'The LS facility will operate as per the same terms and conditions as the Intra-Day Liquidity (IDL) facility,' said RBI

FASTag compulsory from tomorrow: How to buy FASTags from SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI

• The government has made it mandatory for all vehicle owners to adopt electronic toll payment using FASTags
• FASTags can be bought from SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, to name a few

India’s fuel demand jumps in November

• India’s economy grew 4.5% in the second quarter, its slowest pace since March 2013, due to a sharp contraction in manufacturing output
• While diesel demand increased by 8.80% to 7.55 mt in November, petrol demand increased by 9.22% to 2.53 mt

Mercedes delays electric debut after Jaguar and Audi SUVs flop

• Daimler AG’s luxury brand will start sales of the EQC crossover in 2021 rather than early next year
• Daimler has at least 10 purely battery-powered cars planned through 2022

123 tweets in two hours: Trump makes Twitter record amid impeachment charges

• A bitterly divided Judicial Committee voted on Friday to present two scaled-down charges against Trump to the House of Representatives for impeaching him
• 'It's not fair that I'm being Impeached when I've done absolutely nothing wrong!,' tweeted Trump

ArcelorMittal initiates ₹42,000-cr payment for Essar Steel acquisition

• The decks for acquisition of Essar Steel by L.N. Mittal-led company was cleared by the Supreme Court last month
• After the payment to the lenders, this will be the single-biggest recovery under the IBC

'I am not Rahul Savarkar, I won't apologise for speaking truth': Rahul Gandhi

• Rahul Gandhi also accused the Prime Minister of burning the northeastern states
• Rahul Gandhi appealed to the party workers to raise the voice against the government to save the country

CBI books ex-Sangeet Natak Akademi chairperson Leela Samson over irregularities

• She has been booked for alleged 'unfruitful expenditure' in ₹7.02-crore renovation project of Koothambalam auditorium of Kalakshetra Foundation, Chennai
• Samson, a Padma Shri awardee and also a former chairperson of Central Board of Film Certification, has been booked along with the then officers of the Foundation

15 Indian-origin candidates register strong result in UK general election

• Indian-origin candidates across both the ruling Conservative and Opposition Labour parties registered equally strong results of seven wins each
• The other Tories to return to the Commons with comfortable wins include Priti Patel, the former UK home secretary who is likely to remain in Johnson’s top team in new Cabinet as well

Productive winter session ends on controversial note

• Lok Sabha registers productivity of 116%, Rajya Sabha at 99%; 15 bills cleared by both
• Lok Sabha chairman Om Birla’s concluding remarks was cut short by protesting members

Film review: ‘Mardaani 2’ does its best to unsettle

• The sequel to ‘Mardaani’ has Rani Mukerji’s supercop on the trail of a serial rapist in Kota
• Gopi Puthran’s film aims to unsettle the audience from the start

Ahead of Delhi polls, Kejriwal ropes in Prashant Kishor for image makeover

• Elections to the 70-member Delhi assembly are due early next year
• Prashant Kishor-led political consultancy firm I-PAC has worked on a number of successful campaigns since 2014

In six months, Modi govt has wrecked India's economy: Chidambaram

• Chidambaram was speaking at the Congress' 'Bharat Bachao' rally
• Also present were, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra among others

Petrol price slashed for fourth day today. Check latest petrol, diesel rates

• In New Delhi, a litre of petrol costs ₹74.84 a litre and diesel is priced at ₹66.04
• Fuel prices have been on a hike since November 9

Beyond the Arab Spring: The book that launched a silent revolution

Malayalam writer Benyamin’s sequel to ‘Jasmine Days’ is a gripping novel of political intrigue and the human cost of the Arab Spring

SBI home loans get cheaper. Check here for latest interest rates

• Different banks and institutions offer different housing loan interest rates
• SBI's one-year marginal cost-based lending rates (MCLR) has come down to 7.9% per annum

RBI central board discusses policy structure for cooperative banks, NBFCs

• The board's discussions focussed on issues related to urban cooperative banks, extension of enforcement policy and framework to cooperative banks, said RBI
• RBI central board also reviewed the current economic situation and domestic and global challenges

Life insurance policy rules will change from next year. All you need to know

• In case of unit-linked products, the revival period has been increased to three year
• The mandatory guarantee on pension Ulip segment will become optional from February 1

Union Budget likely on 1 Feb, Economic Survey on 31 Jan: Report

• 'Tradition will continue,' Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi said on Friday when asked about whether govt would continue with tradition of presenting budget on first day of February
• This will be the first time after 2015-16 when the budget will be presented on Saturday

ICICI Bank launches new car loan scheme Smart EMI. Know its unique features

• ICICI Bank has joined hands with automobile leasing company TranzLease to provide this unique car loan facility
• ICICI Bank will be the first in the industry to offer this innovative scheme

Banks offering 9% interest on fixed deposits. Check FD rates here

• Bank fixed deposit (FD) is safer as compared to investments in mutual funds or SIPs
• Bank FD rates: State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank offer higher interest rate to senior citizens

IRCTC train ticket booking: Now you can book tickets and pay later

• Now you can book tickets on IRCTC website and pay later
• This new facility for payment of e-tickets is available through ePay Later

WhatsApp latest updates: Dark mode, major bug fixes, fresh emoji skins and more

• In the latest Android Beta version 2.19.366, there seems to be certain Dark Mode improvements
• WhatsApp is also rolling out some major bug fixes that were present in the earlier version

Jio, Airtel, Vodafone new recharge plans: Who offers the cheapest data, talktime

• Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea have increased the price of their recharge plans by 15-47%
• Here is a comparison of Jio, Airtel and Vodafone's plans, data offers and talktime

Opinion | Britain's Brexmas election

A Tory majority promises stability but hard choices still lie ahead

After 50% returns, 2020 may be even better for Indian IPOs

• The S&P BSE IPO Index, a gauge of shares in their first two years of trading, has climbed 36% in 2019
• The outperformance of recent debutantes is notable given the sluggish performance of smaller Indian shares in general

Low risk a draw for investors in Bharat Bond ETF

• Bharat Bond is a target maturity ETF unlike other ETFs and mutual fund (MF) schemes that are open-ended products
• The three-year ETF will only invest in bonds with similar tenures and likewise the 10-year ETF

HDFC Life drums up digital beat but investors should wait for proof

• Granted that hooking millennials faster to insurance can be effective only when it is sold online or through mobile phones
• Another factor to monitor will be cost savings that digitization brings

Indian airlines likely to post loss of over over ₹4,230 cr this fiscal: Report

• Currently, there are four budget carriers and two full service airlines -- IndiGo, GoAir, SpiceJet, AirAsia India, Vistara and Air India
• About Air India, it said the airline's privatisation is expected to be well underway before the end of FY 2020

332 players to go under hammer at IPL auction: Here are a few marquee players

• Seven overseas players — Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Chris Lynn, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Dale Steyn and Angelo Mathews — have been shortlisted at the highest base price of ₹2 cr
• Robin Uthappa, who was released by KKR earlier this year, is the only Indian player in the auction list with a base price of ₹1.5 cr

Porsche bets big on India with new launches

• Porsche, a subsidiary of German vehicle manufacturer Volkswagen AG, plans to launch its first electric vehicle Taycan in India next year
• Globally, by 2025, half of Porsche’s product portfolio will be either electrified-hybrid or fully electric

To be Muslim and queer

• Rafiul Alom Rahman is the founder of The Queer Muslim Project, which has close to 14000 followers on Instagram
• The Project seeks to counter queerphobia and Muslim hate

Film review: 'Jumanji: The Next Level' is a breezy action comedy

• Four teenagers return to the game world in the sequel to 2017's 'Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle'
• Director Jake Kasdan directs this special effects-dominated action comedy