1. International Anti-Corruption Day: 9 December

• The United Nations’ (UN) International Anti-Corruption Day has been observed annually, on 9 December.
• The day aims to raise public awareness of corruption and what people can do to fight it.This year International Anti-Corruption Day theme is “United Against Corruption”.

2. At 34, Finland's Sanna Marin Set To Become World's Youngest Sitting Prime Minister

• Sanna Marin is set to become Finland's third female prime minister — and its youngest — leading a coalition of four other parties, all headed by women.
• At just 34, she will also stand out on the world stage by being the world's youngest sitting prime minister.
• Marin was nominated by her Social Democratic party after its leader, Antti Rinne, stepped down after losing the confidence among his coalition government over his handling of a postal strike.

Foot Notes:
About  Finland
President: Sauli Niinistö
Capital: Helsinki
Currency: Euro

3. Russia banned for four years including 2020 Olympics and 2022 World Cup

• Wada's executive committee made the unanimous decision to impose the ban on Russia in a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. It comes after Russia's Anti Doping Agency (Rusada) was declared non-compliant for manipulating laboratory data handed over to investigators in January 2019.
• Russia has been handed a four-year ban from all major sporting events by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada). It means the Russia flag and anthem will not be allowed at events such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics and football's 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
• But athletes who can prove they are untainted by the doping scandal will be able to compete under a neutral flag. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the ban was part of "chronic anti-Russian hysteria".

Foot Notes:
About Russia
President: Vladimir Putin
Capital: Moscow
Currency: Russian ruble

About World Anti-Doping Agency
Headquarters: Montreal, Canada
President: Sir Craig Reedie

4. Saudi Arabia ends gender segregation at restaurants

• Restaurants in Saudi Arabia are no longer required to have separate entrances for men and women, the kingdom's government announced.
• The move is part of a series of measures to loosen strict social rules as part of a drive to modernize the ultra-conservative, oil-rich kingdom.
• Before announcement by the ministry of municipalities and rural affairs, it was mandatory for restaurants and other dining establishments to have segregated entrances for women and families, and for men.

Foot Notes:
About Saudi Arabia
Capital: Riyadh
Currency: Saudi riyal
King: Salman of Saudi Arabia

5. Uttar Pradesh to set up 218 fast track courts

• The Yogi Adityanath government has approved the setting up of 218 fast track courts in Uttar Pradesh even as reports of rape and murder of women in the state is rising, especially in Unnao, Sambhal, Chitrakut and Muzaffarnagar, over the last month.
• Law minister Brajesh Pathak told agencies that there were 25,479 cases of rape and sexual crimes against women pending in UP courts and 42,379 cases related to sexual crimes committed against children, according to government data as on June 30, 2019.

Foot Notes:
About Uttar Pradesh
Capital: Lucknow
Governor: Anandiben Patel
Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath

6. India ranks 129 in UN's human development index

• India climbed one spot to 129 among 189 countries in the 2019 human development index, according to a report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on December 9.
• In 2018, India's human development index (HDI) value of 0.647 had put it at 130 rank.
• South Asia was the fastest growing region witnessing 46 per cent growth during 1990-2018, followed by East Asia and the Pacific at 43 per cent.

7. Duchifat 3: Satellite built by Israeli school students to be launched by ISRO’s PSLV C48

• Three youngsters Alon Abramovich, Meitav Assulin and Shmuel Aviv Levi, all 17 to 18 years old from Sha’ar HaNegev High school in Israel’s southern region will be traveling to India to launch a satellite dubbed as- ‘Duchifat 3’, designed and built by them aboard PSLV C48 from Sriharikota launch site of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) on 11 December 2019.
• Besides Duchifat 3, the PSLV C48 will carry place India’s RISAT-2BR1 and 8 other foreign satellites as payload. India was chosen for the launch because of success enjoyed by country’s space programme and also because of close relations between the two countries.

8. Constitution Amendment (126th) bill, 2019 introduced in Lok Sabha

• The Constitution (126th amendment bill), 2019 was introduced in Lok Sabha on December 9, 2019. The bill seeks to extend the reservation provided to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes by 10 years.
• The reservation provided to the Anglo-Indian community, SC, ST is to end by January 25, 2020. The bill is being introduced to continue the reservation of seats for another 10 years that is till January, 25, 2030.The reservation has been included in Article 334 and therefore the bill seeks to amend the article.
• Article 334 lays down that the provisions for reservation of seats and special representation of Anglo-Indian, SC and ST will cease after 40 years. The clause was included in 1949. After 40 years, it is being amended with an extension of 10 years.

9. National Energy Conservation Week is being celebrated all over India from December 14 to December 20.

• National Energy Conservation Week is celebrated all over India from December 14 to December 20. Various Government enterprises and Public Sector Undertakings celebrate the week by organizing energy conservation message-oriented activities.
• The Energy Conservation Day is celebrated every year on December 14 since 1991. Energy Conservation Day is an initiative of Bureau o Energy Efficiency. The objective of the day is to demonstrate achievements of government in saving energy and conservation.
• On the day, National Energy Conservation awards are distributed to industries that play major role in conserving energy.

10. Malaysia records first polio case in 27 years

• Malaysia has reported the first case of Polio in 27 years, when a three-month-old Malaysian infant boy was diagnosed with polio.
• The last polio case in Asia-Pacific country occurred in 1992, and in 2000, after which the country was declared polio-free. In this recent case, the child was confirmed to be infected with vaccine-derived poliovirus Type 1 (VDPV1) on 6 December 2019.

Foot Notes:
About Malaysia
Capital: Kuala Lumpur
Currency: Malaysian ringgit

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