• Hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts will be made mandatory across the country from January 15, 2021. Note: Gold hallmarking is a purity certification of the precious metal. The Bureau of Indian Standards has formulated standards for hallmarking gold jewellery in 3 grades: 14 carat, 18 carat and 22 carat.

• India has become the 1st country to make the entire process for pilgrims going on Haj completely digital.

• The G20 Presidency has been taken over by Saudi Arabia from Japan. Saudi Arabia has become the 1st Arab nation to assume the G20 presidency.

• Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has submitted his resignation. Note: Barham Salih is the current President of Iraq.

• The government has launched a drive to enroll one crore beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan (PM-SYM)and the National Pension Scheme for Traders and Self Employed Persons (NPS-Traders) by March next year.

• Soma Roy Burman has assumed the charge of new Controller General of Accounts(CGA).

• The 7th edition of India-Sri Lanka joint exercise “MITRA SHAKTI” was held at Aundh Military Station, Pune. It aims to build and promote positive relations between armies of both the countries.

• World AIDS Day was observed on 01st December. The theme of this year’s World AIDS Day is “Communities make the difference”.

• The United Nations observed International Day for the Abolition of Slavery on 2nd of December.

• The centre is launching a nationwide vaccination drive to prevent eight diseases under Intensified Mission Indradhanush 2.0across the country. The government’s flagship scheme is aimed at immunizing children under the age of 2 years and pregnant women against 8 vaccine-preventable diseases. The IMI covers vaccines for diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, poliomyelitis, tuberculosis, measles, meningitis and Hepatitis B. Vaccines for Japanese encephalitis and Hemophilus influenza are also being provided in selected areas.

• The 20th Edition of Hornbill Festival was celebrated in  Note: Chief Minister of Nagaland: Neiphiu Rio;  Governor of Nagaland: R N Ravi.

• English author Tony Joseph has won the 12th ‘Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize’. He was awarded for his 2018 book, “Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From”.

• Star wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik registered convincing wins in the finals to claim gold medals at the Senior Wrestling National Championships in Jalandhar, Punjab.

• International Day of Persons with Disabilities is being observed on the 3rd of December every year. The theme this year is – Promoting the Participation of Persons with Disabilities and their leadership: Taking Action on the 2030 Development Agenda. 

• Pritivirajsing Roopun was elected as new President of Mauritius.

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB)board has unanimously elected Masatsugu Asakawa as its new president. He will succeed Takehiko Nakao, who will leave office on January 16, 2020. Note: ADB established: 1966, ADB is owned by 68 members.

• Sundar Pichai was promoted as Alphabet Inc. CEO after Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin  announced that they are stepping down from the leadership role of the parent company Alphabet. Sundar Pichai will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet.

• Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’Or award for the world’s best player for a record 6th time.

• Navy Day was celebrated in India on 4th December. Note: Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS): Admiral Karambir Singh.

• In its 5th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee meeting, the Reserve Bank of India has decided to keep the policy repo rate unchanged to 15%. The reverse repo rate under the LAF stands same i.e. 4.90%. The marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate also remains same i.e. 5.40%. Note: Governor of RBI: Shaktikant Das; Headquarters: Mumbai; Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.

• The Mumbai Central station of Railways was conferred with the ‘Eat Right Station’certification with four stars rating by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), as a part of ‘Eat Right India’ movement launched last year. The Mumbai Central Railway Station is the country’s first “Eat Right Station.”

• Arun Jaitley former Finance Minister of India was bestowed with the Economic Times (ET) Lifetime Achievement Award for Public Service 2019.

• ‘Joker’ fame Joaquin Rafael Phoenix,American actor from California, United States (US) has been bestowed with the PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) ‘Person of the Year’ Award 2019.

• The New Zealand cricket team has been awarded the Christopher Martin-Jenkins Spirit of Cricket award. The team has been awarded for its exemplary show of sportsmanship during the final match of the ICC World Cup at Lord’s in July 2019, which it lost under controversial circumstances.

• The International Volunteer Day (IVD)was observed across the world on 5 December. This year theme is ” Volunteer for an inclusive future”.

• World Soil Day was celebrated on the 5th of December at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) headquarters in Rome, Italy.

• Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu launched the new Rotavirus vaccine: ROTAVAC-5D designed and developed by Bharat Biotech in New Delhi.

• Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty’s fitness app “Shilpa Shetty App” has been awarded Google Play’s Best Apps of 2019. The app was awarded in the category of ‘Personal Growth’.

• Exercise INDRA 2019a joint, tri-services exercise between India and Russia will be conducted in India from 10-19 December 2019 simultaneously at Babina (near Jhansi), Pune, and Goa.

• The Reserve Bank of India released guidelines for ‘on tap’ Licensing of Small Finance Banks in the Private Sector. Now payments banks willing to convert themselves into small finance banks (SFBs)can apply for such a licence only after 5 years of operations. The minimum capital for setting up an SFB has been mandated at ₹200 crores, adding for primary (urban) co-operative banks (UCBs), which wish to become SFBs, the initial requirement of net worth will be ₹100 crores, which will have to be increased to ₹200 crores within five years from the date of commencement of business. SFBs will be given scheduled bank status immediately upon commencement of operations.

• The National Council of Science Museums (NCSM)andIIT (Indian Institutes of Technology) Gandhinagar and Kharagpur, have joined hands to develop Gandhipedia, an online repository of books, letters and speeches written by Mahatma Gandhi, to commemorate his 150th birth anniversary.

• Tennis legend Roger Federer will become the first living person in Switzerland to have a coin mintedin his honour.

• The nation paid homage to Bharat Ratna Dr BR Ambedkar on his 64th Mahaparinirvan Diwas (death anniversary) on 6 December.

• The World Health Organization (WHO)has declared the year 2020as the Year of Nurse and Midwife. The year 2020 also marks the 200th birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale. Note: May 12 is observed as the International Day of Nurses.

• The Reserve Bank of India announced round-the-clock transactions i.e. 24×7 facility under the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system on all days including weekends and holidays from December 16. 

• Aberdeen Police station in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands ranks 1st in the list of the best-performing police stations in the country while dealing with a property offence, a crime against women and weaker sections.

• Armed Forces Flag Day was observed on 7th of December.

• International Civil Aviation Day was observed globally on 7^th The theme of this year Civil Aviation Day is“75 Years of Connecting the World”.

• Ripu Daman Bevli was appointed as Plogging Ambassador of India by Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) on the 50th Fit India Plogging Run held in Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Plog run is a unique way of picking up garbage while jogging, it was added to the Fit India Movement as an initiative to combine fitness with cleanliness like combining the Fit India Movement and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

• President Ram Nath Kovind laid the foundation stone to the memorial being built in memory of the Paika rebellion,a 200-year-old armed revolt in 1817 against the British East India Company in Odisha.

• Finland’s Social Democrats elected 34-year-old Sanna Marin to the post of the prime minister, making her the youngest head of government in the country’s history.

• The National Stock Exchange of India Ltd(NSE) has appointed Girish Chandra Chaturvedi as its new chairman.

• Miss South Africa Zozibini Tunzi was crowned Miss Universe 2019 in Atlanta, US.

• ‘International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime’ was observed on 9^th December.

• The United Nations’ (UN) International Anti-Corruption Day has been observed annually, on 9 December. This year International Anti-Corruption Day theme is “United Against Corruption”.

• The Federation of Indian Association(FIA) has invited Super 30 founder Anand Kumar to a function on the eve of India’s Republic Day celebrations in New York. ‘Super 30’ is a programme that prepares 30 students from underprivileged sections of society for the prestigious IIT entrance test every year, without any fees.

• The News Broadcasters Federation (NBF),the country’s largest association of over 78 news channels, has elected editor-in-chief of Republic TV Arnab Goswami as the President of its governing board.

• Abu Dhabi (UAE) has been selected as the world’s leading Sports tourism Destination at the 26th edition of the World Travel Awards (WTA)held in Muscat, Oman.

• The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA),banned Russia for 4 years, from participation in global sporting events, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, after accusing Moscow of falsifying data from an anti-doping laboratory. 

• Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December.This year the theme is “Youth Standing Up for Human Rights”.