Government rejigs team handling Ayodhya issue
- The Ministry of Home Affairs reorganised its departments, delegating the charge of the Ayodhya desk to the Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh(JKL) Affairs Division, according to an internal order of the Ministry.
- Earlier, all matters relating to the Ayodhya dispute and the litigation in the Supreme Court were handled by the Internal Security Division-II. The order says the Internal Security Division-II has been merged with the Internal Security Division-I.
- The JKL Division is headed by Additional Secretary Gyanesh kumar, who played a key role in the decision to withdraw the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and split the erstwhile State into two UTs.
- “The Ayodhya matters and the related court judgments will be put up by the Deputy Secretary to the Additional Secretary (JKL) through the Joint Secretary (JKL),” the order reads.
India records less than 100 tiger deaths for the first time in three years
- For the first time in the past three years, the number of tiger deaths in a year in the country has been less than 100. According to data from the Ministry of Forest Environment and Climate Change (MoEFCC), there were 84 cases of tiger deaths in the country and 11 cases of seizures (in which a tiger is presumed dead on the basis of body parts seized by authorities). Both put together, the number of tiger deaths in 2019 was 95.
- In 2018, the number of tiger deaths recorded was 100 (93 mortalities and seven seizures). The number was 115 (98 mortalities and 17 seizures) in 2017, and 122 (101 mortalities and 21 seizures) in 2016.
Banks’ credit grows 7.1% to ₹ 99.47 lakh cr.
- Banks’ credit and deposits grew by 7.1% and 10.09% to ₹ 99.47 lakh crore and ₹ 130.08 lakh crore in the fortnight ended December 20, respectively, according to latest Reserve Bank data.
- In the year ago fort- night, banks’ advances stood at ₹ 92.87 lakh crore, while deposits were at ₹ 118.16 lakh crore.
- In the previous fortnight ended December 6, credit had grown by 7.91% to ₹ 99.34 lakh crore and deposits had increased by 10.27% to ₹ 131.05 lakh crore. On a year-on-year basis, banks’ credit growth slowed to 7.2% to ₹ 86.73 lakh crore in November 2019 from a 13.8% increase to ₹ 80.93 lakh crore in the year ago period.