TOP HEADLINES ============== 1. Apurvi Chandela, the young shooter from Jaipur, who bagged the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow has shot her way to become the national champion in women’s 10m air rifle event at the 58th National Shooting Championships in Pune. 2. China and Nepal signed an agreement to expand the use of their currencies for border trade. The agreement was signed between the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) and Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). The agreement will boost bilateral trade and investment ties between the China and Nepal. According to the agreement, the two countries will use local currencies (Yuan and Nepal rupee) for settlement in both cross-border trade and ordinary trade activities. Both the countries also signed memorandum of understanding on anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism cooperation. 3. The military chiefs of Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed to co-ordinate on military operations along border of two countries. Army chief General of Afghanistan Sher Mohammad Karimi and General of Pakistan Raheel Sharif agreed to co-operate in the presence of US General John Campbell, who heads NATO coalition forces in Afghanistan. The two countries also agreed to jointly take effective actions against terrorism and extremism. 4. With Shinzo Abe getting re-elected as Japans Prime Minister, Gen Nakatani has been appointed the new defence minister. Other than him, all other cabinet members will retain their positions, Xinhua reported. Defence minister Akinori Eto declined the reappointment due to a political fund scandal. 5. According to Polish Handball Federation (ZPRP) President Andrzej Krasnicki, Poland will host the European Mens Handball Championship in January 2016. Sixteen teams will compete at the tournament, which will be held in four cities in Poland. 6. Young Kidambi Srikanth continued his meteoric rise in world badminton as he ended the season by becoming only the third Indian male shuttler to break into the top-five, reaching a career-high fourth after hovering in the 40s in the beginning of the year. 7. Former Governor of Himachal Pradesh R.K.S. Gandhi passed away. Gandhi died at the age of 90 in Mumbai. He served as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh from April 1986 to February 1990. 8. Energy giant Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) has signed an agreement with Japans Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd. for shipping liquefied ethane from North America to India. RIL said it has signed shipping agreements with one of the worlds largest and reputed shipping companies Mitsui. 9. Oil India Ltd., Indias second-largest government-owned exploration firm, has commissioned its first 5 MW solar power plant in Rajasthan. OIL, which has so far built only small solar power plants, built and commissioned its first grid connected 5 MW unit at village Raghwa in Ramgarh district of Rajasthan. 10. Online marketplace Snapdeal has partnered India Post to jointly work on bringing thousands of weavers and artisans from Varanasi through its website. Snapdeal has launched a pilot with India Post to set-up facilitation desks at Varanasi post offices to enable local weavers to sell on its platform.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 11:21:59 +0000