2nd January

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

• 1959 Luna 1 is launched
• 1967 Ronald Reagan is sworn in as Governor of California
• 1860 Urban Le Verrier announces the discovery of the planet Vulcan

NATIONAL

• 28 Aadhaar Seva Kendras opened as part of plan to launch enrollment centres
• While Aadhaar enrolment is free, it said, a nominal charge of Rs 50 is payable for updating details like adding mobile number to Aadhaar, updating address, etc
• Sameer Aggarwal set to be next CEO of Walmart India
• Walmart India, the domestic arm of US retail giant Walmart, is gearing up for change of guard with Krish Iyer set to retire soon from the post of president and CEO.
• Shavendra Silva's 58th division has been accused of violating international human rights laws, including shelling a hospital.

ECONOMY

• Sabka Vishwas tax amnesty scheme extended till January 15. It's a one-time and final extension, the CBIC added. Of the 1.84 lakh taxpayers eligible to avail the scheme, 1,33,661 submitted their applications by December 31, 2019, the CBIC said.

• RBI launches 'MANI' app for visually challenged to identify currency notes. Users can download the app, called 'MANI', which is an acronym for Mobile Aided Note Identifier, and will have to scan the notes using the camera, it said adding that the audio output to give our results will be in Hindi and English.

• Govt retains interest rates on small savings, depositors may cheer decision. The government has kept interest rates on small savings schemes intact for January-March 2020, compared to those during October-December 2019, contrary to what the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and banks had advised.

ENVIRONMENT

• ISRO identifies 4 astronauts for India's manned space mission Gaganyaan
• The astronauts were selected based on the results of the medical examinations including fitness tests conducted at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) a premier institute of the Indian Air Force and in Russia.
• Sri Lanka army chief Shavendra Silva appointed as acting Chief of Defence Staff