Populist billionaire Andrej Babis was sworn in as the Czech Republic's new Prime Minister December 9, 2025, following October's parliamentary election, in a return to power for the businessman.
Mr. Babis, who was previously Prime Minister from 2017 to 2021, promised Czechs that he “will fight for their interests at home and anywhere in the world” and,
will do his utmost for the Czech Republic to become “the best place for life on earth”. President Petr Pavel swore in Mr. Babis as Prime Minister.
The new partnership makes up 108 seats in the 200-seat Lower House of Parliament, relegating the four centre-right parties of the pro-Western Government led by former Prime Minister Petr Fiala to the Opposition.
TIME magazine has just named Indian-American Neal Mohan, who is currently steamrolling operations at Youtube, as TIME’s 2025 CEO of the Year. Mohan, who took over the company when his mentor Susan Wojcicki stepped down in 2023, has taken initiative ensuring the massive video-sharing platform remains at the center of culture;
helping creators start their businesses and optimizing the platform for television.
Youtube TV is now the preferred cable replacement for most people and Shorts reported 2 billion logged-in monthly users as per TIME. So, with all that in consideration let us take a look at the net worth and luxury assets of Youtube’s ‘mellow’ CEO.
Anant Ambani has been presented with the Global Humanitarian Award for Animal Welfare by the Global Humane Society, marking a significant milestone for India’s conservation landscape. The recognition makes him the youngest and first Asian recipient of one of the most respected global honours in animal welfare.
The ceremony in Washington, DC, featured leading conservation professionals, researchers, and institutional heads.
The award acknowledges Anant Ambani’s leadership in creating Vantara, a large-scale conservation initiative that combined modern veterinary science, species recovery programmes and structured rehabilitation systems.
The award also places India’s conservation efforts in the global spotlight. For Anant Ambani, the honour reinforces a commitment to building scientific, humane and future-ready systems for wildlife protection.
Dr Robin Ganzert- President and CEO of Global Humane Society.
Former India fast bowler Venkatesh Prasad defeated Director of The Printers (Mysore) Pvt. Limited, K.N. Shanth Kumar, 749-558 to emerge as the new Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) president.
It was a successful run for Prasad’s ‘Team Game Changers’, which bagged four of the five key office-bearer posts.
Former India batter Sujith Somasundar (vice-president), Santosh Menon (secretary) and B.N. Madhukar (treasurer) claimed victories for ‘Team Game Changers’.
B.K. Ravi edged out A.V. Shashidara 669-638 in the joint secretary race. Ravi emerged as the lone person from Shanth’s ‘Team Brijesh’ camp to claim an office-bearer spot.
In recognition of her vow to be meat-free, fierce dedication to protecting wildlife, tireless advocacy on behalf of community animals, and compassionate efforts to promote empathy for all living, feeling beings, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India (PETA India) has named award-winning Bollywood actor Raveena Tandon its 2025 Person of the Year.
Earlier this year, Tandon – alongside her daughter, actor Rasha Thadani – partnered with PETA India to give a life-sized mechanical elephant to Karnataka’s Thousand Pillars Jain Temple in recognition of its kind decision never to own or hire live elephants.
Past recipients of PETA India’s Person of the Year Award include Bollywood star Adah Sharma, former Supreme Court Justice KS Panicker Radhakrishnan, cricketer Virat Kohli, comedian Kapil Sharma, and actors Dia Mirza, Alia Bhatt, John Abraham, Anushka Sharma, Sunny Leone, Sonakshi Sinha, R Madhavan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Hema Malini, and Sonam Kapoor Ahuja.
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview.
In a major move to boost transparency in India’s financial markets, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) launched the Past Risk and Return Verification Agency (PaRRVA)-- a new verification mechanism designed to authenticate past performance claims made by regulated market intermediaries.
Care Ratings in collaboration with the NSE on Monday launched PaRRVA on a pilot basis.
Sebi Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said PaRRVA would serve as a pioneering framework that allows Sebi-registered investment advisers, research analysts and algorithmic stock brokers to present independently validated past returns to investors.
The mechanism has been developed to tackle the rising risks from finfluencers, misleading claims Pandey highlighted growing concerns around unverified performance claims in the securities market, especially by finfluencers and unregistered entities.
Under the new framework, PaRRVA will function through a two-tier structure involving: A Sebi-registered credit rating agency serving as the PaRRVA and a recognised stock exchange acting as the PaRRVA Data Centre (PDC).
Both entities will independently verify returns using a uniform, transparent methodology.
Importantly, intermediaries will not be allowed to selectively disclose only favourable performance periods.
An oversight committee will monitor both the agency and the data centre, ensuring compliance with methodology and safeguarding data privacy.
Maharashtra government on December 5, 2025 said it had installed 45,911 off-grid solar agricultural pumps in a month under the PM-KUSUM (Component B) and Magel Tyala Saur Krushi Pump Yojana schemes, claiming a world record for it.
He was awarded by the Guinness World Records for the initiative of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL).
Maharashtra has so far installed 7.47 lakh solar pumps in the State. It targets to install 10.45 lakh pumps.
The government said that a special focus was given on drought-prone zones for the installation of solar pumps. The pumps were sized on the basis of landholdings. e.g. 3 HP pumps were fitted for up to 2.5 acres of land, 5 HP pumps for up to 5 acres of land.
CUTS International launched its new global initiative: “Trade Not Just Aid: Winners and Losers in the WTO” (TRaNJA) to create a positive spirit to reposition the World Trade Organisation at an event on Shaping the Future of Global Trade in an era of shifting US Engagement, Emerging Powers and Digital Innovation.
The event was organized by Konrad Adaneur Stiftung, a German political foundation which has been engaged in pursuing healthy trade policy issues and equity across the world since long. Nearly 30 experts from 16 countries were participating in the event held on 2-4 December, 2025 in Tokyo, Japan. The agenda was both on global issues and South East Asian issues.
The steering committee of the TRaNJA is cochaired by Shashi Tharoor, MP and former foreign minister of India and Pascal Lamy, former Director General of the WTO. In total it has 21 distinguished members from all corners of the world.
Sahaj Insurance Services Pvt Ltd, which recently received a corporate agency licence from IRDAI, aims to sell about 10 crore insurance policies designed to suit the rural population.
Sahaj Insurance Services Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Sahaj Retail Ltd, operates a network of about 4.5 lakh digitally enabled rural centres serving over 70 crore people.
Sahaj Centres will offer a full suite of insurance products, with trained Sahaj Mitrs facilitating customer onboarding, support and claims assistance.
The tailor-made insurance policies will help rural families safeguard themselves from unforeseen risks and plan for more secure futures.
The portfolio includes life, health, accident, crop, livestock and micro-insurance products developed in partnership with leading insurers, it said, adding that the focus is on low-premium, high-relevance policies tailored to households in agrarian and informal-sector economies.
The government has launched a nationwide campaign 'Your Money, Your Right' to facilitate the settlement of unclaimed financial assets, and Rs 2,000 crore have been claimed by their rightful owners in October and November this year.
PM KUSUM is a demand driven scheme. The capacities are allocated based on demand received and progress shown by the States. The scheme allows participation of farmers, group of farmers including farmer producer organizations (FPO)/ water user associations (WUA)/ primary agriculture credit societies (PACS).
The scheme has been implemented in all the states/ UTs. As reported by State Implementing Agencies (SIAs), State/UT wise installation progress under PM KUSUM, as on 30.11.2025, is placed at Annexure I. The number of beneficiaries, including farmer producer organisations (FPOs) who have availed benefits under PM KUSUM is placed at Annexure II.
As on 30.11.2025, a total of 10,203 MW has been installed under all components of PM KUSUM Scheme. The funds under PM KUSUM scheme are released based on the demand received, progress reported by the SIAs and as per provisions of the scheme guidelines. As per the demand received from the states, Rs. 7,106 crore has been released under PM KUSUM Scheme, till 30.11.2025
The Ministry has simplified the procedures and issued comprehensive revised guidelines on 17.01.2024 for ease of implementation of the scheme. The Scheme guidelines mandate that priority would be given to small and marginal farmers and farmers using micro irrigation techniques.
To increase the reach of PM KUSUM scheme, extensive outreach and capacity-building workshops are conducted by the Ministry from time to time. This also includes periodic review and handholding meetings with the implementing states.
Deepavali, one of India’s most widely celebrated living traditions, has now been inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity today during the 20th Session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee, held at the Red Fort, New Delhi.
The inscription was adopted in the presence of Union Minister of Culture Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Shri Vivek Aggarwal Secretary, Ministry of Culture, along with the senior officials of Ministry of Culture and delegates from 194 Member States, international experts, and representatives of UNESCO’s global network.
2025 Theme – Human Rights, Our Everyday Essentials.
Human Rights Day is observed annually around the world on 10 December. It commemorates the anniversary of one of the world's most groundbreaking global pledges: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
The Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 and sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected.
