Leadership Changes and Appointments:

·       Shashi Singh became the new President of the All India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA).

·       Several prominent figures, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Jaya Bachchan, among others, are set to retire from the Rajya Sabha, leading to a shift in the political landscape.

 State-specific Initiatives and Achievements:

·       West Bengal declared Poila Baisakh, the Bengali New Year, as the State day.

·       Punjab mapped all accident-prone sites, becoming the first Indian state to do so.

Defence and Economic Development:

·       Deals worth Rs 802 crore were finalized by the Ministry of Defence to boost indigenous defence production.

·       Record foreign portfolio investments in Indian equities drove the markets to all-time highs in December.

Business Ventures and Initiatives:

·       Adidas announced its plans to set up its first Asia GCC outside China in Tamil Nadu.

·       The Ministry of Education launched the PRERANA program for experiential learning.

Agreements and Collaborations:

·       An agreement between India and Nepal for the export of 10,000 MW    of power was signed.

·       REC Ltd entered into an MoU with Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd for infrastructure projects.

Appointments and Recognitions:

·       Various appointments were made, including Shashi Singh as President of AIRIA and P Santhosh as MD of NARCL.

·       Bengali writer Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay received the 2023 Kuvempu Rashtriya Puraskar for literary contributions.

Awards and Achievements:

·       Hero MotoCorp’s facility won the CII National Award for Water Management.

·       Professor Adrian Cruise received the ‘Order of the British Empire’ for leadership in space science.

Archaeological Discovery:

·       A 10th-century Kadamba inscription in Kannada and Sanskrit was found in Goa, shedding light on historical events during that period.