From Berlin attack to Karun Nair's triple ton: 5 key developments

In other news, CBSE body recommends making Board exams for Class X mandatory

Business Standard brings to you a list of five key developments across the country.

IS claims 'soldier' behind Berlin truck attack

Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for an attack in which a truck ploughed into crowds in a Christmas market and killed 12 people. "The executor of the operation.. in Berlin is a soldier of the Islamic State and he executed the operation in response to calls to target nationals of the coalition countries," the militant group's AMAQ news agency said on Tuesday.

PM may announce sops for rural population, SMEs

The Narendra Modi government and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have planned a blitzkrieg of initiatives to recast the political narrative at the expiry of the “50 days of pain” because of note ban, particularly before the Assembly polls in five states, including Uttar Pradesh, in February-March. Senior BJP leaders and ministers claim Modi’s rally on January 2 in Lucknow is set to be a game-changer in the note ban discourse.

CBSE Class X exams set to return in 2018

Board exams for Class X are set to become compulsory for all CBSE students from 2018 as CBSE's Governing body today "unanimously approved" a proposal in this regard. At the meeting of the Governing body, its members agreed that from the academic session 2017-18, compulsory Board exams should be introduced for all students of Class X, sources told PTI here. The decision will now have to be approved by the government before it is implemented.

Mistry drags Tatas to court

A day after resigning from the boards of six Tata firms, Cyrus Mistry on Tuesday took a legal route in his fight against Tata Sons by filing a suit with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Investment firms of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, Cyrus Investments and Sterling Investment Corporation, which own 18.37 per cent stake in Tata Sons, moved NCLT against Tata Sons, its former chairman Ratan Tata, Tata Sons’ directors, Tata Trusts as well as its trustees for alleged oppression and mismanagement by the company.

Karun Nair hits triple ton

The ongoing five-match test cricket series between England and India has been one of many finds for India, even as the dominance of established names cannot be undermined. While the first three matches saw some outstanding performances by skipper Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, the fifth tie will be remembered for long for stellar performances by two relatively new players in the side.  Chennai’s M A Chidambaram Stadium, better known as 'Chepauk', first became witness to K L Rahul’s innings of 199, ending only one run shy of a well-deserved double century. And then, even before Indian fans’ jubilation had cooled, you had an unbeaten triple century (303*) by Karun Nair guiding India to its highest ever innings total of 759 for 7.