News in Short

• The BCCI announced MPL Sports apparel and accessories as the official kit sponsor and merchandise partner of both the national men's and women's sides as well as the U-19 team, replacing Nike.
• MPL Sports, the sports merchandise brand from Mobile Premier League offers a wide range of sports wear and cricket equipment, along with other accessories such as masks, wrist bands, footwear, and headgear.
• MPL Sports' association with the BCCI begins with India's tour of Australia, which will see Team India sporting the new jerseys.
• As part of the deal, MPL Sports' designed and manufactured jerseys will be worn by the Indian men's, women's, and the U-19 teams.

• The Trump administration is expected to cut the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan almost in half to 2,500 by Jan. 15.
• The order would stop short of outgoing President Donald Trump’s goal to have all troops withdrawn by the end of the year, which had faced opposition from military and diplomatic advisers.
• It would give Trump an accomplishment in his final weeks in office even as he refuses to concede his election loss to Joe Biden.

• The Solomon Islands is planning to ban the use of Facebook for an indeterminate period after inflammatory critique of the government.
• If the ban goes ahead, the Solomons would join only a handful of countries around the world, including China, Iran, and North Korea, to actively restrict the world's biggest social networking platform.
• The government has been heavily criticised on social media over the distribution of economic stimulus funds amid the coronavirus pandemic and the impact of the nation's decision to switch diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China.

• Social media giant Twitter Inc has appointed one of the world's best-regarded hackers to tackle everything from engineering missteps to misinformation.
• The company named Peiter Zatko, widely known by his hacker handle Mudge, to the new position of head of security, giving him a broad mandate to recommend changes in structure and practices.
• Zatko most recently oversaw security at the electronic payments unicorn Stripe. Before that, he worked on special projects at Google and oversaw handing out grants for projects on cybersecurity at the Pentagon's famed Defense Advanced Research and Projects Agency (DARPA).

• Rajasthan’s Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Bhanwarlal Meghwal died after prolonged illness. He had suffered a paralytic stroke and was diagnosed with brain haemorrhage. He was 71.
• Mr. Meghwal represented Churu district’s Sujangarh constituency in the Assembly and also held the Disaster Management and Relief portfolio. He was Education Minister in the previous Congress government between 2008 and 2013.
• Mr. Meghwal had entered politics after resigning as a physical training instructor in a government school. In his political career spanning 40 years, he was elected a member of the Assembly five times.