Government of Tamil Nadu

Department of Employment and Training

Course : Competitive Exam

Subject : Current Affairs

Topic : Current Affairs - December 2020

© Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the Competitive

Exams study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of Competitive Exam
aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This e-content study
material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and Training. No one
(either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or reproduce the
matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian Copyright
Act.

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
Competitive Exams.

Director,
Department of Employment and Training.
 INDEX
1 HISTORY
 Important Days  Defence National Security and
01
Terrorism  World Organisations – Pacts and Summits
 Eminent Persons  Sports and Games  Books & Authors
 Awards & Honours  Cultural Panaroma  India & its
Neighbours  Appointments – Who is who?

2 POLITICAL SCIENCE 32
India’s Foreign Policy Latest Court Verdicts Govt –
Welfare oriented Govt schemes, their utility

3 GEOGRAPHY
33
 Policy on Environment and Ecology Natural Disasters –
Safeguard Measures

4 ECONOMICS
36
New Economic Policy & Govt. Sector Current Socio -
Economic Problems
 39
5 SCIENCE
Latest Inventions in Science & Technology
Latest Discoveries on Health Science

Mass Media & Communication

50
6 NATIONAL – DIARY OF
EVENTS

71
7 INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

8 TAMIL NADU AFFAIRS 75

Current Affairs, December - 2020 Important Days

History
1.1 Important Days

Date Day Theme / Remark

   The theme for the World Aids Day 2020
1-12-2020 World AIDS Day is ‘Ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic:
Resilience and Impact.’.
   In India, the National Pollution
Control Day is observed every year on
December 2 to commemorate the life of
people lost in the unfortunate incident
National Pollution Control of Bhopal Gas Tragedy that occurred
2-12-2020
Day in the year 1984 on the night of 2–3
December.
   The year 2020 marks the 36th
anniversary of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy.

   The Theme of 2020 Navy Day is

4-12-2020 Indian Navy Day “Indian Navy Combat Ready, Credible
& Cohesive”.

4-12-2020 International Day of Banks

International Volunteer    IVD 2020 Theme: “Together We Can

5-12-2020
Day Through Volunteering”.
   The 2020 theme – ‘Keep soil alive,
5-12-2020 World Soil Day
Protect soil biodiversity’!
   The ICAO Council has selected the
International Civil Aviation special collective 5 year theme for
7-12-2020
Day 2019-2023: “Advancing Innovation for
Global Aviation Development”.

1
Important Days Current Affairs, December - 2020

   In India, the Armed Forces Flag Day

(also known as the Flag Day of India)
is observed annually on December 7
since 1949 as an honour to the soldiers,
sailors and airmen of India who fought
on the borders to keep the country safe.
   The three branches of the Armed Forces
of India , namely, the Indian Army, the
7-12-2020 Armed Forces Flag Day
Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy
are remembered on this day.
   The ‘Armed forces Flag Day Fund’
(AFFDF) has been constituted by the
Government of India for the welfare
and rehabilitation of the Ex-Servicemen
(ESM) community.

International Anti-    Theme 2020 – ‘RECOVER with

9-12-2020
Corruption Day INTEGRITY.’
   Theme: “Recover Better – Stand Up For
10-12-2020 World Human Rights Day
Human Rights”.

   Every year the UNICEF Day is

observed on December 11.
   The United Nations General Assembly
created UNICEF on December 11, 1946,
as the United Nations International
Children’s Emergency Fund to improve
the health, nutrition, education, and
general welfare of children devastated
11-12-2020 UNICEF Day
due to World War II.
   UNICEF’s name was subsequently
changed from United Nations
International Children’s Emergency
Fund to United Nations Children’s
Fund though, it continued to be known
by the popular acronym based on the
previous title.

International Mountain
12-12-2020    2020 Theme: Mountain biodiversity.
Day
2
Current Affairs, December - 2020 Important Days

National Energy
14-12-2020
Conservation Day
   In India, Vijay Diwas (also called
Victory Day) is celebrated every year
on December 16.
   The country is celebrating the 49th
Vijay Diwas in 2020.
   Vijay Diwas is observed to
commemorate the service, valour,
Nation Observes 49th Vijay
16-12-2020 and sacrifices of the gallant men of
Diwas
the Indian Armed Forces’ victory over
Pakistan in 1971 war.
   On 16 December 1971, the Indian
Armed Forces won the 13-day long
decisive war against the Pakistan
Army and state for the liberation of
Bangladesh from Pakistan.
   Theme 2020 : ‘Reimagining Human
18-12-2020 International Migrants Day
Mobility’.
   When: The Minorities Rights Day
is observed in India every year on
December 18 since 1992.
   Why: Protect the existence of the
National or Ethnic, Cultural, Religious
and Linguistic identity of minorities
18-12-2020 Minorities Rights Day
within their respective territories
and encourage conditions for the
promotion of that identity.
   The Day was promulgated by United
Nations on December 18, 1992 to
strengthen the cause of the minorities.

3
Important Days Current Affairs, December - 2020

   The Goa Liberation Day is observed on

December 19 in India. 2020 marks the
60th Goa Liberation Day.
   The Day is celebrated to commemorate
the great valour of the Indian armed
forces in freeing Goa from around 450
years of Portuguese rule.
19-12-2020 Goa Liberation Day    Goa was liberated on December 19,
1961.
   The 36-hour military operation,
conducted from December 18, 1961,
was code-named ‘Operation Vijay’
meaning ‘Operation Victory,’ and
involved attacks by the Indian Navy,
Indian Air Force and Indian Army.
   India observes the National
Mathematics Day every year on 22
December since 2012 to commemorate
the birth anniversary of Mathematician
Srinivasa Ramanujan.
   2020 marks the 133rd birth anniversary
of Ramanujan.
22-12-2020 National Mathematics Day    The day was announced on 26
February 2012 by the then Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh to mark
the 125th anniversary of the birth of the
Indian mathematical genius Srinivasa
Ramanujan (22 Dec 1887- 26 Apr 1920).
   2012 was also observed as National
Mathematics Year.

4
Current Affairs, December - 2020 Important Days

   National Farmer’s Day (Kisan Diwas)

is observed every year on December 23
in India to remember the role of Indian
farmers in the economy.
   The day was first celebrated in 2001.
   The day is observed to mark the birth
anniversary of former Prime Minster
India Observes National
23-12-2020 Chaudhary Charan Singh.
Farmer’s Day
   He brought farmer-friendly policies
and worked towards the welfare of the
farmers.
   Chaudhary Charan Singh was the fifth
Prime Minister of India and served the
country as Prime Minister from 28 July
1979 to 14 January 1980.
   National Consumer Day: December 24
   2020 Theme: “Sustainable Consumer”.
   It was on this day that the Consumer
Protection Act, 1986 was enacted.
   The Act aims to provide consumers
24-12-2020 National Consumer Day
with effective safeguards against
different types of exploitation, such as
defective goods, deficiency in services
and unfair trade practices.

   In India, Good Governance Day

(Sushasan Divas) is observed annually
on December 25 to commemorate the
birth anniversary of former Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25
December 1924 – 16 August 2018).
25-12-2020 Good Governance Day
   Good Governance Day was
established in 2014 by the newly
elected administration of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, to foster
awareness among the Indian people of
accountability in government.

5
Defence, National Security and Terrorism Current Affairs, December - 2020

1.2 Defence, National Security    This is in line with a plan that was first
envisaged during the India-China’s
and Terrorism Doklam crisis in 2017 when a need for
closer and direct coordination was felt in
Indian Navy successfully test-fires the headquarters. The present Director-
General of Military Operations Lt General
BrahMos Cruise Missile
Paramajit Singh is expected to assume the
   Indian Navy on December 1, 2020,
new appointment.
successfully test-fired the naval-version
   The creation of a third deputy chief post
of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile in
in the Army will help reduce the burden
the Bay of Bengal. As per the officials, the
on the vice chief of the Army, as he would
test-fire was part of a series of trials that
have key officers such as in-charges
are being carried out by the three defence
of military intelligence and military
services of India.
operations under him.
   Similar test-firing of BrahMos missile
   The centre also approved the creation of
was conducted by the Indian Navy in the
the Director General Information Warfare
Arabian Sea in October 2020. The test-fire
post in the Army headquarters.
of BrahMos conducted on December 1
was successful as per the Naval official. Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with
   BrahMos Aerospace is an India-Russian Russian Federation Navy in Eastern
collaboration. It produces a supersonic Indian Ocean Region
cruise missile that can be launched
   The Indian Navy (IN) and the Russian
successfully from aircraft, ships,
Federation Navy (RuFN) are undertaking
submarines, or land platforms.
Passage Exercise (PASSEX) in the Eastern
   The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile
Indian Ocean Region (IOR) from 4 to 5
is also the fastest operating system in
December 2020.
the world in its class. DRDO has recently
   The exercise will help in enhancing
extended the missile system’s range from
interoperability, improving
the existing 298 km to 450 km.
understanding and imbibing best
Centre approves reorganisation of practices between both the friendly
Army Headquarters, third deputy navies.
   It involves advanced surface and anti-
chief post created
submarine warfare exercises, weapon
   The centre has approved reorganisation
firings, seamanship exercises and
of Army headquarters. As a part of the
helicopter operations.
same, the government approved the
   IN is being represented by indigenously
creation of a third deputy Chief’s post-
constructed guided missile frigate
New Deputy Chief of Strategy.
Shivalik and anti-submarine corvette
Kadmatt along with integral helicopters.

6
Current Affairs, December - 2020
   RuFN includes guided missile cruiser
Varyag, large anti-submarine ship
Admiral Panteleyev and medium ocean
tanker Pechenga.
   The PASSEXs are conducted regularly by
IN with units of friendly foreign navies.
Launch of INS Himgiri
   ‘Himgiri’, the first of the three Project 17A
ships being built at M/s Garden Reach
Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited
(GRSE), Kolkata was launched Under
the Project 17A program, a total of seven
ships, four at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders
Limited (MDL) and three ships at GRSE
are being built with enhanced stealth
features, advanced indigenous weapon
and sensor fit along with several other
improvements.
   The launch of ‘Himgiri’ has showcased
GRSE’s commitment towards the
building of three state-of-the-art warships
of P17A for Indian Navy. Over the years,
GRSE has emerged as a leading shipyard
having built over 100 ships. The yard has
scaled up its infrastructure and skill sets
to meet new challenges in building of
P17A ships. P17A ships are the first gas
turbine propulsion and largest combat
platforms ever built at GRSE.
Indian Coast Guard’s OPV ‘Sujeet’
commissioned in Goa;
   Indian Coast Guard’s (ICG) Offshore
Patrol Vessel (OPV) ‘Sujeet’, which
is second in the series of 5 OPVs was
commissioned at the Goa Shipyard
Limited (GSL) in Vasco Town, Goa by Raj
Kumar, Secretary (Defence Production).
Defence, National Security and Terrorism
The vessel has been designed and built
indigenously by GSL.
   The 1st ship in series – ICGS Sachet was
commissioned by Union Defence Minister
Rajnath Singh in May, 2020.
   The ship is 105 metres long and weights
2400 tonnes.
   Equipped with features like Integrated
Bridge System, Integrated platform
management system, power management
system and high power external
fire-fighting.
   The ship will be based at Goa and will be
deployed extensively for EEZ (Exclusive
Economic Zone) surveillance and other
duties.
   The 1st ship in series – ICGS Sachet was
commissioned by Union Defence Minister
Rajnath Singh in May, 2020.
Indigenously-built Coast Guard
interceptor boat C-454 commissioned
   The interceptor boat C-454, built by
Larsen and Toubro at its Hazira plant,
will operate from Gujarat under the
control of the Commander Coast Guard
Region North-West of the Indian Coast
Guard. It was commissioned by Surat
Police Commissioner Ajay Tomar.
   This interceptor boat is built indigenously
by L&T Jetty, Hazira. It is capable of a high
speed of 45 knots having the capability to
operate in shallow waters.
India’s First Maritime Theatre
Command
   The first Maritime Theatre Command
(MTC) of India is to be launched in 2021.
The MTC will look after the 7,516-km long
7
Defence, National Security and Terrorism
coastline, the entire Indian Ocean Region
and the 1,382 islands. This is important
to counter Chinese ever-expanding naval
foot-print in the Indian Ocean Region.
China has the largest Navy with 350
warships and submarines.
About Maritime Theatre Command
   The MTC will subsume the Western
Naval Command (Mumbai), tri-service
Andaman and Nicobar Command
(Port Blair), Eastern Naval Command
(Vizag) and the southern Air Command
(Thiruvananthapuram).
Background
   India currently has seventeen single-
service commands. It includes seven
Army commands, three Navy commands
and seven Indian Air Force commands.
Only two existing tri service command
came up after 1999 Kargil war. The
Andaman and Nicobar command was set
up as a geographical command in October
2001. The nuclear arsenal command came
up in January 2003.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh
hands over 3 DRDO high-tech systems
to chiefs of 3 armed forces
   The Defence Minister Rajnath Singh
recently handed over three indigenously
developed high technology systems
to chiefs of the three armed forces: the
Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the
Indian Air Force.
   The three systems namely, Border
Surveillance System (BOSS), Indian
Maritime Situational Awareness System
(IMSAS) and ASTRA Mk-I Missile, have
been developed by the Defence Research
8
Current Affairs, December - 2020
and Development Organisation (DRDO).
   Border Surveillance System (BOSS)
   BOSS is an all-weather electronic
surveillance system. It was handed over
to Army Chief General M M Naravane.
   BOSS has already been deployed in
Ladakh against the Chinese troops for
day and night surveillance.
Indian maritime situational awareness
system (IMSAS)
   It was handed to Navy Chief Admiral
Karambir Singh.
   The IMSAS is state-of-the-art high
performance intelligent software system
that provide Global Maritime Situational
Picture, Marine planning tools and
Analytical capabilities to Indian Navy.
Astra Mk-1 missile system
   It was handed over to Air Chief Marshal
R K S Bhadauria.
   This missile is the first indigenously
developed beyond visual range (BVR)
missile that can be launched from
Sukhoi-30, Light Combat Aircraft (LCA),
Mig-29 and Mig-29K.
   ASTRA weapon system has been
developed by Defence Research &
Development Laboratory (DRDL) and
production by Bharat Dynamics Limited
(BDL) Hyderabad.
India Successfully Test-Fires Medium
Range Surface-To-Air Missile For
Army
   India today successfully test-fired a
medium range surface-to-air missile
(MRSAM) from Odisha coast.
   The missile was fired from a ground
mobile launcher at launch pad number-1
Current Affairs, December - 2020
of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) near
Balasore in Odisha, and it hit the target
with accuracy, the sources confirmed to
news agency Press Trust of India.
   An unmanned air vehicle (UAV),
‘Banshee’, was first flown into the air,
which was hit by the medium range
surface-to-air missile.
AFSCB Adjudged as the “Best
Company Promoting Sports (Public
Sector) 2020” at FICCI India Sports
Awards 2020
   In the official notification received from
FICCI, Air Force Sports Control Board
(AFSCB) has been annotated as the
winner in the category of “Best Company
Promoting Sports (Public Sector) 2020”.
   AFSB has been conferred with this
prestigious award on 08 Dec 20 by the
eminent jury of FICCI India Sports
Awards 2020 that was chaired by Justice
Mudgal. The award function took place
virtually through video conferencing
on 08 Dec 2020 and Air Commodore
Ashutosh Chaturvedi, Chairman, AFSCB
received the prestigious award from the
President FICCI.
Myanmar Navy formally commissions
INS Sindhuvir submarine, handed
over by Indian Navy
   The Myanmar Navy has officially
inducted the submarine INS Sindhuvir,
which was handed over by the Indian
Navy to the country in October 2020.
   INS Sindhuvir was commissioned on 25th
December 2020, which marked the 73rd
anniversary of the Myanmar Navy.
Defence, National Security and Terrorism
   INS Sindhuvir has been renamed as UMS
Minye Theinkhathu by the Myanmar
Navy.
   This is the first submarine in the Myanmar
Navy’s arsenal.
   It is a diesel-electric Kilo-class submarine,
which was in operation in the Indian
Navy since 1988.
   The submarine has been refurbished for
the Myanmar Navy by state-run defense
shipbuilder, Hindustan Shipyard Limited
(HSL) in Visakhapatnam.
Indian Naval Ship Conducts ‘Passage
Exercise’ with Vietnamese Navy in
South China Sea
   An Indian Navy warship undertook a
“passage exercise” with the Vietnamese
Navy in the South China Sea as part of
efforts to boost maritime cooperation
between the two countries.
   Indian naval ship INS Kiltan was sent
to deliver relief material for flood-
affected people in central Vietnam and it
participated in the exercise on its return
journey.
   The exercise has been conducted at a
time when China has been expanding its
military assertiveness in the South China
Sea notwithstanding mounting global
concerns and criticism.
9
World Organisations – Pacts and Summits
1.3 World Organisations –
Pacts and Summits
Covid-19 pandemic could push over 1
billion in extreme poverty by 2030
   An additional 207 million people could
be pushed into extreme poverty by 2030
due to the severe long-term impact of the
coronavirus pandemic, bringing the total
number of the world’s extremely poor to
more than a billion, a new study from the
UN Development Programme (UNDP)
has found.
   The study is part of a long-standing
partnership between the UNDP and the
Pardee Center for International Futures
at the University of Denver.
PwC India partners with UNICEF and
YuWaah to upskill 300 million youths
in India over 10 years
   Consulting firm PwC India has
collaborated with the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and YuWaah
(Generation Unlimited in India) to upskill
300 million young Indians over the next
10 years.
   This collaboration is part of PwC’s global
multi-sector partnership with UNICEF
and Generation Unlimited to upskill
and provide about 1.8 billion youngsters
with socio-economic opportunities from
school to work by 2030.
   This partnership will focus on three
facets to India’s digital empowerment for
youngsters, which are education, skilling
and entrepreneurship.
10
Current Affairs, December - 2020
WHO praises India for Fitness Ka
Dose Aadha Ghanta Roz campaign
   The World Health Organisation (WHO)
has praised Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’’s ‘’Fitness Ka Dose Aadha Ghanta
Roz’’ programme, which calls upon all
Indians to devote at least half-an-hour on
their fitness for a better living.
Fit India Movement
   Fit India Movement is a nation-wide
movement in India to encourage people
to remain healthy and fit by including
physical activities and sports in their daily
lives. It was launched by Prime Minister
of India Narendra Modi at Indira Gandhi
Stadium in New Delhi on 29 August 2019.
Kerala women startup inks pact with
UN agency
   For the first time, a Kerala-based women
startup, which helps in identifying
energy-efficient drivers and adopting
viable action plans, has signed an
agreement with United Nations Women’s
Empowerment Principles.
   Thiruvananthapuram-based Vydyuthi
Energy Services (VES) has signed the
pact.
   Out of the 170 companies from India
which had signed for United Nations
Women’s Empowerment Principles, 64
are from the private sectors.
Current Affairs, December - 2020
1.4 Eminent Persons
AR Rahman roped in as ‘BAFTA
Breakthrough’ India ambassador
   Oscar and Grammy-winning Indian
composer AR Rahman has been
roped in as ambassador of the BAFTA
Breakthrough initiative in India.
   In 2020, BAFTA will identify and support
up to five exceptional talents working in
film, games or television in India.
   The BAFTA Breakthrough initiative,
is part of the Academy’s year-long
programme to support new talent,
coming up in the film, games and
television industries in the UK, China,
India and the US and gives them access
to unique career development and
mentoring opportunities.
   It is a unique opportunity for promising
artists to be supported by a world-
renowned organisation, including
connections with other talented creatives
across the world and being mentored by
BAFTA-winners and nominees.
HCL Tech Chairperson Roshni Nadar
tops Kotak Wealth-Hurun wealthy
women list 2020
   Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson
of HCL Technologies topped the list of
wealthiest women in India, according
to the second edition of ‘Kotak Wealth
Hurun–Leading Wealthy Women’ report.
   The report is compiled by Kotak Wealth
Management, a division of Kotak
Mahindra Bank, and Hurun India.
   Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon and
Leena Gandhi Tewari of USV are at the
Eminent Persons
second and third rank respectively in the
Kotak Wealth Hurun wealthy women list
2020.
   Shaw is also the wealthiest self-made
woman on the list.
   19 women from this list also feature in the
Hurun India Rich List 2020, and 6 women
have made it to the Hurun Global Rich
List 2020.
Gitanjali Rao 15 year old Indian-
American Scientist & Inventor named
First Ever Times :Kid of the Year”
   Gitanjali Rao, 15-year-old Indian-
American Scientist and Inventor has been
named as the first ever “Kid of the Year”
by TIME Magazine. She was selected
from a field of more than 5000 nominees
for her work “to tackle issues ranging
from contaminated drinking water to
opioid addiction and cyberbullying using
technology”.
Kolkata’s Majerhat Bridge Named
“Jai Hind” to mark Subhas Chandra
Bose’s 125th Birth Anniversary
   West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee named the newly-built Majerhat
bridge in Kolkata as “Jai Hind” bridge to
commemorate the 125th birth anniversary
of Subhas Chandra Bose.
   The 650-metre-long bridge, which has
been built in the place of an old one that
collapsed in September 2018.
   The bridge, on the arterial Diamond
Harbour Road, connects the central part
of the city to the soutwestern suburbs of
Behala and beyond.
11
Eminent Persons Current Affairs, December - 2020

“King of Spice” Dharampala Gulati features in the list, in 2019 ranked 41st in
passed away 2020.
   Dharampala Chunni Lal Gulati, the    India’s leading Business women, kiran

founder and CEO of MDH Masala India;s mazumdar-shaw, Chairman of Biocon

famous spices company, dies at the age Limited also featured in the list at 68th
of 97 due to cardiac arrest. The pioneer of position.
the ready to use ground spices, also called    The list also saw the biggest jump in

as “King of Spice” was awarded India’s ranking to 3rd position by Kamala Harris,
third highest civilian award “Padma Vice President Elect of USA, and Prime
Bhushan” in 2019. Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina
Wajed is ranked at 39.
Ex-PM Gujral remembered on 101st Rank Personality Profession
birth anniversary 41 N i r m a l a Finance Minister of
   The 101st birthday of country’s 12th Sitharaman India
Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral was 68 K i r a n Founder, Chair and
celebrated at IK Gujral Punjab Technical Mazumdar Managing Director,
University (IKGPTU) by holding an Shaw Biocon Ltd.
e-interaction. 1 A n g e l a Chancellor,
Merkel Germany
Father of Fibre Optics Narinder Singh 2 C h r i s t i n e President, European
Kapany passes away Lagarde Central Bank
   Narinder Singh Kapany, also known as 3 K a m a l a Vice President-elect,
the father of fibre optics, passed away. Harris United States
   The India-born American physicist was
4 Ursula von President, European
named as one of the seven “Unsung der Leyen Commission,
Heroes” by Fortune in their ‘Businessmen European Union
of the Century’ issue of November 1999.
5 M e l i n d a Co-Chair, Bill &
   Kapany was the first to transmit images
Gates Melinda Gates
through fibre optics back in 1954 and laid
Foundation
the foundation for high-speed internet
technology. PM Modi was the 7th most Tweeted
about person in the world in 2020
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
features in the 100 Most Powerful    Twitter in its 2020 annual year-end

Women by Forbes review, revealed that Prime Minister

Narendra Modi was the 7th most tweeted-
   Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
about person in the world this year. US
made it to the 100 most powerful women
President Donald Trump, US President-
list announced in the 17th annual Forbers
elect Joe Biden and George Floyd were
power list. This is the second time she

12
Current Affairs, December - 2020
the top three names on Twitter’s 2020 list
of most tweeted people.
   Indian American Vice President-elect
Kamala Harris was the only woman on
the list and stood at the 10th position
globally.
   The findings were a part of Twitter’s
annual review report, recapping the
trends, moments, and memes that
dominated Twitter through the year.
Sonu Sood Tops UK’s ’50 Asian
Celebrities In The World’ list 2020
   Indian actor Sonu Sood has topped the
first-of-its-kind ’50 Asian Celebrities in
The World’ 2020 list, published by UK
based Eastern Eye newspaper.
   The 47-year-old talented Bollywood
star has been honored for his inspiring
philanthropic work throughout the
Covid-19 pandemic, especially helping
migrant workers reach their hometowns.
   Sonu Sood beat global stars, including
from Hollywood, the music industry,
television, literature and social media, to
be named the number one Asian celebrity
on the planet for 2020.
Joe Biden, Kamala Harris named Time
Person of the Year 2020
   US President Joe Biden and Vice
President Kamala Harris have been
named as “Person of the Year” 2020 by
Time magazine. Biden and Harris got
featured in Top 10 most-tweeted-about
people globally, wherein, Biden fetched
the second spot and Harris was on the
tenth position, the only woman on the
list.
Eminent Persons
U A Khader, among finest Malayalam
writers
   Celebrated Malayalam writer U A
Khader, who published more than 70
novels, short stories and travelogues that
are considered among the finest works in
the language, died in Kozhikode. He was
85.
   Khader was known for a progressive
and secular outlook to his life and his
literature.
   His most acclaimed work of fiction,
Thrikkottoor Peruma (Thrikkottoor Lore),
won him the Kerala Sahitya Akademi
Award in 1984.
US Pilot Chuck Yeager, first man to
fly faster than speed of sound, passes
away at 97
   US Air Force officer and test pilot Chuck
Yeager, who in 1947 became the first pilot
in history to have exceeded the speed of
sound in level flight, has passed away.
He was 97.
   (Level flight means flying at a constant
altitude, not going up and down.)
   As a test pilot, on October 14, 1947, Yeager
became the first human to officially break
the sound barrier, when he flew the
experimental Bell X-1 aircraft at Mach 1
(speed of sound) at an altitude of 45,000
ft (13,700 m).
   Throughout his life, he flew more than
360 different types of aircraft and went on
to break several other speed and altitude
records in the following years.
   Yeager had been associated with World
War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War
and his three-war active-duty flying
career spanned more than 30 years.
13
Eminent Persons
Aerospace Scientist Shri Roddam
Narasimha passes away at 87
   Eminent aerospace scientist and
Padma Vibhushan awardee Roddam
Narasimha has passed away due to brain
haemorrhage. He was 87.
   Roddam Narasimha had served at the
prestigious Indian Institute of Science
(IISc), where he taught Aerospace
Engineering from 1962 to 1999. He also
served as the director of the National
Aerospace Laboratories from 1984 to
1993.
   The central government bestowed the
second-highest civilian award of India,
Padma Vibhushan on him in 2013 for
his contribution in the field of aerospace
engineering.
   Together with the Missile Man of India
and former president Dr A P J Abdul
Kalam, Prof Narasimha had authored a
book –“Developments In Fluid Mechanics
and Space Technology”.
Indian Navy’s Senior most
Submariner, Vice Admiral Srikant
passed away
   Indian Navy’s Senior Most Submariner
and the current director general of project
Seabird, Vice Admiral Srikant passed
away after suffering from COVID-19
infection.
   Vice Admiral Srikant is the current
Director general of Indian government’s
largest infrastructure project “Project
Seabird”.
14
Current Affairs, December - 2020
Centre to dedicate a Museum on
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in
Kolkata on 125th birth anniversary
   The Government of India has proposed
to set up a museum dedicated to Netaji
Subhash Chandra Bose, in Kolkata, as a
tribute on his 125th birth anniversary
celebrations on 23rd January 2021.
   The government has also decided to
expand the current museum of Netaji at
Red Fort in New Delhi.
   Apart from this, Centre is also considering
to reprint some of the books written by
Subhash Chandra Bose, and even start
fellowships for students.
Veteran Journalist and first official
RSS Spokesperson MG Vaidya passes
away at 97
   Senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS) ideologue MG Vaidya has passed
away after a brief illness. He was 97.
   Vaidya was a veteran journalist, a Sanskrit
scholar and the first official spokesperson
of the RSS.
   The RSS is the ideological mentor of the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
   Vaidya became a member of the RSS in
1943.
Arya Rajendran, 21, chosen
country’s youngest Mayor from
Thiruvananthapuram
   Twenty-one-year-old Arya Rajendran of
the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
is likely to create history as the country’s
youngest mayor, having been elected
as mayor of the Thiruvananthapuram
Corporation.
Current Affairs, December - 2020
   The state committee is likely to accept the
district committee’s recommendation and
make a formal announcement. In Kerala,   
50% of local body seats are reserved for
women. Civic bodies are headed by
women on alternative terms.
Dance historian Sunil Kothari passes
away
   Padma Shri dance historian and critic
Sunil Kothari passed away Sunday
morning at a Delhi hospital after he
suffered a cardiac arrest a month after
testing positive for coronavirus. He was
87.
   Born on December 20, 1933, in Mumbai,
Kothari qualified as a Chartered
Eminent Persons
Accountant before turning to the study of
Indian dance forms.
Kothari received numerous titles and
awards for his contribution to Indian
dance forms including the Sangeet Natak
Akademi Award (1995); the Gaurav
Puraskar conferred by the Gujarat Sangeet
Natak Akademi (2000); the Padma Shri
bestowed by the Government of India
(2001); and the Life Time Achievement
Award of the Dance Critics Association,
New York, USA (2011). He was also an
elected Fellow of Sangeet Natak Akademi
for his contribution to Indian dance as a
scholar.
15
Sports and Games Current Affairs, December - 2020

1.5 Sports and Games Madagascar replaces Maldives to host

2023 Indian Ocean Island Games
Japan to host 7-team FIFA Club World    The 2023 Indian Ocean Island Games
Cup in 2021 (IOIG), will take place in Madagascar,
instead of Maldives.
   FIFA (Federation Internationale de
   The Indian Ocean Island Games
Football Association) announced that
Federation has changed the host nation
Japan will host the existing Seven-
due to concerns over the COVID-19
Team format of FIFA Club World Cup
pandemic.
in December, 2021. It will be the 18th
   2023 Indian Ocean Island Games will be
Edition of FIFA Club World Cup.
the 11th edition of this multi-sport event
   The year 2021 will witness 2 FIFA Club
for athletes representing the National
World Cup Tournaments – The 2020
Olympic Committees of Indian Ocean
Edition FIFA Club World Cup (17th
island nations.
Edition) will be held in Qatar from
   Maldives had received the hosting right
February 1-11, 2021 and the 2021 Edition
of the event in 2019.
of FIFA Club World Cup will take place
in Japan in December, 2021.
IOC gives Olympic status to
   Originally a redeveloped 24-Team Club
Breakdancing; to debut at Paris in
World Cup was scheduled to take place
2024
in China in 2021, it is now scheduled to
take place at a later date.    The International Olympic Committee
(IOC) has registered ‘Breakdancing’ as
Jehan Daruvala Becomes first Indian the newest entry into Olympics and an
to Win Formula 2 Race official Olympic sport, on December 7,
2020, with the aim to attract a new and
   Jehan Daruvala created history on 6th
younger audience.
December 2020, as he became the first
   Breakdancing will be known as ‘Breaking’
Indian to win a Formula 2 race at the 2020
in Olympics event.
Sakhir Grand Prix.
   This was the final race of the F2 season.
Bajrang Punia, Elavenil Valarivan bag
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju Launches Sportsperson of the Year awards
2nd edition of Fit India Cyclothon    Indian athletes, Bajrang Punia (Freestyle-
Wrestling) and Elavenil Valarivan
   Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju launched
(Shooting), bagged the top honours at the
the second edition of Fit India Cyclothon
virtually held FICCI India Sports Awards
through virtual platform on 7th December
2020 on the back of the 10th Global Sports
2020.
Summit.
   The mega cycling event will run for 25
   The two athletes, who have had an
days, beginning from 7th December till
impressive 2019-20 season, won the
31st December 2020.
16
Current Affairs, December - 2020
Sportsperson of the Year awards in their
respective categories.
   Here is the list of Winner in different
Categories:
Award Personality
Sportsperson of
Elavenil Valarivan
the Year (Female)
Sportsperson of
Bajrang Punia
the Year (Male)
Best State
Promoting Sports Madhya Pradesh
Award
Best Company
Promoting Sports Anil Kumble
(Private Sector)
Odisha to host 2023 FIH Men’s
Hockey World Cup
   The International Hockey Federation
(FIH) had announced that the 2023 FIH
Men’s Hockey World Cup will be hosted
in Odisha, for a second consecutive time.
   The tournament will be held at two
venues, Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. The
Men’s Hockey World Cup 2018 was also
hosted by Odisha.
   The 2023 tournament will be 15th edition
of the Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup.
It will be held at the Kalinga Stadium
in Bhubaneswar and at the Biju Patnaik
Hockey Stadium in Rourkela. FIH Hockey
World Cup is held after every four years.
Doha to host Asian Games 2030
   The capital of Qatar, Doha has won the
hosting rights for the 2030 Asian Games.
   Doha beat Riyadh during the election,
held on 16 December at the general
Sports and Games
assembly of the Olympic Council of Asia
(OCA) in Muscat.
   Saudi Arabia’s capital city Riyadh would
host the 2034 edition of the Asian Games.
   Previously Doha organized the Asian
Games in 2006.
   2030 Asian Games will be the 21st edition
of the multi-sports event, held after every
four years. It is also known as Asiad.
Sports Ministry Formally Recognises
Yogasana as Competitive Sport
   The Sports Ministry formally recognised
yogasana as a competitive sport, which
will enable the ancient practice to avail
government funding.
   Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and Minister
of AYUSH (Ayurveda Yoga and
Naturopathy Unani Sidda Homoeopathy)
Shripad Yesso Naik formally promoted
yogasana as a competitive sport.
   The move was made to encourage yoga,
spread awareness about its benefits and
to help improve peoples physical and
mental wellbeing.
   For competitions, 51 medals have been
proposed in four events and seven
categories in the sport. Events proposed
include traditional yogasana, artistic
yogasana (single and pair), rhythmic
yogasana (pair, free flow/group yogasan),
individual all round-championship and
team championship.
Lucy Bronze and Robert Lewandowski
Bags Best FIFA Players for 2020
   The Best FIFA Football Awards 2020
was announced on 17th December 2020,
during a virtual event held at Zurich.
17
Sports and Games
   The Poland national team captain and
FC Bayern München striker Robert
Lewandowski has been named “The Best
FIFA Men’s Player” for 2020.
   Lewandowski has won the title for the
first time in his career.
   He is also the first men’s winner from a
club outside Spain since Ronaldo won
the 2008 award as a Manchester United
player.
   Lucy Bronze, who plays as a right-back
for the English club Manchester City and
the England national team, bagged “The
Best FIFA Women’s Player” for 2020.
Govt approves inclusion of four
indigenous sports in Khelo India
Youth Games 2021
   The Sports Ministry has approved the
inclusion of four indigenous Games to be
a part of Khelo India Youth Games 2021,
scheduled to take place in Haryana.
   The games include, Gatka, Kalaripayattu,
Thang-Ta and Mallakhamba.
Indian Boxers Bag 9 Medals, Including
3 Gold at Cologne Boxing World Cup
   Indian pugilists have bagged nine medals
including three gold, two silver and four
bronze at the Cologne Boxing World Cup
2020, held in Cologne, Germany between
17 to 19 December 2020.
List of Medal Winners
   Gold: The three gold medals for India
were bagged by Amit Panghal (52kg),
Manisha Moun (57kg) and Simranjit Kaur
(60kg) in their respective categories.
   Silver: Silver medals were claimed by
18
Current Affairs, December - 2020
Sakshi Choudhary (57kg) and Satish
Kumar (91kg).
   Bronze: Sonia Lather (57kg), Pooja
Rani (75kg) Gaurav Solanki (57kg) and
Mohamed Hussamudin (57kg) claimed
the bronze medal in their respective
categories.
   Overall five women and eight men boxers
were registered for the Cologne Boxing
World Cup 2020.
Indian men to finish 2020 in 4th
position, women in 9th in FIH
rankings
   The Indian men and women hockey
teams will finish 2020 in fourth and ninth
positions, respectively, after a major
part of the year was disrupted by the
COVID-19 pandemic.
   The International Hockey Federation
(FIH) confirmed that the Belgium men’s
team and the Netherlands’ women will
finish the year at the top of the world
rankings.
   In the men’s FIH world rankings,
reigning world and European champions
Belgium (2496.88 points) sit at the top
ahead of 2019 FIH Hockey Pro League
winners Australia (2nd place – 2385.70),
Netherlands (3rd place 2257.96) and India
(4th place 2063.78).
   Among women, the Netherlands
(2631.99 points) are at the top followed by
Argentina (2174.61). Germany (2054.28)
occupy the third position, climbing
one place following their FIH Hockey
Pro League results against Belgium in
September.
Current Affairs, December - 2020
Novak Djokovic clinches 2020 ATP
Player of the Year 2020 Award for
record equalling 6th time
   The Association of Tennis Professionals
(ATP) 2020 Awards were announced on
21 December to felicitate the players and
others for their performance during 2019-
20 season.
   Novak Djokovic (Serbia) has been
awarded with the ATP Player of the Year
2020 award, as he finished the year as No.
1 in the ATP Singles Rankings.
   This is the record sixth time for Djokovic
to win the title. This record was till now
achieved only by Pete Sampras, who won
the title continuously from 1993-98.
ICC Men’s ODI and T20I Teams of the
Decade, Kohli leads Test Team
   The International Cricket Council (ICC)
announced the ICC Teams of the Decade
on 27 December 2020, based on the
performances, consistency of players
over the period of last 10 years.
   Former Indian captain and wicket-keeper
batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni has
been named as the captain of the ICC ODI
Team of the Decade. He has also been
named the skipper of the ICC T20I Team
of the Decade.
Sports and Games
Anshu Malik secures silver at
Individual World Cup to win India’s
first medal at the event
   Indian wrestler Anshu Malik has become
the first wrestler of the country to finish
on the podium position at the Individual
Wrestling World Cup in Belgrade, Serbia.
   The 19-year-old won a silver medal in
the women’s 57kg category to claim first
international medal of the tournament for
the country.
   She lost to Moldova’s Anastasia Nichita
5-1 in the final.
FIFA postpones 2021 Under-17 and
Under-20 World Cups till 2023 due to
coronavirus pandemic
   The World football governing body FIFA
has cancelled Under-17 and Under-20
football World Cups for the year 2021,
due to a coronavirus pandemic.
   These World Cups will now be played in
2023.
   Indonesia will host the Under-20s World
Cup and Peru will host the Under-17s
World Cup as scheduled earlier.
19
Books & Authors Current Affairs, December - 2020

1.6 Books & Authors Education Minister presents first copy

of his inspirational book on Maharishi
Arvind to President
‘PM Modi and his Government’s    Union Education Minister Ramesh
Special Relationship with Sikhs’ book Pokhriyal Nishank presented the first
   Housing and Urban Affairs Minister copy of his inspirational book “Pioneer
Hardeep Singh Puri released a Book titled of Humanity: Maharishi Arvind” to
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his President Ram Nath Kovind at the
Government’s Special Relationship with Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Sikhs”. The book was released on the    The book is in Hindi with the title

occasion of Gurupurab. ‘Manavta ke Praneta Maharishi Arvind’.

   Shri Arvind was a person fully devoted
A book titled ‘Future of Regional to Indian culture, Indian values, Indian
Cooperation in Asia and the Pacific’ nationalism and Indian philosophy.
by ADB Through this book, I have wanted to
convey his philosophy and thinking in
   The Asian Development Bank (ADB)
very simple language to the younger
has released a new book titled ‘Future
generation of the country and the world.
of Regional Cooperation in Asia and the
Pacific’.
India’s first woman author writes on
   The book provides insight on how
sales, ‘Romancing Targets’ by Nidhi
stronger regional cooperation strategies,
Vadhera launched worldwide
including in health, trade, finance, and
disaster risk, can help governments in    The book titled ‘Romancing Targets’ by

Asia and the Pacific accelerate economic author Nidhi Vadhera has been released
growth and robust recovery from the recently.
COVID-19 pandemic.    In this book, Author Nidhi Vadhera
shares with you a systematic approach to
40 Years with Abdul Kalam Untold understand the sales process which will
Stories‘ by Dr. A. Sivathanu Pillai empower you to embrace sales targets
and achieve results without getting burnt
   Vice President Venkaiah Naidu recently
in the process.
released a book on from former president
Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
A book titled ‘Dharma’ authored by
   The book titled “40 Years with Abdul
Amish Tripathi
Kalam – Untold Stories” has been written
by scientist Dr. A. Sivathanu Pillai, a    The 2nd non-fiction book by author Amish

former chief of BrahMos Aerospace. Tripathi is titled “Dharma: Decoding the

Epics for a Meaningful Life”.
   The book offers practical, philosophical
lessons drawn from ancient Hindu epics.

20
Current Affairs, December - 2020
It is co-authored by his sister Bhavana
Roy. It is to be published by Westland.
His last non-fiction book ‘Immortals
India’ was launched in 2017.
Om Birla releases book on 19th
anniversary of Parliament attack
   Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has released
a book on the occasion of the 19th
anniversary of the Parliament attack on
13 December.
   He released the book ‘The Shaurya
Unbound’ (English Version) and
‘Samundar Samawe Boond Mein’ (Hindi
Version) was released on the 2001
incident.
   As many as 14 people including the five
terrorists died during the incident.
VP Venkaiah Naidu virtually released
the book ‘Oh Mizoram’
   VP Venkaiah Naidu virtually released the
book ‘Oh Mizoram’, written by Governor
of Mizoram, Shri P S Sreedharan Pillai.
   Pillai is a lawyer, an orator, a prolific
writer, a philanthropist, and a thinker.
He has written 125 books in Malayalam
& English. Oh, Mizoram is his first poetry
collection in English.
PM Narendra Modi releases book on
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
   Prime Minister Narendra Modi
had released a book called ‘Atal
Bihari Vajpayee in Parliament: A
Commemorative Volume’, to mark the
96th birth anniversary of the former prime
minister.
Books & Authors
   The book, published by the Lok Sabha
Secretariat, highlights the life and works
of the former Prime Minister and contains
his notable speeches delivered in the
Parliament. The book also contains some
rare photographs from his public and
professional life.
A new book titled ‘Covid-19: Sabhyata
ka Sankat aur Samadhan’ released
   Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi’s new
book titled ‘Covid-19: Sabhyata ka Sankat
Aur Samadhan’ (Covid-19: Crisis of
Civilisation and Solutions) was launched
by former Chief Justice of India Dipak
Misra and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman
Harivansh Narayan Singh. The Hindi
book, published by Prabhat Prakashan.
New book on Gandhi to be unveiled
by RSS chief on January 1
   Mahatma Gandhi’s 1909 work “Hind
Swaraj” is grounded in ‘dharma’ which
is often but inadequately translated as
religion, says a new book on the father of
the nation scheduled to be launched on
January 1 by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.
   Authors J K Bajaj and M D Srinivas say
their book “Making of a Hindu Patriot:
Background of Gandhiji’s Hind Swaraj”
has evolved out of their earlier effort to
prepare an authentic edition of “Hind
Swaraj” based on Gandhi’s handwritten
manuscript of 1909 in Gujarati and his
English translation of the text published
from Phoenix in 1910.
21
Awards & Honours
Justice Rajindar Sachar   
Autobiography ‘In Pursuit of Justice’
released posthumously
   The autobiography of late Justice Rajindar   
Sachar, titled, “In Pursuit of Justice:
An Autobiography”, was launched
posthumously by Sachar’s family on the
occasion of his birth anniversary on 29
December 2020.   
   The book was launched through virtual
platform, in association with The Indian
Society of International Law and The
Indian Law Institute.   
1.7 Awards & Honours
Chennai Metro Rail gets World Safety   
Organisation award
   Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has
been given the International Award 2020
by the World Safety Organisation (WSO),
US, for its efforts to maintain safety
standards and periodic conduct of safety
  
programmes for the engineers and staff
and ensuring safety of people, property
and the environment.
   CMRL won the award under the WSO
Concerned Company/Corporation
category.
Anita Anand’s ‘The Patient Assassin’,
Maharashtra’s Ranjitsinh Disale
win PEN Hessell-Tiltman history prize
becomes first Indian to win 2020
Global Teacher Prize   
   Ranjitsinh Disale, a government teacher
from Zilla Parishad Primary School, in
Paritewadi village, Solapur district of
Maharashtra, has won the 2020 Global
Teacher Prize.
22
Current Affairs, December - 2020
He is the first Indian to win this award,
which carries a prize money of $1 million
(Rs 7.4 crore).
The 32-year-old has won the annual
Global Teacher Prize 2020 in recognition
of his efforts to promote girls’ education
in his village and trigger a quick-response
(QR) coded textbook revolution in India.
Disale made efforts and added QR codes
to textbooks of primary classes to provide
links to audio poems, video lectures,
stories and assignments.
He also worked towards education for
girls and teaching people about the ill-
effects of teenage marriage and even
helped to achieve 100% attendance of
girls.
Ranjitsinh has also created history by
announcing to share half the prize money
with the nine finalists from across the
world for the award, where each one
will receive about $55,000 each. He also
becomes the first winner to share the
prize money with the finalists.
The Global Teacher Prize is an annual
prize founded by the Varkey Foundation
in 2014 to recognise an exceptional teacher
who has made outstanding contribution
to the profession. The award is given in
partnership with UNESCO.
British Indian Journalist and author
Anita Anand’s book that tells the story
of a young man caught up in the 1919
Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar
has won a prestigious history literary
prize in the UK.
Current Affairs, December - 2020
   True Tale of Masacre, Revenge and the
Raj’ beat six other titles for the PEN
Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History 2020,
awarded annually for a non-fiction book
of specifically historical content.
Indian Council of Agricultural
Research (ICAR) Wins 2020 King
Bhumibol World Soil Day Award of
FAO
   The Indian Council of Agricultural
Research (ICAR), has won the prestigious
International King Bhumibol World Soil
Day Award for 2020, presented annually
by the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) [Headquarter – Rome, Italy].
   The award was conferred to the ICAR
on the occasion of World Soil Day, on
December 5, through video conferencing.
   ICAR has been conferred the award for
its commitment to raising awareness
of the importance of healthy soils at the
World Soil Day celebration in 2019, which
addressed soil erosion under the motto
“Stop soil erosion, save our future”.
UN declares ‘Invest India’ winner of
investment promotion award 2020
   The United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
has declared ‘Invest India’ as winner
of the 2020 United Nations Investment
Promotion Award in a ceremony at its
headquarters in Geneva.
   The Award recognises and celebrates the
outstanding achievements of the world’s
best-practice investment promotion
agencies. The evaluation was based
on UNCTAD’s assessment of work
Awards & Honours
undertaken by 180 national investment
promotion agencies across the world.
Raj Kamal Jha wins Rabindranath
Tagore Literary Prize 2020
   Raj Kamal Jha, the writer and chief editor
of ‘The Indian Express’, has won the
Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2020
for his book, “The City and the Sea”.
   This was the 3rd edition of the
Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize,
which carries a cash prize of $5,000.
   The Rabindranath Tagore Literary
Prize was founded in 2018 by US-based
publisher Bundalo to recognise works
towards world peace, literature, art,
education and human rights.
   The Rabindranath Tagore Literary
Prize for Social Achievement 2020 was
conferred to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos
bin Said Al Said, the late Sultan of Oman
and The People of Oman, and renowned
Indian choreographer Sandip Soparrkar
for his contribution to the betterment of
society through his initiative “Dance for
a Cause”.
Punjab scientist refuses award from
Union minister
   Punjab agriculturalist Dr Varinder Pal
Singh refused to accept an award from the
Centre as a gesture of support to farmers
protesting against the government’s
agricultural laws.
   Singh, the principal soil chemist at
the Punjab Agricultural University in
Ludhiana, was recognised by the Fertiliser
Association of India for his work in the
field of plant nutrition.
23
Awards & Honours
Carolina Araujo awarded 2020   
Ramanujan Prize for Young
Mathematicians
  
   The year 2020 Ramanujan Prize for
Young Mathematicians was awarded
to Dr Carolina Araujo, Mathematician
from the Institute for Pure and Applied
UNESCO
Mathematics (IMPA), Rio de Janeiro,
award on the creative economy
Brazil.
   Her work area focuses on birational   
geometry, which aims to classify and
describe the structure of algebraic
varieties.
   The prize is awarded annually to a   
researcher from a developing country
funded by the Department of Science and
Technology of the Government of India
in association with ICTP (International
Centre for Theoretical Physics), and the
International Mathematical Union (IMU)
was given for her outstanding work in
algebraic geometry.
UNEP announces 2020 Champions of
   Dr. Araujo, who is Vice President of the
the Earth Award
Committee for Women in Mathematics
at the International Mathematical   
Union, is the first non-Indian women
mathematician to receive this prize and
will be a role model for all women around
the world.   
Ashraf Patel Wins Social Entrepreneur
of the Year (SEOY) Award – India
2020
   Ashraf Patel, the founder member and
Board member of Pravah and ComMutiny
  
– The Youth Collective (CYC) has been
declared as the winner of the Social
Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOY) Award
– India 2020.
24
Current Affairs, December - 2020
It is the 11th edition of the annual award,
instituted by the Schwab Foundation and
Jubilant Bhartia Foundation in 2010.
The award was presented by the Union
Minister of Women & Child Development
& Textiles, SmritiZubinIrani.
launches Bangabandhu
UNESCO has launched an international
award named after Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman following Bangladesh’s
proposal.
The UN agency’s executive board
unanimously adopted the proposal on
UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International
Prize for the “Creative Economy” in its
210th session. This is the first time a UN
agency launched an award named after
Bangabandhu.
The UN Environment Program (UNEP)
is presenting the Champions of the Earth
Award since 2005, to inspire and motivate
more people to act for nature.
The award recognizes outstanding
environmental leaders from the public
and private sectors, and from civil society
for their pioneering initiatives aimed at
healing the planet amid natural and man-
made threats and whose action have had
a positive impact on the environment.
The Champions of the Earth Award
is presented in 5 categories, including
Lifetime Achievement, Inspiration and
Current Affairs, December - 2020
Action, Policy Leadership, Entrepreneur
Vision, Science and Innovation.
   The 2020 Champions of the Earth Award
has been bestowed upon 6 individuals.
The list of winners is given below.
1. Policy Leadership – Frank
Bainimarama, the Prime Minister of
Fiji
2. Inspiration and Action – Yacouba
Sawadogo, a farmer from Burkina
Faso
3. Inspiration and Action – Nemonte
Nenquimo, an Ecuadorian female
green campaigner
4. Science and Innovation – Fabian
Leendertz, a German scientist
5. Entrepreneur Vision – Mindy Lubber,
an American social entrepreneur
6. Lifetime Achievement Award –
Robert D. Bullard, an American
scholar.
Paul Sein Twa of Myanmar wins 2020
Goldman Environmental Prize for
Asia region
   The 31st edition of the prestigious
Goldman Environmental Prize was
announced , which honors one grassroot
environmental activist from each of the
world’s six geographic regions: Africa,
Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations,
North America, and South and Central
America.
   The Goldman Environmental Prize is given
annually by the Goldman Environmental
Foundation headquartered in San
Francisco, California.
   The award is dubbed as the “Green Nobel
Prize.
Awards & Honours
Meghdoot awards
   Department of Posts conducted Meghdoot
Award Function 2020 on December 15,
2020 in the Conference Hall of MeitY,
Electronics Niketan, CGO Complex, New
Delhi.
   The Meghdoot award is given every
year for excellence in postal service. The
meghdoot award 2019-20 was given.
Category Name & Designation of
official (Sh./Smt./Ms.)
I M D Srinivasan, PA, Chennai
City Division & Marketing
coordinator, Regional Office,
Chennai City Region, Tamil
Nadu Circle.
Award to director Parthiban for ‘otha
seruppu ‘ on behalf of the Puducherry
Government
   Popular actor and director Parthiban’s
‘Ottha Seruppu’ has been selected as the
best film for Puducherry state awards
and will receive the Sankardas Swamy
Award on December 15.
Golden Peacock Environment
Management Award 2020
   Steel Authority of India Limited
(SAIL) has been awarded with the
prestigious Golden Peacock Environment
Management Award for the year 2020
in the Steel Sector by the Institute of
Directors.
   Shri Anil Kumar Chaudhary, Chairman,
SAIL lauded the efforts of SAIL collective
and said, “SAIL has been the winner
of this award for successive two years
25
Awards & Honours
and this bears testimony to the efforts
made by the Company for sustainable
and environmentally responsible steel
making.
UNEP’s 2020 Young Champions of
the Earth Award
   The United Nations Environment
Programme recently named seven
dynamic Environmentalists as its Young
Champions of the Earth.
   Nzambi Matee of Kenya. He is a material
engineer and is receiving the award
for producing low-cost construction
materials from recycled plastic waste and
sand.
   Xiaoyuan Ren of China. He leads MyH20
organization that tests and records
quality of groundwater in rural China. He
is awarded with the prize for developing
an application that will educate the
communities in rural areas about the
sources of clean water.
   Vidyut Mohan of India. He is the co-
founder of Takachar. He has built
affordable and portable biomass
upgrading equipment. It allows farmers
to prevent open burning by converting
crop to fuels, activated carbon and
fertilizers.
PM Modi Confers ‘ASSOCHAM
Enterprise of the Century Award’ to
Shri Ratan Tata
   Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi
addressed the ‘ASSOCHAM Foundation
Week 2020’ via video conferencing on 19th
December 2020.
   The week long Associated Chambers
of Commerce of India (ASSOCHAM)
26
Current Affairs, December - 2020
Foundation Week was organised from 15
to 19 December 2020.
   The theme of the programme was
‘India’s resilience: Atmanirbhar roadmap
towards $5 trillion economy.’
   As a part of the celebration, PM Modi also
presented the ‘ASSOCHAM Enterprise
of the Century Award’ to Shri Ratan
Tata, on behalf of the TATA Group, for
his distinguished contributions to the
country.
   In the last 100 years, ASSOCHAM and
the entire Tata group has worked very
hard to strengthen India’s economy and
help the common Indian.
   It must be noted that Mr. Tata will also
be honored with the ‘Global Visionary of
Sustainable Business and Peace’ award by
the Indo-Israel Chambers of Commerce
on December 21.
Amar Singh College Srinagar bags
2020-UNESCO Asia-Pacific award
   Amar Singh College Srinagar has bagged
a prestigious award of merit in the 2020
United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Asia-Pacific awards for cultural heritage
conservation.
   The Indian National Trust for Art and
Cultural Heritage (INTACH) chapter in
the union territory has been administering
the conservation work at the 80-year-old
building.
   Seven conservation projects have been
awarded by an international panel of jury
members, which reviewed 48 nominees
from nine countries in the Asia-Pacific
region.
Current Affairs, December - 2020
Lewis Hamilton wins BBC Sports
Personality of the Year 2020 award
   Formula 1 world champion Lewis
Hamilton has won the BBC Sports
Personality of the Year 2020.
   This is the second time that the 35-year-
old Hamilton has been crowned Sports
Personality of the Year. Prior to this he
won the award in 2014.
Donald Trump Honours PM Modi With
Top US Honour ‘Legion Of Merit’
   US President Donald Trump has
presented America’s highest military
decoration, ‘The Legion of Merit’, to
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
   The prestigious Legion of Merit was
given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi
for his leadership in elevating strategic
partnership of the two countries.
   The award was accepted by India’s
Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh
Sandhu on behalf of the prime minister
from the US National Security Advisor
Robert O’Brien at the White House on 21
December 2020.
NTPC wins the prestigious CII-ITC
Sustainability Awards
   Country’s largest power producer NTPC
ltd has been conferred “Excellence” in
the prestigious CII-ITC Sustainability
Awards 2020 in Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) Domain.
   Also, it has been honoured in the Corporate
Excellence Category, Commendation for
Significant Achievement.
   This is the highest award conferred by
CII-ITC in CSR domain. NTPC is the only
Awards & Honours
PSU to receive the award in the Corporate
Excellence category.
   NTPC wins the prestigious CII-ITC
Sustainability Awards in Corporate
category second time in a row i.e. in the
year 2019 and 2020.
Veeramani Raju selected for
Harivarasanam award
   Well known singerM R Veeramani
Raju has been selected for the
Kerala government’’s prestigious
Harivarasanam award for 2021.
   Raju, who has sung thousands of
devotional songs in Tamil, Malayalam
and Telugu, has been selected for his
contributions towards propagation of
secularism, equanimity and universal
brotherhood through music.
   The award, consisting of a cash prize
of Rs one lakh, citation and plaque,
will be presented at a function on the
Makaravilakkuday at Sabarimala.
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay-NIF book
prize announced
   The winners of the Kamaladevi
Chattopadhyay New India Foundation
Book Prize 2020 for the best non-fiction
book on contemporary/ modern India
were announced.
   The Prize was given jointly to Amit Ahuja
for his Mobilizing the Marginalized:
Ethnic Parties without Ethnic Movements
(Oxford University Press) and to former
Union minister Jairam Ramesh for his A
Chequered Brilliance: The Many Lives
of VK Krishna Menon (Penguin Random
House), a biography of politician and
diplomat VK Krishna Menon.
27
Awards & Honours
   The award carries a citation and a cash
prize of Rs 15 lakh, that will be shared by
the two authors.
”Lukoskin” developer Hemant Kumar
Pandey gets DRDO”s ”Scientist of the
Year” award
   Senior scientist Hemant Kumar Pandey
has been honoured with DRDO’s ‘Scientist
of the Year Award’ for his contribution
in developing several herbal medicines,
including the popular drug Lukoskin
meant for treatment of leucoderma.
   The prestigious award that comprises a
certificate and cash prize of Rs 2 lakh.
   A recipient of several prestigious awards
for his contribution in the field of herbal
medicine, Pandey has been undertaking
research at the Defence Research and
Development Organisation”s (DRDO) lab
Defence Institute of Bio-Energy Research
(DIBER) at Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand
for the past 25 years.
Digital India Award 2020
   President Ram Nath Kovind virtually
conferred the Digital India Award 2020 to
digital warriors who helped in reducing
digital divide, and improvised services
with technological advancement.
   The NIC, under the Ministry of
Electronics and IT, has been conducting
the biennial Digital India Awards to
promote innovation in eGovernance and
digital transformation of government
service delivery mechanism.
   The Digital India Awards (DIA) was
instituted under the aegis of the National
Portal of India to serve the purpose of
bringing to the fore innovative digital
solutions and thereby inspiring emulation
by all government entities.
28
Current Affairs, December - 2020
K. Veeramani honoured with Dr.
Narendra Dabholkar Memorial Award
   The Dr Narendra Dabholkar Memorial
Award for this year has been conferred
upon Dravidar Kazhagam president K.
Veeramani. The award was instituted in
the memory of the Maharashtra-based
rationalist Dabholkar.
   The U.S.-based Maharashtra Foundation
had instituted the award in his memory, a
release issued by the Dravidar Kazhagam.
   The award includes `1 lakh and a citation.
Mr Veeramani has dedicated his whole
life to propagate rationalism and served
for the cause of social justice in society.
Eminent Engineer Award for the Year
2020
   Shri V.K. Yadav, Chairman & CEO,
Railway Board, Ministry of Railways
has been conferred with the prestigious
“Eminent Engineer Award for the Year
2020’ by the Institution of Engineering
and Technology (IET) for his outstanding
contribution towards modernization and
reforms over Indian Railways.
   Every year Institution of Engineering
and Technology, Delhi Local Network
celebrates Engineers’ Day on the 15th
September to commemorate the birth
anniversary of Bharat Ratna Sir M
Visvesvaraya. On this occasion, besides
technical activities the Institution also
presents Eminent Engineer’s Award to
distinguished Engineering personalities
for their outstanding services in the field
of Engineering and technology.
Current Affairs, December - 2020
1.8 Cultural Panorama
Ninth edition of International Sand
Art Festival & Konark Festival 2020
begins in Odisha
   The 9th edition of the International Sand
Art Festival and the 31st edition of the
Konark Festival, has kicked-off in Odisha.
The five days event has been organised
from 01 December 2020 till 05 December
2020.
   International Sand Art Festival is being
held at the Chandrabhaga Beach of
Konark in Puri district of Odisha.
   About 70 artists from across the country
are taking part in the festival.
   The world-renowned sand artist and
Padmashree Awardee, Sudarsan
Pattnaik, has been appointed as Chief
Curator of the festival.
Gwalior, Orchha in UNESCO world
heritage cities list
   The historical fort cities of Gwalior and
Orchha in Madhya Pradesh have been
included in the list of UNESCO’s world
heritage cities under its urban landscape
city programme, according to the state
government.
   The United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),
an agency of the United Nations, aims
at promoting world peace and security
through international cooperation in
education, the sciences, and culture.
   Gwalior was established in 9th century
and ruled by Gurjar Pratihar Rajvansh,
Tomar, Baghel Kachvaho and Scindias.
India and its Neighbours
1.9 India and its Neighbours
New DRDO lab-created for focused
research along India’s border with
Pakistan, China
   The government has created a new DRDO
lab for conducting focused research on
terrain and avalanches along India’s
borders with China and Pakistan. The
lab has been created by merging together
two existing DRDO laboratories.
   The new laboratory has been named
Defence Geo Informatics Research
Establishment. The two labs merged
by the government include the Manali-
based Snow and Avalanche Studies
Establishment and Delhi-based Defence
Terrain Research Establishment.
   The merger is the first step in the large-
scale reforms to be taken up in the DRDO
by its Chief Dr G Satheesh Reddy in order
to make the organisation leaner and more
result-oriented.
Pak Kashmir Inks Pact with China for
700 MW Power Project
   The Government in Pakistan-controlled
Kashmir (PaK) has singed agreements
with a Chinese company and a local
renewable energy firm for the construction
of 700 MW hydropower project at an
estimated cost of USD 1.35 billion in the
region as part of the ambitions China-
Pakistan Economic Corridor.
   China Gezhouba Group and its local
partner Laraib Group Pakistan are
the shareholders of the ‘Azad Pattan
Hydropower Project’, which is located on
Jhelum river in Sadhanoti district of PaK.
29
India and its Neighbours
35th edition
CORPATs
of India-Indonesia
   The 35th edition of India-Indonesia
Coordinated Patrol (IND-INDO
CORPAT) between the Indian Navy and
the Indonesian Navy is being conducted
from 17 to 18 December 2020.
   The 35th IND – INDO CORPAT will
contribute towards the Indian Navy’s
efforts to consolidate inter-operability
and forge strong bonds of friendship
across the Indo Pacific.
   Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kulish, an
indigenously built missile corvette along
with P8I Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA)
will undertake coordinated patrol with
Indonesian Naval Ship KRI Cut Nyak
Dien, a Kapitan Pattimura (Parchim
I) class corvette and an MPA of the
Indonesian Navy.
1.10 Latest Terminology
‘Pandemic’ chosen as the top word of
2020 by Merriam-Webster dictionary
   ‘Pandemic’ has been chosen as the top
word of 2020 by Merriam-Webster
dictionary. Pandemic is a combination
of pan, for all, and demos, for people or
population with roots in Latin and Greek.
30
Current Affairs, December - 2020
1.11 Appointments – Who is
who?
Kuldeep Handoo appointed as “Fit
India” movement ambassador
   Srinagar born Wushu coach and the
first Dronacharya Awardee from the
Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir,
Kuldeep Handoo is appointed as the
Ambassador of Fit India movement.
   He won 11 gold medals in National and 6
in International stage, is the Wushu coach
of Team India.
   Under his guidance Athletes have
won two gold medals at the world
championship and one at the World Cup.
He also serves as Inspector of police in
Jammu and Kashmir.
Indian-origin Anil Soni appointed as
first CEO of WHO Foundation
   Indian-origin Anil Soni has been
appointed as the first Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) of the WHO Foundation.
   He will take his position from 1 January
2021. He was head of Global Infectious
Diseases at Viatris. Viatris is a global
healthcare company.
   He has served as Senior Advisor, HIV
at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and
CEO at Clinton Health Access Initiative.
   He has also worked in different roles
for Global Fund to fight AIDS, Malaria
and Tuberculosis and for Friends of the
Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis
and Malaria.
Current Affairs, December - 2020
WHO Foundation:
   It is independent grant-making
organization with headquarters in
Geneva.
   It was started in May 2020. Professor
Thomas Zeltner is its founder, He is also
chairman of its Board.
Biden names Bharat Ramamurti as
National Economic Council member
   US President-elect Joe Biden named
Indian American Bharat Ramamurti
as the deputy director of the National
Economic Council, which is the White
House advisory agency to the President
on domestic and global economic
policymaking.
   Joelle Gamble, who is in the Biden-Harris
Transition’s domestic economic policy
team, and David Kamin, Professor of
Law at New York University School of
Law, are the two other members of the
Economic Council.
Appointments – Who is who?
Union health minister Harsh Vardhan
nominated to board of vaccine
alliance GAVI
   Union minister for health and family
welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan was
nominated by the Global Alliance for
Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) as a
board member.
   Dr Harsh Vardhan will be representing
the South East Area Regional Office
(SEARO)/Western Pacific Regional
Office (WPRO) constituency on the GAVI
Board. The seat is currently held by Mr
MyintHtwe of Myanmar. Dr Harsh
Vardhan will be representing India from
1st January 2021 until 31st December 2023.
   GAVI is an international organisation that
was created in the year 2000 to improve
access to new and underused vaccines for
numerous vaccine-preventable diseases
for children who live in the world’s
poorest countries.
31
Govt – Welfare oriented...
POLITICAL
2. SCIENCE
2.1 Govt – Welfare oriented
Govt schemes, their
utility
Five-star village postal scheme
launched in Uttarakhand
   The Union Minister of State for
Communication Sanjay Dhotre launched
five star village postal scheme to ensure
the universal coverage of flagship postal
schemes in Dehradun for rural areas of
Uttarakhand.
Union Cabinet approves Atmanirbhar
Bharat Rojgar Yojana
   The Union Cabinet on December 9,
2020 gave its nod to the Atmanirbhar
Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY) to boost
employment and incentivise creation of
new employment opportunities during
the COVID-19 recovery phase under
Atmanirbhar Bharat Package 3.0.
   The Cabinet has given its nod to
expenditure worth Rs 1,584 crore for the
current fiscal year and Rs 22,810 crores
for the scheme’s entire duration from
2020 to 2023.
   Under the Yojana, the subsidy will be
provided for two years in respect of new
employees engaged on or after October 1,
2020 and up to June 30, 2021.
32
Current Affairs, December - 2020
UP govt to launch ‘Kisan Kalyan Mission’
to double the income of farmers
   Uttar Pradesh government will launch
a special program to double the income
of farmers. The program named as Kisan
Kalyan Mission will cover all assembly
constituencies of the state.
   Under the Kisan Kalyan mission various
programs will be organised across the
state. Exhibitions of agriculture and
Associate sectors will be organised which
will include the products of MSME sector
units and livelihood missions.
   Farmers will be given benefit under
the various schemes of agriculture
department during these events.
PM Modi to launch ‘SEHAT’, Health
Insurance Scheme for J&K
   Prime Minister Narendra Modi will
launch ‘SEHAT’ – Health Insurance
Scheme for the entire Union Territory of
Jammu and Kashmir on 26th December.
   This scheme will cover the remaining One
crore population which was not covered
under Ayushman Bharat Scheme. Under
Ayushman Bharat PM Jan Arogya Yojana
(PMJAY), eligible beneficiaries were
covered under Health Cover of Rs 5 Lakh.
   Under PMJAY scheme, 30 lakh people are
being covered in J&K. With the launch of
‘SEHAT’ Scheme by the Prime Minister
on December 26, J&K will be among the
first in the country to achieve Universal
Health Coverage.
Current Affairs, December - 2020
3. GEOGRAPHY
3.1 Policy on Environment and Ecology
Cyclone Burevi
   A depression formed over southeast
Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into a
cyclonic storm in the next 36 hours, the
India Meteorological Department has
announced. When the cyclone forms, it
would be called cyclone Burevi, a name
given by the Maldives.
Indonesian Volcano Erupts
   A volcano in Indonesia’s East Nusa
Tenggara province erupted, spewing
ash and smoke as high as four kilometers
into the sky and forcing more than 2,700
residents to seek refuge.
   The eruption from the Mt. Ile Lewotolok
volcano, about 2,600 kilometers east of
Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta.
Suryadhar Lake in Dehradun
   Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra
Singh Rawat inaugurated the Suryadhar
lake at Doiwala in Dehradun on 29
November 2020.
   The Suryadhar lake is located at the
trijunction of Haridwar, Rishikesh and
Dehradun, and has been built at a cost of
Rs 50.25 crore.
   It is 550 metres long, 28 metres wide and
10 metres deep with a capacity of 77,000
cubic metres.
Policy on Environment and Ecology
Green Charcoal Hackathon
   Shri R.K.Singh, the Union Minister of
State (I/C) for Power and New & RE,
was speaking with a vision to create a
conducive environment by reducing
carbon emissions and nurture technology
solutions in India. NVVN (NTPC
VidyutVyapar Nigam), a wholly-owned
subsidiary company of NTPC Ltd, today
launched the Green Charcoal Hackathon.
Assam Proposed to set up its 6th
National Park
   The Assam government has proposed
to establish its 6th National park, the
“Raimona National Park’ in the Ripu
Reserved Forest of the state which was
severely damaged due to militancy.
   The proposal to upgrade an area of 422
square kilometre notified Ripu Reserve
Forest under Manas National Park and
Tiger Reserve into Raimona National
Park has been submitted to Jagadish
Mukhi, the governor of Assam.
Bihar migratory bird festival
   Bihar is planning its first ever migratory
bird festival this year. This is a three-day
festival to be organised in Bhagalpur
District.
   It is to be jointly organised by Bhagalpur
forest division, Bombay Natural History
33
Policy on Environment and Ecology
Society and the local Mandar Nature
Club. The region houses a large number
of migratory birds between November
and March every year. The festival is
intended to check cases of poaching in
the region.
Mt Everest declared 86 cm taller by
Nepal and China
   The world’s highest mountain peak
‘Mount Everest’ has become taller by
0.86m, as per a survey conducted jointly
by Nepal and China.
   The Government of Nepal and China
jointly conducted an exercise to measure
the world’s highest peak.
   The new height of Mt Everest, has
been calculated at 8,848.86 metres,
which is 0.86m more than the previous
measurement done by India in 1954.
   In 1955, the height of Mount Everest was
measured at 8848 m (29,028 feet) by the
Survey of India.
   In Tibetan language, Mount Everest is
known as Mount Qomolangma while
in Nepalese language it is famous as
Sagar-Matha.
Climate Change Performance Index
(CCPI) 2021
   India is ranked at 10th place in the
‘Climate Change Performance Index
(CCPI) 2021’, released on 7th December
2020. The overall score of India is 63.98.
   It is for the second time in a row that India
emerged among the top 10 countries with
higher climate performance from among
58 economies.
   India was at 9th spot last year in the
index.
34
Current Affairs, December - 2020
   Like CCPI 2020, the first three places in
2021 ranking also remains unoccupied,
since none of the countries are on the
path compatible with the Paris climate
targets, to implement strategies to limit
global warming below 2 or even 1.5°C.
   Sweden (4th) United Kingdom (5th),
Denmark (6th), Morocco (7th), Norway
(8th), Chile (9th) were among the top 10
rankers in the index.
New species of Pygmy Grasshopper
named “Tettilobus trishula” after
Shiva’s Trishul
   A new species of wide-nosed Pygmy
Grasshopper documented by researchers
in Eravikulam National Park (Idukki,
Kerala) in January, 2018 has been named
“Tettilobus Trishula’ (common name
Shiva’s pygmy trishula) as its protrusion
in pronotum resembles the three-pronged
spear ‘Trishul’ used by Lord Shiva.
   It was discovered by a team of Researchers
led by Dhaneesh Bhaskar, regional Vice-
Chair for Asia, IUCN SSC (International
Union for Conservation of Nature –
Species Survival Commission). The other
members are P S Easa, Sara Stermsek,
Damjan Franjevic and Josip Skejo.
   The discovery has been published in the
Journal Zootaxa.
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar
releases ‘Status of Leopards in India
2018’ report
   The Union environment minister Shri
Prakash Javadekar released a report titled
the ‘Status of Leopard in India 2018’.
   As per the report, the population of
Current Affairs, December - 2020
leopard in India has increased by 60
percent in four years since 2014.
   India now has 12,852 leopards as per
2018 estimate, compared to the previous
estimate of 7910 conducted in 2014.
   The States of Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka,
and Maharashtra recorded the highest
leopard estimates at 3,421, 1,783, and
1,690 respectively.
Ladakh’s Tso Kar wetland complex
42nd Ramsar site
   One more wetland in India has been
added to the list of recognised sites of
international importance under the
treaty of Ramsar Convention, taking the
number of such wetlands in the country
to 42, the highest in South Asia.
Policy on Environment and Ecology
Ecology preservation
   The Ramsar Convention, signed in 1971
in the Iranian city of Ramsar, is one of the
oldest accords for preserving wetlands.
   Wetlands provide a range of important
resources and ecosystem services such as
food, water and fibre.
   The Lonar lake in Maharashtra and Sur
Sarovar, also known as Keetham lake, in
Agra were added to the list of Ramsar
sites. The Tso Kar Basin is a high-altitude
wetland complex, consisting of two
principal waterbodies, Startsapuk Tso,
a freshwater lake of about 438 hectares
to the south, and Tso Kar itself, a hyper-
saline lake of 1,800 hectares to the north,
situated in the Changthang region of
Ladakh.
35
New Economic Policy & Govt. Sector
4. ECONOMICS
4.1 New Economic Policy & Govt. Sector
Ethereum 2.0
   Ethereum is a decentralised and open
source blockchain platform, which is a
growing list of cryptographic blocks.
Ether (ETH) is the cryptocurrency token
of the Ethereum platform.
   It is the world’s second-largest crypto
currency by market capitalization, only
after bitcoin. It is also the world’s most
actively used blockchain.
   Ethereum was first proposed in 2013 by
a Russian- Canadian cryptocurrency
researcher and programmer VitalikButerin.
   The largest cryptocurrency ‘Bitcoin’
works on the principle of Mining,
which in turn requires solving complex
problems leading to large consumption
of electricity.
Chhattisgarh accepts Centre’s
borrowing proposal for GST shortfall
   Chattisgarh has accepted the Centre’s
borrowing proposal and will get Rs 3,109
crore through the special window to meet
the goods and services (GST) revenue
shortfall.
   With this, 27 states and 3 union territories
have accepted the Centre’s borrowing
plan, leaving only Jharkhand which is yet
to decide.
36
Current Affairs, December - 2020
   The government of Chhattisgarh has
communicated its acceptance of option-1
to meet the revenue shortfall arising out
of GST implementation. All states except
Jharkhand and all the 3 union territories
with legislative Assembly have decided
in favour of option-1, announced by a
finance ministry.
Fitch Ratings lowers India’s GDP
contraction at 9.4% for FY21; 11%
for FY22
   Fitch Ratings has revised the GDP growth
rate for India in its Global Economic
Outlook, and now expects the economy
to contract 9.4 percent in the current
financial year 2020-21, as compared to
(-)10.5 percent forecast earlier.
   Fitch has also projected the FY22 GDP
growth at 11 percent and 6.3 percent
growth in FY23.
Nomura Expects India to be fastest
growing Asian economy in 2021 at
9.9%
   The Japanese research and brokerage
house Nomura has projected India to be
the fastest growing Asian economy in
2021.
Current Affairs, December - 2020
   Nomura has estimated the gross domestic
product (GDP) growth of India for the
calendar year 2021 (CY21) at 9.9%.
   For calendar year 2020 (CY20), Nomura
expects GDP growth at-7.1 percent.
   Apart from this, the Nomura expects
GDP at -8.2 percent in FY21, and 11.9
percent in FY22.
RBI to set up centre in Jaipur for
receipt, storage and dispatch of notes
   The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has
decided to set up an Automated Banknote
Processing Centre (ABPC) in Jaipur for
receipt, storage and dispatch of currency
notes.
   The functions of the ABPC will also
include processing of banknotes received
from currency chests (CCs) and bank
branches, and destruction of soiled
banknotes in an automated manner,
said the RBI’s Request for Proposal
(RFP) for engagement of consultant for
comprehensive consultancy services for
establishment of ABPC at Jaipur.
   The volume of banknotes in circulation
has increased three-fold from March 2001
to March 2019, and is expected to rise
further in the years to come.
India and World Bank sign $400
million project to protect India’s poor
and vulnerable from the impact of
COVID-19
   The Government of India and the World
Bank have signed a $400 million project
to protect vulnerable groups in urban
and peri-urban areas across the country
impacted by COVID-19.
New Economic Policy & Govt. Sector
   Under this project World Bank will
support India in its efforts at providing
social assistance to the poor and
vulnerable households, severely
impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
   This is the second such assistance in
the series of two ‘Accelerating India’s
COVID-19 Social Protection Response
Programme’
   Under the first operation, $750 million
was approved by World Bank in May
2020.
Kylie Jenner tops Forbes’ list of
world’s highest-paid celebrities 2020
   American media personality and reality
TV star Kylie Jenner has been crowned
the highest-paid celebrity of 2020 by
Forbes. The top-earning stars in the world
earned a combined of $6.1 billion in 2020
with Kylie Jenner and Kanye West at the
top of the list.
World Bank approves several projects
to support development initiatives in
India
   The World Bank has approved several
projects for India, to support development
initiatives that will strengthen India’s
social protection architecture. These
include:
   Chhattisgarh Inclusive Rural and
Accelerated Agriculture Growth Project
(CHIRAAG);
   Nagaland: Enhancing Classroom
Teaching and Resources Project; and
   Second Dam Improvement and
Rehabilitation Project (DRIP-2).
37
New Economic Policy & Govt. Sector
CHIRAAG project
   Amount sanctioned: USD 100 million
   CHIRAAG aims at promoting nutrition-
supportive agriculture for tribal
households in Chhattisgarh
   It will develop sustainable production
systems that allow tribal households in
remote areas of Chhattisgarh to practice
round-the-year production of diversified
and nutritious food.
   It will be implemented in the southern
tribal-majority region of the state where a
large population is undernourished and
poor.
   The project will benefit over 180,000
households from about 1,000 villages in
eight districts of Chhattisgarh.
DRIP-2
   Financial aid approved: USD 250 million
   DRIP-2 will improve the safety and
performance of existing dams across
various states of India, and strengthen
dam safety by building dam safety
guidelines; bring in global experience;
and introduce newer technologies.
Multiple bad banks needed to solve
NPA problem: CII
   The Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII) has urged the government to
consider setting up “multiple bad banks”
to address the problem of mounting non-
performing assets (NPAs) of state-owned
lenders, which has worsened due to
covid-led disruptions.
   A ‘bad bank’ buys the bad loans of other
lenders and financial institutions to help
clear their balance sheets.
38
Current Affairs, December - 2020
ICICI Bank launches online portal
‘Infinite India’ for foreign firms
expanding in India
   The ICICI Bank has launched an online
platform ‘Infinite India’ to support
foreign companies to establish or expand
business in India.
   The one-stop portal will offer banking
solutions as well as value-added services
such as incorporation of a business
entity, corporate filings, licences and
registrations, HR services, compliances
and taxation among others.
   Through this initiative, ICICI bank
aims to strengthen its position in the
multinational corporations (MNC)
segment.
India to become fifth largest Economy
in 2025
   India, which appears to have been pushed
back to being the world’s sixth biggest
economy in 2020, will again overtake
the UK to become the fifth largest in
2025 and race to the third spot by 2030,
a think tank said on Saturday. India had
overtaken the UK in 2019 to become the
fifth largest economy in the world but has
been relegated to 6th spot in 2020.
   India has been knocked off course
somewhat through the impact of the
pandemic. As a result, after overtaking
the UK in 2019, the UK overtakes India
again in this year’s forecasts and stays
ahead till 2024 before India takes over
again,” the Centre for Economics and
Business Research (CEBR)
   The CEBR forecasts that the Indian
economy will expand by 9 per cent in
2021 and by 7 per cent in 2022.
Current Affairs, December - 2020
5. SCIENCE
5.1 Latest Inventions on Science & Technology
Hayabusa2 Spacecraft of Japan
   The Hayabusa2 spacecraft of Japan is
nearing the earth after a yearlong journey
from asteroid Ryugu. The asteroid is
located at a distance of about 300 million
kilometres from the Earth. The spacecraft
is to reach the earth in Southern Australia
on December 6, 2020 carrying precious
samples from the asteroid .
   The entire operation is being held by
JAXA, Japanese Aerospace exploration
agency. According to the agency the
capsule that is protected by a heat shield
will turn into a fire ball at its 200 kilometre
from the earth surface. The parachute
of the capsule will open at about 10
kilometres.
HAL delivers Biggest Ever Cryogenic
Propellant Tank ‘C32-LH2’ to ISRO
   Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
(HAL) delivered ‘C32-LH2’ Cryogenic
Propellant Tank to the India Space
Research Organisation (ISRO) in
Bengaluru, Karnataka. It is Biggest ever
cryogenic propellant tank fabricated by
HAL.
   C32-LH2 is made of aluminium alloy and
has been designed to improve the payload
capability of GSLV (Geosynchronous
Satellite Launche Vehicle) MK-III
launching vehicle.
Latest Inventions on Science & Technology
Key points:
   The 4-metre diameter tank is of 8-metres
length to load around 5,755 Kg propellant
in the 89 Cubic Metre Volume.
   The welds have been done to meet 100%
quality requirements of radiography, dye
penetrant check and leak-proof.
Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 in UK
   The United Kingdom became the first
country on December 2, 2020, to approve
the widespread use of the Pfizer-
BioNTech vaccine against the pandemic.
   The Medicines and Healthcare Products
Regulatory Agency- MHRA, a British
regulator, approved the vaccine against
the virus and informed that it offers up to
95% of protection against it. The Pfizer-
BioNTech vaccine is safe for the rollout
next week and immunisation can be
started soon for people who are in the
high priority groups.
Chang’e-5 lands on lunar surface
   China’s Chang’e 5 lander has returned
its first panorama from its landing site on
the moon.
   The sample-return mission made a
successful soft landing in the Oceanus
Procellarum (“Ocean of Storms”) region
(Dec. 1) and almost immediately began
its science and imaging tasks.
39
Latest Inventions on Science & Technology
   Chang’e 5 is a historic 23-day quest to
collect lunar samples and return them to
Earth — the first such moon mission since
1976, when the Soviet Union’s Luna 24
probe hauled about 6 ounces (170 grams)
of lunar material home.
Karnataka’s first 11.5 megawatt
power plant run on municipal waste
being set up at Bidadi
   In Karnataka, Chief Minister B S
Yediyurappa laid the foundation stone
for a 11.5 megawatt power plant based
on municipal waste in Bidadi, a town in
Bengaluru.
   It is first of its kind power plant in the
state being set up by the Karnataka
Power Corporation Limited (KPCL)
and will help in converting 600 tonnes
of municipal waste into 11.5 megawatt
energy.
   This power plant will add 80.59 million
units of power to the existing power grid.
   The power plant project is being
constructed at a cost of Rs. 260 crore and
is likely to be operational by 2022.
Union Petroleum Minister launches
India’s first indigenously developed
100 Octane premium petrol
   Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural
Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan
launched India’s first indigenously
developed environment-friendly fuel,
100 Octane premium petrol through
video conferencing on December 1, 2020.
   He described the launch of the fuel as one
step towards facilitating ease of living for
the citizens. The development has helped
40
Current Affairs, December - 2020
India join a select leage of nations having
such super grade fuel.
   The high octane premium grade petrol
will be marketed under the brand XP-100
and it will be made available in 10 cities
across the country including the national
capital in the first phase. The second
phase will see addition of 5 more cities
including Chennaia and Kolkata.
   The Octane ratings are measures of fuel
stability, which help increase engine
efficiency.
Britain becomes first country in world
to approve coronavirus vaccine
   In a historic move, Britain has become the
first country in the world to approve the
Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine.
   The vaccine will be rolled out from next
week onwards. Priority for vaccination
will be given to healthcare workers and
care home residents.
Sputnik V vaccine rushed out to wary
Russians
   Russia began distributing its COVID-19
vaccine, with Moscow as the focal point
for people to participate in the first mass
vaccination against the virus.
   The Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine
will be distributed at 70 clinics around
Moscow, but it has been made available
first to doctors and other medical
workers, teachers and social workers, as
the government has deemed these groups
to be at the highest risk of exposure to the
disease.
Current Affairs, December - 2020
Modern mobile phone for summoned
court employees
   Are the employees involved in the
process of issuing summons to the courts   
Latest Inventions on Science & Technology
regulatory body under the Department
of Space (DoS) to enable private players
undertaking space activities in India.
Pixxel aims to put a constellation of 30

at the state level delivered to the correct earth observation micro-satellites into a
address? Isn’t it Court officials announced sun-synchronous orbit by mid-2023.
a new plan is being implemented to
NASA Astronaut Harvests 20 Radishes
provide them with state-of-the-art GPS-
Aboard International Space Station
enabled mobile phones.
   The Supreme Court has issued guidelines    NASA astronaut grew red lettuce aboard
for the procedure of issuing summons the International Space Station, another
with the help of e-mail. As per the above astronaut has now harvested radish
guidelines, modern mobile phones are in microgravity. As a part of a plant
being provided to those involved in the experiment called Plant Habitat-02 (PH-
summons process in the district courts. 02), astronaut Kate Rubins created history
This will enable the court office to by harvesting 20 radish plants in the ISS
monitor whether the summons has gone Advanced Plant Habitat. All the plants
to the right person. have now been placed in cold storage to
be returned to earth along with the space
‘Pixxel’ to launch remote-sensing mission in 2021.
satellite on ISRO rocket in early 2021    The harvest marks the first time that

   The Bengaluru-based space-technology NASA has grown radishes on the orbiting

start-up Pixxel, has signed a pact with laboratory. Stating reasons behind
the Indian Space Research Organisation selecting radishes for the experiment,
(ISRO) to launch its first remote-sensing the American space agency stressed that
satellite on Isro’s workhorse Polar the vegetable is “well understood by
Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket in scientists” and reach maturity in mere 27
early 2021. days.
   Earlier, the startup had planned to launch
Pairing CRISPR with a smartphone
this satellite towards the end of 2020 and
camera helps for COVID-19 test finds
on a Russian Soyuz rocket.
   The agreement was signed between
results in 30 minutes
Pixxel with NewSpace India Limited    Researchers in California aim to develop
(NSIL), a Government of India company a new CRISPR-based test for COVID -19
under the Department of Space. that can be read anytime, anywhere by
   This agreement with NSIL is first-of-a- turning a basic smartphone camera into
kind private earth-observation mission a microscope capable of detecting the
and one of the first since the setting up coronavirus’ genetic material.
of IN-SPACe, the authorisation and

41
Latest Inventions on Science & Technology
   The team consists of scientists from the
University of California, San Francisco,
UC Berkeley, and the Gladstone Institutes
including a collaboration with Jennifer
Doudna, president of the Innovative
Genomics Institute, and winner of the
2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for co-
discovering CRISPR-Cas genome editing,
the technology that underpins the test.
   The new test uses a Cas13 protein tagged
with a molecule that glows once it’s cut,
as part of the genetic-snipping that occurs
when it matches up with a specific piece
of RNA. When more of the virus’ genome
is present, more cuts occur—creating
a brighter glow that can be picked up
by a smartphone camera used with a
darkened box.
SpaceX launches 2nd Dragon capsule
to space station
   SpaceX launched a newer and bigger
version of its Dragon supply ship to the
International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX
now, for the first time, has two capsules
in orbit at the same time.
   SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasted off with
the latest Dragon from Nasa’s Kennedy
Space Center. The first-stage booster -
making its fourth flight - landed on an
ocean platform several minutes after the
liftoff. It was first used in May this year
for the first astronaut launch by Elon
Musk’s company.
   The shipment, weighing 2,900 kg,
includes billions of microbes and crushed
asteroid samples for a biomining study,
a new medical device to provide rapid
blood test results for astronauts in space,
42
Current Affairs, December - 2020
and a privately owned and operated
chamber to move experiments as big as
refrigerators outside the orbiting lab.
   This is SpaceX’s 21st station supply
run for Nasa since 2012. The flight was
delayed a day by rough weather in the
booster-recovery area offshore. This was
the 68th successful booster landing by
SpaceX.
China becomes second nation to plant
flag on the Moon
   China has become the second country in
the world to unfurl its national flag on the
moon surface.
   Earlier this feat was achieved only by the
USA when it planted its flag on the Moon
during the Apollo mission in 1969.
   China achieved the historic feat when
‘Chang’e 5‘ probe of China, which was
launched to collect soil and rock samples
of the lunar surface, took off from the
moon to return to earth after planting the
national flag on 3rd December 2020.
LiDAR Technique
   The Indian Railways is to use LiDAR
technique to conduct ground survey
for the Delhi Varanasi High Speed Rail
corridor. LiDAR is Light Detection and
Ranging technique.
   The Indian Railways is to use the LiDAR
technique mounted on a helicopter. This
is being done after its success in the
Mumbai Ahmedabad bullet train project
for the first time.
   The technique uses a combination of GPS
data, laser data, flight parameters to give
an accurate survey.
Current Affairs, December - 2020
LiDAR
   It is a remote sensing method that
uses light in the form of pulsed laser to
measure available distances in the earth.
The light pulses in the system generate
three-dimensional information about
the shape of the earth and its surface
characteristics. A LiDAR instrument
consists of a scanner, laser and a GPS
receiver. Helicopters and aeroplanes are
the most commonly used platforms to
acquire LiDAR data.
IIT-Guwahati Researchers Develop
Technology To Harvest Water From
Air
   Researchers at Indian Institute of
Technology, Guwahati claimed to have
developed a new technology to harvest
water from the air by using the concept of
hydrophobicity.
   Such water-harvesting techniques use
the concept of hydrophobicity or water-
repelling nature of some materials.
The concept of hydrophobicity can be
understood by looking at the lotus leaf
   The research team from IIT-Guwahati has
used the concept of chemically patterned
SLIPS for the first time, to effectively
harvest water from moist air.
Novel species of Muraingrasses
spotted in Western Ghats of Goa
   A new species of Indian Muraingrasses,
known for their ecological and economic
importance, has been spotted by scientists
in the Western Ghats of Goa, one of the
four global biodiversity hotspots of India.
   The species has adapted to survive harsh
conditions, low nutrient availability, and
Latest Inventions on Science & Technology
blossoms every monsoon. Globally, 85
species are known from Ischaemum, of
which 61 species are exclusively found in
India.
   The team discovered a novel species
named Ischaemumjanarthanamii from
plateaus of Western Ghats of Goa, and
a research paper describing this species
was published recently in Annales
BotaniciFennici, a Finland based journal.
Skylotech partners with BSNL to
bring satellite-based IoT network
   Global machine connectivity solutions
company Skylotech India has partnered
with BSNL to launch a satellite-based
narrowband IoT network in India.
   This solution, developed by Skylo, will
connect with BSNL’s satellite ground
infrastructure and provide pan-India
coverage, including Indian seas.
   This new ‘Made in India’ Solution, which
is indigenously developed by Skylo, will
connect with BSNLs satellite- ground
infrastructure and provide PAN-India
coverage, including Indian seas. The
coverage will be so vast that it will not
leave any dark patch within the boundary
of India, from Kashmir & Ladakh to
Kanyakumari, and from Gujarat to the
North East, including the Indian seas.
ISRO to launch communication
satellite CMS-01 on Dec 1
   The Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO) will launch communication
satellite CMS-01 aboard Polar Satellite
Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C50) on December
17, 2020.
43
Latest Inventions on Science & Technology
   This will be the 52nd mission of PSLV
and it will be launched from the second
launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space
Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
The launch is tentatively scheduled to
take place at 3:41 pm on December 17,
2020 subject to weather conditions.
   The communication satellite aims to
provide services in the Extended-C
Band of the frequency spectrum, which
includes the Indian mainland, Andaman
& Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. The
satellite will be the 42nd Communication
Satellite of India.
Indian-American among 18
astronauts selected for NASA’s
Artemis Moon programme
   Indian-American, Raja Jon Vurputoor
Chari is among the 18 astronauts who
have been selected by NASA for its
Artemis moon-landing programme.
   NASA announced the names of the 18
astronauts, half of whom are women, on
December 9, 2020.
   The 43-year-old is the only Indian-
American in the list. He is a graduate of
the US Air Force Academy, MIT, and US
Naval Test Pilot School. He was selected
by NASA to join the 2017 Astronaut
Candidate Class
   The astronauts on the Artemis Team
have been chosen from a diverse range of
backgrounds, expertise and experience.
While the oldest is 55 years old, the
youngest is 32 years old.
Local mRNA vaccine gets nod for
human trials
   The drug regulator has allowed human
trials of the first local mRNA Covid
44
Current Affairs, December - 2020
caccine candidate and the preliminary
results are likely by March. It assumes
significance as Covid-19 vaccines based
on this platform, such as those by Pfizer-
BioNtech and Moderna, are expected to
have better effsicacy but currently appear
out of bounds for India.
   The Subject Expert Committee (SEC)
under the Central Drugs Standard
Control Organisation (CDSCO) that
met recommended grant of conditional
approval for phases ½ human clinical
trial of the vaccine candidate. The
recommendations of the panel were
later approved by the Drugs Controller
General of India (DCGI).
Land to start a business: New facility
to search the internet
   A separate internet facility has been set
up at Chipkot Shop to easily find land for
starting a business in Tamil Nadu.
   The facility, which has been set up for the
first time in India, was inaugurated by
Chief Minister Edappadi K.Palanisamy.
ISRO sets up dedicated control
centre ‘NETRA’ for Space Situational
Awareness
   The Indian Space Research Organization
(ISRO) has set up a dedicated Space
Situational Awareness (SSA) Control
Centre, at its ISTRAC campus at Peenya,
Bangalore.
   The ISRO SSA Control Centre ‘NETRA’
was formally inaugurated by ISRO
Chairman K Sivan on December 14.
Current Affairs, December - 2020
What is Space Situational Awareness
(SSA)?
   SSA is the science of tracking objects
(man-made and natural) that are in orbit
and also predicting what they would be
at a given point in time.
   Only the US, Russia and Europe have
similar facility in place to track space
objects and share collision warnings.
What is NETRA?
   The “NEtwork for space object Tracking
and Analysis (NETRA)” will monitor,
track and protect India’s space assets. It
will function as a hub of all SSA activities
within India.
   It has been set up as a ‘Directorate of Space
Situational Awareness and Management
(DSSAM)’ aiming to protect high valued
space assets from space debris close
approaches and collisions.
   The state-of-the-art facility, dedicated to
SSA activities, will also help to coordinate
between Indian agencies, their foreign
counterparts and international bodies.
   The main elements of NETRA would be a
radar, an optical telescope facility, and a
control centre.
ISRO To Launch Communication
Satellite CMS-01
   The Indian Space Research Organisation
will launch communication satellite
CMS-01 on board the launch vehicle
PSLV-C50. A 25-hour countdown for the
launch began.
   The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or
PSLV’s 52nd mission is scheduled for
lift-off at from the second launch pad at
the spaceport of Sriharikota ‘subject to
weather conditions.
Latest Inventions on Science & Technology
   CMS-01 is the 42nd communication
satellite of the space agency and it is
envisaged for providing services in
Extended-C Band of the frequency
spectrum covering India, Andaman and
Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands.
NASA selects Raja Chari as commander
of SpaceX Crew-3 mission
   NASA and the European Space Agency
(ESA) have selected Indian-American Raja
Chari to be the Commander of the SpaceX
Crew-3 mission to the International Space
Station. Presently Raja Chari is a colonel
in the US Air Force.
   He will be the commander of SpaceX
Crew-3 mission, while Nasa’s Tom
Marshburn will be pilot and ESA’s
Matthias Maurer will serve as a mission
specialist. This mission is expected to be
launched next year.
   When Chari, Marshburn, and Maurer
arrive at the orbiting laboratory, they will
become expedition crew members for
the duration of their six-month stay. The
crew will have a slight overlap with the
Crew-2 astronauts, who are expected to
launch in the spring of 2021.
Russia successfully test-launches
Angara-5 space rocket
   Russia successfully test-launched its
heavy lift Angara A5 space rocket for
the second time, from the Plesetsk
cosmodrome in northwest Russia.
   First test-launched in 2014, it is being
developed to replace the Proton M as
Russia’s heavy lift rocket, capable of
carrying payloads bigger than 20 tonnes
into orbit. A launch pad for the new
rocket is due to open in 2021.
45
Latest Inventions on Science & Technology
Jupiter and Saturn “Merge” In Rare
Celestial Event After Nearly 400 Years
   Space enthusiasts had the opportunity   
to watch a rare celestial event evening-
as the Jupiter and the Saturn appeared
to merge and looked-like a single bright
star, in what is called a conjunction.
   The ‘Christmas Star’, or the ‘Star
of Bethlehem’, is believed to be the
Sat designed by Thanjai student
conjunction of the two gas giants and it
awaits NASA launch
was first viewed in 1623. Astronomers
have long debated the existence of such a   
star but it is theorized that in the year 7 BC,
Jupiter and Saturn had three conjunctions
in the same constellation, which could
explain what the star actually was.
   Apart from being the first time in nearly
400 years the planetary giants have been
this close to one another, this is also the
first time in 800 years that the alignment
will occur at night.
   The rare spectacle coincided with winter   
solstice, the shortest day of the year. For
those able to observe the alignment in
clear skies, the two frozen-gas spheres
appeared closer and more vibrant -
almost as a single point of light - than at
any time in 800 years.
ISRO to open Regional Academic
Centre for Space at IIT BHU
   The Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO) will establish a Regional   
Academic Centre for Space at IIT (BHU)
to facilitate short and long term projects
at the institute.
   ISRO and the Indian Institute of
Technology (BHU) signed a memorandum
of understanding (MoU) and the move
46
Current Affairs, December - 2020
can help propel the culture of research
and development among students.
Short-term projects for B-Tech and
M-Tech students from the institute and
associate institutes will also be included
in this sequence. “Long term R&D
projects leading to the PhD programme
will also be offered.
S Riyasdeen from Karanthai in
Thanjavur, who is pursuing second-year
Mechatronics at Sastra University, had
participated a global competition Cubes
in Space, organised by idoodle Eduinc for
the students in the age group between 11
and 18 to design and propose experiments
to launch into space on a NASA sounding
rocket and zero-pressure scientific
balloon.
The satellites are fabricated with
polyetherimide thermoplastic resins
using the additive manufacturing
technology of 3D printing. V1 is made of
polyetherimide Ultem 9085 and is infused
with 11 sensors that would record as
many as 11 parameters and this satellite
is expected to be launched in NASA
Sounding Rocket under SR 7 mission
from Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, the
USA in June 2021.
While the V2 satellite that is made of
polyetherimide Ultemltem 1010 and
is infused with 11 sensors that would
record as many as 17 parameters. And
this satellite is expected to be launched
in NASA Zero pressure Research Balloon
under RB 6 mission during August 2021,
Current Affairs, December - 2020
said Riyasdeen who has been involved in
this research work since his school final
year.
China Launches Remote Sensing
Satellite ‘Yoagan-33’
   China has successfully launched a new
remote sensing satellite into space from
the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in
northwest China.
   The satellite, Yaogan-33, was launched
aboard a Long March-4C rocket and
entered the planned orbit successfully. It
was the 357th flight mission of the Long
March carrier rocket series, the report
said.
   The mission also sent a micro and nano
technology experiment satellite into
orbit. The two satellites will be used for
scientific experiments, land resources
survey, crop yield estimation and disaster
prevention and reduction.
Skyroot Aerospace becomes first
Indian company to successfully test
fire solid-fueled rocket engine
   Indian Space startup, Skyroot Aerospace
has successfully test fired a solid
propulsion rocket engine, named Kalam-5
   With this, it has become the first private
company of India to successfully design,
develop and test a full solid-fueled rocket
stage.
   This crucial propulsion technology will
be used for their maiden rocket Vikram-1,
which is under active manufacturing and
is targeted to be launched in December
2021 with the help of ISRO.
   Kalam is a series of five solid-fueled
Latest Inventions on Science & Technology
rocket engines with a thrust ranging from
5kN to 1000kN (approx 100Tons).
   The remaining four motors are in various
stages of manufacturing and will be
tested in 2021.
Harsh Vardhan launches India’s
first indigenously developed
pneumococcal vaccine ‘Pneumosil’
   Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan
launched the country’s first pneumococcal
conjugate vaccine ‘Pneumosil’ developed
by Serum Institute of India in collaboration
with partners like the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation.
   The Serum Institute of India Private
Limited (SIIPL) as the world’s largest
manufacturer of vaccines by number
of doses and its contribution to India’s
economy, Vardhan remarked that
its vaccines are used in 170 countries
and every third child in the world is
immunised with the manufacturer’s
shots.
US plans to set up a Nuclear Reactor
on Moon
   USA’s plan to set up the first nuclear
reactor on the moon by the end of 2026. In
early 2021, the US Department of Energy
in collaboration with NASA intends to
solicit industry design proposals. It also
got an impetus with a recent White House
directive.
   The outgoing President Donald Trump,
issued the “National Strategy for Space
Nuclear Power and Propulsion” on 16
December.
   Under it, he asked Nasa to “initiate fission
surface power project for lunar surface
47
Mass Media & Communication
demonstration by 2027 with scalability
to a power range of 40 kilowatt-electric
and higher to support a sustained lunar
presence and exploration of Mars”.
   The objective of NASA behind this was
to establish a flight hardware system that
is ready for integrating with the lunar
lander by 2026 end. The nuclear reactor
is known as the fission power system that
will benefit future robotic and human
expedition missions to the moon as well
as Mars.
DRDO facility develops Quantum
Random Number Generator
   The Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) has achieved
another milestone in quantum technology
by successfully developing a Quantum
Random Number Generator (QRNG).
   The DRDO Young Scientist Laboratory
for Quantum Technologies (DYSL-QT),
a DRDO facility based in Mumbai, has
developed a QRNG which has the ability
to detect random quantum events and
convert those into a stream of binary
digits.
   The facility has developed a fiber-optic
branch path based QRNG.
48
Current Affairs, December - 2020
5.2 Mass Media &
Communication
India Post Payments Bank unveils
new digital payment app ‘DakPay’
   The India Post Payments Bank (IPPB)
along with Department of Posts (DoP)
launched a digital payment application
called ‘DakPay’ on 15 December 2020,
in an effort to provide Digital Financial
inclusion at the last mile across India.
   The app ‘DakPay’ will facilitate the
customers of the DoP and IPPB in easy
digital transactions and other banking
and postal services.
   The app was launched by Union Minister
for Communications, Electronics &
Information Technology and Law &
Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik launched
‘Pareshram’ Portal
   Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik
through a video conference, launched
‘Pareshram’ Portal along with 22 online
services of Labour and Employees State
Insurance Department.
   The Portal and the Online Services shall be
helpful in “Ease of Doing Business” and
contribute significantly to the industrial
development of the State.
   The Portal will provide 52 types of services
in the coming days. This technology
is the foundation of 5-T initiative and
this will help in transformation, hoped
that information regarding different
Labour Laws will be available and
Current Affairs, December - 2020
industries, commercial organisations,
small entrepreneurs and public will be
benefited through this Portal.
Karnataka unveils “FRUITS” portal
for farmers
   Karnataka government has unveiled
the Farmer Registration and Unified
beneficiary Information System (FRUITS),
an e-governance portal, to create a
repository of farmland information and
farm loan details on a single platform.
   All farmers will be registered and given
an identification number on the portal.
The FRUITS Portal is integrated into
the BHOOMI Package of the Karnataka
State for fetching and validating the land
details.
   One other important facility of this Portal
is online creation of charge by which
visit of farmers to Sub-Registrar Office is
avoided. Canara Bank has agreed to run
FRUITS on a pilot basis.
Mass Media & Communication
‘Digital Ocean’ developed by INCOIS
   The Union Minister of Earth Sciences,
Science & Technology, Dr.Harsh
Vardhan virtually inaugurated the web-
based application “Digital Ocean” on 29
December 2020.
   Digital Ocean is a first of its kind digital
platform for Ocean Data Management. It
can be accessed at www.do.incois.gov.in.
   It has been developed by Hyderabad-
based Indian National Centre for Ocean
Information Services (INCOIS) an
autonomous organization under M/o
Earth sciences.
   Digital Ocean is a step towards Prime
Minister’s vision of Digital India,
to transform India into a digitally
empowered society and knowledge
economy.

Punjab Govt launches mobile app and

web portal ‘PR Insight’
   Punjab Chief Minister Captain,
Amarinder Singh has launched Mobile
Application and web portal called ‘PR
Insight’, to improve the delivery of
citizen-centric services, based upon the
feedback of its citizens on government
policies.
   The basic objective of PR Insight is
to re-orient the existing schemes and
programmes of the state government
to the people’s satisfaction after
meticulously monitoring their feedback.

49
National – Diary of Event
6. NATIONAL –
DIARY OF EVENT
Piyush Goyal inaugurates newly
electrified Dhigawara-Bandikui
section of North Western Railway
   The Union Minister of Railways Shri
Piyush Goyal inaugurated newly
electrified Dhigawara-Bandikui section
of North Western Railway (NWR) in the
state of Rajasthan on 29 November 2020.
   The Minister also flagged off first train on
this newly electrified route.
   The Dhigawara-Bandikui section is on
Delhi-Ajmer route via Jaipur.
   The Railways has set the target to electrify
the entire percentage of railway lines
across the country in phased manner.
‘Duare Sarkar’: Outreach Programme
of West Bengal begins
   Benefits of at least 11 state government-
run schemes will be made available to
eligible people at camps to be set up for
‘Duare Sarkar’ (government at doorsteps)
programme starting. The flagship
schemes include the globally acclaimed
‘Kanyashree’ (a cash transfer scheme
aimed at retaining girls in schools and
preventing their early marriage), besides
‘Khadya Sathi’( for ensuring that almost
90 per cent of the population comes
under food security), ‘Sikshashree’ (one
time grant given to SC and ST students
50
Current Affairs, December - 2020
from class 5 to class 8 to go to schools).
   Other government schemes like
‘Rupashree (one-time financial grant
of Rs 25,000 for economically stressed
families at the time of their daughter’s
marriage), ‘Jai Johar’ (for the betterment
of ST people), ‘Taposili Bondhu’ (pension
scheme for SC people), ‘Akhyashree’
(a scheme that provides scholarships
to students of minority communities in
the state) and MGNREGS will also be
included.
India to build multipurpose reservoir
in Arunachal against China’s
hydropower project on Brahmaputra
   Amid concerns over China building
a major hydropower project on the
Brahmaputra river in Tibet, India too
plans to construct a multipurpose
reservoir in Arunachal Pradesh to offset
its impact.
   T S Mehra, Commissioner (Brahmaputra
and Barak), in the Jal Shakti ministry said
the multi-purpose 10,000 MW hydropower
project is under consideration. “This
project will help offset the impact of the
hydropower project by China.
   According to a study, published in the
journal Nature Communications, the
long-term baseline conditions of the river,
Current Affairs, December - 2020
which flows under a variety of names
through Tibet, India and Bangladesh.
Rajasthan CM inaugurates India’s
first “Organ donor Memorial”
   On the occasion of 11th National Organ
Donation Day celebration in Jaipur,
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot inaugurated
virtually the first of its kind “Organ
Donor Memorial” in the country.
Key points:
   The organ donor memorial has been
built near SMS Hospital by the Mohan
Foundation Jaipur Citizens Forum and
the Jaipur Municipal Corporation.
   The memorial is inspired by the famous
Jantar Mantar of Jaipur and it was
designed by Sameer Wheaton.
First-ever Virtual Aadi Mahotsav with
focus on Madhya Pradesh
   The Union Minister for Tribal Affairs,
Shri Arjun Munda, launched the first-
ever virtual edition of Aadi Mahotsav –
Madhya Pradesh on 01 December 2020.
   The 10-day long festival, will begin from
December 1, 2020.
   It is being hosted on the Tribes India
website – www.tribesindia.com.
   The main focus of the first virtual Aadi
Mahotsav is on the tribal craft and culture
of Madhya Pradesh.
   The next focus state of the programme
would be Gujarat (from 11th December
2020), followed by West Bengal from the
21st December, 2020.
National – Diary of Event
Centre constitutes AIPA committee
headed by Environment Secretary
   The Central Government has set up an
Apex Committee for the Implementation
of the Paris Agreement (AIPA) for
achieving its goals under the global deal.
   The 17-member committee comprised of
members from 13 key ministries of the
Union Government.
   The Union Ministry of Environment,
Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC)
secretary R P Gupta will be the head
of this committee and the additional
secretary, MoEFCC, Ravi Shankar Prasad
will be the vice-chairperson.
   The Environment ministry has enlisted as
many as 16 functions for the APIA.
World’s Oldest Nanostructures Found
in 6th century BC Pottery rom Keeladi,
Tamil Nadu
   Scientists have discovered the oldest
known human-made nano-materials in
the ‘Unique black coatings” of ancient
pottery shards dated to 600 BC that were
unearthed from an archeological site in
Keeladi, Tamil Nadu. The research was
published in the Journal Scientific Reports
and the findings have been documented
in a paper published in “Nature”.
   In accordance with the research these
coatings are made of carbon manotubes
(CNTs) which have enabled the layer to
last more than2600 years.
   It should be noted that this discovery
has succeeded the old known carbon
manostructure that was found in the
Damascus blades from the 16th – 18th
century. Notably the technique used in
the Damacusblades was also made in
India.
51
National – Diary of Event
Nongpok Sekmai in Manipur Adjudged
as India’s Top Police Station for 2020
   The Ministry of Home Affairs,
Government of India releases the list of
best performing Police Stations across the
country every year, to incentivize more
effective functioning of police stations
and bring healthy competition among
them.
Top 5 Police Stations for 2020
State District Police Station
Manipur Thoubal N o n g p o k
Sekmai
Tamil Nadu Salem City A W P S -
Suramangalam
A r u n a c h a l Changlang Kharsang
Pradesh
Chhattisgarh Surajpur J h i l m i l i
(Bhaiya Thana)
Goa South Goa Sanguem
   The top 10 Police Stations were selected
from among the 16,671 Police Stations in
the country through data analysis, direct
observation and public feedback.
Maharashtra Government approves
proposal to rename all residential
colonies with caste-based names
   Maharashtra cabinet on December 2, 2020
approved a proposal seeking to rename
all residential colonies having names
based on caste.
   With this, all residential colonies with
names such as Brahman-wada, Mahar-
wada, Dhor-vasti, Bouddh-wada, Mali-
galli and Mang-wada will be given new
names such as Samata Nagar, Bhim
52
Current Affairs, December - 2020
Nagar, Jyotinagar, Shahunagar and
Kranti Nagar.
   Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Aslam
Sheikh said that these caste-based
colonies were established during the
British rule to divide people and it has
been now decided to rename them after
people who undertook social service for
the country.
Parkash Singh Badal
   Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and
five-time former chief minister Parkash
Singh Badal returned the Padma
Vibhushan award in protest against
the “betrayal of the farmers by the
government of India and the shocking
indifference and contempt with which
it is treating the ongoing peaceful and
democratic agitation” of the farmers
against the three farm Acts.
Ministry of AYUSH to develop Nisarg
Gram campus at Pune as the 21st
Century abode of Naturopathy
   Invoking recollections of Mahatma
Gandhi’s famous Nature Cure campaign
of 1946 at the “Nisarg Upchar” Ashram
in Uruli Kanchan village near Pune,
the upcoming new campus of National
Institute of Naturopathy (NIN), Pune
will be called “Nisarg Gram”. Located
at a distance of 15 Km from NIN’s
present premises at Bapu Bhavan, the
new Institution will be future-ready,
with many novelties and innovations
incorporated in the project per se and the
curriculum of the Naturopathy courses.
Current Affairs, December - 2020
Upgrading the Indian Languages
Institute in Mysore as a University
Central Government   
   The Central Institute of Indian Languages
(CIIL) was established in 1969 in Mysore
to study Indian languages.
   The Hindi and English language
development institutes of the Central
7th WASH Conclave
Government were upgraded to Central
Universities. Attempts are also being   
made to transform CIIL into a Central
University. It will be renamed as
Bharathiya Pasha Vishwa Vidyalaya
(BPV) after its conversion to Central
University. It is planned to combine
languages with classical status into   
its departments. Although Telugu,
Malayalam, Kannada and Oriya have   
the status of classical languages , they do
not have a separate research institute like
Tamil.   
   For Tamil, the Central Institute of Classical
Tamil Studies is set up in Chennai. After
13 years, the permanent director was
hired just a few months ago. In this case,
if Tamil is merged with other languages,
the Central Institute of Classical Tamil
Studies is also likely to merge with BPV.
India to surpass 350 mn 5G   
connections by 2026
   In India, 5G subscriptions will surpass
350 million, accounting for 27 per cent of
all mobile subscriptions in 2026, Swedish
Renamed Kerala’s Rajiv Gandhi
gear maker Ericsson said in a report titled
Centre for Biotechnology after late
“Ericsson Mobility Report.”
RSS ideologue Golwalkar
   The projections come on the heels of
another Fitch Ratings report that said   
that 5G spectrum auction India could be
National – Diary of Event
delayed if the government focused on a
4G auction next year.
Globally, more than 1 billion people will
have access to 5G coverage by the end of
2020. The report projects that four out of
every ten mobile subscriptions in 2026
will be 5G.
The 7th WASH (Water, Sanitation and
Hygiene) Conclave was organised in
virtual mode from 2 to 4 December 2020
by organised by the UNICEF and the
National Institute of Rural Development
and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR).
The theme of the conclave was “Hygiene
Matters”.
Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan
Harichandan was the Chief Guest at the
event.
The event had participants from Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana to
discuss key issues with particular focus
on hygiene and create an opportunity
for strengthening collaborations and
partnerships among institutions
including government dealing with
WASH and related programs across three
states and districts
The Government of India has set the
target to provide access to and use of
safe and adequate drinking water to all
households within premises by 2024.
The Modi government has decided to
rename the second campus of Rajiv
53
National – Diary of Event
Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB)
in Kerala after late RSS ideologue M S
Golwalkar.
Government will set up an AYUSH
Export Promotion Council
   The Ministry of AYSUSH and the
Ministry of Commerce & Industry will
set up an Export Promotion Council for
increasing AYUSH export.
   Both Ministry will work together for
standardization, pricing and quality
of AYUSH products in order to boost
AYUSH exports.
   This decision was taken in a joint review
meeting of AYUSH trade and Industry.
Two new Zoos in Bihar and Uttar
Pradesh granted recognition by
Central government
   At the 37th General Body meeting of
Central Zoo Authority chaired by Union
Minister for Environment, Forest and
Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar
two new zoos the Rajgir Zoo Safari in
Nalanda, Bihar and Shaheed Ashfaque
Ullah Khan Prani Udyaan in Gorakhpur,
Uttar Pradesh were granted recognition.
Kanhargaon becomes 50th wildlife
sanctuary of Maharashtra
   Kanhalgaon, spread over 270sqkm in
Chandrapur district, is the latest to be
declared a wildlife sanctuary. It will be the
50th wildlife sanctuary of Maharashtra.
   With the addition of the state’s
50th wildlife sanctuary and 10 new
conservation reserves (CR), Maharashtra
has expanded its protected area network
54
Current Affairs, December - 2020
from 62 to 73 zones with over 10,000 sq
km of the state now secured.
Tharu Tribals
   The Uttar Pradesh government has
recently launched a scheme to take the
unique culture of the Tharu tribes all over
the world. The intention of the scheme
is to put these tribal villages on tourism
map. This will create jobs and bring
economic Independence to the tribal
population in the region.
   The State Government of Uttar Pradesh
is planning to connect the villages of the
Tharu tribals located in the International
border of Nepal. It is a Homestay
scheme under which the Uttar Pradesh
Forest Department will offer tourists an
experience of living in the natural habitat
of Tharu tribals. These huts are made of
grass collected from the forest.
PM Modi inaugurates virtual India
Mobile Congress 2020
   Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi
inaugurated and addressed the virtual
edition of the India Mobile Congress
(IMC) 2020 on 8th December 2020 through
video conference.
   The theme for IMC 2020 is “Inclusive
Innovation – Smart, Secure, Sustainable”.
   The three day event will be held from 8th
to 10th December 2020.
   IMC 2020 has been organised by the
Department of Telecommunications,
Government of India, and the Cellular
Operators Association of India (COAI).
   The objective of IMC 2020 is to align
Current Affairs, December - 2020 National – Diary of Event
with the Prime Minister’s vision to and Mumbai, Bhopal and Lucknow
promote ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, would have ceded their spots.
‘Digital Inclusivity’, and ‘Sustainable    Only Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai
development, entrepreneurship & surpass the average score for gender
innovation’ and drive foreign and local index, while Indore, Jaipur and Patna are
investments, encourage R&D in the way below average.
telecom and emerging technology sectors.
Wi-Fi PM-Wani Connectivity
West Bengal cabinet approves    The central government announced
construction of ‘state’s first deep sea three major plans to boost the economy.
port in Tajpur’ Two of them are connected to the digital
   West Bengal Chief Miniter Mamata economy. Among these is a public Wi-Fi
Banerjee announced that the state cabinet network access scheme ‘PM Vani’. The
objective is to extend Wi-Fi network to
has approved the construction of a deep
every village.
sea port in Tajpur.
   Tajpur Deep Sea Port will be built at a
Cabinet approves undersea fibre link
cost of Rs 15,000 crore and will generate
between Lakshadweep islands and
employment for 25,000 people. It will be
Kochi
the state’s first deep seaport.
   The concentration of iron and steel    The Union Cabinet approved an undersea
optical fibre cable link to connect 11
industries around Kharagpur will get a
islands of Lakshadweep with Kochi
boost by having a port at their doorstep
in mainland India at an estimated cost
for exports.
of `1,072 crore, including operational
expenses for five years.
Mumbai offers highest quality of life,
   The Lakshadweep-Kochi project was
Chennai treats its women best: Study announced by Prime Minister Narendra
   IIT-Bombay researchers have come up Modi on Independence Day this year. In
with an urban quality of life index tailored August, Modi inaugurated India’s first
to the reality of life in India. And, for the undersea cable line between Chennai and
first time, they have factored in gender Port Blair, the capital of Andaman and
parity. Chennai, it turns out, is the most Nicobar Islands.
women-friendly and Patna the least.
   Overall, Mumbai tops the list of 14,
Lakshadweep becomes 100% organic
followed closely by Delhi, Kolkata and    Lakshadweep has been declared the first
Chennai. But so important is the gender Union Territory to become 100% organic.
role index that quality of life rankings The region opted for farming that is 100%
of six cities would have changed had it organic and is without the use of synthetic
not been considered — Delhi, Jaipur and fertilizers and pesticides. In 2016, Sikkim
Indore would have been ranked higher, was declared to be the first organic
farming state in India. The certification
55
National – Diary of Event
to Lakshadweep for being 100% organic
was given on the basis of the evidence
submitted by the administration.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari
Inaugurates 1.5 km Koilwar bridge
over Sone river in Bihar
   The Union Minister for Road Transport
and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari
inaugurated the 1.5 km long Koilwar
Bridge over Sone River in Bihar through
Video Conferencing on 10 December
2020.
   The total cost of setting up this three-
lane bridge is estimated at Rs 266 crore.
The bridge is major road for transport
between Bihar and UP.
   This newly inaugurated bridge is a part
of the six-lane bridge being made in place
of existing two-lane bridge, for both rail
and road traffic, which is 138 years old.
   Once this six-lane bridge is fully
operational, the traffic on NH-922 and
NH-30 will ease substantially.
The Second Cancer Genome Atlas
Conference held in Delhi
   The Minister of Science and Technology
has actually held the second TCGA-
Cancer Genome Atlas 2020 conference
in New Delhi. The conference brought
together scientists and clinicians from
all over the world to jointly establish the
Indian Cancer Genome Atlas (ICGA).
   Indian Cancer Genome Atlas (ICGA)
aims to create an indigenous, open-
source and comprehensive database to
collect molecular profiles of all prevalent
cancers in the Indian population.
56
Current Affairs, December - 2020
India drops to 9th spot in global spam
call tally, Gujarat gets max calls:
Truecaller
   Indian mobile users saw a 34% decline in
spam calls received in 2020, helping the
country move lower to the ninth position
in the tally of most spammed countries,
according to a report by Truecaller. Brazil
continues to stay on top position.
   Within India, Gujarat received the most
spam calls in 2020.While India was at the
fifth position in terms of number of spam
calls received by users in 2019.
   Other countries in the top 10 tally are
the US, Hungary, Polen (Poland), Spain,
Indonesia, the UK, Ukraine and Chile.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
addresses International Bharati
Festival 2020 Virtually
   Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi
addressed the International Bharathi
Festival 2020 through video conferencing
on 11th December 2020.
   The festival was organised by Vanavil
Cultural Centre in Chennai to celebrate
the 138th birth anniversary of Mahakavi
Subramanya Bharathi, an eminent writer,
poet and journalist from Tamil Nadu.
   Prime Minister Narendra Modi also
conferred the 2020 Bharathi Award to the
noted writer Seeni Viswanathan, who is
credited with compiling the voluminous
works of Bharathi in chronological order..
   The Bharathi Award is conferred every
year since 1994, to eminent persons who
have done laudable service in any field of
social relevance.
Current Affairs, December - 2020
PM Narendra Modi to address FICCI’s
93rd AGM on Dec 12
   Prime Minister Narendra Modi will
be delivering the inaugural address at
FICCI’s 93rd Annual General Meeting and
annual convention at 11 am on December
12, 2020. This year’s theme of the Annual
Convention is “Inspired India”.
   The event will witness participation
from several ministers, bureaucrats,
diplomats, international experts and
other leading luminaries. It will witness
discussions between various stakeholders
on the implications of COVID-19 on the
economy and the way forward.
CO2 emissions drop globally by 7
percent in 2020: Report
   The global carbon dioxide emissions
reportedly dropped by 7 percent in the
year 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic,
as per a study published in the journal
Earth System Science Data on December
10, 2020.
   The study revealed that the Global Carbon
Project, which is a group of international
scientists who track emissions, had
calculated that the world will have put
37 billion US tons of carbon dioxide in
the air in 2020, which is down from 40.1
billion US tons of CO2 emitted in 2019.
5th India Water Impact Summit
Begins
   The 5th India Water Impact Summit
(IWIS) kicked off on 10th December 2020
virtually. The five day programme will
conclude on 15 December 2020.
   The event was inaugurated by Ratan Lal
National – Diary of Event
Kataria, Minister of State for Jal Shakti
   IWIS 2020 has been organised by the
National Mission for Clean Ganga
(NMCG) and the Centre for Ganga River
Basin Management and Studies (cGanga)
to discuss water-related issues and steps
taken to save the planet’s most precious
resource.
   Objective of IWIS 2020 is Comprehensive
Analysis and Holistic Management of
Rivers and Water Bodies.
AP CM virtually launches ‘Jagananna
JeevaKranthi’ scheme
   Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S.
Jagan Mohan Reddy virtually launched
‘JaganannaJeevaKranthi’ scheme, under
which 2.49 lakh units of sheep and goats
will be distributed to women in a phased
manner at a cost of `1,869 crore.
   The scheme aims at improving the living
standards of women with less investment.
   Under the scheme, women belonging
to the Backward Classes, the Scheduled
Castes (SCs), and the Scheduled Tribes
(STs) in the age group of 45-60 years
would get 2.49 lakh sheep and goat
units. Each unit consists of 15 sheep or
goats (with one ram or billy) in each unit.
The State would facilitate and provide
suggestions, in case the women want to
buy the sheep and goats on their own.
9th Sustainable Mountain
Development Summit held in
Dehradun
   The 9th edition of Sustainable Mountain
Development Summit (SMDS) was
organized in virtual mode, on the
57
National – Diary of Event
occasion of International Mountain Day,
from December 11 to December 14, 2020.
   The four-day-long summit was organised
by Indian Mountain Initiative (IMI) and
hosted by Sustainable Development
Forum Uttaranchal (SDFU), Dehradun.
   The theme for 2020 SMDS was
‘Emerging Pathways for Building a
Resilient Post COVID-19 Mountain
Economy, Adaptation, Innovation and
Acceleration’.
Health Minister releases 5th National
Family Health Survey for 17 states, 5
UTs
   Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan
released the 5th National Family Health
Survey (NFHS) on December 12, 2020. The
survey comprises detailed information
on population, health and nutrition for
India and its states and union territories.
   The Health Ministry stated that it is a
globally important data source and is
comparable to Demographic Health
Surveys (DHS) Programme of 90 other
countries on several key indicators. It can
be used for cross country comparisons
and development indices.
   The present National Family Health
Survey NFHS is being conducted on 6.1
lakh sample households. The first phase
of the survey comprises results of 17
states and five union territories.
   The states and UTs include Assam, Bihar,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tripura,
Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar
Islands, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh,
Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Karnataka,
Goa, Maharashtra, Telangana, West
58
Current Affairs, December - 2020
Bengal, Mizoram, Kerala, Lakshadweep,
Dadra Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu.
Maharashtra govt all set to launch
‘MahaSharad’ platform
   Maharashtra’s Department of Social
Justice is all set to launch an ambitious
scheme for distribution of assistive
devices to lakhs of persons with
disabilities through MahaSharad Digital
Platform to coincide with NCP chief
Sharad Pawar’s 80th birthday. It will be
available on Play Store by March 2021.
   Maharashtra System for Health
and Rehabilitation Assistance” or
MahaSharad platform has been created
to provide various devices to persons
with disabilities free of cost through
the Commissionerate for persons with
Disability.
Malana Cream
   Malana Cream is a type of hash, which
comes from the Malana Valley in Kullu
district of Himachal Pradesh. The Charas
is the resin obtained from a species of the
cannabis plant, which grows in the valley.
   The Narcotics Control Bureau has recently
claimed that it has seized the smuggled
‘Malana Cream’. Charas was banned in
India in 1986 under the Narcotic Drugs
and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.
NITI Aayog releases ‘Vision 2035:
Public Health Surveillance in India’
   NITI Aayog has released a white paper
titled ‘Vision 2035: Public Health
Surveillance in India’ on 14 December
2020.
Current Affairs, December - 2020 National – Diary of Event
   The ‘Vision 2035: Public Health and Per Capita Income, in the 2020 report
Surveillance in India’ is a continuation ‘Planetary pressures’ a new experimental
of the work on Health Systems Index has been introduced.
Strengthening.    ‘Planetary pressures’ – Takes into account
   Public health surveillance (PHS) is an Countries carbon dioxide emissions and
important function, requiring primary, material footprints.
secondary, and tertiary levels of care.    2020 marks the 30th Anniversary of the
   The white paper lays out India’s vision 1st Human Development report.
2035 for public health surveillance
Rankings:
through the integration of the three-tiered
public health system into Ayushman Rank Country Score
Bharat.
131 India 0.645
Guwahati as gateway to Southeast 1 Norway 0.957
Asia 2 Ireland 0.955
   Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda 3 Switzerland 0.955
Sonowal announced that his government 189 Niger 0.394
was working to transform Guwahati as a 188 Central African Republic 0.397
gateway to Southeast Asia PM Modi inaugurates world’s largest,
30,000 MW renewable energy park in
India Slips to 131 in Human Kutch
Development Report 2020
   Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi
   According to the “Human Development laid the foundation stone of the 30,000
Report 2020 – The next frontier: Human megawatt (MW) capacity hybrid
Development and the Anthropocene” renewable energy park in Kutch district
released by the United Nations of Gujarat on 15 December 2020.
Development Programme (UNDP), India    It will be the largest renewable energy
(score of 0.645) was ranked 131 in the park of its kind in the world.
list of 189 countries based on Human    It is expected to play a major role in
Development Index (HDI). Norway fulfilling India’s vision of generating 450
topped the list with a score of 0.957, the GW (4,50,000 mw) of power by 2030.
second place was grabbed by 2 countries
– Ireland (0.955) and Switzerland (0.955). Gujarat enforces land grabbing
The report provides HDI ranks for the prohibition act 2020
year 2019.    A stringent law to curb land-grabbing
   India slipped two spots to 131, it ranked with a provision of up to 14 years in jail
129 in 2019 HDI. and timely resolution of such cases has
   HDI is measured based on 3 criterias come into force in Gujarat , Chief Minister
which are – Life Expectancy, Education Vijay Rupani announced.

59
National – Diary of Event
   The Gujarat Land Grabbing (Prohibition)
Act, 2020, to which state governor gave
assent on October 8, lays down stringent
punishment for land grabbers with an
aim to protect the interests of small
farmers and citizens.
PM Modi & Sheikh Hasina jointly
inaugurates Chilahati-Haldibari rail
link
   The Government of India and
Bangladesh held a virtual summit on 17
December 2020, to hold comprehensive
discussions on the entire spectrum of the
bilateral relationship, including further
strengthening cooperation in the post
COVID-19 era.
   The meeting was led by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh
counterpart Sheikh Hasina.
   During the summit, the two leaders jointly
inaugurated the Chilahati-Haldibari rail
link, which would connect the borders of
the two neighbouring countries.
   The rail route lies between Haldibari in
West Bengal and Chilahati in Bangladesh.
   It is re-opened after a gap of 55 years.
The railway line has been defunct after
rail links between India and then East
Pakistan snapped in 1965.
Union MSME Minister unveils eco-
friendly ‘Vedic Paint’
   The Union Minister of Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprises Nitin Gadkari on
December 17, 2020 unveiled an ‘Vedic
Paint’ to boost the rural economy and
generate additional income for farmers.
   The paint made of cow dung will be
60
Current Affairs, December - 2020
launched soon through the Khadi and
Village Industries Commission.
   The union minister elaborated by saying
that the paint will come in distemper and
emulsion forms and will dry in just four
hours.
   The eco-friendly paint will be washable,
anti-bacterial, non-toxic and anti-fungal.
The paint is expected to lead to an
additional income of Rs 55,000 a year for
livestock farmers.
India ranked 111 on Human Freedom
Index, 2020
   The Human Freedom Index 2020, a
worldwide ranking of civil, economic
and personal freedom, placed India at
the 111th spot out of 162 countries. India
ranked 94 on the index in 2019.
   India is ahead of China and Bangladesh,
which ranked 129 and 139 on the 2020
index respectively. New Zealand,
Switzerland and Hong Kong bagged the
first three spots.
   India’s scored 6.30 out of 10 in personal
freedom and 6.56 in economic freedom.
The country’s overall human freedom
score was 6.43.
   The index was published by American
think tank Cato Institute and Fraser
Institute in Canada. It takes into account
76 indicators of personal, civil, and
economic freedoms to rank 162 countries
from 2008 to 2018. The institutes noted
that the world has seen a notable decline
in personal freedom since 2008.
Current Affairs, December - 2020
World’s tallest rail bridge on Chenab
in J&K likely to be completed by 2021
   Touted as the next man-made wonder,
the world’s tallest rail bridge on the
Chenab in Reasi district of Jammu and
Kashmir Union Territory is expected to
be completed by 2021.
   The 1,315-metre-long bridge between
Bakkal and Kauri villages of Reasi is
coming up at a height of 359 metres.
   The arched structure will connect
Baramulla to Jammu via Udhampur,
Katra and Qazigund with a travel time of
six and a half hours.
Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad
Becomes first zoo in India to get ISO
certification from UK
   The Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad
has received the ISO 9001:2015 Quality
Management Standards Certificate from
Accreditation Service for Certifying
Bodies (ASCB) United Kingdom.
   With this achievement, the Nehru
Zoological Park, Hyderabad has also
become the first zoo in the country to get
this certificate.
   The assessment of the zoo was conducted
in a phased manner by the HYM
International Certifications Pvt Ltd, an
agency accredited by the ASCB.
   The certificate mentioned that it was being
accorded to the zoo for, “Conservation
of wildlife, particularly endangered
species of Deccan through better upkeep,
planned breeding, collaborative research
and capacity building”.
National – Diary of Event
India, France collaborate for skill
development in power sector
   The first Centre for Excellence (CoE) for
skill development in the power sector
at the campus of National Institute of
Solar Energy in India was inaugurated
by the Ministry of Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship, Ministry of National
Education and Youth, Government of the
French Republic, and Schneider Electric.
Mega leather park with Rs 5,850 cr
investment to come up in Kanpur
   Mega leather park to come up in Ramaipur
village of Kanpur with an investment of
Rs 5,850 crores.
   The park, part of the mega leather cluster
project will create 50,000 direct jobs &
indirect employment for 1.5 lakh people.
   Recently, the project has received
approval from the Union Commerce
Ministry. The mega leather cluster project
will attract an investment of about Rs
13,000 crores.
Haritha Keralam: Govt offices in
Kerala to go ‘green’
   All government institutions and public
sector undertakings in Kerala Capital
will go ‘green’ as part of the State’s efforts
to implement ‘Green Protocol’, under
Haritha Keralam Mission which is an
ambitious programme envisaged by the
state government to make the state clean,
protect its water sources and soil.
   The ‘green office’ would strictly follow
the ban on plastic and disposable articles,
removal of unused furniture and e-waste
and installation of waste treatment
61
National – Diary of Event
facilities for the disposal of organic and
inorganic waste and introduction of eco-
friendly utensils. Such offices would also
have features such as organic vegetable
gardens and facilities to conserve water
and electricity.
‘Varasat’ campaign launched in Uttar
Pradesh to curb property & land-
related disputes in rural areas
   The Uttar Pradesh government has
launched a special campaign ‘Varasat’
(natural succession) to curb property &
land-related disputes in rural areas.
   This is a first of its kind campaign in
the state which aims to put an end the
land-related issues in the rural areas and
eradicate the exploitation of the villagers
over succession rights by land mafias,
who generally target disputed properties.
   The two-month-long special drive will
continue till 15th February 2020.
Dr. S. Jaishankar addresses 5th
Annual Global Technology Summit
   The 5th edition of the annual Global
Technology Summit (GTS) was organised
virtually from December 14 to 18, 2020, by
the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA),
Government of India in collaboration
with Carnegie India (CI).
   The theme of the 2020 GTS was “The
Geopolitics of Technology”.
   The speakers from included the External
Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar, and
Dr. K. VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific
Advisor to the Government of India.
62
Current Affairs, December - 2020
Defence minister Rajnath Singh
inaugurates advanced Hypersonic
Wind Tunnel test facility in Hyderabad
   The Union Minister of Defence Shri
Rajnath Singh inaugurated the advanced
Hypersonic Wind Tunnel (HWT) test
facility of the DRDO in Hyderabad on 19
December 2020.
   The state-of-the-art HWT Test facility
has made India as the only third country
in the world, after the US and Russia,
to have such a huge facility in size and
capability.
   The indigenously developed HWT
Test facility is pressure vacuum driven
enclosed free jet facility having nozzle exit
diameter of 1 metre. This will simulate
Mach No 5 to 12 (Mach represents the
multiplication factor to the speed of
sound)”.
Tirupati, Machilipatnam Municipal
Corporations win awards
   The government has committed to take
energy efficiency movement to every
doorstep in the State, Minister for Energy
Balineni Srinivasa Reddy announced that
the State government was promoting
energy efficiency in a mission mode with
an objective to benefit every family in the
State in the form of reducing electricity
bills and other costs and promote
industrial and economic development.
PM Modi’s e-participation at AMU’s
centenary celebrations likely to face
some opposition
   The university is gearing up for December
22 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Current Affairs, December - 2020
will participate as chief guest in the
celebrations via video link.
   This is the first time since 1964 that a
prime minister of India is going to address
AMU. Fifty-six years is a long time, and
except for Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal
Bahadur Shastri, no other prime minister
thought of visiting the university.
   Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the founder
of Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental
(MAO) College, the institution which
became AMU in 1920, is alleged to have
propounded the two-nation theory.
ONGC starts oil and gas production
from West Bengal after 60 years
endeavour
   West Bengal gets included in ONGC’s
oil and gas map with its eighth field at
Ashoknagar in West Bengal starting
commercial production. ONGC first
extracted 20 kilolitres of crude oil from
the Ashoknagar oilfields early November
this year and had sent it to Indian Oil’s
Haldia refinery for processing.
   ONGC so far has invested rS 3,361 crore
for exploration of hydrocarbon in the
Bengal basin to find oil and gas reserves.
Another Rs 425 crore would be spent on
exploration in the Bengal basin spread
over 1.22 lakh km, two-third of which
falls under the Bay of Bengal waters.
Union Government for the first time
lays down Rights to the Electricity
Consumers
   Union Ministry of Power has promulgated
rules laying down the rights of power
consumers in the country.
National – Diary of Event
   These rules shall empower the consumers
of electricity and added that these
Rules emanate from the conviction that
the power systems exist to serve the
consumers and the consumers have
rights to get the reliable services and
quality electricity.
   These rules are also an important step
towards furthering the ease of doing
business across the country.
12th GRIHA Summit of TERI
Concludes
   The 12th GRIHA (Green Rating for
Integrated Habitat Assessment) Summit
was held virtually from December 15-16,
2020. It was inaugurated by Vice President
of India Venkaiah Naidu virtually.
   The theme of the Summit was
“Rejuvenating Resilient Habitats”.
   It is the annual flagship event organized
by GRIHA Council in association with
‘key stakeholders in the construction
industry’ to discuss and deliberate
on furtherance of Sustainable Habitat
Development in India.
   The Summit provides a platform to
deliberate on innovative technologies
and solutions to help in creating robust
mechanisms for developing sustainable
and resilient solutions for the benefit of
the entire community.
GRIHA Council
   It is an independent, not-for-profit
society jointly setup by The Energy
and Resources Institute (TERI) and the
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
(MNRE), Government of India to promote
and administer green buildings in India.
63
National – Diary of Event
   Green Rating for Integrated Habitat
Assessment (GRIHA) is the national
rating system of India for any completed
building construction.
   It has been is recognised as India’s
own green building rating system in
India’s Intended Nationally Determined
Contributions (INDC) submitted to the
United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
UN Women and Kerala govt tie-up for
India’s 1st Gender Data Hub
   The UN Women and Kerala government
have collaborated to establish India’s first
Gender Data Hub. A Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) was signed in this
regard in the presence of Kerala Chief
Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
   Three key areas of co-operation, as
specified in the MoU, will be setting up
the Gender Data Centre at The Gender
Park, launching the second edition of
the International Conference on Gender
Equality, and increasing engagement
on the global normative frameworks on
gender equality and empowerment of
women.
Gujarat Govt to set up Special
Education Region at Dholera
   The Gujarat government signed a pact
with Cerestra Managers Pvt Ltd to set
up the Gujarat-Special Education Region
(G-SER) at the Dholera Special Investment
Region.
   The G-SER will be developed as an
education hub spread over 1,000 acres
that can be expanded up to 5,000 acres to
64
Current Affairs, December - 2020
develop university district, school district
and innovation district.
   It added that this will include residential
and sports complexes for students.
Investment in the G-SER project will
accelerate the state’s economic growth
and create employment opportunities.
MPEDA launches India’s first
aquaframers call centre at Vijayawada
   In a first of its kind initiative, the Marine
Products Export Development Authority
(MPEDA), headquartered in Kochi, has
launched a multilingual call centre for
aquafarmers at Vijayawada in Andhra
Pradesh, which will address their
technical issues and impart knowledge
about efficient farming methods round
the clock.
   The call centre primarily caters to aqua
farmers of Andhra Pradesh, the state that
contributes more than 60 per cent of the
country’s marine products export basket.
   The call centre can also handle calls in
English and Hindi.
Centre allows Andhra Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh to borrow Rs 4,898
crore extra post ULB reforms
   The Centre has permitted two states -
Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh
to borrow additional financial resources
to the tune of Rs 4,898 crore following
reforms in urban local bodies (ULBs).
   The two states have successfully
completed the set of reforms required in
the functioning of ULBs, as specified by
the Department of Expenditure.
   The four citizen centric areas identified for
reforms were -- implementation of One
Current Affairs, December - 2020
Nation One Ration Card system, ease of
doing business reform, urban local body/
utility reforms and power sector reforms.
Vigyanika-IISF 2020
   CSIR-National Institute of Science
Communication and Information
Resources (CSIR-NISCAIR), Ministry
of Earth Sciences (MOES) and Vijnana
Bharati (VIBHA) jointly organised
the inaugural session of Vigyanika-
International Science Literature Festival
on the opening day of IISF 2020 on
the virtual platform to mark the birth
anniversary of Srinivasa Ramanujan.
PM Modi to virtually inaugurate
Kochi-Mangaluru GAIL pipeline
   Mr. Vijayan told reporters in
Thiruvananthapuram that it was a matter
of happiness that the Prime Minister had
agreed to launch the natural gas pipeline
project. Prime Minister consented
to virtually inaugurate the Kochi-
Mangaluru GAIL pipeline on January 5.
   The 444km-long pipeline was launched in
2009 at an estimated cost of `2,915 crore
and was to be commissioned in 2014.
But opposition on safety and commercial
grounds wherein the land price was the
main hurdle, both from political parties
and the public had left the project hanging
fire. This had led to the project cost nearly
doubling to over `5,750 crore.
PM Modi to launch AB-PMJAY SEHAT
scheme for Jammu and Kashmir
   Prime Minister Narendra Modi will
launch the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan
Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)
SEHAT scheme for the residents of
National – Diary of Event
Jammu and Kashmir. The scheme will
benefit as many as 21 lakh eligible people
on the basis of Socio-Economic and Caste
Census (SECC) 2011.
India to host Global Media and Film
Summit in 2021
   The Union Information and Broadcasting
Minister, Prakash Javadekar announced
that India will hold a Global Media and
Film Summit in 2021.
   Javadekar said that the year 2022 will
mark 75 years of independence and 75
years of Cannes Film Festival, and the
occasion will be celebrated in a different
scale with a special pavilion at the
International Film Festival.
India becomes sixth country to
manufacture high power electric
locos indigenously
   The Indian Railways has operationalised
its first 12,000 hp electric locomotive
manufactured locally by French rolling
stock manufacturer Alstom.
   The locomotive made its maiden
commercial run between Deen Dayal
Upadhyaya Station to Shivpur
   India has become the 6th country in
the world to join the club of countries
producing high horsepower locomotives
indigenously with these powerful e-locos
being manufactured within the nation.
India’s largest hockey stadium to be
set up at Rourkela in Odisha
   A new world-class hockey stadium is
being set up in Rourkela city of Odisha, as
announced by the Odisha Chief Minister
Naveen Patnaik.
65
National – Diary of Event
   The stadium will be constructed in the
Biju Patnaik University of Technology
campus, Rourkela.
   Once operational, the Rourkela city
stadium would be the biggest hockey
stadium in India.
   It will have a sitting capacity of 20,000
people, spread over 15 acres of land.
   The stadium will be developed as a
benchmark for other hockey stadiums
around the world.
   It must be noted that Odisha will be
hosting FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup
for a second consecutive time, in 2034, at
two venues, Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.
NITI Aayog Launches Made-in-India
Cloud Storage Service ‘DigiBoxx’
   NITI Aayog has launched indigenously
developed India’s first Digital Asset
Management and Storage platform,
called ‘DigiBoxx’.
   The home-grown DigiBoxx was launched
by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on 22
December.
   The initiative will give a boost to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of
‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, as India now has
its own cloud storage platform.
   This cloud storage and file sharing service
will be available for desktop, iOS, and
Android users, including both regular
users as well as businesses.
   Digiboxx offers free 20GB cloud storage
space, and 100GB space per month at just
Rs 30.
Gautam Gambhir’s ‘Jan Rasoi’ to
serve lunch at Rs 1 in East Delhi
   BJP MP Gautam Gambhir will launch
‘Jan Rasoi’ canteens that will serve lunch
66
Current Affairs, December - 2020
to the needy at Rs 1 in his parliamentary
constituency of East Delhi.
   The cricketer-turned-politician will
inaugurate the first such canteen in
Gandhi Nagar, followed by another in
Ashok Nagar on the Republic Day.
PM Modi to flag off India’s first-ever
driverless train service on 28 Dec
   Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag
off country’s first-ever fully automated
driverless train service on the 37-km
long Magenta Line (Janakpuri West to
Botanical Garden) of Delhi Metro, the
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.
   Along with that, PM Modi will also
launch fully operational National
Common Mobility Card for travel on
Airport Express Line on the same day.
Nine stations identified for Chennai-
Bengaluru- Mysuru high – speed
corridor
   Mysore High-Speed Rail (CBM Bullet
Train) project is a 435 km proposed High
Speed Rail line that will connect Chennai,
Bangalore (Bengaluru) and Mysore
(Mysuru) through 9 stations in Tamil
Nadu and Karnataka at a project cost that
is yet to be finalized.
Himachal CM unveils 18-feet statue
of Vajpayee in Shimla
   Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram
Thakur has unveiled an 18-feet tall statue
of late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee on the occasion of his 96th birth
anniversary at the historic Ridge in the
state capital.
Current Affairs, December - 2020
   The statue has been built at a cost of Rs
1.08 crore. The Ridge Maidan also houses
statues of Mahatma Gandhi and former
prime minister Indira Gandhi.
India’s first Lithium refinery to be set
up in Gujarat
   India’s first Lithium refinery is soon
going to be set up in Gujarat. Manikaran
Power Limited, one of the country’s
largest power trading and renewable
energy company will invest around Rs
1,000 crore to set up this refinery.
   The refinery will process Lithium ore to
produce battery-grade material. Lithium
is a rare element and is usually not found
in India.
   Last year, Manikaran Power had
collaborated with Australian firm
Neometals to tap the Mount Marion
Lithium mine in Western Australia.
‘Swachhata Abhiyan’ app launched to
help rehabilitate manual scavengers
   A mobile application named ”Swachhata
Abhiyan” to identify and geotag
insanitary latrines and manual scavengers
was launched by Union Minister for
Social Justice and Empowerment
Thaawarchand Gehlot.
   This app would help in rehabilitating all
manual scavengers and replace insanitary
latrines with sanitary ones.
   In the absence of any authentic data
base regarding the location of insanitary
latrines, it has been decided to seek the
help of NGOs, Social Organisations
and general public for collection and
compilation of the data.
National – Diary of Event
India’s first tiger reserve hot air balloon
safari launched in Bandhavgarh Tiger
Reserve of Madhya Pradesh
   India’s first ‘Hot Air Balloon Wildlife
Safari’ in a tiger reserve has been launched
in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in
Madhya Pradesh.
   It is the first of its type service in any
tiger reserve of India. The service is being
operated by Jaipur-based Sky Waltz.
   Tourists can watch tigers, leopards,
Indian sloth bear and other wild animals
from a height, and this activity will be
restricted to the buffer area.
Housing & Urban Affairs Ministry
launches ‘E-Sampada’ mobile app
and portal for management of all GoI
Estate services
   The Minister of State(I/C) for Housing
& Urban Affairs Hardeep S Puri has
launched a new web portal and mobile
app, ‘e-Sampada’ on 25 December 2020.
   The website and mobile app has been
introduced by the Directorate of Estates,
under the MoHUA, to boost transparency
and accountability in providing various
Estate Services, while ensuring ease of
living for the citizens.
   The ‘e-Sampada’ has been launched
by integrating four websites (gpra.
nic.in, eawas.nic.in, estates.gov.in,
holidayhomes.nic.in), and two Mobile
Apps (m-Awas & m-Ashoka5) of the
Directorate of Estates, to bring all the
services on the same platform throughout
the country.
   The new application will provide a
single-window for all the services like
allotment, retention, regularisation, no
dues certificate etc.
67
National – Diary of Event
7TH WORLD TAMIL ECONOMIC
CONFERENCE AND VIRTUAL GLOBAL
ECONOMIC SUMMIT 2020
   Virtual Global Economic Summit 2020
& Seventh World Tamils Economic
Conference scheduled to be held between
28th, 29th & 30th December via Zoom
online platform, organized by the World
Tamils Economic Foundation and Madras
Development Society.
   The Conference presents a unique,
dynamic forum to promote dialogue
among Tamils, Indian brothers and
sisters with the International community,
business leaders and professionals
worldwide to create close co-operation and
partnership for economic development.
Eminent speakers around the globe
will be sharing their valuable insights
on various topics including emerging
business opportunities, investment,
global business and legal scenario, world
peace and conflict resolution, etc.,
Andhra CM Jagan launches housing
programme ‘Pedalandariki Illu’
   Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS
Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the
flagship programme of Navaratnalu
‘Pedalandariki Illu,’ (housing for poor)
at Komaragiri layout of Pithapuram
Assembly constituency in East Godavari
district.
   The scheme is expected to provide low-
cost housing for an estimated 30.6 lakh
people in Andhra Pradesh.
   Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy
hoped the housing project will help
generate jobs in the construction sector
and will be a boost for the state economy.
68
Current Affairs, December - 2020
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flags
off 100th ‘Kisan Rail’
   Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi
flagged off the 100th ‘Kisan Rail’ on
28th December 2020, from Sangola in
Maharashtra to Shalimar in West Bengal
via video-conferencing.
   The first Kisan Rail was introduced from
Devlali in Maharashtra to Danapur in
Bihar on August 7, 2020, which was
further extended up to Muzaffarpur.
   Kisan Rail is a mobile cold storage to move
perishable things like fruits, vegetables,
milk, fish, etc., with complete security.
Assam Government Tables Bill to
Abolish State-Run Madrassas
   The Assam government, on Monday,
tabled a bill to abolish all state-run
madrassas and convert those into general
schools with effect from April 1, 2021.
   The bill proposes to abolish two
existing acts – The Assam Madrassa
Education (Provincialisation) Act, 1995,
and The Assam Madrassa Education
(Provincialisation of Services of
Employees and Re-Organisation of
Madrassa Educational Institutions) Act,
2018.
PM Modi inaugurates New Bhaupur-
New Khurja section of Eastern
Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC)
   Prime Minister Narendra Modi
inaugurated the ‘New Bhaupur- New
Khurja section’ of Eastern Dedicated
Freight Corridor (EDFC) via video
conferencing on 29 December 2020 in
Uttar Pradesh.
Current Affairs, December - 2020
   The New Bhaupur – New Khurja section
of EDFC is 351 km long and has been
built by TATA Projects Limited.
   The section will also reduce the
congestion level at the existing Kanpur-
Delhi mainline and will enable Indian
Railways to run faster trains.
   Apart from this, Modiji also inaugurated
state-of-the-art Operation Control Centre
(OCC) of EDFC at Prayagraj.
Ramesh Pokhriyal lays foundation
stone of ‘TiHAN-IIT Hyderabad’
   Union Minister of Education Ramesh
Pokhriyal virtually laid the foundation
stone of ‘TiHAN-IIT Hyderabad’, India’s
first Testbed for Autonomous Navigation
Systems (Terrestrial and Aerial).
   The Department of Science and
Technology (DST), Government of
India, has sanctioned Rs. 135 crores
to IIT Hyderabad under the National
Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-
Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) to set
up a Technology Innovation Hub on
Autonomous Navigation and Data
Acquisition Systems (UAVs, RoVs, etc.).
Union Territory of Ladakh gets its
own meteorological centre
   A meteorological centre was inaugurated
in the Union Territory of Ladakh which
would provide localised weather forecasts
thus strengthening weather-related early
warning system for the region.
   At 3,500 metres, this meteorological
centre is the highest such facility in India.
   Meteorological Centre at Leh to
strengthen weather-related early warning
National – Diary of Event
system in Ladakh. At 3,500 metres,
Meteorological Centre, Leh, will be the
highest meteorological centre in India.
Cabinet Approves Export of
indigenously-developed Akash
Missile System
   The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi has approved
the proposal to export indigenously-
developed Akash Missile System.
   The Cabinet has also approved to set up
of a committee for faster approvals of
exports..
   The export version of Akash will be
different from System currently deployed
with Indian Armed Forces.
   Akash is a short range Surface to Air
Missile with a range of 25 Kms to protect
vulnerable areas and vulnerable points
from air attacks.
   It was inducted in IAF in 2014 and in the
Indian Army in 2015.
Indian Railways’ new Vistadome
coach successfully completes 180
kmph speed trial
   Recently, the Indian Railways successfully
completed the 180 km per hour speed
trial of its new design Vistadome tourist
coaches.
   The luxurious tourists coaches have been
manufactured by the Integral Coach
Factory in Chennai.
   These Vistadome coaches will make train
journeys memorable for the passengers,
as well as give a further boost to tourism
   The European-style coaches are made
with see-through glass rooftops and wide
69
National – Diary of Event Current Affairs, December - 2020

windows for the indulgent sightseeing Cabinet approves Industrial Corridor

experience. nodes at Krishnapatnam and
   Currently 13 Vistadome coaches are Tumakuru
being operated on select routes including    The Cabinet Committee on Economic
the Nilgiri Mountain Railway line, Affairs (CCEA) has approved to
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Kalka- construct Industrial Corridor nodes
Shimla Railway, Kangra Valley Railway, in Krishnapatnam and Tumakuru at
Matheran Hill Railway, between Dadar in estimated cost of `7,725 cr.
Mumbai and Madgoan in Araku Valley    The committee, chaired by Prime
as well as in the Kashmir Valley. Minister Narendra Modi, has approved
three proposals from the Department of
Nitin Gadkari announces Multi-Model
Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade
Logistics Park in Assam’s Silchar
(DPIIT). These include the Krishnapatnam
   Union Minister for Road Transport and Industrial Area in Andhra Pradesh with
Highways, Nitin Gadkari has announced an estimated cost of Rs. 2,139.44 crore for
that a multi-modal logistics park in the project.
Assam.
   It will be constructed in Silchar and the Northeast’s first ‘Ginger’ Plant to be
Balacherra-Harengajao section of the revived
Silchar-Saurashtra Highway will be
   North East’s first-ever specialised
completed in March 2022.
“Ginger” Processing Plant at district Ri-
   Mr Gadkari made this announcement
Bhoui in Meghalaya is being revived
at a public meeting at Zero Point on the
East-West Corridor at Madhurmukh at and is likely to become functional in the
Rangpur. beginning of 2021.
   Dr. Jitendra Singh announced that the
Kerala’s Gender Park to host only Ginger Processing Plant of North
international meet in Feb 2021 East India was established around the
year 2004.
   Kerala government said the Gender
Park in partnership with UN Women
will organise the second edition of the
International Conference on Gender
Equality (ICGE-II) at Kozhikode in
February 2021.
   The focal theme is ‘Gender in Sustainable
Entrepreneurship and Social Business:
The Mediating Role of Empowerment’,
seeking to throw light on the critical
linkages between entrepreneurship,
economic growth, and poverty reduction.

70
Current Affairs, December - 2020
7. INTERNATIONAL
AFFAIRS
World’s loneliest elephant moved
from Pakistan to Cambodia
   An elephant described as the “world’s
loneliest” has landed in Cambodia
after a seven-hour flight from Pakistan,
receiving a warm welcome from Cher,
who will accompany him to a sanctuary
housing potential mates.
   The case of Kaavan an overweight,
36-year-old bull elephant prompted
global uproar from animal rights groups,
who petitioned for him to be moved from
an Islamabad zoo accused of substandard
care and conditions.
US Air Quality Index: Lahore is
world’s most polluted city
   Pakistan’s cultural capital Lahore has
once again topped the list of world’s most
polluted cities.
   “Lahore ranks the most polluted city in
the world,” according to air pollution
data released by the US Air Quality Index
   According to the index, Lahore reported
a particulate matter (PM) rating of 423.
Pakistan’s financial capital Karachi
ranked at 7 on the AQI. New Delhi came
in second with a PM of 229, while Nepal’s
capital Kathmandu ranked the third-
worst city with a PM of 178.
International Affairs
   The United States Environmental
Protection Agency regards air quality
satisfactory if the AQI is under 50.
Lahore’s AQI fell in the range of 301
and higher, which has been classified as
“hazardous”.
Singapore: first country to approve
sale of lab created meet
   A maker of meat and egg substitutes,
has been approved to sell its laboratory-
created chicken in Singapore, which
becomes the first government to allow
the sale of cultured meat.
India Ranks 8th and Afghanistan Tops
Global Terrorism Index 2020
   In the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2020,
India has been ranked at 8th spot globally
in the list of countries most affected by
terrorism in 2019.
   The GTI score of India is 7.353 out of 10.
   With a score of 9.592, Afghanistan has
topped the index as the worst terror
impacted nation among the 163 countries.
   It is followed by Iraq (8.682) and
Nigeria (8.314) at second and third place
respectively.
   Regionally, South Asia was the most
impacted region by terrorism in 2019,
recording more deaths than any other
region.
71
International Affairs Current Affairs, December - 2020

   Also, globally the deaths caused due to
terrorism fell by 15 percent to 13,286 in
2019 over 2018.
   The Global Terrorism Index is published
annually by the Institute for Economics
and Peace (IEP), headquartered in
Sydney, Australia, to measure the impact
of terrorism on the countries.
was first shifted to Lucerne-Burgenstock,
Switzerland in October 2020. Now again
the venue has been shifted to Singapore.
   It would return to Davos, Switzerland, in
2022.
UNESCO Recognition
   The Hawker Culture of street food in

India invites UK’s Johnson as 2021
Republic Day chief guest
   United Kingdom Prime Minister, Boris
Johnson is expected to be the chief guest
  
at 2021 Republic day with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi formally inviting him.
   Johnson, on his part, has invited PM Modi
to the G-7 summit in the United Kingdom
next year. The last British prime minister   
at the Republic Day parade was John
Major in 1993.
World Economic Forum 2021 to   
be held in Singapore instead of
Switzerland
   The World Economic Forum (WEF) has
decided to host its 2021 annual meeting in
Singapore, which earlier was scheduled
to take place in Lucerne-Burgenstock,
Switzerland from 13-16 May 2021.
20th IORA Council
   The decision to shift the annual forum
Meeting Held in UAE
from Switzerland has been taken in view   
of the Covid-19 situation in Europe.
   This would be the second time since its
inception in 1971 that the forum will be
held outside Switzerland. In 2002, the
forum was held in New York to show   
solidarity with the American people in
the aftermath of 9/11.
   The meeting is generally held in Davos,   
Switzerland, but amid covid, the meeting
Singapore, has been inducted by UNESCO
in its prestigious ‘Representative List
of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of
Humanity’.
The Hawker Culture is a popular
Singaporean style of street dining and
culinary practices in a multicultural
urban environment.
Hawker centers are naturally-ventilated
premises with stalls selling food from
various cultures like Chinese, Malay,
Indian, among others.
The Hawkers of Singapore are known to
master a variety of cuisines which they
serve at the ‘community dining rooms’
where people from across all walks
of life gather and share their unique
experiences.
of Ministers
The 20th edition of the IORA Council
of Ministers (COM) Meeting was on
December 17 via video conferencing
under the Chairmanship of United Arab
Emirates (UAE).
The theme of the meeting was “Promoting
a Shared Destiny and Path to Prosperity
in the Indian Ocean”.
The COM-20 was inaugurated by Sheikh
Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister

72
Current Affairs, December - 2020
of Foreign Affairs and International
Cooperation of the UAE.
   The UAE assumed the position of the
IORA Chair in November 2019 during
the 19th COM, for the period 2019-2021.
   The Indian delegation was led by Shri
V. Muraleedharan, MoS, Ministry of
External Affairs.
   All 22 Member States and 10 Dialogue
Partners participated in the virtual
meeting to discuss ways in coordinating
efforts to achieve IORA’s vision for a
peaceful, stable, and prosperous Indian
Ocean region as outlined in the Jakarta
Concord and IORA Action Plan.
   During the 2020 COM, France was
inducted as the 23rd member state of
IORA.
   Sri Lanka has assumed the charge of Vice
Chair of IORA for the period 2021-23.
About Indian Ocean Rim Association
(IORA)
   The IORA is an inter-governmental
organisation which was established on
March 7, 1997. Headquarter : Ebene,
Mauritius
   IORA’s apex body is the Council of
Foreign Ministers (COM) which meets
annually, with the aim of promoting
regional cooperation, prosperity, and
growth in the Indian Ocean region.
   It comprise of 22 Member states and 10
Dialogue partners.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
addresses 6th Indo-Japan SAMVAD
Conference
   Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed
the sixth edition of the India-Japan
SAMVAD conference held on December
21, 2020, via virtual conferencing.
International Affairs
   During the conference, PM proposed to
create a library of traditional Buddhist
literature and scriptures in India.
   This library will collect digital copies of
Buddhist literature from across different
parts of the world. The library will then
translate these works and make them
available for all scholars and monks of
Buddhism.
   The first India-Japan conference,
Samvad-I, was held in New Delhi in 2015,
at Bodh Gaya.
‘Taste of India’ Campaign organized
in Bangkok
   In a bid to boost exports potential of India’s
agricultural and processed food products
exports, APEDA organized a Virtual
Buyer Seller Meet (BSM), in association
with Indian Embassy in Thailand, on
21st December 2020. The meet brought
together key stakeholders from the
respective Governments and trade on
a common platform for strengthening
strategic cooperation between India and
Thailand in Agri Food Sector.
   This Virtual-BSM with Thailand is the
13th in the series of such events organized
by APEDA with various countries. Earlier
such Virtual-BSM were organized with
the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait,
Indonesia, Switzerland, Belgium, Iran,
South Africa, Germany, the United States,
Canada and Australia.
World’s oldest panda in captivity dies
in China
   Xinxing, the world’s oldest giant panda
in captivity, has died of multiple organ
failure at the age of 38 years and four
73
International Affairs
months, a Chinese zoo announced.
She died at a zoo in southwest China’s
Chongqing Municipality.
   Xinxing, also called “granny panda”,
began to show symptoms of drowsiness
and loss of appetite on October 21,
according to a report by state-run Xinhua.
India International Science Festival
2020
   The largest-ever virtual science festival
is set to begin on December 22, with 41
different events, and run till December
25. The India International Science
Festival will have events around the
themes regarding the general public
and the society. With key stakeholders
being young scientists and researchers,
the IISF-2020 has several events like the
Young Scientists’ Conference that aim to
target the youth.
   The event is being organised jointly by
the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, the
Union Ministry of Science and Technology
and the Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA).
Rabindranath Tagore’s vision is
the essence of Atmanirbhar Bharat
mission
   NOBEL LAUREATE Rabindranath
Tagore’s vision is the essence of
Aatmanirbhar Bharat, or self-reliant
India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
74
Current Affairs, December - 2020
   Addressing a function to mark the
centenary celebrations of Visva-
Bharati University through video
conferencing, the Prime Minister said,
“Guided by Gurudev [Tagore], Visva-
Bharati presented a strong image of
Indian nationalist sentiment during
Independence. Gurudev wanted
humanity to benefit from India’s spiritual
awakening. Atmanirbhar Bharat vision is
also a derivative of this sentiment.”
Indian, French Rafales to carry out
wargames in Jodhpur
   Indian and French Rafale fighter jets will
be carrying out wargames codenamed
‘SKYROS’ in Jodhpur in the third week of
January 2021.
   The French Air Force Rafale fighter
jets will be coming to Jodhpur for the
wargames, which will see them flying
with Indian Rafales and the Su-30MKI
fighters.
   This will be the first major exercise of
the Indian Air Force involving the Rafale
fighter jets, which were inducted into
service in August 2020. This is a significant
development, as it comes amid India’s
ongoing border conflict with China.
   The IAF had last carried out a major
exercise with the French Air Force in July
2019 where the Indian Sukhois had flown
with the French Rafales.
Current Affairs, December - 2020 Tamilnadu Affairs

8. TAMILNADU
AFFAIRS
Sidbi, TN Govt sign MoU for MSME methodologies to collect caste-wise
training programs quantifiable data, in an attempt to
   MSME financier Sidbi signs a nullify Pattali Makkal Katchi’s demand
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and protest for 20 per cent reservation
with the Government of Tamil Nadu to for Vanniyars, who belong to the Most
set up a Project Management Unit (PMU) Backward Class.
that will design training and capacity
Women judges up to 13 in Madras HC
building programs.
   The programs will be designed in areas    The Madras High Court retained its
such as technology transfer, promotion of position as the High Court with the
innovation, intellectual property rights, highest number of women judges.
research & development, leveraging of    The newly appointed judges sworn
technology and technology solutions in by Chief Justice AP Sahi this
for enhancing business capabilities morning are Justices Govindarajulu
and collaborations between MSMEs & Chandrasekharan, AA Nakkiran,
technology driven businesses, startups, Veerasamy Sivagnanam, Ganesan
etc. Ilangovan, Ananthi Subramanian,
Kannammal Shanmuga Sundaram, Sathi
Fruit processing plant set up at Kumar Sukumara Kurup, Murali Shankar
Karumanthurai farm near Salem Kuppuraju. Manjula Ramaraju Nalliah
   A fruit processing center has been set up
and Thamilselvi T Valayapalayam.
at the Government Horticulture and Hill
Recommendation to the Central
Tracts Department in Karumanthurai,
Government to unite 7 castes in the
Salem District. Through this, value added
name of Devendra Kulavelallar
products like jam, juice and pickles are
produced and sold directly.    Chief Minister Palanisamy announced
that they are going to recommend to
T.N. to constitute Commission for the Central Government to unite the 7
collecting caste-wise data castes and call them by the same name as
   Tamil Nadu government announced Devendra Kulavelalaar .
setting up of a commission to examine    The 7 castes including Pallar, Kudumban,

75
Tamilnadu Affairs
Pannadi, Kaladi, Kadayar , Devendra
Kulathan continued to insist on calling
him by the same name as Devendra
Kulavelar .
Ola to set up world’s largest scooter
factory in Tamil Nadu at Rs 2,400 cr
   The SoftBank-backed mobility platform
Ola has signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with the Tamil
Nadu government, to set up its first
factory in the state, at an investment of Rs
2,400 crore.
   Upon completion, the Ola factory in
Tamil Nadu will be the largest scooter
manufacturing facility in the world.
   Initially, the factory will have an annual
manufacturing capacity of 2 million units.
   The factory is in line with Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of an
AtmaNirbhar Bharat, and will make India
a manufacturing hub for two-wheeler
electric vehicles.
50 mini-clinics in Chennai to begin
operations from December 14
   Close to 50 mini-clinics in Chennai across
the 15 zones of the Corporation.
   Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami
will inaugurate the scheme tomorrow
from the clinic in Sheik Mestri Street in
Royapuram.
   A total of 47 clinics would begin
operations in Chennai from tomorrow
and subsequent, they will be expanded
based on the need.
   CM announced that Tamil Nadu would
be having 2000 mini-clinics for attending
to minor ailments such as cold, cough
76
Current Affairs, December - 2020
and fever, and in the first phase, 630 mini-
clinics would operate across the State.
Health ministry’s telemedicine
service eSanjeevani logs 1 million
consultations
   The Union Health Ministry’s national
telemedicine initiative eSanjeevani
completed a million consultations.
   The top ten States with highest
consultations through eSanjeevani are
Tamil Nadu (319507), Uttar Pradesh
(2,68,889), Madhya Pradesh (70,838),
Gujarat (63,601), Kerala (62,797),
Himachal Pradesh (49,224), Andhra
Pradesh (39,853), Karnataka (32,693),
Uttarakhand (31,910) and Maharashtra
(12,635).
Free tablet computers in TN
   The minister announced the government
had formulated a plan to replace 80,000
blackboards with smartboards in
government schools. An announcement
on establishing 7,200 smart classrooms is
expected after January 15.
Award to be named after ryots’ leader
   Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami
announced that the award being given
to farmers for obtaining highest yield
of paddy through the System of Rice
Intensification method during the
Republic Day celebrations every year
will be named after farmers’ leader late C
Narayanasamy Naidu, who strove for the
rights of the farmers for many decades.
   Narayanasamy launched the Tamil Nadu
Farmers Association in 1973 and toured
Current Affairs, December - 2020
the State and organised conferences
for ensuring the rights of farmers. He
passed away on December 21, 1984 after
addressing a public meeting for farmers
at Kovilpatti.
Tamil Nadu govt warns legal action
against political parties holding gram
sabhas
   The Tamil Nadu government directed the
district collectors to initiate legal action
against the political parties that misuse
the name of gram sabhas to hold political
rallies.
   The gram sabha is an administrative set
up constituted under the Constitution.
The powers to convene a meeting are
vested with the panchayat president
under section 3 (2-A) of the Tamil Nadu
Panchayats Act, 1994.
   On his failure, the inspector of panchayats
or the district collector can convene the
meeting. Some political parties hold
political rallies in the name of gram
sabhas to confuse people for political
gains. Not only is this contrary to the
provisions of the Panchayats Act but such
acts also slander the set up.
Manufacture of electric and passenger
train sets at ICF
   The world-renowned box factory (ICF) is
located in Perambur, Chennai. The train
sets manufactured here are exported not
only to Indian Railways but also abroad.
Made in over 600 designs in 50 variants,
including sophisticated train box and
tour train box, to suit the needs and time
of the passengers.
Tamilnadu Affairs
   The Chennai ICF. During the month of
December, the MEMU train set a record
for the successful test run of tourist
carriages and assists in nesting.
TN Chief Minister Palaniswami
Inaugurates Mayiladuthurai District
   Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K
Palaniswami inaugurated the newly-
formed Mayiladuthurai district through
video conferencing from the Secretariat
in Chennai. The 38th district in the state
has been carved out of Nagapattinam
district.
   The new district comprises four taluks –
Mayiladuthurai, Sirkazhi, Tarangambadi,
and Kuthalam. It has a total population of
9.01 lakh.
   R Lalitha, who served as the special officer
for district formation has taken charge as
the district collector. IPS officer Srinatha
has been appointed as the superintendent
of police.
‘Namma Chennai’: Selfie spot on
Marina
   The selfie spot that is being built near
the Marina beach will be open to the
public within a week, ahead of Pongal
celebrations in the city, according to
senior corporation officials.
   The words ‘Namma Chennai’ will stand
on a three-foot pedestal, towering about
10 feet in height. The typography has
been made at a cost of Rs 22 lakh.
77